"Catch the spear!"
The Devourer shouted. A plain, ancient-looking long spear fell from above. It had been prepared in advance by Shen Luohan. Shen Wulong hadn't taken it with him before coming, but he'd been cautious enough to store it in his inventory space and bring it along.
In Kurosaki Rei's current state, everything about him screamed danger. The Devourer felt that if Shen Wulong continued fighting barehanded, there was a real chance he might actually overturn the situation.
Seeing the spear fall, Kurosaki Rei didn't stop it, allowing Shen Wulong to catch it.
Shen Wulong grasped the spear and casually assumed a stance—yet it carried the bearing of a true grandmaster.
He looked at Kurosaki Rei, who resembled a demon god, his voice rising with excitement.
"You're so strong… What is this feeling?"
"That's why I said you're pitiful,"
Kurosaki Rei grinned, baring his pale teeth.
"You don't even realize you're excited. Isn't this what you've always been chasing—an evenly matched battle to the death?"
"Come," he said. "Enjoy it. This peak confrontation."
The moment his words fell, he drew his blade in an iaijutsu stance.
It was a godlike slash—speed and power unified—representing the very peak of Kurosaki Rei's life.
The violet-black blade tore through the air, cutting toward the false immortal.
The dark-red spear thrust forward. Within its momentum, within each movement, an ancient inherited spear art—
Azure Dragon Presents Its Claw!
Clang—
Metal rang against metal. Blinding sparks erupted where spear tip and blade tip met.
Shen Wulong had struck later—yet arrived first.
Before Kurosaki Rei's slash could fully arc downward, the spear had already braced against the blade's tip.
What terrifying eyesight. What terrifying technique.
He lived up to his ten thousand years of martial practice—and to his opponent's expectations.
The two shifted their footwork. Shen Wulong's spear forms flowed in perfect circles, airtight and seamless, yet threaded with sudden thrusts like an azure dragon probing its head, and sweeping arcs like a divine dragon whipping its tail.
Every move seemed to arise naturally, almost Dao-like. With a body inferior in raw stats, he suppressed Kurosaki Rei for a time, keeping the blade from touching his flesh.
They darted and clashed at extreme speed, like a whirlwind tearing through the street. Wherever they passed, utility poles snapped, cars shattered, and walls collapsed.
This was the pinnacle of martial arts colliding at high speed—
the clash of an immortal and a brute.
"Ridiculous…"
Raian, who had just climbed up, stared at the scene in shock.
"No wonder the old man called him an immortal."
As much as he hated to admit it, the battle between Kurosaki Rei and Shen Wulong had already entered a non-human domain. Speed, strength, technique—everything had surpassed what humans could comprehend.
They already possessed superhuman power, and now they unleashed their skills without restraint, the resulting might multiplying exponentially.
There was no room to interfere.
This street had become a dead zone. Anyone who dared step into their battlefield would face only death.
"Your technique truly is unmatched,"
Kurosaki Rei spoke amid the slaughter, his expression feverish. He hadn't fought this freely in a long time.
He admired the beauty of Shen Wulong's technique. In the Demon-God state, Kurosaki Rei's dynamic reflexes were further enhanced. He could see every movement Shen Wulong made—the way force was applied, how the spear techniques circulated.
Precisely because of that, he could appreciate just how powerful Shen Wulong's spear art truly was.
His master once told him: A month for the staff, a year for the blade, a lifetime for the spear.
The spear demanded the most time to temper—so how terrifying must a spear art honed over ten thousand years be?
By Kurosaki Rei's estimation, Shen Wulong's overall attributes were around 22 points, far lower than his own at present. Yet he could block every one of Kurosaki Rei's attacks and even counter.
His technique was outrageously strong… and that thrilled Kurosaki Rei.
His master had once praised his talent as a once-in-a-millennium prodigy. In ancient times, he would have become a martial alliance leader. Kurosaki Rei never quite grasped what that meant—but he knew he possessed an extraordinary talent for rapidly mastering martial arts.
Shen Wulong, standing before him, was like a vast treasure vault. Every movement fed this sponge-like mind of his. As he adapted to the attacks, he was also learning Shen Wulong's techniques.
Grappling, force redirection, spear arts, footwork…
In just this brief clash, Kurosaki Rei's various specialization proficiencies soared.
The duel was so intense and spectacular that even Raian forgot to move against the Devourer, his eyes glued to the decisive battle below.
The Devourer also neither fled nor attacked Raian.
