I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

……

The joyful atmosphere that filled the spectator stands lingered for a long time.

For most of the spectators, this swordsmanship competition was a real treat for the eyes! One unexpected and exciting twist after another occurred!

"Phew..." The master of a small sword-fighting hall sighed, then raised his gaze to the Shiwei Hall and the others sitting not far from him. "Shiwei Hall is really lucky... to have produced such an unparalleled genius..."

At this moment, many people cast envious or jealous glances at Qing Deng on the arena and at the group from the Shiwei Hall led by Zhou Zhu on the viewing platform.

Anyone with a normal brain knows that after this competition, Qingdeng will become famous again!

Before the competition even started, many people thought that Qingdeng and the "Three Heroes" were at most evenly matched, and many people thought that once they fought, it would definitely be a fierce battle.

However, the reality now presented to them has been a slap in the face to all of them!

During this competition, Qing Deng happened to have fought against each of the "Three Heroes".

Thanks to this, Qingdeng was able to prove to everyone with his solid achievements that none of the "Three Heroes" were a match for him!

From the very first match after the tournament officially began, Aoto displayed absolute strength that overwhelmed his peers. No matter who faced him, whether it was Adachi, whose strength was second only to the "Three Heroes," or Morishita and Osaki, two of the "Three Heroes," they were all instantly killed by Aoto with a single sword strike.

After Aoto stormed into the finals, Hiroshi Niizuma, Aoto's opponent in the finals and whose strength suddenly became extraordinary, finally became the first and also the last person in this tournament who was not instantly killed by Aoto at the very beginning of the battle.

But his new wife, Kuan, didn't last long either.

At the start of the final, Hiroshi Niizuma was able to fight Aoto to a standstill, but just a few minutes later, Aoto quickly overwhelmed Hiroshi Niizuma and defeated him with his overwhelming talent.

From this day forward, there is no doubt that Qing Deng's reputation will surpass that of the "Three Heroes" and he will become the most watched newcomer in the Edo swordsmanship world!

While everyone marveled at the emergence of another exceptionally talented swordsmanship prodigy in Edo, they also felt envy or jealousy towards the Shieikan, which possessed such a genius.

All the matches have been completed and the champion has been determined. The final step in this swordsmanship competition is to award prizes to the victorious swordsman!

The person in charge of presenting the awards was none other than the organizer of this competition—Marquis Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu!

Having removed his protective gear and temporarily entrusted his bamboo sword to a samurai of the Aizu Domain, Aoto, led by the old master of ceremonies, walked unhurriedly towards the "VIP platform" where various feudal lords had gathered.

Matsudaira Katamori had already stood up at this moment, quietly watching Aoto as he stepped onto the stage.

When he was only inches away from Matsudaira Katamori, Aoto couldn't help but raise his eyes and quickly glance at Matsudaira Katamori's face.

Upon closer inspection, Qingdeng realized that the renowned man, hailed as a "pillar of the shogunate," was incredibly young. If he were to stand next to Qingdeng, it would be difficult for others to tell who was younger.

Under the guidance and instruction of the master of ceremonies, Aoto stopped in front of Matsudaira Katamori, and then, according to custom, knelt on one knee and bowed to the young lord in front of him.

Matsudaira Katamori lowered his eyes and looked at Aoto. His usually expressionless face now showed a slight smile: "...You are excellent. Your performance surprised me. I hope you can continue to work hard and achieve even greater success in the path of martial arts."

Matsudaira Katamori didn't launch into a long speech with Aoto. After offering Aoto only a simple word of encouragement, he reached out and took the sandalwood tray containing the prize money for the tournament—10 gold coins—from the page beside him and handed it to Aoto.

While loudly expressing his gratitude, Qing Deng raised his hands and accepted the reward he deserved from Matsudaira Katamori.

Strangely enough, for some reason, a wonderful feeling arose in Qing Deng's heart at this moment—he vaguely felt that he would have another chance to meet this stern and unsmiling young lord in the future.

……

……

With Qing Dengbai receiving his championship prize, the two-day swordsmanship competition finally came to an end!

