I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“To be precise, we were staying at Kondo’s house,” Okita explained. “Our Shieikan dojo is a typical example of a dojo where the master’s house and the dojo are one and the same.”

“Look, that house connected to the dojo is where Kondo and his family usually live.”

Okita pointed to a simple house connected to the dojo behind it.

“Our Okita family and the Kondo family have a very good relationship, almost like one family.”

"To make it easier to practice swordsmanship, I moved here shortly after joining the Shieikan and lived with Kondo and the others."

"Staying directly in the sword hall...that's really convenient," Qing Deng remarked sincerely.

When Qingdeng was in middle school in his previous life, he envied those who lived very close to the school.

He was the kind of student whose home was a bit far from school.

Every day on his way to school, he has to pedal his bicycle vigorously for half an hour.

Every time Qingdeng recalls those days when he had to pedal like a cyclist every day, a chill runs down his spine...

“I remember Kondo told me that his father and mother happen to be out today.” Qing Deng then adopted a half-joking tone, “and Kondo is also temporarily out due to other matters.”

"So, in that case, you'll be the only one living in that big place today?"

“Yes…” Okita smiled helplessly, “Tonight, I’ll have to do everything myself, from cooking to heating the bathwater…”

"I'm too lazy to cook tonight, so I'll just eat something simple."

“Ah, speaking of Kondo-kun…” Aoto paused for a moment, as if remembering something. “Okita-kun, may I ask a question related to Kondo-kun?”

"Hmm? What do you want to ask?"

“I heard Suzuki-kun say today that our master is already 68 years old this year,” Qing Deng said slowly. “I’m a little concerned about that… there seems to be quite a big age difference between our master and Kondo-kun. Is Kondo-kun our master’s adopted son?”

Today, while listening to Suzuki introduce the "Five Great Warriors" of Shieikan, Aoto became quite concerned about the age difference between Kondo and his son.

According to Suzuki-kun, their mentor, Kondo Shusuke, is 68 years old this year.

Kondo Isami, the son of Kondo Shusuke, looks to be only around 25 years old.

An age difference of over forty years... it doesn't seem like a normal age difference between a father and son.

“Oh, this…” Okita, whose expression turned slightly strange, raised his hand and played with the slender high ponytail at the back of his head. “You guessed right.”

“Kondo-nii is the master’s adopted son.”

“Kondo was originally the son of a wealthy farmer in Tama, and his original name was Katsuguro.”

"My master never had any children of his own. By sheer chance, he met Brother Kondo."

"Master really likes Kondo's personality, and he is also very pleased with the swordsmanship talent that Kondo has shown."

"So, when Kondo was 16 years old, he was officially adopted by his master into the Kondo family."

Having said that, Okita let out a long sigh.

A hint of sadness crept into his eyes.

"Kondo has always been under a lot of pressure because of his identity as a former farmer and an adopted son."

"In order not to disgrace the names of 'Kondo' and 'Tengen Rishin-ryu', I have always worked harder than anyone else."

"But even with all that effort, there are still many annoying guys who cling to the fact that Kondo is a 'former farmer'..."

"Even Kondo's mother..."

At this point, Okita abruptly stopped speaking, shut his mouth, and then shook his head vigorously, causing the thin ponytail at the back of his head to fly up.

"Forget it! Let's not talk about these unlucky things!"

Seeing that Okita seemed unwilling to discuss the topic any further, Aoto wisely kept quiet and did not delve into the previous discussion.

"Okay, let's stop here for now. You should hurry home too."

Okita waved to Aoto.

"It's almost completely dark now. In these times, it's best to avoid walking at night."

"Remember to come here often to practice your swordsmanship. There are no other unorthodox methods in swordsmanship; there is only one path—diligent practice."

“If I could, I would like to come here to practice my sword every day…” This time, Qingdeng smiled helplessly. “However, my current circumstances do not allow me to do so. Starting tomorrow, I will have to go to work again… ah, no, to serve in the government. I can only wait until I have another holiday to have time to continue practicing my sword.”

……

……

After chatting with Okita for a few more minutes, Qing Deng, supporting the sword at his left waist, quickly set off on his way home.

Okita stood there, silently watching Aoto leave.

Only after Qing Deng's figure had completely disappeared from sight did Okita turn around and return to the building.

As Okita closed the sword-making hall's door from the inside, he muttered to himself with a hint of smugness:

"Next time we fight those guys from the Genbu Hall and the Chiba Sword Hall... we'll finally have a chance to turn the tables on those bastards...!"

……

……

As Qingdeng walked home, a faint smile appeared on his face as he walked along the gentle breeze.

