I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The weather was fine and sunny.

The sky was cloudless.

……

……

The final volume of Nioh—The End!

The Legend of Nioh - The End!

*******

*******

[The End]

The epilogue will be released the day after tomorrow (October 10th). It will discuss the weddings of Aoto, Tenshōin, and Elodie. The content will be short and free.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

＊＊＊＊＊＊

Please be sure to check out the new book – *America: The Great Chase of 1924*!

Chronology of Major Events After Qingdeng Became "The People of the World"

In September 1866, Qingdeng consolidated its military forces and launched a westward expedition with the Shinsengumi as its core to wipe out the remaining forces of the "Southern Dynasty," an event known as the "Southern Campaign."

In October 1866, the Southern Court suffered a crushing defeat. Iwakura Tomomi was captured, Saigo Kichinosuke committed seppuku, and Katsura Kogoro and Mutsuhito disappeared without a trace. The Satsuma Rebellion ended in a complete victory for Seido.

In November 1866, the anxious and fearful "Mutsuhito" was found in Kagoshima, but Katsura Kogoro's whereabouts remained unknown.

In December 1866, Prince Kazu identified "Mutsuhito" as someone else in disguise, thus confirming the charge of "impersonating the Emperor."

In January 1867, a large number of war criminals, led by Iwakura Tomomi and Ōmuro Toranosuke (Mutsuhito), were taken to Sanjo Kawara and executed.

In February 1867, Qingdeng issued the "Order for Peace Under Heaven," which prohibited private feuds and secret diplomacy among daimyo and forbade the unauthorized mobilization of troops. Violators would be attacked by the entire nation, thus establishing the supreme ruling power of the "Tachibana family regime."

In March 1867, Qingdang issued the "Order on Mandatory Use of Surnames," stipulating that all people must use surnames, thus breaking the right of public and military families to use surnames.

In June 1867, Aoto established the "Police Agency", and Saito Hajime became its first commissioner.

In January 1868, Aoto married Tenshōin Atsuhime and Elodie, and Tenshōin changed her name to "Tachibana Atsuko".

In October 1868, Aoto changed Edo to "Tokyo" and moved the center of his rule from Otsu to Tokyo.

In July 1869, Qingdeng issued the policy "Return of Land and People," demanding that all feudal lords return the right to rule their territories ("ban" refers to land, and "ji" refers to people) without any compensation. Fearing the "martial prowess of the benevolent king," none of the feudal lords dared to disobey. This legally reclaimed the right to rule over the land and people.

In the same month of the same year, Qingdeng promulgated the policy "Abolishing Feudal States and Establishing Counties," changing the old "feudal system" into a "prefecture and county system." This administratively destroyed the physical basis of feudal separatism.

In May 1872, Seido issued the "Military Reorganization Order," declaring that "warfare is no longer the exclusive domain of the samurai," thus stripping the samurai of their professional privileges militarily.

In January 1874, Aoto issued the policy "Scholarship Disposition," which abolished the stipend system for samurai families, cutting off their economic security and provoking strong discontent among them.

In February 1874, Eto Shinpei raised troops in Saga and launched an armed rebellion against Tachibana Aoto, which was quickly suppressed and is known as the "Saga Rebellion".

In April 1876, Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi and Empress Kazuya both abdicated, marking the formal end of the Edo Shogunate and the Kyoto Imperial Court, and the beginning of Japan's republic.

On the same day of the same month of the same year, Qing Deng issued the "Sword Abolishment Order" and the "Abolishment of Minister Order," abolishing all privileges of the court and the samurai, and from then on, no more privileged classes were allowed. In the end, the samurai were stripped of their status and violent privileges in terms of culture and force.

In May 1876, the former samurai and former court nobles launched a large-scale riot.

In the same month of the same year, Aoto, who had been well-prepared, personally led the Shinsengumi on campaigns to the east and west, and quelled all rebellions in just three months, a campaign known in history as the "War to Reshape the World".

The old government was completely purged and had no power to resist.

The remnants of the old samurai clan fled overseas, silently accumulating strength, dreaming of one day returning to fight back.

In September 1876, Qingdeng issued the policy "All Under Heaven Should Cease Military Struggles," demanding a path of peaceful development, absolutely forbidding the abuse of force, and prohibiting any war other than self-defense.

In the same month of the same year, Aoto carried out a surgical reform of the Shinsengumi, reducing it to ten squads, each with one hundred men, for a total strength of one thousand. Hijikata Toshizo remained as the "vice-commander".

The newly formed Shinsengumi is no longer a regular army, but a special force dedicated to hunting down the remnants of the old samurai clan.

In October 1876, Qing Deng, following Zi Yang's advice, established a special intelligence agency composed entirely of women—the Hanabishi Group.

It is divided into the "Flower Group" responsible for external intelligence, the "Moon Group" responsible for internal intelligence, the "Wind Group" responsible for logistics, and the "Snow Group" responsible for administrative work.

Atsuko Tachibana (Tenshōin) was the first leader, Mai Tachibana was the first deputy leader, and Ayaka was the first staff officer.

The headquarters of the Hanabishi Opera Troupe is located at the Hanabishi Grand Theatre in Tokyo, and it is ostensibly a Hanabishi Opera Troupe.

