Chapter 28

A surge of red sword intent erupted from his body.

As Luo En's breathing shifted.

Those red sword intents gradually transformed into streaks of golden lightning!

Wrapping around Luo En and the Lei Qie in his hand!

Crackle!

Luo En, eyes closed, bent at the waist into a drawing stance, his entire body flickering and crackling with golden lightning.

"Breath of Thunder, First Form!"

Luo En murmured softly, and his foot stamped down.

A flash of golden light swept through the room.

Thunder roared!

The air was torn apart in an instant!

Thunderclap and Flash!

Luo En, eyes still closed, appeared behind the straw dummy as if teleported, slowly sheathing his blade.

Lei Qie sliding into its sheath produced a crisp sound.

The straw dummy's upper half slid slowly off Luo En's back.

Luo En opened his eyes, his gaze filled with delight.

"As expected, it can be done."

The Breath of the Sun is the originating breath, the ancestor and foundation of all breathing styles; every breathing style is derived from the Breath of the Sun, or rather, the Breath of the Sun is the breathing style itself, containing the entire system!

Mastering the Breath of the Sun means mastering every breathing style in the entire system!

One only needs to slightly alter the breathing to imitate other breathing styles, such as Breath of Thunder, Breath of Water, Breath of the Moon, and so on.

Different breathing styles have different characteristics.

The explosive speed of Breath of Thunder, the fluid calm of Breath of Water, the strange transformations of Breath of the Moon... the sword techniques born from them are enough to handle every kind of battle situation.

"If I can master the characteristics of other breathing styles, could I try to perform these sword techniques?"

Driven by this curiosity, Luo En had spent this period attempting this possibility, conducting extensive experiments.

Finally, he succeeded in performing the First Form of Breath of Thunder — Thunderclap and Flash!

"Since it can succeed, it proves my idea is correct."

Luo En's eyes were full of joy.

"As long as I keep deepening my grasp of the Breath of the Sun, one day I'll be able to naturally and freely perform the characteristics of every breathing style, mastering lethal sword techniques with the traits of different breathing styles!"

"Unlike in the Demon Slayer world, in this world my foundational strength will far surpass theirs! Right now I've only just entered the Intent Realm; if I can reach the Will Realm, or even a swordsman's Iron-Cutting realm, these techniques will surely display extraordinary power in this world!"

Luo En had no doubt about this.

After all, these sword techniques were created by generations of sword-prodigies across a world, refined and improved over hundreds or even thousands of years, all to slay a nearly unkillable, infinitely close to perfect being.

20. Wine can sharpen a swordsman's bold spirit... right? (5/5)

He walked out of the room.

Summer evening, a sky full of red clouds, a cool breeze blowing — very pleasant.

Luo En, in wooden clogs and a thin, comfortable white training robe, gripped the famed blade Lei Qie as he walked down the long corridor.

Some disciples passing by caught sight of him and hurriedly stepped aside, casting reverent glances his way.

After Luo En passed, they would even let out a long breath of relief.

"Are you scared?"

"O-of course! Even Kuina couldn't beat that guy; if we pissed him off, we'd be done for!"

"Come to think of it, he hardly ever comes to the front courtyard, does he?"

"With his strength, how could he possibly practice with us?"

……

Luo En listened to these whispers behind him, his expression calm.

He wasn't so petty as to get angry over these kids' ostracism.

On the contrary, he thought it was fine this way.

No one to bother him, letting him cultivate peacefully on his own.

When passing through a small courtyard.

A shout rang in his ear.

"Luo En!"

Luo En turned his head and saw Zoro standing on the open ground, holding two bamboo swords, drenched in sweat, looking at him.

Though they hadn't seen each other for a while, he had grown noticeably more solidly built — though his height still hadn't increased.

"Want to go eat grilled fish?"

Luo En smiled at him.

Zoro froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

"Yes!"

Soon night fell, the sky darkening.

By the stream.

Luo En skillfully caught a few fish, set up a fire, and began grilling them.

Zoro sat beside him, staring at the grilled fish, drooling nonstop, his stomach rumbling uncontrollably. After waiting quite a while, he couldn't help urging, "Is it ready yet?"

"Almost."

Luo En said, still chewing on something.

"What are you eating?"

Zoro asked.

"Jerky. Want some?"

"Yes."

Luo En handed him a piece.

The two of them stared at the grilled fish while chewing on jerky.

Zoro looked at Luo En, lit by the firelight, who seemed calm and composed no matter when.

Clearly only a year older than himself, yet he acted like my lord...

"Luo En, are you from outside?"

Green-Head Zoro asked, looking at Luo En.

"Mm, from a small island called Moxi Sidao."

Luo En nodded.

"Is it far from here?"

"Still quite far."

"Then did you come by boat? Is the sea fun? Did you run into any pirates?"

Zoro grew interested and asked a string of curious questions.

"Um..."

Luo En scratched his cheek with a finger.

He couldn't exactly tell him he'd come on a pirate ship.

If those brats at the dojo found out, they'd definitely be gossiping behind his back again...

"You'll know once you go out to sea someday. The world outside is much bigger than here."

Luo En changed the subject, picked up a grilled fish, and handed it to him.

"Here, try my grilling skills."

With good food in front of him, little Zoro immediately forgot what he'd just asked.

He reached out, took the grilled fish, bit into it without caring about the heat, and his little wheat-colored face was full of happiness and contentment:

"Delicious! Even better than the grilled fish I've had at the shop!"

"Hehe, right? My grilling skills are second to none."