Looping Island!

A gentle breeze brushed the reefs with soft waves, leaving pearl-like foam behind. Sunlight warmed the sand until it looked like a sea of gold.

Bang, bang, bang!

Inland, broad palm leaves rustled. Sharp whistles cut through the air, followed by dull impacts.

Deep in the palm grove, Xia Lun stood beneath a towering tree, drenched in sweat and utterly focused.

He held a wooden stick, thrusting again and again at the little plastic balls tied to the branches. His strikes were so fast they left afterimages and broke the sound barrier. The four hanging balls moved even faster, each swing shaking the tree with a groan that set his teeth on edge.

Xia Lun was using the classic ball-thrusting drill to practice "Burst."

Ordinarily, the drill trained the eye to track moving targets, along with reaction speed and hand-eye coordination. But Xia Lun also used the sword technique "Burst" with every thrust, channeling the force of each ball's swing before sending it back, over and over.

With every Burst, the balls gathered more energy and swung faster. At last, the thick trunk gave a miserable groan and exploded outward like a firework.

Boom!

Wood splinters shot everywhere like arrows. In the next instant, his stick flashed, and more than a dozen sharp shards flying toward him burst apart in midair.

"Whew..."

Xia Lun lowered the short stick and let out a long breath. Wood chips pattered down before him like rain.

With a flick of his wrist, he slipped the stick back into the Armed Belt Buckle and headed toward the Shelter. Along the way, he passed more than a dozen palm trees shattered beyond repair.

Since mastering the sword technique "Burst" and breaking through the bottleneck in his Swordsmanship Specialization, training had begun yielding results again. He could