I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

He instinctively raised his sword to block, but it was too late.

With a muffled thud, Nakagawa Ryuji, who had been stabbed in the chest, staggered backward with such force that it seemed he would crack the floor.

Despite his best efforts, he could not withstand the immense force transmitted from his chest.

With a thud, another figure fell to the ground.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: Sky-High Stance +5]

[Talent Introduction: Possesses excellent height genes]

--Um?!

Qingdeng raised his eyebrows forcefully, a look of joy appearing on his cheeks.

height?

If it were any other talent, that would be fine.

But when it comes to this talent, Qingdeng can't help but beam with joy!

To be honest, he wasn't entirely satisfied with his current height.

Although by the average standards of the Edo period, a height of 1.75 meters was already considered quite tall.

However, if possible, Qingdeng really wants to grow to over 1.8 meters tall!

In his previous life, he was 1.8 meters tall.

After transmigrating to this world, he inexplicably became shorter, which frustrated him for a long time.

He is 21 years old this year.

Logically speaking, males of this age have already passed puberty and should no longer grow.

Originally, Qingdeng had basically given up on his height.

But now... this newly acquired talent has rekindled his hope!

"Standing Tall +5"... This not only refers to the talent for improving height genes, but also has the suffix "+5".

With this talent, he might even grow taller!

Thinking of this, Qing Deng's joy deepened.

Her lips curled up, an expression she couldn't suppress.

Leaving aside abstract notions like "male dignity," for martial artists, increased height is a significant advantage.

Every inch you grow taller gives you an advantage in battle!

Of course, as excited as he was, Qingdeng would never make such a basic mistake as "losing focus during battle."

His innate talent, "Gathering Spirit," was activated—he immediately cleared his mind of all distractions, focused his mind, and refocused on the battle before him.

"Aaaaaaah!"

"Oni Matsuoka!" Matsuoka Shinichi roared, stepped forward, and charged out from the side, raising his sword overhead.

His fearless figure filled Qingdeng's vision.

It's easy to see that he really wants to defeat Qingdeng and avenge the humiliation of being defeated by Qingdeng with his bare hands.

Qing Deng slowly lowered the tip of his sword, adopting a "dragging sword" stance, hiding the bamboo sword behind his right back, making it difficult for his opponent to judge his attack distance.

Shinichi Matsumoto's bamboo sword was still held high... but Aoto had already launched his attack.

He tilted his body and swung the sword upwards—he used the index and middle fingers of his left hand to grip the bottom of the hilt, maximizing the attack range!

In this way, you can launch an attack before your opponent!

With the "Skillful Hands +5" talent, even though he uses two fingers to hold the knife, he manages to achieve the effect of gripping the knife with both hands.

The two sides passed each other.

Driven by inertia, Qingdeng lunged forward a few steps, then steadied himself, swiftly turned around, and assumed the stance of a warrior.

In fact, Aoto had no need to check on Shinichi Matsumoto's condition at all—because the feeling of striking a human body still lingered in his palm.

Because he had just defeated Shinichi Matsumoto and copied his talent from him, Qing Deng did not hear the system voice in his mind this time.

The number of opponents has decreased to 3.

The remaining three opponents—Takanobu Katakura, Kanichi Shimada, and Izumi Ishii—formed a fan shape, pressuring Aoto from the front, back, and left.

They tried to suppress Qing Deng, preventing him from retaliating.

But... even when they had eight people, they couldn't do anything to Qingdeng, let alone now that their fighting strength has been greatly reduced?

Qing Deng turned to the left and launched a fierce attack on Shimada Kanichi on the left.

Turning around and swinging the sword—the two actions are completed almost simultaneously, hence extremely fast and swift.

Shimada Kanichi dared not take Aoto's slash head-on.

He gritted his teeth, sprang to his feet, and barely managed to dodge it.

His retreat greatly reduced the pressure on Qingdeng and expanded his room for maneuver.

