Chapter 27: A Moment

“The first round?”

“That’s right.”

“So, the second round?”

“start.”

There was no sense of hatred between them; their conversation sounded more like a question: “Where to?”, “Where to go? Shall we go?”, “Let’s go.”

That feeling… but the moment the words left their mouths, the two of them instantly transformed into a train at full speed and collided head-on!

The swords in their hands were their locomotives, and the impact of these two anciently crafted swords when they collided was no less than that of locomotives colliding!

Finally, the house constructed in the mind could not withstand the battle between the two crazed monsters. After the 160th clash of swords, the surging impact, like a missile, completely tore the constructed house apart!

The space instantly plunged into darkness, and the two lost sight of each other in the brief darkness.

Yao Bingling felt a splitting headache, as if someone had ripped open his skull and poured lava inside.

My entire brain felt hot and burning.

This is an indisputable necessity. This is the center of his mind. Although he can control everything here, to the outsider Jinwu, he is a force that can harm this place. Similarly, when the safe place that Yao Bingling thought was destroyed was destroyed, it also meant the collapse of that part of his sense of security. Naturally, his brain was adversely affected.

Suddenly, a beam of light tore through the darkness!

Immediately following was a second beam of light; the two swords formed a deadly beam that pierced the head and heart, shooting towards Yao Bingling.

It was Jinwu who first spotted Yao Bingling in the darkness. The moment he noticed Yao Bingling’s slight daze, he realized that Yao Bingling was in a state of mental disarray as his psychological barrier collapsed. Even an ordinary citizen who couldn’t fight would frantically search for a weapon and stab at the other person in such an opportunity.

Not to mention Jinwu, whose two sword strikes were both fast and ruthless!

However, Yao Bingling immediately turned around and held the knife in one hand, using the hilt of the blade to block the decapitating sword and the body of the blade to deflect the sword that pierced his heart.

This wasn’t too unexpected, at least Jinwu and Yao Bingling shared a strong consensus on this matter.

They had been entangled and fighting each other for ten years. Although this was the first time they had faced each other face-to-face in a battle of consciousness, they had long understood each other’s tenacity.

Yao Bingling’s arm trembled as he used strength and skill to deflect Jinwu’s twin swords. At the same time, he stepped forward and slammed his entire shoulder and arm into Jinwu’s chest.

In an instant, Jinwu also felt the sensation of being hit by a battering ram. If his physique had not been non-human, Yao Bingling’s blow would have been enough to shatter his entire sternum.

What’s worse, the same spot where Yao Bingling had stabbed him caused the double injury, forcing Jinwu to stagger back several steps.

This was the best opportunity to pursue, but Yao Bingling missed it.

Because Jinwu’s sword was missing from one hand, Yao Bingling lowered his head and stared at Han Bafang, the sword that had pierced through his entire right leg and pinned to the ground. His expression was silent yet ferocious.

Indeed, the two of them could be described as having an absolute understanding of each other. They could understand when the other would launch a surprise attack, when the other would counterattack, and even where the opponent’s weakness lay in the slightest moment.

Yao Bingling aimed at Jinwu’s chest, which revealed a weakness at that moment, and smashed it with all his might, crippling part of Jinwu’s upper body’s balance and mobility.

Jinwu also spotted the fulcrum of the opponent’s right leg at the moment of attack, so at the instant he was hit, he used his longsword as if it were a javelin to pierce the opponent’s thigh and pin him to the ground!

“Trade wounds for wounds… can’t we just deliver the real blow?”

Jinwu said this, and it was indeed true. At this moment, they had both seriously injured each other, but these injuries were the result of their own willingness to take a knife themselves.

Jinwu’s chest was cut off in exchange for Yao Bingling’s right hand being crippled.

Yao Bingling’s right leg was crippled in exchange for Jinwu’s severe chest injury!

Jinwu clutched his chest, the blood flowing uncontrollably from his wound. The hot, red blood dripped onto the ground, sparking like molten iron being poured from a furnace. Yao Bingling’s attack had doubled the size of Jinwu’s wound, causing massive bleeding!

