The atmosphere was tense, with Tsukahara Bokuden and Brahma facing each other across the distance. There were no obvious expressions on their faces, but their gazes collided in the air like two blades.
The momentum of two great masters at the Innate Gangjin level erupted like volcanoes, instantly crashing into each other.
At their level, they had long since passed the stage where they needed weapons to fight. Most weapons were useless to them. The power they could unleash with a simple raise of a hand or a single step was countless times greater than ordinary swords!
Both knew that three people were standing nearby, three masters at the Danjin level, but neither shifted their gaze to look at them. Even though it was because of these three that the two of them were confronting each other today.
When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits. This saying was generally true.
But wanting to be the fisherman was not such an easy thing. First, you needed enough strength. If your strength was far below that of the snipe and the clam, then you had no right to be the fisherman at all.
In the eyes of Tsukahara Bokuden and Brahma right now, they did not think much of the Lion King, Olivia, and Yagyu Munenori. They did not believe these three had the right to be the fisherman.
A master at the Danjin level was only one level below the Innate Gangjin, but the gap between them was like the difference between heaven and earth. Two Innate Danjin could not bridge this gap, and even three gathered together could not bridge it either.
It was just like how Jiang Fei had easily crushed Augustine and Michel in Europe back then without spending much effort. And Jiang Fei had not even truly reached the Innate master level at that time, yet he was already so terrifying. One could only imagine how powerful a true Innate master was.
Brahma’s momentum grew stronger and stronger, quickly climbing to its peak. His whole body was like a volcano about to erupt, but his voice grew colder and colder: “I have already entered the Buddhist path. I have long forgotten about love and desire. I no longer think of Youxue. But for monks who cultivate, what matters is resolving the obsessions in their hearts and dissolving them. And my obsession is Youxue’s death! You killed Youxue back then. I said that one day I would seek justice for her. A promise made must be kept!”
As soon as his words landed, Brahma’s body suddenly moved.
His speed was extreme, almost invisible to the naked eye. It could only be detected through perception. In the next moment, with a loud “boom,” when his form solidified, Tsukahara Bokuden’s body had suddenly shifted several meters to the side, and the trunk of an ancient tree behind where he had just been standing had a huge chunk blasted out of it!
“Not bad.”
Tsukahara Bokuden, with his white hair and youthful face, narrowed his eyes slightly again. His gaze was like lightning as he looked at Brahma. When Brahma flashed forward and lunged again, the pair of hands inside his wide robe suddenly swept out. Two formless yet almost tangible sword auras roared forth, slicing through the air with a sharp, piercing sound as they slashed fiercely toward Brahma!
No one could remain unmoved when facing the attack of an Innate Gangjin master. To dare to be so arrogant as not to use one’s hands to resist and just let the opponent attack—even Jiang Fei’s cheap master, Xuanjizi, could not do that.
And Tsukahara Bokuden had stepped into the Innate master level and achieved the position of Sword Saint many years ago. His strength was considerably greater than those who had just stepped into the Innate Gangjin level. But even so, he still remained only at the Outer Gang stage and had not formed Inner Gang. So although he was a bit stronger than Brahma, the difference was limited. It was not too much.
“Hmph!” Brahma snorted coldly, fearless. The inner energy within his body was drawn out and surged beyond his body, forming a protective layer around him. His hands curled into claws and directly met the two sharp sword auras head-on.
Bang! Bang!
Both were formless sword aura and inner energy, but when they met in the air, Brahma’s hands seemed to truly be gripping two sharp swords. After he let out a furious roar, the two sharp swords were forcibly shattered by him.
To catch two tremendously powerful sword auras bare-handed without being injured—this was Gangjin!
Although it was only Outer Gang, when gang energy emerged from the body and formed a defensive layer outside it, one’s defense would rise to a terrifying degree. It was not an exaggeration at all to say one would be impervious to blades and spears.
Therefore, Innate masters were also called Gangjin masters. Because only Innate masters could use inner energy to form gangjin outside their bodies, something ordinary Danjin masters were helpless against and found almost impossible to break through or shake.
Of course, Brahma’s and Tsukahara Bokuden’s attacks would not stop after just one move. On the contrary, once the real fight began, each of their moves became more ruthless and more ferocious than the last, as if stirring up wind and clouds. The entire space seemed unstable and turbulent.
In just a short while, the huge boulders on the mountain were covered with crisscrossing claw-like ravines of all kinds. The surrounding ancient trees were also hacked until they were riddled with holes, and several even looked about to snap.
“The demigod level truly deserves to be called the demigod level! When they go all out, they really are terrifying beyond compare. They are far beyond what people at our level can match. Fortunately, after we discovered that Brahma had stepped into the Innate level, we immediately fled. If we had chosen to fight head-on, the two of us would probably have died long ago!” Olivia watched the two exchange blows, and even though he was a Church ascetic, he could not help but be shocked.
He and the Lion King had not taken the opportunity to escape.
If they could have escaped, they would have done so long ago. Why would they have fled all the way from India to the island nation? What they wanted to see was Brahma being killed by Tsukahara Bokuden. Only then would they have a chance.
Otherwise, with Brahma’s sinister methods, no matter where they fled, they would be caught up to.
The Lion King also watched the battle circle without blinking, and said with some hatred: “This Tsukahara Bokuden has not improved much in strength compared to back then, has he? He actually does not have much of a way to deal with Brahma!”
If Tsukahara Bokuden could not kill Brahma, then the purpose of all their painstaking efforts to come to Mount Fuji these days would be in vain.
And Yagyu Munenori, who had come today to resolve the knot in his heart but had unexpectedly gotten caught up in this, was also fully focused. He thought to himself: Even if I gained something from my duel with Jiang Fei, the road to becoming a Sword Saint is still very, very long…
The battle was fast. In the blink of an eye, Brahma and Tsukahara Bokuden had already exchanged more than fifty moves. Tsukahara Bokuden, this old man, did not display the demeanor of a senior master, and had not been able to completely suppress Brahma and secure victory.
In the end, after one final exchange, both figures flew backward and chose to pause, no longer continuing to fight.
Tsukahara Bokuden, with his white hair and youthful face, finally had a somewhat gloomy and ugly expression. He stared fiercely at Brahma and said: “Back then I thought that among the three of you, the most outstanding and promising was Qinglong, followed by Yagyu Munenori, and you were the weakest. Now it seems I was very wrong. Among the three of you, the one with the most potential is actually you!”
“You old bastard, after all these years you still are not so old that you cannot move. Your bones are still this hard, still this difficult to chew.” Brahma also sneered. “It seems I still cannot settle today’s score. But you should also know that you cannot stop me now, right? So, are you still going to stand up for these two?”
Brahma turned his violent gaze toward the Lion King and Olivia.
Tsukahara Bokuden, who had just been so hot-tempered, suddenly changed his tone and said lightly: “Not just two. These three, you can deal with them all.”
Brahma was stunned.
Then he glanced at Yagyu Munenori, one of his great enemies from his younger days, clenched his fist, and sneered: “In that case… I do not mind!”
