Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe-Chapter 72 - 70: 8-Fold Great Saber VS Black Tortoise Shield
The cold gleam was as deep as an abyss, its movement like a clap of thunder.
The slash was overflowing with violence, yet it hadn’t accumulated enough "momentum."
It was just a basic attack.
CLANG—
Shi Ming’s right arm shot out, activating the King Slayer Saber’s "Immovable as a Mountain" trait. He executed a perfect parry, not budging an inch.
His opponent had only used a basic attack. No matter how confident he was, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to trade an ultimate move for a basic one.
The Black Tortoise Shield was meant for ambushing someone,
Arm of Power had a fairly long cooldown. Once used, it had to yield a sufficient reward. He had to use it at the most critical moment,
Like right now—
After blocking Demon Sword’s frigid slash with Phantom Speed, he took advantage of the opening to spin his saber in a feint. As Demon Sword dodged, he launched himself ten meters into the air. Awakening Power flooded into the King Slayer like a bursting dam as the red pattern on his right arm flashed.
Ten times the power!
Wielding the force of a thousand-ton hammer, the King Slayer completely ignored Demon Sword. Trailing a scarlet arc from the overloaded power, it chopped down toward the "Water Arrow," which was still in midair, yet to fall.
To be precise, it was aimed at the "Navigator" still in the control room.
Shi Ming couldn’t see him, but he knew his position thanks to his detection radar.
’This Navigator was highly valued by the Lighthouse and dared to undertake a mission alone. He was definitely not as simple as he seemed; he was most likely the type to play the pig to eat the tiger. This kind of person must be eliminated first. Otherwise, there’s no telling when he’ll try to stab me in the back.’
Demon Sword clearly hadn’t expected Shi Ming’s move. But the momentum of his slash was like a roaring meteor; as fast as she was, she didn’t want to take it head-on.
’Edward would just have to take the hit.’
The shimmering scarlet blade light tore through the dense, misty air, carving out a zone devoid of air or fog.
The tyrannical aura of an S-rank sea beast erupted forth from the Arm of Power, its momentum like that of a ten-thousand-ton Black Tortoise plummeting from the sky!
HISS—
The blade light vaporized the surrounding fog like snow on a red-hot stove. As it fell, it tore through the submarine’s tough hull with a SIZZLE. In an instant, the solid, sturdy vessel was cleaved in two by an unimaginable force, split right down the middle, kicking up monstrous waves.
Edward watched in disbelief as the slash came for him, his golden hair standing on end as a chill ran down his spine.
BOOM.
The blade light exploded outward, tearing it apart again from the inside.
The Water Arrow, already split in two, shattered completely into a dozen large and small fragments. They plunged into the sea, where patches of blood bloomed on the surface before slowly sinking.
"If you’re not dead after that, then I have to admit, you’re pretty damn tough!"
Shi Ming landed on a piece of planking and sheathed his saber.
The vast power gradually dissipated, transforming into "momentum" for his next attack.
By now, the sky had cleared, and the dense fog had vanished.
...
Demon Sword narrowed her eyes.
Her thoughts raced.
As a master of the blade, she knew exactly how powerful that strike was. The Silver-level Wandering Ship, the Water Arrow, excelled in stealth and speed, lacking in Attack Power, but its Defense Power was among the best of all Silver ships, even rivaling some Golden Ships.
’With a strike like that, Edward must be dead.’
She observed a 0.1-second moment of silence for him in her heart.
’Missions always carry the risk of death. I’m not responsible for the death of the weak. I only need to complete my mission; that is my only responsibility.’
’This man before me is no simple character. He deserves to be taken seriously.’
She was even a little glad it was her on this mission. If it had been any other Awakened, they wouldn’t just fail the mission—they’d be lucky to escape this place alive today.
No matter.
’No matter how powerful the opponent, they will still die by my Eightfold Wall Great Saber.’
...
