The True Breakthrough

Items purchased from the trading market can be placed into or removed from the backpack at any time, which is quite convenient.

Xianuo first took out the katana "Masamune."

He drew the sword.

The slender blade gleamed coldly under the sunlight, maintaining an astonishingly delicate curve.

He held it before his eyes, examining it closely.

The blade's edge, as thin as a cicada's wing, shifted in color, glowing with the indigo of the deep sea from the hilt and fading to an almost transparent pale white towards the tip.

He chugged the rest of the cola in one go, tossed the empty can, and with a slight swing, cut it into several pieces in an instant without any resistance.

The afterimage of the blade's tip flashed through the air, leaving behind trails like silver fireflies.

"A good sword," Xianuo murmured with admiration.

It was perfectly weighted and felt excellent in his hand.

The blacksmith shop in the town next to his hometown was quite famous in the nearby islands. When he was absorbed in sword training, he had excitedly gone to visit it.

But any sword or saber in that shop was worlds apart from this one.

He sheathed the sword.

The blade being too long wasn't an issue. His body was just entering puberty; once he grew taller, it would be a very fitting sword to carry.

Putting it back into his backpack, Xianuo then opened the two Rokushiki manuals.

The moment they were opened, a random dice roll was completed, displaying the results: "Soru" and "Tekkai."

"Good luck."

The young man's mood grew even more cheerful. These two techniques, the former focusing on movement and the latter on defense, were precisely what he favored most at the moment.

With a thought, he first flipped open the Tekkai manual.

Manual-type items unfolded directly before his eyes like system panels, allowing him to flip pages with his mind, much like an e-book.

The text inside was extremely detailed, even including step-by-step breakdowns of each move.

For parts that were difficult to understand, a blurry, faint blue figure would appear beside the text, demonstrating the moves meticulously, making it very intuitive.

The fact that he had quickly mastered "Breathing Fist" before was also partly due to this teaching method.

"The entry barrier isn't high, but mastering it will still require considerable effort."

After a cursory glance through both Rokushiki manuals, Xianuo's eyes flickered slightly as he made a rough estimate.

His physique now was vastly improved compared to when he first started practicing Breathing Fist.

Coupled with the special effect of Breathing Fist, which could quickly alleviate muscle fatigue, his progress in practicing physical techniques would undoubtedly be far beyond that of ordinary people.

Even with a conservative estimate, he could master both of these techniques within a year.

"Within a year..."

Xianuo shook his head slightly. If it were in the past, he would definitely be satisfied with this speed.

But now, with Arlong like a huge rock weighing on his mind, his progress had to be faster, and much faster!

Fortunately.

His luck this time was excellent, and he obtained a support item he could use.

His gaze fell on the last item in his backpack, and Xianuo's eyes were filled with irrepressible anticipation.

He had never owned any items to aid his training before. His current strength was entirely the result of his own hard work, step by step.

Now, it was time to experience the feeling of a cheat-like acceleration!

Half an hour later.

The first basement level, in a spacious large cabin.

Xianuo looked around and nodded with satisfaction.

This place used to be a backup armory. Because the Gatt's route had been relatively safe in recent years, it had been vacant and unattended for years, covered in dust and cobwebs.

When Xianuo found Gatt and asked for a room where he could practice physical techniques, the old man immediately thought of this place. He immediately called people to help clean it up, brought in several sandbags, and some discarded wood, tied into crude wooden posts with hemp rope.

He even prepared mirrors, water, and towels, and forbade other crew members from disturbing him, which made Xianuo feel genuinely touched.

"Let's begin."

Xianuo carefully placed the statue of Hercules in the corner, then let out a long breath and began to jog in place to warm up.

After warming up, he didn't immediately start practicing Rokushiki but chose to continue practicing "Breathing Fist."

After all, the bottleneck of this set of fist techniques was already faintly visible.

If he could break through to mastery earlier, the combat power boost it provided would be far greater than beginner Rokushiki.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, six days passed. The Gatt sailed smoothly on the ocean, bathed in the afternoon sun.

This route was indeed safe enough; they hadn't encountered any more incidents, nor had they run into any pirate ships flying skull flags.

In the underground cabin.

The sound of thuds echoed incessantly as a strong figure weaved back and forth between wooden posts and sandbags. The wooden floor was covered in wet sweat stains.

"One thousand nine hundred ninety-nine... Two thousand, done!"

