I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Of all the swordsmen wielding greatswords that Qing Deng had ever dealt with, none were as...unfathomable as Makimura!

Makimura's stance was the upper level, with his 1.8-meter-long sword and giant-like physique... It's hard to describe the oppressive feeling emanating from Makimura at this moment with just the word "terrifying"!

He was poised to unleash his power, as if the slightest touch on his body would unleash a torrent of magma.

Qingdeng felt as if he were a mountain pressing down on him, piercing the clouds.

There was no need for them to even fight; just by looking at him, Qingdeng had already made up his mind—today, he was about to face a long-awaited, fierce battle.

Ah... When was the last time I encountered such a formidable opponent?

After pondering this for a moment, a faint smile appeared on Qingdeng's face.

And just at that moment when Qing Deng suddenly laughed...

*Smack!*

Like a bomb exploding, a huge stomping sound shattered the tranquility and standoff in the courtyard!

Qingdeng kicked through the snow and ran towards the pastoral village, with Ding Guishen dragging his body diagonally to his right side.

He was about five steps away from Mucun—a distance that Qingdeng could barely cover in the blink of an eye.

In the blink of an eye, Qingdeng appeared in front of Mucun.

Qingdeng only needed to take another half step forward to enter the effective attack range of his sword, which would be able to strike Makimura.

But at that moment, Qingdeng suddenly felt the light above his head dim.

As the light dimmed, a sharp whistling sound, much like the sound of a cannonball, grew closer and louder, penetrating Qingdeng's ears.

Qingdeng immediately looked up—a white light flashed in the sky!

Makimura has made his move!

He slashed down with the greatsword he had raised above his head!

It was as if a sword had slashed down from a hundred-foot-high building, ruffling Qing Deng's hair and stirring up the atmosphere!

Before the blades could meet, Qing Deng tilted his body to the side, dodging Mu Cun's blade.

The Ōdachi is much longer and heavier than ordinary swords. Due to the leverage principle, the Ōdachi is exceptionally difficult to control.

The sheer amount of time required to precisely control the force of drawing and retracting the sword is enough to stump most martial artists in the world today.

Makimura's slash was imbued with extremely powerful force... Such a powerful attack was bound to be difficult to stop, and it would not be surprising if the entire blade crashed into the snow.

But then an unbelievable, or rather, extremely horrifying, scene suddenly unfolded!

Just a second before Makimura's sword, which had been hurtling towards the ground like a falling meteor, was about to crash heavily into the snow... it was as if a "time-stopping" spell had been cast, and Makimura's sword instantly stopped only half an inch off the ground.

The air ripples spread outwards in concentric circles.

The dust and light snow in the entire area with a radius of 40cm centered on the tip of the Makimura knife were all blown away.

No martial arts knowledge is needed. Even an ordinary person who knows nothing can understand what it means to reduce the speed of a heavy katana weighing at least 20 pounds from max to 0 in an instant.

Seeing this, Qingdeng secretly praised him.

What terrifying power, what exquisite control of force...

If he could, Qing Deng wouldn't mind clapping and praising Makimura's superb swordsmanship.

But for now... let's focus our energy on the battle at hand!

"Haa!"

With a short shout, Qing Deng concentrated his strength on the toes of his feet and launched a surprise attack, charging forward with his sword, crashing into Mu Cun's chest.

Aoto's sword concealed a formidable power. In response, Makimura gave him a grand "reception"—he swung his greatsword upwards with a fierce thrust, the unstoppable force aimed directly at Aoto's Soul-Stabilizing Technique.

At the very instant the greatsword precisely intercepted the demon-slaying spirit in mid-air—clang!

The sound of the collision was so loud that it made one wonder if their eardrums were still intact.

Makimura's attack deflected Aoto's sword, and the two were thrown back as if they had been bounced away, separating their positions.

Qingdeng appeared calm and composed, but in reality, he was secretly relaxing his aching fingers.

Although seeing Makimura's enormous size and the ease with which he wielded such a heavy katana, Qing Deng had already guessed that this senior was no weakling, after actually fighting him, he belatedly realized that he had underestimated Makimura's strength...

Since acquiring talents that enhance physical strength, such as "Elephant Core +1" and "Bear Waist +1", Qing Deng has basically never lost to anyone in a contest of strength.

But now... Makimura has allowed Aoto to relive the feeling of "the opponent's strength being on par with his own" after a long time.

Qing Deng had used nearly 7% of his strength in his slash, but even so, it was blocked by Mu Cun without breaking a sweat—judging from his expression and movements, he still had strength left.

Is this really a person in their 90s?!

At this age, an ordinary person would probably be unable to walk steadily, but this Makimura... and his master Kiryu, are like cultivators, who, despite being quite old, still possess such terrifying strength.

—To be so strong at such an advanced age... how amazing must Mr. Makimura and Mr. Kiryu have been when they were young...?

Before their thoughts had even settled, a new round of action began over there.

