Chapter 151

Ren and Yan Qing fought fiercely, while Dan Heng merely offered a token defense on the side, and he sneered, 'What's wrong? Can't you go all out against this kid?'

Dan Heng frowned, thinking: 'I don't know how March and the others are doing… We need to settle this quickly.'

A flash of resolve crossed his eyes—

He slightly raised the Heavy Abyss Pearl in his hand, and instantly countless torrents surged toward Yan Qing, engulfing the youth: 'Heavenly Flood, Rush Forward!'

Dan Heng also underestimated Yan Qing's skill; the youth shifted positions in an instant, defending tightly with his sword so not a drop could get through, and he suffered little injury. But Yan Qing also realized that if they continued to drag this out, the situation would turn decidedly against him.

"You two are indeed troublesome; it looks like I'll have to keep you here and use this move!"

He leapt into the air, brandishing his long sword, and a massive icy sword aura condensed behind him, which he hurled at the two with unmatched force.

"This sword… feels really familiar." Ren's voice was thick with killing intent: "Was it that woman who taught you? Then you have only a dead end!"

Demon Slayer World—

"Tch, this kid…"

Seeing Yan Qing unleash the sword he had comprehended on the light screen, Bu sichuan Shimí felt utterly awful.

After witnessing the divine technique of Jingliu's swordsmanship, several Pillars often secretly practiced swordsmanship together in the back mountains at night, attempting to replicate that sword of Jingliu.

To this end, they also asked the swordsmiths of the Swordsmith Village to reforge a batch of swords, hoping to keep them consistent with the light sword Jingliu wielded in the light screen.

In order to master that sword, they changed their long-held sword grip and made adjustments to their breathing technique… Yet even so, only the most talented among them, Shitou Wuyilang, made any progress.

Now his sword already bears forty to fifty percent of Jingliu's spirit; although the power of his technique falls far short—by a hundred and eighty thousand miles—this good start still gave the remaining Pillars considerable confidence.

... If they keep diligently training, perhaps in three to five years they could enter the hall and make great progress—who knows?

At least Bu sichuan Shimí was thinking that just a moment ago.

But now seeing Yan Qing's sword…

"This kid's been busy investigating Blade's movements these past few days, constantly rushing around, hasn't he had any dedicated practice?" Bu sichuan Shimí couldn't help but exclaim, "Those Astral Express people are going too far! Living long is one thing, but to have such talent as well?!"

He had thought it would take three to five years to reach that level, but Yan Qing achieved it in just two evenings with casual ease, and just the power of that sword… I fear he could never attain it in a lifetime.

"Sanemi, stay calm." The deep voice of the Rock Hashira sounded from behind him: "Although Yan Qing's talent is high, the enemies he faces are also tougher than ours."

"Demons at least die if you behead them—but have you seen those Abominations of Plenty? Even if you cut off their heads, the skin on their bodies keeps wriggling."

"Yan Qing's starting point may be higher than ours, but his endpoint is likewise farther away than ours."

The Rock Hashira paused, then continued: 'All we need to do is find where Wucan is hiding, kill him, and all our problems will be solved. But Yan Qing and company's goal is to hunt the Abundance Star God… their endpoint is even more beyond our reach.'

"We can't delay any longer…"

"Sorry, I never wanted to resort to force, but now I have no other choice… sorry."

Although Dan Heng felt reluctant, he still pushed the power of the Heavy Abyss Pearl in his hand to the maximum; in the blink of an eye, several water dragons coiled around him, poised to strike.

"Coiling Dragon Soaring Leap!"

Dan Heng pressed his fingers together, and an azure water dragon shot up into the sky; in an instant it shattered Yan Qing's protective flying sword, and the surging water force smashed into him with unstoppable might.

With a deafening boom, shards of stone flew, and the ground was actually gouged out a crater the size of a meteorite.

"Cough cough…" Yan Qing wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth; the power of that move was like a hundred‑ton high‑speed star‑chaser slamming head‑on into him, and though he had exerted all his strength to defend at the last moment, he was still badly injured.

"I can still… fight." Yan Qing gave a muffled groan, leaning on his sword with one knee on the ground; he could no longer force himself.

"All right, everyone, listen to me: stop." Seeing that the situation was about to end, Kafka finally spoke up to halt them.

Upon hearing those words, Dan Heng, Ren, and Yan Qing all felt their hearts shaken, and their bodies unconsciously submitted to Kafka's idea.

Fontaine, Fontaine, inside the Opera Epiclese, many spectators watching the light screen began to chatter.

"Kafka's spirit words actually work on Dan Heng in his Dragon Sovereign form—this move is way too unstoppable…"

"Moreover, Blade's Demonic Shade state seems to have been undone as well."

"But look, the focus of Kafka's spirit words is "listen to me"; what if the target is deaf—would her spirit words then be ineffective?"

"Hey, you're a real genius! But have you ever wondered why Kafka would cast spirit words on a deaf person?"

"... That's also true."

Listening to the discussion behind her, Funina poked the dragon king she had finally managed to catch on her day off: "Nawailite, Danhen is the Dragon Sovereign, you are the Water Dragon King, you should be stronger than him, right?"

As soon as she spoke, Nawiya beside Funina unconsciously moved her ear closer.

"…Miss Funina." Nawailite sighed speechlessly, "Where does this baseless urge to compare come from again?"

"Haha… Haven't you been reading a few Inazuma light novels lately? Comparing combat power between works is a hot topic these days." Funina's eyes widened, her heterochromatic blue pupils sparkling with curiosity, "So, I really want to know…"

"Such questions usually have a universal solution." Keluolinde, sitting beside Nawailite, interjected: "Comparing characters' combat power is meaningless; it'd be better to compare the authors' combat power—they could agree to duel, and whoever wins, their work's protagonist would be considered stronger."

However, it's best not to fight in Maple Crimson, otherwise you might end up going to Meiluobudebao to compare combat power with the Duke.

——

"How about it, Ah Ren, are you satisfied?" Kafka asked with a light laugh.

"Hah… hah…" Ren kept breathing, the emotions brought by the Demon Yin Body finally calmed down.

Danhen glanced at him, not wanting to bother with him. As for Kafka… he frowned and demanded, "What did you just do?"

"Just a bit of preparation to welcome the big shot's grand arrival." Kafka chuckled: "We can't let the illustrious Luofu General watch Ah Ren and you two make a fool of yourselves."

"Hahaha."

Before the words had even finished, a familiar, lighthearted laugh came from not far away.

Jingyuan appeared at some point, gave a light chuckle, walked up to Yan Qing, and silently shielded him behind him.