The Essence of Cultivation

After Zhou Qi had answered, Tashigi did not need to.

After all, just looking at that face, Koshiro would never refuse to teach her.

But the teaching method was different from how he taught the little brats outside. For those kids, he could just teach them a set of Suburi and let them practice on their own.

For Zhou Qi, he directly brought out his family's secret manual.

Shimotsuki Isshin-ryu, a thick book completely unlike the three sheets of paper Tashigi had taken out!

"This is the swordsmanship passed down through our Shimotsuki Family. It includes sword techniques, iai techniques, naginata techniques, spear techniques, shuriken techniques, Jujutsu, ninjutsu, feng shui, castle construction, sword forging, and many other martial arts techniques!"

"Wait!" Zhou Qi was a little baffled. "I can accept swordsmanship including spear techniques. After all, it's normal for a Sword Master to use a spear. I can also accept sword forging, since the sword best suited to you is naturally one you forge yourself. But why are there Jujutsu, feng shui, and castle construction too? Do those count as swordsmanship?"

"A swordsman does not keep a sword in hand every moment. If their sword is lost, are they supposed to lose all combat ability?" Koshiro said matter-of-factly. "That is why Jujutsu is naturally part of swordsmanship. A swordsman needs to travel far and wide to improve their swordsmanship. If they do not understand feng shui or castle construction, would they not end up dying pointlessly in natural disasters or getting lost in the wilderness?"

"As for castle construction, that is even more important. Swordsmen must endure loneliness for years on end, so naturally they need to build their own homes. It is also a way to understand different materials. Besides, learning more about architecture helps one fight in different environments..."

That made so much sense that Zhou Qi had nothing to say!

Come to think of it, Hawk Eyes' castle was pretty cool. Had he built it himself?

And Zoro was always getting lost. Was that because he had failed feng shui?

"But you need not worry that it is too complicated. Other than feng shui and castle construction, which require rote memorization, the foundations that need training are not too different. Once your fundamentals are solid, you will be able to wield any weapon with ease!"

"So that's how it is!" Zhou Qi could understand that. It was like playing LOL—once you had mastered Ashe, you could basically pick up ninety percent of ADCs.

"The ultimate meaning of Isshin-ryu is to use a heart of wisdom to grasp all mysteries..." Koshiro drew his sword and lightly slashed to the side. An iron block split apart at once.

Then he casually tossed out a sheet of paper and chopped down hard. The paper was completely unharmed and fluttered gently to the ground!

"This..." Even though Zhou Qi had seen this scene in the anime, witnessing it in reality still shook him deeply.

Was this really something a human could do?

Cutting through steel was understandable enough. Strength could overcome anything!

But what was with not being able to cut paper? He had obviously struck with great force!

Was it Ryoukou Haki? But Zhou Qi had not seen anything change color!

And if it really was Ryoukou Haki, why did Koshiro not just say so? Why use such mysterious wording instead?

"Can I look at the manual?" Zhou Qi asked.

"Of course!" Koshiro handed the manual over.

Zhou Qi hurriedly opened it and looked at the foundational section first. He found that it seemed no different from Tashigi's three sheets of paper: Suburi, striking practice, and then—huh?

Zhou Qi noticed that the section on meditation was different.

Tashigi's swordsmanship described meditation as maintaining an empty, tranquil state, then constantly focusing one's mind and gathering scattered thoughts, like condensing scattered clouds into a single pearl.

It could be called the Pearl Meditation Method.

Isshin-ryu's meditation, however, treated the mind as a tide. It was first gathered in the mind, then spread throughout the body. Each breath was one cycle of gathering and spreading.

Repeating over and over, like the tides, it could be called the Tidal Meditation Method.

The similarity between the two was that both involved gathering one's mind in the brain.

But the Pearl Meditation Method ended once it had been gathered, while Isshin-ryu had an additional step of spreading it through the body.

Which one was superior?

Zhou Qi believed Koshiro's family method was naturally superior. After all, the Shimotsuki Family had produced Great Swordsmen generation after generation, while what about the Navy?

They only had one Gion!

If the Navy's meditation method were truly powerful, its success rate would not be so low!

But why?

Why could this spreading process raise the success rate so much?

Zhou Qi knew nothing about swordsmanship. He certainly could not figure out the reason himself, so he could only ask Koshiro.

"Gathering, spreading?" Koshiro nodded. "That is a very good description. But as for why it spreads, I do not actually know..."

After all, he had not created this swordsmanship. He was merely its inheritor.

"Is that so?" Zhou Qi nodded and asked again, "Then does this meditation method really work? I mean, what changes happen to the body after practicing it?"

