Female Swordsman Training Dojo

"Who, who said that! Who likes him! How could I possibly like that shameless lecher!" Miss Fox's voice suddenly rose two octaves. The Shiranui ninjas hiding in other corners exchanged glances, feeling ashamed of their leader's poor lying skills.

"Ah, right, right, then consider it my order. Anyway, if Ping Qingxin tries anything with me, you have to stop him. If you can't beat him, just use your body~ No man can resist you, Sister Lan, especially since Ping Qingxin is so lecherous."

Misuru-hime smiled and teased Shiranui Ran. She didn't think Taira no Harunobu would be that lecherous. Besides, if the plan went smoothly, she probably wouldn't see Taira no Harunobu many times, let alone be alone with him in a room.

She's a woman who wants to revolutionize society! Men are just a hindrance!

Meanwhile, Shiranui Ran recalled the time at Suzuki Manor when Taira no Harunobu grabbed her big butt... Her mask concealed her suddenly blushing face, and the fox lady's mind wandered with all sorts of thoughts. Suddenly, she remembered that Taira no Harunobu seemed to have resisted her charm before.

Although that was only the excess, Taira no Harunobu's strength back then was on a completely different level from his current strength.

"...Lan...Sister Lan?"

Misuruhime's voice drifted from afar, startling Shiranui Ran awake. She hurriedly replied, "My lord, what is it?"

Misuru-hime didn't speak, but looked at her strangely, then gasped: "Ran, you haven't really fallen for that scumbag, have you?"

He was Ping Qingxin just a moment ago, and now he's become a scumbag.

Brothers, you're all masters of disguise.

"My lord!" Shiranui Ran emphasized her words slightly, expressing her dissatisfaction.

Misuru-hime didn't press the matter further, but simply noted it down. However, it wasn't a big problem; Ran's loyalty was beyond question. She wouldn't hesitate to treat even her own sister, Yakumo Kurenai, without hesitation, let alone a man.

Well, not a big problem.

At this moment, in order to divert the awkward atmosphere, Shiranui Ran remembered what she wanted to say earlier and quickly said, "By the way, my lord. I think Taira no Shinichi might not agree to be your partner, especially since your approach is somewhat coercive. I suspect he might even forfeit the match or deliberately admit defeat."

“After all, according to your plan, all his wives would nominally be granted a divorce. Even if they could actually stay, I don’t think he would accept the plan given his protective nature—unless you are willing to be one of his wives, not his only wife.”

Misuru took a deep breath. She never doubted Shiranui Ran's words. But Taira no Harunobu was the best choice, perhaps even the only one. Those who were better than him were too old and too cunning; while those who were as young and easy to control as him were too weak.

Damn it... Could it really be that we're going to force a monogamous law like Father said?

The author says:

Author's Note: It's time to start the Heavenly Scroll Trial. I'm experiencing some writer's block. I should have known better than to update too quickly and instead relied on a stockpile of chapters to prolong the process.

Chapter 297: The Grand Fireworks

In April, cherry blossoms bloom in profusion, their delicate pink petals fluttering in the breeze and casting magnificent shadows under the bright sunshine. While this brings with it the coughs of many hay fever sufferers, it's ultimately harmless. It doesn't detract from the fact that it's a beautiful spring, a vibrant spring, a spring that has begun in grand style.

After five days of fierce competition, the preliminary rounds of the Tianlan Trial have finally come to an end, selecting 400 contestants who will participate in the main competition—of which, Qingkongguan has secured 65 spots.

Although they only participated in the first competition and never went again, it didn't matter. No one questioned the legitimacy of their advancement, and everyone was convinced of it.

After all, if they could chase after other dojos all over Tokyo, beating dozens of dojos so badly they wouldn't dare continue the competition and would have to flee by train overnight, then they could advance without even participating in the competition. Of course, they would also need a super protective and incredibly skilled instructor.

In short, today is the first day of the main competition of the Heavenly Observation Tournament. There are 400 winners from the preliminary rounds and 200 seeded players—including Harunobu, as well as Hirako, Amu Hojo, Yoko Saten, Nana Hanazawa, and Nako Tachibana. Yuzu Tachibana is more interested in magic, and she's a bit too young;

Chapter 321

The Holy Son wanted to participate, but she was too busy and couldn't come.

