I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Inoue also realized that if it came down to a contest of strength, he was no match for Aoto, whose waist strength was currently astonishing. Therefore, he stopped fighting Aoto with his sword and instead used his own footwork to entangle with Aoto.

Inoue nimbly dodged Aoto's first two strikes. Just as Aoto was about to unleash his third strike, Inoue shifted his stance, turning retreat into advance! His swift footsteps towards Aoto concealed a deadly intent, leaving no room for complacency.

In the blink of an eye, Inoue's bamboo sword was already in front of Qing Deng. Inoue's attack was extremely tricky in both timing and angle, but Qing Deng still managed to easily deflect it with his own sword.

Just as Inoue's sword was deflected, Inoue had already returned to his original position using his footwork, still maintaining a steady and flawless stance.

Perhaps not wanting Aoto to take control of the sparring match, Inoue, unusually, stopped passively enduring Aoto's fierce attacks. He changed his stance from mid-range to level blue-eyed and launched a counterattack with a horizontal slash aimed directly at Aoto's eyes.

Qingdeng's vision was instantly filled by the rapidly approaching bamboo sword.

In that split second, Qing Deng tilted his head and heard the piercing sound of Inoue's sword whistling past as it cut through the air.

Inoue intended to pursue Aoto... but Aoto's counterattack came!

Almost at the same instant that Qing Deng tilted his head to dodge Jing Shang's slash, Qing Deng's bamboo sword suddenly swung upwards, cleaving straight at Jing Shang's waist!

Because of its strong waist strength, the sword is imbued with an unstoppable blade force!

Inoue hurriedly sheathed his sword in front of him, barely managing to deflect Aoto's blade. As if bounced away, the two quickly moved apart.

At this moment, Inoue's gaze toward Aoto was filled with astonishment.

—His speed increased...and his strength increased...!

As the opponent currently fighting Aoto, Inoue was more perceptive than anyone else on the field: as the battle intensified, Aoto's strength and speed did not gradually weaken due to exhaustion, but instead continued to grow stronger!

Actually, Inoue misunderstood.

It's not that Qingdeng's strength or speed has increased.

Instead, Qingdeng's body, which had been dormant for over two months, is gradually regaining its former vitality!

Qing Deng's muscles throughout his body were rapidly recalling the feeling of battle!

Knowing that he was no match for Qing Deng's Inoue in terms of either strength or speed, his expression darkened slightly.

Without any advantage in strength or speed, the longer the battle drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for him.

Therefore, Inoue gripped the bamboo sword in his hand, determined to finish the battle quickly!

"Drink up—!"

With the help of the combined force of the breath and sound, Inoue's shadow on the floor once again overlapped with Aoto's shadow.

Inoue, seemingly tireless and as if he were pinning all his hopes on the outcome of this contest on his next offensive, launched a fierce and relentless attack on Aoto.

The tip and blade of the bamboo sword fell on Qing Deng's body like raindrops in a sudden downpour.

Qingdeng did not dodge away from the perilous "rain curtain," but stood still and fearlessly raised his sword to fight!

The dense clanging of bamboo swords drowned out the breathing of everyone inside, as well as the chirping of crickets and other insects outdoors.

Qing Deng, desperately defending against Inoue's attacks, was swaying and looked as if he might collapse to the ground at any moment due to being unable to withstand Inoue's fierce onslaught.

But a closer look reveals that from the moment he began defending against Inoue's attack, Aoto's feet never retreated an inch.

Charging up, parrying, rebounding... Qing Deng, who had taken every attack from Inoue, gradually got used to the power and rhythm of Inoue's attacks.

Then, Qingdeng's waist began to emit a strong aura... With the combination of his two great talents, "Iron Waist" and "Bear Waist", a surge of power accumulated in Qingdeng's spine.

Inoue's attacks and Aoto's defenses seemed endless.

But humans are not robots; it's impossible for them to make perfect, error-free movements every time.

What happened next... really happened in an instant.

When the slashing blade was deflected by Qing Deng again, Inoue used the recoil force to realign the direction and angle of the blade.

But perhaps because his mind had become a little lax, or perhaps his muscles were starting to feel tired, in short—Inoue hadn't adjusted his sword-wielding posture properly.

Since the start of the battle, he had maintained a rock-solid stance, but at this moment, a fleeting flaw appeared!

We've finally gotten this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... there's no reason for us to let it slip by!

With a glint in his eyes, Qing Deng slashed fiercely at Inoue's chest. Inoue, who was not maintaining an ideal sword-wielding posture, struggled to raise his sword to defend.

Although he successfully parried Qing Deng's attack, his openings became even larger!

Inoue, who failed to perfectly parry Qing Deng's slash, seemed to slip and fall, his body leaning backward dramatically.

The next instant, the power that Qingdeng had been silently accumulating at his waist suddenly burst forth!

Qing Deng leaped up, raising his bamboo sword high above his head, the blade hurtling straight towards the top of the well with the force of a suspended river!

