Bang!
As everyone was momentarily mesmerized by the silhouette of the Old Soldier, Li Yan pulled the trigger without hesitation. A burst of flame erupted from the barrel, striking a member of the Red Reserve squarely in the neck!
"Vegetable Ghost Art!" Kobayakawa exclaimed in a mixture of shock and fury, as he watched the Red Reserve member collapse limply to the ground.
"Attack!"
Li Yan tossed aside the empty pistol and, gripping the Ring Dragon, charged ahead with unmatched valor.
"Play now!"
With eyes blazing red, Kobayakawa drew the katana from his waist and, with an upward strike, confronted Li Yan head-on.
Deng Tianxiong dashed forward, his fists roaring with the sound of wind and brittle grass roots, launching an assault on a Red Reserve member who was at a disadvantage due to an injured shoulder. He paid no heed to the twin arcs of red blade light slashing towards him from either side.
A Soldier cried out, hurling his Long Knife through the air; the blade whistled ominously as it spun. Deng Tianxiong, as if having eyes on his back, twisted his ankle to dodge the pincer attack of the Red Blade Light, and the whirling Long Knife struck true, colliding with the two crimson katanas!
Catching the hilt of the knife, Deng Tianxiong rolled on the ground, sweeping the blade towards the legs of the two men in a fluid motion, seamlessly coordinated with the Soldier behind him.
As the blade light neared, the two Red Reserves remained impassive, one even curling the corner of his mouth in a smirk.
"Release your grip, Tianxiong!"
...
Clang!
The moment the clear Ring Dragon Sword Blade clashed with the katana, Kobayakawa gasped in shock.
"This Ming person has tremendous strength."
The tall and lean Ming person before him radiated a Killing Qi, his eyebrows inverted like the edge of a quenched fire blade. When his blade chopped down, it seemed as oppressive as a mountain collapsing.
The Ring Dragon clashed with the katana repeatedly, the resonating sounds of their fierce battle echoing through the air. Within two breaths, Kobayakawa found himself at a disadvantage!
"Could this man be one of Great Ming's valiant warriors?"
Kobayakawa's forehead was slick with sweat, but he was not in a panic. Although he did not understand why the Vegetable Ghost Art had suddenly lost connection, the Ghost Feeding Technique was not entirely useless. After all, the Ghost Entity that Kobayakawa nurtured was not limited to the Vegetable Ghost Art alone...
With a crooked smile, he taunted, "Come on!"
Kobayakawa's expression and aura did not escape Li Yan's fleeting glance. As the katana sliced cunningly from under the arm, Li Yan's eyes flickered, and he suddenly bellowed:
"Release your grip, Tianxiong!"
With that, he placed his left arm behind him, twisted his waist to dodge the katana, and lunged towards Deng Tianxiong!
"Damn it!"
Kobayakawa was beside himself with indignation. Such actions clearly showed that the opponent did not regard him at all.
Gripping the hilt of his katana with both hands, he slightly lifted his forearm to the upper left. Four pitch-black infants with vacant expressions climbed onto Kobayakawa's shoulders from behind. Ordinary Soldiers might not notice, only sensing that the man's aura had suddenly turned dark and obscure, as if emanating from the underworld.
"You will regret this!"
Black Infant's scream pierced the air as his katana was dyed a pure black. With a swoosh that was even faster than Li Yan under the Hook Star State, the blade descended upon Yan with a ferocity that outmatched the former by a fraction.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Li Yan twisted his torso mid-air, the howling cold wind brushing past his ears, as the malevolence in his eyes intensified in a flash.
Turning his head to the right and squatting to the left, he switched the Ring Dragon Sword Blade from his right hand to his left. With a flip from behind his back, he thrust it forward, executing a maneuver as swift as the Returning Horse Spear.
The Mother Sword Frame Battle's Twenty-Four Forms, The Azure Dragon Bends its Head!
A masterful calculation!
A chill went down Kobayakawa's spine as he realized he had fallen for Li Yan's trap. It was too late to withdraw his sword; the Ring Dragon Han Sword, stretching over a meter three in length, roared towards his Facial Gate.
At the brink of life and death, he curled his tongue, uttering a bizarre syllable. Four black malevolent infants with contorted faces and bleeding orifices suddenly bared their fine, sharp teeth and leaped at Li Yan with a bite.
Sneer!
The sword's tip pierced through the skull of a woman clad in white with black hair, while the four hideous infants materialized, already upon Li Yan.
"ROAR!!!"
Kobayakawa, who had somehow reached the wall, spat out a mouthful of blood with a sneer. The roar of the Strange Beast seemed to tread through the desolation of ancient times, bringing with it an unparalleled ferocity that surged into his mind.
