Wilder frowned. He shifted his feet, relying on his own combat experience and the feeling of the rushing wind from above to move his body to the side.
Swish! The punch missed Wilder by a hair's breadth, landing on the ground and leaving a small fist print.
It was important to note that this was hard-packed ground.
After landing, Aisha supported herself with one hand and swept her right leg toward Wilder's lower body. The entire sequence was executed without a single wasted or hesitant motion, a reaction made in an instant.
Not bad combat talent.
Wilder gave a slight internal nod of approval, then leaped back to create some distance.
His eyes were covered by the black cloth, and he couldn't see what was happening outside. Strangely, his Observation Haki, for some unknown reason, could no longer sense anything.
Is there something wrong with my soul again?
Wilder guessed inwardly, but he wasn't anxious. He had experienced signs of this over the past two days. However, this time was different from the previous instances. Those were just fleeting symptoms, whereas this time, the failure was continuous.
Wilder suspected it had something to do with his recent focus on training his Observation Haki. Coupled with his unique soul, perhaps it was undergoing a metamorphosis.
Wilder guessed that this state of failure wouldn't last too long.
Sure enough, after dodging another of Aisha's attacks, Wilder found that his Observation Haki had returned.
Everything before his "eyes" became clear and distinct. Aisha's movements seemed to slow down, and he could almost predict her every action in advance.
On the field, Wilder began to display his powerful Observation Haki.
His body stood motionless in place. No matter how tricky or swift Aisha's attacks were, Wilder would just slightly tilt his head, turn his body, or take a small step. But every move was just enough to let Aisha's attack pass by him. She missed by a hair's breadth every time, completely unable to hit him.
"Is this all you've got? With this level of skill, you have no right to mock others," Wilder said, taunting Aisha while dodging.
"Damn it!" Aisha stubbornly stomped her foot. In an instant, her small figure was in front of Wilder. She shifted her footing, blocking Wilder's escape route from the most optimal position, and then threw a punch straight at his abdomen.
The next moment, Wilder stepped directly on the foot Aisha was using to block his path, mercilessly stomping on it as he dodged past.
"Waaaah!!" Aisha clutched her foot, hopping around as tears of pain flew from her eyes.
The feeling of a man of his immense size stepping on your foot was not pleasant.
In a word:
Pain.
Meeting Aisha's teary-eyed gaze, which was a mixture of grievance and anger, Wilder revealed a wicked smile. His words were just as merciless. "You can't even endure this level of pain? In that, you're far worse than them, little Aisha."
Aisha followed Wilder's gesture and looked over at the children she had beaten black and blue earlier. Her eyes trembled slightly.
A surge of defiant anger rose inexplicably. "I'm not worse than those guys!"
Wilder looked surprised for a moment, then his expression turned to mockery. "Is that so? Then I wonder who it was that started crying after just getting their foot stepped on."
Aisha clenched her fists, gritting her teeth as she stared at Wilder. "That wasn't me!"
Her small face flushed with anger, she created a gust of wind as she rushed toward Wilder.
Needless to say, the result was the same. Wilder dodged with a slight shift of his body. Aisha, having charged too fiercely, fell flat on the ground and lay there, motionless.
After a moment, soft sobs came from her. Wilder turned around and looked expressionlessly at the child lying on the ground, her head buried in her hands.
Her small shoulders twitched slightly, a sight that made Claire, watching from a distance, feel a pang of sympathy.
The surrounding group of older and younger children fell silent, staring at Aisha lying there, at a loss for what to do.
"Is… is she crying?"
"That woman… she's actually crying?"
"Did we do something wrong? Is she crying because of us?" Rook felt a little guilty, a hint of unease on his face as he stared at the sobbing Aisha.
"Of course not! We didn't do anything wrong! She's crying because she can't hit His Majesty the King," someone retorted stubbornly, sticking his neck out. But from his tightly furrowed, uneasy brow, it was clear he wasn't very confident.
The field became quiet, with only Aisha's soft, suppressed sobs being clearly audible.
