Clang—
A crisp clang shattered the stillness of the arena, as Chun Hei, his back turned, drew his blade to parry Xiao’s fatal blow head-on.
“Foster Father, your moves are as good as seen through.”
“Hmm...”
The colossal ninja’s thrust missed, but Xiao seemed unfazed. “It seems you have also grown.”
Swish!
Chun Hei transitioned from defense to offense, his Ziying sword suddenly flipping and sweeping horizontally.
Xiao didn't meet the blow directly, leaping back to easily create distance.
It was hard to imagine a ninja of Xiao’s bulk possessing such agile footwork.
A tough fight!
Chun Hei’s heart tightened, his gaze gradually growing serious.
“Come on.”
“Wolf—”
Xiao slowly stood, his three-meter-long katana glinting menacingly.
“I’m coming at you!”
The colossal ninja charged at Chun Hei, exuding an aura of fierce wind. It appeared he intended to trade blows, but at the last moment before closing the distance, Xiao suddenly produced several shurikens and flung them. 138 reading network.
A sneak attack!
One had to admit, Xiao truly embodied the spirit of a ninja to its fullest.
Clang clang!!
However,
Even though Chun Hei hadn’t spent much time with his Foster Father, he had already grasped his father’s character perfectly.
This was a ninja who would stop at nothing to achieve victory, his underhanded and deceitful tactics bound to emerge relentlessly. These mere hidden weapons were merely an appetizer.
“Come on!”
Xiao roared, gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands and raising it above his head. The moment Chun Hei deflected the hidden weapons, Xiao brought it down with immense force.
New Year’s Greeting Sword Style!
Chun Hei poured his strength into his Ziying sword, which transformed into a stream of purple light, forcefully resisting Xiao’s New Year’s Greeting Sword Style strike.
Clang!
The clash of blade and sword sent sparks flying dozens of feet!
Such immense power!
Chun Hei inwardly marveled. The force behind Xiao’s New Year’s Greeting Sword Style was far greater than that of Xie Yilang. It was hard to fathom such strength from a man nearing a hundred years old.
Then, how powerful must Sword Saint Isshin, his contemporary, be?
“Boy, don’t get distracted.”
Xiao charged again, feigning to swing his blade.
Just as Chun Hei prepared to dodge to the side, the old schemer directly pulled out a handful of powder from his robes and scattered it.
The sudden change in tactics caught him off guard, and the gray mist enveloped his face.
It’s all absorbed!
【Forbidden Drug】
Chun Hei’s vision instantly turned black, followed by the chilling sensation of a blade entering his body.
“Foster Father is still quite fierce.”
Rubbing his lower back, Chun Hei created some distance.
Fighting Xiao head-on was a disadvantage; the various peculiar trinkets he threw were impossible to guard against.
They didn’t deal high damage but greatly affected his morale. Chun Hei decided to circle around to find an opportunity for a proactive attack.
Swish swish swish!!
Xiao lowered his stance and suddenly charged at Chun Hei, who was circling. His three-meter-long greatsword swung with an incredibly peculiar and sharp angle.
I’ll block!
Chun Hei made an instant decision, raising his sword horizontally in front of him.
Chii!!
He couldn’t block it!?
In a daze,
He saw the corner of his Foster Father’s mouth curve upwards, as if to say, “Finally got you.”
Puchi!!
【Scrap】
Two consecutive flawed decisions later, Chun Hei’s posture gauge was filled by Xiao, who then finished him with an execution.
This isn’t right!
Even as he fell, Chun Hei couldn’t comprehend how the sweeping strike he had easily parried before now couldn't be blocked.
Refusing to believe it, Chun Hei resurrected and chose to continue circling.
The result was the same. His Foster Father seemed like a completely different person. That low-stance dashing side-slash was like a curse; he was destined to tank the blow, even with a prior parry.
After several deaths, Chun Hei, who enjoyed circling to find angles and engage in hit-and-run tactics, was utterly exhausted by the constant evasion.
“Why does he always hit me with a side-slash?”
“But I can easily parry his frontal attacks?”
After resurrecting at the Demon Bell, Chun Hei didn't rush into combat. Instead, he stood by the Tenshukaku, chin in hand, contemplating.
