The next morning.
After having eaten to his fill, Law was pulled to the training yards by his father. The rising spring sun was dazzlingly beautiful and its rays were very comfortable.
“Father.” Law looked at his glacier-like father, clad in a blood-red beast fur. His heart was filled with awe. His father had killed even Diremonsters such as Dragonsnakes. In terms of strength and skill, his father had already reached an extremely high level. Even some Xiantian lifeforms had come to ask to be taken as his father’s disciple and learn his sword techniques.
“Take it,” said Yichuan while throwing a katana at Law.
He caught it and inspected the sword. It was plain looking single-edged curved katana with black leather handle and a circular hand guard. Its grip was long enough to accommodate a pair of hands. Its blade was slightly curved adorned with a bright silver wavy line.
The swords looked so fragile and ornamental.
“Katana is very different from regular single-edged curved swords. It is a delicate weapon that mainly used with slashing motions to attack, a complete contradiction. It doesn’t have the sturdiness of a broadsword, compactness of a longsword. But it’s sharpness is compensated for its weaknesses.”
Yichuan took out a katana and a broadsword from a storage space. He stabbed the broadsword to the ground and slashed it with a katana. The broadsword was cut in half.
“It could absorb more ki than the regular sword but its intricate forging method which involved folding the steel made it more difficult to channel ki,” Yichuan said while sending ki into the katana and made it glowing brightly.
“It’s easy to master the basic but to become one with the sword, the majority of katana user is incapable to reach it. It is not too late to change your decision” Yichuan warned.
“I want to learn how to use Katana,” Law said with conviction.
“Very well,” Yichuan nodded in satisfaction. “Remember this sets of basic stance and practice it,” Yichuan demanded and start to show basics stance.
Law looked at his father and started to channel ki into his eyes. He still had plenty of ki, even if he couldn’t perfectly copy Yichuan’s moves because of his body limitation. It would accelerate his learning speed greatly.
He moved his body according to the basic stances and tried one stance to another.
………………..
“Good, it seemed you have memorized and executed the stances perfectly,” Yichuan praised. “Rest for half an hour and we’ll continue.”
Law finished the stances and walked toward the edge of the training yard where his father sat. Law sat across his father and Blue Lotus his personal maidservant brought fruits and water to the table.
“In one or two years you’ll be able to reach the basic mastery of using the sword.”
Law gobbled the fruits while listening to the lecture.
“The purpose of the thirteen basic movements I gave you is to train your body and minds. It’ll unearth the potential hidden your body and sharpen your minds. After the basic movements became a second nature then you can be considered to reach the basic mastery.”
“Afterward you’ll be able to learn a sword technique. When your techniques are perfected and your control of the weapon is as good as your own limbs then you can be considered to reach the advanced stage. The second stage is often called one with the sword.”
“The last stage is called one with the world. When you reach this stage, you’ll naturally understand what one with the worlds really mean.”
“Father, how long would I need to train before I can reach the level of ‘one with the sword’?” Law couldn’t help but ask.
“Hard to say.” Yichuan shook his head. “In the past, I had spent six years mastering the basics, then six more before becoming ‘one with the sword’. You can say that it took me twelve years!”
“Twelve years?” Law held his breath.
His father, despite being young, had become the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Someone as peerless of a talent had him had needed twelve years. Many ordinary people…would spend their lives training without being able to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level.
“Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Take things one stable step at a time.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Let’s begin. Let me first guide you the ‘pierce’ movement of the thirteen basic movements!”
Under his father’s guidance, Law’s posture was correct as he pierced repeatedly! Chopped repeatedly! Scraped repeatedly! Tapped repeatedly!
This was very boring.
And very tiring.
Fortunately, Law had astonishing regenerating capabilities. He was also someone who would never give up anything he chose for himself.
After training attacking movements for two hours, he began to train defending movements for another two hours.
………………..
Law was guided into by his father to a special training stage next to the training yard after practicing basic movements. Dozens of titanic trees revolved around the training stage. The diameter of the training space was approximately 140 meters.
