Chapter 299: Consciousness Slash! Use Me As A Whetstone To Reach The Next Level—then I’ll Crush You!
The first time.
Shangshan Che and Lili Zi formally stood on opposing sides.
This was not the usual private sparring, training, or cultivation where the outcome didn’t matter as long as there was some gain.
Lose, or win.
One would win, which meant the other would lose no matter what.
A third option was absolutely not allowed.
Lili Zi wanted to win.
No matter what, she wanted to take victory from Shangshan Che’s hands.
Just like at the very beginning.
—Hearing the unexpected challenge, the audience in the venue immediately boiled over again.
Many puzzled voices emerged.
“They have such a good relationship, so why are they challenging each other now?”
“No, it was Miss Tokugawa who challenged Shangshan Che… He clearly doesn’t have that intention.”
“Yeah, they still have two unchallenged ones above them; they should be teaming up against them now!”
According to most of the audience’s thoughts and pointers, this should be the script where Shangshan Che and Lili Zi team up to take first and second in the Seed Battle.
But.
——”This woman would never do that.”
Although not in the same location, at the same time, Kujō Rōgetsu on the high platform, Hozoin Inrai in the audience seat, and Sister Shinsui in front of the TV all thought so.
Because this was a commonality among certain types of people.
“Little Kin, watch closely.”
Sister Shinsui calmly raised her hand, pointing at Lili Zi who was calmly stretching her wrists on the arena,
“This is a strong one, an unquestionable strong one.”
“Is that so…”
Kyuuketsuin Kin gave a noncommittal smile: “Sister Shinsui, in my view, this Miss Tokugawa seems more like a reckless fool.”
“Is that so.”
Sister Shinsui paused, staring at Kyuuketsuin Kin for a while, and after confirming he meant it sincerely, she nodded thoughtfully: “A reckless fool…”
“So that’s how you see her, Little Kin.”
She regretfully withdrew her gaze.
Such a rare talent given to Kyuuketsuin Kin’s background was truly wasted.
Completely squandering a heavenly gift.
“So what do you think, Sister Shinsui?”
Kyuuketsuin Kin, who had watched the elimination tournament from start to nearly now, pursed his lips: “She clearly can’t win, that Miss Tokugawa.”
He had another unspoken thought—that even Miss Tokugawa’s wins so far owed a lot to Shangshan Che’s Daito.
Facing Kyuuketsuin Kin’s question, Sister Shinsui didn’t answer but instead asked back,
“Little Kin, what do you think makes one strong?”
But before Kyuuketsuin Kin could reply, Sister Shinsui continued on her own,
“Is a strong body what makes one strong? Profound Sword Technique? Mastery of Sorcery? A heart like steel?
Abundant Qi Barrier, abundant Spiritual Power, many kills, many demons slain—that makes one strong?
Much wealth, great power, long life, high reputation—that makes one strong?”
Sister Shinsui lowered her eyes, pinched the freshly refilled unpleasant barley tea cup with her fingers, and flipped it over in front of Kyuuketsuin Kin, pouring it out with a clatter onto the table.
The pale brown barley tea instantly spread across the entire table, then dripped into the controller placed under the table.
Amid Kyuuketsuin Kin’s silently open-mouthed dissuasion, Sister Shinsui calmly and decisively denied,
“In my view, none of that.”
Kyuuketsuin Kin painfully watched his barley tea-soaked wooden table and controller, waving his hands in front of him but not daring to reach out and stop Sister Shinsui.
Sister Shinsui gently set down the teacup,
“Little Kin, the strong are forged by choices.”
“Breaking worldly reason and rules, facing certain death with no chance of survival, making decisions utterly opposite to everyone else’s, and from then on steadfastly following one’s own thoughts and will…
Forged gradually by countless choices an ordinary person would never make—that is the ‘strong’.”
She smiled and shook the teacup in her hand, responding to Kyuuketsuin Kin’s words from a few hours ago about “I’m strong too”: “Little Kin, you see, you didn’t dare stop me either.”
Kyuuketsuin Kin opened his mouth, speechless.
Sister Shinsui continued,
“The difference between a so-called ‘reckless fool’ and the ‘strong’ is that the former completely fails to recognize, or doesn’t fully recognize, what they’re about to face.
Yet they make decisions based on so-called hot-blooded impulse or emotions stirred by a few words.
But the strong are different.
The strong know their situation, understand everything before them, yet still choose to advance.”
Sister Shinsui’s voice had little inflection, like narrating facts and experiences,
“Because the strong believe they can achieve victory and absolutely believe they will be the strongest under heaven.”
“—And this ‘belief’ comes from those once unimaginable and unmade choices by ordinary people, time and again.”
At the end, Sister Shinsui paused.
