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Lily focused on resisting the powerful pressure and redirected her gaze on the incoming Murakada. This person’s strength was at the mid Permanence Stage and he could be considered a powerhouse in the Sinless Domain, but in this competition where the world’s top young geniuses gathered, he wasn’t really worth mentioning.

Murakada’s speed was not slow. He closed in on Lily with big steps and planted a foot in the ground before swinging his hefty uchigatana towards Lily!

The sword was three times as thick as a normal sword and was more like an iron rod than a blade.

Even in the face of his aura, speed, and attack, Lily didn’t take it seriously and easily analyzed his movements as she dodged to the side.

However, just when Lily tried to dodge, an extremely powerful force came from the other side and pushed against her body to prevent her from evading.

How could one miscalculate during a battle at the Permanence Stage? In an instant, the heavy blade was already cutting towards Lily. She was taken by surprise and wasn’t prepared to clash directly with her sword, but she subconsciously raised it to defend her body. However, her blade was pressed by an incredible force and it was actually very laborious to lift it.

BANG!!! The incoming sword slammed heavily onto Yasutsuna, which was only slightly lifted by Lily. Yasutsuna was forcefully pressed down and a part of the blade struck Lily’s shoulder.

“Ah—!” There was a flash of light and Lily’s celestial maiden undergarment urged her spiritual energy defense to barely defend against the slash, but the severe pain and heavy impact were transmitted to Lily’s body, forcing her to one knee.

Boom—! The ancient stone bricks of the competition arena were crushed and cracked by the impact.

This martial arts stone platform was built using a very sturdy sixth-grade stone material and was passed down by the Taira Clan for hundreds of years!

“Ah…” Lily groaned involuntarily. Although Murakada was powerful, Lily was not afraid of him, but she had to resist his sword while bearing the incomparably powerful pressure. Her slender hands were trembling and she was almost unable to stand it.

“What?!” The crowd was shocked. The genius girl, Kagami Lily, who defeated Tamurakonoe with a single slash, was beaten to one knee by a mediocre person like Murakada?

Lily skillfully twisted her wrists and managed to push Murakada’s sword to one side, after which, she took the opportunity to roll away. However, during her roll, Lily’s body was attacked by the force again, which fumbled her movements. Murakada took this chance to kick Lily on her waist with a resounding ‘bang’, almost knocking her out of the ring. Lily used her domain to slow herself down and barely managed to land on the edge of the ring with a tumble.

She put her hand on the ground and gasped for breath.

“Who is it?! Who’s doing this in secret?”

Lily was convinced that this wasn’t being done by Murakada. She expanded her domain, and when it approached the central grandstand, she was met with a huge repelling force.

That ugly, rigid-looking middle-aged man, who was sitting in the center of the front row and looking down from his lofty position, was staring at her with extremely sharp and ruthless eyes.

“It’s him!”

Lily instantly determined that it was this tall and ugly middle-aged man, but who was he? His strength was far beyond what Lily could detect and she had a hunch that even Yoruko wouldn’t be a match for this man. At the very least, he was a supreme expert on the same level as Rokuhara.

But when had she provoked such an expert to plot against her so insidiously?

“Hmm?” Lily noticed that behind the man, there was a familiar figure in a white robe and mask. It was Tamurakonoe’s right-hand man, the arcanist samurai, Kiuchidera Tesshin!

And the opponent in front of her was Sakanoue no Murakada.

“So that’s the case.” Lily now understood that this person was most likely a supreme expert who had a very close relationship with the Maro Dojo.

Was it the Martial Saint, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro?

Who else would lay hands on her under the eyes of the emperor at the Heian-kyō memorial ceremony? It must be a person who harbored deep hatred, who also possessed monstrous strength and was related to the Maro Dojo!

In all likelihood, it was the Martial Saint, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro!

Just when Lily was shocked, Murakada rushed towards her again. Lily quickly escaped from the edge of the ring without being suppressed. Sure enough, that person wanted to kill Lily in the arena, not let her lose the match.

What was the point of letting Lily lose? With Murakada’s strength, it was impossible for him to make it to the finals.

“A dignified master of swordplay; a martial arts master, is using such unscrupulous means to enact his own personal revenge! I killed Tamurakonoe in a life-and-death duel; I’m not at fault! This kind of person is not worthy of calling himself a martial arts master. When comparing the way of the samurai, he is far inferior to Uncle Matsuda!” Lily said angrily in her heart.

Murakada forced Lily back into the arena and chased after her with a slash. Lily used Yasutsuna to resist, but she felt a terrifying suppressive force on her sword which hindered her efforts. She suddenly changed her direction and used the suppressive force as leverage to dodge in the opposite direction. Lily’s actions were unexpected, which barely allowed her to evade Murakada’s slash, but at the same time, Murakada saw that Lily was full of flaws and managed to hit her shoulder.

Bang! Lily was knocked down. Murakada raised his sword and chased after her while crazily slashing. Lily kept rolling on the ground and used fake movements to leverage the pressure to abruptly change positions and dodge in the opposite direction. But this also greatly increased the difficulty for Lily to dodge on her own.

After all, Murakada was in the mid Permanence Stage and was a skilled swordsman. His sword managed to graze Lily’s hair and clothes on multiple occasions, pieces of which drifted to the ground.