These people will begin their battles inside the actual competition venue, because the qualifiers' level of facilities simply cannot withstand a fight between truly strong individuals. Furthermore, it's impossible to build so many arenas of that caliber; they're too expensive and too time-consuming.

Furthermore, the issue of spectator capacity must be considered. It's impossible for everyone to crowd together in the open like in the qualifiers, or even climb trees or rooftops. After all, unlike the qualifiers, the main event will be attended by many dignitaries.

Therefore, the Ueno Museum, which was originally scheduled to host the Taisho Culture Exhibition, was transformed into the venue for the Tenran Examination.

Inside, there are three highly reinforced arenas, with concrete bases. The outside is further reinforced with three layers of barriers and eight layers of magic, ensuring that even if three samurai go all out, they won't accidentally kill their opponent. In addition, an extra layer of inward defensive barrier is applied to the arena to prevent the aftershocks of the samurai's battle from affecting the circular audience seating area, and especially the VIP boxes on the second floor.

Whether as the person who had just beaten Kujo Hideki to his knees or as the honorary head of the Special Higher Police, Harunobu rightfully received one of the private boxes.

It seems to be the best one?

Harunobu looked around at the spacious room. Although he couldn't identify the type of wood used for the furniture or the artist behind the ukiyo-e prints on the walls, the bright overhead lights, the exquisite clock and fireplace on the walls, and the soft, thick carpet under his feet all indicated that the room must be quite valuable.

Not to mention the spaciousness—enough to easily accommodate all his wives with plenty of room to move around. This is probably the best option available.

The waiter who led the way stood outside the private room, smiling as he reminded Qingxin, "Master Ping, if you would like to watch the competition below, there are telescopes prepared on the balcony."

Qingxin became interested. He walked to the balcony of the private room, and before even taking out the binoculars on the round table, he had already taken in the entire exhibition hall. He looked around again, confirming that only this particular private room could achieve this effect. The other private rooms all had blind spots and unseen areas.

Well, it really is the best one.

Harunobu briefly looked around before leading his disciples out of the private room again—the competition hadn't officially started yet, and the bureaucrats still had to put on an opening ceremony. Harunobu already anticipated the tedious speeches, but it was better to go out and see the potential opponents than stay there. After all, being alone with his disciples for too long could easily lead to trouble.

However, with Tsuchimikado Haru and Fujiwara Kaguya around, they probably won't go too far, right?

Harunobu's eyes darted around, but the undisguised expressions on his wives' faces dissuaded him from the idea. Clearly, two mere little girls wouldn't be able to stop them from attacking Harunobu.

Led by a waiter, Harunobu returned to the outside of the exhibition hall. Three crowded groups were formed: spectators queuing for tickets, players observing their opponents out of boredom, and bureaucrats and politicians deliberately showing off. Among these groups, the Aozora Hall stood out the most.

Firstly, the fact that they were almost all women, each carrying a knife, was already quite eye-catching; secondly, given the crowded surroundings, their area was the only one with a large empty space, which naturally attracted a lot of attention.

It wasn't that no one tried to approach, but as soon as they stepped into the empty area, a terrifying feeling, as if they were being watched by ferocious beasts or evil spirits, arose spontaneously, causing them to involuntarily retreat.

"To actually use his mind for something like this, that guy is really possessive of his food." Lin Youemon said jokingly, standing next to Lin Yezawa. Lin Yezawa crossed his arms indignantly and said stubbornly, "Wasting energy, it would be interesting if we lost because of this."

"You'd be better off thinking about how your disciples will beat the other disciples later." Lin Youemon turned to look at his disciples and couldn't help but sigh. Only two of his disciples had mastered mental power, and their strength was not even as good as Hiraharu Nobu's, let alone Hiraharu Nobu's few terrifyingly strong disciples. They weren't even worthy of carrying Hiraharu Nobu's shoes.

Forget it.

Hopefully, we'll encounter those monsters as late as possible.

Just then, a deep male voice, amplified by a loudspeaker, rang out from the front of the crowd, and the tedious pre-match speech began. Harunobu yawned, leaned against Hirako, and even reached out to rub his wife's flat stomach.

Hirako's cheeks flushed slightly, but she still obediently adjusted her position to make it easier for Harunobu to touch her. At the same time, she held Harunobu's waist, allowing him to lean against her more easily and do as he pleased.

Those watching this direction couldn't help but tremble, each experiencing different emotions, but with a loud crack, their gazes briefly shifted back to the sky.

