I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

clang!

The ear-piercing sound of weapons clashing, and the immense force and numbness that surged through his palms and arms, caused Qingdeng's brows to furrow involuntarily.

A head-on collision with such hard iron... would be most damaging to the blade.

The Ghost-Slaying Blade, which had just been repaired not long ago, has developed a small nick on its blade...

Qingdeng felt as if he had been hit by an express train.

Unconsciously, I took two steps back.

This time, Qingdeng was at a disadvantage.

However, in the blink of an eye, Qingdeng "got his revenge".

Qingdeng's legs pressed down like springs and then sprang up, his body flying diagonally to three steps behind Tiancangxiao, before he regained his balance.

He took a half-step forward, using the force of pushing off the ground to strike Tian Cangxiao's back—the movement was fluid and powerful.

Even though Qing Deng used the back of the blade, if his strike had landed squarely, Cang Xiao would definitely have suffered greatly.

In the blink of an eye, Tian Cangxiao pivoted on his left foot and turned around in a flash. In less than two seconds, the old man and the young man were face to face again.

Relying on the centrifugal force generated by turning around, Tian Cangxiao unleashed a "Sweeping Thousands of Troops" move, meeting the dazzling blade light head-on.

If Tian Cangxiao were wielding a heavy weapon like a large spear or a cross-shaped spear, his attack would surely be incredibly imposing... But unfortunately, he's currently using a broom, so it looks rather awkward no matter how you look at it.

But its power and threat level are not lacking at all.

The steel sword and the iron rod... I've lost count of how many times these two weapons have clashed together.

Just as they were shaken away by the sound waves and reaction force of the collision of weapons, Qing Deng and Tian Cang Xiao retreated rapidly at the same moment, widening their distance.

This marks the first time since the start of the war that the old and young have ceased hostilities... though it is only temporary.

—This old man… is really something else…

The more Qing Deng fought, the more he realized the extraordinary nature of the old man before him.

Judging from all indications, Tian Cangxiao has extremely rich combat experience and is definitely a ruthless character who has experienced countless bloody battles...

Why does this shrine have such highly skilled and experienced clergy?

But then again, what exactly was the reason this old guy attacked me for no reason...?

More and more questions are arising...

Although Qingdeng and Tiancangxiao were evenly matched in the fierce battle just now, and neither of them gained an advantage, Qingdeng has already discovered a weakness of Tiancangxiao.

That is, Tian Cangxiao's physical strength is far inferior to his.

This is only natural.

How old is Qingdeng? How old is Tiancangxiao? The latter's hair and eyebrows are so white that not a single blemish can be seen.

The two had been fighting back and forth for a long time, as if it had been going on for a long time.

But in reality, even if the timer started from when Tian Cangxiao shouted "Mr. Ju... I'm going!", only less than 5 minutes have passed so far.

Within 5 minutes, so many rounds of intense offense and defense were exchanged... It takes a lot of energy to perform.

Due to old age and declining health, Tian Cangxiao's breathing was slightly rapid, and his wrinkled face was flushed with blood.

In contrast, Qingdeng showed no abnormalities except for breathing becoming slightly faster.

Qing Deng not only has the advantage of age, but also possesses three great talents that are conducive to prolonged combat: "strong sperm", "strong muscles +1" and "iron lungs".

"Qiangjing" enhanced Qingdeng's energy and physical recovery speed.

The "Strong Muscle+1" treatment, which has been integrated and strengthened once, makes Qingdeng's muscles less prone to fatigue.

"Iron Lungs" greatly improves Qing Deng's cardiopulmonary capacity.

These three talents give Qingdeng an outstanding "endurance".

Despite fighting Tian Cangxiao for so long, Qing Deng felt almost no fatigue.

His breathing remained steady, and his muscles were still full of strength.

According to Qing Deng's calculations, he could maintain the same fighting intensity as before and fight Tian Cangxiao for at least another 20 minutes.

If Tian Cangxiao doesn't quickly come up with a way to break the deadlock, continuing to fight like this will only give Qingdeng, who has a physical advantage, an even greater advantage, causing the balance of the battle to tilt more and more towards Qingdeng's side.

It seems that Tian Cangxiao also realized this point—his expression was becoming solemn at a visible speed.

Passa… The old man moved. His sandals brushed the ground as he slowly moved to the left, gradually shifting his body toward Qingdeng's right side.

Qing Deng was not about to expose his side to Tian Cangxiao's broom handle, so he moved his feet and body along with him.

The old man and the young man started their "two-person show" from a distance of about 5 steps apart.

If you move one step to the right, I'll move one step to the left.

If you pull back half a body length to the left, I'll extend half a body length to the right.