Rip— The back of Lily’s kimono was cut through, revealing her snow-white back.

The suppressive force soon discovered Lily’s trick and started suppressing her in all directions, leaving her nowhere to dodge.

Swish! Murakada slashed through Lily’s long skirt, leaving a red mark on her snow-white thigh.

“Ah—” The hundredfold spiritual energy defense also amplified the pain, causing Lily to cry out uncontrollably. Honda and the others as well as many spectators in and outside the field felt anxious.

“What’s going on? Why is Kagami Lily acting like this? The opponent is just Murakada, so why is she struggling so much as if she’s a different person?” A beautiful young man wearing a blue and white dojo uniform, the young master of the Kazama Dojo, Kazama Mayuzumi, was also watching the battle from the bottom of the stage. He looked at Lily, who was repeatedly pushed into a dangerous position, with a puzzled and worried expression on his face.

At this time, in the Taira Clan’s ancient tree garden not far away from the competition stage, there was a petite girl with two ponytails in a light orange kimono. The kendama in the young girl’s hand seemed to bounce with glee as she looked at Lily with clear yet hatred-filled eyes, “Kagami Lily, the headmaster himself personally took action, you’re dead!”

Murakada swept out with his sword and Lily barely resisted, her sword almost getting knocked from her hand. The strong impact sent her sliding across the ground towards the edge of the competition stage.

Lily struggled to get up, her clothes torn and sweat dripping from her beautiful skin. Her chest, waist, thighs…most of her delicate skin was exposed.

Lily was gasping for breath and the consumption of her spiritual energy was also huge. Her current spiritual energy reserves were already like a sea and the consumption caused by Murakada’s attacks was nothing at all. More than 90% of her spent spiritual energy was used to resist the ugly middle-aged man’s suppression.

Lily turned to gaze at the middle-aged man and faced his god-like pressure without fear.

“I respect you as a generation of martial saints and I, Lily, originally did not want to be your enemy. Your son and brother had forced me to death’s door again and again. I narrowly won the duel and had to kill Tamuramura while being besieged; I have a clear conscience!”

“Since you want to put me to death, I won’t show any more mercy!”

Seeing Tamuramaro glare at her like a fierce god of judgment as well as the detest in his eyes, Lily’s battle intent burned silently!

“Kagami Lily, you are dead! Watch me kill you to avenge Brother Tamurakonoe and Uncle Tamuramura!!!” Murakada exploded with his full strength like an out-of-control beast. Even while knowing that Lily couldn’t move freely, he didn’t hesitate to kill this slender woman!

As for Lily, she raised Yasutsuna high, her gaze determined. She felt the incomparable strong pressure still acting on her long sword, making it almost impossible for her to move.

However, there was an unprecedented determination in Lily’s eyes.

Her crimson blade maiden spiritual energy erupted and she released the Sakura Blizzard domain to resist the suppression. The first segment of the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle was also fully exercised, which gave her several times the physical strength of an ordinary samurai. She didn’t hold back and used her seductive charm intent and moon intent as well!

With this slash, Lily suddenly stopped her clumsy retreat and unleashed her full strength in an instant!

“What?!” Even the ugly middle-aged man on the platform who was using his spiritual energy to suppress Lily from afar was shocked.

“Kagami Lily! Die!” Murakada howled and slashed towards the chest of Lily, who was being suppressed by the full might of the headmaster!

Boom—!!!

The sky and earth darkened, and a scarlet sword light streaked past the sun like a rainbow which burned with the wrathful flames of the bright moon, instantly breaking through the suppression and cleaving a broad sword slash through the Taira Clan’s martial arts arena!

Sakanoue no Murakada, when facing this harrowing sword light that was enough to kill an early Throne Stage expert, did not even have the strength to resist. He was directly cut in half together with his sword.

Whoosh—swoosh! A crimson storm blew across the martial arts arena and countless cherry blossoms scattered chaotically. This single slash stirred up thousands of shockwaves that swept up most of the flags and banners of the Taira and other noble clans. The spectators in the stands staggered and fell all over the place, unable to open their eyes.

The crimson storm gradually dissipated…

Lily, who was in a tattered red dress, was the only one standing on the martial arts stage. In front of her, on either side of the deep sword gash that stretched across the martial arts stage, lay the two halves of Murakada’s corpse surrounded by horrific puddles of blood.

Lily had won so many gold, silver, and bronze plates in the preliminary round, but no matter how strong or weak the opponent was, she had never killed anyone.

Today, she had used a slash to kill her opponent so miserably, which reflected how furious she was. Moreover, not even her single full-power slash was enough to completely break through the spiritual pressure of that ugly middle-aged expert!

The spectators were silent and the slash seemed to cut into everyone’s soul, giving them a deep shock.

Just then— there was an audible crack!

The Taira Clan’s martial arts stage, which was said to be indestructible and had existed for hundreds of years, split into two halves.

“Victory, the winner— Lynne!”

The whole audience erupted like a boiling pot!

Only, there were a few people that couldn’t laugh.

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, the headmaster of the Sinless Domain’s Maro Dojo and the martial saint who was revered as a double saint among the adepts, had a stony face and his hateful eyes stared at Lily in disbelief.

“How can it be possible to break through my spiritual pressure…? Could it be that this woman was hiding her strength during the battle with my son, Tamurakonoe?”