A Bold Idea

Han Jiang walked over to Yae Sakura and flicked Hiyori on the forehead, sending her tumbling onto her backside. "Why are you yapping here instead of opening the door?!"

Hiyori clutched her head, her big eyes glistening as tears welled up inside them. She looked pitifully at Yae Sakura.

Yae Sakura seemed quite fond of Hiyori. She smiled and shook her head at Han Jiang.

He had to give Yae Sakura that much face. As for this little brat, he could deal with her properly later.

"Open it already, or I'll deal with you again. Got it?" Han Jiang said, putting on a fierce expression.

Hiyori did not dare disobey. Sniffling, she said to Han Jiang, "You and Big Sis..."

"Hmm?"

Hiyori shuddered and corrected herself. "Big Brother and Big Sister, put your hands on the door. Leave the rest to me."

Following Hiyori's instructions, the two pressed their hands against the left and right sides of the Tenshukaku's gate. Theresa perked up. They were finally going in.

Hiyori flew between Han Jiang and Yae Sakura, rubbing a tiny fireball between her hands before launching it at the gate.

Theresa's eyes widened. She had not been able to break this door open even with Judah before. Could such a tiny fireball really open it?

After Hiyori's sixth tiny fireball struck it, formation runes appeared on the gate and encircled Han Jiang and Yae Sakura's hands.

Han Jiang then felt the gate drawing in his Honkai Energy. After it absorbed roughly a tenth of it, the gate opened with a crack.

"Cough, cough!"

The gate opened, kicking up countless clouds of dust. Theresa, being short, was affected the most. She kept coughing as she waved the dust away.

"Shall we?"

Yae Sakura and Theresa exchanged looks, preparing to step through the gate.

"Han Jiang, stay outside and look for the Valkyries carrying out their mission here," Theresa said, turning back to him.

Han Jiang gave a grunt, intending to leave after watching the two enter.

But Hiyori sat in midair with her arms folded, shaking her head. "Every floor after this will need his... need Big Brother's power. Big Brother has to come with us."

At that moment, Han Jiang felt like cursing. The Tenshukaku had sealed away so many demons and monsters. Wasn't a mere C-rank like him walking in just asking to die?

"It's fine. Other than the most evil thing on the seventh floor, the rest aren't that dangerous." A sly glint flashed through Hiyori's eyes.

"Then it's settled. We'll go in together. Don't stray too far apart." Yae Sakura drew Sakura Blizzard.

Theresa and Yae Sakura guarded Han Jiang from either side, while Hiyori sat on Yae Sakura's shoulder, secretly delighting to herself.

The interior of the Tenshukaku differed somewhat from the pavilion architecture of ancient Shenzhou, but its overall structure was fairly similar.

The moment they stepped through the gate, every candle in the pitch-black Tenshukaku lit up at once. It was terrifyingly silent inside.

"Calcium oxide! CaO!"

The Tenshukaku suddenly shook violently. Han Jiang shouted, and the next instant, he found himself in an unfamiliar room.

"Principal Theresa! Miss Yae Sakura!" Han Jiang called out several times, but no one answered.

The room was spacious, with ever-burning lamps lit along both sides.

"Where the hell am I?" Han Jiang gripped his Tang Dao with both hands, not daring to move recklessly.

The Tenshukaku was a place for imprisoning evil things. There was no need to think about it—there had to be countless traps inside. What if he took one wrong step and got killed by a mechanism?

Yet after waiting a full ten minutes, there was still no movement around him.

Han Jiang began cautiously probing the ground with the tip of his blade before daring to move forward step by step.

He slowly made his way to the door. When he pushed open the wooden door, he saw a scattered group of Deadwalkers outside.

The Deadwalkers had originally ignored one another, but upon seeing Han Jiang, they all turned and walked toward him.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, an arrow flew precisely through the Deadwalker horde toward Han Jiang.

Han Jiang jolted and immediately retreated, grabbing the open wooden door. He had stirred up a hornet's nest.

