Tokyo Knights: The Odd Jobs X Files

The next day, news of an unrestricted swordsmanship competition began to appear in major newspapers in Tokyo, and related flyers spread throughout the city. It was almost impossible for anyone living in Tokyo not to see the news.

The Purple Lightning Sword, which was to be awarded as a prize, was also featured in newspapers and flyers, practically telling the heir of the Famous Sword Manor, "There is a sword here, come quickly!"

Besides the sword fighting competition, the newspaper also reported a rather interesting news story: the Western swords stolen at the sword exhibition were returned to the exhibition hall.

Yes, that's right. It was Lai Sheng Rui and the others who returned it. After they replaced the gem on the rapier, they returned it because their father's collection was actually just the gem on the rapier.

After removing the original gemstone, they replaced it with an almost identical one. The current owner of the rapier is a sword collector, not a gemstone collector, so he definitely wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Because a certain thief often returned stolen goods, some people mistook the masked man who stole the rapier for a copycat of that thief, adding another crime to the thief's list!

Yi Tianxun was looking at the newspaper in his hiding place, his brows furrowed.

He knew there was probably something wrong with this swordsmanship competition because he had seen sword techniques recorded on the Purple Lightning Sword on Li Xin, which meant that the Purple Lightning Sword should be in Li Xin's possession.

The Purple Lightning Sword hadn't been in circulation for long. It was shortly before he killed that former officer of the Kwantung Army. The former officer said he had just sold it to a woman who would take the sword to an exhibition. That's why Yi Tianxun went to the sword exhibition. However, he didn't discover the Purple Lightning Sword, but he did discover the White Jade Sword and the Glazed Sword, as well as Li Xin, who knew the sword techniques of the Purple Lightning Sword.

In such a short period of time, it is unlikely that the Purple Lightning Sword would change hands frequently. Therefore, Li Xin should be the person who bought the Purple Lightning Sword from the woman, and the person who organized the sword competition should also be that woman.

What was her purpose in doing this? Did she know the secret of those eight swords, and wanted to lure me out and steal the swords from me?

Yi Tianxun pondered this.

The Famous Sword Manor has eight precious swords. Each of the four swords—White Jade, Purple Lightning, Azure Nether, Mu Iron, Nameless, Death, and Black Tortoise—has a sword move recorded on it, while the Glazed Sword records the mental techniques behind these sword moves.

All of these together constituted the "Eight Styles of Famous Swords," the unparalleled swordsmanship of the Famous Sword Manor in its time.

Yes, there are only seven sword moves, but it is called "Eight Forms of Famous Sword" because the eighth form is something that each person who practices "Eight Forms of Famous Sword" needs to comprehend on their own. The eighth form is different for each generation of Famous Sword Manor Master.

These sword techniques and mental cultivation methods are not usually visible; they only become apparent when powerful internal energy is infused into the blades of the eight swords. This was actually to prevent the successors of the Famous Sword Manor from practicing them with impure skills, which could cause great harm. In the end, it became a kind of "anti-theft measure."

The descendant of the Famous Sword Manor broke into Jinling to rescue people, but ultimately failed and died. His eight precious swords were divided up by the Japanese officers who led the group. However, since they did not know martial arts and had no internal strength, they could not discover the secrets on the swords. They simply regarded the eight precious swords as some strange Central Plains weapons and collected them as spoils of war.

But now, the secret of the eight swords has finally been discovered.

According to the phone call he overheard from the exhibition organizer, one of the main purposes of that sword exhibition was to collect the precious swords from his Famous Sword Manor. So it wouldn't be a bad thing if another woman appeared who wanted to collect all the swords.

As the saying goes: One should not have the heart to harm others, but one should not be without the heart to guard against others.

Yi Tianxun is an upright person with his own morals and principles, which can be seen from the fact that he returned the rapier. However, he is not foolish enough to assume that others are like him. When you are out and about, it is always better to think of outsiders in a negative light.

Over the years, he secretly investigated the whereabouts of the eight swords, and after many hardships, he finally found four of them. Although he had been as careful as possible, he was not sure if he had exposed himself and attracted the attention of those with ulterior motives.

