"T-Teacher!"
Ignoring his injuries, Zoro scrambled into the ruined bamboo grove.
The dust slowly cleared.
Koshiro leaned against a broken bamboo stalk, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. Half of his signature glasses had shattered, and he looked utterly battered.
"Teacher! Are you all right? That bastard..." His eyes red, Zoro fumbled to help him up.
"Cough, cough... don't move."
Koshiro waved a hand, a wry smile appearing on his face.
He looked toward the boy nearby, who was drenched in blood yet still laughing wildly and drinking, his gaze complicated.
"Zoro... there's no need to ask."
Koshiro wiped the blood from his mouth. Though weak, his voice was exceptionally clear.
"I lost."
Zoro froze in place, his mind blank.
Lost?
Zoro looked at the wound on Lin Xuan's shoulder, so deep that bone showed.
Had he faced that slash himself, his head would probably have been severed long ago.
That man had actually taken it head-on with his flesh.
That gulf filled Zoro with an unprecedented sense of helplessness and shame.
"Burp-"
Lin Xuan belched and casually tossed the empty bottle aside.
Just then, that cold, mechanical voice rang out in his mind, sounding like heavenly music.
[Ding! Host detected defeating Koshiro, a secluded master of the East Blue.] [Combat rating: S (Recklessly trading injuries for injuries, consistent with Kenpachi Zaraki's principles of conduct)] [Reward: Template unlock progress +3%. Current total progress: 10%.] [Points received: 1,500. Shop refreshed.]
As the words "progress: 10%" faded, a torrent of information, greater and more violent than before, surged into Lin Xuan's mind.
His hands, which had previously swung on instinct alone, suddenly seemed to be infused with countless years of memories.
These were the simplest yet most brutal killing techniques, distilled by a scar-covered demon through countless battles in the Soul Society.
[Skill unlocked: Swordsmanship (Two-handed sword)] [Note: Although that man scorns technique, the true nightmare begins when he holds his sword with both hands.]
Lin Xuan abruptly clenched his fists, feeling the power within him undergoing a qualitative transformation.
So that was it.
Before, I was nothing but a child swinging a stick.
Only now have I truly taken hold of the sword's hilt.
The distant footsteps drew closer, and the villagers' shouts were already clearly audible.
Lin Xuan slowly stood. Though half his body was covered in blood, the pressure of his newly awakened "swordsmanship" made even the air grow heavy.
Koshiro keenly sensed the change.
He braced himself, trying to stand, a flash of shock crossing his eyes.
Even though the battle was over, this boy's aura was still undergoing earth-shattering changes?
"Mr. Lin Xuan..."
Koshiro held his chest, his gaze returning to calm and even taking on a trace of a physician's seriousness.
"It seems our match must end here. If we keep fighting, it won't be as simple as tearing down houses."
Chapter 24: Three Years? I Got It in One Second!
As Koshiro spoke, he removed the half-shattered lenses from the bridge of his nose.
His movements were gentle, but they tugged at the bruising around his mouth, making him suck in a cold breath.
His kimono was in tatters, strips of cloth hanging from him, barely covering his body.
"If we keep fighting, even if I don't hold you responsible for the repairs, the village guards will probably classify you as a dangerous individual."
Lin Xuan said nothing, merely shrugging his still-bleeding shoulder. The sting of his muscles squeezing the wound cleared his blood-loss-clouded consciousness considerably.
Pain was a good thing. It meant his body was still functioning normally.
Lin Xuan looked around. What had been a bamboo grove was now a wreck, littered with broken bamboo and churned earth.
They really could not keep fighting. The Kenpachi Zaraki template was battle-hungry, not brain-dead.
"About that last slash..." Koshiro pulled a roll of bandages that had survived the impact from inside his clothes and tossed it over. His tone remained mild, but his eyes held a more appraising look. "Although you forcibly trapped the blade with your flesh, that was not cutting through it."
Lin Xuan caught the bandages and wound them haphazardly around his shoulder a few times to stanch the bleeding.
He leaned against a broken bamboo stump, waiting for more.
"A swordsman's attainment lies in protecting those he wishes to protect and cutting through what he wishes to cut." Koshiro picked up a withered yellow bamboo leaf and gently rubbed it between his fingers. Rather than crumbling, it split into two remarkably smooth halves along its grain. "This is the threshold of cutting steel-the Breath of All Things."
In the distance, Zoro was struggling out of a pile of rubble. At those words, his eyes, still seeing stars, instantly widened and fixed on them.
Koshiro glanced at his student, then looked back at Lin Xuan and sighed. "Zoro is too impatient and too full of aggression. He'll probably need another five years of tempering before he reaches the threshold. As for you, Mr. Lin Xuan... your strength is absurd, but that is precisely your barrier. To learn to listen to those breaths, to learn to become still..."
Koshiro adjusted his nonexistent glasses and offered an estimate. "Perhaps three years. Of course, that is assuming you are willing to rein in your killing intent."
