At the Oda Manor, to celebrate Zhou Ming's arrival, Oda Heizo specially hosted a grand banquet, inviting his 'vassals' to meet their new 'colleague'.
Although Zhou Ming had always emphasized that he and Oda Heizo had a cooperative relationship, often, what you say isn't as important as what others believe.
Thus, upon seeing Oda Heizo's excessive enthusiasm for Zhou Ming, which the 'vassals' interpreted as Oda Heizo's 'favoritism', feelings of jealousy and dissatisfaction towards Zhou Ming, the 'newcomer', naturally arose among them and quickly festered.
Following this, provocations and attempts to assert dominance over the newcomer also ensued.
A short samurai stood up from his seat, walked to the center of the great hall, and bowed to Oda Heizo, who was seated above.
"My Lord!" the short samurai said in a muffled voice, "I hear Zhou-kun is a powerful samurai. How about I spar with Zhou-kun to liven up the atmosphere of this banquet?"
It's here!
Everyone's spirits lifted.
"Hmm, well..." Oda Heizo feigned hesitation and looked at Zhou Ming, who was seated to his left, "Zhou-kun, what do you think?"
As soon as these words were spoken, many people had an idea, and several subtle glances were exchanged, creating an unspoken understanding.
Among these people, some had some understanding of what happened during the day and could somewhat guess Oda Heizo's intentions, while others were unaware, but that didn't stop them from wanting to test Zhou Ming and enjoy the show.
Thus, pair after pair of eyes fell upon Zhou Ming, and the attention of the entire great hall gradually focused on him.
Zhou Ming stared at the food on the small wooden table in front of him, saying nothing.
Everyone in the great hall, including Oda Heizo, was kneeling on the floor, but only Zhou Ming sat cross-legged. There was no other reason; he just wasn't used to it!
Oda Heizo said nothing about his unconventional behavior, and of course, no one else expressed anything.
Zhou Ming initially thought this small issue was just a cultural difference and that he could endure it, but when the food arrived, he couldn't take it anymore.
Taiyaki, tofu, chicken soup, pickled radish, and the rice was chazuke. That was it... Such a meal would be acceptable for an ordinary dinner, but what kind of place was this? A banquet hosted by a Daimyo!
Is that all?
The level of economic development of an era can be glimpsed from its cuisine.
Just from this one meal, it was evident that Higashiteru Island Country under Nohara Momonosuke was by no means wealthy.
If even the Daimyo's banquet was so paltry, there was no need to even imagine what the common people's daily meals were like.
"Nohara Momonosuke, a Devil King, a tyrant. Heh heh, the Main God's evaluation is indeed quite accurate..."
"Zhou-kun? Zhou-kun!"
Oda Heizo's repeated calls brought Zhou Ming back from his contemplation.
"Hmm?" Zhou Ming's thoughts were interrupted, and he looked up with some displeasure.
Taking in Zhou Ming's displeasure, Oda Heizo felt a bit annoyed but didn't show it. Instead, he said with a chuckle:
"Zhou-kun, tonight's banquet is for you. As the guest of honor, how can you be so low-key? How about you have a match with Nojiri-kun and show off a bit to liven up the atmosphere?"
"A match?" Zhou Ming then turned his gaze to the short samurai in the arena, narrowing his eyes, "With him?"
"Exactly, it is I!" The short samurai felt a sense of being underestimated, immediately grew angry, patted the wooden sword at his waist, and shouted loudly.
For safety reasons, carrying swords was not allowed at such banquets, so samurai chose to wear these decorative wooden swords to uphold the samurai's honor of 'man and sword are one'.
"Oh? How do you compare to Takenouchi Jun?"
Takenouchi Jun?
The short samurai was slightly startled to hear that name. He had once been defeated by Takenouchi Jun, but he was young then, and Takenouchi Jun was already a renowned master. Now, after years of diligent cultivation, he was confident that he was far stronger than Takenouchi Jun.
