Ryoko

"Bang~"

Ryoko was pulled along by Gu Sheng, spinning one and a half times through the air. Just before she was about to be slammed into the ground, she kicked off with her right foot, dispelling the force and momentum, and landed steadily. Then she spun and retreated while drawing her sword in a horizontal strike, preventing any possible pursuit from Gu Sheng.

"Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~~"

Gu Sheng pursued Ryoko relentlessly, swinging the wooden sword in his hands from side to side. As he continued attacking, he borrowed the momentum to build up strength. His blade grew faster and faster, and the force behind it kept increasing. Every strike was followed by one even faster and fiercer.

"Clang~"

After adjusting her rhythm, Ryoko made a darting step and leaped into the air. Relying solely on strength equivalent to an ordinary person’s physical abilities, she jumped more than a person’s height, looking practically inhuman.

"Thud~"

As Ryoko flipped over Gu Sheng, her body became inverted. The wooden sword in her right hand stabbed down without mercy. Gu Sheng faced the attack without dodging, blocking the thrust with the flat of his blade. However, the force attached to the tip was truly formidable, so he could only sink into a horse stance and meet it head-on, temporarily pinned in place.

"Bang~ bang~"

Ryoko’s feet landed one after another. Once she touched down, she began launching a fierce assault: sweeping, drawing and snapping, downward chops, spinning cuts… One strike after another, each swift and steady. When one missed, she did not dwell on it, immediately following with the next. Gu Sheng was dazzled and could barely keep up.

"Thump~"

Gu Sheng suddenly forced off with both feet and retreated a large step, dodging a slash while creating an opening between them. He then spun, sending the wooden sword around in a 360-degree rotation before sweeping it horizontally.

"Thump~"

Gu Sheng knocked Ryoko’s wooden sword askew with one strike, then stepped forward again and swept across with overwhelming force. He aimed at Ryoko’s fair jade-like neck, preparing to take her head with a single blow.

"Whoosh~"

Gu Sheng’s wooden sword stopped just before striking her neck. Its rough wooden edge lightly touched her fair throat, and the gust stirred up the hair on that side of Ryoko’s head.

"Teacher Ryoko is truly impressive!"

Gu Sheng smiled faintly, deliberately emphasizing the word "teacher." He had used a two-character Japanese pun, giving his words a different kind of implication, as though they carried another meaning. He genuinely admired this Ryoko, and the wooden sword pressing against his own body was the best proof of that.

The situation was that he could take her head with one strike, but he would not escape being disemboweled by her blade either. If this were the decisive battle between the Reincarnators of this world, then with himself caught unprepared, the best outcome would be her death and his serious injury. More likely, they would both perish.

"Are you mocking me?!"

Dokua Ryoko’s tone was sharp, and she was in a foul mood. Anyone who had started out bullying the weak, only to be caught up to within a few days and face steadily increasing pressure afterward—perhaps even being surpassed by now—could hardly remain calm in such a situation.

"How could I mean that? Teacher, please don’t wrong your student!"

Gu Sheng deliberately teased Ryoko with another pun. He had already discovered some of Ryoko’s little secrets. This woman is really interesting.

"Today’s training ends here. You may leave."

Ryoko harrumphed and turned aside. With her back to Gu Sheng, her body trembled slightly, as if she were desperately restraining something.

"Heh heh~~"

Gu Sheng stood behind Ryoko and looked her over for a while. After his gaze passed over her, beads of sweat had appeared from Ryoko’s forehead to the tip of her nose, and even her nose could not help making a faint huffing sound.

"Are you not going to—"

Ryoko struggled to keep herself from making a fool of herself. Before she could finish saying "leave," approaching footsteps came from behind her.

"Teacher, what do you want your student to do? Or are you saying you want to teach your student what to do to you?"

Gu Sheng said with a grin as he walked behind Ryoko. He even maliciously whistled, simply wanting to see Ryoko make a fool of herself.

"You—hurry up and leave! Get out!"

Ryoko still had a few scraps of reason left. She pushed Gu Sheng away with one hand and returned to her previous cold, aloof, and untouchable expression.

Ryoko knew her own situation very well. After that incident in middle school when she had used excessive force while defending herself against criminals,

she had realized that she possessed a powerful violent streak. When she used vicious methods to strike her opponents, she even felt a strange kind of—

After that incident, she learned that she had a deeply hidden dark side. At the time, her swordsmanship had reached a bottleneck, and she did not think there was anything wrong with that darkness within her. She did not consider it a mistake. Instead, she believed it was a talent of hers, a chance to become stronger. Thus, rather than restraining herself, she intensified it.

Using the legal knowledge she had learned, she deliberately created one case of excessive self-defense after another. At first, the police sympathized with her. Later, they looked at her as though she were a monster.

As she became increasingly excessive, the trouble grew larger and larger. She nearly ended up being sent to a juvenile reform facility. If her father, the master of the dojo, had not used his connections to clear her of all her past offenses, she might already have been sent to prison.

Upon entering the Lord God Space, Ryoko was practically like a fish in water. In her first instance world, Underworld, countless Werewolves and vampires died by her hand, and not one could withstand her Tachi.

Of course, they had only been ordinary cannon fodder. If she had faced elders like Lucian and Amelia, along with their trusted subordinates, Ryoko at the time would not have been their match. She had only been dealing with ordinary Werewolves and vampires.

"I’ll be going~"

Gu Sheng smiled and did not continue bullying this beautiful woman. He knew very well that too much of a good thing was bad. Still, he had taken a liking to this lone wolf and planned to make her a member of his team. Naturally, it would be even better if their relationship could advance further.

"Ahh~ That feels great!"

Gu Sheng entered a room filled with billowing steam. It was the bathroom outside the Training Room. He stepped into the steaming bath, whose temperature was neither too high nor too low, soothing his fatigue.

After such intense exercise, soaking in a hot bath made his head grow drowsy, and a wave of sleepiness swept over him. Gu Sheng did not suppress his body’s fatigue. He leaned against the edge of the bath and slowly closed his eyes. Before long, his breathing became steady, and snores rang out.

"Screech~"

The door was pushed open again. A woman dressed in a kimono entered with a wooden tray carrying various items, walking softly to Gu Sheng’s side.

She bent down and knelt, settling beside Gu Sheng. She placed the wooden tray to one side, then took out her tools, applied some medicinal ointment to her hands, and rubbed it evenly over them. After that, she placed both hands on Gu Sheng’s shoulders and rhythmically helped relax his muscles and bones, easing the fatigue and strain in his muscles.

"Mm~ Miss Mei Daizi is here."

Half-asleep and half-awake, Gu Sheng sensed someone touching him. He opened his eyes and saw the other Reincarnator, Mei Daizi.

She was carefully moving his right arm just now, apparently preparing to change him into a more comfortable position.