770. Gathering Energy / 771. An Air of Arrogance

But even so, Izayoi could still evade the fire dragon’s attacks with his nimble movements. At this moment, his speed had reached its limit.

His figure rose and fell with the flames, leaping into the air from time to time before dropping back to the ground, constantly dodging the fire dragon’s attacks.

Damn it, what is going on with this human?! How could he have recovered so quickly?! What kind of speed is that?!

Seeing Izayoi so effortlessly dodge his attacks, the fire dragon was utterly shocked. He could not help secretly rejoicing that he had not acted rashly earlier. Otherwise, he would probably have already been killed by this human.

Just then, Izayoi leaped onto the fire dragon’s head and frantically slashed at its body with the sword in his hand. Every strike severed a section of dragon bone.

Awooo!

Feeling the pain, the fire dragon flew into a rage.

He continuously flailed his arms, desperately trying to throw Izayoi off his body. However, Izayoi charged forward and pierced his body with his sword.

The fire dragon died just like that, without moving another inch.

Gathering Qi Force

After slaying the fire dragon, Izayoi looked toward the forest and saw a bright light shining in that direction. Curious, he rushed over at top speed. After Izayoi entered the forest, a masked man appeared behind him. Without a word, the masked man drew his blade and charged at him.

Izayoi was greatly startled. He had not expected to encounter such an enemy. He drew his sword, knowing that a fierce battle was inevitable.

Their weapons collided, and neither could gain the upper hand for the moment. The masked man was far stronger than Izayoi, while Izayoi could only barely fight him to a standstill.

Izayoi inwardly groaned, Damn it, his martial arts are so much stronger than mine. I’m no match for him right now.

No matter what, Izayoi could not give up. He had to kill his opponent.

Holding his longsword, he sprinted forward while the masked man followed closely behind. As he ran, Izayoi used footwork he was familiar with, but he did not reveal his true strength.

He knew that once he used his real power, he would be no match for the masked man. He could only do his best to flee and look for another chance to strike.

Yet he could not escape at all. The masked man had him tightly trapped, leaving him no way out.

Izayoi snorted coldly. Knowing he had no means of escape, he could only risk his life against the masked man. Light flashed from the sword in his hand, and his swordsmanship became unpredictable.

His moves grew even stranger and harder to read. The masked man was forced back by Izayoi, and Izayoi seized the opportunity to sprint away, escaping the encirclement.

Just as Izayoi escaped the encirclement, footsteps sounded behind him again. He turned around and saw that the masked man had caught up.

Izayoi knew he was no match for this masked man, but he had no way to escape either. He could only keep sprinting forward, slashing at the masked man with his sword as he ran.

However, the masked man merely dodged with ease and did not counterattack at all, simply following closely behind Izayoi.

Izayoi had not expected to be put in such a passive position. He was deeply anxious, but there was nothing he could do. He knew he could only keep running, never stop running.

The masked man appeared before Izayoi again, and the two immediately clashed. Their battle was extremely intense.

With no other choice, Izayoi could only use his ultimate move.

"Azure Dragon’s Unrepentant Slash!"

An Azure Dragon condensed from his sword, rapidly grew larger, and lunged straight at the masked man.

Seeing the enormous dragon charging at him, the masked man’s expression changed drastically. Without hesitation, he dodged aside.

Izayoi immediately accelerated, charging straight toward the masked man before unleashing his strongest sword style, the Heaven Slasher Seven Stars Sword Style.

Izayoi used his strongest sword style and unleashed it with all his strength. This move, the Heaven Slasher Seven Stars Sword Style, was already powerful enough that the masked man did not dare take it head-on.

He could only block with his sword. At that moment, Izayoi seized the chance and directly used his ultimate move. Another Azure Dragon burst from his sword and bit at the masked man.

The masked man hurriedly dodged, but Izayoi’s attacks came too densely for him to evade.

Splat!

The Azure Dragon bit into the masked man’s arm, and blood poured out.

Seizing the opportunity, Izayoi rushed forward and threw a punch, his strongest fist technique.

Bang!

