Fire at Fusang Shrine!

Fire at Fusang Shrine!

"Die!"

The four guards on the right roared in utter terror as they fired madly!

"Da! Da! Da! Da!"

Bullets flew everywhere!

Gu Shaoshang gave a shake, then closed in with great strides in the span of a single breath!

"Pa!"

His arms rose high like two steel whips, cracking through the air!

The four guards were sent flying five or six meters almost simultaneously. They vomited blood and died in midair, every bone in their bodies shattered!

Mirror Master killed Dan energy martial artist Takeshiyama Daishi, acquiring 50 Source Power

"Fusang Shrine... after the monstrous crimes you committed in Huaxia, what right do you have to receive worship!"

Gu Shaoshang swept his gaze over the spirit tablet engraved with the two characters "Tojo," then sneered and took the kerosene lighter from his pocket. With a click, he lit it.

"Boom!"

Thick smoke billowed up, followed by towering flames that roared skyward!

By the time squads of fully armed Fusang Self-Defense Force soldiers arrived, all they saw was the immense blaze raging wildly. The spiritual pillar of Fusang imperialism, which had stood for centuries, was reduced to ashes!

"Heavens!"

"No!"

"His Majesty the Emperor!"

It was as though their faith had collapsed! An air of despondency spread through the crowd, and young soldiers with weaker wills continually fell to their knees, sobbing until they could no longer make a sound!

"Ah!"

A furious roar exploded like a clap of thunder!

It came from a Japanese middle-aged man who had hurried over. Dressed in a cherry blossom kimono, wooden clogs on his feet and a martial warrior sword at his waist, he stood ramrod straight with a resolute face—yet at this moment, he roared in boundless grief and rage!

"The spirit tablets of two million martyrs of my Fusang Empire! The countless heroic spirits of Fusang! Who was it?! I will never let you go! Ah! Ah!"

The otherwise unremarkable middle-aged man's face twisted, his eyes seeming ready to devour someone whole!

This man was Fusang's foremost practical martial arts master, Iga Gen!

He had never imagined that a sudden impulse to come worship at the shrine would lead to this!

It had shoved him straight onto a dead end! If he failed to catch the arsonist, the only road left to him would be ritual suicide!

"Immediately contain the spread of the fire! Surround the fire scene at once! The instant anyone comes out, shoot them dead! Finally, seal off the news—nothing is to get out!"

Iga Gen issued his orders coldly, then moved and darted into the blaze!

"Yes!"

After respectfully watching Iga Gen's back for a moment, a Young Officer ordered the men to fight the fire and surround the scene.

Iga Gen raced through the main hall, now turned into a sea of fire. His agile footwork avoided the falling planks as he watched countless spirit tablets burn, his face dark.

Fusang buildings were built largely of wood; once a fire began, it immediately spread into one raging mass!

"Come out! I know you're here! You can't possibly escape!"

The stench of burning corpses filled the air as Iga Gen arrived at the center of the hall.

A black-clad youngster leaned against the head of a bronze statue—the very sight of it making Iga Gen's facial muscles twitch—and held a corpse in his hand!

"Senior Takeshiyama!"

Iga Gen jerked in shock. The skinny, shriveled old man's corpse in the youngster's hand was clearly Takeshiyama Daishi, former naval admiral!

Blood flowed from all seven of his orifices. His body hung limply like mud, his skin withered and shriveled; he had died a most miserable death!

Gu Shaoshang casually tossed the corpse to Iga Gen. Only then did he recall that this old fellow should be one of the five elder Fusang martial artists who had besieged Wang Chao in the original story!

This man had been an admiral in the former Fusang navy, Takeshiyama Daishi. Not only was he a great scholar, he was also a martial arts grandmaster of Fusang!

In his youth, he had invaded Huaxia alongside his companions. He was an Old Undying who had exchanged blows with Sun Lutang, then the greatest fighter under heaven, and Li Shuwen, the Divine Spear!

"Who are you, sir? Why did you burn our Fusang Shrine? And why did you kill Senior Takeshiyama?"

Iga Gen caught Takeshiyama Daishi's corpse and gently laid it on the ground. His teeth clenched as he stared coldly at Gu Shaoshang.

"This old man tried to ambush me, so I casually punched him to death! As for why I burned your shrine?"

Gu Shaoshang spoke with a teasing tone, but his gaze was icy cold, utterly devoid of amusement.

