Bear School Astartes

That was a sword-swinging speed that even Lann's dynamic vision couldn't possibly track.

The Demon Hunter only vaguely saw a blurry image, and then all the actions were over.

In the end, the elderly Sword Saint looked as if he hadn't moved at all, except for the soft click of the spring in the sword sheath that had been unknowingly opened.

A sharp Qi Flow Blade traced the trajectory of a Divine Speed Iaijutsu Slash after half a second.

The high-density milky white air currents almost formed a chaotically patterned sphere around Iwami Yixin!

The tearing sound of the air ripping apart became continuous, and the purple silhouette of the Eight Hundred Nuns was suddenly enveloped by the sword's afterimage.

"Eek!"

A sharp shriek came out from beneath the Hannya mask.

Dozens of cuts burst simultaneously all over her tall figure!

Every long, narrow cut brought out a splash of illusory liquid like a water spray.

This was the second time since the Immortal Peak Temple's master had appeared; after Lann had forcefully slashed into her shoulder with a giant sword, she was once again staggered and pushed back by the move [Secret Transmission: Yixin].

The illusory body appeared minimally damaged; most of the blades that aimed for her torso were blocked by her naginata, only the kasaya and the edges of her body were thoroughly slashed.

The elderly Sword Saint was already panting hard, and the power of this move was reduced by at least fifty percent compared to usual.

Even so, he had managed to buy another half minute for Lann.

After executing this move, Iwami Yixin half-knelt on the ground, using the sheathed long blade to support his body. He held his breath for a long while before taking a long inhale.

His stamina was already at its limit, and after making this move, he even had trouble initiating his breath.

He was already too old.

The purple illusory body of the Eight Hundred Nuns restored itself after half a minute, and she strolled toward the half-kneeling old man.

She wasn't in a hurry now, after all, before that short Ninja could retrieve the Undying Slash, she figured these people would be completely wiped out by her.

"Yo-ho-ho."

An eerie ghostly laugh came from beneath the Hannya mask.

The long, creepy naginata was raised high, ready to beautifully decapitate the old man in front of her.

Even as Iwami Yixin found it hard to catch his breath, he still smiled and looked up, his hand tightly gripping his Golden Iron Dragon-Slaying Blade.

He was the kind of man who wouldn't resign and let go unless thoroughly defeated.

And just then... "Ding-ling-ling~"

That haunting bell sound, which resonated shortly after Black Conical Hat Li's departure, reappeared in the Buddhist Hall!

Black Conical Hat Li suddenly appeared in the center of the temple, right in front of the giant Guanyin statue, and on his short frame, a wild katana was being carried on his back!

Lann's peripheral vision instantly locked onto Black Hat's back, and the naginata poised to swing down by the Eight Hundred Nuns hesitated slightly in surprise.

Then, with increased ferocity and decisiveness, it aimed to slash towards Iwami Yixin's neck!

With a "Clang!" Lann stabbed his giant sword through the bodies of two Undying Insects, pinning them to the ground while launching a supersonic projectile at the head of the Eight Hundred Nuns from his arm guard.

Lann clearly understood that the key to victory now lay in their hands, and he couldn't allow such a terrible thing like a 'casualty' to occur at that moment!

The giant naginata had to first parry the blow.

At this point, Iwami Yixin was also laughing heartily; the enemy's urgency was a symbol of their closing in on victory.

Summoning some strength from his drained body, he, from a half-kneeling position, slashed at the Eight Hundred Nuns' leg, forcing her to retreat.

"Black Hat, come over and kill the Immortal Peak Master first!"

Lann seized this break to reach out toward Black Conical Hat Li, asking him to throw over the Undying Slash.

But after calling out, the Demon Hunter was surprised to find that the Ninja was not immediately following the command.

The expression beneath his iron-black conical hat was obscured.

Instead of using the fastest method of 'throwing,' he boldly ran towards Lann, holding the sword directly.

