20: Chapter 20 Cutting Through Steel, Tears Flowing

After the rain stopped in the East Blue, the air was mixed with a salty, humid sea smell and the scent of freshly turned soil.

For the next half month, the training ground of the 18th Branch became Kuina's only world.

Lin Han did not break his promise.

As a result of the doubled training, every minute after Kuina opened her eyes each day was filled to the brim.

Waking up at 4:30 in the morning, she first spent an unshakeable two double-hours on basic physical conditioning, followed by specialized practice of the Cold Fire Sword Qi, practicing all the way until the sun set in the west and the stars filled the sky.

The skin on her palms had long since worn away, and the cloth wrapped around them was soaked through with blood time and time again, only to dry up and stick together with each repeated swing of her sword.

When sleeping at night, she could even feel waves of numb, tingling pain coming from the metacarpal bones of her right hand, which was a protest from overuse of her muscles.

Her arms were swollen to the point where she couldn't even hold chopsticks steadily, and she could only shovel food with her left hand, but she never uttered a single word of complaint about being tired in front of Lin Han.

Kuina knew that Master did not like listening to nonsense.

In this man's eyes, pain seemed to be the only currency for growing stronger.

Lin Han sat in his exclusive reclining chair most of the time, watching from afar.

In his hands, he either held a teacup or whittled wood, occasionally yawning, as if what Kuina was practicing wasn't sword qi that could freeze and crack metal and stone, but merely ordinary firewood chopping.

Yet Kuina did not know that whenever she made a mistake in applying force, her blood surged, and her face turned pale, Lin Han's fingertips would always twitch imperceptibly.

A gentle aura of the Bone Spirit Cold Fire would quietly pass over, helping her smooth out the stagnation in her meridians.

"This lass is a good seedling."

Lin Han thought to himself.

It was not just talent, but that tenacity.

If it were an ordinary wealthy scion, they would be crying to their parents on the first day of mud training, but this little lass, even when practicing until her arms lost sensation, never let the light in her eyes go out.

That evening, the setting sun dyed the sea a blood red.

As usual, Kuina stood before the remnants of the bluestone shattered and frozen by Lin Han.

Her breathing was already chaotic, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, yet her gaze stared fixedly at the largest piece of rubble.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

In her mind, she replayed the breathing and energy circulation technique taught by Lin Han over and over again.

Inhale, raise energy, drop shoulders, sink elbows...

At her dantian, that cool aura injected by Lin Han was awakened once more.

This time, it was no longer as difficult to control as before; it seemed to produce a faint resonance with Kuina's own energy.

Let nature take its course... guide it...

Kuina murmured softly, slowly raising the wooden sword in her hand.

She did not hack fiercely with all her might as before, but tried to feel it instead.

She felt that chill rise from her spine, flow through her shoulders and neck, gather in her right arm, and finally flow along her meridians, bit by bit gushing toward her wrist, all the way to the tip of the sword.

Whoosh—

The wooden sword swung out.

A visible airflow burst forth following the momentum of the sword.

This time it was no longer the sound of mere wind.

At the edge of the transparent airflow, a trace of faint pale-white cold air was unexpectedly entwined.

That cold air was as faint as the morning mist, almost indistinct to see, yet it truly existed.

The sword qi swept through the air, stirring up tiny ice crystals that flickered with starlight under the setting sun.

She succeeded.

Kuina's heart skipped a beat.

Although it was only an insignificant trace, it meant that she had finally mastered the method of fusing cold air with sword techniques.

She was overjoyed, and with no time to savor it, she immediately struck while the iron was hot.

Once, twice, three times...

Like an indefatigable machine, she repeatedly duplicated the action of swinging the sword.

Every time, she adjusted the rhythm of her breathing and the application of force.

Gradually, that trace of cold air stabilized, no longer flashing away instantly, and could maintain a short distance along with the sword qi.

The longer she practiced, the thicker the cold air became, and the more solid the sword qi grew.

The originally illusory sword wind now surprisingly carried a cutting texture.

Lin Han had put down his teacup at some point, leaning against the door frame, looking at Kuina in the arena with deep eyes.

Catching sight of that steady wisp of cold air, the corners of his mouth hooked up slightly.

