THE MARTIAL KING - Season 9 Episode 60

Although sword moves were ever-changing, the fact still stood that there were certain rules to be followed in the end. No matter how exquisite the swordsmanship of someone might appear to be, it would always be based on changes in other swordsmanship.

Nevertheless, there were always regulations that they would adhere to.

In those moments wherein Cheryl fought against other swordsmen, she found it relatively easy to predict and anticipate their next move just by observing the tension of their wrists.

However, she was at a loss right now due to the fact that Zen’s swordsmanship seemed to follow no rules as she could not simply foresee his next move.

After they exchanged a few blows, it was not long after that Zen effortlessly broke through Cheryl’s defense and aimed his glistening long sword at her chest.

Eventually, she sighed as she had no choice but to pass through space to escape being maimed by the sharp edge of his sword.

In the beginning, Cheryl had actually expected to be unsuccessful in breaking through Zen’s defensive swordsmanship. Upon grabbing the opportunity to observe the battle between him and Boris, she accepted the realization that she would be unable to penetrate Zen’s extremely strange swordsmanship.

On the other hand, just because she was incapable of breaking through did not mean she was not confident enough to defeat him.

This was because a battle between warriors did not solely rely on swordsmanship as the only factor to determine the results. Most of the time, it would depend on the skillful individual who managed to bring a trump card into the fight.

As soon as she finished travelling through space to increase the distance between her and Zen, she smirked as she planned her next move. The woman’s bright eyes flashed momentarily before she parted her red lips to shout, “Three-element Shadows!”

Swish, swish, swish!

In the blink of an eye, three daunting shadows rushed out from her body and proceeded to stand in three corners of the arena.

Turning his head to scan his eyes at the length of the three shadows that suddenly appeared, Zen frowned slightly and briefly lowered his arms in hesitation. Different thoughts ran through his mind as he was not certain about what the woman intended to do.

At the exact moment Cheryl projected the three shadows into the field, she immediately leaped high into the air, moving towards Zen’s direction with malice. She grasped her sword with both hands while holding it upside down; the wind whooshed as she stabbed her blade right on top of Zen’s head.

“Frost-breaking Sword!” she yelled with vigor.

An incomparably sharp sword light pierced right through Zen’s skull.

Unexpectedly, it seemed as if it dawned on her that she had made a terrible mistake as Zen merely laughed coldly at her attempt and he flicked the sword in his hand once again. This time, he made sure not to miss as he managed to shatter Cheryl’s sword light as well as slash a deep gash on her shoulder. Luckily for her, she was able to dodge in the nick of time—her body would have been cut by his sword otherwise.

As quick as she had attacked, her body also instantly changed direction while she was in the air. It was as if a strange magnetizing force had appeared out of nowhere and forcefully pulled her away from the man. Instantly, Cheryl then fused with the dark shadow located in the corner of the arena.

The moment Cheryl merged her figure with the shadow that lurked in the corner, another shadow emerged from her body and instantaneously spread to another corner. Upon finishing her move with the three silhouettes remaining in the arena, she looked at Zen with confidence as a grin adorned her face.

“Well, these shadows do look like they have some use,” Zen muttered, glancing at the darkness that spread over the corners of the arena.

If Cheryl combined her attacks with these shadows right then and there, she would have a contingency plan of fusing with a shadow the moment her attacks did not work on him. At this situation, she would be invincible even though she would not be able to strike him effectively.

“I want to see how you will break through my Three-element Shadows!” With a sneer, Cheryl chuckled as her form flickered again, prepared to move. This time, however, she did not jump to confront him but instead lowered her body before rushing towards Zen.

Clang!

Upon discerning her attack, Zen instantly shifted his sword to sweepingly chop the floor as he intended to charge at his front. Seeing the blade coming at her, Cheryl easily traversed through space once again and avoided the brunt of the attack. The long sword gripped tightly in her hand was already pressed against the skin of his neck, ready to slice and pull him apart. In a flash, his figure morphed into a shadow and he suddenly materialized behind her.

Currently, Zen did not have enough time to swing his sword before Cheryl’s body was about to fuse with another one of the shadows.

Having had enough of the illusion, Zen did not intend to give Cheryl any more chances. When she was ready to merge herself with one of the shadows, he had only pretended to attack when in reality, he had already taken a step forward to stand guard beside the shadow.

However, Zen was rendered speechless when Cheryl’s figure changed direction midway of fusing and subsequently landed on another shadow instead. Dumbfounded, Zen blinked his eyes warily and paused. “This…”

The man turned his head to look at Cheryl, who appeared to be full of smiles as she grinned cheekily at the obvious display of disorientation painted across Zen’s features.

Truthfully, he had definitely not expected that fighting Cheryl would be this troublesome.

Needless to say, every race had its own specialties when it came to skills. Just as the humans of the Purple Heart Sacred Place excelled in the life vitality system, and the ogres stood out in body refinement, the members of the Demon Night were also considered relatively special. This nearly flawless race seemed to allow the freedom to choose their own cultivation system.

Furthermore, the cultivation method passed down in their sacred place was somehow strange.

“From now on, we can only compare our speeds.” Just as another infuriating smile appeared on her face, Zen did not hesitate any longer and stepped forward, once again rushing to attack her.

Unfortunately, the staggering slash he aimed at her had no effect whatsoever. Before Cheryl merged with a shadow and disappeared, her hand managed to thrust the sword towards him.

Employing his quick reflexes, Zen dodged the abrupt movement of her sword and accelerated in the direction of the next shadow straight away. At the same time, a white light gleamed in his hand before the unbreakable broken flying knife became visible. The flying knife was aimed directly at another shadow before he threw it with power.

As he used his flying knife to attack a shadow while simultaneously dealing with the shadow in front of him, there was only one shadow in the arena left unattended. Halfway through his offensive charge, he then abruptly threw the sword in his hand at the last shadow.

Swoosh!

Now, all the three shadows in the arena were under attack. No matter which one Cheryl chose to merge with, she would be injured.

At this situation, Cheryl was slightly flustered to do her next move.

It was true that once she activated the Three-element Shadows, she would be able to freely choose and utilize any of the shadows to merge with. However, it also limited the direction in which she could move to at the same time.