Chapter 69: Mastery of the Draw and Slash Technique

The moment Guina stepped out the door, Tang Shen suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath. There was a hint of a smile in his gaze—he couldn’t help but admit that girls in this world matured early. The pain brought by the medicinal bath was something he’d slowly grown accustomed to; even with his injuries this time, he could still endure it.

He opened his status window:

Player: Monkey D. Roger
Age: 18
Starting Point: Frost Moon Novice Village
Level: 10 (9%)
Achievement Points: 12
Swordsmanship Talent: +20
Health: 25
Constitution: 3
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Spirit: 15
Skills: Conqueror’s Haki (Unmastered), Intermediate Iaido Slash, Basic Swordsmanship (Mastered), Scouting Technique, Gathering Technique
System Backpack: Novice Wooden Sword x1, Refined Steel Sword x1

His health was slowly recovering with the medicinal bath, and the speed was rather quick; his constitution was also gradually improving. Having leveled up to ten today, Tang Shen had allocated all four attribute points to agility, balancing strength, agility, and spirit—a very harmonious distribution.

Suddenly, Tang Shen looked as if he’d seen a ghost. His eyes widened, pupils contracted to the extreme, revealing disbelief as he stared at his status window. The focus of his gaze fell squarely upon the skills section.

Somehow, a new skill had appeared.

And its name—Tang Shen was all too familiar with it: Conqueror’s Haki.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

Tang Shen: “666666666”

At this moment, Tang Shen was like a salted fish whose only reaction was shouting ‘666’—utterly stunned. Anyone who’s watched Pirate King knows that the king possesses an extraordinary ability, a crowd-control skill, and legend has it that those who possess this talent have the qualities of a king.

Let’s talk about Haki.
Haki is a special power in the world of pirates, a latent force inherent in all humans; it’s an innate ability, though most people rarely awaken or develop it. There are three types of Haki. The most common are Observation Haki and Armament Haki. These two can be developed and strengthened through training.

But the third type, Conqueror’s Haki, must be innate. It’s the “King’s Haki,” possessed by only one in several million—a chosen one, a person with the qualifications to stand above others.

According to Tang Shen’s understanding, those born with this Haki must have a certain charisma and courage. Even when mastered, it can’t be strengthened through training; only the user’s personal growth enhances it.

Tang Shen never expected to awaken Conqueror’s Haki himself. He’d fantasized about it before, but it seemed unrealistic; he was too weak, and he wasn’t sure if an outsider like him could awaken it.

Now he saw, it was indeed possible—and what’s more, it was Conqueror’s Haki right from the start.

This was a super jackpot, and he was truly delighted.

His emotions were so stirred that he barely felt the pain from the medicinal bath anymore. His eyes in the darkness grew brighter and brighter, almost like bulbs.

Thinking it over, he immediately understood—it must have been in that urgent moment, pushing past his limits for speed, breaking through in order to save Guina. Forced to break through.

Recalling what had just happened, he couldn’t help but sigh. In that crisis, he hadn’t considered anything else.

However, the effect of Conqueror’s Haki seemed to differ from his previous understanding. He hadn’t forgotten that when it spread uncontrollably, he felt a special power surge within him. It was precisely that power that allowed him to suddenly appear beneath Guina, bearing her fate and changing her life.

Logically, Conqueror’s Haki shouldn’t have such a strengthening effect!
Normally, it only intimidates and knocks out weaker enemies, right?
Could it be that the Haki in the anime is different from that in this full-immersion game?

This doubt, Tang Shen couldn’t resolve yet; after all, he’d only watched the anime before, now he was experiencing it firsthand—the difference was substantial.

He’d have to explore it himself. Though he hadn’t mastered it yet, these things didn’t concern him. As long as he possessed it, why worry about learning it in the future?

Oh, and his achievement points seemed to have increased by ten. To this day, Tang Shen still didn’t know how to use them.

He looked puzzled—these must have a significant purpose! Otherwise, they wouldn’t be listed separately, and it seemed they were only rewarded during global announcements.

Three server-wide announcements: first for hunting a fierce beast, second for reaching level ten, third for changing Guina’s fate.

“Huh! Wait a minute—the color seems off.” Tang Shen stared at the blue light screen; the ‘12’ behind achievement points seemed clickable.

It was like browsing the internet, certain text was obviously a hyperlink.

Though his hands were in the bath barrel, this couldn’t stop him.

He stuck out his tongue and tapped the void.

This audacious move even stunned the system—so that’s possible too.

The instant he clicked, no webpage popped up.

But the system’s prompt sounded directly in Tang Shen’s mind:

[Intermediate Iaido Slash can be upgraded to Advanced Iaido Slash, requires 10 achievement points. Upgrade?]
[Intermediate Iaido Slash can be upgraded to Advanced Iaido Slash, requires 10 achievement points. Upgrade?]
[Intermediate Iaido Slash can be upgraded to Advanced Iaido Slash, requires 10 achievement points. Upgrade?]

The prompt repeated three times, clear and resounding, making him feel like a big shot.

Tang Shen was dumbfounded. Who am I? What am I doing? Where am I?

Was this really possible?

He was stunned—so achievement points were used to upgrade skills?

Damn! Why hadn’t anyone told him sooner!

If he’d known, he would’ve racked up hundreds of skill points, and his skills would have soared.

Upgrade? Of course, why not?

Intermediate Iaido Slash, after his relentless training, was already fully mastered; his control over power was excellent, and its might had grown. His understanding of the slash was deepening, but further progress required pressure, real combat, and crisis.

A single skill, to reach mastery, was extremely difficult. Basic swordsmanship had only been mastered through countless fundamentals, external pressure, and gradual tempering.

Iaido Slash, even more so, required insight.

If the intermediate version was already outstanding, what about the advanced version?

It must be extraordinary!

“Yes.” Tang Shen chose without hesitation.

Instantly, the experience and understanding of Advanced Iaido Slash—mastery-level—flooded from the void into his mind. Tang Shen immediately understood the difference between intermediate and advanced Iaido Slash.

The gap was immense. If the intermediate level was bound by posture and movement, the mastery level had transcended such constraints, able to unleash its full power regardless.