I assembled the strongest swordsman group

"Hehehe... I haven't had a proper workout in ages." Zhou Zhu twisted his shoulders. "The other day I accompanied your mother back to her parents' home, and it was exhausting. My shoulders and back are still incredibly stiff."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Zhu seemed to realize something and hurriedly looked around.

Only after confirming that he hadn't seen his wife did he seem to breathe a sigh of relief, and then he continued:

"There happens to be a new apprentice in the sword school whose swordsmanship I haven't yet personally witnessed."

"Since that's the case, this is a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone—test the newcomers' abilities while also stretching my stiff arms and back."

After saying that, Zhou Zhu raised an eyebrow at Qing Deng.

"Tachibana-kun, you just finished a match with Kondo. Do you want to rest for a bit, or do you want to start now?"

Qingdeng paused for a moment, then answered quickly without hesitation, "I can start right now!"

To compete with Kondo Shusuke?

This is exactly what Qingdeng wanted!

Qing Deng, whose chest was still filled with the intense joy of having just acquired a new and powerful talent, was eager to see if the third head of the Natural Rishin-ryu sect also possessed some extraordinary talent.

Since Shusuke had already declared that he would personally test Aoto's abilities, Kondo and the others, as his sons and apprentices, naturally had no ability or room to refute or argue.

Kondo obediently retreated to the edge of the dojo, making enough space for Aoto and Shusuke.

"Huh?" Qing Deng then realized that neither he nor Zhou Zhu seemed to be wearing protective gear. "Master, aren't we going to wear armor?"

"Hehehe, wearing protective gear is too much trouble, I'm too lazy to put it on, this is fine! Don't worry, I'm very tough, attack me all you want, you don't need to be afraid of hurting me, and you don't need to be afraid of being hurt by me. As an old man who came from the 'no protective gear era', I'm best at how not to hurt people."

Since Zhou Zhu had said so, Qing Deng said no more.

After bowing to each other, Qing Deng and Zhou Zhu squatted on the left and right sides of the dojo. Then, Qing Deng and Zhou Zhu simulated drawing a sword, pulling out the bamboo sword from their left waists, and then slowly stood up.

The very next moment Qingdeng stood up—

call!

A slender afterimage arced toward Qingdeng's legs!

Snapped!

Qingdeng felt a sharp pain in his left thigh.

After slashing Qing Deng's left thigh with a horizontal slash, Zhou Zhu quickly retreated three steps to increase the distance between himself and Qing Deng.

Seeing Zhou Zhu, who had retreated three steps away from him, Qing Deng's pupils contracted sharply.

—I've been stabbed...?

Qing Deng didn't see the timing or trajectory of Zhou Zhu's strike!

"Hehehe, Tachibana-kun, concentrate." Shusuke slowly lowered the blade, switching to a lower stance. "If you don't concentrate, you won't be able to wield the sword well."

Having said that, Zhou Zhu took a step forward and approached Qing Deng again.

Upon seeing this, Qing Deng quickly took a deep breath and focused all his mind and attention.

Although Qing Deng was already on edge, his eyes wide open, he was staring intently at Zhou Zhu's movements and the trajectory of his sword.

Even so, he still couldn't see Zhou Zhu's sword at all.

Shusuke's bamboo sword rained down on Qing Deng's body.

Often, it was only after Shusuke's bamboo sword had already landed on Qing Deng that he belatedly realized: Ah, his sword was originally aimed at me there?

As Zhou Zhu had just said, he was indeed very good at how not to hurt people.

Although Qing Deng has now been stabbed dozens of times, all the stab wounds only hurt for a short while and then the pain quickly subsided.

Completely suppressed, they couldn't even mount a decent defense, let alone launch a counterattack.

Despite the overwhelmingly unfavorable situation, Qingdeng's face showed no sign of dejection or defeat.

Rather, it's more like the opposite.

As expected, one cannot judge a book by its cover... Someone who can become the head of a sword-fighting school cannot possibly be a weakling.

The opponent before him was so powerful that he was completely overwhelmed, yet Qing Deng did not feel the slightest fear or retreat.

Qingdeng felt his heart beating faster and faster.

As his heart rate gradually increased, Qingdeng felt that his condition was constantly improving! He felt increasingly motivated!

Feeling the changes in his body, Qing Deng was initially taken aback, but he quickly realized that this must be the effect of "Lone Wolf" activating!

And indeed, that is the case.

In the talent list, the newly acquired talent, "Lone Wolf," has been shining with dazzling golden light ever since!

And at this moment, the "Sword Master" also shone brightly, following the "Lone Warrior"!

—Kondo Shusuke's main focus... is my two legs...

—In that case… let’s lower the blade a little…

—Holding the knife a little lighter...it seems like it would be easier to defend myself...

Taking advantage of the gap in Zhou Zhu's attack, Qing Deng quickly lowered the blade.

Swordsmanship talent is amplified 50 times that of ordinary people... The effect of "Sword Prodigy" is not just that Qing Deng's swordsmanship training speed is much faster than that of ordinary people.

It also has the effect of giving one an extremely high sensitivity to the "changes and forms of the sword" when fighting with others!

Qingdeng, who felt his physical condition improving, slowly realized that he... seemed to be able to vaguely see Shusuke's swordsmanship!

Snapped!

Qing Deng swung the knife in his hand to his right side, deflecting Zhou Zhu's bamboo sword that was slashing at his left waist! He had parried Zhou Zhu's attack for the first time!

"Ho ho..." Seeing Qing Deng suddenly able to deflect his sword, Zhou Zhu's extremely narrow, squinty eyes slowly widened a little.

After Qing Deng successfully defended against Zhou Zhu's attack for the first time, the situation of the battle slowly changed.

