I formed the strongest swordsman group

The man in black's voice was hoarse and old, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other.

Black clothes, black hakama, black socks and black face scarf, except for the straw sandals on the feet and the bamboo hat on the head, there is no part of the clothes on the body that is not black.

The short and wide brim of the hat covered half of the man in black's face, and the other half of his face was covered by a black veil, with only a pair of eyes exposed.

I can't see his face clearly... I can only vaguely discern that this person is neither fat nor thin, and he is tall and tall, about 1.7 meters tall.

——When did this guy... appear behind me...

Thinking of this, a drop of cold sweat appeared on Qingdeng's forehead.

I obviously have the gift of "wind perception" to enhance my hearing, and my keen perception ability honed through countless life-and-death struggles... But I didn't hear the footsteps of the man in black appearing and approaching.

"who are you?"

While Qingdeng asked in a deep voice, he slowly tightened the five fingers of his right hand, holding the handle of the ghost-fixing knife.

"Who am I... This kind of thing doesn't matter."

A hoarse, old voice came out from behind the black veil.

"You can regard me as... a challenger who wants to compete with you because you have heard about the name and deeds of 'Nioh'."

"Challenger...?"

Qingdeng glanced at the wooden knife in the man in black's hand.

Indeed, he didn't feel the slightest bit of murderous intent from the man in black.

The other party was not a remnant of the barbarian group or any other strange person... Although this was a blessing, Qingdeng did not relax too much.

After all, the black guy in front of him is still unknown. Don't be careless.

When Qingdeng looked at the man in black, the man in black also looked at Qingdeng.

"...not bad."

The man in black raised his bamboo hat slightly, hiding under the edge of the hat was a pair of eyes as sharp as shadows and as bright as stars.

He scanned Qingdeng from head to toe with great interest, and said:

"The posture is pretty good, but the whole body is full of flaws."

"But it has a considerable degree of aura that only people who have experienced many life-and-death duels will have."

"Warriors with mediocre talents or insufficient training years should not be your opponents."

"No wonder you have been able to kill the Quartet in the past few months and have made outstanding achievements repeatedly."

"only……"

The man in black suddenly changed the subject.

"It's a bit disappointing, you don't seem to be as strong as I expected..."

After finishing speaking, the man in black slumped his shoulders, raised his right hand, and casually carried the wooden knife in his hand on his shoulder.

"In this way, I can't compete with you with a wooden knife... How about it—"

The man in black flipped his right hand, changed the wooden knife he was holding upside down, and then inserted the wooden knife with the tip down into the mud beside him.

"There is a branch with the right shape, size and hardness just at the foot."

"Just use this to replace the wooden knife."

While speaking, the man in black leaned over and picked up a dry branch on the ground at his left foot.

This branch is about 2 fingers wide and 60cm long. The trunk is bare, without any branches. Although the whole is a bit curved, it is still straight.

"It's quite handy. All right, I'll use this to fight you."

"what do you mean?"

The corners of Qingdeng's eyes trembled slightly, and his voice was low.

"You said that you came here to compete with me...Are you planning to use a branch to compete with me?"

"..."

Very abruptly... the man in black with a sharp mouth suddenly fell silent.

Qingdeng noticed two emotional and meaningful gazes, shot from under the broad brim, and focused directly on him.

Then--

Sa!

A gust of wind that seemed to blow away all the clouds in the sky and the dust in the ground struck Qingdeng from the front!

The sudden strong wind caused Qingdeng's expression to change suddenly.

However, Qingdeng soon discovered——there was no wind, everything was just his psychological effect!

It is not the "wind" that hits Qingdeng, but the incomparable "momentum" like a raging wind and waves!

This "momentum"...be it Zhou Zhu, Chiba Eijiro and Chiba Michizaburo, in short - stronger than any "momentum" that Qingdeng experienced before! And it is many times stronger!

Surrounded by this powerful "momentum" from all directions, Qingdeng suddenly had the illusion of sinking deep into the bottom of the sea and being squeezed by water pressure.

His heartbeat accelerated, his breathing became short of breath, and his head was slightly dizzy.

