Able to Stay Alive

Because each of the twenty heroes who created the Six Styles of the Gods already possessed the ability of Life Return, it served as the foundation for their cultivation. That was also why beings like the Twelve Gods were needed to conduct the Empowerment Ritual, allowing cultivators to first master the essentials of Life Return.

"Let's choose Shadowless first."

The decision was not difficult, actually. Since he had not cultivated anything else, Shadowless was the simplest and easiest to master. Once he succeeded, it would also be the most practical—it could save his life.

Put simply, Shadowless meant moving fast, dodging fast, and attacking fast. Once his speed increased, he would have every advantage in a fight. Even if he could not win, he could at least escape with his life.

For the days that followed, Miming spent every day under Anubis's guidance.

Anubis did not supervise Miming's cultivation. Once Miming knew how to train, he went home to practice. Whenever he felt he had mastered it, or whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he went to Anubis. The entire cultivation process depended on him; Anubis only answered his questions.

Under the pretext of cultivating, Miming set aside a corner of the house. Aside from the Boa Sisters and Cairns, no one was allowed to disturb him. The Bird Family had plenty of land, and there was a forest stretching ten miles in every direction just behind the estate.

"Miming, you must cultivate diligently and let those idiots know that our Bird Family is the most noble of the World Nobles! Hahaha!" Although Saint Ni and Shalria did not know the reason, the Gorosei had taken a liking to Miming and designated him as their successor. That alone was enough to make them feel proud.

Boa Hancock and her two sisters finally began living like normal people as well. Every day, they served Miming and took care of his daily needs, as well as cleaning the courtyard.

"Master, your meal!"

"Master, have some water!"

"Master, I'll go fetch water!"

"Master, I'll go wash the clothes!"

Marigold and Sandersonia wore smiles on their scarred faces as they worked with all their might. After nearly a year of slavery, smiles had finally returned to their faces. This made Hancock feel that Miming was someone she could trust, and filled her with renewed hope that one day they would escape the Holy Land.

Fueled by this hope, Miming worked even harder, training day and night.

Shadowless was the true form of the Marine Six Styles technique Razor.

When the Marines trained in Soru, they practiced jumping rapidly from side to side until they could jump more than a dozen times in a single second, producing the effect of vanishing instantly. The entire process involved no skill at all—just relentless practice.

Shadowless, however, built upon Life Return. It first strengthened the flexibility of the legs and increased their elasticity, filling every cell with tension so that the feet could easily produce a shock-rebound effect like a vibrating ruler. The process was not simply about stepping in place. It involved an entire set of footwork to handle movements from every angle.

If Soru was like pulling a scallion from dry ground, then Shadowless was like walking on ripples without disturbing them. And that was only the first level, merely enough to achieve the effect of instantly dodging attacks. At the second level, one could cultivate the more refined technique Cat Foot. It required even quieter movements, approaching complete silence, with more elastic and flexible toes.

"Master, take a break." Hancock stood to the side, holding a washbasin and gazing at him expectantly. Miming had already been training the entire morning, jumping on the ground tens of thousands of times. His shoes had long since fallen apart, and blood was flowing from his soles, but he paid it no attention.

Miming took the towel and wiped himself once. Panting heavily, he immediately said, "No. I still have ten thousand more before I can rest."

Concentrating intently, Miming used Life Return to control the injuries on his soles and continued training. His feet had been injured because his concentration was not focused enough. Rather than recuperating, he might as well train harder and improve his Life Return as quickly as possible.

Hancock gazed at Miming with her beautiful eyes, feeling moved. She knew that Miming was training so hard to take them away as soon as possible. At the same time, she had a feeling—perhaps it was a woman's intuition—that Miming's plan was not as simple as merely taking them away. She did not ask a single question, because she would rather believe that this person would never deceive her.

After all, why would a Celestial Dragon need to go to such lengths to deceive three little slaves?

Every day, the Boa Sisters worked desperately. If they failed to finish their tasks, the Bird Family supervisor who came to inspect them would send other slaves to help, and the steward would also get involved. When that happened, they would be punished.

Whenever they had no choice but to face other people, the three sisters acted extremely cautiously, their hearts filled with fear. They had already realized that the kindness Miming showed them could only exist in secret. In this place, a slave's laughter would not only bring disaster upon herself but also cause enormous trouble for the master who treated her well.

The most frightening times were when Miming was not home. The steward would never let the slaves sit idle, while Shalria and Saint Ni would also come by from time to time. There was no way to hide. Sometimes Miming would spend several days training at Pangaea Castle, and Cairns was often away as well. With no one to protect them, the wisest course was to endure everything meekly, fear filling their eyes.

A month passed, and a series of deep footprints appeared across the training ground.

Miming took a deep breath and concentrated all the energy in his body into his legs. In the next moment, his figure vanished. All that could be heard in the field was the rapid patter of his footsteps as he moved at high speed.

Hancock widened her beautiful eyes, unable to see where Miming was at all.

"Master disappeared!" Marigold and Sandersonia cried out as well. Their eyes chased the sound of his footsteps, but they could not see his figure anywhere.

Suddenly, a hand lightly brushed past the hem of Hancock's dress.

Hancock cried out in surprise. When she turned around, Miming's figure had already appeared in front of her, panting heavily.

"Huh?" Marigold and Sandersonia both reached for the tops of their heads and discovered that small flowers had appeared there.

The flowerbed was far away. Miming had not only visited it—he had also reached the space behind them?

Miming panted, but his face was filled with wild delight. This was the first time he had perfectly completed the first level of Shadowless. Before this, Hancock could still see his afterimage. This time, however, he had truly achieved Shadowless. Moreover, because his speed had surpassed the speed of sound, by the time they heard the sound ahead of them, he had already reached another location.

"That's not fair! Why am I the only one without a flower?" Hancock complained.

"Because you're the most beautiful flower in the world. Those flowers could never enhance your beauty." Miming spoke with complete seriousness.

"Master, you're so mean!" the Boa Sisters cried out together.

That night, the Boa Sisters held the already-withered little flowers in their palms, while Hancock covered her face and cried throughout the night. Several scars now marred her face, and she was nowhere near as beautiful as she had once been. Yet that person told her every day that she was beautiful, as if she truly were the most beautiful woman in the world. In truth, she knew he was only comforting her. She had never been considered the most beautiful before, and even Baby5, who had been driven away, was prettier than her—at least, that was what she herself believed.

But being comforted really did feel different, didn't it? Because every day, it gave her a little bit of hope.