Ci—

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

Idate Makoto's ultimate move was meant to be fatal, but in the end… it was he who bled.

"The white sword uses the secrets of Tsukahara Bokuden's Shinto-ryu, the black sword unleashes the ultimate techniques of Kamiizumi Nobutsuna's Shinkage-ryu, and the style of holding a katana in the right hand and a kodachi in the left is the Niten Ichi-ryu grip that Miyamoto Musashi developed in his later years." As Juan Meng Huan finished his move, he said to Idate in a very calm tone, "It seems… in the 'Free Exploration Mode,' you randomly arrived at a 'space-time where Japanese swordsmen from different eras are gathered,' and you learned a lot from it, didn't you…"

As he asked this question, the injured Idate Makoto was spitting out blood and retreating backward in shock and anger, and while retreating, he did not forget to take out a prop to treat his wound.

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

This answer was tantamount to admitting the opponent's guess; of course… there was no need for him to deny it anyway.

In the first week of the "Free Exploration Mode," many studios had already thought of the strategy of "repeatedly randomizing to find the most suitable multiverse for players." For example, players specializing in machinery naturally fared better in universes with advanced technology, because even a training class there could bring them great improvement. And what about players specializing in combat? As long as they could go to worlds that respected martial arts and become apprentices, their combat power would increase exponentially.

But… such random, luck-based things were hard to say. Few people could randomly find a universe that suited them in one go. In most cases, players who specialized in machinery were assigned to wuxia or magical worlds, while those who specialized in combat were placed in worlds of interstellar warfare…

This might not matter to casual players, as it was just a game, but for professional players, even if they themselves could accept it, the studio would not allow it.

Therefore, the most common solution was to… re-randomize.

The cost of re-assigning a universe in the Free Exploration Mode was 500,000 game coins, which translated to about 200 RMB. For ordinary players, this amount of money was not small as a consumable game investment, but for studios… this little money was nothing, and calculating the cost in game coins was even cheaper.

Moreover, because Dream Corporation was relatively "conscientious," they had decided when designing this mode that "two universes with similar styles would appear at least five randomizations apart," so most people could find a suitable universe within four randomizations… that is, they could get this done for a maximum of two million game coins.

In summary, it was not surprising that Idate Makoto could go to a space-time "where Japanese swordsmen from different eras were gathered" for free exploration.

"Heh…" A second later, Juan Meng Huan shrugged, smiled at Idate twice, and replied, "It's not 'so what,' I just wanted to praise you a little…" He paused for half a second, then said, "To be 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, Idate Makoto had simply treated the wound on his chest and stopped the bleeding; hearing this, he immediately sneered and replied, "You're saying that now, aren't you being a bit disingenuous?"

"I haven't finished speaking yet…" Juan Meng Huan continued, "Although 'talent' is above me, according to my observation… 'realm' is still higher on my side."

"Is that so…" Idate Makoto let out a long breath, "Hoo… then there's nothing I can do…"

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

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

Just now, Juan Meng Huan used an unhurried speed and seemingly clumsy movements to transform Idate 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, even if they watched it in slow motion a hundred times, still wouldn't understand, including Idate, the person involved… was the same.

When 【Sengoku】 analyzed the seven members of 【Loser Alliance】, he obviously missed some things, 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 he was only evenly matched with Sasaki Mei. But since then, many things had 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, Juan Meng Huan, who had turned over a new leaf and started over, still had his "ceiling" stop in the realm of "first-rate," and had not reached "top-tier."

Until… he met Yan Guiren from the Pili main world in a certain script.

At that time, he used the 【Chong Lou】 (Heavy Building) that he had not yet mastered to exchange a few moves with the other party, and the result was naturally a complete defeat… Although he was defeated, he did receive Yan Guiren's approval 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 hindrance that limited him. In the following months, he entered a new realm, and his strength increased day by day.

The current Juan Meng Huan has abandoned other weapons, leaving only the 【Chong Lou】 halberd. His fighting style is also very different from what it used to be.

No thought, no attachment, no trace, no style.

Moves are born from intention, man and halberd become one.

Compared with Idate Makoto, who "pursues the ultimate in moves," this realm of "no moves" is naturally a cut above.

…

"Miscalculated…" Sasaki Mei, who was watching the changes in the battle situation in the viewing space, said at this time in an almost helpless tone, "It seems that this match has come to an end…"

"Yeah…" Mingzhi Xin, who was next to him, also had an expression of "everything is over," and said in a deep voice, "I really didn't expect that Loser Alliance has more than one 'monster'… From this point of view, even compared with 'Order,' their overt strength is not inferior at all."

"No." But Uesugi Jin, who had a serious look on his face, had a different opinion at this time, "Look at Idate-kun's eyes… he hasn't given up yet!"

…

At the same moment, above the battlefield.

Idate Makoto took out a consumable item from his inventory 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 a bit like an eye drop bottle, but the "mouth" of the vial in his hand was a sharp shape similar to a needle.

"I really don't want to use this unless I have to…" Idate Makoto said as he stabbed this thing into the side of his neck, "It hurts my pride a little."

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

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

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

"Ah…" Idate 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 eating one will give people a kind of pain that 'feels like the color of the whole body has been peeled off'; if you eat a second one in a short period of time, 99% of people will die on the spot with blood flowing from their seven orifices." He smiled, "Heh… of course, with the physical fitness of a player, you can bear the load of this drug."

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

"If you only eat one, it can remove the brain's self-restriction, but at the same time, it will lead to a decrease in thinking ability and martial skills; but if you immediately eat a second one, the human brain can surpass its original limit… the previous defects will naturally no longer exist." As Idate replied to this sentence, all the skin and hair on his body had faded away from their original color and become silver-white.

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

"Heh… yeah." Idate smiled, "Absorption through the digestive system… is less efficient, so I directly injected the concentration of about five pills through my blood…"

Peng—

As the last word "already" exited his mouth, a strange sound of wind breaking had already sounded.

In an instant, a figure flashed, and Idate Makoto suddenly appeared where Juan Meng Huan was standing, but Juan Meng Huan… had disappeared.

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