My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 355 - 139: Collision of [Momentum]—A Brand-New Realm!

"’When engaging in a life-and-death struggle with others, it’s all about winning. As long as you can win, it doesn’t matter if you resort to despicable methods that outsiders would see as completely underhanded, like pulling out a pistol for a sneak attack.’"

Upon hearing this, Aoto couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart.

This teaching... it really suited his taste!

If not for the lack of access to firearms, he would have long wanted to equip himself with a gun!

At present, almost all the Vassal States, including the Shogunate, were still using matchlock guns that had been outdated for nearly 200 years on a large scale... Even most of the Daimyos of the Vassal States couldn’t get themselves a Western firearm, let alone Aoto, who was merely a "Capital City Constable" at the moment.

If he could somehow get a pistol and plenty of bullets... when those madmen from the Anti-foreigner Faction came looking for trouble again, he could just pull out his pistol and blow their heads off, one by one. How exhilarating!

Aoto was still quite confident in his Spear Technique; back in school in his past life, his Spear Technique was always far ahead of his peers.

While Aoto silently applauded his master’s mysterious master’s teachings in his heart, Zhouzhu continued:

"After receiving this teaching from the mysterious master, our master based the secret philosophy of our Natural Reasoning Heart Stream on it—when fighting, you must have the unwavering belief of ’I must win no matter what’; with such resolve, you won’t easily lose in momentum to others."

With that, Zhouzhu adopted a more serious and earnest tone.

"Whether it is Swordsmanship or Spear Technique, no matter the style of Martial Arts, when competing with others, momentum is most important."

"You may lack a sufficiently strong physique, you may lack refined techniques, but you must not lack the momentum to dare to engage with others and dare to defeat your opponents!"

Aoto nodded lightly—he completely agreed with what Zhouzhu had just said.

First is courage, second is strength, third is skill... this saying applies to all Martial Arts alike.

When practicing Martial Arts, the most important thing is to have enough courage to confront your opponent.

If one fights timidly, fearing this or that, they might not even perform at half their potential.

Following courage, the second most important thing is the physique.

Martial Arts techniques are only the third most important thing.

"This momentum, the courage to fight and win, is especially important for our Natural Reasoning Heart Stream, which emphasizes attacks."

"If you don’t even have the courage to fight and defeat your opponent, how can the sword you wield be sharp enough?"

Zhouzhu then extended two fingers.

"So, simply put—the secret philosophy of the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream created by our master requires us to achieve two things."

"First: When fighting, you can use any means necessary to win."

"In friendly martial exchanges, talking about Martial Virtue is fine. But in a life-and-death duel with an enemy, talking about Martial Virtue is brainless."

"Second: No matter what, you must not lose the momentum that dares to fight and win."

Zhouzhu lowered the two fingers he had extended.

"Mr. Tachibana, in the battle just now, you should have deeply felt the importance of momentum, right?"

Aoto’s expression slightly tensed.

"Mr. Tachibana, if you recall carefully now—in the battle just now, hadn’t my strength and speed remained unchanged from start to finish? But after I unleashed my momentum, my moves suddenly became sharp."

Aoto half-closed his eyes, carefully reminiscing about the various details of the previous battle, then nodded.

In the brief exchange just now, Aoto saw very clearly—from the beginning to the end, Zhouzhu’s momentum changed suddenly, but his strength and speed had remained the same; it was still the same power, still the same speed.

"This is the effect of momentum."

Zhouzhu smiled faintly.

"If I remember correctly, it was about 60 years ago that a great sword hero, whose name and identity are now untraceable, integrated a brand-new concept of Martial Arts based on the predecessors."

"That is ’momentum,’ abbreviated as ’momentum’."

"And this is the ’next stage’ content that you are now qualified to learn, which I just mentioned."

Zhouzhu adjusted to a more comfortable sitting position.

"In our daily lives, don’t we often have a saying? That some people who have long been in the Upper Rank will unconsciously cultivate a kind of ’aura of the superior’."

"People with this ’aura of the superior,’ even if they just give a simple stare, can exert immense pressure on others, sometimes even terrifying someone to tears with just a glance."

"This is a form of momentum."

"In our Martial Arts World, those who have achieved something in their respective fields and whose resolves are firm enough, as their strength continues to increase, will slowly cultivate their own ’momentum’."

"Whether or not one possesses sufficiently sharp ’momentum’—this is a crucial dividing line."

"If you can cross this dividing line, it means that on the path of Martial Arts, you’ll rise to a whole new level."

"Though the presence or absence of ’momentum’ can’t be said to be as different as the sky and earth, the differences are still quite significant."

"When your opponent has no ’momentum’ at all, and you can unleash strong ’momentum,’ undoubtedly, you’ll have the upper hand in this battle."

"Because strong ’momentum’ can exert tremendous psychological pressure on the opponent."

"The competition between the two of us just now is a great example."