After the friendly match with Okita Soki, Zhang Heng’s Lv.3 swordsmanship had finally broken through to Lv.4. To him, this was like stepping into a new realm. The promotion to each major level was a qualitative leap, not to mention LV4, which was in itself a very rare achievement for anyone. After the upgrade, he could feel that his five senses had been considerably enhanced. Coupled with previous insight and combat experience accumulated by challenging various dojos, and the foundation built in Black Sail, Zhang Heng finally came up with his sect.
To commemorate this battle with Okita Soki, Zhang Heng decided to name the new sect Tendou-ryu. He also gained a new skill called Mind’s Eye, allowing him to keep fighting even when his vision was impaired.
With the newfound talents, perhaps he could even fill in if there was a job opening for the Daredevil in the future. He pondered about it as he rubbed his chin. He could also feel that his Mind’s Eye had room for further improvement. Perhaps its ultimate goal in the future was to remain completely unaffected even with all five senses blocked.
If that was the case, his sixth sense would probably need to be improved to an incredible level.
This might sound supernatural; a master, the likes of him, could usually sense impending threats. It was instrumental in preventing sneak attacks. However, if Zhang Heng were to rely on his sixth sense to fight, he might have to spend a lot longer honing that skill. He was in no hurry, though. His time in this dungeon was coming to an end, his swordsmanship had been upgraded as he wished, and he had found two legendary katana as well—even if he wanted a higher quality sword, he would not know where to look for it.
So what about the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, one of the three Divine Weapons?
Well, the sword was extraordinarily reputable but was mostly used as a ritual tool. Besides, it was ancient, and questionable materials had been used in its forging. This meant it might be unsuitable for actual combat. Instead of being stored in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, it was currently in Atsuta Jungu, and there was no way Zhang Heng could get his hands on it even if he wanted to.
It was fair to say that the Divine Five Swords were the best swords a player could get their hands on in this dungeon, and although Scarlet previously speculated that there were better weapons here, she had no idea how to find them. Zhang Heng had no intention to force it either. He had already done everything he could. It was simply fated that he could not find them.
Next, he had to solve a dilemma. According to the rules of the dungeon, he could only bring one weapon out. He could either choose to grab the Juzurmaru or the Kiku-ichimonji.
Undoubtedly, it was a tough choice to make.
Zhang Heng speculated that these two katana had to be Grade-C weapons. As for their respective specialties, they could only be identified after an appraisal. As of now, he knew that the Juzumaru had extremely high durability, and the rosary entangled around its hilt was likely used to ward off evil spirits.
The Kiku-ichimonji, meanwhile, was Okita Soki’s favorite katana. It was lighter but sharper than the Juzumaru and could easily cut a falling leaf into two. Soki’s excellent skills allowed him to fully utilize the katana. With Zhang Heng’s current swordsmanship, this katana would increase his attack speed by 30%.
These two swords had their own specialties, and it was making him a little hard to decide. Just as he was hesitating, the quest came to its end.
After that, the Battle of Toba Fushimi broke out as recorded in history. When the nation’s political situation became more and more unfavorable, Okubo Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori decided to embark on a journey to destroy Tobaku. In January that year, the shogunate was defeated several times, ushering in a new era.
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Those people immersed in joy today had no idea what fate awaited them in the future. Per the agreement with Okita Soki, Zhang Heng used the connections he built in Tobaku Sect to meet Kido Takayoshi. The latter promised that if Kondo Isami was willing to surrender and stopped making the new government his enemy, he would spare his life. However, Isami had to publicly declare that he was dead, and he had to go back to his hometown and live his life out as a peasant.
Zhang Heng knew Kondo Isami was not going to accept a deal like this. Kido Takayoshi, too knew that Kondo Isami would not agree to the deal. However, Zhang Heng had fulfilled the promise he made to Okita Soki, and that was to find a way for Kondo Isami to live. However, he would not help Kondo Isami decide anything because everyone ultimately had their own destiny.
After doing these things, the next step was to wait for the day of parting.
The Cherry Blossom in the yard finally lost all its leaves. Although new shoots would grow in the coming year, Zhang Heng could no longer wait for that day to come. Today, he sat in the Koyama Dojo’s courtyard, watching a few samurai practice their swordsmanship while eating grilled fish and pickled radishes.
Soon afterward, Akane Koyama walked out of the main room after ending a class. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, took a bowl of red bean soup handed by Zhang Heng. She asked as she took a sip, “Have you booked the tickets?”
“Yes. It’s tomorrow afternoon.”
Zhang Heng smiled. He told her that he had something to do overseas and that he had to go back there again. And the return date was uncertain as well.
Now the Koyama Dojo was on the right track. The era of the samurai was over. Sometime after that, the new government would form the Metropolitan Police Department. According to history, the department trained its officers in different sects and eventually came up with their own-Keisatsu-ryu. After that, they taught the sword technique to others.
And Zhang Heng managed to alter history by a little. Through his efforts, the little-known sect, Koyama Myoshin-Ryū, was now inducted among Japan’s top ten sects. Later, the Koyama Dojo was also employed by the Metropolitan Police Department as a training ground for its members. In this way, even in the Meiji era, Akane Koyama’s dojo would still get to grow.
Akane Koyama bit her lip. She had witnessed all those things that Zhang Heng had done for Koyama Dojo during this period. However, it is difficult for her to repay him. She could only silently enjoy the benefits brought by him, and to her, this was unacceptable. After a while, she broke her silence. “Weren’t you collecting swords earlier?”
“Oh. I stopped doing that after you reminded me,” chuckled Zhang Heng.
“My father had a katana too, but it is not legendary. I don’t know who made it,” Akane Koyama said. “I know it’s incomparable to the katana you have, but take it as a parting gift.”
“If that’s the case, I will gladly accept it.” Zhang Heng nodded. Although he could not bring this katana out of this dungeon, he accepted Akane Koyama’s kind gesture. He reached out and took the sword from her, then drew it out of its scabbard and took a look. As expected, it was ordinary and looked to be less than a hundred years old. Though it was well kept, it wasn’t as hard as the Juzumaru, and neither was it as sharp as the Kiku-ichimonji. Its blade seemed dull, and there were no inscriptions left by the swordsmith.
However, Zhang Heng still accepted the katana because he did not want to disappoint Akane Koyama. He got up and bowed to her.
“Thank you for taking good care of me during this time.”
Akane Koyama tried to lift her head, not to let the tears fall out of her eyes. Shen then whispered, “I will keep the courtyard for you forever. Come back if you have time.”