“After practicing basic stances and attacking dummies you’ll be using this place to train. This place was specifically built to help you to master katana. A unique formation called Thousand Leaf was installed by your uncle Ji White.”
Yichuan walked to the center of the formation and activated it. Hundreds of leaf fallen rhythmically were cut by Yichuan one by one at a rapid pace.
“Creak.”
Dozens of marbles shot from the trunk of the trees. The marbles shot at Yichuan at rapid velocities as if it was a machine gun.
Sting. Sting.
Yichuan fended off the assault of the marbles while slashing at the fallen leaves.
Every moves Yichuan made was graceful and akin to a dance. He waltzed under the torrential downpour of leaves and marbles with ease.
He stopped the formation after five minutes. The number of leaves cut in half and destroyed marbles was hundreds of thousands!
Mountains of fallen leaves and marbles vanished as if it was never there when the formation stopped.
“This formation will help you to raise your battle awareness and strategy. No matter how perfect one techniques are they will reveal a weakness when attacking. Slashing motion often used when wielding a katana, it will reveal a lot of holes in your defenses,” Yichuan lectured. “Even if you couldn’t cut the leaves in half, try to hit as much as possible.”
Law walked to the center and activated the lowest level of the formation.
Dozens of leaves were falling slowly. Law took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.
Swish... Swish...
Law slashed at the fallen leaf in front of him and ran to cut the next leaf at the edge. He ran across one side to another to cut the leaves.
Thunk…
He made a diagonal slash at a marble that came at him.
Thump…
A marble hit the back of his head and he fell on his knees. The formation stopped and cleaned the fallen leaves.
His head ached.
It was painful but he stood up and activated the formation again.
He hacked at the fallen leaves while hitting and evading the marbles. Occasionally a marble would hit his body and stopped.
Every time his body was hit by a marble it hurt so much.
He could use his Tenseigan on his forehead to ace through the formation but he didn’t want to do it. He genuinely wanted to be an expert and not relying on his ocular powers too much.
He gritted his teeth and continued to preserve through the exercises.
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………………..
In a hut near the training yard, Ji Yichuan and Snow sat while whilst watching Law trained.
“Yichuan.” Snow stood from afar, watching her son trained hard.
Yichuan walked to his wife’s side as well, and both of them watched in the distant Law was cutting leaves and fending the assault of deadly marbles. Once in a while, a marble would hit his body and a pained expression painted on his face but he never stopped. “Law is diligent in his training and never complained,” Yichuan commented.
“Law loves training. But I’m still worried about him,” Snow said.
Even though Ning and Law were twin. The differences between them were akin to heaven and earth. Not just physically but also mentally. Ning looked like his father Yichuan while Law looked like his mother.
Law was born with white hair and three eyes. His eyes gave him better perception than many others. Inheriting an ancient power from one’s blood is a rare phenomenon but not impossible.
Law grew as a quiet and reserved but outgoing child. He rarely played with others but spent most of his time training. He had little interaction with people outside his families. Yichuan and Snow were always concerned about it, fearing someday he would make friend with the wrong person or deceived.
“He trained too much,” Yichuan frowned. “The only thing we could do is to guide him. When the time is right he’ll tell us what’s on his mind.”
“Hmm…,” Snow nodded. “Is it okay to put Law and Ning in training as harsh as these?” Snow asked with concern.
“It’s okay. Human body is much durable than what you thought of.”
……….
At noon precisely on 3 p.m., Yichuan told Law to stop practicing and ordered him to rest.
“Father, who would teach me the art of assassination? Is he or she strong? Is it a xiantian expert?” Law asked curiously.
“Hmm…” Yichuan nodded. “He is a xiantian expert, he was older than your father and hailed as the number one assassin on the Ji clan. Remember to be respectful to Master Lee. He’d accept you as his disciple if you passed a test. If you fail, then we’ll search for another tutor.”
“What kind of test?”
“Master Lee lives on the peak of a steep mountain inside the forest near the manor. First, you have to traverse the forest alone without the goldstar shirt, although there was no xiantian beast inside the forest it is a dangerous place for a 4 years old like you so be careful. Then you have to climb the mountain without your hands, if you arrive before the sun turned dark then master Jie will train you the art of assassination,” Yichuan explained.