In order to resist this "heavy pressure", Qingdeng drew his saber in his hand only to hear a "beep", and held the ghosts and gods in front of him as if he wanted to block the powerful "momentum" with the blade.

Set up a love knife - this can give Qingdeng a sense of security and peace of mind.

"Ju Qingdeng, if you are worried that I will hurt me with a tree branch and you with a real knife, then there is no need to worry."

The man in black smiled... It's a pity that because he was wearing a face scarf, Qingdeng didn't see the smile on his face.

"But let me make a statement in advance-I don't despise you. Rather, I still admire you."

"If I remember correctly, you are only 18 years old this year, right?"

"It's really rare to be able to achieve such achievements in martial arts at such a young age."

"So—it's because I admire you that I'm going to use the branch."

"Ah?" Qingdeng couldn't help frowning... He was a little confused about the logic of the man in black's above-mentioned words.

Seeing that Qingdeng didn't understand the meaning of what he just said, the man in black had no choice but to continue:

"Your current strength is still far behind mine."

"At this stage, if I use a wooden knife to deal with you, I may not be able to hold back my strength and accidentally hack you to death."

"I don't want the talent I admire to die young because of a momentary miss."

The man in black spoke sincerely and with a sincere tone...he was not joking or mocking Qingdeng.

There was a lot of concern in his tone - concern that if he used a wooden knife, he would accidentally maim or kill Qingdeng.

If an outsider did this kind of behavior of "holding a branch and threatening to die if you don't use it", Qingdeng might be angry because he felt slighted.

But Qingdeng couldn't bear the slightest bit of resentment for the behavior of the man in black in front of him... Instead, his expression became more serious.

There is no other reason—the "silent footwork" that the man in black easily approached Qingdeng's back just now, and the "momentum" he released at the moment can stun those who are not strong-willed, all of which reveal one thing. The thing - he is a top master with extremely high attainments in martial arts!

His strength may be stronger than Boss Kiryu, Master Zhou Zhu, Eijiro Chiba, Michizaburo Chiba!

"All in all—that's it."

The man in black twisted his right shoulder vigorously, made a painful joint movement sound, and then held the sword with one hand... Ah, no, holding the branch with one hand, holding the branch in front of him in a mid-section posture.

"If you don't pay attention, it's a bit long-winded."

"Okay, Juqingdeng, come on."

"Let me see... how much real ability you have."

As soon as the man in black's voice fell, the "spirit" that pressed Qingdeng suddenly changed.

Become more solid and full of oppression!

Having seen the various methods of the man in black, Qing Deng dared not be careless in his heart.

He took a deep breath, tensed his nerves, and gripped the handle of the knife as if he was trying to wring oil out of the roll.

In the talent list, entries such as "Gudan" and "Focus on God" all emit a golden light that symbolizes "activating".

In just a moment, Qingdeng's strength and physical condition were adjusted to the best condition under the blessing of these talents.

Qing Deng stared at the man in black without blinking.

Who is this man in black who suddenly blocked the way to find him to discuss with him? This kind of matter can only be left to a later study.

Now focus on the battle in front of you!

Qingdeng was thinking about whether he would adopt the conservative style of "defense firmly and slowly observe the movements and moves of the man in black", or the aggressive style of "actively attacking and forcing the man in black to use his moves with a violent attack". Law.

However, Qingdeng soon discovered that it was meaningless for him to think about these things.

Because in the next moment, an incredible scene appeared in front of his eyes and on him.

Snapped!

A branch hit Qing Deng hard in the chest.

The moment the branch touched Qingdeng's body, it shattered into countless pieces.

It was obvious that he was hit by a branch, but Qingdeng felt like he was hit head-on by an express train.

The power transmitted to Qingdeng along the branches turned into gusts of "air current" rushing around in Qingdeng's chest.

In front of him, where a guy in black should be standing, there is no one left, only a little dust that has been raised and has not yet fallen back to the ground.

Qingdeng looked at the man in black who suddenly appeared in front of him in astonishment, and then watched in astonishment that he was getting farther and farther away from the man in black—he was knocked into the air by a mere branch.

