Practicing the Marine Six Styles

Chapter 8: Practicing the Marine Six Styles

"They ran? What a pity. I was just wondering when I should get rid of that thorn in my side. I never expected the master of Fengmang Sword Hall to be smart enough to flee in advance."

Li Yuan spoke regretfully. He had been somewhat tired when he returned yesterday and had fallen asleep quickly, without thinking to deal with Fengmang Sword Hall.

"Fengmang Sword Hall's master probably heard about how you displayed your might yesterday, Senior Brother. He was afraid you'd go looking for trouble, so he ran."

Kano said excitedly. Their Sword Hall had competed against Fengmang Sword Hall before, yet now Fengmang Sword Hall had been scared into fleeing overnight. It was truly satisfying.

"Let's go. Starting today, we need to train even harder, because before long, I'll be setting out to sea!"

As Li Yuan spoke, a blazing light shone in his eyes. Although his strength was rapidly improving through training on the island, he was still not satisfied. On this island, he had no way to learn Armament Haki.

Armament Haki was a requirement for cultivating the later stages of the Sword God Body Tempering Technique, as well as the foundation for rapidly increasing his strength. After all, once he reached a certain point, simply training his physique would make its growth slower and slower.

The stronger his physique became, the stronger his Armament Haki would be. At the same time, Armament Haki could nourish his body in return, making his physique stronger as well. Armament Haki and physical strength complemented each other.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother. I'll definitely train even harder."

Kano said seriously.

"Come on, hit me!"

Li Yuan spoke to the ten junior brothers around him, each holding an iron rod.

"Senior Brother, excuse us."

The ten junior brothers said this out of habit before swinging their iron rods at Li Yuan's vulnerable spots—his wrist bones, ankles, chest, abdomen, throat, head, and more.

Bang bang bang bang!!!

With every strike, the ten junior brothers used all the strength they could muster. Li Yuan gritted his teeth and endured the blows in silence, yet by now, he barely felt any pain.

They had started with whips, then progressed to wooden sticks, and now iron rods. Yet even having iron rods strike his body no longer hurt much.

His body had grown stronger and stronger through repeated cycles of injury and recovery.

"Stop. Kano, replace the iron rods with Spiked Clubs next time. Once Spiked Clubs stop working, switch to blades!"

After half an hour, Li Yuan called for the junior brothers to stop.

"Yes, Senior Brother. We seized plenty of weapons from the pirates this time, including quite a few Spiked Clubs."

Kano swallowed as he looked at Li Yuan's injured yet rapidly healing body. He knew his senior brother was monstrous, but every time he saw this inhuman kind of training, he could not help being shocked.

After finishing a day of getting beaten up—no, a day of physical endurance training—Li Yuan arrived at the island's shore. He planned to train his martial arts. With such a powerful body, it would be too wasteful not to practice some martial arts.

"Among the Marine Six Styles, Paper Drawing is the precursor to Observation Haki, so there's no need to train it. Rankyaku is similar to my sword slashes, so I only need to practice it casually."

"Iron Body is worth practicing. If I can train my body until, even in its normal state, it is like using Iron Body, that will be about right."

"The most important ones for me are Soru and Geppo. Soru can greatly increase my speed."

"In the future, my sword will be my strongest offense, and my body my strongest defense. My only weakness is that I'm not fast enough. If I can make up for that shortcoming, I'll be flawless."

"Geppo also needs training. After all, aerial combat is one of my weaknesses as well."

Li Yuan studied the training essentials of the Marine Six Styles while considering the development of his combat strength.

"Soru is a technique that involves stomping the ground ten times in rapid succession, then stacking the force of those ten stomps in an instant and using it as propulsion to move at high speed."

"The key to mastering Soru is the technique used during those ten consecutive stomps. Once I master that technique, I can perform Soru."

After memorizing the key points, Li Yuan began practicing.

"Soru!!"

However, on his first attempt, he shot forward before even completing ten stomps.

"I'm stomping too slowly!"

After summarizing the cause of his failure, he began another attempt.

"Soru!!"

"Still too slow."

"Soru!!"

"I'm putting too much force into every stomp. I can't maintain my balance!"

"Soru!!"

"I haven't mastered the intervals between each stomp!"

"..."

Li Yuan continuously summarized his experiences through repeated failures before practicing again. In less than half an hour, he had already learned how to use Soru.

"Soru is a martial art. My body is strong enough, and I have enough talent, so I can learn it quickly."

"Next is Geppo. Geppo is an upgraded version of Soru. The only difference is that it treats the air as the ground to stomp on."

Without any surprises, half an hour later, Li Yuan was dancing through the air with Geppo. For someone with a body as strong as his, these two martial arts were simple to learn.

"Now that I've learned Soru and Geppo, all that remains is to become proficient with them."

After descending from the air, Li Yuan took a breath. Geppo consumed a great deal of stamina, and he still could not sustain it for long.

Li Yuan spent the entire morning practicing Soru and Geppo.

"Next, it's time to practice swordsmanship. I'm getting closer and closer to becoming a Swordmaster."

Holding his sword in both hands, Li Yuan walked into the Great Sea until the water reached his throat, then stopped.

Splash splash!!!

Although the Great Sea was calm, ten-meter waves were still an irresistible and powerful force to any human within it.

"Feel the Great Sea's breathing. Find where its breathing is weakest!"

Li Yuan devoted himself completely to sensing the Great Sea's breathing. When a wave surged toward him, his gaze sharpened. Soru erupted instantly, and the sword in his hand slashed out at the same time.

Clang!!!

A white sword light instantly cleaved through the wave ahead, but it lacked follow-through and was swallowed by the endless waves crashing in from behind.

Even Li Yuan, who had rushed forward, was violently struck by the waves and swept onto the shore.

"Cough, cough, cough. The power of the Great Sea is truly terrifying. Still, this method of training—facing the Great Sea directly and daring to draw my sword—seems to be quite helpful."

Seeing that this method worked, Li Yuan's lips curved slightly before he continued walking into the sea.

Practicing swordsmanship by the shore and using the Great Sea's impact to temper his slashes was indeed useful to him.