Volume 6: Edo Castle Imperial Court Test Chapter 352: Genichi's Strangeness
"Hmm? Xiaolin?" Yuan Yi raised an eyebrow, "Why did you come out?"
"Well, I'm not feeling so dizzy today, so I plan to go out for a walk, get some fresh air and some sunshine. I've been staying in the room all this time, and I can't stand it any more."
Sitting next to Genichi carelessly, Lin continued.
"I thought you guys were all just chatting about random things when you got together, but I didn't expect you to be talking about something as serious as the 'Yaksha Realm' in Shiranui."
"Until just now, we were actually just chatting about random things." Genichi said in a half-joking tone, "It's just that when you came over, we just happened to talk about serious things."
"We talked about Brother Ogata's battle at Nijo Castle in Kyoto." Makimura continued, "As we talked, we ended up talking about the 'Yaksha Realm' in Shiranui."
"Is that so..." Lin murmured softly, "...I really want to see with my own eyes this 'Yaksha Realm' that can rival the 'No Self Realm'..."
"There is a big difference between the 'Yaksha Realm ' and the 'No Self Realm'." Ogata added, "The 'Yaksha Realm' seems to simply greatly enhance a person's strength, speed and other abilities."
After hearing Ogata's addition, Lin fell silent.
After a long silence, Lin suddenly asked Ogata:
"…Ogata Ittosai. How did you enter the 'state of no self' when you were in Nijo Castle in Kyoto?"
"Huh?" Because Lin's question was asked so suddenly, Ogata was stunned for a moment after hearing Lin's question.
After seeing Lin's serious look at him and realizing that Lin was asking him this question in a serious manner, Ogata thought for a while, organized his words, and said seriously:
"The reason why I was able to enter the 'selfless state' at that time... I guess it was just pure luck."
"Using the Breath of the Source, the enemy's arrogant attitude made me angry, and I was obsessed with victory... and then I entered the 'selfless state'."
Ogata explained to Lin in detail how he entered the "selfless state" at that time.
After listening carefully to Ogata's story, Lin nodded slightly with a blank expression: "Is that so..."
Although Lin had concealed it well, there was still a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
"...Xiao Lin." Yuan Yi suddenly interrupted, "You don't need to be anxious."
"You are talented in practicing the Breath of the Source."
"As long as you continue to practice hard, one day you will be able to enter the 'selfless state'."
"With your talent, it should be no problem for you to reach the second level of Source Breathing."
"The second realm?" A look of confusion appeared on Ogata's face.
"Oh, that's right. I don't think I've told you this, Ogata-kun. It's not a very important thing though."
Genichi sat up a little straighter.
"I divided the states I entered during the process of cultivating the Source Breathing to its peak into three realms."
"I created the Breathing of the Origin and the Two Swords Style when I was 24."
"At this stage, whether I can enter the 'selfless state' after using the Breath of the Source... In short, it depends on fate, and cannot be controlled by my own will."
"I named the Breath of Source during this period the First Realm."
"I practiced like this for three years. When I was 27 years old, I finally succeeded in practicing the Breathing of the Source to a new level."
"At this stage, I can maintain the state of Source Breathing for less than a quarter of an hour, and then automatically enter the 'selfless state'."
"I named the Breath of Source during this period the Second Realm."
"Then I will continue to practice."
"I have been practicing for 27 years. It was not until 10 years ago, when I was 54 years old , that I finally practiced the source breathing to the third level, which is the highest level - I can freely enter the 'selfless state'."
"If you want to reach the highest realm where you can freely enter the 'selfless realm', you must definitely walk the same path I have walked before."
“It’s a very difficult road.”
At this point, Genichi chuckled a few times.
"It took me three years to go from the first level to the second level."
"It took me 27 years to reach the highest level from the second level."
Ogata had been listening quietly to what Genichi had said.
After Genichi finished speaking, Ogata thought to himself:
——The three realms mentioned by Master Yuanyi correspond to the elementary to advanced, master level, and grandmaster level respectively...
The three levels of the Source of Breathing that Yuan Yi just described are completely consistent with the levels defined by the system.
The first realm that cannot be controlled by one's own will corresponds to the elementary to advanced levels of Source Breathing.