While jumping mid-way, it wasn't until Black Conical Hat Li's stubby body was airborne that Lann met his eyes beneath the hat.

On that misshapen face was a resolute that was ready for whatever it would take.

"Please... end the undying, Lann!"

The Demon Hunter was confused, after all...what was he planning to do?

Lann quickly realized.

Midair, Black Conical Hat Li gritted his teeth and grasped the hilt of the Undying Slash, as if the sword weighed a thousand jins, and abruptly drew it.

The unsheathing sound, with a rusty roughness, appeared, and Black Conical Hat Li's body mid-air suddenly twitched, becoming limp and powerless.

The Undying Slash, which could sever 'undying,' demanded a price every time it was drawn...

And Black Conical Hat Li decided to pay that price himself.

Lann couldn't afford to hesitate, nor have time for sentiment or anger... he had to devote the time to kill!

Midair, Lann drew out the remaining part of the wild katana from Black Conical Hat Li's already inertia-laden arms.

It was a blade wholly blood-red, like rust, like a mist of blood.

When the blood-red blade appeared in the temple, the Immortal Peak Master immediately lowered his head in resignation.

"And so... I can die... Namo Mi... "

The blood-red katana instantaneously coordinated seamlessly with Lann's original sword-wielding grip.

The two Undying Insects pinned by the giant sword had already torn their bodies and freed themselves.

But when that blood-red blade started spinning, it became an eerie, ghastly fan-shaped afterimage.

The three Undying Insects were coiled together by Lann with the back of the blade, and the instinct of the arthropods made them wrap and cling frantically to the foreign objects touching their bodies.

Lann ensured that all three centipedes were ensnared by the blood-red blade, then he stabilized his stance, gripping the hilt with both hands, and made a forcefully pulling action.

"Ka-la, Ka-ra-ra!"

The blade smashed through the chitinous shells, embedding deeply into the centipedes filled with bodily fluids and soft tissue.

The unprecedented painful sensation, unlike any ordinary weapon, instinctively made these Undying Insects curl up, and at the same time, they clamped onto the blade.

As the Demon Hunter predicted, his action of drawing the sword became arduously tough, but it also indicated... inflicting greater damage.

"Screech!"

The centipedes even let out a scream that shouldn't exist with excretory organs!

These three fierce, unique Undying Insects, far surpassing their kind, because they over clenched the blade in the process of Lann drawing the sword, were directly dragged out from the frail body of the Immortal Peak Master!

The "Ka-la" sound of chitinous shells being pulled from the breach in the human body was terribly eerie.

Once extracted from the body by the blade, these slender and fierce insects flopped like fish out of water on the ground, writhing, recoiling, curling up, and finally stiffening.

The end of the Immortal Peak Master was no different than an ordinary self-buddha, resembling an internally collapsing sand sculpture, gradually crumbling.

Only he was always reciting the sutras by mouth until the end of the undying life he got from betraying the Buddhist Sect.

He had done wrong; although he repented afterward, Lann had no hesitation in killing him. He himself did not resist at all.

If it were usual times, Lann might have saluted the body with rites suitable to the deceased's religious beliefs after his death.

But for now, time was of the essence.

About now, Lann realized what was up with the sword in his hand, a typical Demon Blade from East Japan that devours its master. Whoever draws it dies.

Black Conical Hat Li took the fall for him, he was already not wanting to live, so he had no hesitation in the end either.

"Alright, Black Hat. Hope your luck is good enough."

But whether Black Conical Hat Li wanted to live was his matter; saving him, then, was Lann's issue.

The young man took out a paper-wrapped pill from the Alchemy Pouch on his back, broke it in half with his fingers, and slid it into the Ninja's mouth.

Then, without turning back, he dashed towards the direction of Iwami Yixin.

One [God Devourer] divided in half, hoping Heaven might allow him to also save the hardly-breathing Iwami Yixin!