I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

This new method, simply put, is to seize every opportunity to show off! To show off by any means necessary! To constantly establish and reinforce one's superior image in front of subordinates and colleagues through showing off.

If you can successfully establish the image of "this person is not an ordinary person and should not be messed with" in the minds of your subordinates and colleagues, then everything you do in the future will become much more convenient.

Kuroba's praise earlier made Qing Deng's eyes light up—he had just completed the feat of "60 kills," and it was the perfect time to show off!

If not now, when?

So Qingdeng quickly racked his brains, figuring out what he should say and how to respond to Heiyu's words in order to achieve the best effect of showing off.

I don't know why, but when thinking about these kinds of questions, Qingdeng's mind always works particularly fast.

In the blink of an eye, the words "My sword is no longer confined to any particular school or sect. All martial arts can be used by me," and "Unparalleled in the world? What's there to mention?" immediately came to Qing Deng's mind.

Qingdeng thinks these two sentences are absolutely fantastic! They're both cool and sophisticated, and aside from being insincere, they have no flaws!

It greatly helped him to create a majestic image of "superior talent" in front of his followers, so without thinking, with the help of "the art of emperors," he calmly and seriously spouted nonsense in front of everyone.

In other words—all that nonsense about "being able to use everything for my own purposes"...and that nonsense about "being insignificant"...it's all made up by Qing Deng!

However, there was a touch of truth mixed in with the lie.

Recently, Qing Deng has indeed learned many techniques from other schools of martial arts.

The move "Inazuma" that he used to defeat Akabane was something he stole from Saito Hajime, who practiced the Mugai-ryu style.

The reason for this is not that Qing Deng dislikes the Natural Rishin-ryu style and wants to change its appearance; it is simply because the "Sage of the Sword" and the "Heart of the Demon" are just too powerful.

A swordsmanship talent 106 times greater than that of an average person, coupled with exceptional comprehension... the combined power of these two factors is simply terrifying.

Even without dedicated and rigorous study, one can learn and master other people's swordsmanship simply by observing with just two eyes!

The sword stance and "hand-chopping sword" of Hokushin Itto-ryu, the "Inazuma" of Mugai-ryu, the "Monkey Cry" of Jigen-ryu... all of the above techniques were unknowingly mastered by Aoto while watching Sanako, Saito Hajime and others use swords.

If the former can be considered to have some substance, then the latter... namely, the statement "Unparalleled in the world? Not worth mentioning," is complete nonsense!

What's there to mention? How could that be!

If Qingdeng were to one day be fortunate enough to reach the level of "unparalleled in the world," he would probably be laughing in his sleep.

I am now unparalleled in the world! I wish to marry Kinoshita Mai and Chiba Sanako! Who dares to object?

Qingdeng took a deep breath without making a sound, quickly composed himself, and then secretly scanned the expressions of the people around him—a secret joy welled up in his heart once again.

Judging from the current situation, the effect of his boasting just now far exceeded his expectations.

A large group of people, led by Lan Jingyang, all looked completely taken aback.

However, the expressions of a small minority of people were quite meaningful.

For example, Kuroba Shiro.

Another example is Akabane and Shirasaki.

The eloquent and silver-tongued Black Feather has a strange habit: he loves to flatter people and horses. His flattery has a bizarre characteristic: he doesn't discriminate between people and horses.

Even if you are just a commoner who is not even a member of a samurai family, as long as you do something praiseworthy, Kuroba will habitually say a few nice words to you.

This personality trait has made Kuroba very popular. He manages to get along well with everyone in the Third Division, never offending anyone.

Therefore, Kuroba's praise of Aoto just now was just out of habit—but who knew that Aoto could actually follow his lead and say such elegant words and put on such a big show!

Kuroba stared blankly, his gaze unfocused. He had always considered himself "the most eloquent person in the Third Division." But now, he realized with a start: from this day forward, that title seemed to have to be given to someone else…

Compared to Kuroba, who was simply shocked by Aoto's boasting, Akabane, Shirasaki, and the others were displaying a very pure emotion—pure annoyance and disgust.

Especially Akabane. His eyes, filled with disgust, seemed to be spitting fire.

For those who dislike Qingdeng, seeing him in the limelight is more unbearable than being unlucky themselves!

Qing Deng's gaze narrowed slightly as he discreetly identified and memorized the faces of those who weren't currently looking at him with admiration and respect, thinking to himself:

Subduing so many arrogant and fierce soldiers is indeed no easy task...

In fact, there was another secondary reason why Qing Deng suddenly started to act all high and mighty, following Hei Yu's praise: to see who would show him respect after listening to his boasting, and who would be indifferent or disgusted.

The former is an "ally".

The latter are "friendly forces that can be tried to win over in the future" and "enemies that are difficult to tame."

The same rice can feed a hundred different kinds of people.

Some people fear power but do not cherish virtue.

Some people are neither afraid of power nor grateful for virtue.

Demonstrating outstanding personal martial prowess and showing off in public can certainly boost Qing Deng's prestige. However, these methods alone are insufficient to help Qing Deng completely escape the predicament of being an unaffiliated figure and a "parachuted leader."

Looking back on a past life, a great man who pioneered the world once said: "Politics is about making as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible."

Therefore, the method to completely control the Third Division is neither difficult nor simple: try to get as many members as possible to support you and as few members as possible to oppose you.

Qing Deng has demonstrated his formidable martial arts prowess to the fullest through his solo incursion into the enemy camp the day before yesterday and his 60-man kill today.

Those who felt fear and respect for Qing Deng because of his superior martial arts skills had basically won over the hearts of the team members.

Therefore, after such a "major screening", those who still have no feelings for Qingdeng or are still hostile to Qingdeng will no longer think highly of Qingdeng because of his extraordinary skills.

