I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“Yasu and Souji didn’t tell you this… Alright, I’ll give you a brief explanation now.”

Zhou Zhu cleared his throat.

“Our grandmaster, Kondo Naizaki, had a particularly mysterious master.”

"According to the secrets passed down in our Kondo family, my grandmaster's mysterious master did not give him any specific guidance on swordsmanship techniques, but only taught him one sentence—"

“When engaging in a life-or-death struggle with others, as long as you can win, that’s all that matters. As long as you can win, it doesn’t matter if you have to resort to despicable means that are completely unorthodox in the eyes of outsiders, such as taking out a pistol to ambush your opponent.”

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng felt a chill run down his spine.

This piece of advice... suits his taste perfectly!

If it weren't for the lack of access to guns, he would have wanted to get one for himself long ago!

At present, almost all the feudal domains, including the shogunate, are still using matchlock guns that are nearly 200 years out of date... Even most of the feudal lords cannot get themselves a Western firearm, let alone Aoto, who is currently just a "captain of the capital".

If he could get his hands on a pistol and enough bullets... when those "anti-foreign" lunatics pop up to cause him trouble again, he could just pull out the pistol and blast their heads off one by one. How satisfying!

Qingdeng was very confident in his marksmanship. In his previous life, when he was studying at school, his marksmanship was always far superior to that of his classmates.

As Qingdeng silently applauded the teachings of his mysterious master, Zhouzhu continued his narration:

"After receiving this teaching from this mysterious master, my grandmaster used it as a basis to create the secret meaning of our Natural Reason Flow: when fighting with others, you must hold firm to the belief that 'I must win no matter what.' As long as you can hold such a belief, it is not easy to lose to your opponent in terms of momentum."

At this point, Zhou Zhu adopted a more serious and earnest tone.

"Whether it's swordsmanship or spearmanship, no matter what kind of martial art it is, when competing with others, momentum is the most important thing."

"You may not have a strong enough physique, or you may not have superb skills, but you must never lose the spirit to fight others and defeat your opponents!"

Qing Deng nodded slightly—he quite agreed with what Zhou Zhu had just said.

"Courage, strength, and skill..." This saying applies to all martial arts.

When practicing martial arts, the most important thing is to have enough courage to confront the opponent in front of you.

If you're timid and hesitant in a fight, afraid of this and that, you might not even be able to unleash half of your full strength.

The second most important thing after courage is physical strength.

Martial arts skills are the third most important thing.

"This spirit of daring to fight and win is especially important for our school of thought, Natural Reason School, which focuses on attack."

"If you don't even have the courage to fight and defeat your opponent, how can your sword strike be sharp enough?"

At this moment, Zhou Zhu extended two fingers.

"So, to put it simply, the secret meaning of the Natural Flow of Reason that our Grandmaster created is to require us to do the following two things."

"One: When fighting with others, one can use any means necessary to win."

"It's perfectly acceptable to talk about martial ethics in friendly martial arts exchanges. But to talk about martial ethics when you're fighting to the death with an enemy is just mindless."

Second: No matter what, we must not lose our fighting spirit and determination to win.

Shusuke lowered his two outstretched fingers.

"Tachibana-kun, you must have deeply realized the importance of momentum during the battle just now, right?"

Qing Deng's expression tightened slightly.

“Tachibana-kun, think back carefully now—during the battle just now, didn’t my strength and speed remain unchanged from beginning to end? But after I released my aura, my moves suddenly became fierce.”

Qing Deng half-closed his eyes, carefully recalling the details of the battle just now, and then nodded.

In the brief exchange just now, Qing Deng saw it very clearly—before and after Zhou Zhu's aura changed drastically, his strength and speed remained unchanged from beginning to end; it was always the same strength and speed.

"That's the power of momentum."

Zhou Zhu smiled calmly.

"If I remember correctly, it was 60 years ago that a great swordsman whose name and identity are now unknown integrated a completely new martial arts philosophy based on the work of his predecessors."

That is 'momentum,' or simply 'power'.

"And that is what I just mentioned, the content of the 'next stage' that you are now qualified to learn."

Shusuke changed to a more comfortable sitting position.

"Don't we often say that some people who have been in positions of power for a long time will unconsciously develop an 'aura of a superior'?"

"A person with this 'aura of authority' can exert immense pressure on others with just a glare, and can even frighten someone to tears with a single look."

"That's a kind of momentum."

"In our martial arts world, those who have achieved something in their respective fields and have a firm enough will will gradually develop their own 'momentum' as their strength continues to improve."

"Whether one possesses a sufficiently sharp 'momentum' is a crucial dividing line."

"If you can cross this watershed, it means that you will reach a new level in the path of martial arts."

"Whether or not one possesses 'momentum'... while it may not be a world of difference, the difference is still quite significant."

“Your opponent has no ‘momentum’ at all, but you can unleash a very strong ‘momentum’—then without a doubt, you will have a much easier time gaining the upper hand in this battle.”

"Because a strong 'momentum' can put tremendous psychological pressure on the opponent."

"Our contest just now is a perfect example."

