Chapter 116: A Feast of Betrayal, A Single Sword Duel

Chapter 116: A Feast of Betrayal, A Single Sword Duel

After a dozen exchanges, Lu Heng could confirm that the opponent, Hideyoshi Tsugawa, had indeed reached the Intention Level in swordsmanship.

This was far superior to his skill three years ago.

As they were sparring with wooden swords, neither of them was using their full strength.

If they did, a single full-force strike would shatter the wooden blades.

Thus, both participants fought in a point-scoring manner, refraining from lethal moves, aiming only to strike their opponent's vital areas.

Even so, their sword skills were evident.

After several rounds, Lu Heng had probed and estimated Tsugawa's strength.

Tsugawa's level was indeed high, at least 22, with an Agility attribute of over 55.

His Strength attribute was uncertain, as neither had gone all out, opting for a restrained approach, making it impossible to gauge their true strength.

However, with an Agility of 55, even if his Strength was slightly lower, it would still be above 50.

Lu Heng's Agility attribute could suppress his opponent, but this point-scoring competition was a new experience for him, leaving him at a slight disadvantage in terms of familiarity.

As a result, the match was evenly matched.

The more Lu Heng fought, the more composed he became, having gauged his opponent's strength, which boosted his confidence.

Whether in terms of attributes or swordsmanship, he was not inferior, and even in an area he was less skilled in, he could handle it with ease.

If it were a direct life-or-death battle, he would be even more confident.

Hideyoshi Tsugawa, on the other hand, grew more anxious as the fight progressed, for he could see that Lu Heng was much younger, at least a decade younger than him.

But during their clash, he discovered something astonishing.

"Have you reached the Intention Level in swordsmanship?"

"Not long ago."

In fact, Lu Heng had also realized that Tsugawa had only recently attained the Intention Level, as they could predict each other's movements and techniques during their sparring.

In terms of pure swordsmanship, they were evenly matched, but when age was factored in, the gap widened.

Tsugawa had started learning Ryugaku Shindo Swordsmanship at a young age, began competing at 20, and had been doing so for almost a decade. It wasn't until he was 30 that he won a championship and became one of the top ten swordsmen in Japan.

He is currently the leading master of Ryugaku Shindo in Japan and is revered as a deity in the Japanese swordsmanship community.

However, despite his numerous accolades, he was now evenly matched with a relatively unknown young man from Xia Country.

This was a significant blow to Tsugawa.

As a result, he became more aggressive, and his eagerness led to openings in his defense.

Seizing the opportunity, Lu Heng executed the Cloud Piercing technique, transforming it into the Swallow Turn, and scored two consecutive hits on Tsugawa's vital areas, earning two points.

In a battle between experts, a two-point lead was significant.

With Lu Heng's strength, if this were an actual competition, he could easily secure victory by focusing on defense.

Tsugawa's eyes narrowed, and he intensified his attacks, causing the wooden swords to collide with a loud "Bang, bang, bang."

As he exerted more force, the wooden swords finally gave way, shattering simultaneously with a loud "Bang."

Lu Heng retreated with a leap, glanced at the broken wooden sword, and smiled, asking, "Does this settle the score?"

If the match ended now, Lu Heng would indeed be the winner, having scored two points.

However, if they were following competition rules, the time limit had not been reached, and it was up to Tsugawa to decide the next move.

Kenji Kino had been observing the match but, not being a swordsman himself, he could tell who was winning from Tsugawa's demeanor.

His expression darkened, and with a cold snort, he turned and left.

Lu Heng noticed Kino's departure but was slightly disappointed that he didn't leave behind the Mental Resistance Ring.

However, as Tsugawa had not conceded, Lu Heng decided to give him a chance to catch up.

Tsugawa's eyes turned cold, and he drew a gleaming katana from thin air, saying, "Let's switch to real blades for the second half. Are you up for it?"

Lu Heng, who was not accustomed to Japanese wooden swords, saw no reason to back down when his opponent was ready to get serious. He, too, drew his Aurora Blade from the void.

Both parties switched weapons and clashed once more.

Clang!

The first clash of metal rang out, causing Lu Heng's blood to boil.

This was the real test, a full-force, no-holds-barred battle, a thrilling contest.

Clang!

Their blades collided again.

Lu Heng's excitement grew as he unleashed the full potential of his Seven-Segment Sword Step technique.

The previous wooden swords were inadequate for executing the powerful moves of this style.