The shut wooden door was useless now. The Deadwalkers swung their scythes, smashing through it as they pounced on Han Jiang.

Han Jiang looked at the black trench coat riddled with several holes, sighed, and activated his Domain Gear as he charged at the Deadwalkers.

A small space had its advantages. Han Jiang was able to hold the doorway.

Other than occasionally dodging the arrows fired from behind, Han Jiang only had to face at most three Deadwalkers at once.

These Deadwalkers were at least Imperial Guard-level. Their strength and speed far exceeded those of ordinary Deadwalkers, and they were more agile as well.

Han Jiang pushed the explosive properties of his Honkai Energy to their limit, while his Hokushin Itto-ryu was a complete mess in his hands.

His two Tang Daos constantly parried incoming attacks, slipping in a slash whenever an opening appeared.

"Ding! Hokushin Itto-ryu LV UP!"

"Hokushin Itto-ryu LV3: Attack power increased by 12%. (Do not focus on the forms of swordsmanship. Swordsmanship is an art!)"

Hokushin Itto-ryu had leveled up again, giving Han Jiang a significant boost in attack power. At the same time, his Blade Aura became sharper, and cutting through the Deadwalkers became smoother.

Looking at the system panel's description of Hokushin Itto-ryu, Han Jiang silently resolved that once he got back, he would devote himself to winning over Fu Hua no matter what.

For someone like him, who wanted to learn a little of everything, had no fixed techniques on the battlefield, and adapted according to the situation, Taixu Sword Heart was immensely useful.

Han Jiang's swordsmanship did not look anything like swordsmanship. Even the famous Gun Fu of close-quarters combat was so mangled by him that its origins were unrecognizable.

Kiana excelled at shooting point-blank. Han Jiang, meanwhile, excelled at stabbing point-blank. With each slash, another Deadwalker often fell.

Perhaps because this was only the first floor, Han Jiang was not under much pressure. Even while facing more than a dozen Deadwalkers, he still had the leisure to think about other things.

As the number of Deadwalkers dwindled, Han Jiang's moves grew increasingly free and unrestrained, and he began shouting slogans without pause.

"Golden excavation, cool and fierce!"

"Star Explosion Desperate Heal Slash!"

"Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl!"

When only four or five Deadwalkers remained in the entire corridor, Han Jiang finally spotted the Vagrant Soldier that had been firing arrows in the dark!

The Vagrant Soldier had already nocked an arrow and taken aim, its bow drawn full like a crescent moon.

Han Jiang hurled the Tang Dao in his hand with all his strength, and it pierced the Vagrant Soldier's neck with perfect accuracy.

Then he took Muramasa of Bizen from the inventory.

At that moment, a bold idea appeared in Han Jiang's mind.

If there were enough weapons in the system's armory, could he use an alternative version of Unlimited Blade Works?

Or could he retrieve the weapons he threw, showing his enemies that he could make weapons disappear at will?

Awakened Herrscher of the Void Kiana could do this. Welt could do this. But they were both famed Herrschers.

If he casually showed off a trick like that, how could his enemies not be afraid?

The more Han Jiang thought about it, the more excited he became. He simply began experimenting with Muramasa of Bizen in his hand.

The weapon retrieval system had a certain range. As long as he mastered that range, it would be enough to greatly increase Han Jiang's combat strength.

This increase would not be obvious against Honkai Beasts or Deadwalkers, but in battles against people—or enemies capable of thought—it could have an enormous effect.

To see and feel it more clearly, Han Jiang decided to use the remaining Deadwalkers as test subjects.

The Pulse Tang Blade had not yet been strengthened by the system, so it could not be retrieved into the armory for now. He could only experiment with Muramasa of Bizen.

Han Jiang used Muramasa of Bizen as a ranged weapon. At first, he could not retrieve it after throwing it ten meters away. He gradually shortened the distance to three meters, and only then could he retrieve it successfully.