From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword

Had it not been for his slightly higher Strength attribute, he would have been overwhelmed much earlier.

Lu Heng fought with increasing joy, while Hideyoshi Tsugawa's expression grew uglier by the minute.

Kenji Ono had invited Lu Heng over with a clear purpose.

He intended to have Hideyoshi Tsugawa overpower Lu Heng with his Strength, convincing Lu Heng to agree to relinquish two team slots to protect the person behind him.

The current situation was looking bad; Hideyoshi Tsugawa was getting dominated and if this continued, his defeat was certain.

This meant that Kenji Ono's purpose for today's invitation had failed.

Hideyoshi Tsugawa's gaze darkened, a sudden flash of red light in his eyes as his Source Energy surged, enhancing his strikes from less than thirty percent to fifty percent.

Moreover, Lu Heng felt a special kind of pressure, as if his soul was being watched by something terrifying.

This wasn't the first time Lu Heng had experienced such a sensation, so he quickly realized that Hideyoshi Tsugawa was using an Essential Skill, specifically the "Revenge Kill" at the First Transition level.

This Essential Skill allowed marking a target for revenge, launching fierce attacks on them with greatly increased attack speed and strength.

Not only that, but the skill also locked onto the revenge target, enabling Hideyoshi Tsugawa to sense the target's position even with his eyes closed.

Meaning, even if the target used invisibility, they couldn't escape.

Seeing him using the Source Material Ability, Lu Heng knew this had already gone beyond a simple swordsmanship duel.

Until now, they had only been competing with swordsmanship; neither had used any skills.

Since using skills would defeat the purpose of a sword duel.

Moreover, Hideyoshi Tsugawa had opened with "Revenge Kill," his eyes filled with lethal intent.

This signaled a fight to the death.

Not only that, but there was also movement in the courtyard.

Initially, many attendants in kimonos were present in the courtyard, all of whom had now withdrawn, leaving it empty.

Kenji Ono had vanished too.

Clearly, this was a setup for a kill, and the next step would probably involve a gunman.

However, since Hideyoshi Tsugawa hadn't lost yet, it hadn't reached that point.

Just as anticipated, this was indeed a trap.

Kenji Ono set a trap, and Lu Heng was walking into the lion's den solo.

Since the dagger is drawn when the trap is set, the fight was inevitable.

After using the "Revenge Kill," Hideyoshi Tsugawa's sword speed soared, even surpassing Lu Heng.

A Source Material Ability indeed, forcibly closing a gap of seven agility points and gaining the upper hand.

Now that the Essential Skill was deployed, Hideyoshi Tsugawa held nothing back.

After a clash of blades, Lu Heng leaped back as Hideyoshi Tsugawa flipped his palm, hurling three shurikens with the skill "Broken Sky Shuriken."

The three shurikens spun, tracing three arcs aimed at three critical points on Lu Heng's body.

Hideyoshi Tsugawa charged forward, thrusting his sword directly towards Lu Heng's chest.

This move, coupled with the three shurikens, was like launching four simultaneous attacks.

Confident under the "Revenge Kill" enhancement, Hideyoshi Tsugawa believed no one in the world could block this fatal strike.

Just as this deadly strike was about to succeed,

Lu Heng activated the skill "Bullet Time."

Suddenly, everything around him slowed down, even the beads of sweat from his forehead during the leap clearly visible.

Under "Bullet Time," Lu Heng dodged the first shuriken, promptly flicked away the second with his fingers, and caught the third.

Meanwhile, Hideyoshi Tsugawa's killing strike was already thrusting towards him.

Lu Heng parried with his sword and, sliding his blade along the Tachi, flicked it away and swung a horizontal cut directly at Hideyoshi Tsugawa's chest.

Despite being a Conception Level swordsman, in the moment of the horizontal cut, Hideyoshi Tsugawa made a final evasive maneuver, leaning backward as the sword light grazed over his head, cutting off a tuft of his hair.

Hideyoshi Tsugawa passed by, thinking he had narrowly evaded the counterattack.

However, as they passed by each other, Lu Heng, without even turning his head, flung his left hand backward.

