After they reached the door at the end of the passageway, he put his hand on the iron gate and pushed it open.
Behind the door, there was a wooden bed, several stools and a shelf on which all kinds of weapons were placed, like swords, wooden sticks, axes, sabers, and spears. Then Xiao Bing found Iza Kawatani standing in the middle of the room. Iza Kawatani looked at them and said, “Nami, wait for a while. Aoki Ichiro, come here first.”
Aoki Ichiro was vigilant, but he seemed to full of reverential awe. Princess Nami did not know what her grandpa wanted to do. But she knew that though he loved her very much, she knew when to obey his orders.
Princess Nami nodded and stopped at the door, while reminding her grandfather, “Grandpa, be gentle to my friend, please.”
Xiao Bing strode in and stopped 2 meters away from Iza Kawatani. Suddenly Iza Kawatani slashed at Xiao Bing with his long sword. A second later, Xiao Bing found the sword hanging above his head.
Xiao Bing was startled and made parried instinctively. It was something one would inevitably do, when his life was at stake.
Xiao Bing made his move almost in an instant, but soon his formidable willpower curbed the urge to protect himself. He was betting that this man would not kill him.
It was just a test! It must be a test.
Xiao Bing tried hard to dodge, but he was much slower than the sword. But he did it on purpose. When he was just inches off the ground he felt the sword touching his head. He would definitely have died, if it had gone in an inch deeper.
Xiao Bing broke out in a cold sweat. He was not pretending. This old man’s attack was so dangerous that Xiao Bing could not stake his life on it. His reaction came before he even realized it. He might be the only one who could do that in this world.
After all, he was once the best soldier of the special force, and the former captain of the Dragon Teeth, Xiao Bing!
Xiao Bing let out a long sigh. He raised his head and looked at this old man, his body trembling.
Iza Kawatani’s eyes were so bright and piercing, it was as if he could manipulate Xiao Bing simply by looking at him. “You’re good, young man,” he said slowly.
Xiao Bing smiled awkwardly, “Sire…”
But before he could finish speaking, Iza Kawatani suddenly delivered another strike with his sword. His target was Xiao Bing’s chest, but this time his sword move was slow enough for Xiao Bing to react first.
Iza Kawatani knew Xiao Bing’s speed of reaction from his last strike, so he deliberately delivered this attack. But Xiao Bing was not afraid anymore, because he knew that this old man was just testing him, so that Xiao Bing would cooperate with him.
Xiao Bing did not know this man’s purpose. But he was sure that he had not seen through his disguise yet. Otherwise he would be dead.
Xiao Bing kept his level at the pinnacle of Transforming-strength, while dodging this old man’s strikes. Xiao Bing found the old man’s sword art so arcane and far better than his. It was pungent and cohesive. It nearly caught Xiao Bing several times. Gradually, Xiao Bing immersed himself in this old man’s advanced sword skills.
Princess Nami had just realized that these two were fighting. After all, they were both very powerful and fast. Though it seemed that they had been matching blows for a while, it had only been several seconds. When the princess realized it, Iza Kawatani was slashing at Xiao Bing with his sword again and again. Xiao Bing kept dodging, blithely like a monkey, without any thought about disgracing himself.
Princess Nami blazed, “Grandpa, stop it. He’s my friend!”
Iza Kawatani did not answer his granddaughter. But Xiao Bing shouted while dodging, “It’s okay, your highness. He’s just giving me lessons.”
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But as he was distracted, the sword was on his throat. Xiao Bing had a wry smile, “I failed completely.”
“You did.” Iza Kawatani withdrew his sword. Actually he was keeping his power and speed at the same level as Xiao Bing’s. But he still appeared casual when fighting, which made it hard for others to describe his strength.
Now, Xiao Bing was sure that this Iza Kawatani was stronger than him. Xiao Bing was at the early stage of Void-breaking, but it was highly possible that Iza Kawatani was at the middle-stage of Void-breaking. He was an erudite man, who had been studying martial arts for almost a century, which made his knowledge of martial arts far better than that of Xiao Bing’s. Though Xiao Bing was very talented, he still felt helpless in front of this old man.
Panting, Xiao Bing gave him a wry smile and asked, “Were you testing me, sire?”
“I merely wanted to get to know you. It turns out you are talented in martial arts and you have a strong mentality. I’ve never met one who shares the same qualities with you, before.”
Xiao Bing asked, “What about that student of yours?”
“Feng XIII? His mind is twisted, which means he will never reach immortality.”
Xiao Bing asked in surprise, “Immortality?”
“Yes.” Iza Kawatani sighed, “I’ve spent my life trying to reach this level. But I’m about to be 100, and I feel I’m still far from it. So now I seek a student who can carry on this cause. If I am gone one day, I could place my hopes on him.”
Xiao Bing asked, “Why can’t you chose one from the Iza clan?”
Iza Kawatani fell silent for a moment and cast a glance at Nami sadly, “Her father is gone. But even if he was still alive, he was not interested in martial arts. There are not many descendants of the Iza Clan… Sometimes I even wonder if this resplendent martial arts skills in our family, will come to an end, after I die.”
Xiao Bing did not care a fig about this family. But he knew something about its history. Izanagi was the all-mighty god in R country. All the other gods were created by him. He was the father of all gods and the origin of the myth in this country.”
It was said that Iza Nagi had a sister called Iza Nami. They loved each other and then they got married. Because of their union, 8 islands were born. But when Nami gave birth to her son, the fire god, she was burned to death. Iza Nagi killed his son out of anger and was bathing in a river. When he was cleaning his left eye, Amaterasu Omikami was born. And when he was cleaning his right eye, Tsukuyomi was born. Susanoo, the one who allegedly killed Orochi, was born, when Iza Nagi was cleaning his nose.
Amaterasu Omikami was the ancestor of the emperors, which meant that the ancestor of the royal family was born, when the ancestor of Iza clan was cleaning his eyes. That was why the emperor seemed to be in awe upon the mention of Iza Kawatani, who might be the only one who could make him do that, in this world. On the one hand, Iza Kawatani was the protector of the royal family and the mighty god in all of the warriors’ minds. On the other hand, the Iza clan was the origin of the royal family. So all the emperors had to pay their respects to the Iza clan.
The history of Iza clan was so splendid and fascinating. But now it would come to an end. No wonder Iza Kawatani felt sad.
Nami rushed in and cast a glance of dissatisfaction at her grandfather, “Grandpa, I thought… I thought you were killing my friend.”
Iza Kawatani chuckled, “Your grandpa will never kill without a reason. Besides, he’s your friend.”
But then he looked at Xiao Bing, and then his granddaughter knowingly. “What did you just say? Your friend? But I thought he was the warrior you chose.”
“Yes. But who says the warrior can’t be the princess’s friend?”
Iza Kawatani chuckled, and then he looked at Xiao Bing, his face stern. “Your mentality and sensitivity are both superior. That’s the purpose of the test. Did you comprehend anything when my sword put you in danger?”
Xiao Bing pondered for a moment and answered earnestly, “The way you swung your sword seemed casual and not fast, but it was hard for me to dodge. There’s subtleness behind it, and I have just comprehended some of the moves.”
“Really? What is it that you just comprehended?”
Xiao Bing pondered and shook his head. “I don’t know how to say it,” he said, with a bitter smile.
A smile of satisfaction touched Iza Kawatani’s lips as he sighed, “You are teachable.”