I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qingdeng dodged the ugly man's fierce attack by turning his body to the side, and then pounced on him, pressing against the ugly man's right abdomen.

In the next instant, the ghost god swiftly slashed across the ugly man's belly like lightning!

That ugly guy is no pushover either.

Seeing Qingdeng's sword coming at him, he desperately dodged to the side while simultaneously retaliating with a vicious blow.

Qingdeng caught a glimpse of the ugly man's sword flashing before his eyes... He felt a cut on his left upper arm, but it didn't hurt much, so the wound probably wasn't deep.

The ugly guy only inflicted minor injuries on Qing Deng. But the injuries Qing Deng inflicted on the ugly guy were...

Qingdeng brushed past the ugly guy.

After charging forward several steps without losing momentum, Qing Deng turned around, drew his knife, and assumed a mid-range stance, ready to attack or defend, to check the ugly guy's movements.

"Cough...! Cough cough...!"

The ugly man hung his head and coughed violently. Large gushes of blood gushed from his mouth and nose... the blood was mixed with fragments of internal organs.

He slowly turned around, knife in hand, staring at Qingdeng with bloodshot eyes from the pain, and staggered towards him.

He only took two steps before his ankles seemed to lose strength, and his lower body became unstable.

When he was only inches away from Qingdeng, he raised his knife high and assumed a high stance.

However, as soon as he raised his knife, he heard a "thud"—the knife suddenly slipped from his hand.

The ugly bastard is still standing there.

He maintained the posture of holding the knife high, looking at Qing Deng with a resentful and unwilling expression.

His body then began to shake violently. Finally, he fell face down to the ground, lifeless.

--17 pcs……!

Qingdeng certainly didn't have the time to "stand still and quietly watch the ugly guy's last struggle"—before the ugly guy could even cough up blood and walk towards Qingdeng, the remaining four members of the Extermination Group launched... a final siege against Qingdeng.

Although Yunliu's "indoor combat techniques" have many methods and skills, their core concepts are only two—

First, make good use of your ears.

Secondly, learn to control the length of the weapon.

Tian Cangxiao once earnestly told Qing Deng: A common mistake made by people without indoor fighting experience is ignoring the limitations that a confined environment places on weapons.

Right now, one person has made the same basic mistake that Tian Cangxiao mentioned.

One of the three men who had just clashed with Qing Deng suddenly lost his composure for some unknown reason.

While yelling "Awooo!", he swung his knife wildly and haphazardly.

"Kuze!" the one-armed samurai cried out anxiously, "Don't do anything rash!"

The one-armed warrior tried to awaken the man's sanity with his voice.

But before the one-armed warrior could finish speaking—

Bang!

The man swung his knife haphazardly and accidentally struck the paper sliding door beside him, the blade embedding itself deeply into the door frame.

In the blink of an eye... it really was just the blink of an eye, the man's face turned as pale as if it had been smeared with fine snow.

He frantically tried to pull the knife back, but it was stuck too deep in the door frame, making it difficult to remove immediately.

Sometimes, some mistakes can only be made once in a lifetime.

Qingdeng seized the opportunity and immediately stepped forward.

When the man saw Qing Deng charging towards him, he no longer bothered to draw his sword and quickly let go, leaving the sword embedded in the paper sliding door.

But just as he freed his hands, his waist was chopped off, leaving only a tiny bit of skin and flesh connecting him.

His head, hands, and shoulders all drooped limply, but his feet still retained some momentum and muscle memory—even though he was dead, his feet still supported his lifeless upper body, and he swayed unsteadily for a few steps.

The time he fell to the ground coincided with the time when the ugly guy collapsed.

The two people not only fell to the ground at the same time, but also in almost the same place—their bodies were piled on top of each other on the tatami mat.

--18 pcs……!

Two dark figures, along with the suffocating killing intent they carried, rushed towards Qingdeng.

Qing Deng let out a low shout and gracefully dodged the two men's slashing blades, leaving two streaks of light behind him.

—19, 20…!

Without even glancing behind him, Qing Deng faced his final two adversaries: the one-armed samurai and Takasugi Shinsaku, who hadn't made a move yet—the two behind him were already collapsing to the ground, clutching their bleeding wounds.

"Whirring whirring……"

The intense, continuous battle had made Qing Deng's breathing somewhat rapid, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his skin, but his physical strength was basically intact.

Continuing the fight is not a problem.

He glanced at the one-armed samurai, then at Takasugi Shinsaku—Aoto's gaze lingered on Takasugi Shinsaku for an unusually long time.

"..." Takasugi Shinsaku stared at Aoto for a moment before turning his head to look at the one-armed samurai beside him.

Takasugi Shinsaku's action was a final, one-time confirmation to the one-armed samurai: Do you really not need my help?

The one-armed samurai immediately sensed the look in Takasugi Shinsaku's eyes and the meaning behind it.

He shook his head firmly and without hesitation, then revealed an expression as if he were about to do something noble and selfless, taking a step forward and then half a step to the left, standing directly in front of Qingdeng.

Seeing the one-armed warrior's actions, Qing Deng asked softly, "Aren't you... going to attack together?"

The one-armed warrior ignored Qing Deng's rhetorical question.