*Slap... slap... slap... slap...*

With his feet firmly planted on the ground, Mucun slowly approached Qingdeng.

As they shortened the distance between them, Makimura changed his stance, lowering the sword he had been holding high above his head to the middle.

Makimura was so enormous that, compared to his massive body, the greatsword in his hand looked like a thin noodle that could be broken with a single snap.

But the instant he switched his stance to the middle position, his body seemed to shrink instantly, as if he had disappeared into the shadow of the knife.

Upon seeing the attack from the village, Qingdeng was neither surprised nor afraid. He adopted the usual stance of the Natural Rishin-ryu school: with his eyes level, he simply spread his legs, lowered his waist, and stood still.

Just as Qingdeng unconsciously blinked due to dry eyes, his eyelids drooping before he could even lift them in a flash—

"Haaaaaah—1"

Makimura let out a low growl. At the same time, he suddenly leaned forward, his knife flashing out towards Aoto's right shoulder.

This attack was truly a terrifying and earth-shattering blow.

Before the knife even arrived, the hairs on Qing Deng's body stood on end.

When it comes to strength... Qingdeng won't lose!

Qing Deng held the Ding Guishen sword diagonally in front of his chest, parrying Mu Cun's slash. The two passed each other, and the snow on the ground scattered and flew everywhere.

Qing Deng turned around with his knife at top speed, and the figure of the "giant" attacking him filled his field of vision.

The two shouted and started fighting again.

Makimura's greatsword slashed towards Aoto's chest, while Aoto's Soul-Slaying Divine Strike cleaved Makimura's waist.

The two swords collided in mid-air, immediately producing a resounding clang of metal striking metal.

Although both sides used the back of a blade, a blade is still a blade. Being struck in the body by such a large piece of iron would definitely not feel pleasant.

The feeling of equal strength on both sides, with your palms going numb from all the chopping... is actually surprisingly exhilarating!

Qing Deng himself really enjoys the feeling of intense clashes with his opponents.

Influenced by this mindset, Qingdeng fought with increasing courage.

After several more rounds of evenly matched swordplay—

Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha—!

The friction between metals produces a sharp noise that almost tears the eardrums apart.

The two passed each other with their blades touching.

Just as their figures overlapped... Qing Deng suddenly noticed a meaningful smile on Mu Cun's face.

An ominous premonition welled up in Qingdeng's heart.

One second... no, half a second later, the ominous premonition became reality—Bang!

Mucun suddenly lowered his waist and lower body, his two thick, strong legs, like two large plows, carving two deep furrows in the snow beneath his feet.

At the same time, snowflakes flew everywhere, and a thick snow fog formed.

A thin mist of snow, composed of countless tiny snowflakes and flakes, rose from the ground.

The man-made fog wasn't so thick that it would make it impossible to see anything, but unfortunately, a snowflake splashed into Qingdeng's left eye.

"Ugh...!" The stinging pain from her left eye made Qing Deng instinctively squint her left eye.

Almost at the same time that Qingdeng had to squint due to the pain in his eyes, Mucun quietly stepped back, his huge figure disappearing into the snow mist.

A sudden obstruction of vision plus an attack on the eyes—it's perfectly normal to feel flustered and anxious when faced with such an unexpected event.

Even Qingdeng couldn't escape a moment of panic—but it was only for a moment.

A moment later, Qingdeng regained his composure.

For someone who uses binocular vision for a long time and is not used to seeing with one eye, if they can't see with one eye in battle, it's no different from being blind—because they have difficulty controlling their sense of distance.

If you can't even judge whether your opponent's body or weapons are close or far from you, what's the difference between that and having your eyesight taken away?

Since our eyes are not of any use for the time being... let's use our ears!

After long and arduous training at the Moon Palace Shrine, Qing Deng has mastered the skill of locating sounds by sound.

Having made his decision, Qingdeng squinted his eyes, rubbing his left eye in hopes of restoring his vision as soon as possible, while intently listening to capture all the sounds and movements around him.

To quickly regain composure and formulate an emergency strategy... this is an ability that one cannot master even after swinging a bamboo sword a thousand or ten thousand times in a comfortable dojo.

Only those who have experienced countless brutal battles where they risked their lives and fought to the death, accumulating profound combat experience, can reach this level.

Suddenly, Qingdeng heard a sound behind him, like something heavy falling from the sky, crashing down on him.

As if by reflex, Qingdeng took a step forward, creating a certain distance between himself and the "heavy object" behind him.

As he took a step forward, Qing Deng used the leg he stepped on as an axis to quickly turn around! Then, using the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, Qing Deng swung his sword and slashed at the space in front of him.

The next moment, Qingdeng felt a slight stinging and numbness in his arms holding the knife.

At the same time, the sound of clashing weapons rang in my ears.

If we can catch Makimura's surprise attack... then everything else will be much easier!

With a flick of his wrist, Qing Deng skillfully deflected Makimura's greatsword, then swung the sword straight at Makimura's waist.

Makimura dodged to the side, then drew his sword and charged forward to retaliate.