Chapter 127 Sword Fighting on the Top of Mount Lu
"Good, that's understood! Now then…" The black-haired woman smiled as she lightly patted the boy's head, smoothing down his messy bangs.
She stood up and turned to glare at Li Shuwen with her heroic face. "You bastard, you really dared to harm my important student!"
"Did I forget to check the almanac today? What kind of auspicious day is this? One strong opponent after another appears," Li Shuwen said with a crazed laugh.
Black mud gushed from the severed wound, reattaching his cut-off arm, which was now freely moving again.
Words were useless! Iron Fist Justice! The woman clenched her steel gauntlets, her long black hair flowing behind her, and stepped forward.
Her only thought at this moment was to beat up the man who dared to harm her beloved student!
This was Hiratsuka Shizuka, who, while Shirou was trapped in the alternate space fighting fiercely, received a call from Chaldea.
In fact, some time ago, she had formed a certain connection with one of the heroic spirits in her game. Now, with the help of Chaldea's Da Vinci, the Sensei desperate to protect her student requested assistance from the heroic spirit Martha.
"Please, Martha. Lend me your strength! I must protect my student!"
"If this comes from your true heart, then very well. I shall always offer my blessings and walk with you! Let us save the world together!"
Saint Martha), one of the twelve Christian saints, at this moment chose to lend her power to a human she recognized.
This time, the heroic spirit removed her saintly attire, set aside her staff, unbound her fists, and responded to Hiratsuka Shizuka's call in her most offensive posture.
The compatibility was 100%, and she took possession of the host to unleash her full strength.
As a human-led possessed Servant, she was no saintly savior, but a Sensei enraged beyond measure for her injured student.
Wearing red long gloves and steel gauntlets adorned with golden feather patterns (Holly-Knuckle), her red-and-white attire and athletic, perfect, slender body radiated the beauty of a healthy woman.
At this moment, her beauty revealed an overwhelming strength.
"Go repent properly at the gates of heaven!" Hiratsuka Shizuka swung her iron fist, leaving a rapid afterimage as it hurtled toward Li Shuwen. This punch, as hard as steel, could pierce a dragon's body.
"Hahaha! Good, come! Let's fight!" Li Shuwen also swung his iron fist.
A mighty tiger climbing the mountain—his unmatched fist displayed extraordinary momentum. Whatever stood in its path—human, gate, or wall—would be blasted away, just as he had previously sent the boy flying.
Their fists collided! The sound shook the cliffs. Passing by each other, they clashed evenly, resulting in a draw.
Since they were atop Mount Lu, surrounded by the waters and mountains of Jiangnan, the possessed Servant's power as a water-bound saint received a substantial boost. As a saint, she naturally possessed a perfect body, blessed by the holy, immune to most curses and anomalies, allowing her to stand briefly against Li Shuwen's aura.
Long ago, Martha's ancestor Jacob wrestled with God, breaking a leg but bringing God down, earning the name "Israel"—the progenitor of the Israelites.
Moses, another ancestor of Martha, encountered the dark side of the archangel Chamael while receiving the Ten Commandments. Moses defeated the fallen angel with his fists.
According to the diary of a certain clairvoyant mushroom youkai, Moses split the Red Sea with a punch. Leading his people from Egypt while pursued by Pharaoh Ramses II's forces, Moses thrust his staff upward with a clenched fist, and the sea split, allowing their escape.
This divine martial art became known as Divine Fist and was passed down through generations of Israeli kings. Legends say Solomon, while chanting spells, often became distracted, so in combat, he would first engage in bare-handed fighting, incapacitate the enemy, then release a holy light, displaying divine power.
Before being revered as a saint, Martha naturally learned this martial technique. After Christ's Passion, wandering outside, she used this technique to defeat the evil dragon Tarasque, earning local worship.
"Ah! Western ancient martial arts, this formidable aura, this monstrous strength, excellent! Hahaha!" Li Shuwen's eyes glinted with predatory light, and he laughed wildly.