The punch struck the masked man’s chest, but the masked man caught it. Grabbing Izayoi’s hand, he hurled him to the ground. The impact was tremendous, and Izayoi felt as though all his internal organs had been injured.

Overwhelming Pride

Izayoi knew that he had to use all his strength to deal with this masked man. He unleashed his full power, gathering all the qi force in his body at the tips of his fists and blasting it toward the masked man. Bang!

A tremendous boom echoed throughout the desolate mountains.

As Izayoi fought the masked man, trees all around them collapsed, and even a boulder was sent flying.

It fell toward the distant forest, kicking up dust and flattening grass and trees along the way.

The place where Izayoi and the masked man fought was a complete mess.

Izayoi’s expression was grim. He had not expected this masked man to be so powerful.

He was even more terrifying than Izayoi had imagined. Although Izayoi had already used all his strength just now, he still had no chance of winning.

"Heh, it seems you truly are no ordinary person. But so what if you aren’t ordinary? You’ll still die by my hand."

The masked man sneered and swung a longsword at Izayoi.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Sword light flashed at incredible speed, attacking Izayoi in the blink of an eye. The flashing sword light continued without end, and the sound of air splitting echoed by Izayoi’s ears.

Izayoi did not dare relax in the slightest. He immediately focused his mind and held his breath, concentrating fully on resisting the sword lights.

Clang! Clang!

Izayoi’s fists struck the sword lights in rapid succession, producing crisp metallic clashes. Sparks flew everywhere, and fragments bounced off his fists.

Once those fragments fell to the ground, they swiftly turned to ash and vanished without a trace.

What formidable swordsmanship. But I’m no pushover either!

Izayoi muttered inwardly as he swung both arms, drawing an arc through the air before fiercely striking several sword lights before him.

Smack!

A crisp impact rang out. The sword lights were scattered, turning into powder that drifted through the air. At that moment, Izayoi also stopped attacking and stood still.

Seeing that Izayoi did not continue his assault, the masked man sneered. "Why did you stop attacking? Are you afraid?"

Izayoi replied calmly, "Who is afraid of whom is still uncertain."

"Oh? Do you think you can defeat me now?" The masked man glanced at Izayoi disdainfully.

Izayoi nodded. "Of course. I believe that is only natural, Jin."

Hearing Izayoi’s words, the masked man narrowed his eyes into slits. "Since you are so arrogant, I’ll grant you your wish. Come at me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the masked man charged at Izayoi with his longsword in hand. He was unbelievably fast, reaching Izayoi in the blink of an eye. With a swing of his sword, a razor-sharp glint stabbed toward Izayoi.

Izayoi clenched both fists. Visible gusts of force formed and gathered in midair into a massive ball of wind, which then crashed toward the incoming sword qi.

Izayoi’s attack carried immense power, instantly sending the masked man flying. The masked man crashed heavily to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood, seemingly unable to believe that Izayoi had defeated him.

However, the masked man clearly had no intention of giving up. He snorted coldly and took out a pill from his robes.

The pill emitted an eerie glow. He swallowed it in one gulp, and a powerful force began swirling around his body.

"Kid, let me show you what I’m capable of!" the masked man said with a smile.

The Secret in the Letter

The masked man gave a cold snort, his eyes filled with overwhelming pride. After his sword qi collided with the ball of wind, it immediately dispersed into the air, while his body suffered a backlash that made him stagger two steps backward.

Yet Izayoi did not press the attack. Instead, he stood where he was and waited for the masked man to recover.

Neither side had gained an advantage in their earlier clash. To win, he had to find his opponent’s weakness, and the masked man’s weakness was that he was not skilled at close-quarters combat.

Sure enough, once the masked man regained his footing, he immediately lunged at Izayoi. The longsword in his hand danced continuously, sending streams of frigid sword light erupting from its blade.

They swept toward Izayoi. It was clear that the masked man did not want to fight Izayoi head-on. He only wanted to crush Izayoi and leave this place as quickly as possible.

"Just cheap tricks. Take this!" Izayoi remained calm. His body suddenly leaned backward, and like a loach, he swiftly dodged the chaotic sword qi before rushing toward the masked man’s chest.

