"It stinks! Are these the impurities Qiu Xia was talking about? It's revolting! How could there be so much gunk on my body!" Kuina's face paled as the stench hit her, and she hurriedly began to scrub herself clean.
Although Kuina had developed a somewhat tomboyish personality due to her intense swordsmanship training, she was still a girl. Like most girls, she valued cleanliness and hated feeling filthy and smelling foul.
While Kuina was occupied with her bath, Koushirou arrived at the scene. He had come out of concern for his daughter; while Kuina often went out on her own, she always returned before dark. Today, however, she had been gone since morning and still hadn't returned even though night had fallen. This naturally made Koushirou uneasy.
Worried that Qiu Xia might have done something untoward to Kuina, Koushirou raced toward the back mountain. Upon reaching the area, the first thing he saw was Qiu Xia lounging comfortably in a rocking chair.
"Qiu Xia, where is Kuina?"
Qiu Xia raised a hand and pointed toward the guest room. "She's inside taking a bath!"
Hearing this, Koushirou's eyes instantly turned bloodshot. His hand flew to the hilt of his sword. "You bastard, what did you do to her? She's just a child!"
To Koushirou, it felt as though the precious cabbage he had carefully cultivated had been trampled by a wild boar. His rage peaked instantly, and he swung his blade, sending a strike toward Qiu Xia.
Qiu Xia flicked his body to the side, narrowly dodging Koushirou's Flying Slash Attack. He stared at the older man in disbelief. "Holy crap, are you misunderstanding something here?"
"Misunderstanding? What could I possibly be misunderstanding? If it isn't what it looks like, why would my daughter be at your place taking a bath? You hentai, just die!"
"Dammit, did a donkey kick you in the head? What could I possibly do to her? I'm about the same age as she is!" Even if he did have designs on Kuina, it certainly wouldn't be now; she was like a sour little green apple at this stage, not exactly "tasty."
"You dare insult me? Bastard, go to hell!" Koushirou's fury only intensified. He flourished his weapon, sending one Flying Slash Attack after another toward Qiu Xia.
After dodging several moves, Qiu Xia finally lost his patience. "You've got to be kidding me! You're really going for it, aren't you? I wasn't going to hold this against you for Kuina's sake, but if you're going to be like this, don't blame me for what happens next."
With a wave of his hand, a sword appeared in Qiu Xia's grip. He tapped the ground and shot toward Koushirou like a bolt of lightning.
Faced with the incoming assault, Koushirou raised his blade to intercept. The two were quickly locked in a fierce exchange. Koushirou's style was simple, carrying an aura of "the Great Dao is found in simplicity."
Qiu Xia's swordsmanship, however, felt natural and fluid. He blocked Koushirou's various attacks with ease and managed to launch counterattacksthough his counters were dangerously close to being "dirty."
Qiu Xia aimed every single thrust at Koushirou's lower body. Facing such "indecent" swordsmanship, Koushirou's face turned green. Though his wife had passed away and he already had a child, it didn't mean he was willing to lose "that" part of himself. That specific area was of utmost importance to any man.
Koushirou scrambled to defend himself, but Qiu Fu's sword grew faster and faster. Initially, Koushirou defended with ease, then with seriousness, and finally with every ounce of his strength. Even when he couldn't block a strike directly, he had to exert himself to parry the blade in a different direction, desperate to avoid a permanent injury.
After a short while of fighting, Qiu Fu remained perfectly intact. Koushirou's clothes were mostly fine, but his pants were riddled with holes, making him look like a ragged follower of some bizarre New Age fashion.
"Stop fighting, both of you!" Kuina, hearing the commotion from the house, had finished her bath as quickly as possible. Fully dressed, she rushed outside.
At the sound of Kuina's voice, Qiu Fu halted and tucked his sword back into his Space Ring. Koushirou also stopped his assault and sheathed his blade. His face was dark as he glared at Qiu Fu. He hadn't sustained any real physical damage in the duelperhaps a few stings here and therebut his pride had taken a massive hit.
Where did this little monster come from? Koushirou thought. He's incredibly strong, and he fights so dirty! Every move targets the groin. If I hadn't been careful, I would've lost all dignity today.
"Father, why were you dueling with Qiu Fu?" Kuina asked, looking at Koushirou with dissatisfaction.
Seeing his daughter's frown, Koushirou felt a chill in his heart. He felt quite wronged. "Kuina, your father was just worried about you! Coming home so late is one thing, but bathing in a man's house? Where is your sense of propriety?"
Kuina replied calmly, "I had just finished my training and it wasn't convenient for me to go back directly."
"Why not?"
Qiu Xia interjected from the side. "Today, Kuina followed the method I taught her and achieved a breakthrough in strength. As a result, a large amount of impurities was expelled from her body,
making her look like she had fallen into a mud pit. Do you think it would have been appropriate for her to go home like that? If you don't believe me, you can go inside and check; the mess from her training should still be there."
"I'll check then!" Koushirou grumbled. He ran into the guest house, with Kuina following close behind.
It didn't take long before Koushirou emerged, his face flushed with embarrassment as he looked at Qiu Fu. "My apologies, Qiu Fu. I misunderstood you."
Qiu Fu waved it off dismissively. "Forget it, it's fine! It's not like I lost out on anything."
Koushirou remained silent, but his mind was racing. You didn't lose anything, but I lost my face! Where did this little monster crawl out of? How is his attainment in the Way of the Sword so high? Previously, he had judged Qiu Xia to be at the level of a Master Swordsman at most. He never expected the boy to be a Great Master Swordsman, or perhaps even something beyond that.
Koushirou himself was a Great Master Swordsman, and a powerful one even among his peers. Although he hadn't used his full strength in the dueland had barely utilized Armament Hakithe exchange had been enough to prove Qiu Xia's prowess. After all, if Koushirou was holding back, who was to say Qiu Xia had exerted himself at all?
After following Koushirou back to the dojo, Kuina went to wash up again while Koushirou changed his clothes, replaying the duel in his mind.
The night passed quietly. The next morning, Kuina went to the courtyard to practice her sword as usual. As she trained, she noticed the blade in her hand felt significantly lighter than before, and her speed had increased dramatically.
After clearing her meridians, Kuina's physical body had been further strengthened. However, the greatest change wasn't just physical; it was her ability to mobilize the Houtian True Qi within her.
Before her meridians were opened, the spiritual energy she absorbed through her Breathing Technique was converted into Neili and stored in her dantian. At that time, her ability to mobilize it was extremely limitedpractically non-existent. But now, with her meridians clear, her internal power had transformed into Houtian True Qi, which she could wrap around her body and her weapon.
The techniques Qiu Xia had given her only revealed their true power when empowered by this Qi. Kuina had already familiarized herself with the movements; now it was time to run the True Qi through the sword. As the energy flowed into the blade, the steel began to glow. She executed a strike, and an invisible blade of energy flew from her sword, carving a deep gash into the ground.
Kuina froze. She approached the mark and inspected it. "Is this a Flying Slash Attack? Have I already broken through to the rank of Master Swordsman? But I didn't sense the Breath of All Things..."
She stood dazed for a moment before channeling her True Qi once more. She swung the sword, and another blade of qi emerged. However, it didn't travel faronly two or three meterswhich was ten times shorter than the initial range of a Master Swordsman's Flying Slash Attack.
"What exactly is going on?" Kuina was utterly confused by her current situation.
Zoro, who had been training not far away, noticed the commotion. He looked over and saw the sword qi she had released. He couldn't help but shout in shock, "Kuina! Did you just become a Master Swordsman?"
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