Ci——

The sound of tearing silk, accompanied by a rain of blood.

Ida Makoto's ultimate move was aimed at ending the fight, but in the end… it was he himself who bled.

"The white katana uses the mysteries of the Shintō-ryū Tsukahara Bokuden, the black katana unleashes the ultimate techniques of the Shinkage-ryū Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, and the style of wielding a katana in the right hand and a kodachi in the left is the Niten Ichi-ryū grip that Miyamoto Musashi finalized in his later years." As Juan Meng Huan finished his move, he said to Ida in a very calm tone, "It seems… in 'Free Exploration Mode,' you randomly landed in a 'space where Japanese swordsmen from different eras have gathered' and learned a lot, didn't you…"

As he asked this question, the injured Ida Makoto was spitting blood and retreating in shock and anger, while still taking out items to treat his wounds.

Hearing his opponent's question, Ida only squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth, "So what?"

This answer was equivalent to admitting his opponent's guess; of course… there was no need for him to deny it in the first place.

In the first week of the "Free Exploration Mode," many studios came up with the strategy of "repeatedly randomizing to find the most suitable multiverse for players." For example, players specializing in machinery naturally do better in universes with leading technology levels, because even a training course there can bring them great improvement; and for players specializing in fighting… as long as they can go to those worlds that respect martial arts and become disciples, their combat power will increase exponentially.

But… randomizing is a matter of luck, and it's hard to say. Few people can randomly find a universe that suits them in one go. Most people find that those who play with machinery are assigned to martial arts or magical worlds, while those who engage in fighting are placed in interstellar war worlds…

This might not matter to ordinary casual players; it's just a game, but for professional players, even if they can accept it themselves, the studio won't allow it.

Therefore, the most common solution is to re-randomize.

The cost of re-assigning a universe in Free Exploration Mode is 500,000 game coins, which is about 200 RMB; for ordinary players, this amount of money is not a small expense for the game, but for studios… this little money is nothing, and it's even cheaper to calculate the cost in game coins.

Moreover, because Meng Company is relatively "conscientious," they set "two universes of similar styles must be separated by at least five randomizations" when designing this mode, so most people can find a suitable universe within four randomizations… that is, they can get this done for a maximum of two million game coins.

In summary, it's not surprising that Ida Makoto was able to freely explore a space where "Japanese swordsmen from different eras have gathered."

"Heh…" A second later, Juan Meng Huan shrugged, smiled at Ida twice, and replied, "It's not 'what,' I just wanted to praise you a bit…" He paused for half a second, then continued, "Being able to integrate the essence of the swordsmanship of three 'sword saints' and use such amazing moves… I can't compare to that talent."

"Hmph…" At this time, Ida Makoto had simply treated the wound on his chest and stopped the bleeding; hearing this, he immediately sneered and replied, "Aren't you being a bit hypocritical, now that you've gained the upper hand?"

"I haven't finished speaking yet…" Juan Meng Huan continued, "Although your 'talent' is above mine, I observe that my 'realm' is still higher."

"Is that so…" Ida Makoto let out a long breath, "Hoo… then there's no helping it…"

The implication of his words was: I have nothing to say to you on this topic.

Some things can be discussed, but some things are useless to talk about—if you don't understand, you don't understand.

Just now, Juan Meng Huan used a unhurried speed and seemingly clumsy movements to transform Ida Makoto's gorgeous and extraordinary attack into nothingness.

This scene, although it happened before everyone's eyes, only a few people could truly understand the reason behind it; those who couldn't understand it, even if they watched it in slow motion a hundred times, still wouldn't understand, including Ida, the person involved… as well.

[Sengoku] clearly miscalculated some things when analyzing the seven members of [Loser Alliance], and the biggest misjudgment was… Juan Meng Huan's strength.

