The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 488 Juggernaut
【万象】, An Qisheng's profound observation.

Now it is Li Miao's Xuanlan, one of them.

Two years ago, during the battle of the capital, Li Miao wasn't very skilled at using his protective true energy to manifest externally. But after two years of practice, he can now easily create and use weapons.

However, his "effortless" approach was seen as "shocking" by others.

Tsukahara Bokuden was first astonished at where the sword cry came from, then looked toward Li Miao's right hand in the direction of the sound. When he sensed that the airflow was abruptly cut off there, his pupils suddenly contracted.

"sword?"

The protective true energy was ethereal and invisible, so much so that even Li Miao, who had just begun fighting An Qisheng, could not detect it, let alone Tsukahara Bokuden.

"It is formless and intangible. If it weren't for the wind, I wouldn't even be able to detect its existence... Even now, I can't discern its length, width, or weight..."

"It's really a good idea!"

"If he is a swordsman of equal skill to me, then I can only defend with this first strike... at least I need to find out what kind of sword he has!"

Tsukahara Bokusen's sword tip shifted slightly, pointing to the lower left.

Unexpectedly, Li Miao suddenly let out a sneer.

"What, you don't think I'm trying to take advantage of you like this, do you?"

With a flick of his wrist, countless scale-like layers suddenly appeared on the transparent, standard-issue longsword. The firelight in the stone chamber refracted, outlining the shape of the longsword.

"Come."

Before the words were even finished, a gust of wind suddenly arose!
Huangfu Hui's vision blurred, and Tsukahara Bokuden was already in front of Li Miao. The Japanese sword fell straight down, but disappeared when it was only a foot above Li Miao's head. It reappeared at Li Miao's side, curling upwards diagonally!

Katori Shinto-ryu - Omote Tachi.

The attack, which appeared to be powerful and heavy, actually contained three-tenths of its strength. The upward slash completely blocked Li Miao's right-hand sword attack route, ready to block at any time.

Tsukahara Bokuden's eyes were calm and unwavering as he locked onto Li Miao.

"No action?"

"Is it a technique similar to the 'cutting down' of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school, where the sword is blocked and neutralized only when it reaches the opponent's face, or—is there something strange about that sword?"

In the blink of an eye, the blade was less than three inches from Li Miao's side.

But at that moment, it suddenly stopped.

clang! ——

The sound waves reverberated outwards.

The longsword in Li Miao's hand, imbued with true qi, had somehow been turned upside down and held in reverse, its blade used to block the blade's edge.

"The Songshan Sword Technique, Swallow Returns and Wind Turns."

Li Miao smiled.

Before he finished speaking, Tsukahara Fukuden had already changed his move. His katana climbed along the blade of the sword, and when it reached the tip, his forearm muscles suddenly bulged. He then used the katana to slice horizontally and forcefully "pushed" the longsword off.

The blade then climbed up the sword's edge, slicing towards Li Miao's fingers.

Katori Shinto style - Ranqu!
Li Miao smiled and twirled his arm, his longsword flashing in the air.

"Wudang, Tai Chi sword, dusting off in the wind."

Swords clashed, sparks flew.

Tsukahara Bokuden felt as if the Japanese sword in his hand was a bird caught in a storm, or a moth stuck in a spider web, unable to break free from the blade, and could only tumble and roll with Li Miao's movements.

Li Miao even had time to speak.

"Speaking of which, just the day before yesterday, I fought with a Japanese man. His martial arts skills weren't anything special, but the first strike he delivered made me underestimate its power."

"It's just that his level of understanding is too low and his foundation is too weak, so he couldn't see anything. But when you just took that stance, it seemed like I saw something."

As he spoke, Li Miao suddenly raised his hand!

The swords and blades all pointed upwards, flipping over their heads.

"When you first got into that stance, it looked like you were going to cleave vertically, right... Come on, cleave it and let me see."

"If you don't show me your true skills, I might just—kill you!"

Tsukahara Bokuden's eyes remained calm and still.

After only three moves, he understood—this man was the most formidable opponent he had ever faced. The martial arts of the Central Plains were not as weak as he had previously thought; he simply hadn't encountered a true master who had reached the pinnacle of their abilities.