The existence of the Hanabishi Opera Troupe was kept strictly secret. The general public was unaware that this incredibly popular national opera troupe, whose members were all top-tier beauties, was actually a large-scale intelligence agency.

In March 1877, remnants of the old samurai clan established the "Tenchukai" (Heavenly Punishment Society), with the ultimate goal of "reclaiming Japan and restoring the authority of the samurai clan." They used any means necessary to oppose the Shinsengumi and frequently launched horrific terrorist attacks within Japan.

In 1882, thanks to intelligence provided by the Hanabishi Group, the Shinsengumi completely wiped out the Tenchukai's influence in Japan.

In 1885, the Shinsengumi destroyed the Korean branch of the Cheonchūkai.

In 1892, the Shinsengumi destroyed the European branch of the Tenchuskai.

In 1893, the Tianzhu Society, which should have been on the verge of collapse, suddenly rallied and greatly increased its strength.

The conflict between the Shinsengumi and the Tenchukai reached a stalemate.

In October 1910, an elderly couple suddenly came to Qingdeng.

Qingdeng gave them a grand reception and talked with them all night long.

No one knows what they were talking about.

In the same month of the same year, Aoto relinquished all his posts, retaining only the position of "Captain of the Shinsengumi".

From then on, Aoto wandered around, going on long trips every now and then, becoming a "hands-off manager," leaving all the affairs of the Shinsengumi to be handled by the vice-commander, Hijikata Toshizo.

Even Qingdeng's wife and children didn't know his exact whereabouts, only that he seemed to be searching for something.

One day, Sanako finally found an opportunity to ask Aoto, "What exactly are you busy with?"

Qing Deng smiled and said, "I'm busy saving the world."

This statement was taken as a joke and did not attract anyone's attention.

In July 1914, World War I broke out, and the Japanese government adhered to the "Tenka Pyō" (Peace Under Heaven) issued by Seito that year, strictly maintaining neutrality.

Since the "war to reshape the world," Japan, which has long been a republic, has not fought a war for nearly forty years.

In January 1924, the 89-year-old Hijikata Toshizo received definite intelligence from the Hanabishi Group: the long-dormant Tenchu ​​would appear in the United States.

In the same month of the same year, the Shinsengumi began its operations.

In March 1924, Li Yu, known as "Like a Dragon," went to San Francisco.

……

……

A new chapter has been turned in world history.

Finish this testimonial

It's finished!!!

2022年4月18日发布

*Slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap!* (Leopard slapping its belly.jpg)

At first, I thought this book would be about the same length as "I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan," probably around four million words.

When I had written about a million words, I suddenly realized something was wrong—the story of "Nioh" was much longer than I had imagined!

So, at that time, I estimated that I could write 800 million words.

After typing the last word of the final chapter, the total word count of this book is now set at 644 million words—far more than four million words, but less than eight million words, which is a compromise!

On Qidian, novels with over six million words are not uncommon, but they are also extremely rare.

I never imagined I could write such a long novel... I probably won't be able to break this record for a long time to come.

To be honest, I'm feeling a mix of emotions right now.

This work has been with me for three and a half years, and now I have to say goodbye to it... I'm really reluctant to part with it... (crying leopard head.jpg)

This book adopts a completely different story mode from its predecessor.

In the previous work, Ogata was a more traditional ronin, with no fixed abode and wandering around aimlessly.

In this story, Qing Deng is the lord of a city and a region, taking in women, subordinates, and territory.

From the middle onwards, the story's style shifted from "swords and spears" to "dynastic struggles"—and it was around this time that I got tired of writing...

Firstly, I'm not that interested in "dynastic rivalry".

When I wrote my debut novel, "A Military Genius Brings the Zizhi Tongjian to Another World," I completely exhausted my passion for this subject matter.

I'm tired of writing about a few big shots discussing strategy around a map, and I'm also tired of writing about two armies clashing.

Nowadays, I enjoy storylines like "the protagonist pilots a Gundam and storms into the battlefield in a frenzy," "two Gundams clash," "a single Gundam enters the atmosphere," and "Banaji, catch me!"

Secondly, there's really not much to write about regarding the dynastic struggles at the end of the Edo period in Japan; it's not as good as the Sengoku period.

During the late Sengoku period in Japan, powerful figures such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu were indeed able to mobilize armies of hundreds of thousands to launch large-scale battles.

But in the late Edo period... he only wrote about a battle with ten thousand or so people, and that was after Leopard had specially strengthened it.

In historical fact, the Satsuma-Choshu alliance defeated the Edo Shogunate with only a few thousand men.

If even the author himself found writing this agonizing, one can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the readers.

Many readers have told me that this work is not as good as the previous one.

I completely understand – because that's what I think too; it's definitely more exciting to see "sword masters clashing."

However, there's nothing wrong with that.

As creators, we must try many different things and write all kinds of stories. Only in this way can we continuously improve.

I'm just frustrated that my production capacity is so low... otherwise, I would definitely open more factories!

I have so many stories I want to write. Ultraman Tiga fanfiction, a romantic comedy based on my real experiences, and mecha stories—I've even thought of names for the protagonist's mecha.

When I'm no longer short of food and clothing, I'm definitely going to write a mecha novel! To fill the gap in Qidian's lack of excellent mecha novels!