Kamiizumi Ise’s final strike was terrifyingly powerful—its lethality was already not far off from Miyamoto Ichishin’s formidable “Reincarnation Slash.” In that sense, Kamiizumi Ise’s strength could indeed barely rival Miyamoto Ichishin’s.
The reason he’d never dared to challenge Miyamoto was simply a lack of self-confidence; he genuinely believed he couldn’t measure up. But in truth, his skill was already there. Unless Miyamoto unleashed his “Three-Sword Style,” which he’d spent years perfecting, defeating Kamiizumi Ise would have been no easy task.
Now that Miyamoto Ichishin was dead, Kamiizumi Ise’s position as the top Two-Sword master could be considered rightful and proper.
The air currents across the entire space were drawn in by Kamiizumi Ise’s twin longswords, like the Milky Way pouring down from the heavens, all of it crashing toward Liu Yunduo. Though this ultimate technique of the Dai-Tō-ryū didn’t quite reach the level of Yagyu Munenori or Jiang Fei—who, having grasped the true essence of the sword, could manifest giant dragons of sword energy—it still bore some resemblance. Its power was formidable, pushed to the very peak of the Transformation realm.
If this had been the Liu Yunduo of the past, she would have stood no chance against such an attack—she might very well have perished beneath that very blow.
But the Liu Yunduo of now…
Her left hand, which had been holding a longsword unused all this time, finally moved.
Against such a powerful strike, even a true master at the Dan Jin level would not dare be careless. Naturally, she could no longer hold back—she had to go all out.
Sssssssss…
Air currents raged in all directions. The surrounding cherry blossom petals were swept high into the air, dancing wildly. The airflow itself was like sword energy, its pressure immense—any ordinary person caught beneath that strike, even before the blades fell, would likely have been crushed flat onto the ground.
Liu Yunduo’s waist-length jet-black hair fluttered wildly in the wind along with the petals. Just as the two longswords, carrying the force of a thousand tons, were about to descend upon her head, her twin blades—left and right—rose to meet them in an eerie, profoundly mysterious posture.
Boom!
It was like two comets colliding, or a great mountain crashing down, abruptly severing a mighty river. The violent current of air was split cleanly in two the moment Liu Yunduo made her move.
The very same Liu Yunduo who, against Kamiizumi Ise’s ordinary attacks, had been forced onto the defensive—now, having finally employed her seemingly useless left hand, her momentum surged more than twofold in an instant!
Her twin swords didn’t just cleave through the airflow and then take the chance to dodge after breaking the spatial cage. Instead, she pushed against the current, parried Kamiizumi Ise’s twin blades with a single sword, gave them a flick, then—from an eerie angle—struck his two longswords again with the hardest, most direct force possible.
The next moment, something happened that left everyone utterly dumbfounded.
“No!”
A furious, unwilling roar erupted from Kamiizumi Ise, who had been swooping down like a hawk from midair. His face contorted in shock.
Then, like a kite with a snapped string, his body went hurtling backward—his face flushing red midair before he spat out a mouthful of blood. He couldn’t even keep hold of his two longswords; they were knocked clean out of his hands!
Gasps!
At this sight, nearly everyone—whether the Japanese sword masters who’d come specifically to watch or the disciples of the Dai-Tō-ryū themselves—was completely stunned!
Could someone please tell me—what the hell just happened?!
At the start, when Kamiizumi Ise hadn’t even gone all out and was fighting at his normal level, he had been able to completely suppress this young Chinese woman, leaving her with no room but to defend.
Under those circumstances, once he found the right moment, went all out, and unleashed the Dai-Tō-ryū’s ultimate move—shouldn’t Liu Yunduo have been defeated, gravely wounded, or even killed?
So how… how had the situation completely reversed?
Liu Yunduo, who had been on the defensive the whole time, actually turned the tables the moment Kamiizumi Ise launched his strongest attack—and with a single sword stroke, sent him flying back, coughing up blood.