"No reason. I just didn't like it!"

"Boom!"

"Clang!"

Even though Iga Gen was fairly composed, he could not help stomping violently in rage. He stepped forward in a crouched stance, his hand brushing across his waist as a cold gleam flashed from it!

Piercing the air, it drove straight for Gu Shaoshang's heart!

Killing intent surged through Iga Gen's heart. He had decided to cripple the man's limbs first, then interrogate him at leisure!

He had never imagined there could be someone in this world who would dare burn down Fusang Shrine for no reason at all!

With my blade in hand, I'll kill even an Embracing the Core expert for you to see!

The snow-bright katana had dense cloud patterns covering its narrow, long blade. Its razor-sharp edge carried such keenness that one felt their eyes would bleed from a single glance!

The air gave off the sound of brocade cloth being ripped apart as the blade reached Gu Shaoshang!

Its tip shrouded Gu Shaoshang's chest, heart, lungs, even the Adam's apple in his throat! The Blade Intent and killing intent contained within this strike erupted without reserve!

"This is the strongest thrust I have ever delivered!"

Enlightenment rose within Iga Gen's heart. At the instant his absolute will to kill drove Blade One forward in a thrust, his cultivation—which had progressed slowly for years—felt the possibility of taking another step forward!

As long as I kill this man, my path to Embracing the Core will surely fall into place as naturally as water flows into a channel!

"Yaaah!"

Iga Gen roared again. The long blade had already reached within an inch of Gu Shaoshang's brow!

"Your blade technique isn't bad!"

Gu Shaoshang raised his snow-white wrist. His index and middle fingers parted and shot out, catching the blade between them in a flash of lightning!

"What?!"

Iga Gen's heart lurched. He could hardly believe someone could catch his blade barehanded!

Catching a blade barehanded existed only in novels; it simply did not exist in reality! Even masters fighting unarmed would only dare slip through the curtain of blades to seize the opponent's wrist joints!

As for directly pinching the back of the blade like this, Iga Gen had never even heard of it!

But he was, after all, a supreme expert tempered through actual combat. His state of mind had been honed to be firmer than steel and rock!

In an instant, he seized upon that moment of shock, and the blood throughout his body abruptly boiled!

With a twist and shake of his wrist, he was about to slice off Gu Shaoshang's two fingers!

Gu Shaoshang brought his two fingers together, raised the tip of his foot, and kicked out!

The kick left neither shadow nor wind, yet Iga Gen's skin crawled. He lifted his right leg high to block it!

Crack!

The two feet collided!

Iga Gen's eyes bulged, and his face instantly turned purple. Gu Shaoshang's kick not only shattered his leg bone, but carried on without losing momentum, stomping into his lower abdomen. The clothes on his back fluttered wildly as his body was struck by a colossal force like a missile launch!

Boom!

Iga Gen flew sideways more than ten meters! He smashed through the roof of the worship hall and fell into the flames!

Even as the raging flames swallowed him, there was no movement at all!

He had not even blocked a single move before being kicked to death!

Even now, Gu Shaoshang's two fingers were still clamped around the katana!

He raised the katana. Two distinct finger marks had been left on its mirror-bright blade!

Indeed, had Gu Shaoshang not held back, he could have crushed it outright!

At this moment, heat waves rolled through the air. The center of the main hall that Gu Shaoshang had deliberately left intact had already been reached by licking tongues of flame. He held the blade in one hand and lifted the bronze head with the other, tossing it into the sky! Then he fiercely thrust out a palm!

Boom!

The several hundred Fusang Self-Defense Force soldiers waiting outside heard a thunderous blast!

They saw a gigantic bronze head as large as an adult human body smash through the roof and hurtle toward their formation!

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

Gunfire erupted madly, striking the bronze head with a continuous clang-clang-clang!

Gu Shaoshang curled himself into a ball like a civet cat, holding the blade as he hid behind the bronze head. Feeling its violent tremors, he gave a cold laugh inwardly.

Boom!

The bronze head crashed heavily to the ground. Carrying the bronze artifact on his back, Gu Shaoshang used the force of the fall to plunge into the concrete earth like a radish!

Thanks to fellow readers Shen Yi Wu Xian and Shen Zhi Hong Chen for their rewards! The novel is being recommended today, so please vote with recommendation tickets! Dear readers ╭(╯3╰)╮, Author-kun offers his heartfelt thanks to every reader who votes!