We must speed up the process of collecting the swords!

Yi Tianxun said this to himself.

The more people who know the secret of the eight swords, the more people will join the fight for them. He must collect all eight swords as soon as possible and then take them with him back to Japan.

So when Yi Tianxun saw the Purple Lightning Sword in the newspaper, he decided to participate in the sword competition almost without hesitation.

I am determined to have the Purple Lightning Sword!

At the same time, Li Xin was practicing his sword on the rooftop.

He proposed the sword fighting competition, and he also wanted to participate.

It is not yet certain whether the masked man will actually participate in the sword fighting competition, so he will participate as a precaution.

Although Lai Sheng Lei set an age limit for the sword competition, only accepting participants under the age of thirty, and even offering no rewards other than the Purple Lightning Sword, it was purely aimed at the descendants of the Famous Sword Manor. However, it was hard to guarantee that no one would be bored and want to cause trouble. Therefore, Li Xin had to improve his swordsmanship to defeat those opponents who coveted the Purple Lightning Sword.

If the masked man hadn't appeared, he would have won the match in the masked man's place and saved the Purple Lightning Sword for him.

If the masked men come... then let's have another showdown!

Li Xin had only gained the upper hand in his previous fight with the masked man because of the power of the Glazed Sword. In terms of actual swordsmanship, his skill was far inferior to that of the masked man. However, during the swordsmanship competition, all contestants would have to use wooden swords provided by the organizers. In other words, Li Xin would no longer be able to take advantage of the Glazed Sword's power.

Of course, he was destined to lose, so it didn't seem to matter if he couldn't beat them. But the problem was that Li Xin was also a young man, and young people are bound to be impetuous.

It is completely different to be able to win but give the victory to the opponent than to lose and have to hand over the Purple Lightning Sword!

Previously, Li Xin was constrained by the "Wedding Dress Divine Skill" and always felt that his life was coming to an end, so he didn't have time to care about those things. But now that his life has been extended, his competitive spirit has gradually emerged.

Moreover, Li Xin was also very eager to see just how exquisite the swordsmanship of the renowned Sword Manor, which was said to be unparalleled in the world, truly was!

I felt my swordsmanship had greatly improved after only learning the sword techniques of the Purple Lightning Sword and the White Jade Sword. So, as the successor of the Famous Sword Manor, that masked man must have learned all eight styles of the Famous Sword. What level has his swordsmanship reached?

Li Xin felt unsatisfied in their previous encounter, and he guessed that his opponent felt the same way. So this time, he would take advantage of the sword competition to learn from the master swordsman of the Famous Sword Manor!

Because he feared that the descendants of the Meiken Villa would not see it, Kisei Rui spared no expense in promoting the sword competition, letting everyone in Tokyo know that such a sword competition would be held in a few days.

Therefore, Yi Tianxun and Li Xin were not the only people interested in this swordplay.

"Oh, a swordsmanship competition? The prize is an ancient sword? That sounds interesting!"

A boy dressed in a sloppy martial arts uniform and sporting a spiky hairstyle couldn't help but smile when he saw a flyer about a swordsmanship competition.

"Wow, such good fortune just got back to Tokyo! I get to spar with a master again, this is fantastic! But I'm so hungry, I think I'll go to Raylia's house for a free meal first!"

The boy carried a bamboo knife and walked in one direction.

On the other side, in a Japanese-style house, a burly, bald young man was constantly swinging his sword. Each swing was done with all his might, and he was covered in sweat, looking menacing.

With each swing of his sword, he would mutter to himself, "Iron sword, defeat you! Iron sword, defeat you!"

Just as the bald boy was engrossed in his practice, his older sister, a graceful and beautiful woman in a kimono, trotted into the courtyard with a flyer in hand and said to the bald boy, "Ah Meng, come quick! There's a swordsmanship competition going on. There might be some very skilled masters involved. Do you want to give it a try?"

The boy's older sister knew that her younger brother was constantly seeking powerful enemies in order to defeat his nemesis, so after seeing the flyer for the sword competition, she did not hesitate to tell her younger brother, Onimaru Takeshi, the good news.