The distinguished guests on the VIP table were the first to leave in an orderly fashion.

Once the figures of the daimyo, led by Matsudaira Katamori, had completely disappeared from everyone's sight, the spectators in the stands were finally able to leave one after another.

Qingdeng returned to his companions with the rewards he had received.

Upon seeing Zhou Zhu and the others, Qing Deng noticed that the intense shock in their eyes had not yet dissipated.

Qingdeng couldn't help but frown: "Master, what's wrong with you all? Why do you all look so surprised?"

As soon as Qing Deng finished speaking, Okita hopped over to Qing Deng and gave him a strange look: "Tachibana-kun... don't you know what you were doing on the field just now?"

"Huh?" Qing Deng was taken aback. "What did I do?"

"...It seems you released it unconsciously." Shusuke's lips twitched, revealing a wry smile. "Tachibana-kun, you released your 'energy' during your duel with that Niizuma Hiroshi!"

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Chapter 150 Oh dear! Miss Sanako, are you blushing? [6200]

"What? 'Power'? Who? Me?" Qing Deng, his brows furrowed in astonishment, subconsciously tilted his head to bring his ear closer to Zhou Zhu.

"Tachibana-kun, you released your 'energy' when you were fighting that Niizuma Hiroshi just now." Okita, standing to the side of Aoto, repeated what Shusuke had just said.

Then, Okita succinctly summarized to Aoto what had just happened on the field, but which Aoto himself was unaware of.

Just now, most of the onlookers only saw Qing Deng's sword strike that hit Xin Qi Kuan's head.

But for swordsmen like Shusuke and Okita, who had already achieved a certain level of success in the path of martial arts, they saw something even more shocking than Qing Deng's attack.

Because it was so faint, and because it only lasted for a moment, the vast majority of the spectators in the stands—ordinary people who didn't understand the intricacies of martial arts and swordsmen whose swordsmanship hadn't reached a certain level—didn't realize just how incredible Qing Deng had unknowingly done.

Just as Qingdeng rushed towards Xinqi Kuan, just a moment before Qingdeng drew his sword, an invisible aura emanated from Qingdeng's body.

Martial artists have a specific term for this invisible aura: "momentum"!

The "aura" that Qingdeng released was precisely "momentum"!

Although it is very faint, it is indeed a high-level realm on the path of martial arts that only a very small number of lucky people can touch: "momentum"!

Most people were simply amazed by Qing Deng's incredible feat of defeating three "heroes" in a row and winning the championship of this competition with unstoppable momentum.

Only those knowledgeable like Shusuke and Okita knew that compared to unleashing "momentum," the achievement of defeating "three heroes" in succession was utterly insignificant!

Even though the "power" released by Qingdeng was very weak and only lasted for a moment before disappearing, it was still enough to shock the world!

Because Qingdeng has only been learning swordsmanship for less than 4 months at most!

In less than four months, he went from a complete novice to a swordsman capable of unleashing "momentum"... Such a feat is beyond description, no matter what adjectives are used to describe it.

At this moment, Shusuke's expression was the most complicated.

I just explained the concept of "momentum" to you the night before last, and you can already unleash "momentum" today?!

As Okita recounted what he had just done, Aoto found it increasingly difficult to contain the growing astonishment that streamed down his face.

—Did I just... release my "power"?

Qing Deng tried hard to recall the scenes of his duel with Niizuma Hiroshi just now.

He was completely unaware at the time that he was releasing any "power".

But Qing Deng remembered it very clearly—he saw the same "air currents" he had seen in Niizuma Hiroshi back then during the "snowy night battle"!

What exactly are these invisible and colorless "air currents"? Qing Deng still has no clue.

But there is one thing Qingdeng is very clear about: these "air currents"... have a function similar to "guidance"!

During the chaotic battle on a snowy night three months ago, after seeing the "airflow" among the enemy ranks, Qingdeng suddenly became able to clearly distinguish who was stronger between the enemy and his own side, and identify who the enemy's leader and central figure was.