“You could always choose another tutor if you’re afraid. The clan has plenty of people that can train you in the art of assassination. The test is very dangerous and you’ll meet a lot of houtian beasts.”
“I want to try Father,” Law replied and walked to the entrance of the forest.
It was a rainforest which full of vitalities, filled with towering trees and wild lives.
He had come to the forest for a few times, but he never ventured deep into the forest. The farthest he ever went was when he initiated [Heart of Sage] in the clearing northwest of the forest.
Law took a deep breath and jumped toward the trees.
He successfully landed on a thick branch of the trees. After marveling the scenery from atop of the tree then he jumped onto another branch in front of him.
“humph.”
He landed on the branch and jumped once again to the tree in front of him.
He always wondered how it feels like to jump from one tree to another to reach his destination like the ninjas from Naruto. The feeling of freedom, the tender breeze of the wind and adrenaline. He couldn’t wait until he could finally fly on his own.
………..
After half an hour he already in the heart of the forest and near the mountain. The journey wasn’t as dangerous as he thought it to be. Aside from the occasional bug and snake made him off balance and nearly falling from the tree, he didn’t meet any dangerous animal when traveling by the trees.
Bwoosh…
The trees he was standing at a moment ago was caught on fire, it was fortunate he already sensed it beforehand and evaded.
Growl…
A bipedal monster appeared out of the scorched tree he was standing a few seconds ago. It was a fiery red primate that was as tall as an adult. Law looked at the primate and frowned. Judging from the fluctuations of ki the ape unconsciously emitted it must be a middle houtian diremonster.
The ape looked at Law and growled. It couldn’t believe that its prey could escape a clever ambush it set up. It wasn’t weird for a diremonster to have an intelligence that could match human, in fact, primate diremonsters usually had a great intelligence.
The beast suddenly leaped and clawed at Law, he squatted and evaded the attack, unsheathed his sword, he slashed at the ape belly and it roared in agony. After the counter-attacked, Law immediately jumped backward.
Roooar…
The ape burned with a frightening intensity. Looking at the blazing ape, all the doubt in Law’s mind regarding its identity disappeared. The ape was no doubt, a type of rare flame wielding Fire Ape. Fire Ape was a rare diremonster beast with a high intelligence and would become a xiantian when it matured.
He was lucky that it was just a young fire ape. Although it was stronger than him, he could always flee when necessary. But he wouldn’t flee yet after reincarnated into this world it was the first time he truly entered a life and death situation.
Law channeled his ki into the sword. The sword started to shine brightly while emitted a low hum. His heart started to beat faster than ever when he stared at the enraged fire ape. Although he had successfully wounded the diremonster, it was nothing more than a shallow cut.
Truly the toughness of a diremonster body couldn’t be underestimated. Even if he didn’t put any ki into that strike, he had used a lot of strength behind it.
He was only 4 years old, but his strength was greater than normal adults. After training his body for a year and a half, his punch and kicks alone could break a mu ren zhuang. Mu ren zhuang is a type of wooden dummy that could be used to train one’s martial art, hand to hand coordination and dexterity. On earth mu ren zhuang is a famous wooden dummy normally seen in movies such as Ip Man and a lot of kung fu movies from Hongkong.
Breaking a wooden dummy might not sound very impressive, but the wooden dummy is made from nine quebrachowood. It was the sturdiest wood in Ji Prefecture, it was sturdier than iron.
The fire ape beat its own chest and howled for a while. Its blood red eyes gazed at Law maliciously. A ball of fire on its hand and hurled at Law.
Law jumped to another tree and stick to a branch vertically with ki to evade the attack, a little trick he learned on the way. But before he could let a relieved sigh another fireball came at him like a homing missile, it was too late to evade.
It was something he never tried before, he could only pray that it’s effective. The glowing sword shone more brightly, he gripped the katana with both of his hands. He drew an arc, a crescent moon shaped flew toward the incoming fireball.
