20demayo Page 37
Page 37
The reason was that the long, narrow, diagonal cut on Luo Jiajun's left arm was healing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Despite the pain, Luo Jiajun immediately used his sword to make another cut on his left arm, then took out the Red Dew Holy Grail bottle he always carried and took a sip.
"Om~!"
In an instant, the two sword wounds on his left arm turned into golden light, and when the golden light faded the next second, the two wounds had completely healed without leaving a trace!
Having absorbed the incomplete essence of the Tree of Life, and with the added benefit of being a human punching bag, Luo Jiajun's physical attributes were greatly enhanced, consequently boosting his self-healing abilities. Furthermore, the recently acquired special ability, the Holy Sword's Blessing, also provides an additional boost to his self-healing capabilities.
[Holy Sword Blessing]: A pale gold sword-shaped mark appears in the center of your collarbone. You can draw the sacred weapon "True Silver Holy Sword" from the mark. When the Holy Sword is not summoned, the mark provides you with +500% self-healing ability.
Not to mention, Luo Jiajun also has the [Red Dew Holy Grail Bottle], a recovery item that can restore full health by drinking a couple of sips as long as the person is not dead.
"See? Rinko, even if swords have no eyes, it doesn't matter if you accidentally hurt me."
"Besides, with your swordsmanship skills, is it difficult for you to stop in time when you realize something is wrong?"
"Hey, don't let me look down on Itto-ryu, Rinko."
Rinko Akiyama knew, of course, that Jiajun Luo was deliberately provoking her.
She didn't get carried away by it, but sensing Luo Jiajun's strong fighting spirit, she finally nodded and accepted the sparring match.
The two sides then distanced themselves from each other.
After bowing deeply to Luo Jiajun, Akiyama Rinko lowered her posture, her left hand on the scabbard of the katana and her right hand gripping the hilt, ready to draw her sword at any moment.
Seeing this, Luo Jiajun, who was gripping his sword with both hands, raised an eyebrow: "This is... the Iai stance?"
Rinko Akiyama nodded slightly: "Our Akiyama family's Itto-ryu is a sword style that was originally created based on Iaijutsu."
"Hmm, very good." Luo Jiajun nodded in satisfaction. The fact that Akiyama Rinko immediately adopted the Iai stance, the core of the Itto-ryu style, showed that she was serious and that her actions were not simply a matter of playing around with Luo Jiajun.
Then, Luo Jiajun gestured to 2b, and 2b shouted "Start" after a three-countdown.
Luo Jiajun and Qiushan Linzi then began to move. Neither of them made a move immediately, but they moved cautiously towards each other, observing one another.
A moment later, in the blink of an eye, Luo Jiajun...
"call!"
As if she were walking on air, Akiyama Rinko arrived in front of Luo Jiajun in the blink of an eye.
"bass!"
In an instant, the famous sword was drawn, its cold light flashing!
Luo Jiajun, who had been gripping his sword with both hands and maintaining complete concentration, suddenly became serious. At this moment, the world seemed to slow down in his eyes—he saw the dust raised when Akiyama Rinko touched the ground with her toes, the flowing trajectory of her deep blue hair, and even the ripples created when the sharp katana sliced through the air.
His physical fitness has improved significantly compared to before—this has also brought Luo Jiajun enhanced reflexes and dynamic vision.
Rinko Akiyama's lightning-fast sword strikes appeared to Luo Jiajun as if they were broken down into individual frames.
In a flash, Luo Jiajun raised his half-sword, the blade precisely meeting the middle of the slash's trajectory, making a parry that, theoretically, could be considered perfect.
"Qiang——!"
The next second, a crisp sound of metal breaking rang out.
Luo Jiajun felt a numbness in his hand, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw half of the sword spinning and flying into the sky, reflecting a dazzling white light in the midday sun.
As the sword broke, the blade of the katana in Akiyama Rinko's hand then pressed against Luo Jiajun's carotid artery.
"Owner!"
At that moment, Raita's exclamation and the sound of 2B drawing her sword rang out simultaneously.
Akiyama Rinko's expression changed drastically, and the katana in her hand fell to the ground with a clang. She quickly bowed and apologized to Luo Jiajun.
Luo Jiajun stared blankly at the broken sword in his hand. The broken surface was as smooth as a mirror, demonstrating the terrifying sharpness of the weapon used by Akiyama Rinko.
During their last sparring session, Luo Jiajun's half-sword was able to hold its own because Rinko Akiyama was holding back. This time, however, Rinko unleashed a full-force draw slash, highlighting the difference in weapon quality between the two.