He suddenly turned back to face forward, and his surging "momentum" pressed down on Ishii Izumi, who was a few steps away from "Ghost Stone Well".

Qing Deng lowered his gaze and glanced at Ishii Izumi's feet—it was easy to see that he was estimating the distance between himself and his opponent.

Ishii Izumi tensed every nerve in his body, using a loud roar to boost his strength and courage.

Qingdeng held the bamboo sword diagonally across his chest—in the next instant, he shortened the distance between himself and his opponent!

He kept his center of gravity low, his upper body almost touching the floor, and "glided" towards Izumi Ishii like a gust of wind.

In the instant before they were close, Qing Deng swept his sword horizontally from right to left.

At the same time, Ishii Izumi's bamboo sword slashed down from above Aoto's head.

At first glance, their attacks appeared to be launched almost simultaneously, making it difficult to determine which was which.

However, Qing Deng's slashing speed far surpassed that of his opponent.

Although they attacked at the same time, his bamboo sword struck the opponent's body first.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: "Sensitive of the Wind"]

[Talent Description: Enhanced hearing; the brain's ability to process sound information is enhanced, and the brain will not struggle to process excessive information due to enhanced hearing.]

[Ding! Detected that the host already possesses a talent of the same type]

[Ding! Initiating talent fusion]

[Ding! Talent fusion successful]

[Upgrade from "Wind Perception +3" to "Wind Perception +4"]

The moment after dealing with Ishii Izumi, Aoto immediately turned to deal with Shimada Kanichi.

Kanichi Shimada made the first move.

He assumed a fencing stance and attacked Qing Deng's shoulder with the Blue-Eyed Sword Stance.

Qingdeng took a half step back, slightly increasing the distance, and then skillfully deflected the sword to the side.

Katakura Takanobu seized the opportunity, thrusting his spear forward and attacking Aoto's side from a tricky angle.

Aoto kept his eyes fixed on Katakura Takanobu out of the corner of his eye, so when the opponent attacked, Aoto was already prepared to dodge.

He nimbly leaped to the right, deflecting Katakura Takanobu's spear.

At this moment, Shimada Kanichi lowered the tip of his sword and, while adopting a low stance, strode towards Aoto.

Seeing this, Qing Deng deliberately adopted the opposite stance—he raised his sword and held eight pairs of swords.

The two men resembled bulls locked in a fierce duel, passing each other menacingly.

In that split second, Qing Deng's bamboo sword left two afterimages.

As soon as the two figures separated, Shimada Kanichi staggered a few steps before crashing to the ground with his shoulder.

If you film the exchange just now with a camera and turn on "slow motion mode", you can barely see Qing Deng's moves.

Qing Deng swung his sword downwards in the upper right stance, then continued forward. Just as they were about to pass each other, he turned half his body to the side and suddenly swung his sword upwards in the lower left stance.

With his first strike, he deflected Shimada Kanichi's bamboo sword.

His second sword strike landed squarely on his opponent's back.

[Ding! Talent detected]

Successfully copied the talent: "Serpent's Body +2"

[Talent Description: Superior physical flexibility compared to the average person.]

[Ding! Detected that the host already possesses a talent of the same type]

[Ding! Initiating talent fusion]

[Ding! Talent fusion successful]

[“Serpent Body +2” Ability Upgrade – “Serpent Body +4”]

At this point, almost all the heroes of the Gourd House were wiped out!

The only one who hasn't left the stage yet is "The Undying Blood Spear" Katakura Takanobu.

He truly deserves his reputation as a veteran in the "Gourd Legion".

Even when fighting alone, he showed no fear whatsoever.

He let out a long breath, straightened his shoulders and arms, and rested the wooden spear on his side, its tip pointing straight at Qingdeng—it was indeed the "Zhongping Spear".

"Haaah!!"

With a loud shout, a "black snake" soared into the air and crashed straight into Qing Deng's chest.

Almost at the same time, another "black snake" flew out from Qing Deng's palm!

The two "black snakes," one long and one short, intertwined in mid-air.