I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 915: Chapter 209: The Demon Bestows Techniques

The two siblings were startled by the voice and turned to look. A tall, slender man wearing a mask leaned against the door frame, his eyes brimming with amusement.

Instinctively, Dongzhi stepped in front of Sanglu and held his curved blade horizontally in front of him, his eyes filled with wariness.

“Big brother, is he your friend?”

Sanglu, seeing her brother’s guarded demeanor, peeked out and asked cautiously, curiosity filling her eyes.

In the city of Hyderabad, the siblings communicated in Mandarin to ensure the secrecy of their conversations. Clearly, Sanglu had forgotten that Tang Luo had just been speaking Mandarin too.

At this moment, Dongzhi had no strength to reply to his sister. He had been plunged into boundless fear. If facing Gadhar, he might have mustered the courage to fight to the death, but against Tang Luo, not even a thousand of him could cause the slightest ripple. If there was even a hint of malice from the other side, the sister he had protected for ten years would be in danger.

This powerlessness and agony gnawed at Dongzhi’s heart, and he despised his own weakness.

However, Tang Luo, observing Dongzhi’s stance, felt a certain admiration. Despite the overwhelming fear in his heart, he dared to draw his blade and stand before his sister. Such a conviction truly deserved to be called courage.

The so-called brave are not those who do not feel fear, but rather those who know fear and yet choose to act bravely regardless.

Encountering such bravery, Tang Luo, wearing the Gou Chen Mask, suddenly wanted to test the limits of this youngster’s courage. He made his offer, “You actually have such a sister, not bad at all. Offer her to me and I will grant you endless glory and wealth, unimaginable strength, and powers that surpass the heavens, what do you say?”

Dongzhi’s face went rigid, a chill rising from the depths of his heart to the crown of his head. His worst fear had come to pass—the masked stranger had taken a lustful interest in his sister’s exceptional beauty after seeing her!

Desperation, powerlessness, and fear overtook Dongzhi. He threw his curved blade to the ground, knelt, and began to kowtow forcefully, pleading, “My lord, please, spare my sister. She’s just a child, she knows nothing. Tomorrow she is to participate in the ceremony, offering her life to the gods. Please, for the sake of our guardian deities, let her be.”

“Bang, bang, bang!”

If there was even the slightest hope of victory, Dongzhi would not have dropped his curved blade. Knowing the gap between himself and the masked stranger, he abandoned all dignity, humbly bowing his head to beg.

“Such a beauty, to be offered her life to the idols of clay and wood, what a waste!”

The harsh voice rose again, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in Dongzhi’s heart. He lifted his bloodied face, only to hear the masked man speak indifferently, “A god can only grant you the afterlife, but I can grant you this life. If your sister follows me, she will have endless glory and riches. Wouldn’t that be far more joyful than being a saint?”noveldrama

Dongzhi’s mind went blank with shock, and he heard the masked man continue, “I can see you truly love the art of the sword. I have a set of sword techniques that can slay gods and destroy Buddhas. Offer me your sister, and these techniques are yours. Like the minor characters you faced before, in the future, with just a wave of your hand, you can kill them easily. If you delve deep enough, you might even become stronger than me one day. Then the world will be open to you, and no one will be able to stop you. You’ll no longer have to be as lowly as you are today. Whatever god, demon, immortal, or Buddha comes, you’ll be able to destroy them all with one swing of your blade. How about it?”

With his face covered in blood, Dongzhi expressionlessly picked up the curved blade from the ground and stood up. He looked like a demon that had just crawled out of hell, glaring viciously at Tang Luo and saying firmly, “In your dreams!”

“Boom!”

The overwhelming Spiritual Pressure bore down on him, and Dongzhi knelt on the ground, unable to lift even his fingertips no matter how hard he tried. He finally understood why Gadaer had been like a puppet whose head he had severed moments ago.

“You understand, no matter how desperately you fight, you can’t change this outcome,” Tang Luo spoke softly with the Gou Chen Mask on his face, like a true demon, “Why not nod in agreement? It’s not your fault. It’s simply that I am too strong, and you can’t contend with me. To surrender to a devil like me, even your gods would forgive you. Besides, you would be able to practice even stronger swordsmanship. Why not, when there’s joy in it?”

Dongzhi struggled to lift his head and spitefully spat out a mouthful of blood, but it fell powerlessly before reaching three feet.

Sanglu watched her brother’s pitiful state and finally cried out, kneeling beside her brother and pleading with Tang Luo, “I’ll go with you, I’ll go with you, please let my brother go, please.”

“Little sister, don’t beg him!” Dongzhi, pressed to the ground by the Spiritual Pressure, roared, “Promise me, don’t beg him!”

Sanglu, with tears streaming down her face, sobbed and shook her head. The sister who had always been so reliant on her elder brother seemed to suddenly mature. She asserted firmly to Tang Luo, “My lord, please, take me with you. Stop tormenting my brother. Sanglu will serve you well from now on, I beg of you!”

The two orphans who depended on each other for life, the elder brother willing to forsake his dignity and nobly face death for his sister, the younger sister willing to abandon her faith and offer her body to the demon for her brother—it made Tang Luo suddenly admire the siblings.

Releasing the Spiritual Pressure from Dongzhi’s body, the freed skinny boy picked up a curved blade with one hand while shielding his sister with the other, and declared, “Unless I die, you will never take my sister away!”

Having said this, the bloodied Dongzhi then turned to Sanglu and said earnestly, “Little sister, remember, you are a holy maiden who serves the gods. You cannot fall into the trap of evil just because of a lowlife!”

“But brother…”

“No ‘but’!” Dongzhi harshly interrupted Sanglu, “Your brother is worthless, for failing to protect you, but if you go with him, I will kill myself immediately. Do you understand?”

“Alright, brother.” Sanglu, with tear-stained cheeks, smiled at her brother and said tenderly, “To die with brother is Sanglu’s blessing.”

Dongzhi, holding back tears, turned his head away and stood with his blade poised, like a peerless swordsman unshaken even when facing thousands of troops.

And Tang Luo, having tested Dongzhi’s mettle, said indifferently, “With your swordsmanship, killing me is nearly impossible, but seeing your courage to wield the blade, I will teach you a move. If you can use it to slash my Star Robe’s hem, I will release your sister. How about it?”

Seeing a sliver of life amid certain death, Dongzhi, suppressing the excitement in his heart, asked, “Are these words true?”

“There are countless sword techniques in the world. If one speaks of a single decisive strike, Iaijutsu ranks within the top three! Draw to cut, do not draw unless you cut; the blade exists solely for the moment of decapitation. To perceive the opportunity in an instant of waiting, that is the essence of Iaijutsu.”

“Iai is the yang, jutsu is the yin. The circle is the path, and hatred is the basis. Strength unites with air, spirit unites with essence, heart unites with the blade. Seizing that wisp of Spiritual Energy gap in the world, the blade’s path roars like a dragon, and thus, Iaijutsu—Dragon Flash!”

No sooner had the words left his lips, a blade flash that took all of heaven and earth’s luster appeared, cutting across the hem of the Star Robe with a swiftness like the flashing of lightning.