Chapter 321: Fierce Battle

In this vast sea, among the many famous swords, the only one in a rapier looking saber style that Adrian knew of was the Gryphon, which was always wielded by Shanks in the original story or would be wielded by Shanks in the future in this world!

Considering the strength and status of the White Lion Guliang, along with Shanks' projected growth trajectory, the probability that the rapier in Guliang's hand right now was 'Gryphon' was exceedingly high!

However, what surprised Adrian was…

The White Lion Guliang looked puzzled, scratching his head and involuntarily asking, "I only acquired this sword recently! I found it in a treasure trove on an uninhabited island. You know the name of this sword?"

Upon hearing this, Adrian couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

This was a mistake!

A bit of a loss of image…

But 'Breath of All Things' clearly indicated this was a high-grade, excellent sword!

This instinct comes from a swordsman and can't be wrong!

Could it be…

A flurry of thoughts flashed through Adrian's mind, but to salvage his image after the earlier blunder, he maintained a cold, indifferent expression.

Standing in the sky, Adrian extended his arm, the pale light sword in his palm dissipating into scattered white particles.

As ripples appeared in the void, the cursed blade, Nidai Kitetsu, slowly materialized in Adrian's hand. The gleaming blade pointed at Guliang.

"Enough!"

As soon as the words fell, Adrian, holding the cursed blade Nidai Kitetsu, transformed into a nearly imperceptible phantom, rushing towards Guliang with lightning speed.

Seeing this, Guliang flapped his wings and shot forward as well, each flap of his wings stirring a fierce wind.

Clang—

The two blades, coated in dark Haki, clashed, sparking a fierce, dazzling display.

At that moment, Guliang smirked. Gripping the rapier in his right hand, he formed a palm with his left, then suddenly clenched it and launched a rapid punch.

"Lion's Claw!"

Adrian frowned slightly as Nidai Kitetsu's blade slid swiftly along the rapier's edge, producing a piercing screech as bright sparks flew between the two weapons.

Before Guliang's beastly claw could strike, Adrian had already positioned the cursed blade to block its path.

Guliang clenched his right hand into a fist, the rapier held horizontally in front of him, and without swinging the sword, he launched a straightforward punch with a special name.

"Soaring Lion's Strike against the White Ghost!"

Adrian's face darkened, and he instantly utilized the Ghost Warrior's ability to vanish. What kind of naming includes the opponent!?

In the next moment, several ethereal blue lights flickered in the misty theater, with densely packed energy cannons shooting towards Guliang in the sky like a meteor shower!

I thought you were a real swordsman, so I engaged in close combat with you as a swordsman

But I didn't expect you to wield a rapier like a calf on a swing, with nothing real, just hot air.

Still relying on punches in the end!

The Haki-imbued fist collided with the flickering blue energy cannons, dispersing them instantly.

During this brief exchange, the deep wound on Guliang's chest, inflicted by the spirit pressure sword, had already started to heal, forming a thin scab and stopping the bleeding.

The recovery power of the Ancient Zoan-type Devil Fruit is truly astonishing!

Adrian continuously launched energy cannon attacks from the misty theater towards Guliang while constantly tracking his movements with Future Sight Haki.

In the next moment, the surface of the cursed blade Nidai Kitetsu in Adrian's hand was covered with a layer of pale spiritual pressure, extending the blade's length by over a meter. He launched a powerful, massive sword slash at Guliang's landing spot.

Spiritual Pressure: Mighty Nation!

Faced with this familiar move and unable to dodge, Guliang laughed heartily. Sheathing his sword, he raised his right fist, the space around it distorting slightly. Gathering all his strength in his fist, he launched a direct punch at the incoming massive sword slash!

"Lion Meteor Destruction!"

When the two immense forces collided, a cataclysmic explosion erupted in the sky, shaking both the sea below and the clouds above.

Adrian gripped the hilt of the Nidai Kitetsu tightly, his eyes blazing red. With a fiercer, more concentrated wave of sword pressure, he slashed towards Guliang again with an ear-splitting roar.

The fierce spiritual pressure of the Mighty Nation struck directly in front of the White Lion, Guliang. Despite his best efforts to beat this powerful energy beam, the immense impact force pushed him backward relentlessly.

Adrian entered a ghostly state, sprinting at high speed towards Guliang. With both hands tightly gripping the hilt of the demon sword, Nidai Kitetsu, its blade enveloped in a black-and-white glow of combined armed Haki and spiritual pressure, he slashed violently at Guliang.

