"Demon Sword" was the Vice President of the "Xiao" Guild, with strength only below "Ming". Realizing the formidable might of Xiang Mantang and unable to make a move himself without losing his status, sending out "Demon Sword" was indeed the only choice.
"Demon Sword" was a man with a cold visage, appearing to be in his thirties, with sparse facial hair, holding an anciently-styled samurai sword in his hand.
This sword was named Muramasa.
It was the famous Demon Sword Muramasa from Dongying.
This was also the origin of his codename "Demon Sword".
"Demon Sword," upon hearing the Alliance Hierarch's words, said nothing, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, and then with a serious face, took steps toward the high platform.
Along the way, all onlookers seeing his actions, silently parted, making way for him.
"Da da da..."
In the quiet hall, no one spoke; only the clear sound of "Demon Sword"'s wooden clogs hitting the floor could be heard.
Soon, "Demon Sword" step by step ascended to the competition platform.
"'Six Disasters Canglong' member 'Invincible' has issued a challenge to 'Xiao'. 'Xiao' sends out Vice President 'Demon Sword', best out of five rounds, second round... begin!"
The Vice Alliance Hierarch below announced the start of the contest as soon as he saw "Demon Sword" step onto the platform.
"Clang!"
The moment the Vice Alliance Hierarch announced the start, "Demon Sword" suddenly drew his blade from its sheath and struck down towards Xiang Mantang with a swift slash!
"Swoosh!"
His draw speed was unimaginably fast, like whirlwind, like lightning. Before the crowd below could react, the blade of Demon Sword Muramasa was already mere meters from Xiang Mantang's neck.
"Clang!"
Xiang Mantang was also somewhat surprised by "Demon Sword"'s battōjutsu, but his reaction was not slow. In the nick of time, he raised his sword to block "Demon Sword"'s strike!
"Clang!" "Clang!"
Within the next three seconds, they clashed swords over a dozen times.
The speed of "Demon Sword"'s strikes had reached the realm of one and a half meters per strike, and Xiang Mantang could barely fend them off. However, the Broken Blade he held was beginning to falter.
After all, it was the long sword that he had snapped with just a pinch of his two fingers.
After clashing with "Demon Sword" more than ten times, accompanied by a mournful clang, the already fractured blade split again and crumbled.
"Whiz! Whiz!"
But Xiang Mantang was, after all, Xiang Mantang. As the Broken Blade fell apart, he swung his sword fiercely, somehow causing the dozens of blade shards to shoot toward "Demon Sword," who was close at hand, like thrown knives!
"Demon Sword" had not anticipated that Xiang Mantang's grasp of strength could be so precise. He had thought that upon shattering his Broken Blade, Xiang Mantang would be left defenseless. Instead, he faced such an extreme counterattack.
But with such a short distance between them, even though "Demon Sword" quickly responded, cutting through the dozens of Broken Blade shards, two or three pieces were beyond his reach!
Unfortunately, these two or three shards were coming at extremely tricky angles.
"Shick!"
One shard slit "Demon Sword"'s throat, another stabbed into his chest, and another sliced his temple...
In an instant, "Demon Sword" was bleeding profusely!
"Heh heh heh..."
"Demon Sword," unable to make a sound, stood still, his face as pale as paper and trembling hands gripping Demon Sword Muramasa, still hoping to take Xiang Mantang down with him before death, to lighten the burden for the "Xiao" Guild.
However, as he struggled to swing his sword, Xiang Mantang simply kicked out, striking his wrist.
"Clang!"
All of a sudden, "Demon Sword" lost grip of his weapon powerlessly, allowing the Demon Sword Muramasa to fly up into the air.
Xiang Mantang nonchalantly discarded the hilt in his hand, beckoned with a gesture, and his qi immediately drew the Demon Sword Muramasa into his grasp.
"Nice sword."
Clutching the Demon Sword Muramasa in his hand, Xiang Mantang gently caressed the blade as frosty as chilling hoarfrost, feeling the biting sting on his fingertips, and uttered a sincere exclamation of admiration.
"Bang!"
At that moment, the body of "Demon Sword," who was already breathless, also slowly toppled backward following Xiang Mantang's previous kick, hitting the ground with a heavy thud that resonated with a dull roar.
"Demon Sword!!"
With the death of "Demon Sword," the assassins of the "Xiao" Guild couldn't help but let out a cry of grief.
Though "Demon Sword" was usually silent and taciturn, he had been truly good to them. Now that he had died before their eyes, and even his beloved sword had been taken away, how could they not feel heartache?
"Alliance Hierarch, you must kill him and avenge the Vice Alliance Hierarch!"
"Alliance Hierarch, avenge the Vice Alliance Hierarch!"
"Alliance Hierarch, you must avenge Sword Uncle!"
The members of the "Xiao" Guild were now moving their hateful gaze away from Xiang Mantang to the solemn-faced "Ming," pleading with him.
Hearing the pleads of the crowd, "Ming" said nothing, nor dared he meet their expectant eyes.
His throat bobbed a few times, he swallowed saliva, then without a word, stepped towards the competition platform.
He couldn't promise them to take Xiang Mantang's head and avenge "Demon Sword."
And as he stepped up, he also felt that he was no match for Xiang Mantang, this man who seemed truly "Invincible."
"Ming" had actually considered forfeiting, allowing the "Xiao" Guild to be consumed by their "Six Disasters Canglong."
But after all, "Xiao" was his own essence blood, his life's work. If he fled from the fight, where would his face be? And how could he face "Demon Sword," who had died before him?
Therefore, in the end, "Ming" chose to fight desperately with his back against the wall.
After all, who knew for sure that he would definitely die at the hands of Xiang Mantang before the very last moment?
"The competition begins!"
As soon as "Ming" stepped up to the platform, the Vice Alliance Hierarch announced the start, and Xiang Mantang immediately lunged at "Ming" with the Demon Sword Muramasa in hand.
With the famous blade in his possession, as though a tiger had grown wings, it didn't take many moves for Xiang Mantang to thrust his sword into "Ming's" chest.
"Shick!"
He drew his sword back.
Splurts of fresh blood immediately poured out from "Ming's" chest.
"Ming's" eyes widened as his pupils began to lose focus, and after a few twitches of his lips, his body fell heavily backward!
"Boom!!"
"Alliance Hierarch!!"
The members of the "Xiao" Guild saw "Ming" fall after just a few moves to the man known as "Invincible," and they let out cries of disbelief.
As an assassin's guild ranked among the top three in the world, they'd never imagined that one day their Alliance Hierarch and Vice Alliance Hierarch would consecutively die at the hands of another, and even their guild would be taken over by others.
The Vice Alliance Hierarch, who had seen such scenes all too often, declared impassively that "Xiao" had lost three out of five rounds to "Six Disasters Canglong," and thus was absorbed by them.
The people of the "Xiao" Guild, unwilling to accept this outcome, found themselves helpless because if they dared to resist, the entire Assassins Guild of Slaughter Redemption would swarm out and exterminate them!
"Next up, it's your turn!"
Xiang Mantang stood on the competition platform, hearing the Vice Alliance Hierarch's announcement, he felt no thrill even though the "Six Disasters Canglong" that he and Mu Jinyu had just founded a few days ago had become the number three assassin's guild in the world. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the place where the strongest members were seated.
Those people, if things went as expected, should be the members of the world's number one assassin's guild.
He couldn't be bothered to challenge the world's second-ranked assassin's guild, aiming directly for the top spot!