Clang! Clang! Clang...

As Lu Heng's offense intensified, Tsugawa felt the pressure mounting, and with Lu Heng's Agility of 62 surpassing his own 55, the disparity became more evident.

Every time Lu Heng made a move, it was so fast that Hideyoshi Tsugawa couldn't dodge, and he could only block with his katana.

Using the katana to block made it difficult to counterattack.

Therefore, after switching to his real sword, Lu Heng's offense became several times more ferocious than before, forcing Hideyoshi to focus on defense, with barely three chances to counterattack.

Lu Heng's excitement grew with each strike, and his swordsmanship proficiency continued to improve during the battle.

[After displaying swordsmanship in combat, gaining insight, swordsmanship proficiency +1]



After several clashes of blades, Lu Heng also tested Hideyoshi's strength attribute, which was around 51 points.

Lu Heng's current strength attribute was 49 points, slightly lower by 2 points, but his agility was 62 points, 7 points higher than Hideyoshi.

Thus, Lu Heng's incredibly high agility allowed him to launch lightning-fast attacks, pressing Hideyoshi to the point of exhaustion.

If not for his slightly higher strength attribute, he would have been overwhelmed long ago.

Lu Heng's excitement grew with each strike, while Hideyoshi's face turned grim.

Kenji Ono had a clear purpose in inviting Lu Heng this time.

He wanted Hideyoshi to use his strength to subdue Lu Heng, making him agree to give up two team slots to protect the person behind Hideyoshi.

The current situation was a bit embarrassing, with Hideyoshi being dominated, and if this continued, he would undoubtedly lose.

This meant that Kenji Ono's invitation today would have failed.

Hideyoshi's eyes darkened, and a red light flashed through them, as his power suddenly erupted, and his offense intensified, increasing from less than 30% to 50%.

Moreover, Lu Heng felt a special pressure, as if his soul was being watched by something terrifying.

This feeling wasn't new to Lu Heng, so he quickly realized that the other party had used an Essence skill, and it was the 1st-tier job change [Ronin]'s Essence skill [Chosha].

This Essence skill allowed him to mark a target as a Chosha target, launching fierce attacks with significantly increased speed and intensity.

Not only that, but this Essence skill could also lock onto the Chosha target, allowing him to sense the target's location even with his eyes closed.

In other words, even if the target used an invisibility ability, they couldn't escape from Chosha.

Seeing that Hideyoshi had used an Essence skill, this had already exceeded the original scope of the swordsmanship test.

During the previous test, both sides had only used swordsmanship without any skills.

Using skills would have defeated the purpose of the sword test.

Moreover, the other party had directly used Chosha, and his eyes were filled with determination.

This meant a fight to the death.

Not only that, but the people in the courtyard began to move.

The courtyard, which originally had many maids in kimonos, was now empty, with not a single person in sight.

Kenji Ono had also disappeared without a trace.

This was clearly a sign of a planned assassination, and the next step would likely involve gunmen.

However, Hideyoshi hadn't lost yet, and it hadn't reached that point.

As expected from the beginning, this was indeed a Feast of Hua Gate.

Kenji Ono had set up a Feast of Hua Gate, and Lu Heng's performance was no less than a single-handed confrontation.

Since the situation had escalated, it was time to fight.

After using the Essence ability Chosha, Hideyoshi's sword speed increased dramatically, even surpassing Lu Heng's.

As expected of an Essence ability, it forcefully closed the 7-point agility gap, gaining the upper hand.

With the Essence skill unleashed, Hideyoshi no longer held back.

After a clash of blades, Lu Heng leaped backward, and Hideyoshi flipped his palm, throwing three shurikens with the skill [Dando Hishizuki].

The three shurikens spun, drawing three arcs and flying towards Lu Heng's vital points from different directions.

Hideyoshi simultaneously charged forward, thrusting his sword towards Lu Heng's chest.

This sword thrust, combined with the three shurikens, seemed like four simultaneous attacks in an instant.

With the boost of Chosha, Hideyoshi was confident that no one in the world could block this deadly move.

Just as this killing blow was about to succeed...

Lu Heng activated the skill [Bullet Time].

In an instant, the surroundings slowed down, and even the sweat droplets flicked from his forehead during the leap were clearly visible.

Under Bullet Time, Lu Heng sidestepped the first shuriken, then quickly snapped his fingers to deflect the second shuriken, and finally caught the third shuriken.

At the same time, Hideyoshi's Ryugaku Shindo deadly sword thrust reached his front.