Wilder's hearing was excellent. If he listened closely, he could even hear her muttering amidst the sobs, with a few phrases like "stinky uncle" and "mean uncle" popping up now and then.
The corner of Wilder's mouth twitched. "Aisha."
No response.
But her trembling shoulders paused for a moment, and the sobbing stopped for a second or two.
The person with her head buried in her hands seemed to have… a sliver of expectation.
Wilder found it slightly amusing. He figured his goal had been achieved. He didn't like willful children, but he was more than willing to cultivate obedient ones. He had come today because he had heard Aisha had become willful, which was why he was so angry. Everything he had just done was to make her understand that when she was with him, there was no room for willfulness. At the same time, he wanted her to get rid of that arrogant bad habit.
Was this considered a lesson?
Starting them young?
What followed was easy to resolve. After calling Aisha's name a few times with no response, Wilder simply lifted the child from the ground and carried her away. It didn't take long to get her to submit, not daring to act up again.
"Do you know what to do from now on?" In the palace, Wilder looked down at Aisha, who was now standing with her head lowered, fiddling with the corner of her clothes, clearly still sulking.
"I know. I can't be arrogant. I have to know that there are always people stronger than me. I can't be willful. I have to get along with the weaklings," Aisha said sullenly, her head still down.
"Hm?" Wilder's eyes turned cold, and he let out a sound from his nose.
"I have to get along with the others," Aisha pouted, reluctantly changing her wording.
"Very good. Always remember that. You may go," Wilder nodded in satisfaction.
Little Aisha didn't move, still playing with the hem of her clothes.
Wilder raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
After a moment, little Aisha's somewhat timid voice sounded out. "Uncle…"
"Yes."
"I want to eat Sand-sculpture fish and stupid lamb leg."
Wilder closed his eyes and waved his hand. "I know. We'll have that tonight. I'll tell the head chef."
"Okay!" Aisha's face broke into a happy smile, and then she ran out like a gust of wind.
Long after Aisha had left, Wilder opened his eyes. He unleashed his powerful Observation Haki without reservation, spreading it out in all directions, further and further, its range growing wider and wider, and it was still extending!
Just now, while talking to Aisha, his Observation Haki had failed again. It only returned after she left. Now, Wilder wanted to see what was causing this malfunction.
If he couldn't solve this problem, it would be a major issue in his future battles.
Thinking of this, Wilder held nothing back, extending his Observation Haki outward with all his might.
One hundred meters…
Two hundred meters…
Three hundred meters…
Four hundred meters…
Five hundred meters…
Six hundred meters…
In the blink of an eye, his Observation Haki had radiated out to a radius of six hundred meters. But this was only his previous limit. After the battle with Big Mom and his training during this period, his Observation Haki had improved again!
Soon, the range broke through six hundred meters and continued to expand outward!
Six hundred and fifty meters…
Seven hundred meters…
Seven hundred and fifty meters…
Eight hundred meters…
Nine hundred meters…
Nine hundred and fifty meters…
Nine hundred and seventy meters…
By now, Wilder could feel his concentration starting to wane. To be precise, his perception had become unstable. Wilder gritted his teeth, enduring the feeling of his head swelling as he continued to push his already fully extended Observation Haki.
Nine hundred and eighty meters…
Nine hundred and eighty-five meters…
Nine hundred and ninety meters…
Not enough! I can still go on!
Wilder's eyes were now heavily bloodshot, and they were wide open due to his intense concentration.
Nine hundred and ninety-three meters…
At this point, the muscles in Wilder's face were trembling from the strain, but he continued to grit his teeth and persevere.
I haven't reached my limit yet! I can still go on!
Wilder wanted to see what would happen when he reached his limit. This was something he had never done before, an act of forcibly pushing himself.
Nine hundred and ninety-four meters…
Nine hundred… and ninety-five meters…
By now, every meter he advanced became exponentially more difficult. But Wilder still gritted his teeth and held on.
