The Almighty Martial Arts System - Chapter 342

The flying dagger was a willow-leaf blade.

Three inches and seven-tenths long, thin as a cicada’s wing. A character ‘Li’ was engraved on the blade.

This was naturally none other than the famously unerring ‘Little Li’s Flying Dagger,’ ranked third on the Jianghu weaponry list!

This single dagger came with startling abruptness, utterly without warning. Even Munenori Yagyū, the contemporary Japanese swordsmaster whose path of the sword had reached the realm where ‘no sword surpasses having a sword,’ unbound by objects, who could injure with plucked flowers and thrown leaves, had completely failed to anticipate that Jiang Fei would suddenly shoot a flying dagger at him.

As a super master himself, his ability to sense danger was in no way weaker than Jiang Fei’s. An expert knows upon sight. How formidable this flying dagger was, he could roughly grasp even before contact. So the man who, after unleashing his ‘pluck flowers and leaves to injure’ killing move, thought he could seize the chance to subdue Jiang Fei, now wore an expression of great alarm.

This flying dagger was too fast. Judging by the sound of it tearing through the air and its trajectory, it was absolutely the most terrifying hidden weapon he had ever seen or heard of in his life. Even he felt a strong sense of crisis rising within. If he were the slightest bit careless or negligent, he would undoubtedly be pierced through by this dagger and die instantly!

Having reached his level of strength, ordinary bullets posed no threat whatsoever; he could even stand still and easily block them.

But Little Li’s Flying Dagger was not something ordinary bullets could compare to!

It was just that Munenori Yagyū truly couldn’t fathom how Jiang Fei could unleash such a terrifying flying dagger.

While it’s true that those with high martial prowess can employ many tricks—like himself, no longer bound by form, where a blade of grass or a twig in his hand could become a deadly weapon, just like the ‘pluck flowers and leaves to injure’ moments ago, or an ordinary pebble becoming a potent hidden weapon—this was a completely different concept from the flying dagger now shooting through the air.

Because within this flying dagger lay not only greater lethality, but also a kind of inexplicable, incredible ‘Dao charm,’ similar to his own sword intent. When cultivated to the extreme, an ordinary longsword in his hands ceased to be ordinary, its power rivaling divine weapons!

Even a simple move could leave no room for evasion.

Such a flying dagger was not something an ordinary martial arts master could unleash.

One capable of unleashing such a flying dagger must be an expert utterly devoted to hidden weapons, specializing in the flying dagger for a very long time.

Munenori Yagyū’s expression turned very grave. He was no longer merely pleased at finding a worthy opponent; he was somewhat shocked.

He dared not arrogantly try to catch it with two fingers.

Facing such an opponent, he needed to go all out; otherwise, he himself would be in mortal danger!

Halting his forward advance, he immediately shifted to retreating.

Simultaneously, his white robe billowed out as if filled with wind, making Munenori look like a giant sumo wrestler, his figure immensely bloated. His hands, pale-skinned and smooth as a maiden’s, began to weave intricate patterns.

Hong! Hong! Hong!

It seemed like an illusion, but explosive sounds seemed to emanate from within Munenori Yagyū’s body. In the space several meters around him, a ‘domain’ he could control formed. Within this space was his territory; he was like a god, commanding everything. Streaks of sword qi materialized or vanished with his thoughts.

Whoosh!

The willow-leaf flying dagger arrived in an instant, granting Munenori no extra time.

When the dagger, imbued with formidable will, entered Munenori’s field, it was like plunging into a vast quagmire. The surrounding air was no longer a powerless void to traverse freely, but had become thick, viscous concrete. Time seemed to switch to slow motion at this moment. The moment Little Li’s Flying Dagger pierced the ‘domain,’ its speed seemed to slow, like a clay ox entering the sea, only able to inch forward bit by bit.

Munenori Yagyū’s shampoo-commercial-worthy long hair whipped about wildly. Faced with this unavoidable dagger, his expression was solemn but showed no panic.

Since ascending to his current realm, it wasn’t just his strength that had improved; his state of mind had also greatly elevated. Few things in this world could move him deeply anymore, let alone anger or otherwise disturb him.

Pfft!

Although the willow-leaf dagger encountered resistance upon entering the ‘domain,’ it did not stop. Instead, the powerful energy contained within erupted completely upon meeting the obstruction, becoming faster, and viciously stabbed into the bloated sleeve of Munenori’s robe.

Then, the robe at the point struck by the dagger sank inward as if pressed by a finger on an inflated balloon, reaching a critical point before tearing open a gash.

The flying dagger finally plunged inside…

Jiang Fei, holding his longsword, watched this scene with wide-eyed anticipation, hoping the legendary unfailing Little Li’s Flying Dagger could help him deal with Munenori Yagyū.