Lu Heng blocked with his sword, sliding the blade along the katana's body and deflecting it before swinging his sword horizontally, aiming for his opponent's chest.

Tsukasa Hideyoshi, a master of Intentional-level swordsmanship, made a last-minute adjustment as he slashed horizontally, leaning back and letting the sword swipe past his head, cutting off a lock of his hair.

Tsukasa thought he had narrowly avoided the counterattack, but Lu Heng, without even turning around, swung his left hand behind him.

Pfft!

The thrown shuriken that Lu Heng caught flew backward, piercing Tsukasa's back.

Tsukasa grunted and immediately turned around, his eyes filled with shock.

He couldn't believe that his supposedly deadly combination of shuriken and Shindo-style killing move had been countered, and that Lu Heng had even caught the shuriken to stab him in the back.

Despite being opponents, Lu Heng had to admit that this battle was exhilarating.

However, the exhilarating fight was coming to an end.

A group of gunmen with rifles rushed into the courtyard, surrounding the entire area.

Tsukasa's face was filled with anger as he shouted at the intruders, "Get out!"

He was still unwilling to accept defeat and wanted to continue the fight.

Lu Heng didn't mind continuing the bout, as this battle had already increased his sword proficiency by 152 points, a much faster rate than his usual training.

The gunmen surrounding the courtyard didn't retreat, but they also didn't fire, indicating that they were waiting for something.

...

On the other side.

Kenji Kino buttoned up his suit jacket, walked out of the estate, and got into a sedan.

His personal bodyguard, Keiko Kanada, also got into the back seat of the car, preparing to leave.

One of his men approached the car, leaned in through the window, and asked, "What should we do about Tsukasa Hideyoshi's refusal to withdraw?"

Kenji's face darkened as he replied, "Let him fight until he's satisfied. I thought the top ten swordsmen were formidable, but even a young upstart like Lu Heng can't be contained. We can't let him live. If he doesn't know when to back down, we'll send him to meet the King of Hell. He must die here today."

"Yes, sir!" The subordinate bowed in response.

The car window rolled up, and the sedan's engine started, slowly leaving the estate.

Just as they exited the estate's main gate, a gunshot rang out.

Bang! The car shook, and a bullet hole appeared in the bulletproof glass.

Immediately, a scream came from the back seat, "The President's been shot! Help! Someone, quick!"

The black-suited bodyguards surrounding the car panicked, drawing their guns and surrounding the vehicle.

"Sniper! We have a sniper!"

The group of black-suited bodyguards aimed their guns in all directions, but they couldn't locate the sniper.

Suddenly, a flash of fire appeared inside the car.

Kenji's skill, Tetsudaimaneku, activated, turning him into a burning paper puppet.

Keiko quickly pulled Kenji under the seat to avoid further sniper attacks.

Tetsudaimaneku could avoid one fatal attack, but the injury remained.

As a result, Kenji was shot in the right chest, sustaining a severe injury.

Keiko was about to tell the driver to drive when her sensory ability detected something falling from the sky. She immediately shouted, "Something's falling from above! Shoot it down!"

The black-suited bodyguards looked up, but they couldn't see anything.

One of the bodyguards quickly raised his hand and cast the skill Genno Kessen Shinji towards the sky.

A cluster of stardust-like energy shot upwards, revealing the shape of a reconnaissance eagle.

Clutched in the eagle's claws was a bomb, plummeting downward.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

The eagle became visible, and the black-suited bodyguards fired continuously, hitting the bomb.

Boom!

The bomb exploded ten meters in the air, shaking the ground and causing the bodyguards to fall.

The car also shook, but the bulletproof armor protected the occupants from injury.

Keiko hurriedly urged the driver, "Quick! To the hospital! To Eikan Private Hospital!"

The car restarted and sped out of the estate, heading towards Eikan Private Hospital.

The estate's bodyguards also got into their cars, preparing to follow to the hospital.

At that moment, two cars sped up to the estate's main gate. The doors opened, and seven of Lin Zeyu's trusted men got out, using the car doors as cover. They fired their guns, engaging the estate's bodyguards in a gunfight.

Both sides were now fully engaged in a deadly shootout.

Lin Zeyu, positioned on a distant water tower, sniped and killed five of Kenji's bodyguards. Seeing that his side had gained the upper hand in the estate's gunfight, he immediately put away his sniper rifle and went to pursue Kenji.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end