First Encounter with Swordsmanship

On Tannis's merchant ship, Zhou Qi lounged lazily on the top deck, listening to music and watching a beautiful girl practice her sword.

"The wind howls, sea demons, sons of the sea never fear..."

"Azure waters, blue skies, white clouds drift, sons of the sea roam the four seas!"

"This is the folk song 'Sons of the Sea' that has been passed down in the East Blue. It's probably three or four hundred years old!" Tashigi said casually as she wiped sweat from her face with a towel after finishing her practice.

"If it can be passed down for four hundred years, this is a classic piece of its time!" Zhou Qi exclaimed.

No wonder he felt that although the melody was simple, it was heroic and unrestrained, making Zhou Qi unconsciously captivated.

Speaking of which, the treasures of this world are not just gold, markets, or Devil Fruits. These cultural and entertainment products could also shine brightly on Earth.

The One Piece World has many books. While the fairy tale and novel industries are unknown, the music industry is definitely developed.

First, there was the stage star Victoria Cindry, modified by Hogback, and then there was Brook, whose world tours were always sold out.

It might not be as prosperous as the entire Earth's entertainment industry, but if it were just within China and Japan, it should be enough to produce three or four super divas.

After all, the current Chinese music scene...

Well, he'll note it down for now. If anyone in his family is interested, he'll let them handle it.

"Captain?" Zhou Qi waved his hand.

"Sir!" The captain hurried over and bowed.

"Are there any very deep seas on this route?" Zhou Qi asked.

"The waters of the East Blue are not deep, only three to four thousand meters. The waters in the Calm Belt are very deep, ranging from ten thousand to twenty thousand meters. But that place is very dangerous, and merchant ships like ours dare not go there!" the captain said.

"Three to four thousand meters!" Zhou Qi nodded. "It should be barely enough. Where is it?"

"At the edge of the Calm Belt. Do we need to change our route?!" the captain asked.

"How long will it take to get there?" Zhou Qi asked.

"About five days!"

"Uh, then how deep is the water here?" Zhou Qi pointed to the ocean outside the ship.

"It's also over three thousand meters deep!" the captain said. "After all, the King of the Near Sea used to appear here!"

"Three thousand meters! The density of seawater is 1.2 times that of freshwater, which means 3,600 tons, generating a pressure of 36 MPa. That should be enough in the East Blue!" Zhou Qi nodded, then took a coin from his pocket, examined it closely, and casually tossed it into the sea.

"What are you doing?" Tashigi asked curiously, watching this scene.

"Making an anchor point!" Zhou Qi said.

"Oh..." Tashigi didn't understand.

"You can go now!" Zhou Qi waved his hand, dismissing the captain. When he turned his head, he saw Tashigi practicing her sword again.

"Who did you learn swordsmanship from?" Zhou Qi asked from the side.

"It's the basic swordsmanship that Captain Smoker gave me!" Tashigi said.

"May I see it?"

"It's not impossible!" Tashigi thought about Smoker's instructions when he left, which were to try his best to showcase the Marines' goodness, power, and abundant resources.

Isn't this a form of showcasing?

She searched through her uniform and took out a few sheets of paper, handing them over.

"Is this all?" Zhou Qi was stunned. Only three sheets of paper?

"This is all!" Tashigi nodded. "If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me..."

"Let me take a look first!" Zhou Qi took the manual. This was a genuine manual that could train one to wield sword energy!

What mysteries did it hold!

He looked at the first page.

Suburi!

Concentrate one's spirit, energy, and mind, and swing the sword with great force. This is one suburi. The practitioner must ensure that every suburi is done with all their might, while also ensuring that the position of every suburi is at a single point.

Suburi not only cultivates willpower, coordination of limbs and mind and body, but also cultivates control over the sword.

When suburi is trained to a profound level, one can achieve the ability to hit whatever they aim at. If a fly flies by in the sky, one can sever only its limbs without harming its body!

A swordsman at this level can already be called a swordsman.

The second page, Striking Practice!

