I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

With this thought in mind, he habitually flipped his right wrist, twirled his sword, and turned to look at the west side of the arena.

"Next!"

He has no intention of leaving now; he wants to have a good time!

His capricious decision elicited helpless smiles from Kondo Isami and the others on the sidelines—they wouldn't be able to play for the foreseeable future.

This time, Qingdeng didn't have to wait long.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a tall, thin young man carrying a wooden gun strode onto the field.

"Lord Niou, I am skilled with a spear. So, may I?"

As he spoke, he brandished the spear in his hand.

"Of course. You can use whatever weapons you want, without any restrictions."

"Then, please guide me! Yamagata Domain, Shinryu, Okumura Saho!"

"Yishin-ryu, what a rare school of thought. Well done. Captain-Commander of the Shinsengumi, Tennen Rishin-ryu, Tachibana Aoto."

As soon as the match began, Okumura Saho kicked off with his hind foot and launched a proactive and decisive attack.

"Drink! Ha! Drink! Ha! Drink! Ha!"

With each shout, the spear in his hand would strike out, producing a piercing, sharp sound as it cut through the air.

With each thrust and sweep, it seemed as if he were risking his life, filled with a terrifying aura.

It seems that, like the recently defeated Goto Kazuwa, he was certain that he would lose in a protracted war, so he went all out from the start.

In the blink of an eye, he launched more than twenty attacks without stopping.

Despite such a fierce attack and such rapid shouting, his expression remained calm and his breathing was perfectly steady.

It can be assumed that his lung capacity is quite outstanding.

The spear's attack range far surpasses that of swords, and under normal circumstances, spearmen have an overwhelming advantage over swordsmen.

At this moment, at first glance, Qingdeng seemed to be suppressed and unable to get close, constantly dodging the opponent's spear.

In fact, insiders can all see that Qingdeng is the one in control.

Just a moment later—

"drink!"

Okumura Saho launched a new attack.

With a low growl, the spear in his hand shot through the air, whistling as it hurtled toward Qing Deng's chest.

The moment the sound of something cutting through the air reached him, Qing Deng abruptly lowered his body—the sound swept past his head.

Immediately afterward, when the opponent's old strength had dissipated and new strength had not yet arisen, and he had no time to retract his spear, Qing Deng slid forward like an eel along the spear shaft, instantly closing in on his opponent.

With a loud thud, he swung his knife from the lower right side, slashing diagonally into the opponent's left abdomen.

Okumura Saho's face contorted in pain, the spear in his hand clattered to the ground, and he slowly fell forward, gasping for breath, unable to speak.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully replicated talent: "Iron Lungs"]

[Talent Description: Superior cardiopulmonary function compared to the average person.]

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

[Ding! Talent fusion successful]

[Upgrade from "Iron Lungs +5" to "Iron Lungs +6"]

He has gained yet another talent.

After only two rounds, he gained two talents, a result that truly surprised Qingdeng.

Encouraged by this, his fighting spirit soared, and he turned around and shouted again:

"Next!"

"I'll go! Shirakawa Domain, Hokushin Itto-ryu, Kitagawa Naoya."

Influenced by the Chiba family, Aoto can be considered a half-disciple of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school, and is very familiar with the school.

Therefore, he could tell at a glance that his opponent was mediocre in strength and skill, and had no merits other than fighting spirit.

Even the basic stance of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style—repeatedly twirling the sword tip to prevent the blade from freezing and to confuse the opponent—was not mastered.

He appeared to be twirling the sword tip, but it was merely a superficial movement, devoid of any real agility.

As expected, his attack was a complete mess, nothing more than a brutal abuse of brute force.

With a slight shift in his footing, Qingdeng neutralized all of their attacks.

After mentally estimating 10 seconds, Qingdeng swiftly launched a counterattack.