"My strength and speed have not changed from beginning to end, but it was because I used my true skills and released my 'momentum' halfway through that I put some psychological pressure on you, which made you have the illusion that my moves have become more powerful."

"The stronger your 'momentum', the more intimidating your opponents will be."

"As for the strength of one's 'momentum,' it is related to one's ability and willpower."

"Those martial artists who are new to the field of 'momentum' are basically unable to control their 'momentum' freely."

"It takes a long period of hard training to reach my level of freely controlling and releasing 'momentum'."

"Of course—there are also some special people who have a special talent in cultivating 'momentum'. Even when their own strength is not strong enough, they have already cultivated and can freely release their own 'momentum'."

After finishing his sentence, Zhou Zhu paused for a moment, then adopted a half-joking tone.

"It is said that some powerful individuals who have reached the 'ultimate level of martial arts' possess such a powerful 'aura' that, once released, a mere glare from them can cause a person to lose their composure and even faint—of course, this is just a legend. In all my years, I have never seen anyone whose 'aura' is that powerful. Neither Chiba Shusaku nor Chiba Sadakichi have reached this level."

Zhou Zhu shifted his body to a more comfortable sitting position.

"Not everyone needs to learn 'momentum'."

"First of all, you must have enough strength."

"Secondly, one must have the 'will of a strongman'."

"I have practiced swordsmanship all my life and seen countless people. In my observation, those martial artists who do not have the 'will of a strongman' will, no matter how strong they are, do not have any 'power' about them."

"This 'strong will' is a term I came up with myself, with various meanings... Simply put, it means having a certain drive in martial arts, not being afraid when facing strong enemies, and not being discouraged by defeat."

"Only those who possess this mindset can cultivate an aura that can intimidate others."

“Saito Kannosuke, the second son of ‘Saito Yakuro’ and known as ‘Oni Kan’, is a typical example of someone who lacks a strong will and ‘the will of a strongman’.”

"Several years ago, after being utterly defeated by Chiba Eijiro, the 'Technique of Chiba' who was the same age as him, he became depressed and lost his former vigor."

"If Saito Kannosuke cannot get out of the shadow of this crushing defeat to 'Technical Chiba,' then his martial arts achievements in this life will probably come to an end."

"A martial artist who has lost his edge, let alone cultivate his own 'momentum', will have a question of whether he can even make any further progress in his own strength."

"Therefore, this leads to the profound truth of our natural flow of reason, which is such an important and profound statement."

“Ju-kun, cultivating ‘momentum’ is a bit too early for you right now.”

As Zhou Zhu spoke, he grinned and smiled.

"Given your current strength... you'll probably need to train hard for another year or two to reach the level of Yuu and Souji before you'll have a chance to touch the realm of 'momentum'."

"You should start by practicing the secrets of our Natural Mind-Body Flow."

"From this day forward, in times of war, we must be determined to win no matter what."

"As long as you have this mindset and learn to be neither arrogant in victory nor discouraged in defeat, you will have the key to unlocking the potential of the 'momentum' field."

"..." Qing Deng's face had been filled with shock since just now.

Zhou Zhu kept introducing one novel martial arts concept after another that he had never heard of before.

After carefully listening to every word and sentence of Zhou Zhu, Qing Deng felt as if a door to a new world had opened for him.

Qing Deng pondered for a long time before finally digesting Zhou Zhu's teachings.

After letting out a long breath, Qing Deng asked Zhou Zhu curiously:

"'Power'... Master, who is the most powerful martial artist you have ever seen in terms of 'power'?"

“Of course it’s Chiba Shusaku.” Shusuke answered without hesitation. “Chiba Shusaku is the greatest swordsman I have ever seen in terms of both strength and ‘momentum’.”

A hint of reminiscence slowly rose between Zhou Zhu's brows.

"A long time ago, I had the privilege of witnessing a martial arts match between the brothers Chiba Shusaku and Chiba Sadakichi."

"These two brothers are indeed unparalleled sword masters, both of them possessing the 'momentum' of a whirlwind and a thunderous tide."

"Before the battle even began, the 'momentum' emanating from the two individuals clashed!"

"I still remember every scene from that time vividly."

"The force of their collision seemed to stop the surrounding wind and the clouds in the sky!"

"Hehehe, according to the novelist, this is probably what is called 'the sword is not yet drawn, but the sword aura has already spread in all directions, making those who see it submit and those who hear it tremble.'"

"It's just a pity..."

A deep, dark color slowly spread across Zhou Zhu's cheeks.

"Chiba Shusaku has passed away."

"Chiba Sadakichi is also riddled with injuries and his strength has been greatly reduced..."

"Chiba Sadakichi's current strength is probably less than 20% or 30% of his peak, so he probably won't be able to unleash the kind of 'momentum' that he had when he fought his brother back then, which seemed to be able to force the wind and clouds to stop."

"I probably won't have the chance to see a 'duel between great swordsmen' of this caliber again in the rest of my life."

"Forcing the wind and clouds to stop..." Qing Deng couldn't help but show a dumbfounded expression.

His aura was so powerful that it gave onlookers the illusion that the wind and clouds around him had stopped... Qing Deng couldn't even imagine such a scene, such a realm...

Qingdeng felt as if a new world had opened up for him.