Chapter 55: Practicing the Six Powers

Executing the Life Return technique, he tried his utmost to extract the energy from the Seastone-class beast meat he had swallowed, rapidly diffusing this energy throughout his entire body.

Not only could this quickly restore his stamina and heal his injuries, but it also enhanced the sturdiness of his physical body.

Afterward, he exchanged for all the remaining Six Powers techniques, including the Iron Body.

Although CP agents had a reputation for dying while using the Iron Body, that was merely due to protagonist plot armor.

In the early eras before the concept of Haki was introduced, the defensive prowess of the Iron Body was plain for all to see.

Could anyone truly claim that the Sand-Sand Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit were worthless just because Luffy, who hadn't even unlocked Gear Second at the time, managed to defeat Crocodile and Enel?

The advanced level of the Iron Body allowed for movement, and when combined with Armament Haki, it would drastically boost one's defense in battles where dodging was impossible.

Each basic skill of the Six Powers cost only a thousand points, but their extended techniques required ten thousand points.

He began practicing the Six Powers within the shop. He had trained in these techniques in his past life, so he was well-acquainted with their tricks and secrets.

Outside the door, the gathering zombies continued to multiply as they devoured the corpses of fallen zombies on the ground.

Ao Xin practiced for two hours, and once he gained a certain feel for it, he stepped outside to battle these zombies.

To master the Six Powers more quickly, he even left his steel whip behind on the shop's sofa without carrying it.

Instead, he tried his best to use the untaught Finger Pistol and Tempest Kick for his attacks.

Paper Art might look similar to Observation Haki, but in reality, they were quite different.

Observation Haki involved perceiving attacks outside of one's field of vision and then dodging them.

Paper Art, however, allowed the body to dodge automatically through the flow of air currents.

Simply put, dodging with Observation Haki required conscious thought, whereas Paper Art was completely automated.

He tried his best to sense the flow of air currents, allowing his body to react instinctively to them. Whenever an attack was truly unavoidable, he would activate his immature Iron Body.

Possessing a physical body tempered to the Bronze-Skin and Iron-Bone realm, he didn't need to worry about being injured by zombies, even though his mastery over each technique was still at the beginner stage.

The gathered zombies grew increasingly numerous, and when his stamina was on the verge of exhaustion, he would trigger his Dragon Transformation, instantly slaughtering all these ordinary zombies in a flash.

Then, he would return to the shop to rest.

He would exchange for Seastone-class beast barbecue and quickly digest it using Life Return; this was far safer and quicker in terms of recovery capability than plain water-meat.

After resting for a while, zombies would once more gather outside, and he would head back out to use them to practice the Six Powers.

As night fell, after slaying the very last zombie, he used furniture from the furniture store to block the main entrance, found a relatively intact large bed, and lay down to sleep.

The next morning, waking amidst the morning glow, he consumed a large chunk of Seastone-class beast barbecue, then got up and cleared away the furniture blocking the entrance of the furniture store.

Just as he moved it aside, a zombie lying flat on the ground devouring zombie meat let out a howl, leaped up, and lunged directly at him.

"Iron Body!"

Without triggering his Dragon Transformation, he activated the Iron Body instead. Just to be safe, he added a layer of Armament Haki to defend against the zombie's claws.

Clang!

It sounded like the striking of gold and iron.

Ao Xin was overjoyed; the Iron Body was already showing initial results!

He already possessed a body as tough as bronze and iron, and coupled with the experience from his past life, his speed in practicing the Iron Body was naturally extremely fast!

Of course, the most crucial factor was the physical reinforcement he had undergone via Life Return; otherwise, it would have taken him much longer to master.

Extending his index finger, he thrust it forward in an instant, "Finger Pistol!"

His index finger poked against the zombie's chest, sending a sharp pain through his finger without managing to pierce through the corpse's chest.

The force of the finger and the toughness of the finger bones still required further training.

Pulling back his finger and shaking his hand, he applied Armament Haki hardening and struck out with the Finger Pistol once more.