It takes about 10 minutes to enter the second level of the "selflessness realm", which corresponds to the master level of Source Breathing.
The third realm, , corresponds to the Grandmaster level of Breathing of the Source.
"Xiaolin, Ogata-kun! You two should work hard!"
"Whether you can reach the highest level of Origin Breathing depends on chance, but with your talent, reaching the second level should not be a problem!"
Hearing Yuan Yi's encouragement, Lin's face showed a hint of excitement. She nodded vigorously and said loudly, "I will!"
As for Ogata...
When he heard Yuan Yi's words encouraging him to reach the second level, his expression became strange.
Ogata raised his wine glass in time, took a sip of wine, and used the wine glass and his hands to cover his strange face.
"In fact, it is already remarkable that the Lord and Brother Ogata can learn the Breathing of the Source."
Makura suddenly interrupted at this time.
"We are the kind of people who can never learn the Breath of the Source no matter how hard we try."
"Hmm? Have you also learned the Breathing of the Origin?" Ogata asked.
Lin beside her nodded.
"They are my subordinates. I hope my subordinates can become stronger and stronger."
"So after Jiulang and the others joined my Gourd House, I personally taught them the Breathing of the Origin."
"It's a pity that no one except Jiulang has learned the Breathing of the Origin."
"This Source Breathing is too difficult!" Makura said unhappily, "Fighting while maintaining that weird breathing rhythm? This is too difficult!"
"So learning this breathing technique also depends on talent." Yuan Yi continued.
"Does Mamiya also know the Breathing of the Source?" Ogata raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Lin nodded gently:
"He can. It's just that—he doesn't use it very often."
"My Lord. I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation."
Just then, Mamiya's voice suddenly interrupted.
Everyone turned their heads and looked at Mamiya who was fiddling with the sails. Mamiya continued in a calm tone:
"Could you please wake up Asai and the others? Edo is just around the corner. We are almost ready to disembark."
…
…
Ogata and his crew did not choose to dock in the port of Edo.
If it chose to dock at the port of Edo, if it was caught by Edo officials, the Edo officials would definitely investigate this strange ship of unknown origin.
In order to avoid trouble, Ogata and his crew chose to land at an uninhabited shallow beach quite close to Edo.
After Ogata carried Atachi off the boat, Atachi breathed a sigh of relief:
"Standing on land is still the most comfortable..."
"My lord." Mucun, who was responsible for carrying Lin, turned his head and asked Lin behind him, "What should we do with this ship?"
"We don't have the time to deal with this boat." Lin, who was still unable to walk properly like Ating, lay on Makimura's back and said without thinking, "Let's just leave this boat here."
After saying that, Lin turned her head and looked at the other people around her.
"Is there anything that everyone has missed?"
Ogata and others shook their heads.
Everyone is now dressed, and everyone wears a hat on their head that can effectively block the scorching sun.
It is already October, but the weather is still so hot that it makes people wonder whether we are still in the hot summer.
In order to avoid heatstroke, each of Ogata and his companions received a bamboo hat to keep out the heat before setting off.
The brim of their hats is very wide, so they can cover their faces with the hats just by lowering their heads. So in addition to keeping out the heat, their hats can also conceal their faces.
The place where Ogata and his companions landed was an uninhabited shallow beach close to Edo. To enter Edo Castle, they had to walk some distance.
Before leaving, Ogata turned his head and looked at his face through the sea water.
Under the bamboo hat on his head is an ordinary face that passers-by would definitely not remember.
At this time, Ogata had already put on the human skin mask.
From the outside, he was just an ordinary-looking ronin at that time, not the infamous "Hitsuhan Yisei" now.
"After we enter Edo Castle, don't call my name by mistake."
Ogata said to Atachi behind him in a half-joking tone.
"Now, I am no longer the 'Executioner Ittosai', the successor of Sakakibara Ittoryu and Muga Nitoryu, but the successor of Komaki Ittoryu - Majima Goro."
…
…
When getting off the boat, Ogata took a special look at the position of the sun.
According to Ogata's estimation, it was around 3:00 p.m. when they got off the ship and landed.
By the time we stepped into Edo Castle, it was already dusk and the sun was setting. The increasingly weak sunlight dyed the sky a dim yellow.
