More than a month later.
Hoshio Town.
This is a small fishing village in the southeastern corner of Kyushu Island.
Because of its coastal location, the villagers here have made a living by fishing for generations.
Three years ago Teiichi, when I was traveling, I stayed here for a while, so I brought Muichiro here specifically.
At this moment, on a cliff several kilometers away from Hoshio Village.
The Nichirin Blade in Muichiro's hand gleamed with a cold light in the sunlight, each swing accompanied by a whistling sound.
998!
999!
1000!
After completing the thousand repetitions of the Nichirin Blade practice assigned by his master, Muichiro put down his Nichirin Blade and wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead.
Huff--! Huff--!
Heavy breathing continued to escape Muichiro's lips.
Even if you want to swing it a hundred or two more times.
However, the greatsword specially made according to his master's requirements ultimately left him somewhat powerless, having only trained for less than two months.
Looking at the boundless sea, the sea breeze blowing in his face made him feel a sense of coolness.
Soon after, with a splash, a head popped out from under the sea.
After surveying the sea, the figure quickly locked onto the direction of the cliff.
After a few nimble paddling movements, he used the rocks on the cliff as a foothold, leaped up, and stood steadily in front of Muichiro.
He was also carrying two fresh sea fish, one large and one small, which gleamed silver in the sunlight.
"Quack--!"
When White Feather saw Teiichi come up, he excitedly flew over.
Teiichi smiled and tossed the smaller fish in her hand into the air.
White Feather caught it accurately, then landed gracefully on the ground, put the fish down first, and then curiously looked at the breakfast.
"Why is it tuna again? Can't you catch a different fish next time?" White Feather said, dissatisfied.
Teiichi replied, "I'm not going to the deep sea. There are only these kinds of fish in the near waters here. Do you expect me to conjure up a fish that doesn't exist here for you?"
"If I eat these kinds of fish every day, my life as a seagull is completely meaningless!" White Feather complained.
Teiichi, "Don't be ungrateful! This tuna isn't cheap to sell!"
"What's the point of being expensive? It gets tasteless if you eat it every day!"
Teiichi shrugged. "Then I'm out of ideas. You can fly, right? Why don't you fly further away and catch it yourself?"
Upon hearing this, White Feather coughed lightly twice, feigned deep thought for a moment, and then said vaguely, "Hmm... well, let's take another look, let's take another look!"
Teiichi chuckled lightly, ignoring White Feather, and focused on handling the large fish in his hands, while also keeping an eye on Muichiro's cultivation progress.
"How's it going? Have you finished the training tasks I assigned this morning?"
"Yes, training is over!" Muichiro nodded.
"How are you feeling?" Teiichi asked.
Muichiro replied, "It's still tiring, but it's much easier than when I first reached 500 sword swings a few days ago!"
Teiichi nodded. "Yes, just keep practicing step by step, and your progress will become more and more obvious."
The master and apprentice chatted as they prepared the ingredients.
After a long while, Muichiro tore a piece of the grilled fish in his hand with small bites and asked:
"Master, why do you want to cultivate in the sea?"
"Because in the sea, you need to expend more energy to achieve the same effect, and you need to engage your entire body, which will make your training more effective!"
"Then can I also cultivate in the sea?"
"No need!" Teiichi replied, then explained under Muichiro's questioning gaze, "Cultivation must be done step by step. Right now, just practicing swordsmanship is enough for you to cultivate. You can consider going to the sea to cultivate when you no longer feel tired from practicing swordsmanship!"
Muichiro nodded slightly. "Master, do you no longer feel tired when wielding your sword?"
"Hmm, it's hard for me to feel tired when I'm swinging a sword now. I did have a sword custom-made that weighs several hundred pounds, but even then, it would take a long time to feel tired!"
"Can't it get any worse?"
"Of course, you can increase the weight, but if you want me to feel tired at a certain pace, it has to be very heavy. Weight is also related to size, so a very heavy thing is definitely not small."
However, it's difficult to train your entire body by focusing on something very large.
That's why I chose to cultivate in the sea!
The master and apprentice chatted as they ate.
With a series of "cawing" sounds, a black, glossy crow cut through the air and flew straight towards where Muichiro was.
Muichiro's gaze was instantly drawn to it, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips. He put down the grilled fish in his hand and stretched out a hand for the Ginko to stop.
Ginko is Muichiro's Kasugai Crow, a female Kasugai Crow.
She has long eyelashes and is very confident in Muichiro's talent, so she greatly admires and loves Muichiro.
They believe that Muichiro will eventually surpass everyone else.
"Master Muichiro! Master Muichiro!"
Ginko bounced excitedly in Muichiro's hand, then remembered that there was another important person beside him. So it quickly turned its neck, looked at Teiichi with its intelligent eyes, and politely greeted him:
" Teiichi person!"
Teiichi smiled and nodded at Ginko.
"Hey! You ugly woman, what about me?!" White Feather protested loudly from the side.
Upon hearing this, Ginko's eyes widened immediately, its feathers seemingly standing on end, as it retorted, "Huh? Who are you calling ugly? You're the ugliest one, okay! A pathetic seagull, completely bald, not a single black feather, you're absolutely hideous!"
"What nonsense are you talking about! Seagulls are white!"
Who says there aren't black seagulls in the world?
There are no black seagulls in the world!
"What? You've seen all the seagulls in the world? So you know that all seagulls in the world are white?"
"You... you stinking crow, you're the ugliest one!"
"I'm saying you're the one who's..."
Hearing the two birds arguing, Teiichi felt a headache coming on and interrupted them:
"Alright, alright! Stop arguing, or it'll be dark."
Upon hearing Teiichi's words, the two birds stopped, glanced at each other, snorted coldly, and turned their heads away.
" Ginko, did you bring a mission with you this time?" Teiichi asked.
Yes, yes!
Upon hearing Teiichi's words, Ginko finally remembered that she had come with a mission.
"There are signs of demons appearing in Kazami Town, which is not far southwest of here!"
The demon hunts are happening very frequently this time; someone is going missing almost every few days!
There were even cases where people went missing in two different locations within a single day!
Lord Muichiro, please proceed as soon as possible!