The malevolent infants fell to the ground with a splat, convulsing all over, and soon dissipated into black smoke that returned to Kobayakawa's side.
Li Yan, aside from the Hook Star, was now in his second permanent state.
Ferocious! (All Ghosts Retreat)
Capture the king first to capture the thieves!
Li Yan shook off his Long Sword, disregarding the trembling Vegetable Ghost Art before him, and charged towards Kobayakawa.
...
Deng Tianxiong crouched, his Goose Feather Knife a mere two inches from chopping into the calf of a Red Reserve.
To his right, a Red Guard Wrist flipped, his katana slicing towards Deng Tianxiong's belly, while another Red Reserve raised his blade for a downward stab, aiming straight for Deng Tianxiong's wrist.
The Red Reserve soldier who had been shot in the shoulder leaned against two comrades, his right hand clutching a Japanese Sword. As the blade shook off, three sword-bearing Ming Army soldiers advanced in unison, yet they couldn't gain the upper hand. Instead, the injured soldier seized the opportunity to slash the arm of one Ming Army soldier.
"Let go, Tianxiong!"
Deng Tianxiong's heart skipped a beat. As the coolness touched the back of his hand, he intended to fight it out, but at Li Yan's furious shout, he clenched his teeth, released the knife handle, and rolled to the side of Diao the Blind by the doorway. However, his fingers and chest were grazed by a shallow wound.
A chill enveloped Deng Tianxiong's heart; the Red Reserve's blade was faster than he had imagined.
At this moment, the three Red Reserve soldiers formed a triangular formation, a flash of red glinting in their eyes.
"Spirit of Kai!"
The Red Reserve warrior who had forced Deng Tianxiong to abandon his blade now flicked up the Goose Feather Knife with the tip of his own. Grasping the handle horizontally with his left hand, a cold smirk blossomed at the corner of his mouth. He cast a gloomy glance at the severed head in Diao the Blind's hand, surveyed the surroundings, and beckoned to the crowd with a crooked finger.
At this signal, every able-bodied Ming Army soldier surged forward!
"Old Diao, fall back!"
Deng Tianxiong's roar reverberated.
Behind him, there was no sound. Gritting his teeth, Deng Tianxiong refrained from looking back, snatching the broadsword from Diao the Blind's grip and charging forward with a fierce cry, the wind whistling sorrowfully at his back.
...
Kobayakawa's vision darkened momentarily as he shook a snow-white Little Rice Ball from his sleeve and swallowed it. The throbbing in his head eased slightly, but just as he raised his head, the Ring Dragon Sword was already lunging at him!
"Sneer!"
Kobayakawa dodged, and the sword's tip pierced the wooden planks. He reached back to draw his samurai sword, but before he could raise his arm, the Ring Dragon Sword Blade had already made a crisp sound as it swept across his neck.
"Order your men to stand down."
Li Yan spoke icily.
Kobayakawa licked his lips, "Fortune favors me, the Hundred Ghosts dare not intrude... I've caught a big fish indeed."
"Go to hell."
Li Yan flicked his wrist, and the Ring Dragon cut through Kobayakawa's arm but got stuck inside.
Kobayakawa's complexion turned ashen, and twin streams of murky black qi billowed from his nostrils. Li Yan raised his sword to dodge the black qi. The Ring Dragon, blooming like a white lotus, stabbed at Kobayakawa's groin, chest, and throat, ringing out with the sound of metal clashing.
At the same time, the red glow on Kobayakawa's body intensified.
The Vegetable Ghost Art groaned in agony as tendrils of black qi scattered from her being.
When the Ring Dragon Sword aimed at Kobayakawa's throat failed to penetrate, Li Yan made a split-second decision, drawing a line with his finger along the blade, and a drop of blood fell from the sword's edge onto Kobayakawa's body.
Blood Dipped!
In that moment, red filled the eyes of Kobayakawa, the Red Reserve, Deng Tianxiong, and even Li Yan of the Ming Army.
Song Tongyi crouched in a corner, his throat parched, fists clenched tight. A whirl of blood and severed limbs unfolded before his eyes, and he grabbed a handy plank of wood, yet he lacked the courage to step forward.
"Ah~"
In the desolate house, a woman's sigh arose from nowhere.
Kobayakawa's eyes bulged, his hands clutching his face as Black Water gushed uncontrollably from his mouth and nose, a pitiful sight to behold.
"General, strike now!"
With force channeling through the back of the sword, the Ring Dragon Long Sword swept through the air, and a head soared skyward!
**********
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