On Tannis's merchant ship, Zhou Qi lounged lazily on the upper deck, listening to music as he watched a pretty girl practice swordsmanship.
"The wild wind howls, demons lurk beneath the sea, and men of the sea never know fear..."
"Blue waters, blue skies, drifting white clouds, and men of the sea roam the four corners of the world!"
"This is a folk song from the East Blue, 'Men of the Sea.' It probably has a history of three or four hundred years!" Tashigi said casually as she wiped the sweat from her face with a towel after finishing her practice.
"If it has endured for four hundred years, then it's a timeless classic!" Zhou Qi exclaimed.
No wonder he felt that although the tune was simple, it carried such boldness and freedom that he had unconsciously lost himself in it.
Come to think of it, this world's treasures were not limited to gold, markets, or Devil Fruits. These cultural products could also shine brilliantly on Earth.
The One Piece World had all kinds of books. He did not know how developed its fairy tale and novel industries were, but its music industry was definitely advanced.
There was Victoria Cindry, the stage star modified by Hogback, and later there was Brook, whose world tours sold out every show.
It might not be as culturally prosperous as all of Earth, but if they focused only on China and Japan, they could probably nurture three or four superstar divas without any trouble.
After all, the Chinese Music Scene right now...
Well, he would make a note of it first. If anyone in his family was interested, he could have them work on it.
"Captain?" Zhou Qi waved.
"Sir!" The captain hurried over and bowed.
"Is there any really deep sea along this route?" Zhou Qi asked.
"The East Blue is not very deep, only three or four thousand meters. The sea in the Calm Belt is much deeper, ranging from ten thousand to twenty thousand meters, but that place is too dangerous. Merchant ships like ours would never dare go there!" the captain said.
"Three or four thousand meters..." Zhou Qi nodded. "That should barely be enough. Where is it?"
"At the edge of the Calm Belt. Should we change course?" the captain asked.
"How long would it take to get there?" Zhou Qi asked.
"About five days!"
"Uh, then how deep is the water here?" Zhou Qi pointed at the sea outside the ship.
"It's over three thousand meters here as well!" the captain said. "After all, the Lord of the Coast used to appear around here!"
"Three thousand meters... Seawater is 1.2 times denser than freshwater, so that's equivalent to 3,600 tons. It can generate 36 MPa of pressure. That should be enough in the East Blue!" Zhou Qi nodded, then took a coin from his pocket. After examining it carefully for a moment, he casually tossed it into the sea.
"What are you doing?" Tashigi asked curiously as she watched.
"Making an anchor point," Zhou Qi said.
"Oh..." Tashigi did not understand.
"You can go now!" Zhou Qi waved the captain away. When he turned back around, he saw Tashigi practicing her sword again.
"Who taught you this swordsmanship?" Zhou Qi asked from the side.
"Captain Smoker gave me the basics of swordsmanship!" Tashigi said.
"Can I take a look?"
"I suppose that's fine!" Tashigi thought of Smoker's instructions before she left: do her best to show off the Marines' virtues, strength, and abundant resources.
Wasn't this one way to do that?
After searching through her luggage, she pulled out several sheets of paper and handed them over.
"That's all?" Zhou Qi stared in astonishment. Three sheets of paper?
"That's all!" Tashigi nodded. "If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me..."
"I'll read it first!" Zhou Qi took the manual. This was a genuine manual that could cultivate sword aura!
What secrets did it hold?
He looked at the first page.
Suburi!
Focus your spirit, energy, and mind, then swing the sword with all your strength. That was one Suburi. While ensuring that every swing was made with full force, the practitioner also had to ensure that each swing landed on the exact same point.
Suburi could not only train one's willpower and the coordination of the limbs, body, and mind, but also one's control over the sword.
Once Suburi was cultivated to an advanced level, one could strike wherever one pointed. If a fly passed through the sky, one could cut off only its limbs without harming its body!
A swordsman of this level could already be called a swordfighter.
The second page: Striking Practice!
Striking Practice meant striking objects. At the beginner stage, one struck wooden stakes tied with ropes. At the intermediate stage, one struck stones. At the advanced stage, one struck iron blocks.
