"Just me is enough. Although you have talent far beyond ordinary humans, you haven't reached the level of a Tensen yet, and…"
Ran put one hand behind his back and raised the other: "You probably don't know how to use Tao yet."
"The difference between knowing and not knowing Tao is like heaven and earth. However, a human like you could make an excellent elixir."
Takatsuki was speechless looking at the squinting Tensen opposite him.
"Do you know what happened to the last guy who said that?"
"Oh?"
As soon as Ran made a sound of doubt, he saw Takatsuki instantly appear before him, a dark fist smashing directly towards his face.
However, there was no application of Tao on that fist.
"It's useless."
With one hand behind his back, Ran blocked Takatsuki's fist with just one hand.
"Oh? You're quite strong, aren't you?"
Although he only used Armament Haki, Takatsuki's power was at full throttle. This blow would have sent Zhu Jin and Mu Dan flying, or even exploded them, but Ran effortlessly blocked it.
"This is the power of the combination of muscle and Tao."
After quickly attacking Takatsuki with his other hand to force him back, Ran continued to explain: "My body is covered with a layer of Tao armor formed by Tao, combined with my well-trained muscles."
"Ha!"
Using his own methods against him, halfway through his explanation, Ran also launched a surprise attack on Takatsuki, his fist landing heavily on Takatsuki's blocking fist.
"Ugh…"
Although he blocked with Armament Haki, Takatsuki still let out a muffled groan.
"Surprised, aren't you? This is also one of the applications of Tao armor: injecting Tao into the opponent's body. But your body is really tough."
Ran exclaimed. If it were anyone else, even another Tensen, a punch from him would have blown a large hole in their body, but Takatsuki only suffered some internal injuries.
"There's a lot more you haven't thought of!"
Ran was surprised to find that the power emanating from Takatsuki was extremely exaggerated. Even when using Tao, he couldn't contend with it at all.
However, he wasn't flustered, because from beginning to end, Tao was not a pure manifestation of power.
He back-jumped away from Takatsuki's position, and the two pushed off the ground again, crashing violently into each other.
And this simple collision caused all the buildings and ground within a hundred meters to shatter.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Gabimaru was constantly maneuvering through various rugged paths, using buildings and small roads.
Behind him followed a purple-haired man.
Although he appeared to be slowly following behind Gabimaru, a closer look revealed that the purple-haired man's speed was no slower than Gabimaru's.
He merely walked, but each step instantly teleported him tens of meters.
However, the other party never caught up to Gabimaru, seemingly… waiting for something.
And this man was the strongest Tensen, Rien.
A huge explosion sounded from afar, attracting the attention of Gabimaru and Rien.
Has it begun already?
Gabimaru subtly glanced at Rien behind him. He had previously used a method to lure Rien out, but with such a big commotion, he wasn't sure if Rien would ignore him and go to the other side directly.
But fortunately, Rien didn't seem to care, or rather, he trusted the other Tensen very much. He didn't go to the location of the explosion to check, but continued to look at Gabimaru.
"Not running anymore?"
Although it was just a short sentence, it made Gabimaru feel a chill down his spine instantly. He immediately moved his feet and quickly continued to flee.
Gabimaru instantly realized.
It wasn't that he had lured Rien out.
Instead…
Rien had come on his own to see what they were trying to do.
On the other side, the team that infiltrated the city also encountered an enemy.
"Monster!"
Tenza instinctively took a step back, looking at the enemy before him.
Before them was Zhu Jin, who should have been killed by Takatsuki at that time.
However, Takatsuki knew from Mu Dan's memories that Zhu Jin had not died, but had escaped back to Hōrai.
But he didn't tell anyone about this, after all, he couldn't explain why he knew about it, nor could he explain why he let the tiger return to the mountain.
"Ah, what a bother, it's you again… But, that guy isn't here."
Looking very tired, Zhu Jin quickly scanned everyone present, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Takatsuki was not there.
"Since that guy isn't here… then you all… become elixirs!"
The three groups who entered Hōrai simultaneously encountered conflicts of varying degrees, and this was not even the result of all Tensen being dispatched.
Shifting the focus back to Takatsuki.
Ran's fighting style is very similar to Fu Hua's. He is not good at long-range attacks, but he is very skilled in close-quarters combat, disarming, and defense, with a flavor of ancient Chinese martial arts.
After multiple collisions, Ran looked at his broken arm.
It completely recovered in just one breath.
"Not bad, you actually managed to break through my defense and injure me, but that's all. Your attributes don't clash with mine, so you can't kill me. As a human, you're already very impressive."
Ran wasn't in a hurry to attack. Having lived for thousands of years, Tensen rarely came into contact with external things. Those on Hōrai were already too familiar; they could recognize them with their eyes closed.
"Can't kill me? Heh…"
Takatsuki chuckled, which made Ran somewhat puzzled: "Ran, I have to thank you."
"Thank me?"
Before Ran understood Takatsuki's meaning, he saw him strike the same pose as himself, which made him frown.
Imitation? But without Tao, what's the use of just imitating the posture?
"That's right, each of you Tensen researches different mantras, and Ran, you specialize in physical exercise, or rather, physical cultivation."
"Ah, that's right, so what?"
Ran looked at Takatsuki's posture and probably understood that Takatsuki intended to master Tao by imitating him, but how could that be? Those who cannot understand simply cannot understand. Mastering Tao so quickly is almost impossible.
"When fighting other Tensen, they only used Tao superficially, and Tao, Hamon, these names misled me. In my fight with you, the seemingly material Tao armor on your body made me truly understand what Tao is."
Suddenly, Ran's eyes widened, because in his vision, the Tao on Takatsuki's body suddenly surged.
It was not the original kind that naturally changed with life, but was consciously manipulated.
"Could it be…"
"That's right, this is it. For convenience, I'll still call it Tao. So, it was all the same thing."
As Takatsuki spoke, Ran raised his fist to meet Takatsuki's fist, but this attack was completely different from before, and a surging impact completely engulfed Ran.