Both of them were in a mid-range posture, staring at each other, motionless.
The tip of Qinghe Hachiro's sword twitched repeatedly and wavered like a wagtail's tail.
When you see a swordsman with the tip of his sword dangling back and forth after getting into a fighting stance, then there is no doubt - this person must be a descendant of the Beichen One-Sword Style, or a swordsman who is deeply influenced by the Beichen One-Sword Style.
The reason why Beichen Itto Style uses and recommends this sword-holding style is because it can prevent the tip of the sword from becoming stiff, so that it can respond to the opponent's movements more quickly, and it will not be easy for the opponent to see through one's intentions.
Of course, there are countless swordsmen who criticize this point - "If you don't have solid skills, you will just swing the sword away! Instead of doing these fancy tricks, it is better to hold the sword in your hand honestly!" - they said this.
road.
Although Aoshinobu is a successor of Tenorishin-ryu, he has considerable attainments in Beichen Ittou-ryu due to his frequent visits to the Little Chiba Sword Hall. He can be considered a half-successor of Beichen Ittou-ryu.
Therefore, he could see at a glance how solid Qinghe Hachiro's basic skills were.
Compared to Shannan Keisuke, Toudo Heisuke, Chiba Jutaro, Sanako and other people of the Beichen Itto sect that Aoto is familiar with, Kiyokawa Hachiro's sword tip swings much wider, but it never strays away from the center line, and his body movements are not even the slightest.
flaw.
From the Baihui point on the top of the head, the center of the eyebrows, the eyes, the nose, the philtrum, the chin, the Adam's apple, the arteries on both sides of the neck, the chest, the lower abdomen, and the crotch, a "middle line" is formed by connecting these key points.
Effectively hitting the opponent's midline vitals is the best shortcut to knocking down or killing the opponent.
By occupying the center line, you can hit the opponent first before the opponent comes over.
In addition, after occupying the center line, it is also helpful to block attacks from the middle and both sides.
In other words - whoever grabs the center line will have an advantage in the next battle.
It is no exaggeration to say that most close combat in this world, whether it is unarmed fighting or fighting with weapons, all revolve around "grabbing the center line".
This is why in Japanese swordsmanship, the middle stance is so versatile and easy to use.
Apart from this, the other postures, such as the upper section and the lower section, all surrender the center line of the body to others in vain, and should not be done unless one is highly skilled and courageous.
Compared with schools such as the Natural Rishin-ryu, Shinto Muken-ryu, and Shigen-ryu that focus on explosive power and advocate "attack, attack, and attack again", Beichen Itto-ryu is not a very aggressive school.
Judging from the appearance carved by Qinghe Hachiro... he probably wanted to adopt the strategy of "stopping with silence", waiting for Qingdeng to take the initiative to attack, and then attack first.
At this moment, his sharp gaze was crossing the blade and space, watching Qingdeng's every move.
——You are quite confident.
Qingdeng smiled in his heart.
Since the other party has given up the "right to attack first", he won't be polite!
In an instant, Qingdeng concentrated his strength on the tip of his toes, and then tapped the ground - in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Qinghe Hachilang.
While standing up, Qingdeng lowered the sword, the middle section became the lower right section, and the slender bamboo sword suddenly disappeared into the shadow of his body.
The bamboo sword suddenly jumped up and drew a straight black line in the air, heading straight for Qinghe Hachiro's waist.
If the chop is solid this time, Qinghe Hachilang will probably have to lie on the bed for a while.
The other party is a "restless element" with a long criminal record.
The word "thorny head" alone is not enough to sum up his danger level.
Therefore, just like when he fought Serizawa Kama the day before yesterday, Aonto also had the intention of "beating the opponent" and "let the opponent see the difference in strength between them" this time.
Although his upward attack was only a tentative attack, he actually showed some serious energy.
The two people who were facing each other at a distance one moment, standing still, were fighting together the next moment... This contrast was so huge that it caught people off guard. It was very similar to the scene that was originally still, and then suddenly turned on "Ten Ten".
"Play twice as fast" video tape.
Qinghe Hachiro's subsequent series of reactions and actions are worthy of his reputation.
He calmly and lightly stepped back, dodging Qingdeng's blow and leaving plenty of fighting space.
In the next breath, the tip of his sword that had been swinging stopped for an instant, and then like a cirrus hurricane, it swept towards Qing Deng who had just stood still.
This sword is as fast as thunder and as heavy as Mount Tai.
People who didn't know it might have thought it was a slash from a swordsman from the Shinto Muken-ryu or Kyogen-ryu.
The trajectory of the sword, the indescribable sense of pressure, approached in an arc.
Qingden lowered his lower body leisurely and stood the bamboo sword upright at his side without any haste.
Snapped!
The bamboo swords intersect and the sound is loud.
"Drink ah ah ah ah!"
Qinghe Hachiro took back the bounced bamboo sword, and then used the second move, the third move, the fourth move... one move after another, continuous and dizzying.
