Isshin's training began right away.
Raijin didn't waste time. From the start, he pushed Isshin hard, not just to improve his strength but to fix the way he moved, the way he thought, and the way he used his body.
The first technique Raijin showed him was called the Thunder Qi Fist.
It looked simple when Raijin did it.
His movements were smooth, controlled, and precise. Every step, every shift of weight, everything felt perfectly placed.
Isshin tried to copy it.
He failed.
His body felt stiff. His movements were off. Even trying to follow the footwork felt unnatural. After a few attempts, his muscles started to ache.
"This is not a technique that can work with your qi, but you need to imitate me in a way so that you can somewhat use my technique" Raijin said
Isshin was using his own qi, not the one that Raijin had, Raijin did not seem fond of Isshin's qi for some reason, but he did not explain much.
"You're too rigid" Raijin said. "Your body can't handle the technique yet, well just try to imitate me here."
So instead of continuing, Raijin changed the approach.
Every morning started with stretching.
Not normal stretching, but the kind that pushed Isshin to his limit. His body resisted every movement. His muscles burned, and sometimes he felt like they might tear.
Still, he kept going.
Days passed like that.
Once Raijin felt Isshin's body had improved enough, he took it a step further.
"I'm going to reshape your body" Raijin said.
Isshin didn't fully understand what that meant.
He found out quickly.
Raijin began pushing qi through Isshin's body.
It wasn't just surface-level. It went deeper.
Through his bones.
All of them.
The pain hit instantly.
Isshin couldn't even scream properly. His body locked up as the qi forced its way through him, reshaping him, strengthening him, making him capable of handling more power.
He lost consciousness.
When he woke up, everything felt different.
His body felt lighter, stronger. Even breathing felt easier.
He looked at his hands, clenching them slightly.
"…What did you do?!" he asked.
"just fixed that broken body of yours" Raijin replied.
Isshin didn't fully understand, but he could feel the difference.
"How strong do I need to become?" Isshin asked.
"The world is filled with bad people, so for you to even escape from them, for now, golden core realm will be enough" Raijin said.
Isshin nodded.
He didn't hesitate.
Training continued.
This time, Isshin started getting used to the movements. Copying Raijin wasn't as difficult as before. His body responded better, faster.
Although Raijin was clearly not showing much of his real techniques, just the most basic things a child could learn.
But the Thunder Qi Fist itself was still difficult.
The main problem wasn't movement anymore.
It was power.
Raijin said. "Your control over qi is weak."
He then explained something important.
"Qi isn't just something inside your body. You gather the qi from outside converting it to your own"
Isshin listened carefully.
"What you have been using all this time was not your qi, infact i have sealed your qi, if you use my thunder qi, due to my advantage, it will be very hard for you to run out of qi at this moment."
Isshin nodded.
That changed how he approached everything.
From then on, he trained differently.
During the day, he practiced techniques.
Outside of that, he trained his body.
He carried rocks. Ran long distances. Repeated movements over and over until his body got used to them.
Weeks passed.
Then months.
Slowly, things started to click.
One day, Isshin stood in front of a tree.
He took a breath and focused.
He gathered qi, this time properly.
Not just from himself, but from the surroundings.
He tightened his stance.
Then punched.
The tree shattered.
The impact ran through his arm, but he didn't lose control.
Right after, his body gave out.
He collapsed.
When he woke up, he felt drained.
"…Did I do it right?!" he asked.
"You did something," Raijin replied. "But you still lack control."
Isshin sighed, but he wasn't discouraged.
After some rest, training resumed.
Raijin added more variety.
"You don't have to stick to just one form," he said. "Techniques can be changed."
He demonstrated a variation.
"Thunder Qi Palm."
Isshin watched carefully.
It was similar, but different in execution.
That opened up new possibilities.
Soon after, Raijin decided it was time for something else.
"A real fight," he said.
Isshin stood up.
He was confident, but not careless.
They faced each other.
Isshin attacked first.
Punches, kicks, everything he had.
Raijin blocked all of it easily.
No wasted movement.
Isshin tried using Thunder Qi Palm.
It didn't work.
Raijin countered immediately.
Isshin stepped back, confused.
Then he saw something strange.
There were multiple Raijins.
"What…?" Isshin said.
"It's speed," Raijin replied. "You just can't keep up."
Isshin stared for a second, then nodded.
"I want to learn that."
"You will. Eventually."
Then Raijin gave him a new task.
"you have not ate meat in quite a while, you can't just rely on fruit, even if i wanted to help you, i can only affect your own body, not things around you. you will need to hunt yourself, its a good time to test out what you have learnt too"
Isshin hesitated.
But he went.
Not long after entering, he found something.
A massive bear.
It was easily five meters tall.
The moment it saw him, it attacked.
Isshin moved.
Barely dodging.
His heart was racing.
"you can't outrun him! you need to fight!" Raijin said.
Isshin calmed himself.
He started observing the bear.
Its movements.
Its weak points.
He dodged again.
Then again.
Each time, getting slightly better.
He gathered qi.
Thunder Qi Fist.
He struck.
The bear flinched, but didn't go down.
It swung back.
Isshin barely avoided it.
His qi was running low.
He needed to finish it.
He focused everything into his legs.
Then moved.
A full-force kick to the head.
The impact dropped the bear.
Silence followed.
Then something appeared in front of him.
A screen.
Stats.
"Isshin Ryugen
Level: 4
Health: 12
Strength: 11
Stamina: 14
Mana/qi: 11
Intelligence: 9
Points Available: 2
Cultivation level: Body Refinement Realm 2nd Stage
Titles: None"
Isshin stared at it.
"…What is this?"
"This is a personal tracker i made, think of it as you controlling your cultivation, obviously regular cultivation could not do something like this.
But the more you cultivate, the more of my power you can use, making you more stronger.
That is why you have the privilege of suddenly making your body stronger, think of it as if your body is using more of its capacity with my strength as you get stronger. " Raijin said.
Isshin didn't question it much.
He focused on what mattered.
"Use your points on mana," Raijin said.
Isshin did.
After that, Raijin gave him another task.
"Use the sword you have to cut the bear, you will be cooking the meat"
Isshin looked at the bear.
He didn't want to.
But he did it anyway.
It wasn't clean, but he managed.
They made a fire.
Cooked the meat.
Sat down and ate the food.
Night passed.
Morning came quickly.
Isshin was woken up early.
"Next training," Raijin said.