Thud!

The caught shuriken flew backward, burying itself in Hideyoshi Tsugawa's back.

Hideyoshi Tsugawa grunted, immediately turning around with shock filling his eyes.

He had never expected that his supposed fatal combination of the shuriken and killing strike would be countered, and even more so that the last shuriken he caught would be used to stab him in the back.

Although he was his opponent, Lu Heng had to admit that the battle had been exhilarating.

However, the exhilarating fight was coming to an end.

That was because a squad of gunmen had stormed into the courtyard, surrounding it completely.

Hideyoshi Tsugawa's face was full of anger as he yelled at the intruding gunmen, "Get out!"

He still refused to give up and wanted to continue fighting.

Lu Heng didn't mind finishing the match with him because this fight had already increased his Sword Technique Proficiency by 152 points, which was much faster than usual training.

The gunmen surrounding the courtyard did not retreat, but they also did not open fire; clearly, they too were waiting.

...

On the other hand.

Kenji Ono buttoned up his suit, walked out of the mansion, and got into a sedan.

His bodyguard, Keiko Kaneda, also got into the back seat of the sedan, ready to leave.

An underling approached the sedan, leaned down to the window, and asked, "Tsugawa Hideyoshi refuses to withdraw, what should we do?"

Kenji Ono's face darkened as he said, "Then let him fight until he has had enough! I thought the top ten sword masters were formidable, yet they can't even suppress a young upstart from Da Xia. This Lu Heng can't be left alive—he's too insolent. Send him to meet Yama; he must die here today."

"Yes!" the underling replied with a bow.

The car window rose, the sedan's engine started, and it slowly left the mansion.

Just as it exited the main gate, suddenly a gunshot sounded.

Bang!

The sedan shook, and a hole appeared in the bulletproof glass.

Keiko Kaneda's scream came from the back seat, "The chairman's been shot! Quick! We need help!"

The black-suited bodyguards around the sedan panicked, pulling out their pistols and forming a circle around the sedan.

"We've got a sniper! We've got a sniper!"

The group of black-suited bodyguards raised their guns, scanning the surroundings, but could not locate the sniper.

Suddenly, there was a burst of fire inside the sedan.

Kenji Ono's skill "Replacement Puppet" activated, turning into a burning Puppet Paperman.

Keiko Kaneda quickly pulled Kenji Ono under the seat, dodging further sniper shots.

"Replacement Puppet" could avoid one fatal attack, but the damage incurred remained the same.

Thus, Kenji Ono had been shot in the right chest, and his injuries were severe.

Just as Keiko Kaneda was instructing the driver to drive away, her Perception Skill suddenly detected something falling from the sky, and she cried out loud, "There's something from above! Shoot it down!"

The black-suited bodyguards looked up but saw nothing.

One of the bodyguards immediately shot a skill "Source Energy Visibility Dust" into the sky.

A cloud of sparkling dust energy surged upwards, revealing an invisible reconnaissance eagle.

In the eagle's claws, there was a bomb, diving down rapidly.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

As the eagle became visible, the black-suited bodyguards fired continuously, hitting the bomb.

Boom!

The bomb exploded ten meters in the air, knocking down the bodyguards below.

The sedan shook from the blast, but thankfully, its bulletproof armor protected those inside from the explosion.

Keiko Kaneda urged the driver urgently, "Quick! To the hospital! To Yongxing Hospital!"

The sedan started up again, racing out of the estate, headed in the direction of Yongxing Private Hospital.

The estate's bodyguards also quickly got into their cars, preparing to follow to the hospital.

At that moment.

Two cars charged to the front gate of the mansion, their doors opened, and seven of Lin Zeyu's confidants got out, using the car doors as cover, and began firing, engaging the estate's bodyguards in a gunfight.

Both sides irreversibly turned against one another, sparking a fierce gunfight that would only end in death.

From a distance at the water tower, Lin Zeyu shot and killed five of Kenji Ono's bodyguards. Seeing that his side had an advantage in the mansion's gunfight, he immediately packed up his sniper rifle and went after Kenji Ono.

...