As a demon ninja from a prestigious swordsmanship family, Akiyama Rinko wields a renowned sword capable of cutting through gold and jade. It's not surprising that she could sever half of Luo Jiajun's sword in one strike.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Luo Jiajun suddenly laughed and casually tossed the broken sword into a corner.
"It's okay, Rinko. I'm the one who made you give it your all, so don't blame yourself."
As he spoke, Luo Jiajun reached out to help Akiyama Rinko up and exclaimed in admiration:
"The Itto-ryu style truly lives up to its name! I've heard that Iaijutsu is also called the art of drawing the sword, and it emphasizes a single, fatal strike. I never expected to be instantly killed like that!"
At this moment, Leida, who had already come over, frowned at Luo Jiajun's words and expressed a different opinion.
Why should the master belittle himself?
She walked to the side, picked up the broken sword that Luo Jiajun had thrown away, and pointed out incisively:
"I saw it very clearly just now. Master's parry was perfect in both timing and angle. If it weren't for the difference in weapon quality, after successfully blocking Miss Akiyama's attack, Miss Akiyama would probably be the one who suffered the most."
“Yes, Miss Leda is right.” Rinko Akiyama nodded and explained to Jiajun Luo with a serious expression, “Iaijutsu does aim for a one-hit kill, but precisely because of this, if a full-force attack fails to achieve its goal, a huge gap will appear where the old power is exhausted and the new power has not yet been generated.”
In other words, if Luo Jiajun had successfully blocked the attack, he could have capitalized on the "after-cast" moment to counterattack and kill Akiyama Rinko.
Listening to their seemingly reasonable and well-founded arguments, Luo Jiajun couldn't help but shake his head and laugh: "You guys are making me wonder if you're just saying nice things to comfort me or if you're being realistic."
"but!"
Suddenly, Luo Jiajun changed the subject again.
One hand was raised and placed between the collarbones.
"Om~!"
With a sudden burst of golden light, Luo Jiajun slowly pulled a long sword gleaming with golden light from the notch between his collarbones.
[Holy Sword Blessing]: A pale gold sword-shaped mark appears in the center of the collarbone, from which the sacred weapon "True Silver Holy Sword" can be drawn!
When Luo Jiajun fully drew the "True Silver Holy Sword," the brilliant golden light that clung to the sword dissipated, and the silver-white blade gleamed with a dazzling, cold light in the sunlight.
"However... when it comes to weapon quality, it's simple, I can just get a new weapon, right?"
Hold the sword in your right hand and gently stroke the blade with your left.
Luo Jiajun looked at Akiyama Rinko with a smile: "So, Rinko, would you like to try again with me?"
At this moment, Akiyama Rinko was still in a daze, because the way Luo Jiajun had just drawn the holy sword from his body with golden light was just too...mystical.
She didn't know how to describe it; she felt that neither "handsome," "cool," nor "sacred" could accurately describe the visual impact she had just experienced.
"Rinzi?"
"Huh? Oh, okay, sure, I'm fine with it."
At Luo Jiajun's call, Akiyama Rinko came to her senses and nodded repeatedly.
Then Luo Jiajun turned his head and gestured to Leida and 2B to step back.
He will clash with Rinko Akiyama again.
The girl was very honest and did not try to cheat or slack off. Instead, she almost completely replicated the scene from before and suddenly took the initiative to attack Luo Jiajun, drawing her sword and slashing with almost the exact same movements!
"clang--!"
As the sound of metal clashing rang out, this time, Luo Jiajun's weapon was not broken, and he successfully blocked Akiyama Rinko's attack.
Even so, the True Silver Holy Sword in Luo Jiajun's hand hummed and trembled due to the enormous impact, and even Luo Jiajun's hands holding the sword trembled, his tiger's mouth almost bursting open.
'What terrifying force! No wonder my half-sword was cut in half earlier!' Luo Jiajun was shocked. It was because of the huge impact that, although he successfully blocked the attack, he was unable to launch a counterattack immediately.
However, the opening after a missed attack with Iaijutsu is indeed quite long.
Luo Jiajun missed the initial opportunity to counterattack, but this successful block still gave him the upper hand. As Luo Jiajun quickly adjusted his stance and launched a counterattack, he swung his holy sword in a vertical slash!
"clang--!"
Rinko Akiyama could only passively parry with both hands gripping the sword.
Luo Jiajun then unleashed all his power, forcefully suppressing the attack.
Rinko Akiyama, who had been holding her katana above her head, gradually had her entire posture lowered by Jiajun Luo.
What Akiyama Rinko didn't expect was—
“Sizzle~!”
Luo Jiajun's True Silver Holy Sword suddenly crackled with golden arcs of electricity!
In that instant, the electric current traveled through the two weapons pressed tightly together to Rinko Akiyama's body, becoming the last straw that broke the camel's back!