Nine hundred and ninety-seven…
Nine hundred and ninety-eight…
Nine hundred and ninety-nine…
Almost there! Just one more step!
Wilder looked terrifying at this moment. His eyes were open to their widest extent, and blood was even seeping from the corners. His hands, gripping the throne, were trembling violently. It was as if all the blood in his body was roiling, turning his skin an unsightly red.
The veins on his temples bulged from the pressure, like the gnarled roots of an old tree, looking terrifying and frightening.
However, this last meter was incredibly difficult for Wilder to "walk." With almost every tiny advance, his perception within the range would tremble and blur, like an unstable signal or a congested lane of traffic.
Wilder could feel that his limit was here. The difficulty of advancing further was like trying to forcibly stretch his own body an inch, or even a millimeter, taller.
But Wilder wanted to try!
Whether he could break through or not depended on this one push!
BOOM! Wilder timely activated a small-scale version of his Life Return: Blood Wolf Devours Injury. This skill boosted all his aspects, but the price, of course, was the exhaustion of his own life force.
However, for Wilder right now, it was worth it!
The range of his Observation Haki finally advanced a fraction of an inch under this push.
It reached one thousand meters!
At this moment, the world seemed to fall silent.
Everything, every rustle of the wind and grass, was presented clearly in Wilder's "eyes" and "ears."
Everything seemed to be infinitely slowed down. Wilder felt incredibly relaxed, as if the fatigue from the previous second had completely vanished the moment he broke through his limit.
At this moment, the Observation Haki Wilder possessed could be described as powerful!
It wasn't just the strength of the Haki itself; its "Scan" function also seemed to have undergone a metamorphosis at this moment, forming something akin to a domain!
Every movement in the surroundings, inside and outside the palace, ignoring the obstruction of the walls, was all taken in at a glance!
Moreover, being within this domain gave him the feeling of being able to monitor everything, to customize his own "kingdom"!
Wilder also knew at this moment that his guess was correct. His soul was indeed the "culprit" behind the abnormality of his Observation Haki!
His spirit was constantly expanding. Yes, his spirit, not his Observation Haki.
Of course, his Observation Haki was affected during this process of spiritual strengthening. So, his Haki had probably benefited from this misfortune.
And this so-called spirit could probably be classified under Observation Haki, or Observation Haki could be classified under spirit.
Only those with a powerful spirit possess powerful Observation Haki. Alternatively, one could see Observation Haki as the only way for the spirit to be a useful asset to oneself.
It was probably like this: the spirit itself had no practical use, other than making one seem more energetic and full of vigor. However, one day, the spirit found its method of use—Observation Haki! Their essence was the same, they were one and the same, just with an added process of conversion and use. When used, the spirit became Observation Haki.
Within the domain of his Observation Haki, which now had a radius of one thousand meters, Wilder was in a very profound state.
Everything around him was presented before his eyes. Or rather, he was at the center of this world, looking at it like a god.
Then, he saw indescribable wisps of something drifting down from his perspective, landing on the ground, on the weeds, on the buildings, on everything within this thousand-meter world.
Wilder knew that this was his spirit, and also the perception within his Observation Haki.
He could feel that when those wisps of spirit fell into this world, "he" also spread throughout this world, becoming omnipresent!
A realization seemed to dawn on him.
This is my domain!
At this moment, an idea came to Wilder's mind, an idea that made him excited.
So.
He would call this domain—Undying Domain!
"This will be the means for all my future means!" Wilder couldn't help but grin wickedly, muttering a strange sentence.
If one understood what Wilder was thinking, they would understand the meaning of his words. Just as Haki was the means for everyone's means in this world, Wilder placed his Undying Domain in the same position—a means unique to him, that others did not possess.
But this means relied on Observation Haki, so it was not truly undying. Once his Observation Haki was depleted, this means would lose its foundation.
Wilder understood this. So, next, he planned to add two more items to his training plan, after developing his abilities and combining them with Armament Haki.
Improving his Observation Haki.
And,
Experimenting with the Undying Domain!