I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

In just a few days, the fat man looked so different from his own mother that she probably wouldn't recognize him.

However, despite being tortured to the point of being neither human nor ghost, the fat man kept his mouth tightly shut and refused to open his mouth, which showed a certain backbone.

The officials of Yinweifang were neither impatient nor annoyed—they had seen plenty of prisoners with a bit of backbone like this.

They had ample means and time, and boundless confidence, gradually eroding the fat man's fighting spirit.

Although the fat man still refuses to say anything, Qing Deng is certain that the fat man is most likely a member of that "mysterious force" who came specifically to take revenge on him and burn down his house.

Otherwise, what a coincidence! As soon as Qing Deng returned to Edo, several arsonists appeared and burned down his house.

What exactly is the name of this "mysterious force," who are its members, and who is its leader? Qing Deng and the others currently know almost nothing about this "mysterious force."

However, Qing Deng suspected that this "mysterious force" was very likely in cahoots with the group of madmen who considered him a "traitor" and had attempted to assassinate him three times.

That night, during the battle with Suehiro Moritoyo, Suehiro Moritoyo recognized him, knew his name, and even called him a "traitor to the country"... If you say that this "mysterious force" has absolutely no connection with the group of madmen who are eyeing Aoto's head, Aoto would never believe it.

In short—regardless of whether these two sides are actually on the same side, there is no doubt that Qing Deng has now completely offended this "mysterious force".

On the very night that Aoto returned to Edo, they impatiently set fire to his house... This "mysterious force" showed Aoto through their actions: We will not let you go!

Since the other party has issued a "challenge," Qingdeng naturally has no reason to remain indifferent.

In order to better prepare for the possible retaliation from the "mysterious forces" in the future, Qingdeng immediately resumed his swordsmanship training and physical exercise after recovering from his injuries.

Now that he has moved into the Shieikan and is living under the same roof as Kondo and the others, it has become much more convenient for Seito to train in swordsmanship.

There is a very spacious dojo available for use.

There are plenty of practice tools.

If you encounter any swordsmanship theories or techniques that you don't understand, you can immediately consult Zhou Zhu and others.

After resuming his training, Qing Deng immediately informed Zhou Zhu and others that he needed less sleep and was therefore accustomed to getting up to train before dawn. He then requested Zhou Zhu's permission to use the Shiwei Hall's dojo in the early morning.

Upon learning that Qingdeng also had this characteristic of "not needing much sleep," Zhouzhu generously waved his hand and said: You can come to the dojo to practice swordsmanship whenever you want! Anyway, the door connecting the dojo and their house is never locked.

These days, Qingdeng spends most of his time at the dojo.

He practiced swordsmanship diligently and trained his body rigorously. Although it was hard work, he enjoyed it immensely.

While focusing on his training, Qingdeng did not forget to make good use of his system. Taking advantage of the great opportunity that he could now stay in the Shiwei Hall for a long time, Qingdeng sparred with all the people who came to the dojo to practice swordsmanship and with whom he had not yet sparred before.

The result was somewhat disappointing... I was unable to successfully copy my talent from any of my senior brothers.

Although Shieikan University has a strong faculty, Shusuke, Kondo, and Okita all possess extremely powerful talents.

However, the quality of the apprentices... was somewhat lacking.

Qing Deng has now sparred with almost every apprentice who frequently shows up at the Shiwei Hall, but none of them have any special talent...

However—although he failed to replicate his talents from the apprentices at the Test Guard Hall, Qing Deng managed to replicate three brand-new talents from three visitors in the past few days.

These three guests were Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama.

All the officials at the Northern Garrison are currently on paid leave—Ma, Zhu, and Niu are no exception.

None of the three of them happened to have any cases that needed to be dealt with urgently, so they all had plenty of time to visit Qing Deng, who was now homeless and living in Shiekan.

The three of them visited Qingdeng together on February 2nd.

This day happens to be Setsubun, an important Japanese holiday.

Setsubun, as the name suggests, is the day that distinguishes the seasons. The day before the beginning of spring, summer, autumn, and winter is called "Setsubun". Spring is the first day of the year and is especially important. Therefore, in Japan, "Setsubun" specifically refers to the day before the beginning of spring.

In ancient Japan, people believed that they were most vulnerable to evil spirits during the changing seasons. Therefore, in order to drive away evil spirits, the traditional activity of "throwing beans to drive away demons" gradually emerged.

On Setsubun, people take out roasted beans and scatter them inside and outside the house according to specific rules.

On Setsubun, Qing Deng and others also participated in the "bean-throwing" activity.

Qing Deng followed Zhou Zhu and the others, scattering fried beans all over the Shiwei Hall while shouting "Ghosts out, fortune in."

At first, everyone was still doing the "bean-throwing" as usual.

But as the event ended, Okita, feeling playful, grabbed the fried beans he hadn't yet scattered and dragged Aoto and Kondo into a "bean-throwing contest" to see who could throw the beans the farthest.

Seeing this, Shusuke not only did not stop Okita, but also joined the competition, being a bit of a playful old man.

As expected, Qingdeng and his friends were severely reprimanded by Abi.

"Who do you think painstakingly roasted these beans?! Don't use them as toys! Pick them all back!"

Ah Bi's loud shout still makes Qing Deng's eardrums ache slightly to this day...

After the "bean-throwing" ceremony, when it was afternoon, the three people—horse, pig, and cow—went to the Shiwei Hall to visit Qingdeng and see how he was doing.

Qingdeng was quite happy to see the three people, Ma, Zhu, and Niu, arrive.