The whole figure flew backwards like a fired cannonball.

It's just that the branches are just branches after all, and they won't have much lethality.

Qingdeng only flew 2 steps away before falling back to the ground.

"Cough...cough cough...!"

Feeling the burning pain in his chest, Qingdeng coughed violently while covering his chest with his hands.

He almost thought he could cough up blood, but in the end he only spit out colorless saliva... It seems that the injury is not serious, at least not internally injured.

Is this... the speed and power that humans can achieve?

Qingdeng opened the front of his shirt, glanced at the nearly 5-inch long red mark on his chest, which was so painful that Qingdeng couldn't help grinning even if he just blew on it, then threw his head up at the man in black. Confident gaze.

Although it only appeared for a moment, Qingdeng managed to see how he was knocked away by a tree branch by the man in black with his "Eagle Eye".

The reason is simple and not complicated.

The man in black rushed towards Qingdeng, then swung the branch from bottom to top, and slashed at Qingdeng's chest—it was that simple.

No messy tricks.

No fancy tricks.

Just relying on the incredible speed to get close to Qingdeng's body, and then use the unimaginably strong force to knock Qingdeng into the air.

If the man in black had used a real knife, then Qingdeng's body should have been split in half by now.

Although he had expected that his chances of winning would be very slim against someone of this level, but the speed with which the winner was decided was still beyond Qingdeng's expectations.

Even though his talents such as "Lonely Dan" and "Focus on God" were all fully utilized, he still lost so badly in the end.

From the moment when the man in black announced "Okay, Ju Qingdeng, come on", to when Qing Deng was sent flying... the whole process took only 5 seconds.

Not even the 10 seconds required to copy talents...

And during these 5 seconds, Qingdeng didn't even make any effective defensive moves... and Qingdeng couldn't be blamed for this.

His ears heard the crackling of branches cutting through the air.

His eyes saw long and thin afterimages that rapidly enlarged in the field of vision.

Obviously, the senses have clearly locked the position of the branch, but my body just can't react... No, I still have a little reaction.

Thanks to the muscle memory stored in his body, Qingdeng subconsciously raised his hands holding the knife to block it... But unfortunately, there is only so much Qingdeng can do.

——So strong...

After seeing Kiryu's sword-drawing technique that killed Kamaitachi in one blow, Qingdeng's world view was refreshed again after a long absence.

In this world...does such a powerful master still exist?

Feeling that the "Qi" rushing around in his chest was gradually dissipating, Qingdeng covered his chest with one hand, and with the other hand he pushed Ding Guishen into the mud beside him for support, and stood up little by little.

——If this guy attacks me again... how can I defend and counterattack?

Qingdeng stared at the man in black with his scorching eyes, concentrating on how he should counteract if the man in black launched the same attack on him again.

Seeing Qingdeng standing up so quickly and looking at him with such eyes, the man in black raised his hand and raised the hat on his head slightly.

Qingdeng saw a pair of eyes with a little calm smile.

"It seems that you have slowed down. Well, let's continue."

The man in black bent down again and picked up a new branch.

"It's a nice place with so many branches to use."

Seeing this, Qingdeng recognized that the man in black wanted to come to the second round. He quickly stepped on his feet and stabilized his sword, staring at the figure and movements of the man in black's eyes, as if the corners of his eyes were about to burst.

"I'm on."

The man in black shook the branch in his hand, and after confirming that the newly picked branch was usable, he slowly lowered his body's center of gravity, and then——

Snapped!

There was another muffled sound of a tree branch hitting someone's body...

Qingdeng, who flew upside down again, had a new slender red mark on his chest.

This new mark and the old mark are superimposed together to form a very symmetrical "X" shape.

"You're pretty solid." The man in black said, leaning down and picking up the third branch, "Is this all your ability? If your strength is only this level... then I will Really disappointed."

Before the words were finished, the person had arrived—Qingdeng saw the man in black appear in front of him at the speed of teleportation for the third time.

Then, a third red mark appeared on my chest...

Then, the man in black picked up the fourth branch...