His finger no longer hurt, but it still failed to puncture the zombie's skin and flesh.

This move required years and years of grinding the ten fingers, combined with special force-generating techniques and speed, to reach the point where a finger could function like a gun.

In fact, when trained to the highest level, one could even strike the air directly with the fingers, shooting out air bullets resembling the Tempest Kick.

Much like the Six Meridians Divine Sword.

That truly lived up to the name of a finger "pistol"!

To strengthen his fingers more rapidly, he reduced the Armament Haki hardening on his fingers. Although every poke sent sharp pain shooting through him, it remained within a tolerable range.

With the experience of the Shave technique at his feet, his kicking speed was very fast, but still not enough.

The Tempest Kick required ultra-high speed and tremendously powerful kicking techniques to whip up the air and generate a slashing blade.

His current kicking speed had not yet reached that level.

However, even though he couldn't unleash a Tempest Kick, his extremely rapid leg speed was still sufficient to shatter the bones of the flesh-zombies.

After a night of catalytic evolution, although one flesh-zombie had evolved into a stiff corpse, none had yet reached the level of furry corpses, so he simply used them to train in the Six Powers.

He neither used Dragon Transformation nor the steel whip, and even minimized his use of Armament Haki.

His body was growing stronger at a rapid pace.

Finally, when the all-over body aches became completely unbearable, he kicked this stiff corpse away, transformed into a dragon, and flew up to the rooftop.

He exchanged for Seastone-class beast roast meat, directed his consciousness deep into his fingers and flesh, and activated Life Return. The painful areas rapidly lost their swelling.

In their place was a greater thickness and resilience.

After resting for a brief moment, he leaped down from the rooftop and resumed combat.

Repeating this routine, he fought here for three whole days!

Due to his lacking attack power, that particular stiff corpse had still not been killed.

In fact, over these past few days, three more flesh-zombies had evolved into stiff corpses. Although his own progress was immense, the enemies he faced were correspondingly stronger!

Haki was an extension of stamina. Even though he didn't actively use Haki, the strengthening of his physical body naturally elevated his Haki along with it.

He could feel that his strength had at least doubled compared to when he had first arrived here!

Hah!

With a loud shout! He thrust out his index finger, instantly piercing the chest of the stiff corpse before him and snapping its breastbone!

The Finger Pistol had also achieved preliminary mastery!

If combined with the dragon claws after a Dragon Transformation, the might of the Finger Pistol would become even more formidable!

Shave!

Materializing behind another zombie as if by teleportation, he lifted his leg and kicked out. The air emitted a sonic boom from the kick, yet it still lacked a blade of compressed air.

With a single kick, he knocked this stiff corpse to the ground, followed by a Finger Pistol to pierce straight through the back of its head.

However, that was not enough; he delivered consecutive Finger Pistol thrusts to thoroughly destroy its skull.

A powerful attack arrived from beside him, accompanied by an increasingly violent rush of air.

He had already sensed this attack using Observation Haki, but there were zombies surrounding his body on all sides, leaving nowhere to dodge.

Yet his body twisted in a bizarre manner, its flexibility resembling that of a giant serpent!

It was Paper Art!

Jumping up, his muscles instantly bulged and hardened. Without using Armament Haki, he relied purely on his physical body to withstand the attack of a stiff corpse from behind.

Canceling the Iron Body, he spun around and kicked out, exploding the bodies of three zombies. At the same time, the fingers of both hands thrust forward simultaneously, driving deep into the skull of the stiff corpse behind him. Then, curving his hands into claws, he tore outward, snapping the stiff corpse's skull right down the middle!

He was like a god of war, slaughtering these zombies with his bare hands.

In the distance, people hiding inside the building floors witnessed this scene and were left gaping in utter astonishment.

Without utilizing any Devil Fruit ability, and even without any weapons, relying solely on his physical body to slaughter zombies as if cutting down dogs?

"Is this the legendary Azure Dragon big shot? They all said he was only this strong because of his Fruit, but it turns out that even without his Fruit, he remains just as terrifying!"