Early the next morning, Xia Feng sat up in bed.
The events of last night replayed in his mind.
His heartbeat sped up slightly.
Then he suddenly remembered something—
When Shinobu kissed him, he seemed to have heard the system notification.
He quickly checked the system records.
Sure enough, it was there.
He had almost missed it.
And the notification shocked him.
[Shinobu Kocho's affection increased — Relationship Level: Romance]
[Reward: One Diamond-tier Draw]
Xia Feng couldn't help but take a deep breath.
His first reaction wasn't excitement about the Diamond Draw.
Instead—
"Shinobu… likes me?"
He sucked in a breath.
Excitement mixed with nervousness.
Before transmigrating, he had just been an ordinary office worker.
Still young, he had never seriously considered relationships or starting a family.
All his focus had been on work.
So suddenly realizing that a girl liked him—
He didn't quite know how to process it.
After a while, Xia Feng rubbed his face.
"Why do my reactions feel so… timid lately?"
"This won't do. I'm going to disgrace the reputation of transmigrators everywhere…"
After coughing twice, he forced down his excitement and turned his attention to the new reward.
Diamond Draw.
It was the first time he had ever received something at this level.
Curiosity surged through him.
"System. Start the Diamond Draw."
[Drawing…]
[Congratulations! You obtained Diamond Skill: Bullet Time]
[Bullet Time: Consumes mental energy to dramatically enhance perception, making the world appear to move in slow motion. The longer it lasts, the greater the mental consumption.]
Xia Feng's eyes lit up.
"As expected of a Diamond reward."
"This ability alone is worth two or three Gold-tier rewards!"
With this skill, Xia Feng could finally be considered a true powerhouse.
Although his sword techniques still needed refinement, his overall strength had become extremely formidable.
He looked out the window and activated Bullet Time.
The moment it started—
Everything slowed down.
Birds flying across the sky.
Leaves swaying in the wind.
It all looked like scenes from a slow-motion movie.
He raised his hand and waved it in front of his eyes.
Even his own movement appeared comically slow.
But behind that slowness—
Was an enormous amount of reaction time.
Xia Feng nodded in satisfaction and canceled the skill.
The moment it ended, his head felt slightly dizzy.
"The mental consumption is pretty high."
"Looks like this ability needs to be used carefully."
After testing the skill, Xia Feng went out and returned to the forge to continue crafting his Nichirin sword.
Before long, four days had passed since the trio arrived at the Swordsmith Village.
Kanamori's injury had almost completely healed.
The village chief was so grateful that he nearly cried while thanking Xia Feng repeatedly.
Xia Feng reminded them not to spread news of his healing abilities too widely.
The chief immediately agreed.
Soon after, Xia Feng arrived at the forging workshop.
When Haganezuka saw him, his eyes lit up—then immediately became conflicted.
By now, he had absolutely no doubts about Xia Feng's forging ability.
In his mind, Xia Feng had to be the reincarnation of the Fire God.
Otherwise, how could someone so young possess such divine forging skills?
If Xia Feng hadn't forbidden him from telling others, Haganezuka would have already been shouting the news everywhere.
But because he admired Xia Feng's craftsmanship so much—
Seeing Xia Feng constantly break the swords he forged filled him with pain.
Every blade was a work of art!
And Xia Feng destroyed them without hesitation!
Seeing Haganezuka's conflicted expression, Xia Feng smiled.
Haganezuka shuddered.
To him, that smile looked like the grin of a demon.
Xia Feng said casually,
"Relax. No durability testing today."
"Today I'm forging a real sword."
Haganezuka froze.
Then his eyes widened with joy.
"Really?! That's wonderful! I'll assist you with everything I've got!"
Xia Feng nodded.
"Observe carefully. Learning my forging techniques will help your future a lot."
Haganezuka nodded rapidly.
Soon, the small workshop was filled with the blazing heat of the forge.
The rhythmic sound of hammering echoed continuously.
Time flew by.
By evening—
Xia Feng, his face focused, lifted a newly quenched blade from the water.
A chilling silver-blue light shimmered along its surface.
Haganezuka quickly assembled the hilt, guard, and wrapping, securing the blade.
The moment Xia Feng grasped the sword—
An invisible sword intent burst outward.
BOOM!!
The stone walls of the workshop instantly filled with sword marks.
The wooden windows were shredded by the sword aura.
Haganezuka stood nearby, his eyes burning with fanatic admiration.
This sword…
Was the best blade he had ever seen in his life.
And perhaps the best he would ever see.
Xia Feng examined the blade.
"Not bad."
"Strength, toughness, and sharpness have all been greatly enhanced."
"At least two tiers above ordinary Nichirin swords."
"All those days of work weren't wasted."
Then he suddenly frowned.
"Hm… the guard doesn't look very good."
"I'll change it."
With that, he began working again.
Haganezuka's eye twitched violently.
A sword like this—
If he could forge even one in his lifetime, he would gladly spend four years… or forty years doing it.
Just as he was about to congratulate Xia Feng—
He heard footsteps at the door.
Turning his head, he saw a figure standing silently in the darkness.
A muscular body.
Wild silver hair.
Fierce eyes filled with madness.
And a face covered in scars.
A man whose mere appearance could make children stop crying.
Haganezuka gasped.
"The Wind Hashira—Sanemi Shinazugawa!!"
Under his gaze, Sanemi Shinazugawa stepped into the workshop.
He didn't even glance at Haganezuka.
His eyes locked directly onto Xia Feng, who was adjusting the sword guard.
In a deep voice, he asked,
"You forged that sword?"
Xia Feng didn't respond.
He calmly continued replacing the guard.
Sanemi frowned slightly.
He was the Wind Hashira.
Aside from the village chief, no one in the Swordsmith Village dared treat him like this.
He stepped closer, reaching out to grab Xia Feng's shoulder.
Haganezuka quickly blocked him.
"Don't disturb Xia Feng!"
Sanemi didn't even look at him.
With a casual wave of his hand, he tried to shove Haganezuka aside.
But suddenly—
He realized something.
Xia Feng, who had been sitting there just a moment ago—
Was gone.
At the same instant—
A hand suddenly reached out from behind him.
SLAP!
Sanemi's entire body went cold.
At some point, Xia Feng had appeared behind him—
And grabbed his wrist.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
Claim early access on Patreon: patreon.com/c/LuneWriter
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:
💬 10 reviews ignite 1 bonus chapter
🔷 200 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.