Infernal Fire Prison and Hasshoken

Luo Ya secured the secret manual and hurried back to the room King Brunen had prepared for him in the palace, flipping through the pages with excitement.

Setting aside the vast insights and ideas gained from reading the cultivation notes of this great swordsman, the technique "Infernal Fire Prison" left Luo Ya in awe.

To practice this move, one must at least be a third-stage swordsman to even enter the threshold; it primarily involves condensing sword intent and then dispersing it.

It forms countless swords of fire, which erupt from the body before returning to circle around the user.

Much like the "Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin" from the television dramas Luo Ya watched in his past life, it can circle the body for protection or condense into a forty-meter-long great blade for slashing.

It could be said to be both flashy and practical.

The difficulty of this move lies first in the fact that the quantity of sword intent required is far beyond that of an ordinary person, a point that played right into Luo Ya's hands. Since he began his journey, no matter how lavishly he spent his sword intent, he had never exhausted it; even during his two-day and two-night grueling battle with Kuma, he had only just scraped the bottom of the barrel.

The second point is the ability to wield sword intent like one's own limbs, making it move according to one's will; whether splitting it into several fire swords or condensing it into a giant blade, it all relies on one's control over the intent.

This point stumped Luo Ya. After all, he had always followed the path of brute force, and while he couldn't say he was completely clueless about such delicate operations, he certainly needed to practice hard for a while.

And so, having obtained the manual, Luo Ya holed up in his room every day, polishing his sword intent and condensing fire swords. Unexpectedly, it was incredibly taxing on his intent; often, he would exhaust himself and end up dizzy before he could even form a single satisfactory blade. This was mainly because his control wasn't refined enough, causing a large amount of intent to be wasted during the condensation process.

However, the constant cycle of exhausting his intent and meditating to recover it caused the dissolution rate of the two Great Grade swords within his soul space to rise significantly, and his sword intent grew accordingly.

When exhausted from training, he would read the swordplay notes, and he even ate his meals in the room. For a time, his swordsmanship progressed rapidly.

Finally, after seven or eight days had passed, King Brunen sent a maid to inform him to head to the palace training grounds the next morning.

Arriving at the training grounds the next morning, Luo Ya saw Madalina already beginning her physical training, with Annajia supervising nearby.

After only seven or eight days of training, one could clearly see that Madalina had slimmed down significantly. At the very least, she was no longer a uniform cylinder.

Annajia looked at the tardy Luo Ya with a look of annoyance. "If you want to learn Hasshoken, call me 'Teacher' first and let me hear it!"

"Heh, Teacher Annajia." Luo Ya cupped his fists nonchalantly. In this regard, Luo Ya had always believed that the capable should be respected as teachers, so he called her "Teacher" quite naturally.

In Luo Ya's view, there was nothing embarrassing about calling someone who could beat him into submission with bare hands his master.

Annajia raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected a swordsman with such a fierce reputation as Luo Ya to be so easygoing. While Madalina was busy with her physical training, she began to explain the profound mysteries of Hasshoken to him.

It turned out that Hasshoken primarily relies on a unique way of exerting force to condense a diffused shockwave when launching an attack.

By combining this shockwave with Haki, one could achieve the penetrating power to strike through objects, while also significantly increasing one's defensive capabilities.

One must realize that ordinary people cannot defend against blades and bullets without covering themselves in Armament Haki.

Even someone as strong as Whitebeard was pierced through the chest by a blade, and Garp was once cut until he bled by a mere axe-wielder.

What people remember most about Big Mom, aside from her monstrous strength, is her "Iron Balloon" talent, which makes her impervious to blades and bullets.

Hasshoken allows one to possess the ability to defend against blades even before mastering Armament Haki, all thanks to this shockwave.

The Flower Country became famous across the sea precisely because of its attack power, which could pierce through shields, and its defense, which prevented blades from touching the body.

With his physical fitness already up to standard, Luo Ya quickly grasped the essentials of Hasshoken.

Luo Ya's purpose in learning Hasshoken was simple: to upgrade his usual "heart-piercing kick." After all, it was unrealistic to expect every enemy he encountered to be unable to withstand a single slash of Ryujin Jakka.

His ordinary straight kicks were already quite inadequate; when he fought Kuma, he had kicked him several times, but aside from leaving a few footprints, he hadn't caused any real damage.

Annajia was most proficient in kicking techniques, so the sound of dull thuds began to serve as the background music to Madalina's otherwise mundane running.

Luo Ya, having been kicked all morning, felt a fire in his heart and prepared to properly instruct his "student" in the afternoon.

Madalina was already afraid of Luo Ya, and seeing him covered in footprints with bloodshot eyes, she was so scared she hid behind Annajia.

"Hoo, put this on." Luo Ya let out a long breath to suppress the urge to draw his blade, tossing a helmet that exposed only the eyes and air vents, along with a wooden sword, to Madalina.

Madalina glanced at Annajia, then put on the helmet and picked up the wooden sword.

"Ordinary people subconsciously close their eyes when facing an attack, and you are even worse. A cowardly person cannot clench their fists or hold a blade firmly."

"The most basic combat training is to train you so that, at the very least, you won't close your eyes out of fear when facing an attack."

With that, Luo Ya drew a wooden sword and slashed directly at Madalina's head.

Bang! Facing the incoming wooden sword, Madalina subconsciously squeezed her eyes shut and was knocked to the ground, the wooden sword slipping from her hand.

"Get up!" Luo Ya roared at Madalina, who was lying on the ground silently weeping.

Frightened, she hurriedly grabbed the wooden sword and scrambled to her feet.

After an afternoon of training, not only had Madalina failed to overcome her instinct to close her eyes, but she had also been beaten until she sat on the ground and burst into tears.

No matter how much Luo Ya shouted, she refused to get up again.

Annajia, standing to the side with her arms crossed, shook her head helplessly; such a personality was truly not suited for cultivation.

Of course, she didn't blame Luo Ya for his strict training; after all, she had gone through the same thing when she practiced martial arts. It was a necessary path to becoming a powerhouse.

"Heh, how interesting. Madalina, if you only want to exercise to lose weight, go tell Brunen yourself; I don't want the trouble.

However, what you promised me cannot be shorted."

Amused by his own frustration, Luo Ya turned and kicked the wall behind him with all his might. His right foot, covered in Hasshoken vibrations and Armament Haki, shattered the entire wall.

Luo Ya walked away slowly, his hands in his pockets, amidst the swirling dust.

Annajia, who was comforting Madalina, watched Luo Ya's departing back and muttered, "Did he really master the profound 'Drill Dragon Nail' of Hasshoken in just one morning?"