I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

clang!!

The sound of the two blades clashing was just like the roar of cannons. When the sound waves spread, it seemed as if even the thick dust that had accumulated on the beams for many years could be shaken off.

Qingdeng rarely suffered a loss in sword fights, especially after he reforged the Vairocana sword into a black blade.

The black knife remained intact after the impact.

In contrast, Xilika's katana... has another nick on its blade.

Because it was a head-on collision, the resulting reaction force was astonishing.

The powerful reaction force, like a shockwave, swept towards the two men wielding knives.

The disparity in strength between the two sides was laid bare at this moment.

Despite the impact of the reaction force, Qingdeng remained calm, gripping the hilt of his sword firmly with both hands and planting his feet firmly on the ground, standing securely.

The force of the impact caused Xilika to stagger, clutching the katana that had been thrown back, and he staggered back several steps, looking quite disheveled.

After barely managing to steady himself, he gritted his teeth and, as soon as he regained his footing, eagerly launched another attack.

He lowered his center of gravity slightly and sped off like a cheetah.

One step, two steps... it only takes two steps to reach the maximum speed.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Xilika swung his sword, converting the potential energy from his run into the power of his strike.

In an instant, the silver light of the katana once again entered Qing Deng's eyes.

Speed ​​brings power—his strike was even more powerful than before!

Qing Deng silently raised his sword to meet the attack.

In the instant the two passed each other, two "pythons," one black and purple and the other silver and white, entangled and bit each other in mid-air, and the winner was decided in a matter of seconds—the black and purple "python" gained the upper hand.

Vairocana deflected the katana, then sprang upwards like a python, striking Xilika's neck... Xilika's carotid artery was severed again.

The two passed each other, their feet clattering loudly on the tatami mats.

"Heh...heh...heh...heh..."

While waiting for his injuries to heal, Xilika let out painful gasps.

His physical strength is ultimately not limitless.

The intense, breathless battle caused his limbs to groan in pain.

He had lost count of how many times he had been killed.

Without that amazing regenerative ability, he would have died long ago, and several times over.

While the "Berserker's Essence" can greatly enhance his strength, it does not suppress his pain.

He still felt pain when the blade cut through his flesh.

Suffering repeated fatal wounds, the ever-increasing pain and the indescribable psychological pressure are enough to drive a person insane!

Cialis is only holding on by sheer willpower; otherwise, it would have collapsed long ago.

In fact, his body, which was nearing its limit, was not the most critical issue—the state of his weapons was even less optimistic!

Xilika looked down at the katana in his hand.

His beloved knife had been transformed into a saw-like shape; from the guard to the tip, not a single part was intact. In less than seven... no, five rounds, the blade would completely break and shatter.

Xilika gritted his teeth, a complex expression appearing on his face, as if he was hesitating about something.

After a moment, he took a deep breath:

"Tachibana Aoto, what follows will be my... final blow...!"

"I poured all my strength, my speed, everything I had into this one strike."

"If you accept the challenge... you win!"

Having said that, without waiting for Qingdeng's response, he lowered the blade, pointing the tip at the ground.

Immediately afterwards, he raised the blade in a circular motion, drawing a crescent moon. The tip of the blade, which had been pointing diagonally at the ground, now pointed straight at the ceiling... a standard upper dan.

The art of katana is an ancient sword technique that originated on the battlefield.

Ancient martial arts that serve the purpose of fighting are often very simple and direct, without any complicated techniques—trying to use fancy tricks on the battlefield is simply suicidal.

Therefore, the final strike described by Xilika was not a complicated technique, but an extremely pure downward slash!

No longer considering life or death, victory or defeat, he poured all his strength and mind into unleashing this strike! Its name is: One-Tachi!

This technique is quite similar to the Satsuma Jigenryu style... no, to be precise, the Satsuma Jigenryu style retains an ancient feel.

The Satsuma Domain is far from the political and cultural center of Japan, so it still retains the legacy of the Heian period. Jigen-ryu is derived from this ancient sword style of "facing death without fear".

Putting life and death aside... It sounds simple, but how many people can truly do it?

When wielding a sword to attack an enemy, one will always subconsciously consider success or failure; when the enemy attacks, one will always subconsciously fear life and death... All of the above are normal.

At this point, Xilika fell into intense self-doubt.

Do I really have a way to defeat "Nioh"?

Even with the most positive mindset, he couldn't give an optimistic response to this question.

