Golden Lion rose off the ground and flew through the air, hovering one or two meters above it.
Whoosh!
He appeared before Ares at a speed as swift as a bullet and as fleeting as the wind.
Golden Lion wore a conflicted expression as he said to Ares, "Ares, do you know that my swordsmanship is the finest in this entire sea?"
"So many people want to learn my swordsmanship, but they aren't qualified!"
"Trash will always be trash. No matter how much effort you put into teaching trash swordsmanship, they can never become great swordsmen!"
His tone unconsciously grew heavier. Even he was extremely surprised and unable to understand why Ares had rejected him.
Golden Lion's domineering, unruly face was filled with disdain for others as he continued, "You're the only person in the Rocks Pirates whom I, Golden Lion, have ever taken seriously!"
"I believe you can reach the pinnacle of this world!"
His gaze grew passionate and gentle, and he said excitedly, "Learn swordsmanship from me! Become a powerful pirate feared by everyone!"
"Use overwhelming strength to conquer this sea!!!"
"Gyahahaha..."
He ended with a wild, confident laugh. An astonishing aura burst from his body, whipping up a fierce gale that swept in every direction.
His long hair, trailing to the ground like a lion's mane, began to whip about violently.
That powerful, intimidating presence made the hearts of all the pirates in the training room tremble.
This was—Golden Lion, Shiki!
Yet Ares, standing before Golden Lion, remained perfectly calm. He was not swayed in the slightest by Golden Lion's "grand promises" and held firmly to his own convictions.
He refused, "I don't want to train in swordsmanship. I only want to forge my body into a Famous Sword that surpasses the Supreme Great Swords!"
"Swordsmanship will only distract me and waste my time!"
Upon hearing Ares's words,
anger suddenly surged across Golden Lion's face. He glared sharply at Ares and said, somewhat heatedly, "Ares, do you know how many people dream of training in swordsmanship under me?"
"Do you know how powerful swordsmanship is?"
As he said this, most of the anger faded from his face, replaced by a trace of doubt. Could this brat Ares really not know how powerful swordsmanship is?
With that thought, Golden Lion immediately said, "Ares, come with me. Let me, Golden Lion, show you what swordsmanship at the level of a great swordsman is!"
"Let me show you that the reason I became the captain of the Rocks Pirates' First Division was my overwhelming strength!"
Ares nodded and said calmly, "No matter how powerful swordsmanship is, it still isn't as practical as improving my own body."
He then followed behind Golden Lion, leaving the training room under the envious and jealous gazes of the other pirates.
Ochoku quickly walked over to Ares and slung an arm around his shoulder. He did not mind the sweat covering Ares at all; he could just wipe his gleaming armor with a rag when he returned.
Simple and convenient!
Fortunately, Ochoku was a large man himself. Otherwise, he would never have been able to put an arm around Ares's shoulder. He grinned and said into Ares's ear, "Ares, Golden Lion's swordsmanship is incredibly powerful."
"Even I can't compare with him. In this entire sea, there's only one person who can contend with him in swordsmanship: The Lone Red, Patrick Redfield!"
"The Lone Red... Redfield?" Ares had never even heard of this man, much less knew how strong he was. Still, although he knew that his mind sometimes became confused,
he also knew that anyone who could stand alongside Shiki the Golden Lion had to be extraordinarily powerful!
Ochoku chuckled and stroked his beard with his other hand. "If I started telling that guy's story, I wouldn't finish in a day and a night."
"He's a lone wolf, and he's never lost to anyone in swordsmanship!"
His face held a look of yearning as he said regretfully, "What a pity... I never got the chance to meet that guy. Otherwise, I'd really like to see his swordsmanship."
The Lone Red: Patrick Redfield!
Ares engraved this name in his heart. If such a powerful man ever fought him, the battle would surely temper him.
If he ever encountered him,
he absolutely could not miss the chance!
The three of them gradually moved away from the town and headed toward an extremely remote valley.
On the way, Ochoku patiently told Ares about interesting stories from across the sea, and Ares listened with great interest.
After all, he still knew very little about this world.
"All right."
"This place will do!"
Golden Lion, who had been leading the way, stopped and turned toward Ares. His unruly face brimmed with confidence as he said, "Ares, take a good look at my swordsmanship!"
"It'll definitely leave you astonished!"
As he spoke, he drew the great blade Withered Tree, one of the twenty-one Supreme Great Swords, from his waist with a clang!
Ares's tiger-like eyes were fixed firmly on Golden Lion. He saw Golden Lion casually swing the blade in his hand.
With a swish,
a dazzling golden slash shot from the blade and instantly sliced the top off a small mountain.
It looked as effortless as cutting a cucumber in half with a kitchen knife.
And this was a mountain several times larger than a giant!!!
Fast and powerful!
At the sight of this, Ares widened his eyes uncontrollably and exclaimed, "What was that?!"
That dazzling, powerful golden slash overturned his understanding. For Ares, who had never seen a slash before, the sight shook him to his core.
Boom!!!
The severed mountaintop crashed down onto the mountainside, producing a deafening roar as smoke and dust filled the sky.
Ares felt the earth beneath his feet tremble violently along with it.
"How was that? This is my, Golden Lion's, swordsmanship!" Golden Lion boasted proudly. He even flourished the Famous Sword in his hand with an ostentatious flourish.
The sharp, snow-bright blade reflected flashes of cold light under the sunlight, almost dazzling the eyes.
Ochoku also reached out and patted Ares on the shoulder with a smile. "Now you've seen how powerful swordsmanship is, haven't you? With swordsmanship alone, Shiki is unquestionably one of the strongest people in this sea!"
Only after witnessing the vastness of this sea and the might of the world's strongest would one understand how insignificant one truly was!
Most people would despair and grow fearful because their enemies were too powerful, while a small number would choose to work hard to surpass those mighty figures.
The choices people made determined their fate.
The effort and perseverance they showed determined how far they would walk along that path, and whether they could surpass their established goals!
They would reach new heights and climb toward the peak again from where their predecessors had stood.
Ares was undoubtedly one of that small minority. Otherwise, he would never have continued persisting after years of brutal training.
Golden light gleamed in his eyes as he said excitedly, "That swordsmanship is incredibly powerful!"
"I have to learn how to use that kind of attack too!!!"
For some reason, a sentence involuntarily surfaced in his mind:
Sword Qi stretches thirty thousand li; a single sword's light chills the nineteen continents!
Before you continue