She caught the flicker of disappointment in Kyuuketsuin Kin’s eyes as his gaze swept over the controller.
Sister Shinsui shook her head helplessly, gathered the barley tea she had long caught with Qi Barrier, and tossed it all out the window,
“Alright, Little Kin, look.”
The girl grabbed the dry controller joystick and shook it in front of him,
“See, it’s not completely broken… I’ll help clean your room later too.”
……
“Here, Shangshan Jun.”
Lili Zi tossed Kaga Kiyomitsu from her hand.
Facing Shangshan Che’s gaze, the girl waved her hand,
“Fighting you with your sword… I won’t do something that greedy.”
Lili Zi turned her gaze to Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was secretly vibrating happily after landing in Shangshan Che’s hand,
“Besides, if I used Little Jia to beat you, it would be unhappy too.”
Shangshan Che nodded and replied: “That leaves you with very little chance of winning.”
“Is that so?”
Lili Zi curved her lips,
“Shangshan Jun, you can try.”
—Shangshan Che could sense it even without Lili Zi saying so.
Above his head, and all around.
In mid-air, the dazzling Sword Heart that absolutely couldn’t be ignored radiated “sunlight” like a real sun, spreading Sword Principle, giving him an indescribable sense of suppression.
Lili Zi’s Sword Domain had long unfolded, enveloping every part of this main arena.
But unlike the boy’s Sword Domain with “divine perception.”
Lili Zi’s Sword Domain, besides slashing people from afar, seemed able to swiftly “understand” everything happening within it?
Shangshan Che didn’t quite get it.
Lili Zi’s Sword Domain was pretty complex; even after so much exposure, he hadn’t figured much out, since usually he was just beaten from all directions remotely.
At that moment, a crisp “po” sounded beside Shangshan Che.
Accompanied by a faint ripple, a white dress landed, and the petite Two-Foot Adult removed her white hat from her head, placing it over her chest, and spoke seriously,
“Hmph! I’ll protect Che Adult!”
This comical and cute scene instantly sparked a joyful atmosphere in the audience seats.
Smack.
Shangshan Che’s hand patted the girl’s head.
He said to the startled girl: “Two-Foot, it’s not yet time for you to appear.”
Two-Foot Adult was stunned, a slight look of grievance appearing on her pitiful little face.
Despite such a huge strength gain before the Seed Battle, she still couldn’t truly help Che Adult…
This thought was shattered by Shangshan Che in the next instant: “Because there are more important, more critical battles afterward.”
He squatted down, leveling his gaze with the girl’s, and said softly,
“So this time, please cheer for me from the side.”
Two-Foot Adult’s little face blushed slightly,
“Mmm… Okay.”
Two-Foot Adult had appeared now to settle the previous score with Lili Zi, but now it seemed there was no chance.
She was a bit annoyed.
But the girl lowered her head, poking her fingers and muttering inwardly: “Che Adult’s words can’t be refuted.”
So Two-Foot Adult walked alone to the edge of the arena, watching Shangshan Che somewhat nervously.
“Hey, enough with the playtime.”
Lili Zi rarely furrowed her brows slightly.
She exhaled, gripping the air with both hands, making Shangshan Che’s gaze instantly serious.
No, not just Shangshan Che.
Even ordinary audience members and Onmyoji in the seats didn’t know what trick this was, but any Cold Weapons expert could sense it immediately.
Lili Zi held a “blade” in her hands!
This was not the Qi Barrier blade or Spiritual Energy blade Shangshan Che had condensed before, but a true, empty “Air Blade”!
—No blade triumphs over a blade!
At this moment, Hayashi Jin’ya and Kitamura Yūyū, previously defeated by Lili Zi, sighed in convinced admiration.
If Lili Zi had used this move earlier, she could have easily beaten them even without that blade.
“It can be played like this? Turns out not everything in manga is just bluffing…”
Shangshan Che maxed out the Eye of Interpretation’s power, expanding “sight” in a spherical shape centered on himself.
Then.
Eightfold…
Lili Zi raised her eyes, her gaze landing exactly on Shangshan Che’s ankle.
—Both feet, severed?!
Shangshan Che couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Clearly, Flame Armor hadn’t activated, Qi Circulation was intact, and even Lili Zi herself was standing far away without moving…
How exactly did she achieve this slash?
Boom!
Shangshan Che fell to the ground, the Eightfold Fence’s power scattering outward.
The arena surface cracked as a result, thin smoke rising.
In mere moments, the smoke was torn apart by an invisible blade, revealing the blazing yet cold eyes behind.
“—Shangshan competitor, tripping on flat ground at such a critical moment?”
The broadcaster’s and audience’s puzzled voices rose together.
