Under Xia Feng's gaze, Shinobu Kocho landed lightly beside him.
She looked at the aftermath of the battle around them, and her expression turned cold.
Her hand rested on the hilt of her Nichirin sword.
"Mr. Shinazugawa… what exactly are you doing?"
Kanao Tsuyuri hurried to Xia Feng's side.
"Xia Feng, are you hurt?"
Xia Feng reached out and gently rubbed her head.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
Kanao narrowed her eyes comfortably.
Nearby, Haganezuka glared angrily at Sanemi.
"You bastard! I don't care if you're a Hashira—no one is allowed to harm a forging master like Xia Feng!"
Sanemi looked at Shinobu with some curiosity.
Both of them were Hashira, and they had crossed paths many times before, so he knew her personality somewhat.
This woman—although she always appeared polite and gentle on the surface—possessed a strong inner pride.
Yet now, for Xia Feng, she was actually ready to draw her sword against another Hashira.
It seemed Xia Feng's relationship with the Butterfly Estate was not just a simple subordinate one.
These thoughts passed through Sanemi's mind in an instant.
But he didn't care much about gossip.
Under Shinobu's icy gaze, he said impatiently,
"It has nothing to do with you. I just thought he was strong and wanted a spar."
"A spar?" Shinobu said angrily.
"Xia Feng is medical staff. You're the Wind Hashira, yet you want to spar with him?"
If Xia Feng had been injured, Shinobu would have broken the Corps' rules and left Sanemi with a "souvenir."
Sanemi's expression stiffened slightly.
His lips moved before he forced out the words:
"…I lost."
Shinobu became even more annoyed.
"So what if you won? What's there to—"
She suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Something felt wrong.
"Eh?"
She stared at Sanemi, then slowly turned to Xia Feng.
Xia Feng shrugged helplessly.
She turned back to Sanemi again.
"You… you lost?"
Sanemi's face darkened as he nodded.
"How many times do you want me to repeat it?!"
Shinobu blinked repeatedly.
The information was hard to process.
She turned to Xia Feng with a slightly wronged expression.
"Xia Feng… did you secretly master some powerful sword technique before this?"
After all, Xia Feng had only learned Flower Breathing for a few days.
He hadn't even learned all the forms yet.
There was no way she believed he defeated Sanemi with Flower Breathing.
Xia Feng laughed helplessly.
"What powerful sword technique?"
"I just used Flower Breathing… and Insect Breathing."
Shinobu looked at Sanemi.
Sanemi frowned and nodded impatiently, confirming Xia Feng's words.
Inside, he wished he could disappear.
Earlier, he had picked a fight with Xia Feng simply because he had just repaired his sword and felt like having a spar.
While searching for someone to fight, he noticed the noise of Xia Feng forging and came to take a look.
Then he discovered Xia Feng was a strong swordsman and became excited to fight.
Later he learned Xia Feng's identity…
The series of coincidences made him question whether he was dreaming.
The worst part—
Losing was embarrassing enough.
Now he had to answer Shinobu's endless questions!
Normally he would have left immediately.
But now he needed Xia Feng's help.
And Xia Feng clearly had a close relationship with Shinobu.
So he figured it was best not to offend her.
Before Shinobu could ask more questions, Sanemi quickly turned to Xia Feng.
"Mr. Xia Feng, I'll take my leave."
"We can spar again if there's a chance."
Then he added,
"If you want to find me, just ask any Kakushi member to send word."
After saying that, he nodded to Xia Feng, stepped back a few paces—
And then disappeared like a gust of wind.
A system notification sounded in Xia Feng's mind.
[Sanemi Shinazugawa's Affection Increased — Level: Recognition]
[Reward: Silver Card Draw ×1]
Xia Feng paused.
He had previously assumed the system only rewarded female affection.
Apparently, it worked for men too.
But with someone like Shinobu, he could gradually raise affection all the way to Diamond rewards.
If that happened with men…
And the relationship reached "romance" level…
Xia Feng felt chills run down his spine.
That was absolutely unacceptable!
Still, male characters probably had their own bond progression system that was not related to romance.
Xia Feng didn't worry about it.
He had never been overly obsessed with system rewards.
If he got them, great.
If not, he could simply grow stronger through training.
After all, in this world he was already strong enough to survive.
Everyone stared at the direction Sanemi had disappeared.
They were still struggling to process what had happened.
Shinobu looked at Xia Feng like she was seeing him for the first time.
"Xia Feng… Mr. Shinazugawa actually used honorific speech toward you just now," she said in surprise.
The surrounding swordsmiths also looked stunned.
Of course, their expressions were hidden behind their masks.
"He just needs my help with something," Xia Feng said casually.
"More importantly, let's go eat something."
"I've been working all day. I'm starving."
He stretched lazily.
Looking at him now, no one would believe that he had just defeated the Wind Hashira in a duel.
Shinobu noticed the sword in his hand but didn't say anything.
She simply nodded and returned with him toward their residence.
Before entering the courtyard, Xia Feng glanced at Haganezuka, who had followed them all the way.
"Haganezuka, please tell the village chief that I'll come tomorrow to borrow the training puppet."
Haganezuka nodded.
"Alright!"
He was still immersed in the forging knowledge Xia Feng had shown him.
To fully digest everything he had learned, he felt it might take months.
After returning to the residence, Xia Feng used the Silver reward.
[Drawing…]
[Congratulations! You obtained Silver Skill: Iron Body]
[Iron Body: One of the Navy Six Powers. Greatly increases the hardness of a part of the body, comparable to steel, but you cannot move while using it.]
A turtle-shell skill… Xia Feng thought instinctively.
Then he grinned.
But I like it.
🌟 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.