"So..." Zhou Zhu laughed a few times, then raised his hand and touched his bare chin without a beard, "Have you encountered any difficulties in the practice of swordsmanship?"

"..." Qingdeng pursed his lips. After thinking for a moment, he raised his eyes and looked at Zhou Zhu, and said seriously, "Master, I feel... my cultivation seems to have reached a bottleneck."

"Oh?" Zhou Zhu raised an eyebrow, "Bottleneck...? Do you feel that your progress has slowed down recently?"

Qingden nodded: "It probably started a few days ago. I found that no matter how much I practiced, I couldn't feel that my strength had improved significantly, and I kept standing still."

Qingdeng explained the current status of his cultivation to Zhou Zhu in detail.

Zhouzhu also listened carefully and nodded slightly from time to time.

After Qingdeng finished speaking, Zhouzhu smiled and raised his hand again to touch his bare chin.

"Hohoho, Mr. Ju, from your description...you have indeed entered a bottleneck period."

“Don’t feel anxious or worried! It’s normal to experience bottlenecks.”

"Whether it is studying knowledge or practicing martial arts, there will be this phenomenon: when you first get started, you will make rapid progress. After your level gradually improves, you will encounter bottlenecks one after another, and the speed of progress will continue to slow down."

"So just calm down and continue practicing step by step."

"Bottleneck period..." Qingden laughed a few times, and then murmured in a half-joking tone, "Haha... I don't know how long it will take before I can break through the bottleneck I am encountering now."

"Mr. Ju, don't be greedy, don't be aggressive." Zhou Zhu changed his expression and tone to a more serious expression, "In the practice of martial arts, the most taboo thing is to be impatient."

Qingdeng's words just now were just a joke. Seeing Zhou Zhu pretending to have a long speech, he was afraid that Zhou Zhu would ramble on again. He quickly stood up straight and said to Zhou Zhu respectfully, "Yes, the student has been taught."

.

However, Qingdeng's timely admission of his mistakes did not work... Zhouzhu still explained to Qingdeng the dangers of not maintaining a normal mind when practicing martial arts, which made Qingdeng sigh helplessly in his heart.

Just when Qingden was thinking about whether he should try to say something or do something to interrupt Zhousuke's nagging, Zhousuke suddenly stopped talking.

Immediately afterwards... he changed into an emotional tone and looked at Qingdeng with intriguing eyes.

"...Looking back now and thinking about it carefully...Tachibana-kun, your progress is really incredibly fast."

"I hit my bottleneck so quickly."

"Well, given your current level of strength, it's normal for you to hit a bottleneck."

"Counting from the time you joined my apprenticeship, the time it took for you to formally practice swordsmanship was less than 4 months."

"In less than 4 months, he has gone from an ordinary person who doesn't know much about swordsmanship to a swordsman who has achieved some success in swordsmanship... Hehehehe, at this speed, even the commander-in-chief can

It’s not even as good as that.”

After finishing speaking, Zhou Zhu paused again.

"...I originally wanted to teach 'this' to you later... Anyway, with your current strength, Tachibana-kun, you are qualified to have access to the content of the 'next stage' in advance."

Zhou Zhu smiled slightly, then slowly picked up the bamboo knife in his hand and put it on his shoulder.

"Tachibana-kun, do you still have the strength now?"

"If you still have the strength, come with me."

"It's rare that you and I are gathered together in the dojo tonight... I'm going to teach you the advanced content of our natural Rishin-ryu after the basic skill training - the secret of Natural Rishin-ryu!"

"Ha?" Qingden blinked his eyes a few times in confusion.

From now on, Zhouzhu has been talking about things that he can't understand at all.

The secret of Natural Rishin-ryu... Although I have no idea what it is, just hearing the name makes me think it is something extraordinary!

Almost without thinking - Qingdeng nodded vigorously towards Zhouzhu: "Please enlighten me!"

"Hohoho~ Then come with me."

Zhou Zhu led Qingdeng and walked swaggeringly... to the very center of the dojo.

"As for the secret of this natural flow, it's very difficult to explain it to you in a dry way."

"so--"

Zhou Zhu turned around with a smile, facing Qingdeng, and lowered the bamboo sword in his hand as follows:

"I'd better use a simpler and cruder method to teach you this secret."

Seeing Zhousuke's actions, Qingden couldn't help but be stunned.

Before he had time to say or do anything, he saw the head of a bamboo sword rapidly zooming in within his field of vision!

Qingden's pupils shrank slightly, and he reacted reflexively - with a "pop" sound, he raised his sword to block Zhou Su's thrust, and then took three steps back to widen the distance between him and Zhou Su.

Zhou Zhu followed him like a shadow, dragging his sword forward two steps in a row, exposing Qingdeng's figure to his sword edge again!

No need to say anything, just start fighting... He quickly glanced at Zhouzhu who was attacking him without any explanation and the bamboo sword in his hand. Qingden took a deep breath, held the sword with both hands, and planted his feet firmly on the ground!

