An attack that left no room for retreat. Both sides completely abandoned defense, seeking only greater destructive power to shatter the current deadlock—a fierce contest where neither could gain the upper hand.
Even if it meant suffering eight hundred losses to inflict a thousand on the enemy, even if it meant a fight to the death, even if it ended in mutual destruction.
The final result, naturally, was mutual injury.
Jiang Fei’s lower abdomen was slashed open by Yagyu Munenori’s sword, tearing a gash in his clothes. Yagyu Munenori didn’t fare any better either; he was also wounded by Jiang Fei, his once-chiseled chest now split open, skin torn and flesh rent, blood streaming down.
It was hard to say whose injuries were more severe, who had gained the upper hand in that exchange.
But whether it was Jiang Fei or Yagyu Munenori, after being wounded, they both felt a searing pain, and every movement was significantly affected. What really irked Jiang Fei was that even after being injured, Yagyu Munenori wore a smile, his expression unchanged, putting on an act as he said, “Excellent, excellent…”
Seriously, you went all out, you played your final card, you even gave up defense for that all-or-nothing strike. Yet you talk as if you weren’t giving it your all, as if you still have tricks up your sleeve.
Excellent? Excellent my foot!
So what if I wounded you? Did you think you could come out of this unscathed?
As if wounding you was just dumb luck on my part and not because of my actual skill. I wounded you fair and square, alright?
Jiang Fei just couldn’t wrap his head around it. How could there be someone in this world even better at putting on an act than him?
This old geezer has no shame, fighting to the death with a junior like me despite his status and age. And on top of that, he’s a bigger show-off than I am!
I used to be the one putting on the act, okay?
“It’s truly been a long time since I’ve tasted the feeling of being wounded. It must have been a full twenty years,” Yagyu Munenori said with a smile, utterly indifferent to his own injury, as if the wound wasn’t his and he felt no pain at all.
“Then today, I’ll let you have your fill!” Jiang Fei secretly sucked in several sharp breaths, his eyes dark and gloomy as he spoke viciously.
This guy might feel pain, but I’m hurting so much it feels like my insides are twisting.
That slash from Yagyu Munenori just now was truly formidable and ruthless. If Jiang Fei hadn’t dodged with all his might, he would likely have been cut in half at the waist, his intestines spilling out.
Even so, his wound was not shallow, and his injury was far from light.
“Once is enough,” Yagyu Munenori said, shaking his head. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Jiang Fei, his gaze sharp as two piercing swords. “You are truly a young man who brings endless surprises. Today’s battle has given me far more than I ever expected. To be honest, I’ve even begun to feel a sense of… fondness for you.”
Hearing this and seeing Yagyu Munenori’s sharp yet strangely affectionate gaze, Jiang Fei felt a chill run down his spine.
Fondness your sister! Who the hell wants fondness from an old man like you?
Jiang Fei gave a light flick of the wooden sword in his hand, which still had traces of blood and hair on it, ready to thrust forward once more.
Both were wounded now, but Jiang Fei was younger than Yagyu Munenori, with a stronger physique. His system-enhanced body was far beyond anything Yagyu Munenori could match.
Thus, with equal injuries, Jiang Fei actually held an advantage over Yagyu Munenori.
But before Jiang Fei could make a move, the aura around Yagyu Munenori suddenly shifted.
A drastic shift!
The refined, middle-aged to elderly man instantly transformed into an overwhelmingly domineering presence. He felt like a barrel of gunpowder—originally harmless—but the moment it encountered the slightest spark, it erupted, unleashing boundless destructive power.
For Yagyu Munenori, Jiang Fei was that spark.
“However, I must defeat you! And I must… kill you!”
At the peak of the towering mountain, between heaven and earth, snowflakes continued to drift gently. Yagyu Munenori’s final words echoed in the air, but his figure had vanished from sight.
It was as if Yagyu Munenori had disappeared into thin air.
No, not as if—he had truly vanished!
Jiang Fei could no longer see Yagyu Munenori’s form. He hadn’t even blinked, yet Yagyu Munenori had simply disappeared.
This wasn’t like the earlier “Splitting Shadow Slash.” Although that move was incredibly fast and intricate, leaving a series of afterimages in the air, there was still a traceable trajectory, something a master of Jiang Fei’s caliber could perceive.
Now, Yagyu Munenori had left no trace at all.
Jiang Fei’s heart surged with shock, a level of astonishment he had never felt before. He had never imagined Yagyu Munenori possessed such a move.
Could it be that this guy really wasn’t going all out from the start? Did he truly keep a hidden trump card up his sleeve all along?
Jiang Fei’s eyebrows shot up as an overwhelming sense of danger surged within him.
This premonition of peril was far stronger than any he had ever encountered before, carrying with it a genuine threat of death!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Fei bent his knees and, in that critical instant, leapt powerfully into the air.
The moment he jumped, the spot where he had been standing exploded. A wooden sword plunged deep into the snowy ground, while countless sword energies crisscrossed and slashed through the surrounding snow.
This wooden sword, which had flown in from nowhere, naturally belonged to Yagyu Munenori.
This guy actually threw away his wooden sword as a projectile!
But at that moment, no one had time to ponder what Yagyu Munenori’s action signified. All they knew was that he had now unleashed a major technique unknown to any of them.
And Jiang Fei, who had just used Wudang’s “Ladder Cloud Ascension” to leap into the sky, was not safe either. On the contrary, once airborne, his situation became even more precarious—he didn’t dare execute the second step of the Ladder Cloud Ascension.
Because the entire sky was now filled with the shadows of swords!
These sword shadows were actually formed from the gently drifting, seemingly harmless snowflakes in the sky!
Moreover, under Yagyu Munenori’s control, these swords ultimately coalesced into a gigantic white dragon!
Or rather, it was a dragon composed of countless sword shadows—a Sword Dao Dragon.
This dragon could ride the wind to the highest heavens or plunge three thousand miles into the deep sea. It chased closely behind Jiang Fei into the sky; no matter where he went, there was no escape.
Thus, Jiang Fei could not continue ascending with the Ladder Cloud Ascension, or he would merely become a target for relentless slashes.
This move represented the highest realm of “using flying flowers and plucked leaves to injure the enemy”!
All the flying flowers and leaves had directly converged into a Sword Dao Dragon!
