I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Kawashima truly lived up to his reputation as the swordsman known as "Oni Hachizo." Faced with Qing Deng's attack, which was fully buffed, no one without skill could possibly withstand it.

Kawashima raised his sword to block, and the two swords crossed. Kawashima used his bamboo sword to slightly deflect the corner of Qing Deng's slash, so that only the tip of Qing Deng's sword grazed the corner of Kawashima's clothes on his shoulder.

At that moment, one after another, swordsmen from the Xuanwu Hall approached Qingdeng from all directions.

Kawashima's provocation tactic was effective.

Those swordsmen who had initially looked panicked gritted their teeth and followed Kawashima's lead, charging towards Qingdeng one after another with their swords drawn.

In the blink of an eye, the nine remaining Genbukan swordsmen, excluding Chiba Dozaburo, formed a large circle that tightly surrounded Aoto.

"Nioh."

Kawashima, facing off against Aoto, raised his sword with a grim face.

"Don't blame us for ganging up on you..."

"Enough with the nonsense."

Qingdeng quietly held the knife in front of him.

"Bring it on!"

The loud shout, coupled with the golden halo cast on his body by the intense sunlight, made Qingdeng look just like an awe-inspiring and inviolable god!

"Hokushin Itto-ryu, Kawashima Hachizo, here I come!"

Kawashima Hachizo's sword, along with his resounding breath, pressed down towards Aoto.

Instead of fighting Kawashima, Qing Deng gripped his bamboo sword tightly and leaped to his right front, dodging Kawashima's attack and landing in front of a Genbukan swordsman.

*Crack! Crack! Crack!* — Like a hungry tiger pouncing on a sheep, with three muffled thuds of bamboo swords clashing, Qing Deng broke through the man's defense. The man's skill was clearly still lacking; although he barely managed to block Qing Deng's first two sword strikes, he failed to block the final one, thus disrupting his own stance.

There's not much to say—a single sword shattered a bowl.

At this moment, Qing Deng, whose back was empty, stared intently at the Xuanwu Hall swordsmen who were approaching step by step from the left and right.

At that moment, Qing Deng caught a glimpse of two more people approaching him out of the corner of his eye—these two newly appeared swordsmen stood to Qing Deng's left rear, like two hunters waiting for the best hunting opportunity, their eyes fixed on Qing Deng's back.

Qingdeng has begun to take action.

He first took a step to the right and slashed at the swordsman on his right. Although the attack was blocked, he successfully forced the man back.

Then, Qingdeng turned his head to the left while keeping his mind focused.

When the swordsman on the left saw Qing Deng swing his sword at the man from before, he immediately attacked like a cat smelling blood.

He hadn't expected Qing Deng to point a knife at him so quickly. Suddenly facing Qing Deng, a look of panic appeared on his face.

However, as a scion of a prestigious family like Xuanwu Hall, his own quality and level could not possibly be lacking.

The look of panic on the man's face vanished in an instant. He immediately followed his instincts and quickly took several steps back, increasing the distance between himself and Qingdeng...

Suddenly, the two guys standing behind Qingdeng on the left attacked like a whirlwind!

The body follows the feet, the arms follow the body, and the wrists follow the arms—Qing Deng completes this set of movements with fluid and graceful movements, rapidly rotating around the left foot as the axis, and using the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the body to swing the sword horizontally like wielding a spear.

The two were forced to stop.

Seizing the opportunity, Qingdeng charged towards the two men by pushing off the ground twice. In the instant they passed each other, Qingdeng swung his sword from below, striking one of them hard on the left leg and knocking him to the ground.

Qingdeng had no time to take a closer look at the guy lying on the ground; he was busy handing over a new pursuit to another person.

At this moment, this person seemed unwilling to just passively take the beating, so he raised the bamboo sword high above his head and then slashed it down!

Qingdeng raised his sword to parry the man's attack, and then the sword flashed again and again!

Qingdeng first swept the man's waist, causing him to lose his balance and stance, then pounced on him and smashed the porcelain bowl with the bottom of the bamboo sword hilt.

[Successfully replicated talent: "Minor Proficiency in Archery"]

[Talent Introduction: Archery talent is boosted 4 times the average level]

……

[Advanced "Bow Master" Ability]

[“Master of Bows” Talent Introduction: Bowing talent is boosted 18 times the average level]

—Archery again?

Qing Deng suddenly realized that he seemed to have a special affinity for archery, and he copied his archery-related talents quite frequently.

In an era when the West had already completed its first industrial revolution, the status of the bow and arrow had become somewhat delicate.

Qingdeng felt that he might never need to use his archery talent in his entire life.

Compared to archery, Qing Deng prefers to have his spear skills amplified.

Qingdeng felt that he was more likely to get his hands on a musket than a bow.

Without time to think about his talent, Qing Deng turned around to face the person attacking from behind when he heard a strange noise behind him.