But unlike them, some knew the culprit behind Shangshan Che’s fall just now was—
“Consciousness Slash.”
Both inside and outside the field, Tokugawa Ryuji and Sister Shinsui thought simultaneously.
Consciousness Slash was a move only Great Swordsmen with extremely advanced Sword Technique and State of Mind could use.
Its feature was ignoring spatial distance and any obstacles, directly slashing the opponent with one’s gaze.
See and slash.
This move had no startup or recovery, yet made the opponent truly feel slashed—extremely practical.
But its drawback was that the slashed target needed a certain Sword Technique level, or they wouldn’t feel it at all.
On the arena, just as Lili Zi arrived before him, before Shangshan Che could stand, he felt his supposedly severed feet return to his perception.
And utterly unharmed.
Though he still didn’t fully understand what had happened.
But gazing at Lili Zi before him, with her Qi and Blood surging like ocean tides, Shangshan Che already knew what to do.
The incoming swords weren’t just the one in Lili Zi’s hand.
Simultaneously, the intangible swords from the Sword Domain assaulting from all directions.
Human Body Great Elixir’s Qi and Blood erupted.
The Air Blade in Lili Zi’s hand that could freely extend and shorten, plus the Sword Domain’s omnidirectional covering slashes.
—Seemingly, Shangshan Che was in dire straits from the start.
—But only because many moves were ones Lili Zi was using for the first time.
However, only the one right before him needed blocking.
Shangshan Che raised his arm, sweeping Kaga Kiyomitsu across, sparking blinding sparks continuously.
Clang!
Under the intense wind pressure, all the smoke vanished instantly.
The Air Blade couldn’t advance an inch.
Behind, thousands of slashes from the Sword Domain rained down like arrows!
Flame Armor appeared in an instant then dimmed.
But with ample Spiritual Power Replenishment, in a mere gap, it restored to perfect condition.
His back felt a slight tremor.
Amid the consecutively bursting sparks, the eye corner under the Red Hannya Mask curved, and Shangshan Che chuckled,
“Lili Zi, I won’t hold back by retracting those too.”
“I know.”
Responding was countless Tusk Thrusts transformed from slashes.
Bang!
Flame Armor could no longer hold, shattering explosively!
The remaining half of the Tusk Thrusts entered the extremely complex Qi Circulation, vanishing like clay oxen into the sea.
But after a mere dozen flashes of blade light between them, those Tusk Thrusts fully transformed into the Natural Reason School’s initial Secret Technique—
Three-stage Thrust!
This time, Shangshan Che’s gaze finally changed.
His toe lightly tapped the ground, instantly pursuing Lili Zi who had retreated dozens of meters, dodging most of the dense Three-stage Thrusts.
But even the remaining portion was enough to shatter Shangshan Che’s Qi Circulation and truly slash his Hundred Refinements body.
Blood spurted out.
At the same time, Lili Zi, who had been rapidly retreating, seemed to have predicted it perfectly, adding a turning slash with all that retreat momentum!
Before their blades crossed, Lili Zi’s gaze locked onto Shangshan Che’s neck.
Consciousness Slash to the head would slow Shangshan Che’s movements by at least a beat.
Thus, the real slash could cleanly behead him.
Gaze locked.
Slash!
Consciousness Slash, activate…?!
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
Tangible and intangible blades crossed, immense force knocking the Air Blade from Lili Zi’s hand.
Seizing the moment, Kaga Kiyomitsu pressed the advantage, drawing a streak of blood from Lili Zi’s shoulder.
Missing the strike, Lili Zi instantly retreated over a hundred meters away.
She stood in place, staring at Shangshan Che who unsteadily stood in the distance, a faint doubt rising in her eyes.
The previous Consciousness Slash should have clearly hit his neck, successfully beheading him.
Just now, the Consciousness Slash to the ankle had indeed worked.
—But why did that slash still come full force from Shangshan Che?
Lili Zi couldn’t figure it out.
She glanced at the minor wound on her shoulder, noting no viscous pale or deep black appeared.
“Fighting you, no need for those impure things.”
Shangshan Che touched his neck with his palm, quickly extricating himself from the all-too-familiar sensation.
Listening to Kaga Kiyomitsu’s slightly chaotic heart voice, he said to Lili Zi,
“Use me as a whetstone and advance to the next step.”
Kaga Kiyomitsu’s blade tip drooped, pointing straight at Lili Zi’s heart.
Red Hannya chuckled lowly,
“—Then, I’ll crush you.”
Lili Zi fell silent, reaching out to grip a new Air Blade from the void.
She too aimed her blade at Shangshan Che’s left chest, revealing a brilliant smile,
“Shangshan Jun, I’m looking forward to it.”