He replayed every scene of his battles with Xiao in his mind, his expression growing more grim the more he thought about it.
Finally,
He reached a conclusion: Do not engage with Foster Father’s side-slash while moving.
This move demanded extremely precise positioning from the player; even a slight misstep would result in being hit, requiring a direct parry.
However, if he always fought head-on, he would have to contend with Xiao’s various insidious tactics, such as throwing shurikens and scattering lime during combat intervals.
How to describe it?
After numerous consecutive death matches, Chun Hei finally gained a complete understanding of his Foster Father’s combat patterns.
As a ninja who had clawed his way out of piles of corpses, Xiao’s combat experience was no less than Chun Hei’s.
Furthermore, Xiao shared the same philosophy as the Sword Saint: in combat, any move that could kill the opponent was the most practical.
However, the Sword Saint’s approach was relatively more direct.
Unlike Xiao,
He would even resort to dirty tricks like scattering lime, and he did so with practiced ease.
As a disciple who considered himself to hail from a prestigious sect, the most treacherous move Chun Hei could accept was stealthy backstabs and assassinations, perhaps a few shurikens to open the engagement.
What troubled him the most, however, was his Foster Father’s tendency to mislead during combat.
Almost every move carried a degree of deception.
When Chun Hei thought he was about to unleash the New Year’s Greeting Sword Style, Xiao would “Piu” and fire several poison needles from his sleeve.
When Chun Hei found an opportunity to press his posture gauge, Xiao would actually set off firecrackers to disrupt Chun Hei’s offensive rhythm and successfully escape.
When Chun Hei prepared to weather the storm, this fellow would then hound him like a wild dog, refusing to let him create distance.
However, these were all manageable.
What frustrated Chun Hei the most was the inability to circle around to find an opening for a sneak attack. Every time he tried to flank, he would inevitably be hit by a side-slash.
Xiao’s combat involved all sorts of rapid dodges and evasions, always interspersed with dazzling attacks, perfectly identifying the optimal solution.
This gave Chun Hei the illusion that his strength was unfathomable, and even his established attack patterns lost their effectiveness in this battle.
Because his Foster Father could always choose different responses based on Chun Hei’s offensive methods, making him very different from the unchanging bosses encountered before.
Firecrackers, poison, illusions, shurikens, Ravens, doppelgangers... combined with his surprisingly agile swordsmanship for his physique, these various small tricks were mixed and matched, making it impossible to find a consistent pattern.
It felt as if he wasn’t fighting an AI-programmed boss, but a colossal ninja truly living within the world of Sekiro.
This was terrifying and seemingly insurmountable.
Not only could Chun Hei not attack effectively, but he was also constantly on the defensive.
Refusing to accept defeat, Chun Hei fought from afternoon until night, the sun setting and rising over the arena.
Clang clang clang!!!
Flashing blades and sword light, sharp chilling winds.
Having endured five long sword strikes to his shoulder, Xiao continued to torment Chun Hei by utilizing his attack range.
Chun Hei’s posture gauge was quickly filled.
Crack!
His body suddenly became sluggish, as if mired in quicksand. Chun Hei’s movements became slow.
Step—
Unlike other sword-wielding bosses who would execute players after their posture gauge was filled, Xiao did not.
He took a light step forward…
A stomp to the head!
This was Chun Hei’s most dreaded move. Being hit by it basically meant restarting the fight. A full combo massage would lead to his demise.
This stomp appeared slow, with a clear leg-lifting motion.
However, at this moment, the player was in a stunned state due to a full posture gauge, their mobility drastically reduced compared to normal.
No matter how good Chun Hei’s footwork was, facing this move, he had less than a fifty percent chance of dodging it.
Even if he dodged, he would fall back into a one-sided oppressive situation.
It was like a vicious cycle, and the game of the eagle catching the chick only ended when the player died.
Upon resurrection, he would re-enter the loop.
Time.
Like a maiden’s first menstrual cycle, it always came and went in a hurry.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
In Chun Hei’s livestream.
Less than two hours after starting his broadcast, the sounds of Chun Hei’s frenzied, demonic roars suddenly echoed through the stream.
“Damn it, I finally executed my Foster Father!”