There is a saying that "Know your enemy and yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles."
Qing Deng knew every move, style, and routine of Beichen's Yi Dao style.
What about "inducing the opponent to make a move, then waiting for the opponent to stretch out his arm and then chop off his hand", and what about "deliberately showing off a weakness, waiting for the opponent to stretch out his arm and then chop off his hand", these are all things that Qing Deng has already mastered and watched.
It's an old routine.
Unless he uses ingenious new tactics, or his attack speed exceeds Qingden's instinctive reaction and talent "Speed +4", it is impossible to cause effective damage to him.
Qingdeng effortlessly neutralized Qinghe Hachilang's fierce attacks one by one.
When the other party saw this, he frowned slightly and looked thoughtful.
In the next breath, he jumped sideways with a body as light as a swallow, and with the help of the momentum of his body landing, he struck Qingdeng head-first with a sword.
Qingdeng raised his sword to catch the move.
Immediately afterwards, as if being scalded by boiling water, Qinghe Hachiro jumped back several steps and opened the gap.
Cutting down is false, taking the opportunity to retreat is true.
He saw that it was difficult to break through Qingdeng's iron-wall defense from the front, so he wanted to break Qingdeng's defense from the side.
However, when he moved his feet to the right, he saw "a little bit of leather came first, and then the sword came out like a dragon."
When he took the initiative to retreat, Qingdeng had already seen through his thoughts.
In the blink of an eye, he took a sudden step to the left and instantly caught up with Hachiro Qinghe who was trying to get around to his side. Then he took a big step, taking advantage of his long legs, and the bodies and weapons of both sides overlapped again.
Step in, gather strength in your waist, bend and stretch your body, and chop with your cassock - all the movements are done in one go, and the speed is surprisingly fast. In comparison, the falling snow in the sky seems a bit slow.
The bamboo sword that made a sound in the wind struck Qinghe Hachiro's left shoulder, like a meteor falling to the ground.
Qinghe Hachiro, who had no time to dodge, could only fight back with his sword.
Snapped!
The bamboo sword struck the air, and the volume was unexpectedly low.
It's not a crisp ringing sound, but a dull sound like hitting cotton.
Qinghe Hachiro's defense contains quite skilled force-removing techniques.
He did not confront Qingdeng head-on. Instead, after the two bamboo swords touched each other, he retreated in the direction of Qingdeng's force, minimizing the damage he suffered by "actively retreating", like a loach.
He and his sword slipped away from Qingdeng's slash.
The two sides passed each other, and their heels raised fluttering snowflakes, stirring up clouds of white mist.
Crackling sand——Qinghe Hachilang heard a sound of vigorous kicking on the ground from behind him.
When he quickly turned around and faced Qingdeng again, his entire field of vision was filled with Qingdeng's approaching figure.
Qing Deng jumped up and struck with a dive.
Qinghe Hachiro instinctively knelt down on one knee, narrowly avoiding the slashing attack coming from the air. At the same time, he counterattacked unconsciously, slashing his sword diagonally towards Qingdeng's chest.
The shadow of the sword flashed past, and there was only a "snap" sound. Qinghe Hachilang's bamboo sword did not hit Qingdeng's chest as expected, but hit Qingdeng's bamboo sword - Qingdeng seemed to have predicted the future.
With such speed, he gathered the bamboo swords to his chest - and slammed them together.
In the next moment, Qingdeng flexibly twisted his wrists - his talent "Snake Body" was activated - the bamboo sword slid open, pressed against Qinghe Hachiro's bamboo sword, and took Qinghe Hachiro's at an angle as if it were sliding.
Chest.
Seeing this, the opponent sided away in a slightly embarrassed manner, kicked the ground violently, and jumped away. The snow under his feet was trampled and scattered in all directions, breaking into powder.
Qingdeng did not launch a pursuit.
He held the bamboo sword, his arms drooped naturally, and stood leisurely, looking indifferently at the already panting Qinghe Hachiro opposite.
"Whirring whirring……!"
Qinghe Hachiro's chest rose and fell violently like a bellows.
The nostrils were expanded to the limit, greedily sucking in oxygen.
A looming wave of heat emanated from his body.
The flying snow in the sky floated to the top of his head and half an inch above his shoulders, and then was melted into warm snow water by the steaming heat wave.
Beads of sweat mixed with snow flowed down his full forehead.
Qinghe Hachiro blinked desperately and shook his head from time to time to finally stop the sweat dripping from his forehead.
Wiping sweat, wiping blood... these trivial actions that will obscure your vision and affect your body posture are taboo in combat.
Thinking that they were in a safe zone, they raised their hands to wipe away sweat and blood without any scruples. Then their opponents saw the opportunity, stepped forward, and chopped them off with one strike... There are countless idiots who died in such a confused way.
Physical fitness is the foundation of all martial arts - this is an absolute and unchanging truth.
