Chapter 57: Breaking Through One's Limits Amidst the Slaughter

Boom! Boom! The abrupt sound of explosions shattered the quiet of the Kyoto morning.

Kyoto's night markets are bustling, but they also leave many feeling mentally exhausted in the morning.

Although the explosions were outside the city, Hirohito was still startled awake.

He stood up instantly, his personal guards already keeping watch all around.

"What is that commotion?!"

A man wearing a modernized military uniform walked in from outside and said to Hirohito,

"Your Highness, the scouts report that the train tracks outside the city have been blown up, and the suspects have not yet been found."

Hirohito rubbed his brow to ease the pain of his hangover.

Kyoto is a prosperous place with many geisha; he could not obtain Muzan, but he would not hang himself from a single tree, and he was still able to indulge in pleasure.

He pushed the woman in his arms away, let his guards dress him, and walked outside to gaze into the distance at the place where the fire and smoke were rising.

It was quite far from where he was, so he did not take it to heart.

Although the Meiji Restoration was progressing well, there were always some stubborn, pedantic people who believed that these roaring trains were stripping them of their fields and their rule.

They seemed to think that if they just blew up the train tracks and got rid of these roaring trains, life could return to the way it was before.

Hah, foolish.

Whether Hirohito was indulging in pleasure or obsessed with Muzan's beauty, in essence, he was actually very "progressive"; he would spare nothing to embrace more advanced, more powerful forces and existences.

Whether it was Western innovation or Muzan's "Blood Demon Art," those were the powers he wanted! "Your Highness, the Tsuchimikado Clan seems to have sent someone to see you."

Tsuchimikado, this was also a powerful clan with many years of heritage.

It was a prestigious family that had once used 【Yin-Yang Arts】 to dominate for a time.

It is just a pity that things like Yin-Yang Arts, along with the ghosts and monsters, curses, and evil arts of the Heian Period, had all headed toward decline.

Hirohito did not want to see them; he guessed that such people were merely wanting to continue getting a piece of the pie.

It is just a pity that the current era is already the era of warlords; only by grasping military power is it the most important thing.

Hirohito did not even look highly upon the emerging industrialists who had risen alongside the Restoration, so how could he focus on these remnants of the old era?

He waved his hand, intending to have them dismissed.

But suddenly, a black, shiny object was thrown from a great distance.

Hirohito watched as the object flew from somewhere outside the courtyard, landed on the ground at the base of his four-story building, and rolled a few times.

"Watch out, it's a firearm!"

A figure appeared instantly behind Hirohito, pulled him up, and with a forceful stomp of his feet, flew backward with Hirohito in tow.

Boom! The destructive power of a high-explosive grenade was far beyond what the firearms of this era could compare to; a single one instantly blew this exquisite wooden building to collapse.

About two hundred meters outside the courtyard, a group of people stared blankly at Bai Cangshu, who had thrown the grenade; because the distance was too great, they did not realize at first that Bai Cangshu was throwing a firearm at the prince's palace.

When the massive explosion occurred, everyone's expression changed.

The next moment, the minister who had brought Bai Cangshu in turned pale.

"Tsuchimikado, you dare..."

Pfft! Bai Cangshu's attack speed was extremely fast; his recovering right hand flicked like an afterimage.

The minister's throat was instantly shattered, and he staggered backward and fell.

"Baka!"

Amidst the angry shouts of the group, some raised their guns while others drew their swords.

But Bai Cangshu suddenly stomped down, and a terrifying Force erupted with a roar.

Bang! 【Two Tigers Style: Fire Kata: Raging Fire】! The stone floor cracked in an instant, and a large amount of debris shot out in all directions.

Pfft, pfft, pfft! "Ah!"

The group seemed to be baptized by shrapnel; their bodies were instantly cut with numerous wounds, dripping with blood.

Bai Cangshu could not yet achieve the feat of condensing Force for dozens of meters without dissipating it like Tao Baibai, but combined with his innate, terrifying physique, he could erupt with Force instantly during combat; not only was his burst speed a cut above Clown Evans, but he could also wound enemies around him. Bang! Bai Cangshu charged out as violently as a raging fire.