"Clang~!"
As Akiyama Rinko's arms went numb and her katana fell to the ground, Luo Jiajun quickly withdrew the electricity and pressed the True Silver Holy Sword against the inside of Akiyama Rinko's shoulder, the blade angled and close to the edge of her neck.
The outcome has been decided.
Rinko Akiyama was stunned for a moment, but she did not feel disappointed.
Instead, after regaining her senses, she smiled sweetly at Luo Jiajun:
"Well, I lost. Xiao Luo is really amazing!"
At this moment, she no longer addressed Luo Jiajun as "master" with restraint.
The two felt as if they had returned to their first match, their hearts filled with joy at having met their match.
Luo Jiajun removed the weapon from Akiyama Rinko's shoulder and laughed, "One to one, we're even, and that's without Rinko using her Void Escape Technique. To be honest, Rinko is definitely stronger, isn't she? All I need to do is cling to Rinko's coattails."
Speaking of legs, Luo Jiajun couldn't help but glance down at Rinko's long legs, completely encased in jeans, and then sighed, "She looks much better in a skirt, especially with black stockings~"
Rinko Akiyama blushed instantly at the teasing, instinctively turning her head away from Luo Jiajun, as well as from the gazes of Leda and 2B beside her. She stammered, "Yes, if Xiao Luo likes it, I, I'm fine with anything."
At the same time, she also grew to like Luo Jiajun even more. In her eyes, Luo Jiajun was truly humble; even after winning against her, he was still saying kind words and being considerate of her feelings.
They said she won the sparring match only because she didn't use the Void Escape Technique.
But she also knew that Luo Jiajun still had his transformation technique to use! If they really went all out and fought to the death, she might not be a match for Luo Jiajun now, right?
'Without realizing it, Xiao Luo has become much stronger. Although I don't know how he did it, why do I feel happy whenever I see him improve...' the girl thought to herself.
At this moment, Luo Jiajun turned his head and looked at Leda and 2B beside him.
"We called you all to the rooftop for practice and sparring. So, who's next?"
His gaze shifted between Leda and 2B.
Luo Jiajun raised his hand to his chin, then suddenly added, "And, I've been thinking, besides the sparring, how about we add a prize? That would make it more interesting, for example..."
"Hmm, like the loser has to kiss me? As a punishment for losing, that's not too much to ask, is it?"
"Of course, if any of you beat me, you'll get a kiss as a reward. How about that? The punishment for losing and the reward for winning are completely opposite. Aren't I fair?"
"Oh right, by 'kiss,' I meant French kissing~"
……
As Luo Jiajun finished speaking,
2b: (?_?)ヾ
Leta: o(o_o)o Mei ne mei zai nǐ wo kong nǐ lin zai zai mo ne......
Akiyama Rinko: ⊙﹏⊙∥
Added URL 52
On the rooftop, Luo Jiajun practiced for almost an hour.
In the end, Rinko Akiyama, 2B, and Leda, who took turns practicing with him, were all flushed, panting, and weak in the knees.
Logically, with three women taking turns sparring with him for only an hour, they shouldn't be this tired. However, the "rewards and punishments" set by Luo Jiajun were too tricky, and only Luo Jiajun himself could control himself. Otherwise, a four-player scenario would probably have already occurred on this rooftop.
It was only because he realized that things had gone a bit too far and his little brother was getting hard that Luo Jiajun called a halt in time, giving the three women a chance to catch their breath. At the same time, it was also to calm himself down—the past few days had been ridiculous enough, and he had important business to attend to today, so he couldn't afford to delay any longer!
During his break, Luo Jiajun leaned against the railing at the edge of the rooftop, seemingly relaxing and observing the desolate street scene below, but in reality, he was silently bringing up the game map and confirming his upcoming objective.
Previously, Luo Jiajun decided to lead the team to the current location—Zhongyue Mall—because it not only has various real-world resources, but also a relatively high concentration of game resources in the surrounding area. According to the game map, Luo Jiajun only needs to lead the team eastward for two blocks to find a [high-value target] at the County Central Hospital; the straight-line distance between the two locations is just over one kilometer.
But Luo Jiajun's gaze only lingered briefly on the skull and crossbones sign of the county hospital before he looked further south towards the mall.
"Yongqing Street... I think this location used to be a construction site?"
As a local, Luo Jiajun could immediately picture the various locations in the county town as soon as he saw them on the map.
Yongqing Street to the south is about three kilometers away from Zhongyue Shopping Mall. The reason why Luo Jiajun chose to focus his attention on the construction site in Yongqing Street instead of the nearby one is because, according to the game map, there is both a [high-value item] and a [high-value target] there at the same time.