For every action, there was an equal reaction. When striking a wooden stake, it was equivalent to the stake striking back at you. The rebounding force would travel into your hands, and if you were a beginner, it would only leave both hands bleeding from the shock.
But once cultivated to a profound level, that rebounding force would not only cease to injure you, but could even be converted into your own strength through the movement of your muscles. It would not harm your body, and it could strengthen the power of your next move. By layering force upon force, each sword strike could become more powerful than the last!
Striking Practice trained control over one's muscles and strength. Once it reached the advanced stage, even a wooden sword could unleash tremendous power after repeated stacking, while an iron sword could be swung with featherlight force. It could be said that it contained the essence of the mysteries of force.
At this stage, a swordsman's control over the sword was already quite mature. He could protect himself and his allies while injuring enemies. Not only would his combat ability be greatly enhanced, but his endurance would improve as well due to his more refined control over strength.
A swordsman at this stage could already be called a Sword Master and was qualified to open a dojo and take disciples. In the Four Blues, a Sword Master's strength was enough to run rampant in every direction. When Zoro first met Luffy, he was only at this level.
Beyond that was meditation.
Meditation was the process of calming one's mind and silencing one's thoughts. It was also a process of sensing heaven, earth, and nature. As one continuously calmed the mind and silenced thoughts, one's spirit would gradually grow stronger, until one slowly began to perceive the breath of all things. At that point, one could use the breath of all things when drawing the sword to cut through everything, even steel!
A swordsman at this stage was a Great Swordsman!
As for beyond Great Swordsmen...
Zhou Qi did not turn the page, because there was nothing left.
"That's it?" He looked up blankly. "Are you sure this isn't a fake manual?"
"Of course it isn't fake!" Tashigi shook her head. "It was originally a gift sent by Marine Colonel Hina, and it even had Admiral Gion's signature on it. But the copy in your hands was transcribed by me, so it doesn't have the signature. Still, I checked it many times while copying it. I didn't miss a single word or copy a single word incorrectly!"
"I see." Zhou Qi nodded and flipped through the so-called manual twice more.
How should he put it? It was not that he found it too difficult. He found it too simple.
It seemed no different from the swordsmanship traditions on Earth.
There were quite a few kendo schools in Japan, and there were certainly plenty of old-fashioned swordsmen who buried their heads in relentless training. If this manual was real, they should have produced at least a few Sword Masters or Great Swordsmen long ago.
But what was the reality?
Japanese Sword Masters preferred spears when they went to war, while the person who dominated Japan during the Republic of China era was not some Japanese Sword Master, but China's sword immortal, Li Jinglin.
If there had been even one Sword Master, they should not have been so weak. According to the manual, Sword Masters could already slash apart bullets and split mountains and rocks!
But did such people exist in reality?
No!
Is it because the worlds are different? Zhou Qi recalled how six-year-old herbs here had been identified as fifty-year-old herbs on Earth.
So was it possible that it was not Earthlings who were incapable, but Earth's environment that was inadequate?
Then if I cultivate here, might I be able to surpass the limits of the human body?
Great Swordsman! Zhou Qi thought of Zoro's cool appearance, but quickly shook his head. Zoro was no ordinary person; he was one of the world's rare swordsmanship geniuses.
Even so, he had begun training at seven or eight years old and did not become a Great Swordsman until his twenties.
Zhou Qi's physical fitness was not even outstanding. He was the kind of person who often failed even the one-thousand-meter run during fitness tests. He was already twenty-seven, long past the best age to begin martial arts training.
Catch up to Zoro?
Zhou Qi felt that was unrealistic. Forget catching Zoro—he probably could not even catch up to Tashigi!
It seems that if I want to accomplish great things, I have to seize the Thunder-Thunder Fruit... Whether for survival, speed, future development, or simply showing off, he could not do without that Devil Fruit.
Of course, he could not belittle himself either. Maybe he really was some kind of martial arts genius!
I hope I can gain something when we reach Shimotsuki Village!
Before you continue