The tactic Qingdeng is employing at this moment can be described as a textbook example of the most effective strategy for defeating a larger enemy force with a smaller one.

Since crossing over, Qingdeng has frequently faced enemy forces that far outnumber his own.

A blessing in disguise. In one fierce battle after another, Qingdeng gradually accumulated valuable experience in defeating the many with the few—the importance of running.

Keep running, get your enemies to run with you, disrupt their formation, create one-on-one opportunities, and turn a battle with fewer enemies into multiple one-on-one battles.

At this moment, Qing Deng's figure could be seen constantly shuttling and soaring among the swordsmen of Xuanwu Hall.

Qingdeng, who moved rapidly without stopping and never stayed in one place for more than 3 seconds, made the swordsmen of Xuanwu Hall run around in circles.

Just as they saw Qingdeng right in front of them and were about to rush forward, Qingdeng had already turned around and gone elsewhere in an instant.

They hurriedly gave chase, but before they even arrived, Qingdeng, with his far superior speed and keener sense of timing in retreating, had already slipped to the next location.

Sometimes it leaps into the air.

Sometimes it would run wildly into the distance.

Qingdeng, who was as elusive as the wind, left the Xuanwu Hall swordsmen in a sorry state, making them look foolish at times.

At that moment, two swordsmen, in their haste to catch up with Qingdeng, failed to watch where they were going and accidentally collided with each other.

In terms of individual strength and teamwork in group battles, the Xuanwu Hall swordsmen are far superior to the members of the Exile Group that Qing Deng had previously faced—the confrontation with the former made Qing Deng feel a heavy pressure that he had not felt when fighting the latter.

However, no matter how strong the Xuanwu Hall swordsmen are, they are still far inferior to Qing Deng, whose swordsmanship is more than a hundred times that of an ordinary person, who possesses a host of powerful talents, and who has extensive experience in fighting outnumbered opponents.

The Genbukan side still lacked a "commander-type" talent. With Chiba Tamon Shiro out of the game and Chiba Michizaburo busy dealing with Souji and others, no one could provide accurate command for them. As a result, their battles were chaotic, and they hardly produced any effective or decent teamwork.

Basically, wherever Qingdeng appears, they swarm there in droves.

In any case, the weaknesses that the Xuanwu Hall swordsmen currently possess have become Qing Deng's advantages.

Qingdeng used the bamboo sword in his hand to gradually expand these advantages into a winning position!

Charging to the right, running to the left, lunging forward, leaping backward... every movement of Qing Deng's figure would inevitably elicit one or even several screams from the arena.

one strike.

Another blow!

Qingdeng's figure repeatedly jumped from one porcelain bowl that was about to shatter to the next.

The phrases "slicing melons and cutting vegetables" and "cutting through tangled mess with a swift knife" best describe Qingdeng's killing spree.

Although the Xuanwu Hall swordsmen fought bravely and tenaciously, with each one being knocked down and a new one immediately rushing forward to fill the gap, their spirit could not conceal the signs of defeat.

Because of the full activation of "Gathering Spirit," Qing Deng's mind was extremely tense.

Only the system voice that occasionally rang in his mind could occasionally bring Qing Deng back to his senses from a state of high concentration.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: "Minor Proficiency in Swordsmanship"]

[Talent Introduction: Swordsmanship talent is amplified 7 times the average level]

[Beep! A "Minor Master of Swordsmanship" cannot merge with a "Saint of Swords"]

[Talent Fusion Failed]

……

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: "Minor Proficiency in Swordsmanship"]

……

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: "Minor Proficiency in Swordsmanship"]

……

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: "Minor Proficiency in Swordsmanship"]

……

It was copied to four "Minor Masters of Swordsmanship" in a row... Unfortunately, Qingdeng's "Sword Saint" could no longer merge with the "Minor Masters of Swordsmanship", so these four copies were purely for nothing.

After successfully smashing yet another swordsman's porcelain bowl, Qing Deng suddenly realized: why had the surroundings become so much quieter?

He looked around and realized that, without his own awareness, he had defeated almost all the swordsmen of the Xuanwu Hall!

Excluding Chiba Michisaburo, the only one who hasn't been eliminated yet is "Oni Hachizo" Kawashima!

As Qing Deng tried to regulate his disordered breathing, he turned his head to look at Kawashima, who was standing beside him.

When Qing Deng looked over, Kawashima was staring at him with a serious expression.

The title "Oni Hachizo" is truly well-deserved.

Qing Deng was deeply impressed—in the chaotic battle just now, he had engaged in fierce fighting with Kawashima more than once, and the outcome was always difficult to determine.

Needless to say.

Kawashima lowered his sword and assumed a lower stance.

Qing Deng raised the tip of his sword, lifting the rosy clouds.

The next moment, their swords became entangled in mid-air.