However, Yao Bingling’s situation was also extremely dire. He had already realized the indestructibility of the Han Bafang Sword when he fought against Jinwu, so he had no way to cut it off and pull it out.

He could only grasp the hilt of Han Bafang’s sword and slowly pull the 1.2-meter-long sword with an 85cm blade from his leg. During this process, blood splattered everywhere, and the sound of cutting flesh spread like an engine.

That was the decisive blow.

Yao Bingling replied with a pale face. No matter how resilient he was, he could not remain calm in such pain, such a scene, and even in the face of blood loss. Moreover, his condition was much worse than Jinwu’s.

Although he was very careful when he pulled out the sword, he still managed to cut an artery. In addition, the force he had exerted during the previous slashing had caused the wound to widen, resulting in a tear in the tendon connecting Yao Bingling’s right thumb and index finger. In other words, his right hand was no longer able to hold a sword.

The timer starts now; his consciousness projection has two minutes left before it bleeds to death. This means he must end the battle within those two minutes; he must deliver the decisive blow!

“…To be honest, I don’t really like using it.”

As Yao Bingling spoke, he plunged his embroidered spring knife into the ground.

Upon seeing this action, Jinwu immediately wanted to pounce on Yao Bingling and cut off his head, but just as he was about to act, he seemed to remember something, and then silently took two steps back, watching Yao Bingling’s movements with a smile.

Yao Bingling gripped his right wrist with his left hand, carefully assessing the extent of the wound. Then, he pulled out a white strip of cloth from somewhere and tightly bound the wound around his wrist. He then grabbed the hilt of a knife and tied his hand to the hilt as well.

Then, using his own consciousness, he conjured a scabbard and sheathed the sword in front of the Golden Crow.

Leaning forward, his left hand, gripping the knife and scabbard, extends behind his waist, revealing only the hilt of the knife, and his hand maintains an explosive movement like a taut bowstring.

This time, the posture was quite standard, and even a layman could understand what Yao Bingling’s posture represented.

Iaijutsu, also known as the sword-drawing technique.

Known as the fastest swordsmanship in Japanese Kendo, it emphasizes combat at extreme speed. The word “Iai” symbolizes the opposing sides, and Iaido is all about killing with a single blow.

“Hey, that pose, are you planning to play Iaijutsu with me?”

“I’m starting to get tired of you.”

Yao Bingling calmly repeated, his body taut like a bow, his eyes as cold as the knife in his hand, yet the killing intent emanating from him was as fierce as a flood!

“Indeed, this is the fastest way. If we keep fighting like this, even if I drag you to your death, I will be weak for several years after I take over your body.”

Jinwu also agreed with this approach. Although the damage suffered by their computerized consciousness projection was ultimately a projection of their own consciousness, the damage would not be completely replicated on their original bodies, but it was a huge blow to their spirit and energy. And right now…

To put it bluntly, even if either of them were to defeat the other, they would both be in a state of considerable weakness and exhaustion upon waking up.

Therefore, they didn’t have much time to drag things out, and neither did Yao Bingling and Jin Wu.

“Then let’s have some fun.”

With a thought, Jinwu produced a sword sheath in his hand and sheathed his sword.

Neither of them used Japanese swords. The Xiuchun Dao, though called a sword, was a single-edged straight sword, and its drawing speed was far slower than that of a curved katana. The same was true for the Han Bafang sword in Jinwu’s hand.

But what does it matter? One is skilled with a knife, and the other is skilled with a sword.

One person suffered a severe arm injury, and another suffered a fractured sternum.

Both of these conditions put them on a fairly level starting line, so neither of them wanted to change weapons. They simply held onto their weapons and poured the last of their strength into their arms.

Their breathing began to slow down, and gradually their breathing formed a completely equal rhythm. If heart rate sensors were attached to them at this moment, it would even be possible to detect that their heartbeats were at the same time and with the same rhythm.

Gradually, their breathing became weak, their heartbeats slowed down, and the flow of blood in their bodies gradually stopped.

…Thump~thump~~thump~~~thump~~~~thump……..thump thump thump thump thump! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

Suddenly, both of their heartbeats stopped for a moment, but the next instant, their hearts burst open as if they had been struck by a powerful electric shock.