One swipe, another swipe! Zhou Zhu struck Qingdeng twice from the upper left and upper right directions.

One flash, another flash! Qingdeng's body flashed flexibly, and he got rid of Shusuke's combo.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The heart beats powerfully and rapidly.

"Lonely" is activated!

Qingden took a small step back with his right foot, pointed diagonally at Zhou Zhu with his left shoulder, dragged the bamboo sword in his hand to his right side, raised the sword upward, and swept it towards Zhou Zhu's chest.

There was a bang sound, Zhoushu leaned forward, raised his sword to deflect Qingteng's attack to one side, and then imitated Qingteng's action just now, moved his right shoulder forward, and swung the sword upward with the lower left stance.

Qingdeng launched a new round of attack at the same time. The tip of the sword suddenly floated up, and he switched to the upper sword position and slashed against Zhou Su's raised blade!

Snapped!

The huge impact was transmitted along the sword blade to Qingdeng's palms, which only made Qingdeng's palms numb.

The two swords collided in mid-air and were tightly twisted together.

He had only seen Shusuke's speed before, but this was the first time Qingto could intuitively feel Shusuke's power.

Although Zhou Zhu is old, his strength is not weak at all! He fought head-on with Qing Deng and did not lose in the slightest!

Taking advantage of his height, Qingden looked down at Zhoushu closely across the two swords held together.

Zhouzhu, who looked at Qingden, grinned.

Immediately afterwards, Qingdeng felt that the pressure in his hand that was originally pressing forward suddenly released laterally.

Qingteng gritted his teeth and followed Zhoushu in removing the knife laterally in the same direction. The two of them kept the swords stacked together and started running in the dojo. They ran straight towards the edge of the dojo until they reached the point where they were about to collide.

When they reached the wall, they both stopped.

The two of them returned to the stalemate with their feet firmly planted on the ground and their waists wrestling with each other. For each other's strength, they would also push forward.

Qingden saw the muscles in Zhousuke's arms bulging out, holding up his clothes and old skin. Blue veins were clearly visible on Zhousuke's neck and his arms.

In terms of endurance, the old Zhou Zhu was ultimately at a disadvantage.

Qingdeng gradually felt that the pressure from the front was gradually weakening.

Zhou Zhu glanced at the hand that was being lowered continuously with a look of neither sadness nor joy, took a deep breath, and then suddenly dodged to the left! He dodged to the left side of Qingdeng with a knife, and from this struggle

Get out!

Zhou Zhu's sudden withdrawal caused Qingdeng's body to fall forward by inertia.

Phew—Zhou Zhu swung the bamboo sword in his hand over his head in a half-moon shape, bringing up a strong wind pressure and slashing Qingdeng down on the back!

In this lightning-fast opportunity, Qingdeng relied on the "cat turn" to quickly stabilize the center of gravity of his body and position himself in a good position, using the Xiagou to attack Zhou Su who was in the upper section.

Snapped!

The two bamboo swords collided hard again, and then their swords swung backwards due to the reaction force.

Once again, using the power of the "cat turn" to stabilize his body, Qingdeng slammed his right foot on the ground. His body was like a spring that compressed and then suddenly released, and the pop-up blade came from the upper right road to bully Zhou Zhu!

As if he was deliberately trying to confront Qingteng, Zhousuke opened his squinted eyes, glanced behind him, and then made the same action as Qingteng, stepping backward with his left foot! He kicked the ground hard with his left foot.

Applying force, the force is transmitted along the calf to the waist, and then from the waist to the arms, exerting force with Xia Gou, and stabs the tip of the sword straight into Qingdeng's arms!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang... The knives of the old man and the young man collided again and again in mid-air. If the two men were using real knives, sparks would have started flying by now.

After another round of fierce confrontation, Zhou Zhu suddenly took the initiative to retreat, widening the distance between him and Qingden.

Qingdeng did not launch a pursuit. After the series of fierce attacks and defenses just now, Qingdeng felt that his breathing rhythm had become extremely disordered. Taking advantage of Zhou Zhu's initiative to jump back, Qingdeng took advantage of the situation and hurriedly adjusted his breathing.

Opposite Zhousuke, his breathing was also very rapid now.

After gasping for breath for a few times, Zhou Zhu showed a faint smile to Qingden.

"Tachibana-kun, your progress is really astonishing... I think back on when you were struggling to parry my attacks. But now, you have been able to use several attacks on me that made me feel a huge threat.

Already."

Qingden smiled: "Thank you for the compliment."

This is the second time he has competed with his master Zhou Zhu since he became a disciple and tried out the defense hall.

The first time he fought with Zhou Su, he couldn't even parry Zhou Su's fierce attack, let alone fight back.

Now, he can compete with Zhou Su in a decent manner... This huge progress makes Qingdeng himself feel a lot of emotion.
To be continued...