If the Star Nine Forms, this extraordinary swordsmanship, is the foundation for Aske to stand against a demigod,
then the various schools of swordsmanship he had mastered were key to his further overcoming a demigod.
The Star Nine Forms were not invincible: Sharp-Breaking ignored evasion, Rapid Fire ignored defense, Life Destruction reduced life by a percentage—but all these required close combat.
If the opponent simply retreated out of attack range, the sword couldn't possibly stretch out and stab the enemy on its own.
Hence, the secret to the Weapon Master profession was not only to adeptly control the distance between the enemy and oneself but also to dupe the enemy's psychological guard—in the face of a demigod NPC, an enemy unaware of their own mystery, the latter was actually more crucial than the former.
While persistently pressuring the opponent, one must not scare them off in one go; it was necessary to maintain a status quo of equal strength, and then...