"It improves your control over your body, develops your potential, and thereby increases your strength!" Koshiro said. "Human strength has limits. If you train only the body and not the mind, you will eventually hit a bottleneck. But through meditation, you can refine strength that would otherwise never be used, raising the body's limits. At the highest level, resisting mountains and fighting dragons and elephants would not be impossible!"

"Sitting and Forgetting, Turtle Breath?" Zhou Qi thought of Galactic Emperor. This path felt strangely familiar!

"For beginners, I do not recommend learning so much at once. Suddenly receiving knowledge that is too profound will only make it harder to calm down. I believe you have the wisdom to settle yourself. Cultivation must still begin with the basics!" Koshiro said. "It does not matter if you do not understand. I do not understand either, but that does not stop us from cultivating!"

"Is that so..." Zhou Qi shook his head. The education he had received since childhood was somewhat different from Koshiro's.

He preferred to first understand the underlying principles.

Chairman Mao had once said: when examining things, we must look at their essence, treating their phenomena only as guides to enter through the door. Once inside, we must grasp their essence. Only then is it a reliable and scientific method of analysis.

Greater strength and better control over the body were merely phenomena of meditation, not its essence.

So what was the essence?

Before discussing that question, they first had to determine whether meditation causing greater strength belonged to science or mysticism.

If it was mysticism, then the increase in strength should have no upper limit. Otherwise, it would not be mysticism.

But if it fell within the realm of science, then there should be an upper limit to that increase in strength. After all, the human body had limits. You could not expect flesh and blood to withstand bullets head-on.

Zhou Qi leaned more toward this matter remaining within the realm of science.

After all, if strength could increase without limit, Koshiro would not be troubled by Kuina being a girl.

As long as Kuina meditated, her strength could grow without limit. Sooner or later, she would catch up to those powerful men.

It was precisely because Koshiro knew that such growth had limits that he did not think highly of Kuina.

If it was a matter within the realm of science, then it would be easier to study.

Under what circumstances did a person become stronger?

More muscle, less fat.

But reducing fat also reduced endurance. A fight might last only three to five minutes before one collapsed.

That did not fit the common sense of strong people in the One Piece World. After all, it was common for the powerful here to fight for days and nights.

Even if they had to eat after getting tired, a battle lasting three to five hours was still normal.

Under what circumstances would a person gain greater control over their body?

When their nerve cells became more developed and could reach deep into tiny clusters of cells, allowing the brain's commands to be transmitted precisely to every muscle.

The more precise the transmission, the stronger the control over the body.

And when the nervous system controlled more cells, strength would also increase. After all, cells tended to slack off when they were part of a larger group, showing up without putting in effort.

But if you could command every single cell precisely, you could naturally bring out the full strength of your cells and muscles. Cells that had once slacked off would become elite soldiers, and your strength would naturally surge.

Moreover, this matched a power system in the Navy: Life Return!

When you could control every cell in your body, you could naturally manipulate your stomach and intestines, speed up food absorption to rapidly restore stamina, and even freely shift the positions of your organs to avoid fatal injuries!

Now, back to meditation. It was obvious that both the Pearl Meditation Method and the Tidal Meditation Method could increase strength. Otherwise, Gion could not have become a Great Swordsman.

But the Pearl Meditation Method was inferior to the Tidal Meditation Method. The difference was that step of spreading the mind through the entire body.

What was that step doing?

Naturally, it was using the subconscious to influence nerve cells. Or rather, it was activating nerve cells that had originally been controlled by the subconscious, making them move.

There were countless examples on Earth of consciousness affecting the physical body. Clearly, development in the One Piece World had gone a step further. They had already applied consciousness' influence over reality to strengthening the body.

But there were also many people on Earth who practiced meditation. Chinese Taoism, Buddhism, Indian ascetics, and Japanese swordsmanship all had meditation and ascetic practices. So why had none of them cultivated themselves into Adeptus and Gods?

That required introducing another concept.

Spiritual Energy!

The One Piece World was clearly different from Earth. The difference was that herbs grown here for six years were considered forty or fifty years old by Earth's doctors!

There was a difference between these two worlds. Zhou Qi did not know what extra thing existed in the One Piece World, but given that it strengthened bodies and accelerated plant growth and development, he temporarily named it Spiritual Energy.

Earth lacked Spiritual Energy, so meditation's effects had an upper limit. The One Piece World had Spiritual Energy, so meditation's upper limit was higher than Earth's!

This also explained why Kuina's strength could not compare to that of men. Whether in cell strength and resilience or muscle distribution, women were indeed inferior to men. Even after meditation raised their limits, they were still inferior to men of the same level.

Do not use Big Mom and the Empress as examples. Those two could not be judged by common sense. Big Mom was extraordinarily gifted, and the Empress' island was unusual as well.