The collision resulted in a great explosion. Law was only a few meters apart from it and was blown away. Most of his clothes are burned, revealing his charred skins.
Even if he had a high-speed regeneration, being fried alive hurt so much.
A literal fire fist greeted him in the face when he stood up wobbly. He instinctively evaded but it hit his left shoulder, breaking few bones. He counterattacked at the assailant with a simple thrust but his katana could only kiss the shadow of the opponent.
Never underestimate your enemy. The ape was only a middle houtian and its strength wasn’t that far apart from Law. But he forgot one thing, the fire ape lived in this forest where monstrous beast roamed the land. Although it wasn’t overwhelmingly strong, it was craftier than fox. He had never been in a death match; it wasn’t weird if he made a poor judgment.
Realizing his mistake, he opened the third eye on his forehead, the tenseigan. If he used tenseigan from the start, he wouldn’t fall for the ape’s scheme.
With his condition, he wouldn’t be able to outrun the ape.
He observed the ape silently, it dashed toward him with an unprecedented speed. He ducked a horizontal swipe and stabbed its kidney.
Growl….
It was severely wounded by the thrust and swung its other arm hoping to crush the puny human to death.
Law side-stepped and launched another counter-attack. But before his attack could connect, the fire ape ignited every ki it could muster and made a sizeable explosion.
Law was blasted away by the explosion.
The ape dashed at him and fire fisted at him. The ape lets a joyous roar when it broke another of Law’s arm and lost his grip on the katana.
Law seized the opening, a bright omni-directional rotating ball of ki emerged from his left hand.
“Rasengan!!!”
He had trained this technique ever after the initiation. Training Rasengan also served as a good ki controlling exercises. He managed to master it within a week.
To maximize its effect, he thrust toward the damaged kidney. The ape looked at Law in shock.
Law won’t be able to outwit the ape, but if he sacrificed his flesh to bite the bone, he would be able to bite it to death!
In a battle between an equally matched opponent, the daring one would win!
The whirling ball of death drilled his opponent stomach. The innards were torn apart and blood spurted wildly.
Gruuzh.
The ape eyes were lifeless and a hole was made in its stomach.
Law let out a bitter smile.
He was too inexperienced!
If he had used his full power from the beginning, he wouldn’t be severely injured.
He had to pay the price of underestimating his enemy. If he didn’t have the miraculous regenerating ability from [Heart of Sage], he would be an ape food by now.
He directed a lot of ki to mend his right arm while retrieving his dropped katana. He swung his katana with his right arm, it was good as new!
He jumped and directly left the scene.
…………………….
In the middle of the forest near the western prefecture of Ji clan manor, stood an enormous mountain. At the peak of said mountain, lies an extremely simple but elegant hut.
A middle-aged man wearing a yellow robe sat inside the hut while occasionally took a sip of tea. Some of his hair was already grayed, his wrinkled faces and deep eyes were peaceful and serene. He was the number one assassin of the Ji clan, master Lee!
A bloodied figure entered the courtyard. His clothes were torn apart and his body was full of wounds. He dragged his feet to the hut. His steps were shaky and unstable but he continued with great conviction.
The battle with the ape had attracted the attention of the diremonsters in the forest. He managed to overcome the obstruction, but it wasn’t without cost.
“Passable,” master Lee commented.
“Come here, this medicine will heal your wounds,” he offered a medicine on the table.
Law sat down and finished the medicine in one gulp. His wounds healed faster and his stamina was replenished.
Growl…
His stomach ached, his digestive system was rioting madly.
Law looked at the old man in shock.
Master Lee hit Law’s head with a stalk of bamboo.
“Stupid! An assassin must be on guard at all time. Why didn’t you check whether or not it is a medicine inside the cup?”
“Master….”
He urgently needed to use the bathroom.
“the toilet is in the backyard.”
Law thanked master Lee profusely and ran to the backyard.
“Ouch!!!”
Master Lee sighed when he heard Law shrieking.
Vigilance is a must; you’d never know when the restroom was booby-trapped.
Law even with his Reincarnation Survival Kit was too inexperienced, but he’d never give up to strive for a better future.