Inch-Punch: Heaven Splitter

(Fifty chapters already. I really didn't expect to stick with it this long.

Please don't stockpile chapters! I'd also like to ask for a five-star review and some free "Power with Love." Thank you!)

After an unknown amount of time, Kiana watched Sera with his eyes closed and didn't rush him.

Sera opened his eyes,

and flames swirled in his palm.

"Spirit is the height of change.

It is the name for the wonder of all things, which cannot be questioned through form."

Kiana's eyes widened,

as the Sword God manifested in Sera's hand.

"Edge of Taixuan-Divine Key!"

The same move, the same damage.

The Taixuan Sword God pierced through the training ground again, and even struck a reflection of Nihility not far away.

IX: ...?

Kiana had long since learned how to hold back, but Sera was different. It was the child's first time using it, and not going all out was already the result of his restraint.

"Why did you learn it so fast?!"

Kiana cried out. When she had laid her foundation and honed her sword heart, it had been terribly tedious! Even if Sera's mind was free of distracting thoughts, surely he couldn't have learned it after experiencing it just once?

But the hole in the training ground was still slowly repairing itself before her eyes, so Kiana had no choice but to accept reality.

She could only put all the hardship she had endured back then down to her powerful inner demons.

Kiana: Sad...

"I've already experienced how Honkai Energy flows and is used in the body when performing the move. If I still couldn't do it, wouldn't that make me an idiot?

Surely no one could fail to copy the answer even with it right in front of them?"

Sera's eyes were full of confusion as he asked in genuine puzzlement.

"Haha... I'm an idiot. Thanks a lot."

"Ahem..." Sera glanced at Kiana, then at himself, back and forth, looking somewhat hesitant.

"Is there something else?"

Kiana sighed helplessly and took the initiative to ask.

"...Could you call Miss Fu Hua over? I'd like to learn some hand-to-hand combat."

"No problem!"

Kiana agreed readily.

"But I can only establish a mental connection between you two and let you meet in a consciousness space."

"No problem."

"Then I'll go ask the class monitor if she has time."

Kiana closed her eyes, and her consciousness returned to her main body on the moon.

Her consciousness swept over Earth and found Fu Hua planting Chinese toon on Mount Taixuan.

"Class monitor!"

"Kiana?" Fu Hua's voice was puzzled. She didn't know why Kiana had suddenly come looking for her.

"I..."

Kiana briefly explained the situation.

"Teach the captain martial arts?"

Fu Hua nodded.

"No problem. Let's begin."

Fu Hua sat down cross-legged where she stood.

"Get ready. I'm about to start."

Meanwhile-

Sera likewise sat down cross-legged.

"Connection-start!"

Inside the consciousness space...

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain."

Fu Hua cupped her fist in her other hand in greeting,

and Sera returned the gesture.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Fu Hua."

"You don't need to call me Master." Fu Hua shook her head.

"Hmm, then I'll call you... Hua?"

"That's fine." Fu Hua had no objection. "I heard from Kiana that there's also someone named Hua in your world?"

"Yes, she's your counterpart."

"She's Hua, the marshal of the Cloud Knights and the foremost of the Xianzhou Alliance's Seven Arbiter-Generals, and she's recognized as the strongest Emanator of The Hunt."

"I see..."

Fu Hua asked no more about the subject.

"What weapon would you like to learn?"

Sera raised his hand and summoned a spear.

"I use a spear, but most of the time I fire energy blasts with my authority."

"Then you want to learn spear techniques?"

"No, I need to learn close-quarters combat techniques."

"I understand."

Fu Hua understood what Sera wanted.

"Then I'll teach you that move, Inch-Punch: Heaven Splitter."

"Just Heaven Splitter? Not the other Inch-Punch techniques, Dead Energy, Inner Forms, Immortal Forms, or Immortal Arts?"

"You're a Herrscher, so it's better to specialize in your own authority.

For close combat, you only need Heaven Splitter to protect yourself."

"All right." Sefa didn't insist on learning them. It was fine to do as Fu Hua said.

Fu Hua took her stance, and flames enveloped her.

Artificial Honkai Eruption-Garuda.

"Watch closely."

Fu Hua made her movements as clear as possible and assumed the starting stance.

At that moment, Kiana also threw a Chariot-class Honkai Beast into the space.

"Chariot...?" The Chariot-class Honkai Beast had only just arrived and still hadn't figured out what was going on when a fist came right at its face.

"Inch-Punch-Heaven Splitter!"

The Honkai Beast vanished without a trace.

"Did you see that clearly?"

Following Fu Hua's example, Sera tried to gather his strength and Honkai Energy in his left hand.

Ice-blue currents of air gathered into a mass, and Sera clenched his fist and swung it at the Honkai Beast that had just appeared in front of him.

"It seems there's no need for me to teach you again."

Fu Hua gave him an approving look.

"You'll be able to use it proficiently after a few more practice sessions."

"Just as Kiana said, you really are a genius."

Fu Hua turned her back and waved as she left the consciousness space, and Sera woke up as well.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Sera noticed Kiana looking at him with a complicated expression.

"As my counterpart, why are you so smart?"

"I don't know, but there was bound to be a smart one, wasn't there? It just happens to be me."

"Sigh..."

"Is there anything else?"

"No, that's all."

"Then do you want to play games together?" Kiana invited him to team up.

"But it's so late..."

"Oh, come on! We're Herrschers. Missing one night of sleep won't hurt, and Feifei Fox is waiting for me!"

"How come you're calling her that too? All right, let's go."

"Because she calls me Fishy Kitty, so I have to call her something back."

Sera and Kiana teleported to the place where they had played games during the day. Feiying was tapping on the table, bored.

"Oh, Fishy Kitty, you're here. Wow! White Kitty's here too."

Feiying quickly spotted the two of them in the screen's reflection.

"Hehe, sorry for the wait." Kiana scratched her head.

"It's fine."

Feiying didn't mind at all.

"White Kitty must have had something important to discuss with you. I'm glad White Kitty's business is settled."

"Actually, it wasn't anything too important."

"Yeah."

Kiana agreed with Sera.

After all, she was still around, so it didn't matter when he learned it.

"All right, come on, hurry!"

"Mm."

"Coming!"

The next morning...

"So, the three of you played games all night like that?"

Cyrene stood before the three awkward figures, her arms folded and her face expressionless.

"Um..." Sera had just started to say something when Cyrene glared at him, and he closed his mouth again.

Looking at the three of them hanging their heads and admitting their mistake, Cyrene let them off in the end.

Although two of the three were Herrschers and the other was an Ambrosial Arbor spirit, they still couldn't just go without sleep!

"Sigh..." Cyrene's heart softened.

"You three... Make sure you get a good night's sleep tonight, understand?"

"Mm-hmm!" Sera and the other two nodded furiously in agreement.

"These plum blossom cakes are fresh out of the oven. Want some?"

Ruan Mei, who hadn't slept either, came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of plum blossom cakes.

"Yes!" Kiana's eyes lit up.

Sera said nothing, showing what he wanted through his actions.

Sera stuffed a plum blossom cake into his mouth, not forgetting to offer one to Cyrene.

Seeing Sera's ingratiating expression, Cyrene parted her lips and took a small bite.