"Ahem, Bai Yu, let's end this fight here. Once I've bandaged my wounds, I'll discuss the true essence of Cutting Iron with you. It's easy to talk about, but far from easy to comprehend."
Koshiro gave a dry cough, recalling the bloodthirsty look Bai Yu had kept giving him as he sized him up.
He really worried that Bai Yu might lose control and come over with his blade for another talk about life.
"Look at Zoro. He's studied under me for twelve years, and he's only reached the level of momentum. He's still quite some distance from intent."
"He'll need at least a while longer to reach the Iron-Cutting Stage."
"As for momentum, that means sword momentum. It allows a sword to produce various kinds of force. Some people can slash out flames, lightning, and so on. Those are all produced by momentum."
"Once you reach the realm of sword intent, you can fully master momentum and use your will to transform it into countless forms."
"Bai Yu, your strength and talent both surpass Zoro's. Zoro might need a year, but I believe that with your current level, you could do it in half a year."
"Back then, it took me over four months to comprehend the Iron-Cutting Realm, and my father called me a genius..."
The words poured out like a barrage of cannon fire.
Right now, Koshiro only wanted to divert Bai Yu's attention.
Bai Yu withdrew from his mental space and listened to the whole explanation with interest.
Of course, he was merely interested in listening. If he actually had to train in it...
Who knew how long that would take?
However, he had now unlocked ten percent of his main-body template and obtained Two-Handed Kendo: Bisection.
With his strength soaring, Bai Yu was eighty percent confident he could pin Treasure to the ground and grind him into it.
"Right, the system shop seemed to refresh just now. Let's see what rewards it has."
Bai Yu raised an eyebrow.
The shop looked rather shabby, but getting something like the Demon-Modified Wrist Guards from it had been an unexpected gain.
Ding!
The system shop page opened directly.
Bai Yu scanned the crude shop page, and a flicker of excitement flashed deep in his eyes.
Another Talisman of Insight!
And there were two of them!
Besides those, there was also a demon-modified coat with a three-hundred-kilogram load that provided a degree of defense.
Talisman of Insight ×2: 300 points. Demon-Modified Weighted Coat: 200 points.
Looking at the two purchases, which totaled five hundred points and would wipe out his balance in one go...
Bai Yu rolled his eyes.
The system really was a landlord, unwilling to let a peasant like him rise in the world.
He had only just earned a little surplus of system points, and it immediately produced two items costing exactly five hundred points.
It was dead set on squeezing him dry.
Still, this stuff really was too good to resist!
The system really was too good to resist!
Ding! Congratulations, host. System items purchased successfully. Talisman of Insight ×2 and the Demon-Modified Two-Hundred-Kilogram Training Suit have been delivered to the system storage. Please check and collect them.
Watching the shop page empty out all at once, a hint of a smile appeared on Bai Yu's face.
Sure enough, cheating felt good for a moment; cheating every day felt good every day.
That was the fucking truth.
"B-Bai Yu, is there something you don't understand? If you don't understand, I can guide you personally. If you train diligently, perhaps three months will be enough."
Koshiro was getting a little flustered, especially when he saw the bloodthirsty smiles that occasionally appeared on Bai Yu's face.
After their fight just now, he certainly didn't believe his scrawny arms and legs could withstand another slash.
"There's no need, Mr. Koshiro. I think I've already mastered iron-cutting intent."
Bai Yu withdrew from his mental space.
He had also casually crushed a Talisman of Insight.
He had originally struggled to understand how to combine sword momentum and sword intent, but under the Talisman of Insight's effects, a roar resounded through his mind, and everything became clearer than ever.
Zoro's expression shifted slightly. Bai Yu's answer shocked him.
However, as that thought arose and Zoro's gaze fell on Bai Yu again, his pupils involuntarily contracted.
In that instant, his intuition told him that the young man before him seemed to have become even more terrifying.
If Bai Yu had given him a sense of danger a moment earlier...
Now it was a fleeting, suffocating sense of death.
"Zoro, did you sense the change in Bai Yu too?"
Koshiro spoke with a grave expression.
As Zoro's teacher, his immediate impression just now had been even stronger.
Only after pondering for a full three to five seconds did he speak in a low voice.
"Right now, he feels like a ferocious beast armed to the teeth."
"Do you think he's really mastered the Iron-Cutting Realm?"
Zoro opened his mouth but simply couldn't answer.
After watching once and experiencing a single fight firsthand, he had mastered the Iron-Cutting Stage that Zoro had failed to reach through twelve years of bitter training.
Wasn't that far too earth-shattering?
Even Koshiro had taken over four months to learn it, and his father had hailed him as a genius.
Then what did that make Bai Yu?
A super genius?
A monstrous prodigy?
Not human?
Yes!
Zoro silently looked at Bai Yu. He was unwilling to believe that Bai Yu had really learned it.
Otherwise, he probably really wasn't human.
"Zoro, you can have these wrist guards!"
Bai Yu didn't know what Zoro and Koshiro were thinking, and even if he had, he wouldn't have taken it to heart.
How was someone using cheats supposed to explain cheating to other people?
Wasn't that a joke?
"You're giving these to me?"
Zoro stared in disbelief at the two wrist guards that hit the ground with two thuds.
He completely forgot about Koshiro, whom he was supporting, and immediately began handling them, testing their weight.
After witnessing Bai Yu's explosive strength when he removed his wrist guards, as well as his training methods...
Zoro was now interested in even a single hair that fell from Bai Yu's body.
However, the moment he tried moving them, Zoro's expression changed.
Koshiro also freed a hand and tested their weight a couple of times before speaking with a grave expression.
"Bai Yu, something this small must weigh at least thirty or forty kilograms, right? Do you go about your daily life carrying weights?"
"To a swordsman, these are absolutely no less valuable than a famous sword."
As a veteran Swordmaster and teacher, Koshiro was also surprised by this sort of weighted equipment.
For a good swordsman to unleash stronger, faster, sharper slashes...
The only way was through training that strengthened the body, particularly the explosive power of both arms.
The weighted equipment they could normally find was all enormous.
In the original story, Zoro could only increase his training load with giant dumbbells. He couldn't possibly carry them around to adapt to the weight during everyday life.
It could be said that the wrist guards Bai Yu casually tossed out had overturned their understanding.
"Bai Yu, these are too valuable. I can't accept them. Without them, your training will suffer too!"
"The one I want to defeat is you, striving with everything you've got to become stronger!"
Zoro forcibly suppressed the temptation in his heart and refused.
These wrist guards were indeed well suited to Zoro's current wrist-strength training.
However, as a swordsman, Zoro had a firm grasp of his dignity and bottom line.
"They're too light. They only add up to a hundred kilograms. Keeping them would only get in the way of me becoming stronger."
Bai Yu answered casually and took the Demon-Modified Training Suit straight out of the system.
Thud!
The seemingly light, soft training suit slammed heavily into the ground.
Dust instantly flew everywhere. As the ground caved in with the impact, savage cracks split open and rapidly spread toward Zoro and Koshiro.