Zhou Zhu continued to relentlessly suppress Qing Deng.

But Qing Deng is no longer someone who can't even withstand a single blow from Shusuke.

"Sword Mastery" led Qingdeng to adopt the most suitable defensive strategy.

"Lone Wolf" led to a dramatic improvement in Qingdeng's physical condition.

With the help of these two talents, Qing Deng went from not being able to withstand a single blow to being able to barely withstand one or two blows after Zhou Zhu swung ten times.

At this moment, many of the students sitting on the edge of the dojo were seeing Qing Deng for the first time and were unaware that their Shieikan had gained another swordsmanship genius after Okita.

Seeing Qing Deng transform from being "completely powerless" to "able to withstand a few blows" under Zhou Zhu's sword in such a short time, they were all wide-eyed and stunned.

As for Kondo, who already knew about Aoto's talent, he crossed his arms and gave Shusuke a satisfied smile.

His expression seemed to be saying to Shusuke: See, Father, I wasn't wrong, was I? Tachibana-kun's swordsmanship talent is indeed no less than Souji's!

Kondo's smile was one that Shusuke was destined never to see.

Because Shusuke is now focusing all his attention on Aoto, who is right in front of him.

"Hehehe... You figured out so quickly how to defend against my attacks more effectively..." Shusuke's smile deepened, and he murmured in a voice only he could hear, "Well... how's your 'sense of smell'?"

As the murmur ended, Zhou Zhu abruptly stopped his attack on Qing Deng and quickly retreated.

Zhou Zhu only stopped retreating when he had retreated a full five steps away from Qing Deng.

After stopping, Shusuke slightly shifted the bamboo sword he had been holding in a mid-stance stance to the right...

The deviation was so slight that one might not even notice the change in the position of the bamboo sword in Zhou's assistant's hand unless they looked closely.

As Zhou Zhu slightly tilted the bamboo sword in his hand to the right, he also slightly shifted his center of gravity, tilting it slightly to the right.

Just like his sword, Shusuke's center of gravity shifted—if you didn't look closely, you might not even notice the change.

At this moment, looking at Zhou Zhu standing five steps away with his sword, Qing Deng didn't know why... he just felt like an electric current was running through his brain.

He couldn't explain why, but for no reason, a thought flashed through Qing Deng's mind—now was the perfect time to retaliate against Zhou Zhu!

The moment the thought flashed through Qing Deng's mind, he immediately acted on it as if by instinct or a conditioned reflex.

Footsteps slid, the ground creaked!

Qing Deng closed in on his sword until it could strike Zhou Zhu, raised his bamboo sword high, and thrust the blade towards Zhou Zhu from above!

"Ho ho ho..." Zhou Zhu let out a light laugh with a hint of joy as he watched the bamboo sword fall toward his shoulder.

Just as Qingdeng's bamboo sword was about to strike Zhouzhu's shoulder—

Snapped!

Zhou Zhu's bamboo sword arrived just in time, blocking Qing Deng's attack.

Seeing that Qing Deng's rare counterattack was blocked by Zhou Zhu, some of the apprentices sitting on the edge of the dojo showed their shock. Judging from Qing Deng's momentum just now, they thought that Qing Deng's attack might have a chance and could hit Zhou Zhu.

Unable to control his momentum, Qing Deng continued his forward charge, passing by Zhou Zhu. He only managed to stop his momentum and turn around when he was about two steps behind Zhou Zhu.

But as soon as Qing Deng turned around, a look of astonishment immediately appeared on his cheeks.

Because he saw that Zhou Zhu was now clutching his right shoulder with his left hand, his face contorted in pain.

"Father?" Upon seeing this, Kondo's expression changed immediately, and he quickly got up and ran towards Shusuke.

The other apprentices quickly followed, surrounding Shusuke with Kondo, their faces filled with worry.

Not understanding what was going on, Qing Deng put down his bamboo sword and ran towards Zhou Zhu.

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Shusuke smiled and waved to Kondo, Aoto and the others. "It's just an old problem that's acting up again. My right shoulder is a little sore. I'll be fine after some rest."

After putting Kondo and the others at ease, Shusuke smiled and turned his gaze to Aoto, who was now standing to his side.

"I was hoping to play with you a little longer," Zhou said helplessly, "but it seems I've overdone it with my right shoulder..."

"There's no other way; the test of your strength has to end here for now."

Zhou Zhu handed the bamboo sword in his hand to an apprentice beside him, gesturing for him to put the bamboo sword away properly.

The cold, automated system voice rang in Qing Deng's mind at that moment:

[Ding! Talent detected]

Successfully replicated talent: "Hawkeye"

[Talent Introduction: Dynamic vision is far superior to that of ordinary people]

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Chapter 48 Ouch, this place is really sturdy!

As soon as the mechanical system voice disappeared from Qingdeng's mind, he immediately felt a warm current surging from inside his eyeballs, quickly enveloping both of them.

This warm current has a considerable stimulating effect.

After his eyes were enveloped by the warm current, Qingdeng couldn't help but close his eyes tightly due to the pain.

This warm current came suddenly and went just as suddenly.

As soon as Qingdeng closed his eyes, the warm current began to slowly recede.

When Qingdeng opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find that the world before him... seemed to have changed.

My vision is still the same, but it feels like something has changed.

Just then, a fly flew past Qingdeng's eyes.

As he watched the fly fly past his eyes, Qing Deng finally realized that the world he saw had changed.

In the past, Qingdeng would have only seen a tiny black shadow flash past his eyes.

Now, Qingdeng can clearly capture the fly's flight path, see the fly's face, and the amplitude of its wing vibrations.

Great!

I've won the lottery again.

His dynamic vision is far superior to others... This talent may not be of much use in daily life, but it is extremely useful in combat.