Could it be that this ultimate killing move of the Dai-Tō-ryū looked impressive but wasn’t actually practical—that while it seemed formidable, it had some fatal flaw, and any opponent could spot its weakness and easily break through it?
So this “strongest move” was only good for intimidation, with no real lethal power?
But that was obviously impossible.
The Dai-Tō-ryū had stood firm among Japan’s many sword schools for years, now even contending with the Miyamoto clan—clearly, it hadn’t gotten there by bluffing. Over the decades, the Dai-Tō-ryū had fought many battles and received many dojo challenges, yet no one had ever said its ultimate technique was weak—on the contrary, it was always praised as incredibly powerful.
So… what was going on?!
However, there were sharp-eyed observers among the crowd who understood the subtlety of Liu Yunduo’s final move—they’d noticed she’d used her left hand at the last moment—and they quickly spoke up.
“That woman’s left hand is terrifying! In that final strike, it was definitely her left hand—the one she’d kept idle the whole time—that unleashed enormous power, completely overwhelming Kamiizumi Ise’s last attack and turning defeat into victory!”
“No… that’s not quite it! What’s truly formidable isn’t her left-hand sword technique alone—it’s her twin-sword fusion!”
“Exactly! If you judge her left-hand and right-hand sword techniques separately, neither is outrageously powerful—at best, they’re on par with Kamiizumi Ise. But once she merges her twin swords, just like the Dai-Tō-ryū’s final move, the power skyrockets! However… her twin-sword fusion is far, far stronger than Kamiizumi Ise’s!”
“What kind of strike is that? It’s terrifying—unbelievably so!”
“How can the fusion of two swords produce such a massive increase in power, far exceeding ordinary attacks? I always thought the Dai-Tō-ryū’s ultimate technique was the best example of twin-sword fusion at its peak—and yet this Chinese woman has elevated it to a whole new level!”
The crowd was utterly shaken, their eyes on Liu Yunduo completely changed.
Gone was all disdain—replaced by caution and a faint trace of fear.
No wonder this woman had dared to come alone to their country and boast that she would challenge the entire Japanese sword world.
Now it was clear: she wasn’t ignorant or arrogant.
She genuinely possessed the credentials.
Once her twin swords fused, their power was beyond imagination. If she hadn’t held back from the start, she could have practically one-shot Kamiizumi Ise!
And if she could one-shot Kamiizumi Ise, then in the entire Japanese sword world, how many could actually stand against her?
Perhaps the new-generation sword saint, Yagyu Munenori, could do it.
But Yagyu Munenori had also traveled to the Chinese martial world not long ago.
And though the Yagyu clan had tried to suppress the news for months, rumors had still leaked out: Yagyu Munenori had been defeated in China, gravely wounded, and nearly died.
When he finally returned to Japan, he’d barely been clinging to life—it was a miracle he’d even survived.
After suffering such a blow, whether this new sword saint could ever recover his former strength was another question entirely. To count on him to deal with this young woman named Liu Yunduo was far from a sure thing.
At this thought, a wave of anger and sorrow welled up in the hearts of everyone present.
Swordsmanship had always been the pride of Japan’s martial world. They had long looked down on Chinese swordsmanship, believing it had declined. Even though they acknowledged that their own sword arts ultimately traced their roots to China—unlike certain other nations who shamelessly claimed everything as their own invention—they still believed they had surpassed the master.
They were the ones who had taken it further!
And today, they had been slapped in the face—hard and humiliatingly.
A young Chinese woman—barely of the younger generation—had effortlessly defeated their top Two-Sword master, sending him spitting blood, displaying strength that could challenge their entire sword world. It was a complete loss of face!
Yet now, all they could do was watch helplessly. No one dared step forward to suppress Liu Yunduo on the spot.
Shing! Shing!
Liu Yunduo sheathed her twin swords and glided gracefully forward, landing in front of Kamiizumi Ise. Looking at his pale, blood-spattered face, she could tell he had no fight left in him—so she didn’t strike again.
