After murmuring to himself for a moment, Roya's gaze flickered. He tossed those speculations to the back of his mind and decisively chose to strengthen the Soul Sword once again.
A golden light flashed, and the status panel changed once more.
[Stage Two: Ancient Soul Sword +8
Attributes: Attack Power +85, Strength +24
Special Attribute: All things in the Universe turn to ashes: Sword techniques can freely add fire damage
(evolution conditions not yet met)
Enhancement Energy: 66 / 90]
Over these three days, the increase in enhancement energy had been substantial. Not only had Roya directly upgraded the Soul Sword to +8, he was already very close to +9.
"It looks like in about half a month, I should be able to strengthen the Soul Sword to +10. I just don't know whether, like before, it will require meeting some special condition before it can evolve to the third stage."
Roya tilted his head slightly as he looked at the status panel, thought for a moment, then gathered his thoughts.
Since it had not reached that point yet, thinking about it in advance was pointless. He would deal with it when the time came.
What mattered now was training.
After comprehending the state of focus, Roya's strength had indeed increased by a margin, but compared to true peak-level powerhouses like Garp, the gap was still as vast as heaven and earth.
Whenever he thought of Garp, of the Four Emperors who ruled the seas, of the Marine Admirals—
Roya understood clearly that his current improvements were insignificant. He was still extremely far from the pinnacle of the seas. Perhaps only after the Soul Sword evolved to the third stage could that distance truly be narrowed.
---
Once the threshold of becoming a master swordsman had been crossed, what lay before Roya was a clearly visible yet thorn-filled path of swordsmanship.
Master Swordsman.
This title could be considered a realm, but it could also be considered a designation—a mark of respect for powerful swordsmen.
Someone like Roya, although he had reached the master swordsman realm in terms of state, could not yet truly bear the title of "Master Swordsman."
Among master swordsmans, strength was not measured by "focus," because every master swordsman possessed that. What determined the difference between master swordsmans was sword energy—or more precisely, sword pressure.
The gap between master swordsmans could be enormous, even to a heaven-and-earth degree, and that gap originated from the strength of their sword energy.
The weak: a single slash can only cleave a house.
The strong: a single slash can slice the world!
Strictly speaking, Roya could already release a trace of sword energy, but its reach was less than a foot. Compared to the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye—who could casually split an iceberg in two with a single swing—the disparity could not even be measured in fine increments.
Sword energy originates from sword pressure.
Anyone swinging a sword generates sword pressure. By using the state of "focus" to condense speed and strength into a single line, then guiding and extending it outward, sword energy is formed.
The power and speed of a slash are unrelated to "focus" itself, but they are closely tied to sword pressure.
At least before becoming a great master swordsman and comprehending the true essence of "cutting," power and speed remain decisive factors influencing sword pressure and sword energy.
However, beyond power and speed, one's understanding of sword pressure as a force in itself is also a decisive factor—and the relationship between the two is multiplicative.
If power and speed are nine, and comprehension of sword pressure is one,
then the resulting sword energy power is nine.
But if power and speed are five, and comprehension of sword pressure is also five,
then the resulting sword energy power is twenty-five!
In other words, only when the two complement each other perfectly can the optimal state be achieved.
"Of course, if one becomes a master swordsman, speed and strength are no longer the decisive factors. Cutting enters an entirely different realm. I'm still far too distant from that stage."
Thinking of swordsmanship peak experts like Mihawk, who could casually split an iceberg with a single swing, Roya could not help but feel a sense of longing.
After regaining his focus, Roya continued reading through the Swordsmanship Essentials.
Among master swordsmans, aside from sword energy, sword aura was another criterion of judgment. Not all master swordsmans could comprehend sword aura, but those who could were almost always top-tier master swordsmans.
Different master swordsmans walked different sword paths. When one achieved a deep understanding of their own sword path—fully comprehending the road they were meant to walk—their personal sword aura would naturally emerge.
Speed-based sword aura, emphasizing unavoidable slashes;
Power-based sword aura, capable of cutting through everything—
both were extremely common.
"So that's it. The ability I've been using—adding flame damage—was mistaken for an innate flame-type sword aura?"
Roya had already suspected as much when Garp spoke of "natural-born master swordsmans" and "flame sword aura." Now it was clear that his guess had been correct.
After flipping past the section on sword aura, the following pages discussed the realm of great swordmasters. This portion contained very little material, so Roya skimmed it briefly before returning to the section on sword pressure.
The realm of master swordsmans was still far too distant. What he needed now was sword pressure training, and the Swordsmanship Essentials recorded the simplest—and most practical—method.
That method was slash stacking.
The Marine Rokushiki technique Soru involved stepping on the ground at high speed more than ten times in an instant, generating explosive movement speed that ordinary eyes could not even follow.
Slash stacking was similar in principle, except that footsteps were replaced with slashes.
If, in an instant, one could execute two completely overlapping slashes—perfectly fused into one—then sword pressure would naturally double, and the emitted sword energy would increase by nearly the same amount.
Moreover, this form of training simultaneously trains slash speed, power, and a deeper understanding of sword pressure.
"No special techniques required—just make two slashes completely overlap. Once you can do that, two slashes are effectively the same as one."
Reading this method, Roya nodded slightly. He had always preferred simple and brutal forms of training.
He disliked convoluted schemes and calculations. He preferred simplifying complex matters.
And if something could not be simplified, then he would pursue the kind of power that could simplify everything.
That was Roya's mindset.
After the courtyard wall was repaired, Roya began his sword pressure training.
Compared to the somewhat intangible, mental training of the "focus" state, sword pressure training was far more tangible.
It was nothing but straightforward sword swinging.
Roya began with the simplest sword-swinging method recorded in the sword pressure training section.
Although it was the simplest method, it was also the most exhausting: maintaining a single, repetitive motion and swinging endlessly until one's arms became stiff, sore, numb, and completely unable to continue.
For ordinary people, this kind of training was excruciating. But for Roya—who had already endured a month of hellish training under Garp—it was equally trivial.
One thousand swings.
Two thousand swings.
Ten thousand swings…
Roya tirelessly repeated this simple motion, training continuously. Only when his arms became so sore that they went numb did he stop to rest—and once rested, he resumed training.
Several days later—
As he repeated this simplest swinging motion again and again, the sensation of slashing seemed to gradually merge into every muscle and every bone in his body.
Gradually—
At some point, Roya suddenly felt that every time he swung his sword, it was as though all the strength of his entire body was being perfectly mobilized and fully applied to the slash.
Or rather, the posture of each swing seemed to have become… completely identical.
"It looks like the first stage of sword pressure training is complete. Next comes the second stage—attempting to merge two slashes!"
Sensing that his sword-swinging state had reached the completion criteria described in the Swordsmanship Essentials, Roya murmured to himself.
After a brief rest, Roya began the second stage of training.