High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 546: Chapter 215: Slash Technique_1

When Zheng Qing’s gaze shifted to the center of the hunting ground, he happened to see the Queen of Hearts, wielding a long knife, dashing towards the leader of the Clover Hunting Team.

The slender blade shimmered with a cold glow in the sunlight.

The figure of Qiong was like an agile springbok, nimbly leaping across the grassland.

”That’s too risky.” Xiao Xiao’s murmuring comment echoed in Zheng Qing’s ear.

”What do you mean?” The young scholarship student, who was intently watching the battle about to erupt in the hunting ground, asked anxiously.

”Based on the available information and the movements of the Queen of Hearts, we can infer that she will use her specialty, the ’Slash Technique’ next,” Xiao Xiao explained quickly. ”But that’s not the best choice... Ah, just as expected.”

Doctor Xiao let out a long sigh.

As if to footnote his brief analysis, back in the hunting ground, the Queen of Hearts began to flicker violently when there was only a distance of more than ten meters left between the two leaders.

One, two, three, four...over ten residual images of drawn sword slashes seemed to fill the Commander’s surroundings in an instant, like a blooming lotus, ready to close its bud.

In the blink of an eye, the snow-white shadow of the sword filled Zheng Qing’s lens, his field of vision was filled with nothing but a sky full of bursting sword light. The young student had to quickly adjust the focus further away in an attempt to get a clear view of the situation in the field.

But he was just a bit too slow.

The new view only caught the blood-covered body of the Commander, and the Queen squatting in the middle of the grass.

”Who caught the whole picture of their face-off?!” Zheng Qing looked up and called out impatiently.

”I did.” Dylan immediately handed over his binoculars: ”There is a button on it, you can adjust it yourself...”

Zheng Qing didn’t have time to say thanks and immediately put his eyes to the binoculars.

Compared to the conventional model brass telescope that he bought, Dylan’s binoculars for watching the competition were much more refined. Both the image quality and the smoothness were outstanding.

Zheng Qing rewound the time to one minute ago, and chose to play it at one-fifth of the speed.

In the picture, the leaping figure of the Queen of Hearts became much clearer. He could finally count the number of residual images, a total of fifteen.

Running, jumping, rotating, the residual images flashed, fifteen sword lights hit the Commander at the same time.

Zheng Qing frowned, rewound the picture again, and slowed the play speed by half—he still couldn’t catch a clear view of the moment the witch made a move.

...After the flashing residual images, there were again fifteen sword lights.

Play it again.

...The residual images flashed, fifteen sword lights.

Before the next frame was the image of the witch leaping, the frame after is fifteen witches, waving their fifteen blades, chopping at the Commander.

No matter how he adjusted the playback speed, he still couldn’t catch a clear view of the moment the Queen of Hearts made a move—as if a few seconds were missing, or a few hundred frames were edited out, the originally smooth video gave an uncomfortably abrupt feeling.

After several attempts, Zheng Qing eventually gave up on trying to understand these images with his own eyes.

”Did you just say that the Queen of Hearts used the ’Slash Technique’?” He turned his head and looked at Xiao Xiao while casually handing back Dylan’s binoculars. ”... Can you explain it in more detail?”

Doctor Xiao pushed up his glasses, glanced at him, and snorted.

Immediately, a pleasing smile filled Zheng Qing’s face.

”Slash is a basic move in swordsmanship, easy to learn but hard to master,” Xiao Xiao did not avoid the question and habitually opened his notebook to explain at a relaxed pace.

”Beginners can cast one slash per move, which means they’ve reached the basic level. If they can make multiple slashes in one move, they’ve reached the ’technique’ level...and at this point, the slash can be called the ’Slash Technique.’

”If you can do eight slashes in one stroke, the Slash Technique can be called ’complete.’ Continuing to practice from here is less rewarding...”

”But I saw her just now, and she appeared with fifteen residual images of slashes. Does that mean she made 15 slashes with a single stroke?” Zheng Qing immediately recalled the image on the screen and couldn’t help but ask.

Xiao Xiao did not immediately answer Zheng Qing’s question, but instead continued his explanation in line with his thought process.

”Normally, there are other moves that follow a slash—either hooking, or poking, or wiping, or wrapping—different schools, different follow-ups.”

”No matter how you follow up, there are various kinds of tips and tricks. Some are owned by prominent clans, some are inherited from ancient schools... Of course, schools naturally have corresponding techniques to teach, but learning them requires a huge amount of credits and contributions.”

”Queen Qiong is a half-blood vampire born into a humble family. Just a few months ago, she paid the credits for upgrading her examination. She’s hardly rich, and hasn’t learned any follow-up moves...”

”Doesn’t she have a very strong boyfriend?” Xin Fat Man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ”She could borrow some credits...”

”Do you think a witch who calls herself ’Queen’ would think like that?” Dylan mocked Fat Man without hesitation. ”Maybe you can be a submissive fat man, but she is a strong-minded witch.”

”Of course, without a follow-up move, it’s not like there’s no way out.” Xiao Xiao raised his voice slightly, suppressed the dispute between Fat Man and Dylan, and continued, ”Many students who have mastered the Slash Technique, but don’t have an inherited follow-up, will continue to harshly practice the Slash Technique. Although the move is monotonous and progress is difficult, if they can reach the two-eighths or three-eighths slash, the power is still very considerable.”

”So, was the Queen of Hearts just now one slash of fifteen blades?” Zheng Qing scratched his head, looking a bit confused. ”Is this considered a slash of eight plus seven...”

No one burst into laughter at this cold joke.

”It’s such a pity...such a pity” Xiao Xiao sighed, looking towards the hunting ground, somewhat worried. ”Queen of Hearts has a very solid base. At any rate, sixteen moves in one stroke is quite a burden on her body. Especially after she has just killed two Demon Kings consecutively, being able to make fifteen cuts, she has surpassed most spectators’ expectations.”

”Perhaps it was because she was aware of her own situation that she wanted to explode with everything she had and decide the win or loss in one stroke.” Zhang Ji Xin’s brows were furrowed, sounding serious, ”... But I think she underestimated the power of that zombie.”

”Indeed.” Xiao Xiao agreed. ”Since she didn’t force the Commander out of competition right from the start... then she has already lost this battle... Witches are indeed too emotional.”

”As the leader of a hunting team, do not risk everything lightly.” Zhang Ji Xin turned to look at Zheng Qing, reminding him, ”We can take a look at the aftermath of the Queen of Hearts... it’s a good lesson.”