I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Just as the two men, having finished their crouching and standing positions, were about to begin their fight—

Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!

Suddenly, a knock came from the direction of the entrance...

Aoto and Okita were both stunned.

"Is... a guest here?" Okita muttered as he put down the bamboo sword in his hand.

"It's so late, it's unlikely to be a guest." Qingdeng frowned slightly. "Let's go check it out."

The night was so deep, yet someone was knocking on the door of their test hall at this hour... Aoto and Okita both felt a sense of unease.

There wasn't time to take off their protective gear, so Aoto and Okita strode towards the gate wearing only their gear.

"Coming! Coming!" Okita called out as he walked briskly toward the thick wooden gate that had appeared before him after he left the dojo. "May I ask who it is?"

"Sōji, it's me. I'm back."

From behind the gate came a deep, middle-aged male voice, spoken in a gentle tone.

"?!" The moment the deep male voice rang out, Okita's eyes widened suddenly, shining with excitement.

"Ah!" Okita exclaimed excitedly, quickening his pace and skipping and jumping towards the gate.

The middle-aged man's voice from just now was completely unfamiliar to Qing Deng. He had never heard that voice before.

But Qing Deng keenly noticed that the owner of the male voice called Okita "Sōji" in a very intimate tone.

Considering Okita's reaction at this moment... Aoto thought of someone.

He had heard of him on his first day at Shieikan, but had never had the chance to meet him.

Clang... While Aoto was pondering, Okita quickly pulled open the bolt on the door.

As Okita slowly pushed open the thick, two-person-high door, Aoto quickly peered through the crack in the door.

Standing outside the door was a middle-aged man, wearing two swords at his waist and carrying a large bundle on his back, looking travel-worn.

The middle-aged man looked to be around forty years old; his slightly tanned complexion indicated that his face had been exposed to sunlight for a long time, and his features were ordinary, the kind of face that you would "not find in a crowd".

He's not particularly tall, barely over 1.6 meters. He's neither strong nor thin.

Whether it was due to his appearance or not, Qingdeng felt that this person always exuded a kind of honest and kind temperament.

Such a face, such a demeanor... made this middle-aged man seem more like an ordinary old farmer than a samurai.

The only noticeable and attention-grabbing feature on this person's body was his eyes.

The middle-aged man's eyes were very bright, as if sunlight resided within them.

These bright eyes made the middle-aged man look radiant and quite energetic.

Qingdeng wanted to take a closer look at the middle-aged man's appearance.

But at that moment, Okita's excited shouts beside him interrupted his thoughts.

"Uncle Yuan!"

With an expression of intense excitement on his face, Okita hopped towards the middle-aged man like a rabbit.

While jumping around, he continued to shout excitedly:

"Uncle Yuan! You're finally back!"

"Sōji." The middle-aged man, whom Okita called "Uncle Gen," put on a kind, elder-like smile and gently rubbed Okita's head with his right hand. "It's been a long time."

……

……

Test Hall, Rooms

"Yuan, you're finally back!" Zhou Zhu laughed heartily. "If I count on my fingers, you've been away from the Shieikan for more than half a year!"

"Master, I'm sorry to have troubled you." Inoue Genzaburo bowed to Shusuke in front of him with an apologetic smile. "I didn't expect that I would be away from the Shieikan for so long this time..."

“A friend from my hometown asked me to help him reclaim wasteland.”

"After all, we're old friends, and I felt bad refusing him."

"The wasteland my old friend wanted to cultivate is much more difficult to deal with than I imagined!"

"I only agreed to help him pick up the various pebbles in that wasteland and loosen the soil there."

"I thought this kind of work could be done in just 3 months."

"I never imagined it would take eight months of work... Sigh, I never want to help people clear land again."

“Hehehe…” Zhou Zhu raised his hand and touched his smooth chin. “That’s how land reclamation works. Without two or three years of hard work, it’s impossible to turn a barren wasteland into fertile land where you can grow things.”

At this moment, all the current members of Shieikan, including Kondo, Okita, and Abhi, are gathered in the hall.

Aoto, Saito, Nagakura, Harada, Kyubei... These new residents of Shieikan, who are currently staying at the Shieikan and sitting behind Shusuke, are all looking at Inoue Genzaburo across from them with puzzled and curious eyes.

Qingdeng thought to himself:

—Is this Inoue Genzaburo...?

The middle-aged man who suddenly arrived at Shieikan late at night and was affectionately called "Uncle Gen" by Okita was none other than Inoue Genzaburo, whom Aoto had long admired but had never met.

Inoue Genzaburo—a senior disciple and a very experienced elder of their Shieikan (a training school for imperial physicians).

Now 31 years old, he entered the Shieikan school in 1847 to study the Tennen Rishin-ryu school.