Admittedly, a few months ago, when Juan Meng Huan met Oda Ai and Sasaki Mei, his combat power was still inferior to Oda Ai's, and only a 50-50 chance with Sasaki Mei. But since then, many things have happened…

Juan Meng Huan was originally a very competitive person, but his talent was only slightly above the average person's level, and his personality was a bit eager for quick success, so he went astray into the "Corpse Blade" path in the early stages of his career.

After the S1 competition, he quit Corpse Blade due to Uncle Loser's influence.

However, even after repenting and starting over, Juan Meng Huan's "ceiling" was still stuck in the "first-class" domain, and he had not reached the "top" level.

Until… he met Yan Gui Ren from the Pili main world in a certain scenario.

At that time, he exchanged a few moves with the other party using the still-unfamiliar [Chonglou], and the result was naturally a crushing defeat… Although he was defeated, he gained Yan Gui Ren's recognition and guidance.

Taking this as an opportunity, Juan Meng Huan finally began to transform.

He let go of his excessive obsession with "pursuing strength" and realized that it was precisely the obstacle that was limiting him; in the following months, he entered a new realm, and his strength increased day by day.

Today's Juan Meng Huan has abandoned other weapons, leaving only the [Chonglou] halberd; his fighting style is also very different from the past.

No thought, no attachment, no trace, no form.

Moves arise at will, man and halberd become one.

Compared to Ida Makoto, who "pursues the ultimate in moves," this realm of "no moves" is naturally superior.

…………

"Miscalculated…" Sasaki Mei, who was watching the battle from the spectator space, said in an almost helpless tone, "It seems that this match has come to an end…"

"Yeah…" Mingzhi Xin, who was next to him, had a "all is lost" expression and replied in a deep voice, "I really didn't expect that the Loser Alliance had more than one 'monster'… It seems that even compared to 'Order', their overt strength is not inferior."

"No." But Uesugi Jin, with a serious expression, had a different opinion at this time, "Look at Ida-kun's eyes… he hasn't given up yet!"

…………

At the same moment, on the battlefield.

Ida Makoto took out a consumable item from his bag that even his teammates didn't know about.

It was a flat, wooden vial that could be held in the palm of his hand, shaped somewhat like a bottle for eye drops, but the "mouth" of the vial in his hand was a sharp shape similar to a needle.

"I really didn't want to use this unless absolutely necessary…" Ida Makoto said as he stabbed the object into the side of his neck, "It's… a bit of a blow to my pride."

Juan Meng Huan's expression changed slightly when he saw this, but he did not step forward to interfere.

It wasn't that he couldn't stop Ida, but… at this moment, he seemed to see his past self in his opponent.

"Let me guess… is this a kind of enhancement drug with huge side effects?" Juan Meng Huan guessed immediately.

"Ah…" Ida Makoto replied, "In that 'swordsman universe', there is a forbidden substance called 'Shu-maru'…" As he spoke, the color of his pupils had changed, "Just taking one will bring a pain as if 'the color of the whole body has been peeled off'; if you take a second one in a short period of time, 99% of people will bleed to death from all seven orifices." He smiled, "Heh… of course, with the physical fitness of a player, you can bear the burden of this drug."

"Then… what is the effect?" Juan Meng Huan asked again.

"If you only take one, it can remove the brain's self-restrictions, but it will also cause thinking ability and martial skills to become lower; but if you take a second one immediately, the human brain can surpass its original limits… and the previous defects will naturally disappear." When Ida said this, the skin and hair of his entire body had also faded away from their original colors, becoming silvery-white.

"But I didn't see you use the 'eating' method to ingest the drug…" Juan Meng Huan said again.

"Heh… yeah." Ida laughed, "Absorbing it through the digestive system… is less efficient, so I directly injected about five times the concentration into the blood stream…"

Peng——

The moment that last word "stream" came out, a strange sound of breaking wind had already sounded.

In an instant, a figure flashed, and Ida Makoto suddenly appeared where Juan Meng Huan was standing, but Juan Meng Huan… had disappeared without a trace.

In the same second, on the ground in front of Ida, there was an extra huge "blood arc" that bloomed in a crescent shape.