Sweet Victory, Then Back to Suffering (Request Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)

It could be said that every player who successfully defeated Genichiro Ashina or Lady Butterfly had made tremendous progress.

At the very least, being able to beat them meant their fundamentals were absolutely solid.

Thrusts that could be Mikiri Countered, perilous attacks that could only be dodged, perfect deflections with Kusabimaru, and sidesteps—these basic moves all met the standard of competence.

Zhang Yi's progress was neither slow nor fast.

After defeating Genichiro Ashina, Zhang Yi's confidence had swelled to unprecedented heights. I'd already beaten such an insane boss. Wouldn't the remaining bosses be as easy as chopping vegetables?

But that fantasy was swiftly and mercilessly shattered. After dealing with Genichiro Ashina, players had three different paths ahead of them.

They could head to Senpou Temple for the Immortal Blade, go to the Sunken Valley for the Fragrant Lotus, or seek a stone in Waterfowl Village.

These three routes were completely open, and players could choose any one of them to explore first.

But Zhang Yi knew none of that. After speaking with Kuro and Emma, then spending quite some effort finding Isshin Ashina and completing the rat-related quest, he obtained a key to the Gun Fort from the study.

Then he began wandering around aimlessly.

Mainly because there had previously been only one very clear route.

Go to Ashina Castle and find Kuro.

But now, after speaking with Kuro, he had learned that he needed to find some kind of stone. He had also learned about the curse of the Dragon's Heritage. Kuro wanted to sever that immortal curse and had asked Wolf to help him.

After examining the incense burner, he could also get clues about some flower by speaking with Kuro.

That left Zhang Yi somewhat unsure of where he should explore first.

He had not finished exploring