He straightened his back forcefully, inhaled deeply, until his chest bulged to its limit—

"Tachibana Seito! I am Toudou Takataka! I am a childhood friend of Kanno Tatsugoro!"

Tatsugoro Kanno... a familiar name I haven't heard in a long time.

At this critical juncture, the sudden claim that Jinno was his good friend... Qing Deng, who vaguely guessed what the one-armed samurai was planning to do next, lowered his eyelids slightly.

What the one-armed warrior said and did next perfectly confirmed Qing Deng's conjecture.

"You first slaughtered my partners, then killed my dearest friend and ruined our great cause! I cannot let this blood feud go unavenged!"

At this point, the one-armed samurai... or rather, Takataka Todo, slowly raised his sword, the tip pointing at Aoto.

"Ju Qingdeng! I hereby formally request that you be the target of my revenge!"

Upon hearing the word "revenge," Takasugi Shinsaku, who was standing to the side, widened his eyes slightly in surprise.

Even Qing Deng, who had already guessed what the one-armed warrior wanted, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Since the Tokugawa family established the Edo Shogunate, in order to better tame the samurai class, who were the ruling class of the country, the samurai's ethical values... namely "Bushido" began to take shape under the leadership of the Tokugawa family.

Honor is more important than life—this was one of the core tenets of Bushido in the Edo period, and also one of its most distorted.

Many of the laws in the "Buke Sohorei" (Laws for the Military Houses), the basic law drafted by the Edo Shogunate to regulate samurai, were formulated with the aim of "protecting the honor of samurai".

A typical example of this is the "Zansha Gomen," which allows one to execute disrespectful servants, townspeople, and commoners without punishment.

Since the samurai had developed an almost pathological pursuit of honor under the influence of Bushido, the question of "who to avenge" became an unavoidable topic.

If one day, someone kills his parents and takes his wife... if he doesn't personally slay this scoundrel, what honor can he have left?

Therefore, revenge naturally became an important right for samurai to maintain their honor.

Therefore, while the Edo Shogunate prohibited samurai from dueling in private, it did not prohibit them from seeking revenge against those with whom they had a blood feud.

In short, during the Edo period, samurai could legally seek revenge.

Whether or not one kills their own enemy directly affects how the world judges them.

People generally respect those who succeed in seeking revenge, pity those who fail, and despise those who dare not seek revenge.

This led to the emergence of a special system... or rather, a culture: "revenge and reprisal".

Whether they were hatamoto or gokenin under the shogun, or samurai of the "three hundred lords", they could rightfully obtain the right to "kill and seek revenge".

When deciding who to take revenge on, the person can apply for "revenge permission" from their superiors.

If the permit is not granted, that's fine, but if it is granted, then the government has an obligation to protect the right of the person to seek revenge and to provide some convenience for the person's revenge journey.

For example, if the person's enemy is in another place, then the government is obligated to issue the person a travel permit that allows them to travel freely throughout the country.

It is considered extremely shameful not to seek revenge—this kind of mentality has subtly and continuously influenced the values ​​of the samurai class.

Today, "revenge" has become something imbued with a special sacred meaning among the samurai community.

He could have asked Takasugi Shinsaku for help, but instead chose to ask Aoto for revenge alone—the one-armed samurai… or rather, it shows Takataka Todo’s emphasis on honor and his desire to avenge his fallen comrades using only the strength of the Extermination Group.

“…I understand.” Qing Deng nodded. “I accept your request for revenge.”

Qingdeng gestured with his chin toward the corridor, indicating that they should change battlefields.

Takayuki Todo nodded slightly, then moved sideways with Aoto, stepping over the pools of blood and corpses on the tatami mats, and moved to the corridor outside the room.

"Ju Qingdeng! Next... I will use the ultimate technique that I have painstakingly honed over more than a decade! If this move fails to defeat you... then I have lost!"

After shouting, Takataka Todo sheathed his sword, bowed his head and bent his waist, leaned to the side with his left shoulder extended, and lightly placed his right palm on the hilt of the sword, assuming the stance for iaido.

Seeing this, Qing Deng thought to himself: He must be planning to use his "one-armed sword-drawing technique".

Takayuki Todo's Iaijutsu, which he executed with only one arm and whose power was so great that it made Aoto feel numbness in both arms, left a deep impression on Aoto.

Was it because he had finally encountered a master of swordsmanship that he was itching to try his hand at it?

Or is it for some other reason?

Qingdeng was also confused about what was going on.

In short—Qing Deng pursed his lips thoughtfully, then suddenly flipped his right wrist, making a flashy and cool knife flourish, changing the grip on the Ding Gui Shen sword from upright to inverted.

"The profound secret... If that's the case, I can't be negligent either."

Qing Deng sheathed his sword, lowered his head and bent his waist, leaned to the side and extended his left shoulder, his right palm lightly resting on the hilt of the sword.

Seeing that Aoto had adopted the same stance as them, Takataka Todo and Shinsaku Takasugi, who was watching the battle from a short distance away, both showed expressions of astonishment.

However, in the blink of an eye, Takataka Todo regained his composure.

He gritted his teeth and concentrated all his strength on the toes of his forefoot: