Chapter 373 - The Asou family

"Daughter!"

The middle-aged man screamed in agony and ran towards Wang Tuyun, he knelt on the ground and immediately tore a strip of cloth from his clothes to make a tourniquet around her severed arm, bleeding profusely.

The moment the ambulance arrived, paramedics frantically rushed out with the stretcher. When they got into the kendo gym and saw the scene inside, they looked at each other in shock. One of them said, "Didn't they say that there's only a person with a fractured right leg? There two more grievously wounded casualties here and the young lady even has her arm chopped off, what the heck is going on?"

"Save my daughter now!"

The middle-aged man was distraught and roared anxiously at the paramedics.

"Yes, we'll get to it immediately, sir."

Wang Tuyun had been inflicted with the most severe injury, and she had lost a lot of blood; this was life-threatening, and she could lose her life if not treated right away. The paramedics were aware of priorities and immediately attended to Wang Tuyun first.

The paramedics stabilized Wang Tuyun's condition as best they could and stretchered her to the ambulance as quickly as possible. The ambulance could only transport two stretcher-cases, and Guo Qinghe was to be moved next, but he refused and, instead, asked the paramedics to give the remaining spot on the ambulance to Liu Fei as he had passed out earlier. Before the paramedics left with the casualties, they urgently called for another ambulance to rush to Star Cloud Kendo Gym.

"Who did this?"

After Wang Tuyun had been taken away to the hospital, the middle-aged man pulled out the broken sword shard that had impaled his senior student to the wall. He questioned Guo Qinghe with his halting Mandarin, his every word was burning with wrath.

"It's him… h-he did this!" Guo Qinghe groaned, pointing at Xiao Luo, and despite his severe injuries, he was so furious that he wanted to see Xiao Luo torn to shreds.

"Who… him? Very well, then!"

The middle-aged man growled as he stared murderously at Xiao Luo and said, "You heartlessly severed my daughter's arm, so now, I shall cut off all four of your limbs and make you into a human seal!"

He picked up Guo Qinghe's rapier with the broken tip and felt for its weight and balance. He got into the En Guarde position with the sword hand around the height of his chest, and the sword tip was pointed slightly upward above the height of his shoulders. His stance was thoroughly relaxed, but he emanated an overwhelming intent to kill.

Xiao Luo glanced at him calmly and said, "You're no match for me."

"Bakayarou!" [1]

The middle-aged man lost his composure and became extremely angry as bulging veins protruded on his forehead. "Don't you dare speak to me in that tone. I do not care who you are, and I will make you pay a hefty price today!"

When he was done speaking, he roared and lunged like a striking viper, lunging at Xiao Luo. The wooden floor tiles he had been standing on cracked as he used his inner energy to propel himself forward.

The gym master switched from his classical fencing attack midway through, and suddenly leaped up high with the sword over his head and slashed down ferociously at Xiao Luo, wielding the blade like a saber.

The rapier was both a thrusting and slashing weapon, and the gym master's unique attacking technique was dominating.

Xiao Luo erred on the side of caution and carefully evaded the blows. He chose to make this a battle of attrition for now, for his opponent had incredible inner power, and the energy that flowed from the fencing sword was vastly different from when Guo Qinghe was wielding it. In his hand, the sword was cold and sharp, like a blazing divine weapon, while in Guo Qinghe's, it felt dim and lifeless, and far from life-threatening.

The gym master slashed his sword downward at Xiao Luo, who managed to evade the blow at the very last second. The strike barely missed, and countless wooden tiles from the floor were sent flying every direction in a tremendous bang, stirring up a cloud of dust. The view was obscured, but when the dust settled, a three-meter long crack appeared on the floor, looking like a furrow had been gouged out in a field. The sword in the gym master's hand had everyone in the kendo gym gasping as the remaining aura blade glowed in the haze.

Su Canye was stunned to silence and wondered if a man would be sliced in half had the sword landed on its mark.

At that thought, he could barely swallow his saliva and broke into a cold sweat. Asou Yanagi, the gym master, was indeed a very accomplished swordsman. Su Canye remembered the day when Asou Yanagi introduced them to his school of fencing, and as he recalled, it was referred to as Shindo Anatta Style. It was a sword fighting style that had been passed down in the island country from a long time ago.

