Chapter 749: A Single Move Between Martial Arts Masters
The two stood facing each other across a hundred meters of snow-covered ground.
Snowflakes swirled through the air, and the earth was blanketed in white—a scene that held a certain tragic beauty.
For the first time, a glint of battle lust appeared in Tsukamoto Nobunaga's dead fish eyes.
Never before in previous fights had he felt this level of seriousness and excitement.
Because from Liang Yue's every movement, he could sense she was a top-tier master!
In this era of martial arts decline, true masters were rare.
True martial artists never neglected their training, practicing daily until every motion carried the shadow of their techniques.
For the first time, Nobunaga straightened his posture in proper samurai fashion and introduced himself to Liang Yue.
"My weapon: Daihannya Nagamitsu!"
He raised his long katana horizontally with his left hand.
Seeing this, Liang Yue also stood solemnly.
"Liang Yue, inheritor of the Peng Family's Five Tigers Gate-Severing Saber. This blade is named Dragon's Roar."
Liang Yue had studied numerous martial arts. Her grandfather Liang Baoguo was a master of whip techniques and founder of the Primordial Form-Intent Taiji School.
However, this style wasn't widely recognized by mainstream martial artists.
Later, Liang Yue became proficient in multiple disciplines.
Her specialty with single saber came from the Peng Family's Five Tigers Gate-Severing Saber.
This technique was often mentioned in wuxia novels, usually as a skill used by cannon fodder characters.
But in reality, this saber art genuinely existed and was renowned in martial circles.
Liang Yue had trained in it for fifteen years.
She later won the national martial arts championship in single saber—though this wasn't particularly remarkable.
After introductions, silence fell.
Both adopted identical opening stances—Iaido!
The draw cut technique, Iaido.
Extremely effective in duels, as drawing from the sheath allowed for maximum speed.
Nobunaga hadn't expected Liang Yue to mirror his stance.
He mocked, "A Huaxian martial artist using our Nippon swordsmanship?"
Liang Yue calmly retorted, "Did Nippon have no blades of its own? You copied our Tang swords to create these battlefield failures."
Proficient in various martial arts beyond Huaxian traditions—jiujitsu, Krav Maga, Muay Thai, Iaido—
Liang Yue excelled at synthesizing strengths from all schools.
Whatever worked, she used, pure pragmatism.
Her barb sharpened Nobunaga's glare.
Verbal sparring aimed to disrupt focus.
But clearly, Liang Yue wouldn't be easily shaken.
Nobunaga took a deep breath.
Celestial Origin Domain activated around him!
A fifty-meter radius became his special territory!
Within this space, his blade could strike anything instantly!
Meanwhile, Liang Yue slowly closed her eyes.
Her mind became utterly still.
No fear, no hesitation—only unity between woman and blade under heaven.
Both waited for the perfect moment to strike.
Yet each found the other's defenses flawless, making further waiting pointless.
Almost simultaneously, they attacked!
Boots crunched snow as both shot forward like loosed arrows—whoosh!—
Before bodies met, sword auras already sliced through air, murderous intent saturating space!
A single slash that dimmed heaven and earth!
Two white flashes crossed—snow erupted violently, the massive saber beams starkly visible like missing segments of reality itself.
First exchange: inconclusive. Neither gained advantage.
Nobunaga's blade was faster, but Liang Yue's struck harder!
Her delayed-yet-first strike used weapon strength to deflect his aura.
Nobunaga closed his eyes—Liang Yue now stood within his domain.
Yet what he perceived wasn't a person, only a slender Tang saber!
"No-Self state! Truly a master!"
His grin widened, verging on madness.
"I've never crossed blades with a Huaxian swordmaster before! Every so-called expert I've met was a fraud!"
"To encounter you here—what fortune!"
Liang Yue's right hand spun an expert flourish before slashing backhanded.
"Your misfortune, meeting me!"
One a martial fanatic, the other a prodigy trained since childhood—both peerless with blades—
Their clash became extraordinarily intense!
After scientific enhancement from the Deng Family, Liang Yue now possessed vice-captain level strength.
No special abilities—just heightened senses and physicality.
For others, this might merely make a decent Delta-level combatant.
But for a martial grandmaster? A tremendous upgrade!
Five Tigers Gate-Severing Saber—limbs and heads flew with every vicious stroke!
Saber energy crisscrossed the battlefield as their movements blurred beyond perception.
Only afterimages darted through snowflakes while surrounding trees and boulders split with mirror-smooth cuts.
They passed each other, blades screeching sparks.
Then Nobunaga suddenly drew a short sword from his robe—
Exploiting Liang Yue's unbalanced footing, he hurled the dagger at her back!
Detecting the threat, Liang Yue's saber flashed up to deflect it—
Creating the opening Nobunaga needed.
Gripping Daihannya Nagamitsu with both hands, he traced a slow circular arc.
No one saw the actual draw.
Just hundreds of sword lights instantly enveloping Liang Yue, sealing all escape routes!
Secret Technique: Swallow Reversal.
An enhanced version of Sasaki Kojirō's legendary move—said to strike even swallows mid-flight.
In the hands of superhuman Nobunaga, this technique could intercept even Zhang Yi's sniper shots!
Facing this killing stroke, Liang Yue's expression turned grave.
Then... don't avoid it!
Instead of retreating, she charged straight into the blades!
This shocked even Nobunaga wide-eyed.
The technique's creator never imagined someone lunging into the storm!
Swallow Reversal's arcs shredded Liang Yue's reinforced combat suit, her fair skin, her arm—
Traditional martial arts lineages saw countless serious injuries during sparring.
As Nobunaga's technique reached its limit, her saber became a white ribbon sweeping upward!
An arm soared skyward—crimson blood splashed snow like blooming plum blossoms before quickly darkening.