--no! If this continues, he will be beaten like a sandbag!

Qingdeng climbed up again unrelentingly.

——I have to... find a way to counter this guy's speed...

The lines of Qingdeng's face became cold and hard because his head was contemplating.

...

This one-sided battle lasted for nearly 10 minutes.

Qingdeng failed to block the branch of the man in black even once.

The man in black's footsteps and slashing speed were extremely fast.

Each time, in the blink of an eye, his branches were already imprinted on Qingdeng's chest and shoulders - the branches of the man in black basically only greeted these two parts of Qingdeng.

The overwhelming difference in strength makes every competition end within a few seconds

The strength gap between the two sides is so great that it is impossible to even copy the talent from the other side...

Qingdeng's chest and shoulders were already flushed red at this moment—these were densely packed red marks.

Due to repeated attacks in some places, the skin and flesh have been ripped apart, and streams of blood foam are secreted from the open wounds.

There was no way to fight back, and he was beaten terribly... But even so, the way Qingdeng looked at the man in black never changed - there was no doubt or confusion... as if he didn't know what fear was at all.

——It’s still a little bit… a little bit…

Qingdeng, who had been knocked to the ground countless times, got up from the ground without even looking at his wounds.

A scrutiny-like light burst out from his slightly squinted eyes.

"...the eyes are good."

At this moment, there was an extra branch in his hand, and the man in black said lightly that he had almost picked up all the branches on this path.

"The look in your eyes reminds me of an old man who is both my best friend and my master."

"Old man?" Qingdeng couldn't help thinking to himself: how good is a person who can teach such a master?

"It's just that the good eyesight is not enough to make me feel that today's trip is worthwhile."

The syllables of the last few words of the man in black's words suddenly became extremely blurred - because before he finished speaking, the man in black swooped towards Qingdeng at an extremely fast speed! The sound was affected by the high-speed movement, and the "syllable" that was originally a few steps away from Qingdeng was suddenly pulled in front of Qingdeng.

The shadow cast by the high-lifted and falling branches covered one of Qingdeng's eyes... But Qingdeng remained indifferent, standing still with his sword in his arms.

Looking at the indifferent Qingdeng, a trace of disappointment slowly floated between the brows of the man in black.

But at this moment, a sudden change occurred!

Just when the branch in the man's hand was about to make another scar on Qingdeng's chest, Qingdeng's body suddenly dodged to the left at lightning speed!

Although it was a bit reluctant to hide, this was indeed the first time the man in black's attack failed!

The disappointment on the brows of the man in black turned into astonishment in an instant.

-Success! Predicted his sword path!

After the first round of confrontation with the man in black, Qingdeng has determined that his body cannot keep up with the speed of the man in black, and this deficiency cannot be filled by temporary efforts.

Since the body has no time to react, it can only dodge by predicting its movements!

Therefore, Qingdeng's strategy is quite clear - to rely on "anticipation" to avoid the attack of the man in black and wait for an opportunity to counterattack the opponent!

For this purpose, it is necessary to make good use of an opportunity that the man in black can take advantage of.

The man in black...or his attack method has a characteristic, which seems to be nothing to others, but to Qingdeng, it is a breakthrough that can bring him a victory.

Although the man in black used different methods and different swordsmanship to "result" him from beginning to end, his speed and strength remained unchanged.

After being beaten so many times, Qingdeng's brain and muscles were already somewhat used to the speed and offensive style of the man in black.

This guy's attack looks messy at first glance, but in essence, every attack of his is traceable, not random.

After a few rounds of simple observation, Qingdeng discovered that although the weapon the man in black wields is just a branch, there is no doubt that the way he swings the branch is all serious swordsmanship.

As long as it is swordsmanship, it will be fine.

In Qingdeng's talent list, the talent that has been upgraded to "sword skills 106 times higher than ordinary people" through talent fusion: "Sword Saint", has been shining silently since he fought with the man in black!

Qingdeng learned and digested the man in black's sword skills and sword style at a fast speed!