Sure enough, when Onimaru heard about the swordsmanship competition, his sword-wielding became even more vigorous. He said, "I understand, sister. I will participate."

Swordsmanship training is useless if you just practice hard; you can only improve by sparring with strong opponents. Swordsmanship competitions, right? I really hope to encounter more masters!

As publicity for the sword competition continued to spread, people not only in Tokyo, but also in other parts of Japan gradually learned about the competition, including even those in the Kansai region who have a long-standing feud with the Kanto region.

In the Kansai region of Kyoto, at the dojo of the "Kami-Nari-ryu" school, a young woman dressed in a white kendo robe holds her sword in a drawing-slash motion. A small bird lands on a bamboo stake in front of her, chirping softly.

Suddenly, the young woman drew her sword and cleaved the bamboo stake vertically in two from top to bottom.

The little bird suddenly lost its footing, and it flapped its wings helplessly, feeling as if something had just passed over it, yet it also seemed like nothing had...

Applause rang out, and a young girl walked over, looking at the white-clad female swordsman with admiration, and said to her, "Sister, your swordsmanship has become even more exquisite!"

The white-clad female swordsman smiled slightly and said, "It's still a long way off."

The girl said enviously, "I really hope that one day I can have the same swordsmanship as my sister."

"Yes, Motoko. Your talent is no less than mine. As long as you work hard, you can definitely do it."

The white-clad female swordsman smiled.

Suddenly remembering something, the girl said to the white-clad female swordsman, "By the way, sister, I found this on the road. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

The white-clad female swordsman took a flyer from the girl's hand, skipping over the other content, and was immediately drawn to the purple lightning sword on the flyer: "This is... Purple Lightning?"

Taking a deep breath, the white-clad female swordsman slowly said, "It seems that I really have no choice but to go to this swordsmanship competition..."

Chapter Ninety-Eight Insurance

(The first four chapters have been revised. To avoid reading difficulties, you can download them again for reading.)

A few days later, the fencing competition was held as scheduled in a stadium in downtown Tokyo.

Because the promotional efforts reached almost every corner of Tokyo, not only were there a lot of participants signing up, but there were also a lot of people coming to watch the competition. In fact, if the competition hadn't been scheduled for a weekday, there would probably have been even more participants and spectators.

Watching the grand sword competition, Li Xin couldn't help but say, "Little Lei, you'll have to spend money again this time."

He had thought this would be a very small swordsmanship competition, but judging from the current situation, it's almost as big as Athena Asamiya's concert.

How much would it cost to host such a swordsmanship competition?

Li Xin felt he owed too many tears in his next life.

The initial purpose of the sword fighting competition was to find the masked man and exchange his sword for the rapier. However, the rapier man has now returned the sword himself, and Kisei Rui has also replaced the jewel on the sword with the one belonging to Michael Heinz. Therefore, the real purpose of this sword fighting competition is still to find the masked man and return the three swords to him. Kisei Rui will not gain any benefit from this.

Laishenglei insisted on holding the sword competition, saying that she didn't want to owe the descendants of Mingjian Villa anything, but Li Xin knew that Laishenglei was doing it more to help him.

Lai Sheng Lei smiled and said, "It's alright. I've secured sponsorships from seven companies for this competition. As long as the competition is exciting enough and generates enough buzz, the advertising revenue afterward will cover the cost of hosting the competition and buying those two swords. There might even be more."

Li Xin: "..."

All I can say is that Lai Sheng Lei's ability to turn something that costs money into something that makes money is something he will never learn in this lifetime.

Of course, Li Xin knew that Lai Sheng Lei's purpose in saying this was mainly to put his mind at ease, but it felt really good to be cared for so meticulously.

No wonder the village chief said, "A woman three years older than you is like holding a gold brick," and that Lai Sheng Lei is "two gold bricks." This feeling of being taken care of so meticulously is something you can't experience when you're with girls your own age.

At this moment, Lai Sheng Ai peeked into the lounge and said to Li Xin, "Brother Xin... Ah, Big Sister is here too. Brother Xin, the competition is about to start, you can leave now!"

Li Xin nodded and said to Lai Shenglei, "Then I'll go ahead."

"Be careful."