In terms of seniority, even Kondo Isami has to respectfully call him "senior brother".

Those who were of the same or higher generation as Inoue Genzaburo have either left or scattered due to giving up halfway or successfully mastering the martial arts.

Only Inoue Genzaburo remained at the Shieikan.

Therefore, among all the apprentices currently enrolled at the Shieikan, Inoue Genzaburo is the most senior!

The reason why Inoue Genzaburo stayed in the Shieikan was not because he was dull-witted and had not been able to graduate, thus "repeating" in the Shieikan.

The reason he stayed at Shieikan was quite simple—he had such deep feelings for Shieikan that he voluntarily stayed without asking for anything in return, helping the Kondo family run Shieikan.

Inoue Genzaburo spent more than a decade at the Shieikan (Test Palace), dedicating his prime years to it.

I seek neither fame nor any reward.

He quietly mentored the younger generation at the Shieikan Academy and did everything he could for the Academy.

All for the sake of making the Shieikan (Test Guard Hall) better.

Grateful for Inoue Genzaburo's long-standing dedication and contributions, the Kondo family reciprocated with the utmost respect.

Long ago, before Okita even moved into the Shieikan, Shusuke invited Inoue Genzaburo, who was renting a dilapidated house at the time, to come and live with them under the same roof.

In order to better assist Kondo and others in managing the Shieikan, Inoue Genzaburo gladly accepted Shusuke's invitation.

Therefore, Inoue Genzaburo can be considered one of the earliest diners at Shieikan.

The fact that Shusuke and his family directly invited Inoue Genzaburo to live in the Shieikan... shows that the Kondo family truly did not treat Inoue Genzaburo as an outsider at all.

On the first day after moving into Shieikan, Okita told Aoto that Inoue Genzaburo had gone back to his hometown because of some trouble, and would not be able to return to Edo for some time.

This is why Qing Deng and the others have only just met Inoue Genzaburo for the first time.

*******

*******

Yesterday's monthly pass reward goal was successfully achieved! So as promised, I'm releasing a massive 1-word update today!

Let's continue with the monthly pass bounty.

The current monthly vote count is 6100. If we can reach 7200 votes today, the author will continue to update more frequently tomorrow!

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Just a little heads-up~ Tomorrow will feature some long-awaited action scenes.

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Chapter 197 Qing Deng vs. Inoue Genzaburo, Copying the Talent [Strengthened Essence]! [8500]

Perhaps because of his darker complexion and rougher skin texture, Inoue looks a little older.

He's only 31 years old this year, just past the age of thirty, but he looks like a middle-aged man who's at least 40.

From Inoue's interactions with Shusuke, Kondo, Okita, and others, it's easy to see that the Kondo family truly treated Inoue like family.

Shusuke spoke to Inoue with the same warmth and enthusiasm one would show to a close friend or family member.

Ah Bi, who usually has a sour face, unusually put away his cold expression.

Kondo and Okita looked at Inoue with eyes full of respect and trust.

Inoue, an outsider, actually holds such a high position in the Shieikan and the Kondo family... Aoto understands this quite well.

After all, Aoto was also very impressed by Inoue's story.

Before officially meeting Inoue tonight, and before even knowing what Inoue looked like, Aoto already had great respect for this old man from the Shieikan.

In a previous conversation, Okita had mentioned to Aoto that after Inoue moved into the Shieikan dojo, he voluntarily took on almost all the housework, including laundry, cleaning, and cooking. Inoue also often volunteered to do the various hard and tiring tasks necessary for running a sword-making dojo, such as scrubbing the dojo floor and cleaning bamboo swords.

Whenever someone asks Inoue why he works so hard and does all the dirty, tiring, and difficult work without complaint, this old man always answers with a cheerful smile:

"Because these things are very interesting. Don't you think it's a lot of fun to build and manage your beloved sword club yourself? I certainly enjoy it."

In short—Inoue Genzaburo was a diligent old ox at Shieikan.

For Shusuke, Kondo, and others, Inoue was not only an old butler who took care of their daily lives in an orderly manner, but also a trustworthy and affectionate disciple and a reliable senior.

From the moment they entered the hall... no, to be precise, from the moment Qing Deng and the others appeared, Inoue's gaze had basically never left Qing Deng and the others.

His gaze toward Qingdeng and the others was full of curiosity.

It's not surprising that Inoue would look at Aoto and the others with such a gaze...

After all, before he returned to his hometown to help his old friend reclaim wasteland, the residents of Shieikan were only him, Shusuke, Abi, Kondo, and Okita, a total of only 5 people.

It had only been about half a year since I had returned to Edo, and suddenly so many new faces had appeared at the Shieikan...

Inoue must have known that "the Shieikan has seen a lot of new guests in recent months, led by Aoto."