She had come here to seek justice for her deceased father.
After challenging—and defeating—one by one all of Japan’s top swordsmen, she would then reveal her identity and investigate the true cause of her father’s death all those years ago.
But she was no bloodthirsty executioner. She hadn’t come to Japan on a killing spree. She wouldn’t slay every opponent she defeated and leave the Japanese sword world drenched in blood.
That wasn’t Liu Yunduo’s way.
“You’ve lost. Do you accept it?” Liu Yunduo asked, standing before the fallen Kamiizumi Ise. Her tone wasn’t arrogant or overbearing—just calm, as light as the breeze.
After all, she’d only defeated the first opponent. The road ahead was still long; there was nothing yet to celebrate.
If she were to feel triumphant, to feel vindicated, she could do that after she had challenged everyone and conquered the entire Japanese sword world. Celebrating now would be far too premature.
After speaking, she glanced at the young translator, who was practically frozen in fear. The moment Liu Yunduo’s eyes met hers, the woman shuddered, terrified that Liu Yunduo might, in a moment of displeasure, cut her down with a single sword stroke.
So without hesitation, she quickly translated the words to Kamiizumi Ise.
Kamiizumi Ise understood Liu Yunduo’s meaning. Combined with her utterly indifferent tone—as if defeating him wasn’t particularly difficult, but rather a matter of course, a triviality, something to be expected—it made him so furious he nearly vomited blood again, worsening his injuries.
He desperately wanted to roar: I don’t accept it! Let’s fight three hundred more rounds!
But when he recalled the terrifying lethality of Liu Yunduo’s final strike, the words died in his throat.
No matter how many times they rematched, the result would be the same—he would be defeated, utterly and completely, with no room for doubt.
This defeat was even more lopsided than his loss to Miyamoto Ichishin years ago. It crushed any resistance from his very core.
The gap was just too vast.
And if he were to be stubborn, refuse to concede, and run his mouth just for the sake of saving face—no one could guarantee that this seemingly calm Liu Yunduo wouldn’t suddenly decide to kill him!
“I accept…” After a long pause, the pale, badly wounded Kamiizumi Ise finally chose to be a man who knew when to submit. He lowered his proud head.
After all, he and men like Miyamoto Ichishin and Yagyu Munenori were cut from a different cloth. His warrior’s heart had never been as pure.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent all those years too afraid of losing to challenge Miyamoto again—instead resorting to schemes and rumors to fabricate a reputation as Miyamoto’s equal and the top Two-Sword master.
Gasps—
The crowd erupted once more as they heard Kamiizumi Ise’s answer, relayed by the timid translator.
Though he had already been defeated, his verbal admission—lowering his head—carried a different weight.
“Good.” Hearing the answer she wanted, Liu Yunduo nodded. “You are the first. My next challenge will be the top master of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū—Chiba Jūtarō!”
With that, amid the cherry blossom petals drifting down through the air, Liu Yunduo turned and walked away, retreating unscathed from the Dai-Tō-ryū headquarters, leaving the crowd behind with incredibly complex expressions on their faces.
As Jiang Fei and Su Mengnan’s plane slowly descended at Tokyo Airport, they had barely stepped out when a stretched, comfortable Mercedes pulled up to greet them.
After all, Su Mengnan was incredibly wealthy—even in Japan, arranging a pickup was child’s play.
Once inside the car, someone immediately briefed Su Mengnan on the situation.
The first piece of intelligence came from about an hour earlier—while they’d been in the air with no signal—about Liu Yunduo’s challenge to Kamiizumi Ise!
And they also learned that Liu Yunduo had won, successfully defeating the Dai-Tō-ryū’s top master.
Furthermore, they knew her next target was the number one of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū—Chiba Jūtarō!
Without a second thought, Su Mengnan ordered the driver to take them to Liu Yunduo’s current lodgings.
Still, upon hearing of her victory, he was genuinely thrilled.
