The ultimate collision, the supreme confrontation.

The moment the twin blades met the long halberd, neither could deflect the force, leaving them with no choice but to meet force with force.

In that instant of impact, a fierce wind rose and a burst of fighting spirit erupted.

When the exchange ended, the one forced back was…

“Ugh—” Accompanied by a groan, Juan Meng Huan spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward, temporarily losing his balance.

However, he adjusted quickly. Before his opponent’s attack could fully dissipate, Juan Meng Huan regained his footing and steadied himself.

“As expected… it’s still a bit difficult…” Juan Meng Huan thought to himself, “The difference in raw strength is too great. Even if I can block, I can’t avoid the damage…”

Before he could think further, Date Makoto’s pursuit arrived.

Surging rage transformed into a deadly attack, bearing down on him.

Juan Meng Huan had no choice. Since he hadn’t fallen, he had to… fight on!

Boom—

Another head-on collision of energy and weapons.

Facing the overwhelming attack, Juan Meng Huan pushed his divine power once more, swinging [Chonglou] to meet his opponent head-on again.

The halberd and blades clashed in silence, their vibrations shaking heaven and earth.

The war gods were speechless, their power astonishing gods and demons.

This time, Juan Meng Huan was still forced back, but his feet didn’t leave the ground. He retreated swiftly for several steps, then braced himself with his halberd, stopping his momentum.

“This guy… can really take a beating…” Seeing his opponent withstand two blows, Date Makoto grew increasingly frustrated and immediately changed his stance.

In that instant, his figure split into two, then four, then countless… layers of afterimages instantly surrounded Juan Meng Huan.

“So, he’s starting to use his speed advantage…” Juan Meng Huan coldly surveyed his surroundings, raising his halberd slightly, poised to strike. “But these are just ‘afterimages,’ not ‘clones.’ There’s only one real body, so there’s only one line of attack…”

As he pondered, Date Makoto attacked.

Suddenly, among the many afterimages, a figure to Juan Meng Huan’s side flashed, the blade’s edge cold and intimidating, streaking through the wind.

But even as Juan Meng Huan was looking in another direction, the instant Date attacked… he moved!

He swung his arm back, letting the halberd’s blade slide along his shoulder, slashing down diagonally. The angle, speed, and force… were just enough to block the incoming blade.

Clang—

The weapons clashed again, the resounding clang echoing through the sky.

This time, because Date had expended energy creating the afterimages, the power of his attack was reduced. Juan Meng Huan blocked the blow and stood firm, unmoving.

“Ah—” The next second, Date roared, pouring power into his arms, unleashing a flurry of wild slashes.

Juan Meng Huan twisted his waist, flowing into defensive maneuvers, using the principles of “rotation, sweep, slow, pause,” fighting and retreating, gradually gaining ground.

“Why!” Date Makoto roared in anger as he attacked relentlessly. “I’m clearly attacking from outside your field of vision, so why can you still block me!”

“Haven’t you heard… ‘Those who can only strike what they see are second-rate martial artists (By Kuroki Gensai)’…” Juan Meng Huan’s tone became relaxed and calm without him realizing it. “In the end… your killing intent is so heavy, creating afterimages is meaningless…”

As he spoke, he spun around, sweeping his halberd horizontally. After this change in stance, he shifted from defense to offense, charging back at his opponent’s twin blades.

“Damn it… damn it!” Date Makoto, already frustrated by his prolonged inability to break through, was further enraged by the fact that Juan Meng Huan not only showed no signs of defeat in this clearly mismatched battle but seemed to be growing stronger.

In fact, not only Date Makoto but even Juan Meng Huan himself didn’t know why.

But… from just now, Juan Meng Huan faintly felt that—[Chonglou] in his hand seemed to be getting lighter and easier to use…

“Die! Just die already!” As attack turned to counterattack, Date Makoto’s killing intent and madness reached new heights.

As his murderous shout fell, an ultimate attack rose suddenly.

Abruptly! The tentacle-like energy around him finally materialized, becoming a physical substance capable of dealing damage.

“[Censored]!” Juan Meng Huan blurted out a “fuck” when he saw this. He had never imagined that in this situation, Date Makoto could push his fighting strength to even greater heights and launch such a grotesque attack.

In desperation, Juan Meng Huan immediately gathered his Dou Yuan (fighting energy), pushing his divine power again!

Bang bang bang bang…

At that moment, strange and bizarre attacks arrived, and wild dust blotted out the sky, the sound of the tentacles striking the ground rising and falling.

In an instant, more than a dozen enormous energy tentacles bent and descended, like a peeled orange rind shaped like a flower… “wrapping” Juan Meng Huan, enveloping his entire body.

Date Makoto himself was also enveloped within this “energy ball.” In this confined space, the black and white twin blades in his hands advanced relentlessly like a swarm of bees, abandoning all technique, yet still fiercely unmatched.