Even if it is "America's Martial Arts", it still requires strong arm strength and wrist strength to press the gun.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Qinghe Hachiro, whose physical strength is almost at the bottom, must take advantage of the fact that he still has the strength to fight and give it a try with all his strength.
Otherwise, when his strength is exhausted, he will no longer have a chance to win.
In other words - the outcome of this battle will be decided in the next few rounds!
Everyone else can understand the truth, and as the person involved, Qinghe Hachiro naturally knows the power of it even more.
I saw that his eyes, which were already slightly narrowed, were now narrowed into a thin slit, with a needle-like cold light hidden in them.
He looked at Qingdeng with cold eyes.
Any movement, behavior, or expression change of Qingdeng was firmly locked by him.
Qinghe: "..."
Qingdeng: "..."
Time seems to have passed for a long time...in fact it was very short, just between five and six breaths.
Suddenly - bang - the sound of kicking on the ground once again made the high platform tremble.
Qinghe Hachiro used powerful footwork that seemed to crack the floor, rushing straight forward towards where Qingden was.
His two feet were like two plows, plowing two deep long marks on the snow-covered ground.
Because Qinghe Hachiro's speed was so fast, in the eyes of onlookers with poor eyesight, they only saw a blurry object rapidly destroying the snow on the ground, and a large number of snow waves splashed up behind him.
Facing Qinghe Hachilang who was rushing towards him, Qingden attacked with his sword without any hesitation.
Qinghe Hachiro raised his bamboo sword - in this fleeting moment, Qingden changed his position as fast as lightning, moved quickly from left to right, and ducked under the fallen bamboo sword.
When he passed through Qinghe Hachiro's left armpit and stood on his left side, he had already assumed a canshin posture unhurriedly - at the same time, Qinghe Hachiro's body flew out laterally.
[Ding! Talent scanned]
When Qinghe Hachilang landed, the cold mechanical sound echoed in Qingdeng's mind as expected.
It would be a strange thing for a martial arts master like Qinghe Hachiro not to have outstanding talents.
After the system sound came as expected, Qingdeng immediately stopped what he was doing and listened attentively:
[Successfully copied talent: "Failed art students +2"]
[Talent Introduction: Speech is Contagious]
In an instant, Qingdeng's eyes suddenly opened wide with surprise and surprise.
——The failed art student... This system can actually play historical jokes.
Thinking of this, Qingdeng couldn't help but smile.
——Is it a talent that improves your speaking ability... Hahaha! It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a useful talent!
Qingdeng was in such a good mood that he wished he could look up to the sky and laugh on the spot.
Laughing suddenly, and laughing with your head up to the sky... This will definitely arouse the suspicion of the people around you.
In order to avoid causing unnecessary commotion, Qingden had to activate his talent "Emperor's Art" and try his best to hold back his laughter.
For this reason, the corners of his mouth almost twitched.
If Ainoto was still a small person...for example, when he was working as an errand back in Kitabanshocho, his daily task was to lead Saito, Nagakura and others around the streets of Edo, catching some thieves, giving a speech
Ability is really of no use.
However, times have changed.
Anyone with a little bit of common sense knows what "excellent speech skills" means for a person who leads an army...or a person who leads a large organization.
Just when Qingden was still immersed in excitement, a hearty laughter interrupted his thoughts.
"Hahaha! You are worthy of being the unparalleled benevolent king in the world!"
Qinghe Hachiro patted the snow particles on his body, laughed loudly, and stood up leisurely.
"Your Majesty Nioh, thank you for your advice! The battle just now has benefited me a lot!"
After saying that, Qinghe Hachilang imitated the action of sheathing the sword, put the bamboo sword on his left waist, and then saluted Qingdeng in a neither humble nor overbearing manner.
Qingdeng smiled, bowed slightly, returned the greeting and said politely:
"You're too generous. I don't dare to deserve the title of 'unparalleled in the world'."
While saying this, Qingden lowered his eyelids and cast a meaningful look at Qinghe Hachiro, who was still bent over and could only see the top of his head.
To be honest, if Qinghe Hachiro had cursed after his defeat, or stared at him with eyes full of unwillingness and resentment like that Serizawa duck, he would have felt relieved.
This means that this person is nothing more than that.
On the contrary, like now, he frankly accepted his defeat and praised his opponent's strength enthusiastically - whether it was sincere or deliberately false, it made Qingden secretly vigilant.
Because Qinghe Hachiro lowered his head and bent his waist, he didn't notice Qingdeng's eyes.
But on the other hand - Qinghe Hachiro's current expression, Qingteng also has no way of detecting it.
I saw that the corners of Qinghe Hachiro's mouth were still raised high, but the emotions contained in his eyes cooled down at a speed visible to the naked eye...
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A little teaser - Qingden will get new weapons soon~~ And there are two new weapons, you can guess what weapons they are~~
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This chapter has been completed!