Guliang exhaled a deep breath, the muscles in his right arm swelling to their limit, and threw a straightforward yet powerful punch.

"Lion's Heart burning the Seas!"

Adrian unleashed a barrage of swift, relentless strikes, aided by his future sight and ethereal energy cannon attacks.

Guliang continued to swing his fists, relying on his combat experience to capture and counter the flaws in Adrian's swordsmanship. Occasionally, he was hit by the unavoidable ethereal energy cannon, adding new wounds to his body.

Although these injuries were minor for an ancient Zoan type, Guliang could feel a needle-like pain within the scars.

This pain wasn't physical but spiritual.

The scales of victory were slowly tipping in Adrian's favor.

The intense close-quarters combat lasted for about half an hour.

The storm clouds in the sky had been dispersed by the fierce aftershocks of their battle, revealing the clear blue sky and the radiant sun.

Boom—

Guliang was struck by the spirit-pressure-enhanced Nidai Kitetsu again, sent flying dozens of meters into the air, barely maintaining his form with his flapping wings.

"Damn that recovery ability, Zoan users!" Adrian frowned slightly.

Fighting a near-level 100 opponent, especially in such perilous close combat, wasn't easy for him either.

Even with his dual attributes of strength and agility exceeding a thousand, he didn't hold much advantage against Guliang's griffin fruit boost.

"These high-attack, high-defense endurance warriors are just disgusting!"

Adrian's mind focused.

"Time to kite him to death!"

In the void, a giant, pale Thousand-Handed Buddha appeared, looking kindly at Guliang in the distance. It suddenly extended thousands of arms, each palm radiating a bright blue ethereal energy particle.

The Buddha's thousands of palms unleashed thousands of terrifying ethereal energy cannons, creating a path of light that shot towards Guliang.

"This is a completely different level of attack!"

Guliang's pupils contracted slightly, shouting in disbelief.

He rapidly flapped his grayish-white wings, attempting to escape the Buddha's all-encompassing attack.

Even with the abilities of the Glint-Glint Fruit, Borsalino couldn't avoid this meticulously planned full-screen attack, how could a white griffin, with only its wings to fly, escape the Buddha's "Thousand Hands Destruction"?

Guliang exerted all his strength, flying towards the edge of the path of ethereal energy cannons, but his speed was too slow. He was hit before he reached halfway, his flight path disrupted.

Boom—

The first ethereal energy cannon struck Guliang, making his half-man, half-griffin body tremble, interrupting his flight.

Boom, boom, boom—

The subsequent cannons continuously hit his body, pushing him further back.

Guliang closed his eyes tightly, fingers interlocked behind his neck, elbows towards the face, knees to the abdomen, wings covering his whole body. He tried his best, protecting his most vulnerable parts, then used Armament Haki, resisting the ethereal energy cannon's bombardment.

The entire sky was filled with violent explosions and dazzling lights.

The cruel yet beautiful explosions formed a dense rain of light, illuminating the sky over the sea. The violent shockwaves caused waves to surge on the sea, shaking all the beings on it.

The pirates on the White Lion Pirate Ship looked up at the sky in terror, unable to speak, disbelieving what they saw.

The invincible King of Beasts, the Lord of the Skies—The Griffin—was being suppressed so easily by the opponent, without even a chance to retaliate!

Some of the more cowardly crew members tried to scream in fear, urging everyone to raise the sails and leave the area, but their shouts were drowned out by the explosions and shockwaves in the sky. No one could hear them, only see their terrified, flailing forms.

After a long while, the frequency of the ethereal energy cannon attacks gradually slowed down.

Guliang's miserable figure was exposed to Adrian's sight.

Even an ancient Zoan type devil fruit user couldn't completely ignore the bombardment of hundreds of ethereal energy cannons.

Guliang was bleeding profusely, the wounds from Adrian's sword further aggravated, deep enough to see bone, exposing his internal .

"Cough!"

Guliang groaned, blood spurting from his mouth and nose. His tattered griffin wings flapped, his body swaying, as if he would fall any moment.

Nice acting!

Adrian crossed his arms, watching coldly.

Despite Guliang's severely injured appearance, Adrian could still sense the volcanic vitality and energy within his body.

What an incredible constitution!

Could it be that his griffin fruit has awakened?