The fireworks display was brought forward?

Or was it a mistake?

Who throws fireworks during a speech?

The crowd stared in bewilderment at the celebrity portraits blooming in the sky, the shadowy airships, and the numerous strange packages flying out from them.

A sharp, unfounded sense of crisis suddenly pierced Qingxin's mind.

He suddenly stood up straight, his eyes wide, and shouted, "Activate all the magical artifacts!" Although they didn't know why, all the disciples of Qingkong Pavilion obediently activated the defensive magical artifacts they had been given.

The loud noise also startled the others, who also sensed it but didn't know what to do. Finally, they came to their senses and identified the source of the crisis—but it was already too late.

As the Aozora Pavilion lit up with both a heavy, earthy yellow and a bright, blazing white light, the first batch of explosive charges finally landed. A deafening roar erupted from all directions, and severed limbs, accompanied by screams, transformed into blood-red fireworks, scattering the crowd.

The group from Aozora Pavilion, who had activated their defensive artifacts and were not directly hit by the explosives, were unharmed, but the second round of bombing had already begun.

Harunobu gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to use the wind wall at any moment. Although it was impossible to block all the explosives, it would be enough to control the area around the Aozorakan group.

Then... Harunobu estimated the distance between himself and the airship, figuring out how strong the wind would be to send him up.

Just then, a clear shout came from afar: "Don't panic! Everyone calm down! Warriors, prepare to meet the enemy! Swordsmen, guide the civilians to safety! Hurry!"

Chapter 298: The Head-Slaying Dog

Generally speaking, in the face of such a terrorist attack, even the calmest command will be ignored by the panicked crowd. People gripped by the fear of death have no time to discern whether the command is correct or not; they only think about escaping as quickly as possible to a safe place.

But when that clear voice came, the panicked crowd around them really did regain their composure—this was, of course, the effect of their thoughts.

The kitten tugged at Harunobu's sleeve and explained, "This should be the voice of Minamoto no Kuro, one of the three banners. He is the head of the Genryūkan and is said to be a descendant of Minamoto no Yorimitsu. In addition, he is also a relative of Minamoto no Yuki, so he is considered a cousin."

"It doesn't matter who he is, let him show off if he wants." Qingxin patted the kitten's head. "You guys don't need to get involved here, just protect yourselves."

The kitten pouted: "So you're going to teachers' college?"

"Of course, we can't let people think that all of us at Aozorakan are hypocrites." Harunobu didn't want his wives to get involved because he was worried about them, but he himself didn't care. This kind of terrorist attack did indeed make him feel extremely disgusted and repulsed.

And, extremely angry!

If it weren't for that sudden, intuitive warning, perhaps members of the Azure Sky Pavilion would have been among those scattered in the earlier eruption. Even if he was confident he could spot the explosive charges when they reached a certain height and block them with a wind wall, what if he was just a little too slow, or missed one of the charges, allowing it to explode nearby—without magical protection…

Chapter 322

The aftershocks were enough to injure the disciples of Qingkong Pavilion, whose physical constitutions were still within the range of ordinary people.

Just thinking about that possibility made Harunobu feel his blood surging and rising, and he wished he could immediately blast all those people who were still throwing explosives into dust!

And that's exactly what he's planning to do.

Patting the worried kitten's head, Harunobu instructed Hirako, "Take good care of everyone; your safety comes first."

“Yes, teacher.” Hirako nodded in agreement, and the others did not stop Harunobu any further. Instead, they quickly began to act and joined the evacuation of civilians.

Harunobu looked at them, a little worried, but finally pursed his lips and turned his gaze to the sky.

The second wave of explosive charges was rapidly falling under the influence of gravity, but fortunately, the earlier sound had successfully roused the crowd. As the explosive charges descended into the air, numerous projectiles flew out from the ranks of the samurai. From simple pebbles and pieces of iron to more standard throwing knives and kunai, these projectiles accurately hit the explosive charges in mid-air, knocking them away or detonating them prematurely.

Meanwhile, another group shouted out directions, marking the landing point of the explosives. They all emanated obvious mental energy fluctuations, clearly having enhanced their senses with their mental focus to successfully determine the explosives' landing location.

Even so, due to the large number of people, some escapees were still rapidly approaching the crowd that couldn't be evacuated in time. Qingxin took a deep breath, his body elongating in the air, twisting and turning like lightning, knocking all the explosive charges around him back into the sky.