Laisheng Lei told Li Xin that this sword competition had attracted many people, with hundreds of people signing up to participate. Laisheng Lei dared not say what kind of masters were among them.

"I will."

Li Xin said to the next life with tears in his eyes.

The first event was the elimination rounds. Perhaps because the Japanese are too idle, they want to get involved in everything. The number of people who signed up for the swordsmanship competition far exceeded expectations. As a result, the organizers had no choice but to add an elimination round in addition to the official competition.

In the knockout stage, the stadium was divided into eight areas, with one match held in each area, for a total of eight matches to select players for the official tournament. Each match was limited to three minutes; if the time was exceeded, the winner could only be determined by the referee.

Because it's an unrestricted swordsmanship competition, it doesn't have a scoring system like regular kendo competitions, nor does it require protective gear. Victory is determined by knocking the opponent's sword away, knocking the opponent out of bounds, or knocking the opponent down. This makes it much more interesting for the audience than those kendo competitions where the stakes are low. This is why this relatively unknown competition can attract so many viewers.

Li Xin was standing in one of the eight competition areas of the stadium when he suddenly felt a blinding gaze. He turned his head and quickly found the source of the gaze.

Yi Tianxun looked at Li Xin calmly, his deep and sharp eyes leaving a deep impression on Li Xin.

That's him.

Li Xin quickly confirmed that Yi Tianxun was the masked man from before.

In the contestants' stands, a female swordsman in white looked at Li Xin and Yi Tianxun, who were both standing on the field, pointed at them, and said to the girl beside her, "Suzi, what do you think? Should we, the two sisters, each take one of them?"

She originally came to Tokyo from Kyoto for the Purple Lightning Sword, which was the prize for winning the swordsmanship competition, but now it seems that she has encountered something more worthy of her attention than the Purple Lightning Sword.

"what?"

Motoko Aoyama had several question marks on her forehead, unable to understand what her older sister was saying.

Don't you want it?

Aoyama Motoko's older sister, Aoyama Tsuruko, said with a regretful look, "Won't that just benefit other people? Damn it, why can't a woman marry two men at the same time? Both of them are so handsome, it's so hard to choose!"

Motoko Aoyama stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what her older sister was saying: "Sister, isn't your dream to become the greatest swordsman of the 'Kamimei-ryu'? How could you think about something like this!"

"No, my ideal is to get married and retire, but I haven't found someone I like yet. I didn't expect to meet two all at once. I'm so conflicted!"

"I am troubled," said Aoyama Tsuruko.

"what!"

Motoko Aoyama was shocked; this was not the sister she knew!

At this moment, preparations for the second round of elimination matches had begun. Urged by the competition staff, Aoyama Tsuruko handed her sword to Aoyama Motoko and said, "Take my 'Shisui' and I'm going up to compete."

After a pause, Aoyama Tsuruko smiled and said, "Speaking of which, as I fight my way up, will I run into those two? What if some sparks fly... Hmm, then I'll have to hand over 'Shisui' to you!"

"Huh?"

Motoko Aoyama was shocked twice.

She was indeed envious of her sister's famous sword "Shisui," but the problem was that she had never thought of owning it, much less that she would own "Shisui" in this way!

After the first round of the elimination tournament, both Li Xin and Yi Tianxun knocked the wooden swords out of their opponents' hands with a single sword strike. Neither of them even used internal force; they simply ended the battle with a casual wave of their hands. In a competition with hundreds of participants, it was impossible for all of them to be experts. The majority of the participants considered themselves experts, so this result was not surprising.

After leaving the competition venue, Yi Tianxun took the initiative to approach Li Xin.

"You used the Purple Lightning Sword as the prize for the competition to lure me here, didn't you?"

Yi Tian inquired about Li Xindao's teachings.

"Yes."

Li Xin replied.

What is the purpose?

Yi Tian asked.

Li Xin pondered for a moment, then finally asked, "Do you know Senior Zhen Yuanzhai?"

Without hesitation, Yi Tianxun replied, "Of course, I've heard of the most senior and experienced elder in the Central Plains martial arts world. What is your relationship with him?"

"I suppose I've received some favors from him."