When facing such a formidable enemy, we must never let emotions cloud our judgment.

In terms of technique alone, he is no match for Li Miao.

But if you think that Japanese swordsmen only know how to slash horizontally and vertically, you're wrong!

Tsukahara Bokuden's expression and gaze remained unchanged, but his heart felt as if it were being scorched by a raging fire, burning his spirit into molten iron that flowed down his arm into his longsword.

“Okay,” he said.

call--

As he uttered "Good," the candlelight in the stone chamber flickered suddenly. It was as if a gentle breeze had suddenly swept through the airtight stone chamber.

Huangfu Hui, who was sitting to the side, suddenly felt a blur before her eyes.

The stone chamber, the corpse, and the woman's wailing outside the door all vanished.

All that could be seen was the slowly descending blade.

The blade no longer resembled steel; instead, it was like a wisp of morning mist, drifting down without a trace of killing intent.

Katori Shinto-ryu, Jiden - Kasumi.

clang! ! !
Huangfu Hui suddenly woke up with a start, instinctively covering her ears, rolling around a few times, and when she raised her hand again, it was covered in blood.

Looking up again, there was no morning mist or breeze.

Only Li Miao, wielding his sword in a horizontal slash, and Tsukahara Fukuden, whose katana was deflected by immense force.

"That's interesting. It's like a silent vision, but it's not an illusion."

"To be honest, it's as if the object you were visualizing was projected onto this strike, and the two complement each other, greatly amplifying the power of this strike."

"Is this a branch of Jizhao's teachings that spread in Japan, or something else?"

Li Miao stepped forward and launched a fierce attack with his sword.

"Anything else? Show me a few more moves!"

Tsukahara Bokuden replied in a deep voice.

"As you wish."

The Japanese sword and the longsword clashed several times, their sword energy slicing deep grooves into the stone wall.

A sword aura fell silently, and Huangfu Hui, who was standing to the side, was unable to dodge in time. She was cut in half at the waist, and her upper body fell to the ground and crawled a few times before finally getting her wish and dying.

At this point, no one paid any attention to him anymore.

Whether it was Tsukahara Bokuden, who was the strongest enemy he had ever encountered, or Li Miao, who intrigued him again two years later, he would not care about a mere Huangfu Hui.

In the midst of the fight, Tsukahara Fukuden suddenly retreated, his left hand gripping his waist, and his right hand tucking the Japanese sword into the tiger's mouth of his left hand, as if returning a long sword to its sheath.

next moment.

Li Miao, who was following in his footsteps, suddenly felt a blur before her eyes.

It was as if a crescent moon had suddenly risen before him, its light momentarily dazzling him and causing his vision to blur for a fleeting instant.

In that instant, Tsukahara Hakuden drew his sword!

Katori Shinto-ryu, Jiden - Tsukikage.

The blade traced a crescent moon, its light resembling moonlight as it fell upon Li Miao.

This wasn't his strongest strike.

But it was the strike that killed the most enemies.

Tsukahara Bokuden no longer saw Li Miao, only the darkness of night, and he was about to shatter that darkness by wielding the crescent moon in his hand—just as he had done countless times before.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Because the darkness in his eyes moved.

Not only did it move, but it also began to crush the crescent moon in his hand.

The moonlight was crushed.

The blade shattered as well, and the night swept in, devouring his fingers, forearm, shoulder, and chest.

Before his vision blurred, he heard what the night spoke.

"It seems like you don't have anything new to say. And these few moves of yours only have the spirit but no form. They don't seem like self-realization. Instead, they seem like you learned some superficial things from someone and are using them."

"In that case, I won't keep you any longer."

"Once I get to Dengzhou, I'll personally take a trip to Japan. Aside from a lackey like you, there should be other adversaries in Japan worth a visit, right?"

Tsukahara Fukuden closed his eyes.

He murmured weakly.

"I am the Sword Saint Tsukahara Bokuden, not the 'minion' you speak of..."

Then, his head was flipped up and ripped to pieces by a longsword that moved haphazardly like a stick.

(End of this chapter)