The same thing is happening in other places as well. However, compared to Harunobu cleaning up an area by himself, they are using a much larger number of people.

The situation seemed to be improving, even as a larger third wave of explosives was rapidly descending, the experienced samurai had already begun throwing their projectiles. Harunobu, meanwhile, was counting the explosives falling towards him while considering whether to unleash his Wind-Controlling Sword Technique.

After his anger subsided, Harunobu remembered the advice Kujo Hidetsu had given him after they finished discussing their collaboration. In short, it was: "It's best not to let others know you can control the wind; that's not a power a samurai can possess, and it will cause a lot of trouble."

But how can he attack an airship that is constantly increasing in altitude as its weight decreases, without using the Wind-Riding Sword Technique?

Are we just going to watch these bastards get away so easily?

Even the strongest samurai can't fly, can he?

Or are we relying on those spellcasters who've been chanting incantations and preparing spells since the first wave of explosives? By the time they've finished casting defensive spells and then unleashing their offensive spells, the airship will probably be riddled with bullets!

Harunobu gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and lowered his body.

He had already calculated that by using Thunder Strike, Fire Thunder God, and Forward Slash, he should be able to close the distance to use Gale Slash on the people on the airship. Then, he could go up and wreak havoc.

Just as Harunobu was making these preparations, a series of screams suddenly erupted from the crowd again, and many people pointed to the sky. Harunobu looked in the direction they were pointing, and then his expression turned solemn after a moment of ecstatic joy.

The airship is crashing!

Clearly, this not-so-large airship had run out of ammunition and was preparing to unleash its final, and strongest, attack to completely destroy the enemy.

Is it because they're Japanese, or is there something wrong with their brains?

Harunobu didn't care anymore; he simply ran quickly towards the airship's landing point, breathing heavily. The continuous rumble of thunder drowned out the screams and gasps. The crowd stared in surprise at Harunobu's reckless movement, and a surge of survival instinct erupted within them!

"Go for it, Dragon Slayer!"

"Go for it, Hiraharu!"

"Kill them!!"

He ignored the clamor and shouts; all he could see was the airship hurtling towards the ground at full speed! The wind began to gather as he ran. He had been deliberately manipulating the wind when he intercepted the explosive charge, and now, as he no longer concealed his control, the tiny air currents converged and turned into a raging gale.

The crowd gasped as the wind swept them away. Qingxin ran faster and faster, rushing forward until he finally reached the airship's landing spot. Then, as he passed through the crowd's view, two more figures appeared.

One was wearing a white hunting robe with gentian patterns, and the other was wearing a long haori, a peaked hat, and a jade Buddha pendant hanging from his chest.

The two seemed to be deliberately waiting for Harunobu to come over, but Harunobu had no time for pleasantries. Seeing that the two had no intention of moving aside, Harunobu simply pushed off the ground and jumped up, lunging towards the crashing airship.

Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Fire Thunder God!

then……

A fierce wind arose, and Qingxin aimed at the airship's massive airbag, preparing to cut off their last chance of escape—suddenly, an astonishing burst of light erupted, interrupting Qingxin's aim.

A clear, but angry voice followed: "Don't you dare be so presumptuous! Ping Qingxin!"

In the light that seemed to melt everything, a towering katana suddenly appeared, slashing with unstoppable force at the airship hurtling towards it at full speed.

With unstoppable momentum, it swept away everything in its path.

The massive weapon tore through the sturdy gasbags that could withstand the pressure of high-speed flight, releasing the compressed gas inside. The airship's speed decreased instantly as a result. This contradictory change caused the airship to sway violently, its impact point noticeably shifting, and it flew towards an open area to the side.

Then, the scorching light slowly dissipated. The man in the white hunting robe stood on the damaged airbag, looking down at Harunobu, who was slowly falling.

The gentian pattern... This must be Genjiro, right?

Just as the Taira clan mostly used butterfly patterns, the Minamoto clan was enthusiastic about gentian patterns.

Although he recognized the man, Harunobu still couldn't figure out what this guy was trying to do with his provocative expression. Was he annoyed by Harunobu's recent fame? Or was it simply because his surname was Taira? Probably not, the Genpei War had been going on for so many years, and the Minamoto clan was the one who won in the end!

Sigh, it's really not worth trying to figure out what's going on in the head of a human-headed dog.