"He brings up Takenouchi Jun now. Could it be that he knows I once lost to Takenouchi Jun and deliberately wants to humiliate me?"
As soon as he thought of this, an unprovoked anger surged in the short samurai's heart.
Unfortunately, he was not well-informed and didn't know what had happened earlier today, nor did he know that Takenouchi Jun was already dead. Otherwise, he would never have had such thoughts.
So, the short samurai shouted, "Takenouchi Jun is nothing more than a frail old man! How can you compare him to me! If you admit you're not as good as Takenouchi Jun, then there's no need to even fight!"
As soon as these words came out, the short samurai felt utterly exhilarated, as if he could already see the astonished and admiring gazes of his colleagues, and the Daimyo's heavy reliance... Then, he heard Zhou Ming's understated reply.
"Alright, take this!"
Zhou Ming activated the Ghost Shadow Gu, his body like a phantom, and with a flash, he appeared before the samurai.
The samurai was greatly alarmed and was about to draw his sword to defend when he saw Zhou Ming's index and middle fingers of his right hand held together, pointing towards his glabella.
"No weapon! Using his hand as a sword?" The samurai was stunned, a thought flashed like lightning through his mind, and then he realized, as if he had understood the other party's intention.
"It seems he also wants to get along with me. Using his hand as a sword, we'll exchange a few moves, stop before anyone gets hurt, and everyone will be happy. Hmm, this colleague..."
Swoosh!
The sound of flesh being cut brought the samurai's thoughts to a halt.
He looked at Zhou Ming, at the translucent Sword Qi extending from between Zhou Ming's two joined fingers, and the shock that had just risen in his eyes slowly turned into a deathly stillness.
Two-turn Sword Qi Gu!
Clatter!
Everyone was astonished!
Some leaned back, their legs trembling; some leaned forward, almost prostrating on the table; some stood up too quickly, knocking over bowls and plates; some had blank expressions, unable to believe it.
"Qi Condensation into a blade!"
"The legendary Qi Condensation into a blade, is it actually real?"
"Holy crap, this young man, holy crap, where did this young man come from..." (These words are mine)
Oda Heizo, seated in the center, had his heart churning like turbulent waves, exclaiming, "Is this the Realm of 'no sword in hand, but a sword in heart'?"
Compared to the shock of others, he thought further, for example, if Zhou Ming wanted to kill him today, with this Qi Condensation into a blade technique, how could he possibly defend himself?
"Couldn't even take one move from me, and he said he was stronger than Takenouchi Jun?"
Zhou Ming cast a disdainful glance at the short samurai's corpse lying on the ground, ignored the stunned gazes throughout the hall, and turned to walk back to his seat.
The martial Dao experience of the short samurai echoed in his mind.
The martial Dao experience of low-level samurai had a diminishing effect on his martial Dao improvement, just like how killing low-level monsters in a game yields less experience.
Therefore, after destroying the Ōishi Shinpū-ryū and realizing that those weak samurai had negligible impact on his martial Dao improvement, Zhou Ming stopped killing them.
Otherwise, he might even have considered killing until the end of time, becoming a 'Ten-Mile Slope Sword God'.
Killing this short samurai was also an attempt based on this idea.
To be honest, the short samurai's strength was on par with Takenouchi Jun's; it was just that Zhou Ming took advantage of the element of surprise, leaving the opponent no time to react, which led to his instant death by a single sword.
And the martial Dao experience provided by this short samurai definitely did not bring as much improvement to Zhou Ming as Takenouchi Jun's, which indeed confirmed Zhou Ming's guess.
"It seems this is also a hidden restriction from the Main God. If I want to quickly improve my strength, I must constantly challenge more powerful masters. It's impossible to simply farm low-level monsters and reap the rewards."
The banquet ended amidst a clamor.
Due to the powerful strength he displayed, Zhou Ming became the most dazzling presence that night.
No one cared about the short samurai's death; his body was quickly dragged away and disposed of. Such was the tragedy of a samurai.