When that move failed, the masked man ignored everything else and immediately swept his longsword horizontally. A fierce sword qi slashed toward Izayoi.

"Hmph, cheap tricks!"

Izayoi remained unruffled. He forcefully kicked off the ground with his right leg, soaring into the air and darting upward before viciously kicking at the masked man’s head with both feet.

Bang!

The kick struck the masked man squarely on the forehead, sending him flying backward. He crashed heavily to the ground, spraying blood from his mouth and staining a large patch of earth red.

The masked man stared at Izayoi in utter horror. He had not expected Izayoi to be so powerful. Not only was he no match for him, he had even lost.

"How is this possible? You actually possess such terrifying strength!" the masked man said, looking at Izayoi in shock.

"Hmph, why is it impossible?"

Izayoi smiled calmly, showing no pride whatsoever. It was as though he had long known this would be the outcome and was not surprised in the least.

"Hmph, I refuse to accept this. I refuse!"

The masked man shook his head and tried to get up from the ground, but his body seemed no longer under his control. No matter how hard he exerted himself, he could not stand, as though he had been frozen to the ground and could not move at all.

"You are indeed strong. If I had not cultivated a certain technique, I truly would not have been able to defeat you. But you underestimated me too much."

Izayoi spoke calmly as he looked at the masked man. A sinister smile curled across his lips, as though victory was already in his grasp.

"Hmph, you think you can defeat me with a trick like this? Keep dreaming!"

Seeing this, the masked man curled his lips in disdain.

"Is that so? Then try it."

Izayoi spoke calmly, then extended his right hand and drew in the air. A cyan rune condensed in his right palm.

The rune was ring-shaped and covered in dense black symbols, looking exceptionally strange.

The instant the rune appeared, the masked man’s pupils contracted sharply.

It was a very familiar rune, and its power was many times greater than the runes he had encountered before.

Izayoi suddenly rushed toward the masked man and detonated the rune against him. The masked man died instantly.

Trapped by a Great Net

After the masked man died, a letter fell from his body. Izayoi quickly picked it up, and after reading its contents, he was greatly shocked. He sensed that an enormous conspiracy was about to descend. There was also a map inside the letter. Following it, he arrived at a mountain stronghold that looked extremely luxurious and far from ordinary.

When the bandits saw that Izayoi actually dared to come to their gates, they all rushed out, brandishing axes as they chopped at him.

Izayoi raised the sword in his hand and charged at the bandits. He could sense that these bandits were far from simple.

He drew his sword and rushed at a bandit, but the bandit blocked his path. A large saber hacked down at him, and Izayoi hurriedly dodged. Sparks burst forth, and a cut opened on his shoulder.

Gritting his teeth, Izayoi continued fighting the bandit.

"Ah!"

Seeing how fierce Izayoi was, the bandits began shouting one after another. They raised their weapons and charged at him.

Izayoi gritted his teeth and charged into battle once more. At the same time, he stabbed one bandit to the ground with his sword.

Boom!

At that moment, a loud boom entered his ears, followed by screams. Looking up, Izayoi saw a bandit lying on the ground, clutching his stomach and howling in pain.

Seeing the bandit’s agonized appearance, Izayoi inwardly sighed. It seemed the strike just now had injured him. Now was the perfect chance to finish him off.

With that thought, Izayoi immediately charged toward a bandit.

Seeing a human charge at them, the bandits cried out in alarm. Several bolder bandits immediately raised their weapons and hacked at him. Izayoi quickly raised his sword to block.

Clang!

A crisp sound reached Izayoi’s ears. His sword had been cut in two. He retreated rapidly, but he still could not dodge in time.

His arm was slashed, and blood immediately flowed out. He quickly pulled out a bottle of potion from his spatial ring and swallowed it, stopping the bleeding.

Seeing this, the bandits shouted angrily and hacked at him one after another. Izayoi hurriedly swung both arms to block their attacks.

At the same time, his figure flashed and vanished from where he stood. Immediately afterward, a sharp saber flew past him and slashed toward a bandit’s back.