Koji Fights The World - Chapter 47 Pointers

Koji awoke at dawn. He quickly rolled out of bed, dressed, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and departed his bedroom carrying his two sabers. The consort sat on the floor outside his door and cultivated while facing the outdoor pond. He enjoyed the calm and peaceful atmosphere and soaked up the Qi and elemental energy.

After ten minutes of cultivation, Koji climbed to his feet and headed for the private courtyard. To his dismay, Heretrios was already there! The younger man quickly recovered and smiled at his brother-in-law. “Good morning, Heretrios!” Koji greeted warmly.

“Good morning, Koji!” Heretrios replied while practicing some saber stances.

“Why aren’t you practicing with your men in the front courtyard?” Koji asked. He couldn’t understand why Heretrios was here.

The first prince stopped and turned around. “Am I disturbing your preparations for the public demonstration?” Heretrios asked with a blank expression. While he preferred to remain in the practice yard, the prince was willing to leave if Koji insisted. After all, Heretrios wasn’t scheduled to perform in the arena tomorrow.

The younger man shook his head. “There’s enough space for both of us to practice here,” Koji answered diplomatically.

Heretrios smiled and nodded. “Thank you for your understanding. I want to experiment with some new saber moves, but I didn’t want to distract my men from their practice drills,” he explained.

“May I watch? I might have some insights,” Koji offered.

The prince tilted his head for a moment. “Sure. You practice the soft path of Saber, and you may see something in my forms,” he agreed. Heretrios closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly, his eyes opened and danced with power as a terrifying aura enveloped his weapon! Whoosh-whoosh-wif! The powerful sword strokes created a stream of hot air which blew through the observer’s body.

Koji utilized his Qi Perception to observe the special attack. His mind replayed the movements several times before Koji understood the essence of Heretrios’ new attack. “You’re trying to infuse the temperament of fire into your strike,” he remarked.

The prince smiled. “That’s right!” Heretrios was shocked by how easily Koji read his move!

“You need to release more fire element during your attack. Ideally, the fire aura should leap from your blade to engulf your opponent. Unless the defender has high proficiency in Body Refinement, he will suffer burns from blocking your saber,” Koji advised.

Heretrios frowned at the suggestion. “If I release more fire element, then I will use it all up,” he replied.

“Your fire infusion is weak. You need to cultivate a lot more fire energy and grow your Fire Qi Stone in your Middle Dantian. That’s the only way to build up your pool of fire element,” Koji answered.

The first prince sighed. He understood the difficulty in growing an elemental Qi Stone.

“I cultivate wood element, so I understand the challenge in growing a corresponding elemental Qi Stone. But there are no shortcuts,” the brother-in-law added. “If you wish, you could start a small fire and cultivate fire energy while sitting near the fire. The source could be a simple lantern or campfire,” Koji suggested.

Heretrios nodded. “I appreciate your advice and I will get a lantern later. For now, I’m going to cultivate in a corner. The rest of this courtyard is yours, Koji,” he said with a smile.

Koji bowed from his waist. He watched as Heretrios sat in a corner and waited until the prince closed his eyes to start his cultivation. Then Koji began to practice in earnest. He performed the offensive and defensive saber stances with each hand. Then he performed figure-eights with sword dancing. Finally, Koji rehearsed his saber-telling of a bear being chased out by a mouse. When he stopped for a break, Koji heard hands clapping. He turned and saw the clapper was Heretrios.

“Wow, I never knew that a saber is useful for this kind of performance,” Prince Heretrios remarked with admiration for his brother-in-law’s creativity. “What do you call it?”

“Saber-telling,” Koji answered.

“Saber-telling? As in storytelling while using sabers? Wow!” the prince laughed. “I think the people will enjoy your show!”

“I hope so,” Koji replied with a nod.

Something caught Heretrios’ eyes. He recognized the jade talisman on Koji’s wrist. “Why are you wearing the gravity talisman?” he gasped in bewilderment.

“Father-in-law gave me the talismans as a wedding present. He told me to train my body continuously while wearing them,” Koji explained.

“At how many g?” Heretrios asked.

“Right now, they are set at 2g. But I plan to up the difficulty to 3g after lunch,” Koji answered honestly.

The prince shook his head. He couldn’t believe how fluid Koji’s saber-telling movements were while restrained in 2g. Heretrios knew that he wouldn’t pull this off. He admired Koji’s dedication to his training and felt ashamed of himself.

Koji misunderstood the emotions on his brother-in-law’s face. “Heretrios, do you wish to borrow the talismans?” he asked.

Heretrios laughed. “No, I’m not a body temperament fanatic like you,” he teased. He noticed Koji’s attendant standing at the entrance. “Your servant is here. I guess it’s time for breakfast.”

Koji turned around and saw Lin Lin standing outside the entrance.

“Royal Consort and Prince Heretrios! It’s time for breakfast!” the girl called out.

The two young men followed her to the banquet hall and joined the table. Koji greeted each of his two wives with a smile and a kiss.

When the food arrived, the Royal Family ate their meals of rice porridge and sliced fish in silence because everyone was busy with many things to do today. Each member soon departed from the room.

Koji and Heretrios returned to the private backyard after lunch. Koji resumed his saber-telling rehearsal.

The prince decided to watch Koji’s rehearsal to return the consort’s favor of providing pointers with the new saber technique. Heretrios stopped Koji periodically and asked the performer to act meaner (as a bear) and timider (as a mouse).

Koji rehearsed his depictions of the two animals over and over again until Heretrios became satisfied.

After dinner, King Aphraphus joined Koji in the courtyard again for another session of body temperament. For the next two hours, the king punched Koji’s body repeatedly while the young man stood in his horse stance under the restraint of 8g.

The king’s strong blows knocked Koji to the ground several times, but the pupil returned to his position immediately.

Sadly, Koji did not achieve a breakthrough to Tier 8 during this training session. But he did increase his Body Refinement proficiency to “Tier 7 (5/10).”

“Don’t worry, Koji!” the king comforted his son-in-law while patting the young man’s back. “It’s only a matter of time! Tomorrow is a big day. You will demonstrate your talent in the Arena. Are you ready?” he asked with a grin.

“Yes, Sire!” Koji answered confidently.

“Excellent!” Aphraphus laughed. The two men strutted through the hall like peacocks while half-naked. Lin Lin and a group of guardsmen kept a respectful distance back but followed them. The older man laughed when the servants blushed upon seeing their bare chests. Fortunately, Queen Herecia wasn’t around to scold them for their shamelessness.

The two finally sauntered into the bathhouse. To Koji’s disappointment, Fengbai wasn’t there; an older woman replaced her as the attendant on duty. The servant washed Koji’s body with professional skill, and he soon entered the pool.

Koji rested for a few minutes and climbed out. He decided to return to his room and retire early.

“Oh, you’re leaving already?” the king asked with surprise. He just stepped into the water while his companion was climbing out.

“Yes, Sire. I should get more rest,” Koji explained.

“Yes, you should,” King Aphraphus nodded in agreement. “Good night, Koji!”

“You, too, father-in-law!” Koji replied with a respectful bow before exiting the bathhouse.