The guards stationed on the perimeter of the palace were still looking at the exploded and collapsed palace; hearing the violent footsteps behind them, they turned around, only to see a hand twisted to the extreme, spiraling toward them.

【Fox Shadow Style: Rakshasa Palm】! Pfft! How terrifying was the force of Bai Cangshu's strike? With one palm, the guard's sternum was instantly pulverized; he could feel the opponent's internal organs and muscles twisting together between his palms, then erupting violently.

Boom! The guard's corpse flew out in a spiral, knocking over several soldiers who had just crawled out of the ruins.

Bai Cangshu's footsteps did not stop for a moment; he charged directly into the smoke, stomped hard, and with a posture as light as a Crane, he stepped lightly on the ruins of the wooden building, which were less than three meters high after the collapse, and instantly jumped out of the smoke, seeing the few people behind protecting Hirohito as he retreated.

The person dragging Hirohito with one hand was a ninja wrapped entirely in night-traveling clothes; this person was exceptionally agile, and even the sound of Bai Cangshu's light step was heard by him, so he turned and waved one hand.

Swish, swish, swish! The sound of breaking air rang out instantly.

Bai Cangshu had nowhere to leverage his strength in mid-air, but he twisted his waist, spun at high speed in the air a few times, and changed direction in mid-air to land on the ground.

Thud, thud, thud! The Shuriken buried themselves into the ruins of the wooden building with considerable force.

This person was an expert.

The ninja ignored Bai Cangshu entirely; having blocked the enemy with one strike, he quickly continued to retreat with Hirohito. He knew very well that since the Tsuchimikado Clan dared to cooperate with an assassin to do this, those "old-school" forces native to Kyoto were likely all unreliable.

He had to take Prince Hirohito to that woman!

Behind them, two men wearing Xuanse military uniforms stopped and both drew the Tachi at their waists.

As personal guards, the two still trusted their swords more in close-quarters combat.

When Bai Cangshu landed from his spin, his Force flowed as he pleased; by utilizing the spin in the air, he had already dissipated the violent forward momentum of the 【Raging Fire】 footwork, and he did not make a single sound when he landed.

Both swordsmen frowned when they saw this.

"Careful, he's an expert!"

Bai Cangshu landed on the balls of his feet, his heels not touching the ground, and at the same time, he bent his knees, his figure leaping high once again like a Crane spreading its wings.

Both men were stunned at the same time; in close-quarters combat, the greatest taboo is jumping into the air, because there is nowhere to leverage strength in the air.

One man immediately stepped forward, gripped his sword with both hands, raised it high, and exhaled with a shout.

"Ha!"

The so-called Shigen-ryu is exactly like this: relying on terrifying strength and momentum to completely ignore all of an opponent's techniques.

My sword, only slashes! He suddenly unleashed a swift slash at Bai Cangshu, who was descending lightly from the air!

The sword momentum was terrifying, the air wailing and whistling.

But Bai Cangshu's heart was racing at this moment, his pupils dilated; he was clearly in a state of extreme excitement.

He did not like boring, rigid combat, and often challenged himself during fights.

Just like at this moment, because of a few jumps, he suddenly felt he had captured a bit of the essence of Tao Baibai's movements.

A so-called Martial Artist is not an ordinary fighter.

A Martial Artist can accomplish all sorts of things that ordinary people cannot.

Bai Cangshu breathed continuously through his nose and mouth, his Ripple Qigong circulating rapidly.

In mid-air, seeing that grand and imposing slash, he suddenly exerted force from his waist and abdomen, flipped his body in the air, and stepped forward with his left foot.

Not a hair too fast, not an instant too slow.

Bai Cangshu stepped onto the tip of the Shigen-ryu swordsman's blade, where the strength of the slash had already been spent, his arms spread wide like a Crane spreading its wings.

Ito Hiroyuki's pupils shrank sharply; feeling the weight transmitted from his sword, he could hardly believe his eyes.

"How... is this possible..."

How could a tall human possibly spread his wings in mid-air and stand on the sword he had just slashed out?

How could a human change their own body weight? 【You have a realization, your Martial Arts have improved, Martial Arts Mastery increased, current: Lv3】

【Martial Arts Mastery Lv3—Handling the heavy as if it were light, center of gravity like mercury, exerting force as smoothly as one wishes】

(End of chapter)