Three years?
Lin Xuan raised his eyebrows without arguing, merely summoning that pale-blue screen deep within his consciousness.
At the edge of his vision, rows of data were refreshing.
That fight was worth it. Fifteen hundred points in hand.
[System shop refreshed]
Lin Xuan's gaze swept rapidly over the item icons.
Most were the basic potions and low-grade materials he had seen before, but at the top of the shelves, two items glowing purple immediately caught his attention.
[Beginner Epiphany Talisman (Consumable): Greatly enhances comprehension for one hour after use, allowing forced insight into the principles of high-level skills. Price: 500 points.] [Modified Gravity-Adjusting Suit (Rare equipment): Appears as an ordinary black trench coat, with a built-in miniature gravity field adjustable up to 20 times gravity. Note: A restraint suit prepared for those monsters who find Earth's gravity too weak. Price: 1,000 points.]
Lin Xuan's heart skipped a beat.
This could not have come at a better time.
He had just been wondering whether Kenpachi Zaraki's approach of relying purely on basic slashes would put him at a disadvantage in the world of One Piece. After all, everyone here had Haki later on. Against a Logia user or someone like Koshiro who worked with concepts, brute strength alone really could leave him suppressed as he had been just now.
With the Enlightenment Talisman, wouldn't mastering that Breath of All Things be a cinch?
As for that gravity suit... it was practically tailor-made for the Kenpachi template.
His Weighted Wrist Guards were barely effective anymore. If he wanted to maintain constant, high-intensity suppression, this thing was essential.
Except...
Lin Xuan glanced at the balance in the lower right: 1,520 points.
The two items together cost 1,500 points.
Had this damned system installed surveillance on him or something?
Its calculations were far too precise.
He had risked his life in that grueling fight with Koshiro and finally scraped together a little savings, only to have it all wiped out in one go.
Even more ruthless than the heartless landlord from his previous life.
"Tch." Lin Xuan clicked his tongue in annoyance and rolled his eyes.
"What? Do you think three years is too long?" Misinterpreting his expression, Koshiro gently advised him, "On the path of swordsmanship, haste makes waste. Especially for someone with your innate strength, time is all the more necessary to develop..."
[Purchase successful. Balance: 20 points.]
With a crisp "ding" in his mind, Lin Xuan felt a slightly cool paper talisman appear in his hand, while the gravity suit lay quietly in his inventory.
Although he had become poor in an instant, the prospect of growing stronger still excited him.
Time to develop?
Who actually relied on that to get stronger?
Lin Xuan lowered his head. He did not use the Enlightenment Talisman immediately, but the curve of his lips steadily widened into a smile mingling greed and excitement.
He really wanted to see what expression Koshiro would make when he mastered the mysteries of swordsmanship right on the spot.
Across from him, Koshiro was about to continue his lecture when a sudden chill prickled down his back.
Something felt very wrong.
The man who had radiated such ferocity had clearly calmed down. Why did he now feel even more dangerous than during their battle?
It was not merely killing intent, but something more like... an unease that something was about to be overturned.
Lin Xuan slowly raised his head. His eyes, which had dimmed somewhat after the battle ended, now shone with startling brightness.
"Dojo Master Koshiro."
Lin Xuan grinned, revealing white teeth. His smile was so radiant that Koshiro's heart lurched.
"Could you explain the exact procedure for that Breath of All Things right now?"
"You want to hear the procedure?"
Looking at the boy's impatient expression, Koshiro swallowed the word "comprehension" that had been on the tip of his tongue.
That urgency made the hairs on his back rise instinctively.
This did not look like someone seeking instruction, but rather someone confirming his prey's weakness.
"Very well."
Koshiro shook his head with a wry smile and picked up the severed bamboo leaf again. "Since you're interested, there's no harm in explaining. What we call breath is the frequency at which all things exist, not a sound heard with the ears. Stone has its own frequency, steel its own rhythm. When you..."
"So you find a weak point or gap and pour your strength into it, right? Got it."
Lin Xuan interrupted the abstruse theoretical lecture.
At that very instant, he had crushed the [Beginner Epiphany Talisman] worth 500 points within his mental space.
A cool chill burst forth, spreading along his nerve endings.
His brain, still somewhat foggy from blood loss, became clearer than ever.
The world changed before his eyes.
The rustling of wind through the bamboo grove was no longer mere noise. He could seemingly "see" the paths of the flowing air, see the tiny tremors of bamboo leaf fibers tightening and relaxing in the wind.
The half-leaf in Koshiro's hand was no longer an inanimate object in his eyes, but a structure woven from countless lines.
As long as he cut along those lines, even a blade of grass could slice it open.
This was worth 500 points?
Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes, his gaze slowly sweeping his surroundings.
It was a wondrous feeling. The entire world became incomparably clear in his eyes, as though he could see straight through to the essence of things.
He did not need three years.
He did not even need three minutes.
Before you continue