Chapter 67

Yet the crescent-shaped blade winds rushing toward the Mole were instantly split apart.

In an instant.

Luo En, who had unleashed his Observation Haki, sensed a surge of danger.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and without the slightest hesitation his body spun, the Lei Qie in his hand tracing a perfect arc.

"Moon Breathing, Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamity Whirlpool."

A defensive sword technique.

Massive vortex-like blade winds sprang up around Luo En, colliding with a slash that suddenly appeared before him, emitting the sharp screech of blades grinding against each other!

Ssssss!

Sharp gusts of wind spilled outward in every direction from the clash of the two slashes!

58, The Flying Squirrel's Special Training Method (6/5)

The Mole grew increasingly astonished.

This kid could actually block his slash. Granted, it was only a casual slash, but it was still a slash delivered by a swordsman who had reached the Iron-Cutting Realm—a swordsman at the Sword Intent Realm would absolutely not have handled it so easily.

And... he had even awakened Observation Haki!

He looks like he's only eleven, right?

What a monster...

He had no time to dwell on his shock.

"Moon Breathing, Sixth Form: Eternal Night Moon — Endless."

Luo En gripped the Lei Qie in both hands and launched a rapid, crisscrossing barrage of slashes at the Mole.

In a flash.

More than ten razor-sharp blade winds, accompanied by countless crescent-moon blades, slashed toward the Mole.

The Mole narrowed his eyes, gripped his blade with both hands, and swung it forward in a single slash.

A fierce, overbearing slash, wrapped in violent blade wind, instantly smashed through those blade winds and crescent-moon blades like a hot knife through butter, slashing toward Luo En.

"What—"

Luo En's eyes widened in shock, and he immediately raised his blade to block.

But he was still forced to slide back more than ten meters by that ferocious slash.

When Luo En raised his head again to look.

The Mole had already sheathed his blade.

"Your momentum and killing intent are both quite good, and this kind of assassination-style sword technique is the most top-tier one I've seen so far. You've mastered it well too, but..."

The Mole glanced at Luo En: "If you rely solely on sword techniques like these, you'll never reach the Iron-Cutting Realm."

Luo En's eyes widened slightly.

The Mole turned his back to him and lit a cigarette.

"I don't know if anyone's ever told you, but to reach the Iron-Cutting Realm, your heart must be strong enough—strong enough that even holding a wooden stick, you'd have the spirit and confidence to cut through steel."

"And to possess that kind of confidence and spirit, blindly relying on the sword techniques you've mastered won't work. Those techniques will only make you shortsighted."

The Mole, with his back to Luo En, blew out a smoke ring and said.

Luo En fell into thought.

"Then what should I do?"

The Mole, with his mohawk, turned his head and glanced at him.

"Starting tomorrow, abandon those sword techniques."

After saying that, he left, tossing out only one line.

"Tomorrow night at nine, same place."

……

The next evening.

Luo En arrived early.

After the Mole arrived.

Neither of them wasted words and immediately began to fight.

Luo En forcibly restrained his urge to use sword techniques, simply swinging his blade in straightforward chops.

This time, he was thoroughly thrashed by the Mole.

After the fight.

The Mole asked him, lying in a huge crater and barely able to move, how he felt.

"Once I learn it, I'll make sure you get to feel it too..."

Luo En stared at the Flying Squirrel standing at the crater's edge and said through gritted teeth.

The Mole calmly blew out a smoke ring:

"That's right. Hold on to that feeling well. Continue tomorrow."

The third day.

The fourth day.

The fifth day.

…………

Such days continued for a month.

Under the condition of not being allowed to use any sword techniques or other means, facing a swordsman of the Iron-Cutting Realm.

Luo En was beaten one-sidedly the entire time.

Fortunately, he could use the Sun Breathing technique to quickly recover his stamina and heal his wounds; otherwise, whether he could have held on was hard to say.

After every sparring match, Luo En felt as though a pent-up fury was lodged in his chest, with nowhere to vent it, so it only kept piling up.

In his next battle with the mole.

Every slash of his seemed to want to unleash this long-accumulated rage in one breath, but just as he was always a hair's breadth away, the flying squirrel would abruptly stop and say they weren't fighting anymore, forcing him to choke it back down.

Under this constant suppression, the anger in Luo En's heart was like a balloon being endlessly inflated, yet never allowed to burst.

Driven by that vast, oppressive wave of negative emotions deep within, Luo En went half-mad, swinging Lei Qie again and again, by day and by night alike.

Every time he swung his sword, the face of that infuriating flying squirrel would surface in his mind, along with that mohawk hairstyle.

He wished he could hack it to pieces!

"Even without a sword technique, I will definitely cut that guy down!"

As Luo En recalled the flying squirrel's taunting words and expressions, a faint crimson glint gradually surfaced in the depths of his eyes.

What he did not notice was—

During this month of his frenzied practice and intense focus on swordsmanship, the permanent buff "True Meaning of Tempering Through a Thousand Hammers" had been in an activated state for most of the time.

His swordsmanship realm had also unknowingly advanced from Intent Realm (Initial Entry) to Intent Realm (Minor Mastery).

…………

Within this month.

The news of the flying squirrel instructing Luo En in swordsmanship also reached the ears of the Navy's upper echelons.

In the Fleet Admiral's office, there were only two people—Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru—discussing the matter.

"Xiao Tsuru, do you think this needs to be stopped?"

"If it's purely from my perspective, I would stop it."

Vice Admiral Tsuru, her hair streaked with white, said calmly from her chair. "The flying squirrel knowingly violated military orders by teaching that child swordsmanship; by all rights he should receive the appropriate punishment, but…"

She let out a soft sigh.

"If we take Zephyr into account, I think we can also turn a blind eye to this."

"Consider it a bit of compensation for him, Sengoku."

Sengoku was silent for a moment, then nodded.

…………

Soon.

Another month-plus passed.

That night.

Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, nicknamed "Peach Rabbit," Tsuru—no, wait—Vice Admiral, nicknamed "Peach Rabbit," Koshiro—no—Vice Admiral, nicknamed "Peach Rabbit," Shion returned from a mission that had required her to go undercover abroad for two full years.