Relying on his mastery of the man in black's swordsmanship at the speed of light, Qingdeng finally managed to predict and dodge the opponent's branch for the first time just now!

Excitement is nothing but excitement, but Qingdeng didn't care about being happy.

While he was overjoyed in his heart, he had already swung out the Ding Guishen that was placed across his waist! Cut to the body of the man in black!

Angles, timing, all impeccable counter-attacks.

However... what happened next froze the excitement that just appeared on Qingdeng's face.

Boom!

"cough!"

Qingdeng felt a huge shock in his chest, this time he really felt like he was hit by an express train.

Just at the moment when the ghost-fixing blade was about to hit the man in black's body, a black shadow slammed into Qingdeng's chest—the man in black flew up with a kick that was miraculously fast and hit Qingdeng right in the middle. chest, directly kicked Qingdeng out.

Fortunately, the man in black saved a hand.

Even a person who doesn't know martial arts at all can see that the man in black didn't use all his strength in that kick just now.

But even so, Qingdeng still felt very uncomfortable. If he hadn't raised his hand to touch his chest to make sure that the bones were fine, otherwise he would really suspect that his sternum was broken.

Although he lost again, overall, Qingdeng has made huge progress—from not being able to last even 5 seconds under the branch of the man in black to being able to last 7 seconds.

At this time, a hoarse old male voice came:

"The dodge and counterattack just now...was pretty good."

Qingdeng, who was still suffering from severe chest pain, struggled to get up.

I saw that the man in black didn't pick up branches anymore.

With his hands on his hips, he looked at Qingdeng calmly.

Although he couldn't see the other person's face because of the mask, Qingdeng was sure: the man in black was smiling.

"Although your skills still need to be improved, the light in your eyes and your talent are indeed commendable."

The man in black stretched out the index finger and middle finger of his right hand, pointing to his eyes.

"I kind of understand why you can get the title of 'King Nio'."

After finishing speaking, the man in black paused.

He seemed to be thinking about something.

"……Fine."

After a while, the man in black turned around as if he had figured something out, walked slowly back to where he was standing just now, raised his hand and pulled back the wooden knife he had stuck on the ground.

"For the sake of you not disappointing me too much... Let's take it as a reward for you, and I'll show you something good."

I saw the man in black standing naturally in a very relaxed posture, and the wooden knife held in one hand with his right arm was slowly lifted above his head.

Thinking that the man in black was going to fight him again, Qingdeng endured the pain in his chest and staggered into a stance.

Although the gap in strength between himself and the man in black had been vividly demonstrated in the series of confrontations just now... Qingdeng raised his sword to fight again without any hesitation.

"Good stuff... you want me to show me your best moves?"

The current actions of the man in black combined with his behavior just now...Qingdeng naturally thought that the man in black was going to show off and show Qingdeng his good sword skills.

But who knows—after hearing Qingdeng's question, the man in black laughed "hahaha" as if he had heard some funny joke.

"A proud move...hahahahaha."

Under the gaze of Qingdeng's puzzled gaze, the man in black, who was slowly laughing heartily, put on a faint tone:

"What's the trick?"

"What I'm going to show you... is much more powerful than the so-called moves."

"Hold your breath and keep your eyes open."

"Don't miss a single scene of what you see next."

"Whether you can comprehend something from my sword... It all depends on your ability."

After all, the man in black closed his mouth.

And the moment the man in black stopped speaking...Qingdeng's pupils shrank to the size of pinholes because of witnessing an indescribable scene.

It might be strange to say this... But Qingdeng really had such a weird feeling: the man in black in front of him... the wooden sword in his hand seemed to be one with heaven and earth!

*****

*****

Today is another chapter of nearly 7,000 words... I found that under normal circumstances, 6-7,000 words is my limit. If I want to write 8,000 or 1W, it all depends on my physical and mental state when writing...

In view of the fact that the author coded a chapter with a lot of words and a lot of content today, let's vote for this book!

Ask for a monthly pass! Ask for a recommendation ticket! (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)

Everyone should take good precautions recently... Many of the author's friends have been recruited...

The author is a little scared... QAQ (Leopard dead.jpg)