He knew his fate was now tied to Shen Wulong's. Having already revealed himself, he would be locked onto by the Wu Clan. Even if he escaped now, he could never hide again.
Moreover, he knew Adjudicators had tracking abilities. Once he had shown his face, he would be hunted endlessly.
All he could do now was pray that Shen Wulong would kill Kurosaki Rei quickly, then wipe out the Wu Clan—only then would his journey in this world be complete.
Boom—
With a thunderous crash, both Kurosaki Rei and Shen Wulong were blasted backward—one slammed into a wall, the other into a traffic light.
Kurosaki Rei emerged from the rubble, rolling his neck. His bared teeth were stained with blood. As he stepped forward, the injuries inside his body rapidly healed, and the spear-inflicted wounds on his skin visibly faded.
Return Path finally showed its value in this battle.
In the Demon-God state, he bled far more easily. Without Return Path, he would've collapsed within three minutes.
"Though I'd love to steal a bit more from you,"
Kurosaki Rei said with a sigh,
"my body won't allow it anymore."
Seven minutes of furious offense and defense had passed. The entire street had been reduced to ruins—yet there was still no victor.
Shen Wulong's technique was truly flawless. By controlling the flow of force, he unloaded the power of every slash. He could even borrow Kurosaki Rei's strength, spinning the spear to strike Kurosaki Rei back with it.
"What a shame,"
Shen Wulong said regretfully, standing beneath the traffic light.
"Is this your limit already?"
His tone sounded regretful—but his face was flushed with exhilaration, wearing a delighted smile.
"So you can make expressions like that,"
Kurosaki Rei laughed.
"Feels like you've found your humanity again, doesn't it?"
"Fighting an evenly matched opponent—feels good, doesn't it?"
"Feels good?"
Shen Wulong pondered.
"Perhaps. I only feel that many things have become unimportant… cast aside. Those noisy, distracting voices—they're gone from my mind."
At the start of the fight, he'd still heard Shen Luohan's voice urging him to end Kurosaki Rei with modern weapons.
Now, he didn't want to think about that at all.
What embarrassed him slightly was that he wasn't even thinking about avenging Xia Yan anymore. He was simply enjoying the fight—wanting to defeat this powerful opponent head-on with his own martial arts.
"Come,"
Kurosaki Rei lowered his stance, his aura growing ever more violent.
"Show me your ten-thousand-year martial path. And I—"
"—will show you my peak."
"…Martial arts,"
Shen Wulong smiled.
"You acknowledge my martial arts."
He tightened his grip on the spear and assumed his stance.
"Come, young warrior."
In the next instant, the light pole behind Shen Wulong toppled. Rubble behind Kurosaki Rei exploded outward.
Both charged at maximum speed.
Shen Wulong moved like an immortal riding the moon, light and graceful. The spinning spear seemed an extension of his body, stirring wind and flame alike, wrapping them around its shaft.
The spear thrust—
like a roaring fire dragon!
As Kurosaki Rei sprinted, his muscles swelled again. Blood split across his skin, bones groaning under the immense pressure.
Demon-God—full output.
His Strength attribute surged to the absolute peak of a first-tier explorer.
He was exhilarated—thrilled to face such a powerful opponent. Yet he also felt a trace of regret, knowing he couldn't continue savoring this duel.
When ultimate technique met unrivaled strength—what would happen?
The street shattered beneath them. Stones burst upward like blooming water lilies, and charging through them was the demon god—
the bloodthirsty Asura.
The immortal pointed the way with his spear.
The Asura severed souls with his blade.
At extreme speed, Kurosaki Rei was still just a step faster.
Shen Wulong failed to grasp the fleeting "weak point" in Kurosaki Rei's slash.
The blade struck solidly against the middle of the spear shaft.
The jet-black blade carried peerless sharpness and berserk force, crashing downward. The strike was too fast for Shen Wulong to unload, too heavy—like Mount Tai pressing down.
The duel between technique and numbers finally reached its conclusion.
The blade fell.
Blood shot skyward—
and a smiling head followed.
After they passed each other, Kurosaki Rei staggered slightly and coughed up blood. Forcing the Demon-God output so high had nearly shattered his body.
But the victor had been decided.
He had successfully ended the strongest being of this world.
He looked at Shen Wulong's fallen body.
"In the very end… you really were a true powerhouse. Your martial arts—I acknowledge them."
Returning tomorrow. Time to call Muzan out into the sunlight.
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