Chapter 4: A Year and a Half

"Whip!!!"

As the junior disciples relentlessly lashed Li Yuan with their whips, he got a firsthand experience of what ancient flogging felt like.

"Endure it!"

The pain was almost insurmountable, and Li Yuan nearly ordered them to stop. However, with his unwavering willpower, he gritted his teeth and continued to operate the first level of the Sword God Body Tempering Technique, managing to hold on.

"Stop!"

After half an hour of whipping, the junior disciples were panting with exhaustion, and finally, Li Yuan told them to stop.

"Phew, finally stopped. Senior Brother, are you okay?"

Kano asked with concern.

"I'm fine!"

Li Yuan replied with difficulty. His body was covered in whip marks, even his face, making him look quite wretched. Yet, these injuries healed completely within half an hour. If not for the shed skin and blood on the ground, Kano might not have believed it was real.

"Go, bring me the roasted meat."

After recovering, Li Yuan's stomach growled loudly with hunger. Fortunately, his master had a substantial supply on the island, providing him with a constant supply of meat.

"Senior Brother, here's the roasted meat you asked for."

The third junior brother, Karu, quickly pushed over a cart full of roasted meat.

"The roast is a bit bland; add more salt next time."

Li Yuan grabbed the roast and devoured it. The amount was three times the size of his body, yet he finished it all. Kano and the other juniors looked at him as if he were a monster; they'd never seen anyone eat so much.

"In the future, I plan to go to sea, become a pirate, form a pirate crew, and become a world-renowned pirate, the world's greatest swordsman!"

"You are my junior brothers. If you also want to go to sea with me, then train with me, strive to become stronger. If you're not strong enough, I won't take you to sea."

Li Yuan said seriously to the ten juniors gathered around him after eating his fill. He planned to form a pirate crew, and the initial members would likely be selected from the Sword Pavilion, forming his original team.

"Great! Senior Brother, I want to go to sea too. I want to become a great pirate. I'll train hard and make sure to follow you to sea!"

The second junior brother, Kano, said excitedly.

"Senior Brother, I'll work hard too."

The third junior brother, Karu, was also intrigued.

"Then let's work hard together!"

After eating, Li Yuan continued his training. He walked over to a rock thirty meters away, lifted it above his head with both hands, and started frog jumping while holding the rock.

When he reached his training limit, he used the first level of the Sword God Body Tempering Technique to alleviate fatigue before practicing swordsmanship. This time, he wielded a special giant sword weighing a thousand pounds instead of a regular iron sword.

Li Yuan began practicing the basic sword move "Thrust." He intended to train this single move for a month. After all, six months ago, he had only practiced six basic sword moves.

He needed to master each basic sword move until they became instinctive.

A Year and a Half Later

Li Yuan's inhuman daily training continued for a year and a half. It had been two years since he awakened his consciousness.

In two years, his strength had transformed dramatically! His Observation Haki grew stronger, and his physique and swordsmanship improved at an astonishing rate, making him vastly different from his past self.

"In two years, I've become much stronger, but I've never truly fought an enemy, so I lack combat experience."

Li Yuan was very satisfied with his progress over the past two years.

"Senior Brother, bad news! Pirates are coming. Master told us to hide and not go out."

Karu rushed over, shouting.

"Third Junior Brother, if Master doesn't want us to go out, what about him?"

Li Yuan asked after steadying his third junior brother, Karu.

"Master is going to stop the pirates from invading our island, of course. Don't worry, Master is very strong; he's stopped many pirate invasions before."

Karu reassured him after catching his breath.

"You stay here; I'm going to check on Master."

Li Yuan's eyes lit up at the prospect of a pirate invasion—an excellent opportunity to test his strength! As long as he didn't do anything reckless and stayed back, using his Observation Haki, he should be safe.

"Senior Brother, wait!"

Karu tried to say something, but Li Yuan ignored him and dashed out of the Sword Pavilion.

Li Yuan raced to the edge of a house near the island's port, hiding and observing the pirate ship approaching the port.

"Boss, this island is under Navy protection, but it's on the outskirts. The Navy can't arrive quickly. As long as we're fast, loot, and leave, the Navy won't catch us!"

A pirate with a black headscarf and a sword greedily eyed the island ahead.

"Hahahaha, you're right. As long as we're quick, all the treasure is ours."

"Boys, charge! Kill, burn, and loot everything!"

The pirate captain raised his machete, shouting excitedly.

"Charge, charge, treasure is mine!"

"Kill, all the women are mine!"

"Kill, burn, loot, eat everything!"

The pirates on the ship cheered wildly, greedily laughing as they jumped off the ship and rushed toward the island.

"Hahaha, old man, are you welcoming us? Don't worry, we'll send you off peacefully; no need to thank us."

As the pirates charged down, they were met by an old man with a sword standing in their way. The pirates, uncaring, swung their swords at him; after all, slashing an old man was nothing new to them.

"Ah!!!!"

"Ah!!!!"

However, the five pirates who underestimated the old man suddenly screamed as their hearts were pierced!

"Pirates, leave now, or you'll all die!"

Louis, the old man, said calmly. Despite his calm demeanor, his killing intent was palpable, stopping the once-excited pirates in their tracks.

They then looked to their captain; the old man was strong, and rushing in would spell disaster for them.

"I didn't expect Master to be so strong. He never spars with me, so I don't know his level, but the pirate captain probably isn't stronger than Master."

Li Yuan activated his Observation Haki as he arrived, sensing that the pirate captain wasn't very strong.

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