Never fall behind the other side... never give the other side any opportunity to take advantage.

Qingdeng has completely seized control of the battle.

For Qing Deng, he only needs to slowly maneuver around Tian Cang Xiao and wear him down to win.

Therefore, you just need to play cautiously and take it easy.

But Tian Cangxiao is different... If he doesn't adopt an aggressive fighting style and doesn't take advantage of the fact that he still has some energy left to defeat Qingdeng in one fell swoop, then he is doomed to lose.

Knowing where his current advantages lie, Qingdeng is not in a hurry. He quietly waits and observes Tian Cangxiao's actions.

—In short… for now, let’s slowly wear down this old man’s stamina and wait for the opportunity to subdue him in one fell swoop…

Seeing that Qing Deng's stance had not revealed any weaknesses that could be exploited, Tian Cangxiao stopped moving... Qing Deng also stopped.

The old man thoughtfully pursed his pale, ashen lips, then with a "whoosh," he lowered the iron broom in his hand very low... causing his entire body to lower its center of gravity as well.

He squatted on the ground like a toad.

Although Qingdeng didn't know what the old man was planning to do, he held his breath, tensed his muscles and nerves, and assumed a stable and error-free mid-range stance, ready to deal with all kinds of attacks and fight the old man in front of him for another three hundred rounds.

The standoff between the two created an imposing atmosphere that made onlookers feel suffocated.

Influenced by this atmosphere, time seemed to stand still in this small world centered around the two of them.

Patsat!

Tian Cangxiao suddenly exerted force with his hind legs, directly shoveling away a large chunk of mud!

Time, which had been paused, now begins to flow again!

Qingdeng did not make any rash moves. He stood still, ready to wait for the opportune moment.

A few steps passed in the blink of an eye.

Just a moment before their figures were about to overlap—

"Tiancang, that's enough! That's enough!"

A loud, clear shout came from the direction of the temple.

Tian Cangxiao stopped abruptly, like a machine whose power source had been suddenly removed—the broom in his hand was less than 50 centimeters away from Qing Deng.

As he stopped, Tian Cangxiao slowly put away the broom in his hand, held it close to his side, and slowly straightened up, releasing himself from the "battle state" of lowered center of gravity and tense muscles.

The tense atmosphere that had been permeating this space since the beginning vanished in an instant.

Although somewhat sudden, Tian Cangxiao's act of putting down his broom had already declared one thing: the battle was over...

This duel, which began with Tian Cangxiao's surprise attack and ended with his voluntary withdrawal, has now temporarily come to a close.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully replicated talent: "Master of Ninja"]

[Talent Introduction: Ninjutsu talent is amplified 35 times the average level.]

The cold, familiar voice echoed in Yu Qingdeng's mind... a system voice with extraordinary content.

A ninjutsu talent 35 times greater than that of an ordinary person!

This is the highest number of "talent-type talents" that Qingdeng has copied so far, apart from Souji's "Sword Prodigy".

Just as Qingdeng had predicted, this old man was indeed no ordinary person!

Under normal circumstances, even someone like Qingdeng, who has already replicated many amazing talents, would have been so excited by such a top-notch gift that he would have jumped for joy.

However... at this moment, Qingdeng couldn't care less about this grand gift.

His mind was completely focused on the delicate shout from earlier... or more precisely, on the person who had shouted it.

Upon hearing this sudden, delicate shout, Qing Deng's pupils constricted sharply in astonishment.

My gaze instinctively swept in the direction of the sound.

Immediately afterwards, the "astonishment" on Qing Deng's face turned into "shock".

Before the temple gate stood a graceful and beautiful young priestess.

She wore a white robe, a short jacket, and purple trousers, with white cloth socks and purple straw sandals on her feet. Her long black hair was tied into a light and graceful low ponytail at the back of her head with a piece of white sandalwood paper.

Aside from the fact that the hakama was not the familiar scarlet color, everything else was a very standard shrine maiden outfit.

Qing Deng was very familiar with both the young priestess's voice and appearance.

Because I just met him yesterday...

"Your Highness, the Prince of Tianzhang...?"

Qing Deng murmured the woman's name absentmindedly.

The young woman dressed in a white robe and purple hakama, a shrine maiden's outfit, was none other than Tenshōin, whom Aoto had just met for the first time yesterday!

The shock that Qingdeng experienced was not over yet.

After Tenshōin suddenly appeared and stopped the fight between Aoto and Amagura Owl, the two sisters, Sae and Yae, along with Amagura Owl who had just put down his broom, turned to face Tenshōin in perfect unison, and then—

"Lord Yudu." *3

They bowed respectfully to Tianzhangyuan while shouting in unison.

"..." Qing Deng's brain went blank for a moment.