Unable to dodge due to his unstable posture, Inoue could only raise his bamboo sword, attempting to take Aoto's attack head-on.

However... without a solid stance, there's no way to perfectly withstand Qing Deng's attack.

Inoue's bamboo sword was still a beat too slow.

Snapped!

Qingdeng's bamboo sword struck Inoue's mask precisely.

Inoue, struck in the forehead by a sword, staggered back three steps before crashing heavily to the ground.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully replicated talent: "Strong sperm"]

[Talent Description: Rapid recovery of mental and physical strength]

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I didn't reach my monthly pass reward goal yesterday, what a pity... (leopard crying.jpg) & (slapping leopard's belly.jpg)

However, to thank everyone for their enthusiastic voting support, the author has tried their best to make this chapter a little longer today!

Today is the last day of the month. If you still have monthly tickets, please be sure to vote for this book! (Crying leopard.jpg)

The second character popularity vote is still ongoing.

Kinoshita Mai has surpassed the young lady again. The battle is fierce!

Chapter 198 The Female Version of Okita Souji

After hearing the "ding" sound in his mind, Qing Deng immediately held his breath and listened carefully to the content of the system message.

After the system finished explaining what kind of talent Qingdeng had copied, Qingdeng couldn't help but secretly cheer.

—Strong sperm...not bad talent...!

The ability to recover energy and stamina quickly... is another top-tier talent that countless people would envy.

Qing Deng, secretly delighted at having gained yet another powerful talent, sighed inwardly:

—The difference in quality among the apprentices at the Shieikan is indeed quite significant…

Not long after he became a disciple of the Shiwei Hall, Qing Deng discovered a very obvious flaw in the hall—the quality gap between the apprentices was too large.

Those who stand at the very top of the Shieikan pyramid... are Kondo, Okita, Hijikata, and Inoue, all of whom possess high overall qualities.

Not only are they all very strong, but each of them also possesses top-tier talent.

Lone Wolf, Sword Prodigy, Demon Heart, Strong Spirit... the talents of these four are all incredibly amazing.

However, the overall quality of the other apprentices below these four, those in the lower to middle ranks of the Examination Hall, was, to put it mildly, questionable...

Let's set aside our abilities and just talk about talent.

All told, it has been almost 8 months since the Qingdeng Entrance Examination Hall was established.

With so many people in the entire test hall and so much time having passed, Aoto has so far only successfully copied his talent from five people: Shusuke, Kondo, Okita, Hijikata, and Inoue.

Let's not even talk about god-level talents like "Heart of a Demon" or "Lone Courage." Qingdeng doesn't expect these incredibly powerful talents to appear in bulk.

The talent of "sword skills amplified by X times the average level of ordinary people," which is relatively more common, was not found in any of the other apprentices at the Examination Hall.

The overall quality of the apprentices at the Imperial Medical Academy is evident...

The reason for this phenomenon is not hard to imagine—the quality of the student body is not ideal.

Although Shieikan's reputation is much better than before, a sword-making school, like a brand, cannot be built up overnight.

The three major sword schools, such as Xuanwu Hall, Training Hall, and Scholar Hall, all built their reputations and grew stronger through hard work and a lot of time.

Compared to Shieikan, a newly established sword school that was recently derisively called "taro dojo," those with high overall qualities and those prodigies with titles such as "prodigy" naturally prefer to study at well-established sword schools.

That's enough!

After Aoto knocked Inoue to the ground with a sword strike, Shusuke, who was acting as the referee, immediately walked quickly between the two and extended his right hand towards Aoto, who was standing to his right, indicating that Aoto had won the sparring match.

"Thank you for your kind offer." Qing Deng tucked the bamboo sword back to his left waist and bowed politely to Inoue.

Inoue, who had fallen to the ground, rolled nimbly like a carp and stood up again in a flash. After returning Qing Deng's greeting, he took off his mask and let out a frank laugh of "hahaha".

"Tachibana-kun, that was a beautiful strike!"

The old face beneath the well cover was covered in sweat... but it wasn't sweat from fatigue.

Anyone who has worn this kind of protective mask knows how stuffy and uncomfortable it is. Even if you just stand there without doing any strenuous exercise, you will still be covered in sweat.

Wearing this kind of mask in the summer... is basically torture.

Not to mention Inoue, Aoto's face was also covered in sticky sweat from being stuffed up by the mask.

"You're really amazing. I'm completely overwhelmed by you. I've used every attack method I can think of, but none of them worked."

"I haven't lost so convincingly in a long time."

Inoue, who spared no praise for Aoto, showed no resentment or frustration at losing to a junior like Aoto.

His dark, old face was beaming with a wide smile.

A very genuine smile.

It's as if losing to a junior like Qing Deng is something to be happy about.

The sparring session between Aoto and Inoue lasted a little over 3 minutes.

To the untrained eye, the two appeared to be fighting fiercely, neither giving an inch.

But to those in the know... such as Okita and the others who had been watching from the edge of the dojo, the sparring between Aoto and Inoue wasn't that intense.