Slow Progress, One Month

The busy routine continued day after day.

"Shigan was one of the offensive techniques of the Six Powers. It gathered the strength of the entire body into the ten fingers, then unleashed a strike with hardened fingers in the blink of an eye. Its attack power was like a bullet's, strong enough to pierce through human bodies and even steel. Combined with Armament Haki, it possessed extremely powerful destructive force."

"Geppo was an application technique derived from Soru. It was the only aerial ability among the Six Powers, and could also be considered an advanced form of Soru. As long as you mastered Soru, it wouldn't be too difficult."

"Rankyaku was one of the offensive techniques of the Six Powers. It was an ultra-high-speed kicking technique that formed sharp slashes, like those of a swordsman, with formidable cutting power."

"Kami-e was one of the defensive techniques of the Six Powers, and currently one of the hardest to master. By relaxing the strength of the entire body and following the changes in airflow caused by an opponent's movements, one could evade at the critical moment. This technique was also somewhat similar to Observation Haki among the Three-Color Haki. Once you mastered Kami-e, it would be easier to awaken Observation Haki."

The third technique Zephyr explained was Shigan.

The fourth was Geppo.

The fifth was Rankyaku.

The sixth was Kami-e.

Among them, Ye Chen only gained a general understanding of Shigan and Kami-e without practicing them. His focus was entirely on Soru, Geppo, and Rankyaku.

However, all three techniques were leg-based skills, so their difficulty was anything but ordinary. In the end, Ye Chen discovered that Soru was truly important. It seemed to be the foundation of Geppo and Rankyaku. If he failed to master Soru, then Geppo and Rankyaku would be extraordinarily difficult.

Therefore, Ye Chen decided to master Soru first before considering Geppo and Rankyaku.

In truth, Ye Chen could already fly, but his flight differed greatly from Geppo. He relied on explosions from his legs and the resulting impact to launch himself into the air.

To stay airborne without landing, he had to explode continuously. Still, his speed was extremely fast, like a cannonball shooting out in an instant.

Unfortunately, his control was terrible, and he often ended up bruised and battered.

Before he knew it, a month had passed. Every day, Zephyr explained the techniques to everyone. However, it seemed that something had happened on the Grand Line the day before, so Zephyr had gone out to sea again. Other vice admirals from Marine Headquarters took over the instruction.

It was night, and Ye Chen was once again on the training field after dinner.

Whoosh.

A faint, muffled sound rang out. A figure suddenly appeared out of thin air, only to carelessly fall to the ground and kick up a little dust.

He got to his feet, completely ignoring the scrape on his face. Ye Chen's eyes shone like stars. He had stepped ten times. He had succeeded.

Although the distance was short and he had yet to fully master it, that teleportation-like speed filled Ye Chen with wild joy.

Turning around, he looked at where he had originally stood. There were three meters between that spot and his current position. Those short three meters had come from a whole month of stepping hundreds or thousands of times with each foot.

Sure enough, Heaven did not disappoint those with determination. Those short three meters told Ye Chen that the blood and sweat he had shed over the past month had not been wasted.

A month—an entire month—was quite a long time. Ye Chen practiced tediously every day. The gap between the ninth and tenth step was like an entire sea, impossible to bridge, but tonight, he had broken through.

With ten steps, he had initially gained teleportation-like speed. According to Admiral Zephyr, the more times one stepped, the greater the speed and distance would become. In other words, ten times was only the beginning; he had merely touched the surface.

In the future, he would need to step eleven times, twelve times, and even more. When combined with the impact produced by explosions, that speed would definitely be incredible.

Right now, Ye Chen was nothing but excited.

Whoosh.

He vanished again. The next moment, Ye Chen appeared three meters away and still fell flat on his face. Then he disappeared again. At a critical moment, he managed to steady himself, but he could not stop running and stumbled several steps forward.

On the third try, then the fourth, and all the way until more than fifty attempts later, Ye Chen finally managed to keep himself steady. Even then, a moment of carelessness could still lead to mistakes.

The Six Powers were far from as simple as Ye Chen had imagined. Even after succeeding, all sorts of problems could arise. Only through constant practice and true mastery could it be considered genuine success.

Sweat covered Ye Chen's face as he panted heavily. His physical strength had been drained considerably.

Now, he wanted to try combining it with the Bomb-Bomb Fruit.

Gritting his teeth, he rapidly stepped ten times. Just as he could no longer hold back the urge to shoot forward, Ye Chen detonated his feet in an instant. Accompanied by a thunderous explosion, an afterimage shot out with a whoosh, flying more than a hundred meters before smashing into the ground and tearing up the surface.

Yet that force did not disappear. Explosions rang out one after another as a two-meter-wide trench formed, dirt and sand flying everywhere. It stretched a full five meters.

At the end of it, Ye Chen's face was covered in blood, and his body was split open with gashes. In an instant, he dyed the ground red, then fell unconscious.

The infirmary was brightly lit. On a spotless white bed, a guy wrapped head to toe in bandages like a mummy lay sleeping.

Vergo and the others were nearby as well.

They had gathered as usual that night, only to find the ground covered in pits and craters, along with Ye Chen lying amid the ruins, badly injured all over. Everyone had been shocked. Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought they had come under attack!

Training? Who could train themselves into such a state? Covered in injuries and unconscious—was that really just training? How desperately had he pushed himself?

Ye Chen's tightly closed eyes trembled slightly as he woke up. Looking at the ceiling, his thoughts gradually cleared.

"You're awake." Smoker watched Ye Chen open his eyes and twitched his mouth.

"Brother Ye Chen." Hina looked delighted. Seeing Ye Chen awake, she immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"Chen, how did you train to such an outrageous extent?" Shu and Very Good leaned closer, full of curiosity.

"Cough, cough." Struggling to sit up, Ye Chen leaned against the headboard. Only his eyes and mouth were exposed; every other part of him was covered in bandages.

"I got carried away."

His entire body ached, and Ye Chen still felt lingering fear. He had overestimated himself. He had only just grasped Soru, yet he had tried to combine it with the Bomb-Bomb Fruit in one leap. Sure enough, one careless mistake had landed him in bed.

He had been too impatient. He needed to take things one bite at a time.

"Honestly, Brother Ye Chen, you're pushing yourself way too hard." Hina pouted and complained.

"What did you gain from it?" Vergo remained expressionless. He was not surprised by Ye Chen's crazed training. After all, this was not the first or second time something like this had happened. This time was simply more serious.

"Soru is difficult, especially at the ninth step. Breaking through to ten steps requires uninterrupted—"

Leaning back, Ye Chen began explaining his understanding of Soru. He did not hide anything from them. Instead, he hoped they could master it as soon as possible.

Vergo and the others listened seriously as well. There were no words of thanks, because they all remembered it in their hearts.

Over the past month, everyone had improved by several levels in Soru. Vergo, for example, could already step nine times, but he faced the same problem as Ye Chen: the tenth step always failed.

As for Smoker and the others, they had likewise become much more proficient than before. Even Hina could now step seven or eight times.

It could be said that the six of them were now a group. They usually shared their experiences, and everyone's progress was tangible.

Ye Chen also only spoke this much when discussing his experiences. Normally, he rarely talked.

Everyone had different insights. Perhaps an offhand remark from Hina could greatly help Ye Chen or Vergo. Having tasted the benefits, they would sometimes share their own experiences and absorb each other's insights.