Today's harvest was so plentiful and significant that Qingdeng was unable to suppress the upturn of his lips.

"A Sword Prodigy"—this powerful talent acted like a strong reassurance, calming Qing Deng's troubled mind, which was torn by the death threats from the anti-foreign faction and the property threats from the Yakuza.

Today, in between sword practice, Qing Deng chatted with Okita and the others from time to time.

During their casual conversation, Qingdeng gained a much better understanding of the sword school he had recently joined.

According to Okita, Shieikan currently has 43 apprentices.

The number of apprentices... can only be described as desolate.

Judging from the number of apprentices alone, Shieikan is a typical small to medium-sized sword school, with the number of apprentices being less than a fraction of that of large sword schools such as Genbukan, Kochiba Sword School, and Renbeikan.

With few apprentices, naturally not many people come to practice swordsmanship every day.

As of now, the Shieikan (a sword-making hall) is closed, and apart from Okita, only 14 other apprentices have come to practice swordsmanship there.

Qing Deng's only regret today is that, apart from Okita, he has not been able to replicate his talent from anyone else.

With the mindset that "maybe I can replicate some amazing talent," he used all sorts of methods and excuses to invite each of his fellow students he met that day to spar.

Qingdeng is undoubtedly the focus of Shiekan today.

Everyone who came to the sword-making hall to practice today knew that they had gained a junior disciple with extremely high talent, who was highly praised by Kondo and who even the "devil coach" Okita found difficult to find fault with in his sword training.

Some people were quite enthusiastic about this new, talented junior brother, while others were quite indifferent.

Therefore, some people readily agreed to Qingdeng's invitation to exchange skills, while others coldly declined.

Of the 14 apprentices who came to the sword-making hall today, only 8 agreed to spar with Qing Deng.

Although he couldn't spar with all the senior brothers he met today, Qingdeng didn't care much. After all, his mentality was "I'll bring as many people as I can to spar with."

Because his current swordsmanship level is still quite poor, his record in sparring with those 8 senior brothers is not very good—3 wins and 5 losses.

In the three matches he won, Qing Deng relied mainly on the footwork and fighting skills he had accumulated in his previous life to achieve victory.

In all eight battles, without exception, the talent could not be replicated...

Fortunately, obtaining the "Sword Prodigy" talent today is already a great surprise.

Compared to this huge surprise, this little regret is insignificant.

Besides being recognized as a "sword prodigy," Qing Deng also gained something else today: through his sword practice, he deeply felt that his current physical abilities urgently needed to be improved.

With such a light bamboo sword, after just a few swings, my arm started to ache and my breathing became unsteady.

Whether it's endurance or the muscles in their hands and feet, in Qingdeng's eyes, they can only be described as "horrible".

By ordinary standards, this body's physical abilities are passable.

However, for Qingdeng, whose personal safety and property are now insecure, such physical strength is simply insufficient to cope with the threats posed by the anti-foreign faction and the Yakuza.

"Practicing martial arts without internal training is a waste of time in old age"—this is a saying that Qing Deng has always regarded as a profound truth.

No matter how well you practice your moves, if you don't improve your strength and speed, you might not even be able to touch your enemy.

—After that… I also need to set aside time to hone my physical fitness…

—I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to acquire any physical talents...

As Qingdeng kneaded the muscles of his right arm, he thought to himself, "This is what I'm doing."

……

……

He walked quickly, and soon Qing Deng returned to his home in Hatchobori.

"I am back."

As soon as Qingdeng stood in front of his house, he smelled the faint aroma of food.

After shouting "I'm back!" and opening the door, Qing Deng saw his old servant, Jiubingwei, carrying a wooden spatula, rushing out of the kitchen.

"Young Master, you're back. Why are you so late today? How did it go? Did you find a suitable sword-fighting school at the Thousand Things Shop?"

"Hmm." Qing Deng nodded with a smile as he unfastened the katana from his left waist. "Today can be said to have been quite fruitful."

Qing Deng succinctly recounted everything that had happened that day to Jiu Bingwei.

After listening to Qing Deng's "report on the day's itinerary," Jiubei first let out a low gasp, then said in a worried tone:

"Young Master, you actually practiced swordsmanship all day at that Sword Testing Hall? No wonder you look so tired..."

With that, Kyubei picked up his spatula and turned back to the kitchen.

"Young Master, why don't you rest in the main hall for a while?"

Dinner will be ready soon.

"After dinner, you should rest early."

"I still have to go back to the magistrate's office to perform my duties tomorrow."

"I need to rest early and get enough rest."