I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“Yong has done stupid things like this before.”

"The day before a sword competition, I practiced too hard and ended up twisting my arm, which forced me to withdraw from the competition."

Qingdeng raised his hand to wipe the sweat that was about to drip down his chin and onto the ground, and smiled, "Master, don't worry. I know what I'm doing, I won't overdo it."

“And…” Qing Deng paused, “I’m also preparing for tomorrow’s match now.”

"Moving around a bit will help calm my current agitated emotions."

"Heh heh?" Shusuke raised an eyebrow, then grinned as if he had heard something amusing, his narrowed eyes opening slightly. "Tachibana-kun, are you feeling very excited right now?"

"To be honest—" Qing Deng smiled and frankly admitted, "After learning that Lord Aizu was going to hold a swordsmanship tournament in Asakusa, I have been looking forward to this competition."

"This is such a rare opportunity to compete with the masters from various sword-fighting schools in Edo."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qingdeng silently added in his mind:

—I wonder how much talent they can extract from this competition.

The opportunity to replicate talent from masters in other fencing schools—this is the main reason why Qing Deng is looking forward to tomorrow's tournament.

The sword tournament held by the Lord of Aizu, one of the few powerful feudal lords and great daimyo... Faced with such a high-level competition, in order not to damage the reputation and prestige of the sword-making school, most sword-making schools would definitely send their most talented and strongest newcomers to participate in the tournament.

In other words, tomorrow's two-day swordsmanship tournament will surely witness fierce clashes between outstanding newcomers from various sword-making schools in Edo!

Such a grand gathering of top talents... the chances of replicating one's talent are definitely exceptionally high!

Just thinking about it makes Qing Deng feel excited.

Zhou Zhu was unaware of Qing Deng's ulterior motives.

He simply assumed that Qingdeng was so excited because he could compete with masters.

"Hahaha." Zhou Zhu laughed heartily a few times. "That's right! A martial artist must have the courage and willingness to compete with masters from all walks of life!"

"Tachibana-kun, I was a little worried that you might be nervous because it's your first time participating in this kind of swordsmanship competition."

"Now it seems I was overthinking it."

"I used to love sparring with those really skilled players."

"Every time I have a great fight with those masters, I gain a lot of insights."

"At my craziest moment, I challenged nine very famous swordsmen in a short period of half a month."

"Although I only won 4 out of these 9 challenges, regardless of winning or losing, these battles have become my precious 'food'."

……

Sigh, here we go again... Qingdeng couldn't help but sigh helplessly in his heart once more.

Qing Deng is now increasingly able to understand why his teacher's wife, Abi, often yells at Zhou Zhu: "Can you stop being so annoying?"

Fortunately, Shusuke didn't ramble on for too long this time.

After muttering to himself for only about half a minute, Zhou Zhu put his hands behind his back and slowly walked towards the wooden barrel containing the bamboo swords not far away.

"Alright, that's enough chatting. I should probably start digesting and getting some exercise too."

"Tachibana-kun, you should continue practicing."

"Since I'm here tonight, if you encounter any difficulties in your swordsmanship training, you can come and ask me for advice anytime, hehehe."

After slowly walking to the wooden barrel where the bamboo swords were kept, Zhou Zhu casually picked out a bamboo sword from it, then walked to a corner of the dojo not far from Qing Deng, spread his legs, held the sword in a mid-stance, and began to practice the most basic swordsmanship movement: the slash and return.

The so-called "slashing back" means first attacking from the front, then from the left and right, and so on in a repeated cycle.

Although Shusuke's sword-wielding movements were very standard, they were extremely slow—it seems he really just wanted to casually swing the sword to digest his food.

"Keep practicing..." Qing Deng said with a wry smile, reaching out to rub his ears, which were slightly numb from Zhou Zhu's nonsense, before carefully placing the bamboo sword back in front of him.

Take a deep breath and continue practicing the most basic and most important sword technique: Suzhen.

Since becoming a disciple of Shieikan and formally studying the Tennen Rishin-ryu school, Suzhen has become one of the sword techniques that Qingdeng practices every day.

After months of relentless practice, Qingdeng can now easily unleash hundreds of standard sword strikes. The sound of the sword cutting through the wind is also incomparable to when he first started learning swordsmanship.

Qingdeng meticulously and like a robot, repeatedly performed the actions of raising the knife, slashing, raising the knife, and slashing.

My body, which had just cooled down, started sweating again.

Suddenly—just as Qingdeng was about to forcefully chop forward with the bamboo sword he had raised high once again, his movements suddenly stopped.

“Hmm…” Qingdeng let out a deep groan, then lowered his head and stared at the bamboo knife in his hand with a complicated look on his face, as if he was deep in thought.

At that moment, out of the blue, Zhou Zhu's aged voice once again entered Qing Deng's ears.

"Hmm? Tachibana-kun, what's wrong? Why are you looking at the sword in your hand with such a serious expression?"

Zhou Zhu stopped practicing the back-and-forth movement, stood up straight, and cast a curious glance at Qing Deng.

"Is the bamboo sword broken?"

Qingdeng gently shook his head: "No, my bamboo sword is not broken."

"So..." Zhou Zhu chuckled a few times, then raised his hand to touch his bald, unshaven chin, "Have you encountered any difficulties in your swordsmanship training?"

"..." Qing Deng pursed his lips, and after a moment of contemplation, he raised his eyes to meet Zhou Zhu's gaze and said seriously, "Master, I feel... my cultivation seems to have hit a bottleneck."

