Starting From Refusing Red-Hair's Invitation: Chapter 3

Many things were imperceptible to ordinary people, but Koshiro was different. He had spent his life meeting countless people, and simply from Lin Mo's steady gait and composed aura, he could tell that this child's strength was extraordinary.

Moreover, from the very first moment he laid eyes on the child, he sensed from those calm eyes that the child possessed a state of mind indifferent to everything.

Most people were too impatient when practicing swordsmanship.

Those who could truly achieve a mind as tranquil as still water were few and far between.

Only by truly settling one's heart to comprehend all things in the world, unswayed by the seven emotions and six desires, could one become a truly powerful swordsman.

Koshiro saw the future in Lin Mo.

"Wait a moment."

Koshiro called out to halt Lin Mo.

Lin Mo paused his steps, turned back, and said in a flat tone, "What is it?"

Koshiro asked with a smile, "What is your name?"

"Lin Mo."

"Do you like drinking tea?"

Lin Mo: "?"

"If you have time, how about staying behind to have a cup of tea together, eat some tea snacks, and chat by the way?"

"No need." Lin Mo refused, "Compared to tea, I prefer drinking Wine."

Koshiro paused slightly: "Wine?"

"Mhm."

"Heh, what an interesting child. I also have some aged brew here that has been kept for several years. Would you like to taste it?"

Aged brew?

Lin Mo felt a slight stir of interest.

"Alright."

As soon as he finished saying this word.

Kuina walked over with dissatisfaction: "Father, what are you doing? Clearly, he has already refused you, why do you still insist on making him stay?"

"Kuina, you don't understand." Koshiro smiled faintly, "You, there are still many things you need to learn from Lin Mo in the future."

"Learn from him? Father, have you misunderstood something? Clearly, he looks younger than me!"

"Age cannot represent everything." Koshiro continued, "His strength is already far beyond yours."

"What! Just based on him?" Kuina was unconvinced, pointing the wooden sword in her hand at Lin Mo, "I want to challenge you!"

Chapter 4: Shimotsuki Village: An Unexpected Surprise

As Kuina, who could easily defeat even adults, she naturally refused to accept that her strength would be inferior to an outsider who came from elsewhere and was even younger than her.

Therefore, she wanted to prove to Koshiro that she was the strongest!

Yet Lin Mo was not the type of person easily instigated, and his purpose in coming here was not to fight.

Faced with Kuina's challenge, he was quite speechless.

Koshiro's face sank slightly, showing some displeasure: "Kuina, enough! Put down your sword!"

"Father!" Kuina said angrily, "I want to prove to you that girls can also become masters swordsmen and become the strongest in the world! Since you think he is stronger than me, fine, then I will defeat him!"

"This child." Koshiro rubbed his temples with a headache, then turned to look at the speechless Lin Mo, "Sorry for the trouble, let you see a joke. Actually, Kuina is just unwilling to lose and has no malicious intent."

"It's fine." Lin Mo shrugged indifferently.

To be able to maintain inner peace even when challenged like this, Koshiro grew even more firm in his thought that this child was indeed extraordinary.

Yet Kuina had set her mind on challenging Lin Mo. Letting Kuina suffer a bit of hardship might not be a bad thing for her after all.

Thinking of this, Koshiro spoke up: "In that case, Lin Mo, you should accept Kuina's challenge. Of course, you won't be made to spar for nothing."

Koshiro looked at Kuina: "Since you insist on challenging Lin Mo, let the Wado Ichimonji be the stake. If you lose, the Wado Ichimonji will belong to Lin Mo."

The Wado Ichimonji was a famous sword among the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords.

Lin Mo naturally knew this.

What surprised him was that Koshiro would actually use a famous sword as a reward for a children's swordsmanship spar...

Kuina found it hard to believe: "Father, the Wado Ichimonji is..."

"I know." Koshiro cut off Kuina's words, "This is the risk you must pay for insisting on challenging Lin Mo. If you are afraid of losing it, then give up the challenge."

The mere word "fear" must never appear in the heart of a qualified swordsman.

Especially in the heat of battle, once such an emotion arose, the consequences would be terrifying.

Kuina looked at Lin Mo, her eyes filled with defiance and anger: "I will not lose. I want to challenge you!"

Lin Mo actually had no wish to accept this baffling challenge; even with a famous sword as a reward, he did not care.

Seeing that Lin Mo had zero fighting spirit, Koshiro smiled slightly: "If you win, not only will you obtain the Wado Ichimonji, but you will also get ten jars of aged brew crafted using special methods and sealed for nearly ten years."

Lin Mo's eyes shifted slightly. "Twenty jars."

"I only have fifteen jars here, I can give them all to you."

"Deal."

Seeing Lin Mo accept Kuina's challenge.

The children of the dojo, including Zoro, immediately and skillfully sat in a circle around them.

"Go for it, Kuina! You're the strongest person in the dojo, rush over and knock him down!"

"That's right, let this outsider see the might of our dojo!"

"Yeah, just like how you usually fight Zoro, beat that guy flat with one sword!"

Zoro: "..."

"Hey, hey!" Zoro glared with dissatisfaction at the person who was cheering for Kuina. "Does your kid have a death wish? Cheer for Kuina without dragging me into it!"