Thanks to this, Aoto was able to charge through the enemy ranks so smoothly with Saito—because he could see which places were the weakest points in the enemy ranks.

In the battle with Niizuma Hiroshi just now, the moment after seeing the "airflow" on Niizuma Hiroshi, an idea suddenly flashed through Qing Deng's mind: he should raise his sword a little higher!

After this thought popped into his mind, Qingdeng's body moved subconsciously in accordance with his will, slightly adjusting the angle of his sword swing.

Subsequent events proved that this impromptu decision to slightly raise the sword was absolutely correct.

After adjusting the blade by a barely perceptible margin, the tip of the sword grazed Niizuma Hiroshi's sword at a perfect angle in mid-air, causing Niizuma Hiroshi's sword path to deviate and blocking his attack.

If Aoto hadn't made slight adjustments to the angle of his sword at that time, he wouldn't have been able to parry Niizuma Hiroshi's sword so perfectly.

Now that he thinks about it carefully, Qing Deng feels that the reason he suddenly thought of adjusting the angle of the sword was probably due to the "airflow" he suddenly saw on Niizuma Hiroshi. This "airflow" guided him on how to swing the sword to better block Niizuma Hiroshi's attack and hit him!

Aoto matched the time it took for Okita to tell him that he sensed "momentum" from him with the time it took for him to see "airflow" from Niizuma Hiroshi—he was surprised to find that the two times matched remarkably well...

—At the very moment I saw the "flow" in Hiroshi Niizuma, did I release my own "momentum"...?

Is there any connection between these two?

Qingdeng pursed his lips and pondered deeply—but no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a solution.

Qing Deng didn't even understand why he suddenly saw "airflow" on Niizuma Hiroshi.

He felt that the appearance of this "airflow" seemed to have no discernible pattern. The previous "chaotic battle on a snowy night" had also appeared out of nowhere.

“That’s strange…” At this moment, Kondo, standing to the side, frowned and put his hands on his hips. “Tachibana-kun, you should be far from being able to unleash your ‘energy’…”

How difficult is it to cultivate "momentum"?

Let's put it this way—Kondo, Okita, and the others still haven't developed "momentum".

Of all the members of the entire Shieikan, only Shusuke possesses "power," while Kondo, Hijikata, Okita, and others are still struggling to explore this area.

Not to mention the Shieikan, even the famous Genbukan and Kochiba Kenkan have only had three people—Chiba Sadakichi, Chiba Eijiro, and Chiba Michizaburo—successfully cultivate "momentum."

Chiba Tamon Shiro, along with his siblings Chiba Jutaro and Sanako, who also grew up in the Chiba family, which has such a strong swordsmanship gene, are still far from reaching this level.

The reason why cultivating "momentum" is so difficult is mainly because, unlike sword skills, it does not have a systematic training method.

Whether you can cultivate "momentum" depends entirely on your strength, talent, and opportunity.

Before the body even moves, just a glare releases an aura that can terrify the opponent... How many swordsmen dream of this level?

However, countless swordsmen never reached this level in their entire lives—they only managed to make their eyes more ferocious.

“Hmm…” Shusuke raised his hand and touched his smooth chin, his brows furrowing just like Kondo’s. “This is probably because Tachibana-kun has an outstanding talent for cultivating ‘momentum’…”

Standing behind Kondo, Hijikata raised his gaze to Shusuke and Kondo, who were both frowning, pursed his lips thoughtfully, and then cleared his throat forcefully:

"Alright, let's leave these martial arts matters for later."

"Let's celebrate our championship now!"

Hijikata, a faint smile playing on his lips, slowly walked to Aoto's side and wrapped his right arm tightly around Aoto's shoulder: "Tachibana, congratulations! After today, your reputation in Edo will become even more renowned!"

Kondo paused, glanced at Aoto, then at Hijikata who was now congratulating Aoto. His furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and a faint smile crept onto his lips.

"Hmm...that's true! Now is definitely not the time to be thinking about these issues! Congratulations on winning this competition, Tachibana-kun!"

……

……