The count echoed in the confined space. The young man's spine was like a taut winch, and the moment his fist touched the teak post, he suddenly retracted his force. An invisible ripple seeped into it, and with a crack, ring-shaped cracks appeared on the surface of the post.

"Hoo..."

Xianuo suddenly looked up, his eyes crimson, white smoke billowing from his body, his breathing heavy like a bellows.

With each inhale, his diaphragm could descend twice as deep as a normal person's, the muscles between his ribs bulging like sails; and with each exhale, his throat vibrated, the pressure from his alveoli expanding outwards visibly.

He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing rhythm, gradually calming down after a long while.

When he took out a dry towel to wipe his sweat, scalding hot steam still drifted from the towel's pores.

Xianuo tilted his head back and gulped down water, then tossed the empty bottle aside and wiped his mouth.

"Refreshing!"

The low voice that escaped his throat was still unfamiliar, making even himself feel strange.

Before, it had carried a hint of childishness, but now it was as if he had skipped the final stage of adolescent voice change and completely transitioned to an adult's voice.

"Six days, it only took six days!"

Xianuo strode to the mirror. The wooden planks creaked under his feet. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar reflection, he grinned, his eyes filled with exhilaration.

These past few days.

He had spent over twelve hours here every day in arduous training. The hardships he endured and the sweat he shed, perhaps only the silent statue in the corner knew besides himself.

But the results of his training would eventually prove everything!

On the sixth day, which was today, he had completely broken through the bottleneck, achieving mastery of the Breathing Fist!

The barrier that had restricted his physical limits shattered like a fragile glass container being crushed, breaking into pieces.

Immediately, it expanded and reformed, its capacity far exceeding its previous state, giving him a transcendent feeling of looking down from above, having evolved into a new species.

The change in his voice was one of the significant changes brought about by the breakthrough.

And the most insignificant one at that.

Xianuo examined himself in the mirror.

His face was still delicate, but his eyebrows had become much darker, and his jawline was more defined. His black hair, which had previously only reached his ears, had grown wildly, covering his shoulders.

And his height had increased by more than ten centimeters!

From his neck down, his muscles were chiseled, his shoulder blades bulging like battering rams. When his latissimus dorsi muscles stretched fully, they covered half the mirror.

Most terrifying was his spine. Thirty-three vertebrae rippled and surged beneath his skin, as if a living creature was lurking within. When he slightly hunched over, his entire spine tensed like a fully drawn crossbow, emitting a teeth-grinding creak.

His body from six days ago seemed so frail compared to his current state.

He stood in front of the mirror for a long time.

He kept examining himself from head to toe, like an artisan from an ancient civilization admiring a masterpiece he had personally crafted, never tiring of looking at it.

Crack!

He suddenly hooked two wooden posts with his foot and kicked them upwards, catching them in his hands.

With a slight exertion, both posts were crushed, shattering into countless fine powder, which rained down.

The young man then spread his arms, reveling in the surge of power far exceeding anything he had felt before. Unable to suppress his joy any longer, he threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"Hahahahahaha!!!!"

His laughter shook dust from the ceiling, reaching the deck above.

On the deck.

Gatt, who was leisurely smoking his pipe while leaning against the railing, felt the violent tremors from the wooden planks beneath his feet. He remembered that Xianuo had been in the underground cabin day and night for the past few days and hadn't come up for fresh air.

He couldn't help but feel a little worried.

After some hesitation, he still descended along the spiral staircase and arrived in front of the spare armory. He slowly raised his right hand.

Creak~

Just as he was about to knock, the wooden door was suddenly pushed open forcefully from the inside, startling him into taking a step back.

"Hmm?"

The person on the other side looked down and noticed him, letting out a soft sound of surprise.

Old Gatt looked up at the familiar face. Seemingly without any surprise, his gaze shifted downward. The young man had already put on that bulky outer coat, and there was no discernible change.

But why did he feel something was off...

No!

Gatt's mouth flew open as he suddenly realized what it was. The pipe he was holding clattered to the ground.

When they first met, the young man was more than half a head shorter than him. How was it that now, he was the one who had to look up?

"Mr. Gatt, what a coincidence that you're here."

The black-haired young man in front of him scratched his head, offering a shy, youthful smile. "Um, I haven't eaten all morning and I'm suddenly a bit hungry. I was just about to head to the dining hall. Want to come along?"