He wasn’t asking for a kill; even if the dagger could severely injure Munenori, it would be an immense stroke of luck. Jiang Fei wouldn’t even need to consider the Emei Mountain Golden Summit appointment a month later; he could finish off this pretentious ‘Swordsmaster’ today!

After all, he still had quite a few gold coins left, even after exchanging three bottles of ‘Sadness Clear Wind’ for the two from the Qisha Group. The remaining coins were enough to exchange for several more Little Li’s Flying Daggers.

In theory, the power of Little Li’s Flying Dagger from Gu Long’s novels should be more than sufficient.

Perhaps it couldn’t kill Dugu Qiubai, who could transform true qi into sword qi, or the Floor-Sweeping Monk, but at least in the world of Little Li’s Flying Dagger, it was truly unfailing. Even Shangguan Jinhong was ultimately killed by Li Xunhuan.

If the flying dagger Jiang Fei unleashed was truly identical to Li Xunhuan’s, with lethality on the same level, Jiang Fei felt dealing with Munenori Yagyū shouldn’t be a problem.

Munenori’s sword intent matched Dugu Qiubai’s realm of ‘no sword surpassing having a sword,’ but his actual strength was far inferior. A genuine Little Li’s Flying Dagger killing him would be unquestionable.

The only uncertainty was whether the Little Li’s Flying Dagger Jiang Fei used now was the complete, authentic version of Li Xunhuan’s.

Jiang Fei had long pondered this. The Little Li’s Flying Dagger placed in the system store had a price so ludicrously low—a mere 800 gold coins for a single-use consumable—it was even cheaper than a clearance sale in a department store.

“Cheap goods are never good”—adhering to this notion, Jiang Fei had long been skeptical of the dagger’s true lethality.

He suspected that, from a certain perspective, the dagger he bought for eight hundred gold coins might indeed resemble the Little Li’s Flying Dagger described in Gu Long’s novels. But if scrutinized, it could only be considered a ‘shoddy counterfeit,’ far inferior in power to the real thing.

Otherwise, even as a single-use consumable, its price wouldn’t be as low as 800 gold coins.

This discounted Little Li’s Flying Dagger he purchased likely had discounted power too. In the real world, against 99.99% of people, his dagger could achieve unfailing accuracy, killing an enemy with one throw, just like when he was ambushed by assassins.

But encountering a true master, someone at the level of Swordsmaster Munenori Yagyū, expecting it to be unfailing was probably asking too much…

BOOM!!!

After the flying dagger plunged into the bloated, balloon-like wide white robe sleeve, what happened inside was unknown to Jiang Fei.

He didn’t know if the dagger shot up along Munenori’s sleeve, piercing through his shoulder, or if it was blocked by Munenori’s ‘sword qi,’ unbound by objects.

Perhaps in less than a second, the result became clear.

Munenori Yagyū’s white robe rapidly deflated from its bloated state, returning to normal. The Little Li’s Flying Dagger Jiang Fei had thrown was nowhere to be seen, but Munenori was not injured—at least not severely—and was looking at Jiang Fei with a very serious gaze.

Jiang Fei, however, was filled with disappointment. He thought to himself, “As expected, you get what you pay for. This single-use Little Li’s Flying Dagger truly doesn’t possess the absurd power of the genuine article. Against an expert of Munenori Yagyū’s caliber, it can’t achieve unfailing accuracy. It seems defeating him with Little Li’s Flying Dagger or other hidden weapons is impossible. In the end, I’ll have to rely on my own strength to defeat him fairly and squarely.”

Having somehow received the flying dagger through some unfathomable method, Munenori Yagyū did not continue the fight. It wasn’t that he was injured and couldn’t fight.

It was because he had previously made an agreement with Jiang Fei: if Jiang Fei could withstand two moves from him tonight, they would postpone their formal duel to one month later at Emei’s Golden Summit.

Now, it seemed Jiang Fei had won. He indeed qualified for a true duel at Emei’s Golden Summit.

“Your flying dagger, like your swordsmanship, is remarkable,” Munenori Yagyū said.

“Unfortunately, neither managed to injure you,” Jiang Fei replied regretfully.

“No, it injured me,” Munenori shook his head. With a shake of his sleeve, a willow-leaf flying dagger shot out from it and landed in his hand.

With a flick of his finger, Munenori sent the dagger flying back toward Jiang Fei, who caught it. Looking down, Jiang Fei saw a faint trace of blood on the blade.

The bloodstain was light, indicating it had likely only left a minor, inconsequential wound on Munenori. This was probably why Munenori was candid about being ‘injured.’

“Thirty days from now, Emei Golden Summit. We will truly determine who is superior!” Munenori Yagyū stated calmly.

After speaking, he turned and walked away with an air of ease.