The pinnacle of ordinary women should be Gion. She was powerful, but her power was still limited. She could surpass vice admirals, but she could never touch the threshold of admiral.

Therefore, the essence of swordsmanship cultivation was to strengthen the mind through meditation while also enhancing control over the nervous system, thereby achieving control over all the muscles in the body. Throughout the process, one's strength naturally increased while control over the body grew ever stronger.

And as the mind grew and control over muscles improved, certain miraculous powers would naturally emerge. For example, the nerves in the ears could become unprecedentedly developed, naturally giving rise to an ability like sensing cicadas before the autumn wind stirred. Here, it was called Observation Haki.

Meanwhile, the Navy's martial cultivation likely trained consciousness by tempering the body. After all, when one's vigor was strong, one's spirit was strong!

As the body grew stronger, consciousness naturally grew with it. One could then control more of the nervous system, learn the Six Powers, and even Life Return.

Thus, swordsmanship cultivated the heart and martial arts tempered the body. Their paths differed, but they led to the same destination. At most, their emphases were different.

That was the essence of cultivation!

However, swordsmanship placed greater demands on one's mental state, since calming the mind was difficult. The Navy's martial arts, on the other hand, placed greater demands on physical talent.

After understanding all this, Zhou Qi immediately saw that choosing swordsmanship had been the right decision. After all, it was hard to say whether his physical talent was better than that of people in the One Piece World.

But as for his talent of the mind...

It might not be strong, but Earth had too many classics. He could slowly study and learn from them, allowing his heart to gradually calm down.

Especially since Zhou Qi had drifted through society for several years, his emotions had long since become placid. Perhaps he might even be a genius at cultivating the heart!

"Thank you, Master, for imparting the method!" Zhou Qi stood and bowed solemnly. Koshiro had not only given him his family's cultivation method without reservation, but had also helped him understand the essence of cultivation in this world. From now on, though he could not say his path of cultivation would be smooth, he would at least take far fewer detours.

Such a great kindness could not be repaid.

Perhaps after traveling to more worlds and obtaining more abilities, he could help Koshiro revive Kuina?

Zhou Qi silently thought to himself.

"Not at all. You have taught me many things as well. We are simply learning from one another!" Koshiro also stood and returned the bow.

"Since that is the case!" Zhou Qi thought for a moment and said, "How about I build a house in the village? I can cultivate here from now on, and it will be convenient to ask you questions whenever I need to."

"Of course!" Koshiro nodded. "I can make that decision. We will build you a house beside the dojo. It will also let you see the castle-building craftsmanship of my Shimotsuki Family!"

As for possibly exposing his connection to the Revolutionary Army, that was not much of a problem. With Zhou Qi's current strength, as long as the Revolutionary Army wanted to keep it hidden, he would never discover it.

Besides, Koshiro had not planned on hiding it. He felt that his Revolutionary Army and Zhou Qi had much to talk about.

"But Master, I cannot let you work for nothing. Consider these medicines payment for building the house!" Zhou Qi thought for a moment, then reached into the Space Gate and took out five bottles of Amoxicillin.

"This is?" Koshiro froze for a moment. He had not expected Zhou Qi to be a Devil Fruit User as well.

But he did not think too much about it.

"This is called Amoxicillin. It treats all kinds of inflammation caused by infections..." Zhou Qi said.

"Really?" Koshiro was instantly shocked. Such medicine existed?

As a member of the Revolutionary Army, he immediately thought of the value this medicine would have for their forces.

"Of course it is real!" Zhou Qi said with a smile. "The Navy has already verified this product. Once my factory is established, production can begin at full capacity. The initial price is ten thousand Beli per bottle, but our country does not use Beli, so we only accept gold..."

"Ah, this..." Koshiro was stunned. The Revolutionary Army did not have much money!

But if this medicine truly had such excellent effects, they would have to buy it even if they had to sell everything they owned!

After all, the lives of comrades were more important than anything!

"Of course, Devil Fruits are acceptable too. One will be counted as three hundred million Beli!" Zhou Qi continued.

On the market, a Devil Fruit was worth only one hundred million Beli. His price could not have been more generous.

Tashigi gave Zhou Qi a curious glance. Why was he saying all this? Her teacher was only a dojo master. At most, he could buy some for his disciples. How could he possibly trade Devil Fruits for them?

"Of course, fifty thousand Beli is not enough to build a house. This is only the deposit. I will give you another two hundred boxes later..."

"This..." It was far too precious. Koshiro wanted to refuse, but the words would not come out. He could only accept them with a flushed face.

But in his heart, he had already made up his mind. He would teach Zhou Qi seriously and hold nothing back!