The disciples in the kendo gym were also shocked, and everything they had witnessed today had completely unraveled their understanding of swordsmanship.

Guo Qinghe was familiar with his master's prowess, and his reaction was markedly different. He was looking on with excitement and laughing hysterically. When he saw Xiao Luo on the backfoot, he shouted, "Master, chop off his limbs and avenge Little Yun!"

In his twisted mind, he could not wait to see Xiao Luo's arms and legs getting chopped off, and his limbless squirming on the floor, dying like a clubbed seal.

Xiao Luo observed the damage on the floor carefully and concluded that it was the result of Asou Yanagi's blade aura. Evidently, the gym master had already perfected the art of swordsmanship, and his immense inner power had been channeled through the sword. Whenever he exerted that force through his weapon, the aura would be formed. With his skill level, the blade aura could even reach out for an impressive thirty meters.

"You fiend, now die!"

Asou Yanagi let out a fearsome yell and swiftly charged at Xiao Luo, taking less than ten steps to reach him.

BOOM!

The kendo gym reverberated as Asao Yanagi stomped his left foot on the floor and suddenly swiveled around, sweeping his sword across in a horizontal slash to slice Xiao Luo's body in two. It was an unstoppable blow as the force of his inner energy gathered like a storm behind the blade's leading edge.

Light and agile in his movements, Xiao Luo was able to react quickly, like a dragonfly skimming on the water's surface. He shifted back two steps, then tumbled in a reverse somersault, and at the point when he was upside down, he deftly picked up the samurai sword that Asou Yanagi had dropped on the floor earlier.

SHING~

Xiao Luo unsheathed the katana in a flash and immediately assumed a guard position.

As Xiao Luo held the sword in front of him, he saw the character "Asou" engraved on the sword's hilt, and he gave his opponent a wry smile. Speaking fluently in formal Japanese, he said, "The Asou family? It appears that you are a famous clan back in your homeland."

"We, the Asou family, are royalty!"

Asou Yanagi declared proudly, but he did not allow himself to be distracted, as he charged forward with the sword trailing behind him, dragging it along the floor. The broken tip of the sword produced a piercing, screeching noise as it scraped against the floor surface, and when he was in striking range, he flashed the sword at Xiao Luo with incredible speed and power.

CLANK!

Xiao Luo parried the blow, and as the rapier clashed with the blade of the katana, it produced a deafening clang. A tremendous force surged through Asou Yanagi and Xiao Luo, and they stumbled back, taking a few steps to regain their balance. The wooden floor was once again shattered by the blast of inner energy.

Asou Yanagi was quite surprised by Xiao Luo's resilience, but he charged again after a short pause and bellowed even louder. He aimed attack at Xiao Luo's head, delivering three quick slashes.

DANG! DANG! DANG!

Sparks flew from the exchange as Asou Yanagi attacked relentlessly. His attack was getting increasingly faster and more powerful, for he had mastered every technique, and each one was now on full display. In the brief moment that they had fought, they had crossed for more than sixty times.

"Heart Piercing Blow!"

Asou Yanagi suddenly leaped in the air and let out a roar, striking at Xiao Luo with great force, and a menacing blade aura was clearly visible.

Xiao Luo parried the strike in front of his chest, but Asou Yanagi suddenly retreated, and in a split second, he spun and delivered a scathing high kick with his right leg.

BAM!

The force of the impact rumbled across the hall. The kick was aimed at Xiao Luo's neck, and he reacted instantly by raising his left arm, blocking the attack effectively.

Xiao Luo was thrown back a few meters before he regained balance, and Asou Yanagi, who had been attacking relentlessly like a storm, was panting heavily. He was showing signs of exhaustion and was taking his time to recover.

There were looks of shock and awe all around, and everyone was shaken by the intense battle. The kendo gym looked like a war zone as blade auras were used with no inhibition, leaving a trail of devastation.

Footnote:[1] Bakayarou: in Japanese, it can be written as バカ野郎. The word バカ野郎 (bakayarou) is an insult. It means "Stupid" in English.

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