It felt like the blood in my body was being injected into a high-intensity fuel-powered motor, roaring violently!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Large amounts of blood gushed from Yao Bingling’s wrist and right leg, especially from his right leg, where the extremely high blood pressure spurted from the severed artery was like a blood dragon!

Similarly, due to the intense eruption, a large amount of scorching blood gushed from Jinwu’s chest, just like an erupting volcano!

Their blood mingled, forming a curtain of crimson, but in an instant! The curtain was severed by two beams of light! One was the gleam of the Embroidered Spring Blade, and the other was the sword light of Han Bafang!

Within the crimson curtain, the clear light emanating from the two swords resembled two dragons!

The sparks from the collision and friction between the two weapons came into contact with the high-temperature blood. The energy contained in the blood, which was not conventional, was ignited by the sparks and burst into flames. The crimson curtain was completely transformed into a wall of flames. However, the two weapons did not stop and cut through the flames to slash at each other!

“boom!”

The flames ignited, then went out.

The battle between life and death can be decided in a split second; that instantaneous clash causes the two to shift positions and appear behind each other.

Yao Bingling’s hands were trembling because he was in so much pain, an unbearable pain. He stiffly turned his neck, which had a clean cut, and looked down at his shoulder and left arm… The clean cut was so neat that it was reminiscent of an industrial cutting machine.

Jinwu’s sword strike had perfectly severed his entire left shoulder blade and arm below his neck. This was arguably the most serious and terrifying injury he had ever suffered since birth. In reality, if the information was accurate, he could survive such an injury, but he would become a cripple who had lost his left shoulder and arm.

“…What a f*cking awful plot.”

Jinwu looked at his sword with considerable dissatisfaction. The blood on the blade shimmered with an eerie light. He had originally planned to sever the shoulder blade from the left side of his opponent and cut off his entire head. However, the opponent was faster and forcefully stopped him from continuing to slash upwards. In the end, he only crippled Yao Bingling’s left shoulder and left a rather regrettable wound on his neck.

Similarly, Yao Bingling’s knife was also stained with hot blood. The source of that blood was obvious.

Jinwu frowned as he looked at his abdomen, which seemed to be empty…

But suddenly a thin line of blood appeared there, and in the next second the line of blood suddenly expanded and quickly extended to his entire body, including his lower back.

Jinwu turned around and looked at the man who had fallen to the ground, clutching his left shoulder, unable to bear the pain any longer. He clenched his teeth, his pale face and red eyes filled with tears. With an extremely unhappy expression, Jinwu said, “…Ten years, I really find it hard to accept the fact that I lost.”

Whoosh!

Blood burst from the Golden Crow’s abdomen! Splashing out like water from a broken water balloon, the Golden Crow’s upper body collapsed limply to the ground, creating a rather eerie pool of blood. He stared at his still-standing lower body with some resentment, and a few seconds later let out a heart-wrenching laugh.

Yao Bingling’s slash actually cut him in two!

“I am skilled with a knife, and I have kept it a secret that I studied kendo for a period of time.”

Yao Bingling, clutching his left shoulder, spoke in a trembling voice.

“Losing is losing. I may not have collapsed or been destroyed, but… I still have dignity.” Jinwu turned and glared at Yao Bingling, then slowly said, “The victor doesn’t need to give the loser too many reasons.”

After a few seconds of silence, Yao Bingling nodded toward Jinwu.

He stood up unsteadily, walked to the open iron gate, stepped out, and forcefully closed it with one hand on top of the gate.

“Hello.”

Just as Yao Bingling was about to lock the door, Jinwu shouted at him.

“Here’s a piece of advice: reaching for immense power, whether you can control it or not, will ultimately engulf you… and I will engulf you too. Of course, you understand what I mean by saying this.”

“…I understand. I will have to use your power in the future. You are welcome to take over my body, provided you can do so.”

“Are you starting to get arrogant?”

“…No, this is a realization. If it really comes to the point where only the dragon can defeat the dragon, then please grant me scales and claws.”