Firstly, he was happy that his elders cared so much about him and were so concerned about his affairs.

Secondly, he was happy that he had finally encountered an opportunity to test whether they had any talent.

Qingdeng had long coveted his three elders.

He had long wanted to try and see if he could copy any talent from them.

Unfortunately, they had all been too busy with work to get the chance to copy the talent from these three people until now.

If I were to directly tell Arima and the others, "I want to spar with you in swordsmanship," it would be very abrupt and would make them feel very strange.

Since horses, pigs, and cows don't know much about swordsmanship, if you suddenly tell them that you want to spar with them, they will definitely be confused and won't know what Qingdeng is trying to do or why he wants to practice with people like them who know nothing about swordsmanship.

So, Aoto used the same tactic he had used to "deal with" Saito—

Snapped!Snapped!

Qingdeng tugged at the rope in his hand a few times.

"Lord Arima, Mr. Inoya, Mr. Ushiyama, you've come at the perfect time. I've recently mastered a new rope-catching technique. Would you be my sparring partners and help point out any shortcomings in this new technique?"

Using the pretext of "helping to guide the newly practiced rope-catching techniques" to "spar" with Arima and the others is both natural and reasonable.

Arima and his companions, being officials of the town, were quite skilled in rope-catching techniques. So when Aoto asked them to "practice rope-catching techniques," Arima and his companions didn't find it strange or suspicious.

And Qing Deng wasn't actually lying—he had indeed learned some new rope-catching techniques.

He incorporated some grappling techniques from his previous life into the rope-catching technique, and Qing Deng also wanted to find someone to test the power of his new technique.

The horse, pig, and cow readily agreed to Qingdeng's request to "practice rope catching techniques" and each of them had a "sparring session" with Qingdeng.

Judging from the results... the outcome is quite pleasing.

Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama all possess talent. After sparring with the three of them, Aoto gained three new talents in one go!

However... the three new talents that Qingdeng acquired... are all somewhat subtle...

Qingdeng first sparred with Zhugu, and then copied the talent "Skillful Hands" from Zhugu.

[Talent Introduction: Fingers are far more dexterous and powerful than the average person]

When Qing Deng copied this talent from Pig Valley... he wasn't actually surprised.

He had actually made the necessary mental preparations beforehand.

After all, he was also aware of the titles "Silver Finger" and "Golden Mouth" that Inoya and Ushiyama respectively held in the Edo red-light district.

With just his two hands, Inugani made countless women in the red-light district fall head over heels for him.

Niu Shan, who is usually quiet and reserved but is actually very good at saying all sorts of sweet words, often manages to coax the women in the red-light district into giving him a discount or even making his bed free.

After replicating "skillful hands" from Pig Valley, and with higher expectations, when he sparred with Ushiyama, Qing Deng originally thought that he was very likely to replicate talents such as "improved eloquence".

But unexpectedly, the talent copied from Niu Shan... was named "Eloquent Tongue".

[Gift Introduction: The tongue is far more flexible and powerful than that of ordinary people]

The tongue has become more flexible and powerful... which can be considered a disguised improvement in speaking skills.

After acquiring this talent, Qingdeng clearly felt that his pronunciation became clearer and more powerful.

As for Arima at the end... when he was being tied up with rope... ah, not sparring with him, Aoto felt a little nervous and expectant.

Because he simply couldn't imagine what kind of talent could be copied from Arima, who always stood ramrod straight, only turned 90 degrees, never looked to the side, and had a very strange eating posture...

Ultimately, the talent copied from Arima was both unexpected and reasonable for Aoto.

The talent I copied from Arima is "Iron Waist".

[Talent Introduction: Lower back is less prone to strain, injury, and fatigue]

The lower back is not easily strained, fatigued, or injured... When Qing Deng gained this talent, he finally understood why Arima could always keep his back perfectly straight as if he never got tired.

This talent is quite useful; anyone who has studied martial arts knows that—regardless of the type of martial art, the waist is highly valued.

The waist, as a central part that connects the upper and lower body, maintains body posture, and transmits gravity, is of paramount importance.

Having such a talent related to the waist is naturally a great advantage for Qing Deng, who is currently working hard to improve his strength.

Overall, the three talents copied from the horses, pigs, and cows are not useless; they are all quite useful.

However, afterwards, when he carefully reflected on and pondered the effects of these three new talents... Qing Deng's feelings were somewhat complicated.

Fingers and tongue become more flexible and powerful, and the waist is less prone to strain, injury, and fatigue... If you think about it carefully, aren't these the skills that some "red-light district gangsters" most desire to have?

Qing Deng felt that if he went to the red-light district now, he would be able to make many courtesans remember him in a very short time.

Arima and the others' visit was a small interlude during Aoto's time.

Apart from that, Qingdeng encountered no major events during these days and lived a relatively peaceful and tranquil life.

……

……

March 10——

Around 8 PM —

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Test Guard Hall——

Wearing full armor and holding a bamboo sword, Qing Deng stood in a mid-stance stance, facing off against Kondo Haruka, who was also fully armed and in a mid-stance stance.

Since it was already evening and long past closing time, only Aoto and Kondo were in the dojo; there were no other students.

Qing Deng increasingly felt that living in Shieikan was really great. Even after closing time, he could still stay in the hall to practice swordsmanship, and he could also bring Kondo and others to accompany him for morning or night practice, just like now.

"Ha..." Qing Deng exhaled a breath of turbid air, then suddenly held his breath, gathered all his strength, and then, while emitting a loud breath, stepped forward, rushing into the range where his sword could hit Kondo, and swung his sword at Kondo's face.