"The rhythm is right. Although crude, the path is not wrong."

Kuina did not hear Master's evaluation, her entire heart immersed in the pleasure of controlling power.

She looked at the largest piece of bluestone debris not far away, which was the main remnant frozen and shattered by Lin Han with a single sword stroke earlier.

Once more.

She adjusted her breathing, mobilized all the remaining cold air in her body, and poured it completely into the wooden sword in her hand.

"Hah!"

Accompanied by a crisp, low shout, Kuina gripped the sword with both hands and slashed down from top to bottom with all her might.

A pale-white sword qi, several times denser than before, whistled out and viciously chopped onto the bluestone.

Swish—

The sound was very peculiar; it didn't sound like chopping stone, but rather like a hot knife cutting into butter.

The sparks flying everywhere that she had anticipated did not appear.

That hard bluestone was cleanly cut with a deep scar by the sword qi carrying cold air.

Kuina was stunned, staring blankly at that cut.

The cross-section was flat and smooth, and even more startlingly, a thin, crystalline layer of frost was forming at the edge of the cut.

The cold air not only sliced open the stone but also instantly froze the fracture.

This...

Kuina's mind went blank.

Subconsciously, she turned her head to look at the abandoned materials piled in the corner of the training ground.

There was a thick iron plate left over from repairing the wall, about two fingers thick, with edges long covered in rust.

A thought flashed through her mind.

What about changing to this?

She walked up to the iron plate, took a deep breath, and once again mobilized the cold air that had just recovered a little.

Although it was not as abundant as before, she still gritted her teeth and swung her sword.

The sword qi slashed out once more.

This time, the sound was even lighter.

Hiss—

The sword qi cut into the iron plate, failing to slice it directly in half, but leaving a deep mark on the surface.

Around the mark, a layer of white frost had similarly formed.

Although it couldn't be cleaved open like cutting tofu, this was steel.

Being able to leave such a deep mark with just sword qi alone completely exceeded Kuina's understanding.

Looking at that cold sword mark, her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

It was not because of exhaustion, but excitement gushing out from the depths of her soul.

She thought of the days in Shimotsuki Village, of those voices mocking that girls could never become great swordsmen, of her father's worried gaze, and of the countless deep nights when she secretly shed tears because she couldn't break through her bottleneck.

And now, in this dilapidated Navy Base, holding a wooden sword, she had slashed out sword qi capable of freezing steel.

"I... I did it."

Kuina murmured to herself, her voice trembling more and more.

The next second, scalding tears burst from her eyes, sliding down her dust-covered cheeks.

She gripped the wooden sword tightly, her knuckles turning white with exertion, her shoulders shaking violently.

These were not tears of grievance, nor were they tears of pain.

They were joy, catharsis, and a sense of accomplishment overflowing to the brim.

She really did it.

Girls really could grow stronger, and even grow strong to this extent.

Lin Han walked over leisurely, still holding that cup of completely cold tea in his hand.

Looking at Kuina, who was crying like a painted-face cat, his brow furrowed slightly, and his tone remained as flat as ever without a ripple of emotion.

"What are you crying for? This is barely scratching the surface."

Kuina raised her head, looking at Master with tear-filled eyes, wanting to say something, but in the end she only sniffled.

Lin Han pointed at the iron plate with the sword mark using his teacup and curled his lip.

"This bit of power can't even scratch the hide of a Sea Beast. There are plenty of things you will be able to cut down in the future. What kind of look is crying like this? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

Although it was a reprimand, Kuina caught a trace of extremely hard-to-detect satisfaction from Master's ordinarily languid eyes.

That was the gratification of watching the sapling he carefully nurtured finally break through the soil.

Kuina vigorously wiped away her tears, and although she was still sobbing, her spine straightened rigidly.

"Yes, Master. I will definitely cut it down next time."

Lin Han let out a hum, turned around to walk into the house, and waved his hand with his back turned to her.

"All right, wrap it up. Starting tomorrow, practice dynamic force application; just standing there and hacking at stones is useless. Also, wash your face clean, it's filthy."

Watching Master's back disappear behind the door, Kuina looked once more at the iron plate marked with frost, a firm smile curving the corners of her mouth.

Cutting through steel was only the beginning.

Her sword would cut through even more things.