Cultivation Diary

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 January 20.

Later, I also asked about Haki. Given that my base attributes were already not low, Boss Jinbe didn't think I was reaching too far and gave a simple explanation—Armament Haki is the union of will and physical strength; Observation Haki is the union of will and spirit!

As for Conqueror's Haki, which appears in one out of millions, it is the pure manifestation of will alone, and most people cannot achieve a solitary manifestation of will.

When it came to what "will" actually is, even Boss Jinbe couldn't explain it clearly. He only knew that even if one's will wasn't up to par, as training deepened and the body strengthened, it would gradually push the will to grow, thereby enabling the awakening of Armament Haki and Observation Haki. Conqueror's Haki, however, depended on talent.

I felt this didn't conflict with my abilities. The "Wrathful People" ability seemed to involve some power merging into the body when anger arose, while "Reasoning Trainee" and "Mind Reader" involved some power merging into the spirit!

It was something akin to aura, yet not entirely reducible to it.

Therefore, the training process broadly split into two paths: one focused on cultivating martial arts, building a solid foundation, and then naturally awakening Haki step by step; the other pursued the awakening of willpower from the very start...

Since Haki itself is the union of will with either physical or spiritual power, it's hard to say which path is superior. Fish-Man Karate belongs to the former—Haki training comes later—while the Six Powers systematized by the World Government belong to the latter, with "Tekkai" pointing directly to Armament Haki and "Kami-e" to Observation Haki.

The former's strength lies in first solidifying the foundation; once Haki is mastered, strength skyrockets, and training the body and spirit is itself a process of elevating the will, so no time is wasted, though early stages are weaker. The latter prioritizes Haki training, allowing faster mastery, but the cost of speed is that upon first awakening Haki, one can't even control it freely.

A rookie who just mastered the Six Powers, when using "Tekkai," can't even move...]

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 January 21.

During the day, I continued my duties as Second Helmsman. Boss Jinbe said I had to find my own time for training.

At night during rest, I made a hanging cage that could be suspended outside along the deck. Inside it, I could sink into the seawater and throw punches. Punching makes me happy!

Air Straight Punch 3000 times completed, Water Straight Punch 3000 times completed!]

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 January 22.

Last night, because it was my first training session and I also made the cage, it took longer than expected, so I woke up late...

Luckily, Hachi lied and said I'd told him in advance, covering for me for a while. Boss Jinbe didn't say anything.

At noon, I treated Hachi to grilled octopus. I caught it myself in the water. He ate six legs, I ate two.

I'm on night watch tonight.

During the day, Air Straight Punch 3000 times completed, Water Straight Punch 3000 times completed!]

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 January 23.

Air Straight Punch 3000 times completed, Water Straight Punch 3000 times completed!]

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 January 24.

Air Straight Punch 3000 times completed, Water Straight Punch 3000 times completed!]

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 January 27.

Honestly, training is more exhausting and difficult than I imagined. It's not just about throwing punches. Now my requirement for myself is that I must exert force correctly, and I must clearly "hear" the water wave vibration above 500 Watts for it to count as one punch.

The first two days were too tiring, so I didn't write in my diary, but I completed the training. Starting today, I plan to increase the intensity to 600 Watts. Actually, yesterday, half of my punches already reached 600 Watts!

My absolute strength when using my normal "Turtle Punch" is roughly equivalent to a kilowatt straight punch—and that's without being angry.

In a state of extreme anger, my absolute strength is even greater than that of the Commodore I encountered at Mary Geoise. Arlong's strength now is probably about that level, right?

Now that I'm standardizing my force application, it's actually reducing how much of my absolute strength I can bring out.

But Boss Jinbe said this is necessary to solidify the foundation, for better improvement later!

Because what I'm doing now isn't making myself stronger, but channeling my existing potential into a standardized training system, so progress is fast.

Air Straight Punch 3000 times completed, Water Straight Punch 3000 times completed!]

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 January 30.

I increased to 700 Watts, but I was too hasty. I didn't finish even after staying up all night. The next day, I was steering like a dead dog and got chewed out by Boss Jinbe.

I cut back the volume, still at 700 Watts. Water 2000 punches completed, Air 2000 punches completed.]

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 February 2.

Today, I "heard" the Voice of the Sea within my body!

I sensed the Water Power inside me!

Being able to control the Water Power within one's body is essential for advancing in Fish-Man Karate, and it's even harder for non-Fish-Men to achieve.

According to Boss Jinbe, given my rate of mastery, my talent in this area is already at the level of a decent Fish-Man, and my mixed blood hasn't held me back at all.

However, when it comes to controlling the sea's Water Power through resonance, my talent is worse than an average Fish-Man's. For non-Fish-Men, even entering this stage is extremely difficult.

But I'm not discouraged by this—the "Wrathful People," also called "Storm Guard," have always been more about self-enhancement.

Once I reach Sequence Seven, the next class in this line is "Navigator," also known as "Storm Priest." I believe that by then, this aspect will be compensated for, and I might even surpass ordinary Fish-Men!

After gaining control over my own Water Power, my force application became much more fluid. I increased the training load. Air Straight Punch 4000 times completed, Water Straight Punch 4000 times completed!]

[Sea Circle Calendar 1506 February 11.]

He could already unleash a Thousand Tiles Punch at his limit, and his usual training rhythm was maintained at a continuous output of over nine hundred tiles.

That was roughly the power he could achieve when he had been throwing wild punches with all his strength before, but now he could change his moves with far more ease, and... he hadn't even fully controlled his own strength yet, holding back three-tenths of his power!

Once he fully digested the benefits of his talent, he estimated he could reach a level of roughly twelve hundred tiles—an increase of two hundred tiles wasn't just a one-fifth boost in power; the higher the rank, the harder it was to improve.

Over this half-month, his physical constitution had only improved modestly. His confidence in raising his punching power by nearly ten ranks in such a short time came mainly from standardizing his force output and the boost from his Water Power.

Of course, more importantly, he had solidified his foundation!

Incidentally, by the current evaluation standards of Fish-Man Karate, even without fully digesting his original talent, he was already roughly on par with Kuroobi's rank...

Of course, Kuroobi still knew many techniques and skills that he didn't, so if they actually fought, unless he got angry, Kuroobi would probably still win.

Jinbe said that in a few days, he would start teaching him water-controlling force techniques.

The reason for the delay was that they had already arrived in the waters of Machu Picchu Island...