Upon realizing this, large beads of cold sweat appeared on Xilika's forehead, and his palms were also soaked with cold sweat.

Suddenly, he recalled Hepoyi, who had just shown determination and declared that he would fight him to the last moment.

Looking throughout the "Ainu Alliance," there are definitely not a few people like Hapoi who are willing to live and die with Xilika.

They either deeply believed in the ambition to "reclaim their ancestral lands" or simply revered Cialis.

Yes... there's absolutely nothing to hesitate about.

Even if I were lucky enough to defeat "Nioh", I would probably not have the strength to deal with Ilan Kiri (Ogata).

Since death is inevitable anyway, why hesitate? The more heroic the death, the better!

Thinking of this, Xilika half-closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

When he opened his eyes again, a sharp light flashed in them, as if a raging bear might leap out at any moment!

At first glance, its appearance remains unchanged.

However, Aoto and Ogata, who were present, saw it very clearly.

Until three seconds ago, Xilika was surrounded by anxiety, which made even his knife-wielding stance messy.

At this moment, all of the above disappeared.

The impatience subsided.

His stance, holding the knife, became steady and composed, subtly exuding a chilling killing intent.

To outsiders, Qing Deng, who had been dominating Xi Lika since the start of the war, held an overwhelming advantage.

In reality, Qing Deng, who was confronting Xilika, was very clear that Xilika's spirit was exceptionally high, almost beyond measure!

If you are careless, you will definitely not get away with it, and may even suffer a tragic end.

After a moment's thought, Qing Deng flipped his right wrist, performed a beautiful sword flourish, changed his grip to an inverted grip, slowly sheathed the sword, lowered his waist, and assumed an iaido stance.

One side unleashed a full-force slash, the other a sword-drawing technique... The two faced off against each other, as if the air in the room had solidified into a block of iron... both heavy and cold.

The setting sun, about to sink below the horizon, bathed the large room in an orange-red hue, casting two long, clinging shadows against the wall.

If you stand in the corridor outside the room, you can clearly see two figures reflected on the paper sliding door, just like a shadow puppet show.

At this moment, the shadow puppetry has not yet started and seems to still be in the preparation stage.

It did not keep the audience waiting for long.

In the blink of an eye, the two figures activated simultaneously, and the distance between them vanished in an instant! They merged into one!

Even through the paper sliding door, one could see two flashes of light alternating.

After passing each other, the two took several steps with the force of cracking the ground, stopping their charge and maintaining their sword-drawing stances, facing away from each other.

Through the paper sliding door, it was impossible to see how they made their moves.

In fact, even from inside the room, it is difficult to see their confrontation clearly.

To the average person, all they saw was the two running toward each other at lightning speed, without stopping, exchanging sleeves, and they could only vaguely see two flashes of light and hear a piercing sound of blades clashing. They couldn't even tell who had won or lost.

Of course, in a confrontation of this caliber, the winner and loser will be determined very quickly.

A series of cracking sounds suddenly rang out.

Spiderweb-like cracks clung to the blade of the katana, expanding and deepening... A moment later, the katana in Xilika's hand shattered into two broken pieces, which fell to the ground with a thud.

Immediately afterwards, Xilika also made close contact with the ground.

He clutched his chest in obvious pain and collapsed to the ground in a forward-leaning motion.

A huge wound covered his entire upper body, and a massive amount of blood gushed out, instantly staining a large area of ​​the tatami mat beneath him red.

In the exchange just now, Qingdeng's sword strike was faster—it was these slight differences that determined the outcome.

The blade, swung diagonally upwards, first broke through Xilika's slash with overwhelming force, then continued its momentum to cut Xilika's body, slashing from his right abdomen to his left shoulder.

Qingdeng didn't count them, but based on his personal estimate, he had severed at least six or seven bones with that one strike.

In this head-on confrontation, even Qing Deng had no time to hold back.

He could only secretly hope that Xilika wouldn't die, and that his body's regenerative abilities would work harder to heal the huge wound.

The instant after he slashed down Rhino, the system voice in Qing Deng's mind arrived as expected—

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: "Yuan Yang +6"]

[Talent Introduction: Kidneys are less prone to disease. Kidney energy is far more abundant and healthier than average.]

[Ding! Detected that the host already possesses a talent of the same type]

[Ding! Initiating talent fusion]

[Ding! Talent fusion successful]

[“Yuan Yang +8” Ability Upgrade – “Yuan Yang +14”]