Progress on Both Fronts, Tekkai's Second Form

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After dinner, Ye Chen hurried to the training ground and practiced Soru nonstop for three hours.

Just as Zephyr had said, it had to be done gradually. Otherwise, exceeding the body's limits would cripple his legs.

Just now, Ye Chen had clearly reached his limit, yet he still refused to give up. Without warning, his right foot exploded.

Drenched in sweat, the pain from his exploding right leg was like being cut by knives. Yet Ye Chen merely frowned. Pain could last forever or vanish in an instant; the difference lay in where Ye Chen focused his attention.

That was right. If Ye Chen focused on the pain, it would feel like a century. But now, all his attention was on Soru, making that pain last only an instant and leaving Ye Chen completely unmoved.

After practicing for another hour, Ye Chen looked as though he had been pulled from the water, soaked through with sweat and wearing a terrible complexion.

Before long, Vergo and the others arrived. They all knew that Ye Chen spent three or four hours every night training his Devil Fruit ability, and this was precisely when he usually finished.

His timing was exact.

But tonight, Ye Chen was not training his ability. He was practicing Soru instead.

Seeing the craters scattered across the ground, they could not help twitching their mouths. Still, someone would clean them up. Zephyr had already informed the other Marines, which was why Ye Chen could develop his ability so recklessly.

Otherwise, if he kept exploding like this every day, would the training ground not become a depression?

Of course, while Ye Chen trained, Vergo and the others trained as well, just not in the same place.

After all, everyone had their own secrets and needed a little private time.

"This is so hard. After four consecutive steps, my feet can't take it anymore."

Pouting, Hina was the first to complain, clearly unhappy.

"Hehe, I can step five times. If I'm lucky, I can even do six!" Shu scratched his head. As the user of the Rust-Rust Fruit, he was the nemesis of all metals. If developed to the extreme, he could even affect the lead in the human body. It was an incredibly powerful ability, but Shu had yet to realize how formidable his Devil Fruit truly was.

"I'm about the same." Very Good lifted his head slightly, looking somewhat excited.

"What about Smoker?"

"Me? Three or four times, I guess." Smoker sounded indifferent.

Everyone paused for a moment, but quickly understood. Smoker did not really need to learn it, especially Geppo.

"Smoker, Soru is a form of ultra-high-speed movement. I think you should still learn it. With your ability, you don't need to learn Geppo from the Six Powers."

Rarely, Vergo spoke up.

Smoker fell silent for a moment, then nodded. He had nearly gone down a dead end. Being able to fly did not mean he was fast.

"Brother Vergo, how many times can you step?" Hina looked at Vergo curiously, her large eyes blinking.

"Eight times." Vergo frowned, clearly dissatisfied with that result.

"Wow!" Hina immediately jumped up, her eyes sparkling. As expected, Brother Vergo was amazing. After only one day, he could already step eight times. He was just two steps away from ten.

But Hina did not know that those two steps were like a chasm, as difficult as climbing to the heavens. Every additional step doubled the difficulty, and the further one went, the more true that became.

Even someone highly talented would need at least one or two months to complete ten steps.

This was a body technique that surpassed human limits. Vergo might have managed eight steps on his first day, but that was already his limit. Breaking through to nine steps would not be easy.

"Ye Chen, what about you? You should be better than me, right?"

Vergo looked at Ye Chen's shredded pant leg and clearly understood the basic effects of Ye Chen's Bomb-Bomb Fruit.

"Nine times. If I go beyond that limit, my legs explode."

Ye Chen did not explain much. He was also dissatisfied with the result, because whenever he tried to take the tenth step, either time ran out or his legs exploded.

"Even you can't do it, Brother Ye Chen?" Hina snorted in disappointment.

"What do you think this is? This is a body technique that surpasses human limits. How could it be mastered so easily?" Shu rolled his eyes.

"So, are we sparring tonight?" Smoker looked at Ye Chen and Vergo.

"We've been fighting for over half a year. Let's take a break for now. I want to master Soru as soon as possible." Vergo spoke first.

Beside him, Ye Chen nodded. He thought the same.

And so, they began practicing on the training ground. Hina's cries of surprise and occasional temper tantrums echoed from time to time, keeping everyone from feeling lonely.

Everyone stayed some distance away from Ye Chen. After all, if he accidentally exploded, they would be caught in it.

By around two or three in the morning, Ye Chen still could not break through the final step. His feet kept exploding, and he was starting to struggle with it. Every explosion not only drained his strength but also brought him pain.

He recalled what Zephyr had said during the day and thought about how Onigumo and the others used Soru, but he always felt as if he had grasped something, only for it to vanish in the blink of an eye. His mood began to grow restless, as though he were about to lose his temper.

In the end, Ye Chen suppressed the impulse and decided to ask Zephyr tomorrow.

The next day, as usual, everyone arrived at the training ground early.

At the usual time, Zephyr appeared punctually.

"I know you have questions, but for now, listen while I speak. Ask after I finish."

As soon as he arrived, Zephyr shut everyone's mouths and began teaching.

"Today, we will learn the second form, Tekkai, a defensive body technique from the Six Powers.

"The human body contains many mysterious powers. One of them is muscle. Tekkai gathers these scattered muscles and compresses them into a unified whole, creating a force that gives the body the hardness of iron."

As before, Zephyr demonstrated while explaining. He pulled open his coat, revealing his powerful body covered in scars. The muscles across it seemed to pulse, creating the illusion that they formed a seamless whole without a single weak point.

No matter how he looked at it, it resembled the Iron Shirt and Golden Bell Shield techniques from the internet in his previous life.

Two hours later, Zephyr finished teaching and dismissed everyone to practice on their own.

During this time, Ye Chen only gained a basic understanding of Tekkai and did not delve deeply into it. What concerned him more was Soru.

So the moment it ended, Ye Chen walked over to Zephyr.

An hour later, Ye Chen was still practicing Soru, while most of the others were practicing Tekkai, Vergo included. He wanted to familiarize himself with it first. Even if he did not succeed, at least he would know where to start during his next training session.

After all, Zephyr had just finished explaining it, and they all had some ideas.

As for Ye Chen, he had obtained what he wanted. He realized he had been too impatient. Training was not something that could succeed overnight.

Speaking of which, he had still exploited a loophole with his Devil Fruit. Otherwise, with Ye Chen's own abilities alone, he could never have performed Soru nine consecutive times in a single day.

But this was also Ye Chen's advantage. Others feared crippling their legs, but he did not. As long as his stamina and endurance held out, he could keep training indefinitely.