At this moment, she once again understood that Qi Yan's words were not an exaggeration at all.
Those without swordsmanship saw him like a frog in a well gazing at the moon, while those with swordsmanship saw him like an ephemeral insect gazing at the vast sky.
She thought that half a year of diligent training had already narrowed the gap between her and Qi Yan, but now it seemed she had completely overestimated herself.
Looking at him now, Qi Yan was still as unfathomable as ever.
"I lost! … Thank you!"
Erza could tell that with Qi Yan's strength, she would probably still be defeated in one move, but he had displayed all his sword techniques from beginning to end, clearly wanting her to learn.
"I want to know, how many times was I attacked in total?"
"Hmm… eighty-one times."
"Eighty-one times?!!!"
Erza couldn't believe it; she had actually been attacked eighty-one times, and the most crucial thing was that she hadn't even realized it.
Erza didn't know that Qi Yan had understated it; to be precise, Qi Yan had attacked Erza a full eight hundred and ten times.
As an old saying goes, among all sword techniques in the world, nothing is unbreakable, only speed is unbreakable.
Besides its exquisite precision, Tsugikuni Yoriichi's swordsmanship was also incredibly fast.
In the anime, when Muzan Kibutsuji encountered Tsugikuni Yoriichi's fatal attack, he had to choose self-destruction to save his life, and his body exploded into over 1800 fragments.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi cut over 1500 fragments in an instant, and Muzan survived with the remaining 300 fragments.
"My sword techniques have thirteen forms in total. The Thirteenth Form is created by continuously releasing the previous twelve sword forms to create a closed attack loop."
"If you can comprehend the previous twelve forms, then you can create your own Thirteenth Form."
Erza's pupils dilated, and she murmured, "…continuous release… closed attack loop…"
What a brilliant idea, what profound swordsmanship! Those seemingly independent sword forms were suddenly linked by a bond. Perhaps true swordsmanship was never meant to be independent; it should be continuous like this.
Erza looked at Qi Yan with eyes full of admiration.
"Oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!"
"So amazing! Truly amazing!"
"So handsome!!"
"Manly—!!" … Qi Yan's magnificent sword forms left everyone in awe. Erza was already incredibly strong, but there was still a significant gap between her and Qi Yan when he displayed his true power.
"He really is a monster!"
Natsu and Gray muttered softly.
What they didn't know was that the strength Qi Yan displayed was only the tip of his iceberg; Qi Yan's strongest attacks were still the slashes he unleashed with magic, attacks capable of breaking even a dragon's scale defense.
Soon, the banquet continued, and the atmosphere became even livelier.
The banquet lasted until one in the morning before everyone reluctantly dispersed, making sure to clean everything up before leaving.
Qi Yan also took a shower and went to bed, not waking up until the sun was high at noon.
He habitually opened his system panel, saw that the data hadn't changed, and then closed it.
After lying in bed for a while longer, feeling a bit hungry, he got up and headed to the guild.
The guild was still bustling, with many people discussing the duel between Qi Yan and Erza the previous night. Seeing Qi Yan arrive, everyone enthusiastically greeted him, and Qi Yan responded to each of them.
"Mira! I'm hungry, get me something to eat!"
"Coming!"
Mira brought the food and placed it in front of Qi Yan. Mira knew exactly what Qi Yan liked to eat.
"Erza! Let's have a showdown!!"
At this moment, Natsu jumped onto a table and challenged Erza. He had seen Qi Yan and Erza duel yesterday and also wanted to fight, but Erza had just finished fighting Qi Yan, so he didn't make a move then. Now that she was rested, he challenged Erza.
Gray was startled by Natsu's words: "Hey… hey!! Don't be reckless!! Do you want to die?!"
Elfman also advised, "Yeah! Don't be rash! That's Erza! Even if she lost to Qi Yan, she's not someone we can casually challenge!"
Erza shook her head: "No, I'm tired."
"Here I come, take this!!"
Natsu, his fists wreathed in flames, rushed towards Erza recklessly.
Erza sighed helplessly: "Honestly."
A large hammer appeared in Erza's hand, and she swung it forcefully.
Boom—!
Natsu was sent flying by the hammer, crashing into the wall and falling unconscious.
"Can't do anything with you. Let's begin then."
Happy shouted, "It's already over!!"
"Hahahaha, Natsu, you're so unlucky!"
"As expected, Erza is amazing!! Natsu, you still need to practice!" … Seeing Natsu defeated by Erza in one move, everyone in the guild couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Just then, Makarov sensed something: "Hmm?"
"What's wrong, Master?"
"Nothing, just a bit sleepy. It's that guy."
"This is!"
"So sleepy!"
Everyone in the guild started falling asleep one after another.
Qi Yan also felt a strong wave of drowsiness. He resisted for a moment, but ultimately couldn't hold on and fell asleep.
At this moment, a person completely wrapped in black cloth walked in, heading directly to the request board. He took down a subjugation mission with a reward of 1 million J from the board, then went to Makarov and showed it to him.
"I'm leaving now."
"Undo your sleep magic!!"
Mystogan turned around: "Five, four, three, two, one…"
Mystogan finished counting the last number, and he vanished from the guild entrance.
Swish!
Everyone in the guild suddenly woke up.
"This feeling, is it Mystogan?"
"That scoundrel!"
"This sleep magic is as powerful as ever."
"Mystogan?"
Lucy was a bit confused; it was another new name she had heard.
Gray said, "He's one of Fairy Tail's strongest Mage candidates. For some reason, he doesn't want people to see his face, so every time he comes to take a mission, he makes everyone fall asleep like this. So, besides the Master, no one has ever seen Mystogan."
"What, that's too strange, isn't it?"
Suddenly!
An arrogant voice came from the second floor: "Hmph… I know, you know."
Everyone heard the voice and looked up, seeing a young man with golden hair, wearing a leopard print top, headphones, and looking very rebellious, standing on the second floor.
"Laxus!!"
"You're here?"
"You were actually here?"
Gray, looking annoyed, introduced Laxus to Lucy: "This is another candidate for the strongest."
Laxus propped his chin, smoking a cigar, and looked down, saying, "Mystogan is a very shy person, so you shouldn't dig too deep."
Natsu's ears immediately twitched upon hearing Laxus's voice. He jumped onto a table and shouted at Laxus: "Laxus, let's have a showdown!!"
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