Cultivation

Ye Feng placed Avril on the bed, then went out to fetch the food the head chef had prepared for him. "Come, eat."

Still somewhat at a loss, Avril looked at Ye Feng and asked, "Why are you treating me so well?"

Ye Feng looked calmly at Avril. "Would you believe me if I said I used to be just like you?"

Avril looked at Ye Feng in disbelief. "Was Big Brother a slave before too?"

Ye Feng did not answer. He merely smiled at Avril and said, "Hurry and eat. It won't taste good once it gets cold."

Avril was clever enough to understand what he meant. Sensibly, she lowered her head and began eating.

About half an hour later, Avril finished her meal.

Then, with her eyes wide and a pleading expression on her face, she said to Ye Feng, "Can you be my brother from now on?"

Ye Feng looked like he had not heard clearly. "What did you say?"

With a serious expression, Avril glared at Ye Feng and repeated, word by word, "Can you be my brother?"

After a brief daze, Ye Feng answered seriously, "My name is Marshall D. Ye Feng. From today onward, you are my little sister."

Then Ye Feng said to Avril, "Go to sleep, little sister. You sleep on the bed tonight. I'll sleep on the sofa."

The next morning was another bright and pleasant day.

Ye Feng got up and saw that Avril was still asleep, so he quietly opened the door and went outside.

Outside, he found Teach already awake and standing at the bow. Teach saw Ye Feng as well and greeted him, "Ye Feng, did you sleep well last night?"

Looking at Teach standing at the bow, Ye Feng still found it hard to imagine that this was the future Blackbeard.

Teach was not nearly as ugly as he had been in Ye Feng's previous life. He should still be young now, without any ambitions yet.

At that moment, Teach suddenly asked, "Ye Feng, what is your dream?"

Ye Feng looked at Teach with sharp, serious eyes. "To be the strongest in the world!"

Teach looked back at Ye Feng and burst into laughter. "Zehahahaha! Your ambition isn't small. Then let me give you a hand."

He added, "My little brother, I only have one year to teach you Haki. Whether you can learn it or not will depend on your own fortune. After one year, I'm heading to the New World to fulfill my dream."

So he's finally going to look for the Dark-Dark Fruit. Looks like I need to train faster too, Ye Feng thought.

Thus, over the following year, Ye Feng first mastered Observation Haki.

He then learned the basics of Armament Haki. Even more impressively, his swordsmanship cultivation reached the beginner Sword King level.

As for little Avril, after Teach learned that she was the little sister Ye Feng had taken in, he taught her Haki training as well. Over that year, she also learned Observation Haki, while she was only a step away from grasping Armament Haki.

However, the little girl was an unquestionable swordsmanship genius. Her swordsmanship realm had even reached the intermediate Sword King level. The two of them could not help but wonder, Was practicing the sword really this easy?

Yet Ye Feng was the greatest beneficiary of that year, because he awakened Conqueror's Haki.

Teach and Doc Q were nearly coughing up blood from shock. Are these two kids monsters? After all, Ye Feng was six that year, while Avril was only five.

At that moment, in a stretch of sea within the South Blue, a pirate ship floated on the ocean. On its deck, dozens of burly men surrounded two children of five or six. One broad-shouldered, muscular man spoke to the slightly older Ye Feng. "Brat, who are you? Why are you here? Don't you know we're the famous Hungry Wolf Pirates?"

He added, "I am Hungry Wolf Gral!"

At that moment, Ye Feng said with a smile, "Hungry Wolf Gral, bounty of forty-six million. What a coincidence—we happen to be pirate hunters."

That was right. These two children were Ye Feng and Avril. A month earlier, they had run out of money because Blackbeard had left for the New World a month ago. Though he had left the two of them a huge pile of treasure before departing—

Ye Feng had used all of it to build a ship, leaving the two of them without even a single Beli. With no other choice, they had taken up the profession of pirate hunters after discovering it. And the Hungry Wolf Pirates were Ye Feng's first job as a pirate hunter.

The group froze for a moment, looked at one another, then burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"

Gral, captain of the Hungry Wolf Pirates, laughed even harder as he said to Ye Feng and Avril, "Hahahaha! You two little brats call yourselves pirate hunters? You're killing me! While I'm in a good mood, hurry home and go drink milk!"

Hearing them mock him, Ye Feng said nothing. He only smiled calmly.

Then he suddenly unleashed Conqueror's Haki. Aside from Ye Feng, Avril, and Hungry Wolf Gral—

Everyone else on the ship collapsed like dominoes.

Ye Feng said calmly, "Do we still need to go home now?"

Gral's legs trembled as he said, "Th-This... is this the legendary Conqueror's Haki?" Then he fixed Ye Feng with a vicious glare.

Ye Feng ignored him and turned to Avril. "Stand here for a moment. I'll finish him right away. We'll have food tonight."

Gral glared furiously at Ye Feng. Ignoring her, he roared, "Brat, don't think some measly Conqueror's Haki can scare me! I'm a man with a forty-six million bounty!"

Then Gral's body began to change. His muscles swelled violently, fur sprouted wildly, his hands turned into claws, and a wolf's tail grew from behind him. His entire body transformed into a werewolf.

But Ye Feng could see the undisguised bloodlust in Gral's eyes. He threw back his head and let out a long howl. "Awoo! Brat, die!"

Then he charged at Ye Feng. Still calm, Ye Feng gripped his sword and thrust straight ahead. With a sharp clang, his blade slammed fiercely against Gral's wolf claw.

While Ye Feng and Gral fought, the pirates on the ship woke up and charged at Ye Feng. Ye Feng kicked Gral away, then casually swung his sword backward and pierced the pirate who had approached him, killing him in a single strike.

Then he said to Avril, who stood to the side, "Avril, go clean up those small fry."

Avril replied, "Okay, got it, Brother. Hurry up on your side too. I'm hungry."

Having been kicked away, Gral was now even more enraged as he charged at Ye Feng again, as though he wanted to tear him apart.

Ye Feng was getting a little impatient as well. Looking at Gral, he said, "I was planning to play with you a little longer. Looks like that won't work now, so please die."

Ye Feng raised his sword to the sky and shouted, "Ten Thousand Swords Art: Heaven-Slaying!"