In other words, no matter how many "standing matches" Qingdeng holds or how much he displays his martial arts skills afterward, it will no longer have any useful effect.

Since "showing force" is no longer effective, we must find another way to win over the hearts and minds of the others.

Ever since he learned that he was to be promoted to the new captain of the 3rd Division of the Fire Thief Clan, Qing Deng had been thinking about how he could quickly gain a foothold in the Fire Thief Clan, a place where he was unfamiliar with people and had no foundation.

After a long period of deep thought, Qingdeng actually came up with quite a few solutions.

Qingdeng already had a plan on how to win people's hearts and how to make as many friends as possible...

……

……

The first year of Wanyan (1860), December 7th——

Edo, the Office of the Bureau of Foreign Documents —

Today is a long-awaited day off for Qingdeng.

Taking advantage of the free time today, Qingdeng went to the Foreign Documents Exchange Office, which he hadn't visited in a while, early in the morning.

Even before approaching the Tibetan Script Collection Office, a refreshing smell of paper and ink wafted towards Qingdeng.

Outside the gate of the Foreign Documents Investigation Office, the four guards immediately greeted Qing Deng with warm smiles upon seeing him.

"Good morning, Lord Tachibana!"

Good morning, Mr. Orange!

Qingdeng smiled and responded to their greetings one by one:

"Hello, is Mr. Sheng here?"

"Yes! Mr. Tachibana, you've come at the perfect time! Mr. Katsu arrived at the Foreign Documents Investigation Office very early this morning! He should be working in his study right now!"

Knowing that his trip hadn't been in vain, Qing Deng breathed a sigh of relief. He asked the gatekeeper to inform Katsu Rintaro that Qing Deng had come to visit.

A moment later, the gatekeeper who had gone to report returned: "Mr. Ju! Please come in!"

Qingdeng took off his shoes in the earthen room of the Tibetan Scripture Exchange Office. He took the orange juice from his left waist and carried it with his right hand.

After a fierce battle with Takasugi Shinsaku, Todo Takataka, and others, the Soul-Slaying Blade was damaged once again, so it was sent for repairs again.

Left with no other choice, Qingdeng has had to pick up his old knife, Jushui, again these past few days and make do with it for now.

When entering someone else's home or other building, one must take the katana (sword) from its waist, sheath and all, and carry it with the right hand—this is one of the basic etiquette rules for samurai.

The right hand is the dominant hand of most samurai, and it is inconvenient to draw the sword and cut people when holding the sword with the scabbard in the right hand.

Therefore, when entering someone else's house, holding a knife in your right hand implies "I'm not here to cause trouble."

Qingdeng walked through the familiar corridors with ease.

As a cultural institution dedicated to translating Western books and researching Western knowledge, the Bureau of Foreign Book Translation had a rich academic atmosphere.

Even walking in the corridor, you can smell an atmosphere that is completely different from the outside world.

The sounds of recitation, discussion, turning pages, and writing filled the air.

Most of the people who brushed past Qingdeng in the corridor looked like gentle, refined, and scholarly gentlemen.

Qing Deng thought to himself: The shogunate must have gone to great lengths to gather this group of scholars who are good at studying and who are not opposed to Western knowledge.

A thousand years ago, when Japan relied on envoys to the Sui and Tang dynasties to learn about the advanced culture and systems of the Sui and Tang empires, it once copied the imperial examination system.

However, due to complex national conditions and other reasons, the imperial examination system only lasted for a short time in Japan.

Today, since the concept of "passing exams to become an official" simply doesn't exist, only those who enjoy studying and are not lacking in food and clothing will voluntarily pick up books and study diligently.

Among the samurai class, there were far more brutes who preferred swords and spears than scholars who enjoyed literature and art, which is why Seido had this feeling.

Along the way, Qingdeng frequently received warm smiles from others.

"Ah! Lord Tachibana! It's been a long time!"

"Lord Tachibana! What brings you here?"

"Lord Ju! What brings you here as a guest today?"

With the mindset that "I'm not in a hurry anyway," Qingdeng would stop and exchange a few simple pleasantries with anyone who greeted him.

Ever since Qing Deng repelled the anti-foreign group and protected the nearly destroyed Banshu Institute from the sword of Jin Ye, he has been unanimously respected by the scholars of the Banshu Institute.

This precious connection has enabled Aoto to maintain a very good and close relationship with the scholars of the Institute of Foreign Literature Research... especially Katsura Rintaro, who currently serves as the head of the Institute, or "principal".

Qingdeng would occasionally visit the Tibetan scribes' office on a whim. Every time he visited, he was always warmly welcomed by everyone in the office, from top to bottom.

In three years, Katsura Rintaro will be forty years old. Although he is twice the age of Aoto, he is a humorous person who is not at all like an elder. He is knowledgeable, speaks with humor, and what is more valuable is that he is never arrogant.

Born into a lower-ranking bannerman family, he climbed step by step to his current high position through his own talent and the appreciation of his superiors.

There is already definite news within official circles that Katsura Rintarō will be transferred to the position of head of the naval training center, with full authority over the training and establishment of the shogunate navy.

In other words, Katsura Rintaro is about to be promoted to the right and become the first Fleet Admiral of the Shogunate Navy!

From a lowly samurai to the first Fleet Admiral of the Navy... Logically speaking, with such a dreamlike process of achieving a "rags-to-riches" transformation, Katsura Rintaro should be fully qualified to be arrogant and look down on everyone.

But Katsura Rintaro did not do that.

Despite having achieved so many remarkable accomplishments, he always treated others with gentleness and kindness. He never treated others coldly or spoke ill of them simply because they were of lower status or rank.