I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

He swiftly thrust out three shots, the three whooshing sounds of wind breaking through the air almost simultaneously.

Because of the speed of his attack, for a moment it seemed as if three spears appeared out of thin air in his palm!

Qingdeng dodged the first two thrusts, and then used brute force to parry the last one.

Offense and defense alternate.

They went back and forth, neither giving an inch.

Two slender black shadows flickered continuously in the dojo.

Sometimes he thrusts forward, sometimes he sweeps horizontally, sometimes he slashes upwards, sometimes he chops downwards...

The intense clang of the clashing spears was so loud it almost made one's ears ring!

The spear's attack characteristics make its offensive and defensive rhythm extremely fast!

Even a few seconds is enough for the two sides to engage in more than ten rounds of offense and defense!

The detailed account of the battle between the two sides makes it seem as if a long time has passed.

In fact, only a little over a minute has passed since Qingdeng switched to his long spear.

At this moment, as if pre-arranged, after a few more rounds of fighting, the two retreated and faced each other from a distance.

"Whirring whirring……"

"..."

Shintaro Toujou's breathing became slightly rapid.

Qingdeng, on the other hand, was perfectly normal; there were no obvious changes in his complexion or breathing rhythm.

After his breathing had calmed down a bit, Shintaro Toujou, with a look of surprise on his face, asked Aoto:

"Not bad... Tachibana-kun, you even know how to use a gun?"

Qing Deng smiled slightly and replied calmly:

"I used to secretly learn some marksmanship."

Overall, Harada Sanosuke can be considered a very diligent person.

Whenever he had free time, he would pick up his spear and either practice alone or invite his companions, such as Kondo Isami and Nagakura Shinpachi, for a fierce martial arts sparring match.

You can always see him practicing shooting diligently on weekdays.

Thus, with the help of his talents "Heart of the Demon +5" and "Gun Prodigy" (gun skills talent 62 times that of ordinary people), Qing Deng gradually learned a lot of gun skills from him.

However, despite his unauthorized learning, Qingdeng's marksmanship still has a great deal of room for improvement due to his lack of systematic training.

In the previous "Battle of Iga", his spear-wielding technique was basically just relying on brute force and swinging it around randomly!

Although the effect of killing enemies is considerable, it is still a shortcoming.

How can you swing a long spear (gun) more effortlessly?

How can one more effectively combine their own strength with a long spear?

Qingdeng was completely ignorant about these areas.

As the saying goes, "It's never a bad thing to have many skills."

Mastering more martial arts styles to diversify one's offensive methods is always beneficial.

Therefore, Qingdeng had planned to seriously study marksmanship to make up for his shortcomings in this area.

However, Qing Deng was troubled by the question of who to take as his teacher.

The only person he knew who was proficient in marksmanship was Harada Sanosuke.

The spear technique that Harada Sanosuke practiced was the famous Hozoin-ryu spear technique, which is characterized by its diverse techniques.

Harada Sanosuke was not very tall, only 1.6 meters.

Although in 19th-century Japan, someone of his height was certainly worthy of the nickname "tall guy".

But in the world of the strong, such height is far from sufficient.

The path of martial arts is fraught with "survivorship bias".

The higher one is in the "pyramid" of martial arts, the taller and more robust one's physique will be—because those who are short have no chance of becoming strong.

Therefore, putting everything else aside, in the Shinsengumi, where strong individuals abound, Harada Sanosuke, who is only 1.6 meters tall, is truly unremarkable.

His physique was far from being considered strong.

He is a typical "skilled shooter" who wins purely through his proficient skills.

Compared to ordinary people, Qing Deng's biggest advantage is his abnormal physical abilities, which can be described as those of a cyborg!

If one were to abandon their physical advantages and instead learn a spear style that emphasizes technique, like the Hozoin school, it would be a waste of their talents.

In short: Qing Deng favors spear techniques that combine strength and skill!

However, Qingdeng has never encountered a master of this kind of spear technique—until this day!

Shintaro Toujou's superb skills caught his eye!

The "combination of strength and skill" spear technique that I had longed for was finally within my grasp!

Not to be missed.

Let's take advantage of this precious opportunity to learn from... ah, no, correction! Let's learn Shintaro Toujou's spear skills!

And so, on a whim, Qingdeng abandoned his bamboo sword and switched to a wooden spear, determined to use his spear skills to fight his opponent to the death!

After hearing Aoto's brief reply, Shintaro Toujou grinned.

"You learned it by stealing... To have reached this level just by stealing it, your martial arts talent is truly unfathomable..."

After a brief respite, both sides have regrouped and are ready to fight again.

Shintaro Toujou exhaled a breath of stale air, then assumed a strange stance—his rear hand was raised, the butt of the spear was above his head, and the tip was pointing diagonally at the ground—in Chinese spearmanship terms, this was a standard "dripping water stance."

The advantage of this stance is that it allows you to wait for the opportune moment, switch stances quickly, and change moves rapidly, enabling you to strike first even when you are behind.

It is a clever stance that waits for the opponent to make a move before launching a counterattack.

Since he has adopted this stance, it means that he is "inviting" Qing Deng to make a move!

Seeing this, Qingdeng didn't hesitate.

He immediately steadied himself, raised the tip of his spear—still the king of spears: the "Central Level Spear".

The instant he took the stance, he suddenly leaped forward, raised the tip of his spear, and thrust it towards the opponent's upper body.

With a slight sway, Shintaro Toujou flicked his spear and easily deflected the attack.

In the next instant, he suddenly changed his stance, from the "water droplet stance" to the "Taigong fishing stance"—in terms of form, the latter is the opposite of the former.

The rear hand is lowered, the front hand is raised, the butt of the spear points diagonally to the ground, and the tip of the spear points diagonally to the sky.

The advantage of this stance is that it provides a stable body, a balance between offense and defense, and flexibility in movement.

Looking at the figure carved by the other party, Qing Deng couldn't help but secretly admire it.

At first glance, it seems that Shintaro Toujou has been completely hidden in the shadow of the wooden gun.

Even through the clothes, Qingdeng could clearly feel the other person's lower body muscles tensing up.

Clearly, Shintaro Toujou has accumulated astonishing elasticity and explosive power within his body!

In an instant, a low growl was heard, and then, in the next instant, Shintaro Toujou suddenly stood up straight and charged straight at Aoto!

Along with Qingdeng came rounded spearheads!

This was a terrifying blow that sent chills down one's spine. Qing Deng parried the attack with his gun while widening his eyes and scrutinizing his opponent's entire body without blinking.

The two passed each other, and the floorboards thumped.

—I see… Your left foot needs to be pulled back a little more… The muscle on the side of your right leg shouldn’t be too tense…

From the moment it started, Qingdeng had been observing the other party's every move and action, not missing a single detail.

The talents "Heart of the Demon +5" and "Gun Mastery" are activated simultaneously!

The mere "Heart of the Demon +5" grants Qingdeng a genius-like ability to comprehend.

Not to mention that on top of that, there's also the title of "spear prodigy"?

In order to steal more information, Qingdeng did not hesitate to create openings and lure his opponent into making a move.

Suddenly, Qingdeng concentrated his strength on his toes, then pushed off the ground and charged forward.

As he ran, he raised his gun and struck a "leveling gun" stance.

His gun wasn't aimed at the opponent's chest, but rather at their lower body, thrusting forward with overwhelming force.

In that instant, the opponent took a half step back, and the wooden spear in his hand sprang up from the lower part, much like a flexible leather whip.

Crack—Qingdeng's gun and the opponent's gun tangled together in mid-air, scattering splinters of wood.

The opponent's wooden spear possessed an astonishing force.

When it suddenly rose from below, it was like a whirlwind, as if it were about to sweep away the wooden spear in Qingdeng's hand.

—Oh, no wonder his movements are so agile…it's all about his hands…he needs to loosen the grip on his left hand a bit more…

The two then exchanged blows for several more rounds.

—The body's center of gravity needs to be lowered further...

Qing Deng's spear grazed the sideburn of Toujou Shintaro.

—You need to use the muscles on the sides of your legs a little more…

Shintaro Tojo narrowly escaped Aoto's surprise attack, looking quite disheveled.

—Hmm…I’m finally getting used to the distance of the “spear”…

……

The onlookers present—with the exception of a very few people such as Hijikata Toshizo and Kondo Shusuke—all stared at Aoto in shock.

Despite knowing that Qingdeng was a monster that could not be measured by common sense, they still could not suppress their shock!

Although most of them were novices, they were still martial arts practitioners after all.