This attack, which combined “imprisonment” and “forced kill,” was very similar to Uncle Scrap’s [Cardboard Box Kill]. For players who used long weapons, it was undoubtedly fatal. Therefore, even though the attack wasn’t over, the audience had already lit a stick of incense in their hearts for Juan Meng Huan.

But!

When that instant passed, a beam of bloody light pierced through the outer wall of the energy ball, soaring through the clouds, its majestic power intimidating the heavens.

Then, a second, a third…

Blood-colored beams of light pierced in all directions, bursting out of the ball, exploding with a deafening roar.

Amidst the scattered energy fragments, two figures flew out in opposite directions, both managing to steady themselves almost simultaneously.

“Haa…” On one side was Juan Meng Huan, who let out a long sigh. He now had many more wounds, and his armor was stained crimson with blood.

“Why… why aren’t you dead yet!” On the other side, Date Makoto, whose entire body was silver-white, was also stained red at this point, and… some of that red was his own blood.

“Probably because you’ve gotten weaker.” Juan Meng Huan said, tilting his head slightly and spitting a mouthful of blood onto the shaft of [Chonglou].

Clearly, he had noticed… even his own blood, as long as it touched [Chonglou], would be absorbed and transformed into even greater power.

“Nonsense!” Date Makoto said in shock and anger. “How could I possibly…” But before he could finish his sentence, the left side of his face suddenly cracked like a broken porcelain bowl… revealing a long, narrow fissure.

“What?” Date himself was startled by this sight. His pale pupils darted sideways, instinctively turning towards the cracked area on his face.

“So, you didn’t even know yourself…” Juan Meng Huan calmly continued, “That thing called ‘Jumaru’ actually has a very serious flaw.”

“Flaw…” Date Makoto repeated the word with a questioning tone, then continued, “Impossible… I clearly tested it…”

“Certainly, it can greatly enhance your physical skills.” Juan Meng Huan interrupted him before he could finish speaking. “But that enhancement… comes at a price.” He paused, then added, “In Thriller Paradise, aside from causal abilities and Soul Force (hunyi), which is a power completely your own, almost every skill or item that can greatly increase a player’s base combat power comes with a price and a risk… Your ‘Jumaru’ is no exception.”

“I told you, there are no flaws! Stop trying to confuse me!” Date Makoto said, brandishing his twin blades and using Shrunk Earth (suo di) to close the distance.

The long blade slashed down, the short blade swept across, the fierce blade energy intertwined and unleashed simultaneously.

Seeing this, Juan Meng Huan shook his head and sighed softly, pouring his divine power once more; the halberd moved, striking fear into the approaching opponent.

By this attack, Date Makoto’s energy and power were already at a disadvantage. His blades hadn’t even touched his opponent’s weapon before he was forced back by the pressure, as heavy as Mount Song.

“This… no… it can’t be!” Although he was still muttering these words, Date’s feet no longer obeyed his commands.

At this point, no amount of self-hypnosis could deny the fact that the balance of power had been reversed. Moreover, the “cracks” on his body were multiplying rapidly in these short few seconds.

“‘Jumaru’ can indeed forcefully draw out your potential, but it also drains you at a rapid rate.” Juan Meng Huan knew he had already won, so he wasn’t in a hurry to attack. He continued, “The principle is like adding fuel to a 19th-century piston engine—the faster you run, the faster you burn. After using Jumaru, your body becomes like the Henrietta speeding across the sea (from Around the World in Eighty Days). When you run out of coal, you burn the furniture; when you run out of furniture, you burn the deck; then the masts, the sails, the planks, the bulkheads… Eventually, it becomes just an empty shell of iron.”

“I… don’t understand a single word you’re saying!” Date couldn’t listen to his opponent’s words. His response was… to grit his teeth, dragging his disintegrating body forward, step by step, once again.

“I admire that persistence, but some things can’t be rushed… I hope this defeat will help you grow.” With that, Juan Meng Huan raised his halberd, pouring his divine power again and again, giving his opponent the final blow.

…………

White light appeared, and the victory was decided.

This “sub-general battle” was not only the key battle for [Scrap Alliance] to eliminate [Sengoku], but also Juan Meng Huan’s “deification battle.”

After this battle, [Juan Meng Huan] finally rose from “first-rate” to the ranks of “super-first-rate,” becoming an existence on par with the strongest monsters in people’s minds.

Of course, for the moment, the focus of everyone’s attention was still… another seeded team had been eliminated.

[Sengoku]’s S3 journey came to an abrupt end after this fourth-round focus battle.

Although they were eliminated quite early and lost with a score of 3-1, in terms of content, they did not leave in disgrace. One could even say that they lost with honor.

What people saw and knew was pretty much this…

But behind this match, there were some things that people didn’t know. For example: In the [Sengoku] team, besides [Imagawa Yoshi] and [Date Makoto], the other five members were all candidates on whom people from Paradise had placed bets. [Sengoku]’s elimination also meant that the bets of five bettors… had ended here.