After entering the city, the sky had completely darkened.
Although the sky was dark, the twilight did not deprive Japan's largest city of its vitality.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Atachi, who was lying on Ogata's back, looked around in shock.
Ogata and others are now walking on an unknown avenue in Edo.
Even though it was already night, there were still many pedestrians on the street.
Looking around, there were pedestrians and lights everywhere.
The brilliant lights, the rows of shops and houses, the endless stream of people, the various accents echoing in the ears... everything in front of and in the ears is proudly announcing to Ogata and others the prosperity of Japan's first city.
Atachi, who came to Edo for the first time, is now like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.
Other people who look like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden include Mucun and Qianjing.
Although Makimura was born in Kyoto, one of the three major capitals of Japan, the prosperity of Kyoto cannot be compared with that of Edo.
Even Kyoto, which had not yet been devastated by the Tenmei Fire, was far less prosperous than Edo.
The only people who had relatively calm reactions were Rin, Genichi, Mamiya, Shimada who was originally from Edo, and Ogata.
Although Ogata was also in Edo for the first time, he was, after all, a time traveler from modern Earth.
No matter how prosperous Edo was, it could not compare to the real "cities that never sleep" on modern Earth.
However - although the prosperity of Edo did not bring too much surprise to Ogata, he still looked around with curiosity.
At this moment, Ogata suddenly thought that it was already October of the second year of Kansei (1790).
It was around this time last year that he left the Hirose Domain and became a ronin.
During this one-year wandering, Ogata has been to many places, from Izumo Hirose Domain in western Japan, all the way to Kyoto in Kansai, and then from Kyoto in Kansai to Edo in Kanto.
I have been to so many places, but none of them can surpass Edo in prosperity.
In terms of prosperity alone, Edo was worthy of being the center of Japan at that time.
Lin, Genichi, Mamiya, and Shimada seemed accustomed to this prosperous scene and just walked forward silently with the crowd.
At this moment - Genichi, who was walking at the end, suddenly fixed his gaze and his pupils shrank slightly.
After staring at the crowd in front of him for a while, Yuan Yi silently raised his hand to lower the hat on his head a little and buried his head, using the wide brim of the hat to cover his face.
While lowering the bamboo hat on his head, Genichi pulled down the haori draped over his body with an imperceptible movement, using the haori to cover the sword inserted in his left waist. At the same time, he quietly walked to the side of Makura and hid beside Makura's body which was much taller than him.
Coming towards Ogata and his companions was a group of majestic warriors.
The leader of this group of majestic warriors was quite old, probably around 50 years old, with a neat and clean topknot.
Although he is old, the old warrior still looks energetic and does not look like a 50-year-old man at all.
It was a common thing to encounter samurai on the streets of Edo. Ogata and others just regarded this group of people as ordinary passers-by and did not pay any attention to them.
On the other hand, this group of samurai would not care about Ogata and others who just passed by them.
After passing by this group of samurai, Genichi raised his hat which had just been lowered, then turned his head and looked back, looking at the group of samurai who had just passed by them.
To be more precise, he was looking at the old warrior who was the leader of the group of warriors.
After looking at the old samurai with a meaningful look, Genichi slowly withdrew his gaze and continued to follow Ogata and others, following the flow of people towards the front of the street.
Just as Genichi turned his gaze away—
Old warrior: “?!!”
The old warrior's face suddenly changed. He stopped quickly, then turned his head sharply and looked behind him.
His eyes darted around, as if he was looking for something.
The other warriors following behind the old warrior stopped one after another and cast puzzled looks at the old warrior.
"Lord Nagano, what's wrong?" asked a young samurai who was closest to the old samurai and following closely beside him.
"…It seemed like someone was watching us just now." The old samurai called Nagano said in a deep voice.
"Looking at us? This... Lord Nagano, there are so many people here. Some passers-by look at us because we are so many or because of the beautiful swords on our waists. Isn't this normal?"
Nagano ignored his subordinate's words.
He just moved his gaze and carefully scanned the scene in front of him again.
After realizing that all I could see were ordinary faces or the backs of heads, I muttered to myself:
“…It must be an illusion…”
After saying that, Nagano subconsciously raised the sword at his waist, and then continued to lead the subordinates behind him and move forward.