He leaped up as if he were standing on dry land, kicking away the opponent's right hand holding the knife with his left foot and the other hand with his right foot, forcing the opponent's hand wide open. Then he raised the bamboo sword in his hand and thrust it straight into the opponent's chest, knocking him to the ground.

He completed this series of actions in the blink of an eye.

In this round, I failed to obtain the talent.

"Next!"

"Morioka Domain, Shinto Musou-ryu, Yamane Hiro!"

The fourth person to take the stage was a very burly and robust man.

Such a physique is indeed very suitable for cultivating the Divine Path of No Thought.

"Drink it! Aa ...

As expected of a swordsman of the Shinto Munen-ryu school, he charged forward like a madman as soon as the fight began, unleashing a fierce attack with his sword without holding back.

Seeing the opponent adopt such a ferocious fighting style, Qing Deng was immediately excited - this "head-to-head" fighting style suited him best.

So he decided to fight back! An attack against an attack!

He immediately steadied himself, focused his strength on his waist, and, anticipating the opponent's blade strike, unleashed gusts of wind with the bamboo sword in his hand.

"Nine Oxen and Two Tigers +4", "Tiger's Arm +4", "Elephant's Core +9", activate!

In terms of appearance, Qingdeng was much smaller than his opponent, by a full size.

Despite the significant size disparity between the two, Qing Deng's strength far surpassed that of his opponent.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

Three clear sounds rang out as bamboo swords clashed against each other.

When the fourth sound rang out, the opponent finally couldn't hold on any longer, let out a scream, and the bamboo sword in his hand flew outward.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully replicated talent: "Strong sperm"]

[Talent Description: Rapid recovery of stamina and energy.]

[Upgrade from "Strength +5" to "Strength +6"]

"Next!"

quiet……

The west side of the arena was silent... unlike before, when people immediately stood up to fight.

It wasn't until half a minute later that the fifth challenger finally appeared.

"Mori, Morioka Domain, Kaori Shinto-ryu, Ueda Jin."

There are an unusually large number of warriors from the Morioka Domain.

So far, half of the warriors who have participated in the competition are from the Morioka Domain.

This is understandable, since Morioka Domain is one of the most important domains in Oshu, and naturally it has more and better warriors.

The moment the warrior who called himself Jin Ueda got into a fighting stance, Aoto was quite disappointed.

With vacant eyes, an unsteady stance, a trembling blade, and stiff muscles, he clearly had the侥幸心理 (a gambler's mentality) of someone hoping to try their luck on the field.

If I were to get incredibly lucky and manage to hit Nioh's wound, I might be able to accomplish the feat of "defeating Nioh" and reap a fortune in one fell swoop—that's probably what people with this "wishful thinking" are thinking.

In order to exploit the opponent's talent, Qingdeng has to wait 10 seconds before he can send the opponent off the field.

Ten seconds later, Qingdeng did not use any fancy techniques. He simply closed in, swung his knife, and easily cut his opponent to the ground.

As he expected, this person had no talent whatsoever.

……

……

The competition continues.

Thrusts, horizontal slashes, diagonal cuts, vertical sweeps... Qing Deng faced one opponent after another, using different moves to send different people to their deaths.

Upon defeating the tenth person, he gained another talent—

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully replicated talent: "Beef Liver"]

[Talent Description: Excellent liver function.]

[“Beef Liver” Ability Upgrade – “Beef Liver +1”]

What a pity, that's all.

After copying this talent, Qingdeng was unable to obtain any new talents today.

After defeating the 15th person, he subconsciously turned his head to look at the west side of the arena, waiting for the 16th person to enter the arena.

However... this time, no matter how long he waited, no one dared to step forward.

When Qing Deng's gaze fell upon them, all the challengers on the west side of the arena lowered their heads, hunched their shoulders, and looked horrified.

Now that the battle has progressed this far, anyone with a brain and eyes can recognize Qing Deng's terrifying strength!

So far, none of the challengers who have stepped into the arena have even managed to withstand a single round of Qing Deng's blade, let alone make him break a sweat!