Ling Tian possessed the Heavenly Eye Divine Sight, and during combat, he constantly channeled a portion of his true essence into his eyes.
The Heavenly Eye Divine Sight was an extraordinary术法 (shùfǎ - magical technique). With this ability, Ling Tian could observe his surroundings from all directions, 360 degrees without any blind spots.
Furthermore, under the observation of the Heavenly Eye Divine Sight, the movements of his opponents' attacks appeared as if they were being played in a 16x slow-motion by a camera.
Ling Tian could clearly see the trajectory of his opponents' moves, and could even use this slow-motion-like visual to determine if an opponent's attack was genuine or feigned.
At this moment, the person who had launched a sneak attack on Ling Tian was utterly shocked. This individual stood around 1.9 meters tall. In Japan, where the average male height was only around 1.7 meters, a person of this stature could be considered a giant.
This person was covered in powerful muscles and wore traditional Japanese armor. He held a tachi in his hand.
It was said that the tachi, as a weapon, was originally transmitted from China to Japan during the Tang Dynasty.
This weapon was somewhat similar to Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade, about two meters long, but with a much thinner hilt and a narrow blade tip. Its weight was around 20 jin (approximately 10 kilograms).
Such a heavy weapon could cleave through armor from above and sever horse legs from below. Those who wielded such weapons were invariably powerful warriors with great physical strength.
In Japan, there was a specific school dedicated to the study of this weapon, known as the Tachi-ryu.
And the man before Ling Tian was none other than the successor of Tachi-ryu, and the strongest practitioner within the entire Tachi-ryu, Aoyama Musashi!
The practitioners of Tachi-ryu were considered peculiar figures in the Japanese martial arts world. They rarely engaged in sparring with other schools because their weapons were powerful and heavy, and their martial techniques were designed for killing.
Moreover, Tachi-ryu was extremely stringent in its selection of disciples, only accepting individuals with exceptional height, weight, and strength.
Although Tachi-ryu did not have a large number of followers, their martial prowess could not be ignored; almost every one of them was a master!
The members of Sumiyoshi-kai were well aware that the "Human Stick Immortal" was incredibly powerful, and attempting to defeat him through a group assault would be a fool's errand. Their only hope was to find a master of martial arts.
Therefore, they had spent a significant sum of money to hire Aoyama Musashi and his disciples to help guard the Sumiyoshi-kai headquarters.
Unexpectedly, their preparations proved useful so quickly. Aoyama Musashi and his subordinates had only arrived in the afternoon, and the formidable enemy appeared that very night!
In fact, Aoyama Musashi accepted this commission not solely for the money; he saw it as an opportunity to gain fame.
For various reasons, the reputation of Tachi-ryu was not particularly prominent throughout Japan. In the current society, without renown, one lacked resources.
Aoyama Musashi was an ambitious man, and he was extremely confident in his own strength. He had always been looking for an opportunity to prove himself.
Just then, he heard about this "Human Stick Immortal," which was like a pillow arriving just when one was feeling sleepy.
It was known that this individual, referred to as an "Immortal," had caused unrest among all the yakuza syndicates in Japan. If he could defeat this "Human Stick Immortal," then the fame of Tachi-ryu would instantly resonate throughout Japan!
Thus, moments ago, taking advantage of Ling Tian's preoccupation with "shaving human sticks," this fellow had resorted to a despicable sneak attack.
Ling Tian's reaction filled him with joy. Not only did Ling Tian not dodge, but he even raised his twin blades to block the attack. In his eyes, this was an act of courting death.
In his opinion, his single strike could cleave a fat pig in half. Ling Tian's attempt to block his charged attack with his twin blades was simply a pipe dream!
He believed his strike could easily parry Ling Tian's weapons and then kill him!
However, he never expected that Ling Tian's strength would be so immense, nor that the two blades in Ling Tian's hands were no ordinary items, as they managed to withstand his attack.
Moreover, Ling Tian stood firmly on the ground with both feet, while he himself was forced to retreat repeatedly by the counter-force.
"Impossible, this is impossible!"
Gripping his tachi and feeling the numbness in his arms, Aoyama Musashi began to doubt his own existence.
At this moment, seeing that a master had arrived, the Sumiyoshi-kai thugs were overjoyed and immediately retreated to the side, cheering for Aoyama Musashi.
Aoyama Musashi's face turned green. This was clearly putting him on the spot!
Ling Tian smiled at Aoyama Musashi, but the green fish-head mask on his face appeared incredibly bizarre to the latter.
"You dare to launch a sneak attack so shamelessly. Is this the spirit of martial arts of you Japanese people!"
"Baka! Chinese, this is Japan, not a place for you to run wild!"
"Heh, you people from Ise Grand Shrine are allowed to run wild in China, but we're not allowed to retaliate?"
"Baka! What Ise Grand Shrine did has nothing to do with us. Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt has its owner. You can go settle your accounts with Ise Grand Shrine! I'll give you a chance. Leave here quickly and never return, and you might be able to save your life!" Aoyama Musashi said, feigning ferocity.
"Hahahahahahahahaha..."
Ling Tian almost burst out laughing. The other party was using the most aggressive tone to say the most cowardly words. It was like a little lamb telling a big bad wolf, "Hurry up and leave, I won't eat you!"
"You want me to leave? Fine, but before I do, I still have something to attend to!"
"What do you want to do?"
"You all call me the Human Stick Immortal. If I don't shave you all into human sticks, wouldn't that be a disgrace to my title? Therefore, before I leave, of course, I have to shave you all into human sticks!"
"Baka, you fiend!"
At this point, Aoyama Musashi knew that it was impossible to scare Ling Tian away with words. He then fiercely swung his tachi, slashing diagonally downwards.
This strike was powerful and incredibly fast. Almost everyone saw the blade seemingly cleave into Ling Tian's body!
However, the next moment, Aoyama Musashi felt that something was amiss. The strike had missed its mark; it had actually hit Ling Tian's afterimage!
"Not good!"
Aoyama Musashi immediately sensed trouble, but as a seasoned master, he quickly flipped his wrist and swung his long blade horizontally.
For a heavy weapon like the tachi, defense was not practical. The best approach was offense, to use an indomitable spirit to achieve a mutual destruction with the opponent!
Moreover, his armor was masterfully crafted, while the opponent wore no protection. Even if he had to trade injury for life, he considered it a worthwhile exchange.
However, this strike also hit nothing but air!