"Oh?" Shusuke raised an eyebrow. "A bottleneck...? Do you feel your progress has slowed down recently?"

Qing Deng nodded: "It probably started a few days ago. I found that no matter how much I practiced, I couldn't feel that my strength had improved significantly. I was just standing still."

Qingdeng explained his current cultivation status to Zhou Zhu in detail.

Zhou Zhu listened attentively, nodding slightly from time to time.

After Qing Deng finished speaking, Zhou Zhu smiled and once again raised his hand to touch his smooth chin.

"Hehehe, Tachibana-kun, from your description... you really have hit a bottleneck."

"Don't feel anxious or worried! It's normal to encounter a bottleneck period."

"Whether it's studying academic subjects or practicing martial arts, there will be this phenomenon: when you first start, you make rapid progress, but as your skill level gradually improves, you start to encounter one bottleneck after another, and the speed of progress begins to slow down."

"So just relax and continue practicing step by step."

“A bottleneck period…” Qingdeng chuckled a few times, then murmured in a half-joking tone, “Haha… I wonder when I will be able to break through this bottleneck I’m currently facing.”

"Tachibana-kun, don't be greedy, don't be reckless." Zhou Zhu put on a more serious expression and tone. "In martial arts training, the most taboo thing is to be impatient and restless."

Qing Deng's previous remark was just a joke. Seeing that Zhou Zhu was about to launch into a long speech, and fearing that Zhou Zhu would start rambling on again, he quickly stood up straight and respectfully said to Zhou Zhu, "Yes, student has learned a lot."

However, Qingdeng's timely apology did not work... Zhou Zhu continued to ramble on about the dangers of not being able to maintain a calm mind when practicing martial arts, which made Qingdeng sigh helplessly in his heart.

Just as Qing Deng was thinking about whether to say or do something to interrupt Zhou Zhu's rambling, Zhou Zhu suddenly stopped talking.

Then... he adopted a tone of reflection and looked at Qingdeng with a meaningful gaze.

"...Now that I think about it carefully... Tachibana-kun, your progress is really unbelievably fast."

"I've hit my plateau so quickly."

"Well, with your current skill level, it's normal to encounter a bottleneck."

“From the time you became a disciple of my Shiwei Hall, the time you have formally practiced swordsmanship is less than four months at most.”

"In less than four months, he went from an ordinary person who didn't know much about swordsmanship to a swordsman who has already achieved some success in swordsmanship... Hehehe, even Souji can't match this speed."

After speaking, Zhou Zhu paused again.

"...I originally intended to teach 'this' to you later...Well, with your current strength, you're qualified to get a head start on the 'next stage'."

Zhou Zhu smiled slightly, then slowly raised the bamboo knife in his hand and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

"Tachibana-kun, do you still have the strength?"

"If you still have the strength, come with me."

"It's a rare occasion for us to gather here at the dojo tonight... Now I will teach you the advanced content of our Natural Reasoning Style, which follows the basic techniques—the secrets of Natural Reasoning Style!"

"Huh?" Qing Deng blinked a few times, stunned.

Since the beginning, Zhou Zhu has been talking about things that he can't understand at all.

The secret of the Natural Rishin-ryu school... Although I have no idea what it is, just hearing the name makes it seem incredible!

Almost without hesitation, Qing Deng nodded vigorously at Zhou Zhu: "Please enlighten me!"

"Hehehe~ Then come with me."

Zhou Zhu led Qing Deng and swaggered to... the very center of the dojo.

"It's very difficult to explain the secrets of this natural flow of mind to you simply by talking about it."

"so--"

Zhou Zhu smiled and turned around to face Qing Deng, lowering the bamboo sword in his hand in a downward motion:

"I'll use a simpler and more direct method to impart this secret to you."

Seeing Zhou Zhu's actions, Qing Deng couldn't help but be stunned.

Before he could say or do anything, he saw the tip of a bamboo sword rapidly enlarging in his field of vision!

Qing Deng's pupils contracted slightly, and he reacted reflexively—with a "snap," he raised his sword to parry Zhou Zhu's thrust, then took three steps back to increase the distance between himself and Zhou Zhu.

Zhou Zhu followed closely, dragging his sword forward two steps, exposing Qing Deng's figure to his blade once again!

No need for further words, let's start fighting... After quickly glancing at Zhou Zhu who was attacking him without saying a word and the bamboo sword in his hand, Qing Deng took a deep breath, gripped the sword with both hands, and planted his feet firmly on the ground!

With a single swing, Zhou Zhu slashed twice at Qing Deng from the upper left and upper right directions.

Flash, then flash again! Qing Deng's body moved nimbly, escaping Zhou Zhu's combo.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

My heart is beating strongly and rapidly.

The "Lone Wolf" is being activated!

Qing Deng took a small step back with his right foot, pointed his left shoulder diagonally at Zhou Zhu, and held the bamboo sword to his right side. He then swung the sword upwards, aiming for Zhou Zhu's chest.

With a loud thud, Zhou Zhu leaned to the side, deflecting Qing Deng's attack with his sword. Then, mimicking Qing Deng's earlier movement, he moved his right shoulder forward and swung his sword upward in a lower left stance.

At the same time, Qing Deng launched a new attack. The tip of his blade suddenly rose, and he changed to the upper stance, slashing at Zhou Zhu's upward blade!

Snapped!