A week had passed since the attack on Kanoru and his group. They emerged victorious, having killed all the enemies, except for the two higher-ranked samurai who managed to escape.
After the battle, they searched the bodies and discovered a Nine-pointed star symbol on them, identifying their attackers as members of the Nine Reverse Palace.
Following this, Bai Yue and the Evergreen Sect members confirmed that the previous attack had also been orchestrated by the Nine Reverse Palace.
To uncover the truth, they formed an array around the Evergreen Tree, a spiritual tree. By connecting with it, they were able to witness the previous attack through its memories, confirming that the Hundred Herbs Pill had indeed been the reason behind it.
However, they knew that the true mastermind was not the Nine Reverse Palace. The Nine Reverse Palace was merely a mercenary force, akin to a gun-for-hire. Anyone could post a task at one of their branch stations, and the palace would complete it for money.
Now, their next objective was to find the real culprit behind the attacks.
After returning from the valley, Yun Feng and the Evergreen Sect members began investigating the main branch of the Nine Reverse Palace in Ren County, believing that the head of the branch was the most likely person to know who had posted the task to attack the Evergreen Sect.
Kanoru did not join the investigation, as he was not a native of the region and knew nothing about conducting investigations. Instead, he spent the past week doing what he does best—practicing. He strictly followed the schedule he had created the night before entering the valley, as he had nothing else to occupy him.
In his free time, he accompanied Asuna, roaming the city and its surroundings, which helped ease his mind from the rigorous schedule he was following.
Now, a few hours before dawn, Kanoru sat in a pavilion near the training ground, beneath the cloud-covered night sky, with a light drizzle falling around him. Feeling the cold wind brushing against his skin, he began to visualize a tornado in his mind, convinced that today would be the day he awakened his spiritual power.
In his mind, a tornado appeared, and as time passed, he added more details, making it increasingly vivid and real. Eventually, the image flashed, and he felt a surge of energy releasing from his spiritual space.
Before the spiritual energy could circulate through his body, it clashed with the chakra already flowing within him. However, no dangerous reaction occurred. Instead, the spiritual energy was absorbed by his chakra and vanished.
Upon inspecting his chakra, he discovered that with each circulation through his body, his chakra became more refined and hardened, like tempered steel. Furthermore, his chakra gained new characteristics after absorbing the spiritual energy—it felt more spiritual.
Opening his eyes, Kanoru stood up and performed a sword style, immediately noticing his improved control over his body.
He then attempted to manifest his chakra outside his body. It appeared as a shimmering second skin above his own. When he poked the layer, it broke apart and disappeared.
He sighed in disappointment. Warlocks could manifest their spiritual energy outside their bodies, allowing them to sense and mobilize the energy of the world. But his spiritual energy was instantly absorbed by his chakra.
Chakra was a combination of cellular energy and spiritual energy outside the spiritual space, so opening his spiritual space caused the spiritual energy within to merge directly with his chakra. This increased his chakra's volume and enhanced his bodily control, but he had wanted the spiritual energy to remain separate, allowing him to manifest it externally and comprehend the power of wind. However, his plan had failed.
With another sigh, he began practicing the five sword styles as dawn broke, following his training schedule, which required sword practice at dawn.
He cycled through the four styles—excluding the Cat Style, which he had already mastered. As he practiced, he realized that his increased bodily control allowed him to pinpoint awkward sword moves that still lacked fluidity. He was unable to unleash their full power. To correct this, he would need to refine his movements, ensuring that each sword form flowed seamlessly and could display its maximum potential.
How would he know when he had mastered a sword style?
In every style, the power of each move increased progressively, with the final technique being the most powerful. This was a sign of proficiency. When fully mastered, however, he would be able to unleash any sword move in any order, and they would all carry the same power as the final and strongest move of the style.
As he practiced, a few minutes later, Asuna walked into the training field. Seeing him, she said, "You were here the entire night."
Without pausing, he replied, "It was the final stage of my visualization practice."
Intrigued, Asuna's interest was piqued. She had long considered practicing the warlock system, as warlocks of the same level were generally stronger than samurai. A samurai could only defeat a warlock by closing the distance, which was difficult but not impossible. Statistically, she estimated that if 10 warlocks fought 10 samurai of equal strength, the outcome would be 7 to 3—with seven victories for the warlocks and three for the samurai.
She asked, "Did you succeed? Did you awaken your spiritual energy?"
He replied, "I did, but it was swallowed by my chakra."
Frowning, Asuna asked, "How? Why?"
He explained the reason to her.
Asuna sighed, "No benefit for samurai to awaken spiritual energy, then."
Kanoru, however, believed that his increased bodily control would help him master the four remaining sword styles faster. Besides, only a few hours had passed since he awakened his spiritual energy. He needed more time to discover any additional benefits.
So he said, "It increases my bodily control, which helps in mastering the five sword styles. And it's only been a few hours—I haven't had time to see if there are other benefits."
Asuna nodded and turned toward the entrance as Mika and Yun Feng walked in. She approached them, and Asuna and Mika began training Yun Feng with wooden swords.
Kanoru glanced at them briefly, then resumed his practice.