Striking practice involves striking objects. The beginner stage is striking a tied wooden stake, the intermediate stage is striking stones, and the advanced stage is striking iron blocks.

The law of action and reaction is mutual. Striking a wooden stake is equivalent to the stake hitting you. The recoil force will be transmitted to your hands. For a beginner, it can only numb their hands.

But if trained to a profound realm, this recoil force will not only not harm oneself but can be used to enhance the power of the next move through muscle movement. Through the layering of strength, each sword strike will be more powerful than the last!

Striking practice is used to train the control of muscles and strength. When trained to the advanced stage, even with a wooden sword, one can exert extremely powerful force after multiple layers of reinforcement. Even with an iron sword, one can wield it with a light and graceful power. It can be said that the subtlety of strength is fully captured.

At this stage, the swordsman's control over the sword is already quite mature. They can kill enemies while protecting themselves and their teammates. Not only is their combat power greatly enhanced, but because of their more refined control over strength, their stamina is also improved.

Swordsmen at this stage can already be called Sword Masters and are qualified to open schools and take disciples. In the Four Seas, the strength of a Sword Master is enough to dominate the region. Zoro was only at this level when he met Luffy.

Next, meditation.

Meditation is the process of calming the mind and stopping thoughts, and it is also a process of perceiving the natural world. Through the continuous process of calming the mind and stopping thoughts, a person's spirit will gradually grow stronger, eventually slowly beginning to perceive the breath of all things. At this point, when drawing a sword, one can use the breath of all things to cut through anything, even steel!

Swordsmen at this stage are Sword Saints!

As for above Sword Saint...

Zhou Qi didn't flip further, because there was nothing else.

"That's it?" He looked up in confusion, "Are you sure this isn't a fake manual?"

"Of course it's not fake!" Tashigi shook her head. "It was originally a gift from Marine Captain Hina, and it even has Admiral Gion's signature on it. However, the one you have is a copy I made, so it doesn't have the signature. But I checked it many times when I was copying it, and I didn't miss a single word or copy a single word incorrectly!"

"Is that so!" Zhou Qi nodded and flipped through the so-called manual twice more.

How to put it, it wasn't that he felt it was too difficult, but rather that it felt too simple.

It seemed no different from Earth's swordsmanship heritage.

There were quite a few swordsmanship schools in Japan, and there were definitely many swordsmen who were old-fashioned and practiced diligently. If this manual was real, then they should have produced a few Sword Masters or Sword Saints long ago.

But what was the reality?

Japan's Sword Saints preferred to use spears in battle. During the Republic of China era, it wasn't a Japanese Sword Saint who dominated Japan, but the Chinese Sword Immortal Li Jinglin.

If there had been even one Sword Master, they shouldn't have been this weak, because according to the manual's description, a strong Sword Master could already cleave bullets with their sword and split mountains and rocks!

But did that exist in reality?

No!

"Is the world different?" Zhou Qi thought of his experience where six years of herbs here were identified as fifty years old on Earth.

So, is it possible that it's not that Earthlings are incapable, but that Earth's environment is incapable?

If I cultivate here, wouldn't it be possible to surpass human limits?

"Sword Saint!" Zhou Qi thought of Zoro's cool appearance, but quickly shook his head. Zoro wasn't an ordinary person, but a rare swordsmanship genius in the world.

Even so, he started practicing sword fighting from the age of seven or eight and only became a Sword Saint in his twenties.

His physical fitness wasn't top-notch either; he often failed the one-kilometer run test. He was now 27 years old, long past the prime age for martial arts training.

To catch up to Zoro?

Zhou Qi felt it was unrealistic. Let alone catching up to Zoro, he probably couldn't even catch up to Tashigi!

"It seems that if I want to achieve great things, I must get my hands on the Thunder-Thunder Fruit..." Whether for survival, speed, future development, or just to show off, he couldn't do without this fruit.

Of course, he couldn't underestimate himself either. Maybe he was a martial arts genius!

"I hope I can gain something when I reach Shimotsuki Village this time!"