They clashed again for several rounds. The peak-era Divine Fist of the gods collided with the human martial art of Baji Quan, which harmonizes body and nature into the ultimate martial realm. Their fight was evenly matched and indecisive.
"Now witness this move!" Hiratsuka Shizuka leapt high, swinging her fist while shouting: "Furious Dragon of Sorrow (Tarasque)—Iron Fist Holy Judgment!!"
A dragon sensing the call emerged through the void. Hiratsuka Shizuka's steel gauntlets struck its back repeatedly, causing the fire-breathing dragon to spin wildly, like a burning top, and crash into Li Shuwen.
"What?" Li Shuwen froze, stunned by the absurdity of the move, losing his chance to dodge. He was hit by the spinning dragon and let out a muffled groan as he was flung away.
The dragon's spin carried him through the portal connecting the alternate space to another world, and he vanished.
"Tch! I'm done playing with you! We'll fight again next time!" Hiratsuka Shizuka, seeing that she hadn't completely finished the opponent, shouted.
Then she picked up Shirou, leapt high, and exited the alternate space. She found a place and laid the boy down to rest.
"Hiratsuka-Sensei! Shirou-kun! Where are you?" A girl's voice called outside; the students had begun searching for them.
"Hey, Kasumigaoka, over here," Hiratsuka Shizuka quickly responded.
Kasumigaoka Utaha found them in a pavilion, her eyes fixed on Shirou lying on the Sensei's lap.
"Well… Shirou seems to have altitude sickness," Hiratsuka Shizuka said, embarrassed, averting her gaze.
"Altitude sickness under 1,500 meters?" Kasumigaoka's suspicious gaze intensified.
"Ahahaha, I mean… Shirou really is weak," Hiratsuka Shizuka said, forcing a dry laugh, not good at lying.
"Eh… Shirou-kun is really weak, huh," Kasumigaoka repeated meaningfully.
"That's enough…" Shirou held his stomach and sat up, realizing if this continued, he would hear more from his senpai.
"Eh? Are you really okay now?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked with concern.
"Yes, otherwise we could switch. For me, even lying face-to-face would be fine. Or, you know, you could just crawl into my skirt directly, that's okay too~!" Kasumigaoka Utaha deliberately said in a teasing, seductive tone.
"Waaah! Kasumigaoka, what are you saying?!" Hiratsuka Shizuka said, both embarrassed and angry.
"Please cherish yourself more. For matters like this, go find someone who reciprocates your feelings, someone truly worth entrusting," Shirou said, his stomach still burning painfully, too lazy to comment further.
"Then why don't you accept it for me… I've already made my utmost concession, and you still want me to say something embarrassing," Kasumigaoka Utaha muttered discontentedly, turning her head and blushing.
Meanwhile, in the alternate space beneath the cliff, a shadow jumped out from the shattered little door.
It was the Black Mud Heroic Spirit, Li Shuwen. His upper body was bare at the neck, and the orange jacket he wore had long since been burnt and torn by the spinning dragon.
Seeing the alternate space empty of people, Li Shuwen had no intention of pursuing them.
As a martial obsessive, he had always been devoted solely to martial arts.
As a warrior, he believed that true combat required giving one's all—and giving one's all meant risking death.
Duels were not lighthearted matters; they were wagers on belief and life. Once a duel began, it had to be fought to the end, until one killed the other.
However, sometimes Li Shuwen, wanting to experience stronger opponents and more thrilling battles, would spare young opponents with potential.
So even when he could have killed Shirou, he held back.
"Hahaha, fine! Let today's outcome stand! Let the boy grow stronger quickly, and then he can face me properly. This time is an exception; I'll let you go, after all, you are an incarnation of that Shirou Emiya, full of infinite potential. He can improve further and challenge me once ready!
Anyway, given the boy's fearless style, he'll probably come back soon. Very well, I'll prepare the finest arena and wait for him."
