"...Taking a purely defensive stance, are you inviting me to attack at will?" Hokushin Mei said disdainfully. If you learn swordsmanship but don't attack, what's the use of it?
"..." Li Xuan remained silent with a straight face. He really had no choice... He had only ever seen Mei use 'Hokushin Itto-ryu' in a defensive stance. As for her offensive sword techniques... she was too fast, and he had never been able to see them clearly. Although he later acquired 'Jao Shingan', he had never analyzed or observed them.
"Ugh!!!" When Hokushin Mei's katana, which cleaved through the air, clashed with the longsword Li Xuan held in front of him, her expression changed instantly.
A wave of intense heat shot out from the point of contact between the two swords. The sudden heat almost made Hokushin Mei lose her grip on her katana. She felt as if she wasn't holding her beloved blade... but a piece of red-hot iron.
"That is..." Hokushin Mei, who had retreated abruptly, saw clearly the faint flames coiling around Li Xuan's katana like little snakes. She could feel that it was those flames that transmitted the unbearable heat upon contact.
As one knows, being made of metal, swords are excellent conductors of heat.
"..." The flames entwined around Li Xuan's longsword suddenly and silently flickered out... Although Li Xuan's Honkai energy was still relatively abundant, the flames produced by the Stigmata... consumed far too much Honkai energy. It had used up a quarter of his Honkai energy in just over ten seconds, so Li Xuan decisively gave up on it...
"Good chance!" Seeing this, Hokushin Mei's longsword transformed into a streak of white light and shot straight towards him. The flashing blade was like the white crests of waves in the Yangtze River, making it impossible to react.
"." At that moment, the golden pupil in Li Xuan's right eye turned into a vertical slit. All the Honkai energy in his body was channeled into his right eye, fully activating all the abilities of 'Jao Shingan'.
Everything in his field of vision seemed like a movie slowed down several times. Li Xuan could clearly see the trajectory of the next strike from Hokushin Mei's longsword.
But... although he could see the trajectory of every one of Hokushin Mei's strikes, Li Xuan's body, which had no swordsmanship training whatsoever, could hardly keep up with his mind, which was now moving as fast as a rocket. He could only manage to raise his sword to block.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!..." Like a blacksmith hammering a piece of iron, the two identical swords clashed continuously amidst afterimages. Sparks occasionally flew and landed on the ground, only to be quickly extinguished in the green grass.
"Bang!!" With Hokushin Mei's final swing, a heavy blow landed on the defensive stance Li Xuan had barely managed to assume using 'Jao Shingan' and 'Hokushin Itto-ryu'. She then retreated with ease.
Compared to the still-graceful Hokushin Mei, Li Xuan was now in a wretched state... After all, not long ago he was an otaku who rarely even picked up a kitchen knife... This amount of exercise was more than he had swung a kitchen knife in his entire life.
"Hmph... You've got a few tricks up your sleeve, but Hokushin Itto-ryu is not just about defense!" Hokushin Mei said, her tone a mix of praise and criticism.
"Hoo~" She stood up straight and took a deep breath. Her slightly sweaty hand gripped the hilt of her sword tightly. Draw and horizontal slash!
"Hokushin Itto-ryu, Secret Technique — 'Amaterasu'!"
It was a strike so fast it was a blur, impossible to see. The white blade only flashed for an instant before the entire motion of the strike was complete.
A silver line appeared out of thin air in front of Li Xuan, just like the so-called 'sword qi' from the martial arts novels he had read in his past life!
"..." Without a second thought, Li Xuan instinctively activated the shield of his Divine Garb, 'Xuanyuan Festive Garb'. An azure shield appeared in front of his longsword.
"Crack, crackle!~" The silver line instantly collided with the azure shield in front of Li Xuan's sword, producing a sound like cutting glass.
With a piercing screech, Li Xuan was forced to step back. The silver, thread-like 'sword qi' was finally blocked by the shield. The azure shield was now as thin and transparent as air.
"I blocked it..." Li Xuan lifted his lowered head. A smile appeared on his sweat-stained face as an eye that looked as if it were cast from gold stared at the astonished Hokushin Mei.
"Your so-called attack..."
'Crack!' A crisp sound was heard. A crack appeared on the blade of the longsword in Hokushin Mei's hand, just like the heart she had always held onto so firmly.
(End of Chapter)