Giving Shi Ming no chance to catch his breath, the Famous Blade Xianyue in Demon Sword’s hand quivered slightly. A thunderous growl escaped her throat as her left hand, gripping the frost-cold hilt, slashed out a chilling, azure current.
Eightfold Wall Great Saber!
Eight slashes in total, each building upon the last like the crashing waves of a tsunami.
The eighth slash was the most terrifying, exponentially stacking the momentum and power of the previous seven. It, too, could slice a Silver-level Wandering Ship in half, and it was the source of Demon Sword’s absolute confidence.
She believed that with this slash, she had a chance of slaying even an S-rank sea beast.
Let alone a mere human.
Shi Ming, of course, was not to be outdone. His superhuman reflexes, honed in a past life, had been perfectly inherited. In his hands, the heavy King Slayer was both a deadly weapon and a sturdy shield. Amid the clangor of his parries, his power began to gather once more.
SCHRING—
CLANG—
Arm of Power went on cooldown.
It would be some time before he could use it again.
But from their brief exchange, he had already determined that this left-handed, A-rank Awakened before him was his inferior in terms of Physical Strength and Endurance. As for her Defense Power, it was far, far worse.
Her Attack Power, however, was absurdly high, as if she’d put all her points into attack.
’A glass cannon.’
’And aren’t defensive fighters like me the natural counter to that type?’
’Besides, her left-handed style seems to have a flaw.’
The dense fog once again enveloped the ship’s wreckage. For a moment, two completely different auras collided and pressed against each other silently over the claustrophobic sea.
On one side was Shi Ming’s solid and steady defensive style—unfathomable, immovable as a mountain, calmly waiting for his cooldowns.
On the other was a style filled with the desire for destruction, like a raging sea with wave crashing upon wave.
Demon Sword had nearly exhausted all her patience.
In her five or six years of battle, she had never met such a difficult opponent. It was as if his every move completely shut her down.
But this was the end.
The Eightfold Wall Great Saber had accumulated enough momentum. This next slash would end a battle that had lasted less than a minute, but to her felt tediously long.
CRACK!
Blade shadows layered over one another as Demon Sword stomped down, and the deck cracked under the force.
The first seven slashes seemed to have shed all the violence from the technique. This final slash, in contrast, was as still as water in an ancient well. Like an autumn moon reflected in a cold pond mirroring the deep sky, the left-handed blade moved with an indescribable rhythm. It was a deathly shadow descending from the heavens, fast to the absolute extreme.
The Eightfold Wall Great Saber’s final slash,
Tower of Heavy Clouds!
The blade, condensed with fury and destruction, let out a scalp-numbing scream as it slashed straight for Shi Ming’s broad shoulder.
Like a descending Susanoo, it was absolutely unavoidable.
However, BANG—
The sound wasn’t one of a deadly impact, nor was it the sound of a blade sinking into flesh.
Instead, it was like a taut string snapping under unbearable tension.
A fine crack suddenly appeared on the blade’s body. An irresistible, cataclysmic rebounding force surged through it. The Famous Blade Xianyue, a legendary treasure, shattered with a sharp cry. It disintegrated layer by layer, like cracking ice or breaking jade.
The deathly momentum carried by the blade was reflected back onto its master.
Her exquisite arm weathered like a dried bone; the skeleton shattered, and the muscle and sinew were torn and peeled away.
Shi Ming looked up, his face splattered with blood.
A pain like nothing she had ever felt spread through Demon Sword’s entire body, turning into a piercing shriek. It was the bone-deep agony of having a core belief brutally crushed.
This was an S-rank skill.
One whose ranking on the "S-Rank Awakening Skills Leaderboard" was unknown.
The Black Tortoise Shield!
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PS:
I’ll be picking up the pace a little in the next few days, with extra Chapters if necessary, to make sure I finish this plot arc before the book goes on sale.
Keeping up with the latest Chapters is especially important during the new book period, so I’m asking all my bros to please keep reading for the next few days to help this new author’s new book achieve better results. Thank you all so much.