Li Shuwen, wrapped in black mud, healed his internal injuries as quickly as possible and instantaneously jumped into the world within the little door.
His arrival in this world wasn't out of hatred for Shirou Emiya, nor out of interest in destroying or avenging the world.
He simply wanted to fight constantly, to challenge strong opponents as he did in life.
His goal was to eventually face the strongest—this world's Shirou—and either kill him or be killed.
This was Li Shuwen's fate as a warrior, and this was why he had been chosen by the Black Mud.
Apart from the "Black" side of Perseus and Arjuna, the other four corrupted heroic spirits were like Li Shuwen: each identified as capable of killing Shirou Emiya, though each had their own motivations.
They were heroic spirits corrupted by black mud, but not all, like Perseus, held obsessive vengeance against Shirou, nor were they innately evil. Li Shuwen had only ever sought to challenge strong opponents.
When anomalies occurred in the Chaldea world, many strong opponents disappeared, and finding it boring, he left to seek challenges.
At that moment, he sensed the call of the Black Mud and the Holy Grail, understanding the cause behind the anomalies.
The thought of fighting a man who had accomplished feats like Shirou Emiya made him exhilarated. He willingly contracted and arrived in this world.
However, the boy in this world was still too inexperienced; his power didn't even reach one-tenth of what Emiya Shirou should possess.
Unfortunately, the Shirou who had completed miracles had transcended these worlds and could no longer be challenged by force.
So Li Shuwen chose to wait, settling at the entrance of this world—the alternate space atop Mount Lu—awaiting the boy's maturation.
Unexpectedly, it wasn't long before the boy came seeking him.
Though the current boy was formidable, and the female Sensei's martial skill impressive, it still wasn't enough to satisfy him. He needed a battle where life and death hung on every moment, where a single mistake could mean death.
Li Shuwen, in his little world created with the Holy Grail, began preparing an appropriate arena for the boy.
Shirou, after regaining some strength, reunited with the other students and continued touring the other scenic spots by car. Hiratsuka Shizuka stayed with him to rest and recuperate.
Da Vinci contacted them through the phone.
"Shirou! That was too dangerous! If Shizuka just now hadn't saved you, the consequences would have been unimaginable!" Da Vinci scolded the boy sternly.
"Sorry, I didn't expect Li Shuwen, as a Lancer, to be so strong even without his weapon," Shirou reflected.
In one-on-one melee, the opponent was already among the top-tier heroic spirits. His attacking methods, combat experience, and decisiveness all put Shirou at a disadvantage.
"It's not just about strength. Even if it wasn't Li Shuwen, other seemingly weaker opponents are still heroic spirits! Even unnamed servants, with low attributes, might have miraculous techniques or unavoidable noble phantasms.
How many times do I have to tell you? Do not take risks unless absolutely necessary! Shizuka, you must keep him in check!" Da Vinci admonished.
"I already said I'm sorry… huh? Shizuka? Since when are you two so close?" Shirou suddenly realized, looking at the two adults.
"No! No! Now is not the time to be surprised! Wait! That guy just now—Li Shuwen! Covered in black mud, I thought he was some monster!" Hiratsuka Shizuka exclaimed, shocked.
"Exaggerated reaction. Sensei, do you know of his deeds?" Shirou asked.
"Of course! When I was a kid, there was a popular manga called Fist Master. Li Shuwen, the divine gun, was a godlike figure!
In my mind, it was a masterpiece based on Chinese stories, rivaling Little Master of China, even though it ended poorly.
The Baji Quan moves depicted in the manga had an accuracy of 80%! One could almost learn Baji Quan by studying the manga!" Hiratsuka Shizuka said admiringly.
"So… Sensei, did you learn Iron Fist from a manga?" Shirou commented.
"I didn't expect I'd have faced such a powerful heroic spirit," Hiratsuka Shizuka said, ignoring Shirou, staring at her fist in astonishment.
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