The center of the dojo.

"Alright, everyone be quiet," Koshiro said. "Kuina, Lin Mo, get ready to begin."

Lin Mo walked toward the sword bucket placed in the corner of the dojo, casually pulling out a bamboo sword from it.

For a spar of this level, he did not intend to use Toyako.

According to the rules of Isshin Dojo, challenging swordsmanship in a spar required bowing to the shrine and the opponent.

After a set of procedures.

The two stood facing each other.

Kuina held a bamboo sword, facing Lin Mo with a solemn expression. "I won't lose!"

"Come on," Lin Mo said indifferently.

"Ha!" Kuina immediately rushed rapidly toward Lin Mo, her bamboo sword cutting through the air as she unleashed several consecutive heavy strikes toward Lin Mo's face. Her speed was extremely fast, her strength immense, and every strike contained her resentful emotions.

Yet every strike was easily parried by Lin Mo.

Seeing that she could not break through the other's defense, Kuina slightly changed the angle of her blade, drawing a beautiful arc from bottom to top, from left to right, attempting to knock the bamboo sword out of Lin Mo's hand.

Just as Lin Mo appeared to be preparing to block this move again, Kuina suddenly made a pivot, turning and rapidly appearing behind Lin Mo, raising her sword once more to slash at him with full force and fierce momentum.

Indeed, Kuina's sword techniques were still considered pretty good compared to most people.

Yet in Lin Mo's view, she still lacked seasoning; her speed was too slow, and she was full of openings.

Let's just finish this quickly.

He didn't want to waste too much time here.

Without thinking much, Lin Mo directly turned around, and amidst Kuina's slightly startled expression, he knocked the bamboo sword she was holding flying with a single strike.

Kuina only felt a pain in her wrist, and the bamboo sword in her hand had already fallen to the floor two meters away.

From the start of the match to the end, it was only a matter of a few seconds.

After a brief silence, the entire place erupted in an uproar.

"N-No way! Kuina actually lost?"

"How can this be! How could Kuina lose?"

"She's someone who can even defeat adults, how could she lose to an outsider?"

"Oh god, what kind of person is that guy..."

Koshiro glanced at Kuina, who was currently soul-deprived, and then announced the result of the spar. "One point, Lin Mo wins."

Lin Mo tossed the bamboo sword in his hand back into the sword bucket.

Kuina, having recovered her senses, picked up the bamboo sword that had fallen on the ground and said loudly, "No, I won't lose, again! I won't hand Wado Ichimonji over to you!"

"Kuina, you've already lost!" Koshiro reprimanded Kuina publicly with a rare stern tone. "No matter how many times you compete again, you can't win against Lin Mo. Can't you see the gap between him and yourself?"

"No!" Tears welled up in Kuina's eyes as she clenched her fists tightly and ran out of the dojo, unable to accept it.

"Hey, Kuina!" Seeing this, Zoro quickly chased after her.

"This girl..." Koshiro shook his head with a headache, then looked at the other children. "Today's practice ends here, everyone go back and rest."

"Yes, master!" The children rose, bowed to Koshiro, and then left the dojo amidst a flurry of discussion.

After all the children left, Koshiro looked at Lin Mo. "Follow me."

Lin Mo gave a slight nod.

He followed Koshiro to the tearoom in the back courtyard of the dojo.

The two sat facing each other.

Placed on the tea table in front of them were a pot of freshly brewed tea and a pot of fine wine emanating a rich, pure fragrance.

Koshiro handed a sword he had just taken out from the storage room—its hilt and scabbard both white, looking simple and unpretentious, but actually hiding deep mystery—to Lin Mo. "From now on, this sword is yours."

This was Wado Ichimonji.

Lin Mo accepted it without any politeness and hung it at his waist alongside Toyako.

Then, the two of them raised the teacup and Wine glass in front of their respective selves together and took a sip.

Not to mention, the aged wine Koshiro mentioned tasted pretty good; although it was not very strong, it had a mellow cherry blossom flavor that was refreshing to the heart and lungs.

Lin Mo liked it very much.

"How is it?" Koshiro said with a smile, "The brewing technique for this Wine was passed down from a very special place, and you generally can't buy this kind of Wine outside."

"Not bad." Lin Mo nodded, indicating affirmation.

Just at that moment.

Beep beep! Talked and drank with Koshiro, check-in progress +10%, current total progress is 30%, reward: swordsmanship level +1, current swordsmanship level is Lv3.

The very instant the swordsmanship level rose to Lv3, the aura around Lin Mo's entire body suddenly turned sharp.

With him at the center, an invisible sword intent diffused outward, yet it vanished in a flash.

A trace of surprise swept across the depths of Lin Mo's eyes.

The reason he was willing to have a drink with Koshiro was simply because he felt the other man was pretty decent and just wanted to show a polite gesture.

Yet he hadn't expected this unintentional act to accidentally complete the check-in progress.

It truly was an unexpected surprise.

Chapter 5: Shimotsuki Village: Zoro's Plea for Guidance

Inside the tea room.

The large one and the small one sitting facing each other tasted tea and drank Wine, having a thoroughly pleasant time.

However, the moment Lin Mo finished drinking a cup of Wine.