The voice of the man in black was hoarse and old, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other.

Black clothes, black hakama, black socks, and black scarf. Except for the straw sandals on her feet and the bamboo hat on her head, there was no place on her body that was not black.

The short and wide brim of the hat covered less than half of the face of the man in black, and most of the other face was covered by a black scarf, with only a pair of eyes exposed.

I couldn't see his appearance clearly... I could only vaguely tell that he was neither fat nor thin. He was tall and tall, about 1.7 meters tall.

——When did this guy... appear behind me...

Thinking of this, a drop of cold sweat broke out on Qingdeng's forehead.

He clearly has the gift of "wind perceiver" that enhances his hearing, as well as a keen perception that has been honed through countless life-threatening battles... but he didn't hear the slightest footsteps of the man in black appearing and approaching.

"who are you?"

Qingdeng asked in a deep voice, while slowly tightening the five fingers of his right hand to hold the handle of the knife that holds ghosts and gods.

"Who I am...it doesn't matter."

A hoarse, old voice came out from behind the black mask.

"You just need to consider me...a challenger who wants to compete with you because I heard about the name and deeds of the 'Nioh'."

"Challenger...?"

Qingdeng glanced at the wooden knife in the hand of the man in black.

Indeed, I didn't feel any murderous intent from the man in black.

The opponent was not a remnant of the anti-barbarian group or some other strange person... Although this was a blessing, Qingdeng did not relax too much.

After all, the identity of the guy in front of me, dressed in black, is still unknown. You can't be careless.

When Qingdeng looked at the man in black, the man in black was also looking at Qingdeng.

"...not bad."

The man in black raised his hat slightly, and hidden under the edge of the hat was a pair of eyes as sharp as shadows and as bright as stars.

He glanced at Qingdeng from head to toe with great interest and said:

"The posture is pretty good, but the whole body is full of flaws."

"But it has a certain level of aura that only those who have experienced many life-and-death duels can possess."

"Martial artists with average talents or insufficient training years should not be your opponents."

"No wonder you have been able to kill everyone in recent months and perform extraordinary feats repeatedly."

"only……"

The man in black suddenly changed the subject.

"It's a little disappointing. You don't seem to be as strong as I expected..."

After saying that, the man in black slumped his shoulders, raised his right hand, and casually carried the wooden sword in his palm on his shoulder.

"In this case, I can't compete with you with a wooden sword... Let's do this——"

The man in black flipped his right hand, changing the wooden knife he was holding upright to an inverted grip, and then inserted the wooden knife with the tip downward into the mud beside him.

"There happened to be a branch next to my feet that had the right shape, size, and hardness."

"Just use this to replace the wooden knife."

As the man in black spoke, he leaned over and picked up a dry branch on the ground beside his left foot.

This branch is about 2 fingers wide and 60cm long. The branches are bare and there are no branches at all. Although the whole branch is a bit curved, it is still straight.

"It's quite easy. Okay, I'll use this to fight you."

"what do you mean?"

The corners of Qingden's eyes trembled slightly and his voice was low.

"You said you came here just to compete with me...are you going to compete with me with just a branch?"

"..."

Very unexpectedly... this talkative man in black suddenly fell silent.

Qingdeng noticed that there were two eyes with profound emotions, shooting out from under the generous rim of the robe, and staring directly at him.

Then--

Sa!

A strong wind that seemed to be blowing away all the clouds in the sky and dust on the ground struck Qingdeng from the front!

The sudden strong wind caused Qingdeng's expression to change immediately.

However, Qingdeng soon discovered that there was no wind, everything was just his psychological effect!

What struck Qingdeng was not the "wind", but the unparalleled "momentum" like a violent storm!

This "aura"... whether it's Shusuke, Chiba Eijiro or Chiba Doisaburo, in short - it's more powerful than the "aura" of anyone Aomori has experienced before! And it's infinitely more powerful.

Times!

Qingdeng, who was surrounded by this powerful "aura" from all sides, suddenly had the illusion of sinking deep into the seabed and being squeezed by water pressure.

My heartbeat is racing, my breathing is short, and my head is slightly dizzy.

In order to resist this "heavy pressure", Qingdeng drew his sword in his hand and held the Dingguishen in front of him as if to block these powerful "moments" with the blade.

Setting up your beloved knife - this can give Qingdeng some sense of security and peace of mind.

"Ju Qingden, if you are worried that I will hurt me if I use a branch and you use a real knife, then there is no need to worry."

The man in black smiled slightly...but unfortunately because he was wearing a hijab, Qingdeng didn't see the smile on his face.

"But let me make it clear in advance - I don't look down on you. Rather, I admire you very much."

"If I remember correctly, you are only 18 years old this year, right?"

"It is really rare to have such achievements in martial arts at such a young age."

"So - just because I admire you very much, I want to use branches."

"Ah?" Qingden couldn't help but frown... He was a little confused about the logic of the man in black's above words.

Seeing that Qingdeng didn't understand what he just said, the man in black had no choice but to continue:

"Your current strength is far from me."

"At this stage, if I use a wooden knife to deal with you, I may not be able to hold back my strength and chop you to death by accident."

"I don't want the talent I admire to die young because of a momentary mistake."

The man in black spoke sincerely and his tone was sincere... He was not joking or mocking Qingdeng.

There was a lot of concern in his tone - he was worried that if he used the wooden sword, he would accidentally maim or kill Qingtou.

If an outsider did this behavior of "holding a branch and threatening that you might die if you don't use it," Qingdeng might be angry because he felt he was being slighted.

But Qingdeng couldn't bear the slightest bit of anger when the man in black in front of him behaved like this... but his face became even more solemn.

There is no other reason - the "silent footwork" that the man in black used to easily get close to Qingdeng's back, and the "power" he released at this moment that could stun those with weak willpower, all revealed one thing.

Thing - he is a top master with extremely high martial arts attainments!

His strength may be stronger than Boss Kiryu, Master Shusuke, Eijiro Chiba, and Michizaburo Chiba!

"Anyway—that's it."

The man in black twisted his right shoulder vigorously, making a joint movement sound that made people feel teeth ache. Then he held the sword with one hand... ah, no, he held the branch with one hand and held the branch in front of him in a mid-section posture.

"I accidentally became verbose."

"Okay, Ju Qingden, come on."

"Let me see...how much real ability you have."

As soon as the man in black finished speaking, the "aura" squeezing Xiang Qingdeng suddenly changed.

It becomes more solid and full of oppression!

Qingdeng, who had seen all the tricks of the men in black, did not dare to be careless in the slightest.

He took a deep breath, tensed up his nerves, and gripped the handle of the knife tightly as if he was trying to wring out oil from the handle.

In the talent list, entries such as "Gu Gu" and "Gathering God" all glowed with golden light symbolizing "activating".

In just a moment, Qingdeng's strength and physical condition were adjusted to the best condition with the blessing of these talents.

Qingdeng stared at the man in black without blinking.

Who is this man in black who suddenly blocked the road to come for a discussion? This kind of thing can only be left to be studied in detail later.

Now focus on the battle in front of you!

Qingden was thinking about whether he should adopt a conservative play style of "defending firmly and slowly observing the movements and moves of the man in black", or a radical play style of "taking the initiative to attack and relying on violent attacks to force the man in black to use his moves".

Law.
To be continued...