Chapter 37: The Heart of the Strong

“Understood, Master. I will definitely work even harder from now on.” Kuina immediately straightened her little face and replied loudly.

As expected, in her master’s eyes, her fundamentals were quite poor! Calling them average was definitely just to encourage her.

Her master was so good to her—he never forgot to encourage her, even at times like this.

What a wonderful teacher—not only handsome, but also so considerate. Although he had quite a few shortcomings, his strengths far outweighed them.

[Kuina’s respect for you +5]

Tang Shen’s eyes widened. What on earth? Why did the system notification just chime?

He was clearly criticizing her, so why did her respect for him go up?

He hadn’t meant that at all, had he? If it’s this easy, he might just get carried away!!

Still, this proved his method of criticism wasn’t wrong. This was the way to motivate her, and in the process, make her respect him more. Truly, he was so clever.

“Come! Continue practicing the horse stance on your own. Adjust yourself—today your posture must be up to standard before we move on to the next step. Remember, from now on, you must get up every morning at dawn to practice.” Tang Shen immediately instructed.

There could be no relaxation, no slacking off. As a teacher, he had to be strict. Only a strict teacher produces excellent students.

This was an absolute truth.

“Yes, Teacher!” Kuina instantly sprang to her feet, jumped onto the wooden stake, and resumed her horse stance training.

She cast a sidelong glance at the other trainees running in the morning sun, her eyes tinged with a strange expression. She, too, used to do morning exercises every day, but at best, it just got her body warmed up. True warm-ups required a lot of movement. Yet this horse stance her master taught—just one posture—had a completely different effect.

Not only did it thoroughly warm up her body, but as she held the position longer, her stamina plummeted rapidly.

Moreover, the sensation of her body heating up was quite different from the effect of strenuous exercise.

Of course, this was only her current impression.

“You’re distracted. Focus,” Tang Shen’s calm voice rang out.

Kuina immediately jolted, hastily cleared her mind, and adjusted her posture from memory. For some reason, she always felt that the calmer her master’s tone, the more intimidating he became.

Seeing how quickly she got back into form, Tang Shen was satisfied and once again corrected her minor mistakes.

Once the horse stance becomes muscle memory, most of these little issues resolve themselves with enough practice.

However, Tang Shen had no intention of giving Kuina too much time to adjust. After all, her foundation was already quite solid, and her physical condition was impressive. Now, she just needed to master this posture.

The real training would follow.

This basic exercise was only suitable for the truly ordinary. To further solidify Kuina’s foundation, she’d need much more advanced training—far more difficult than this.

Of course, the horse stance was the very foundation. Only after mastering it could one proceed to the next step.

Many of the trainees at Isshin Dojo were stealing curious glances her way. Some ran past, eyes wide with curiosity, keen to see what she was doing.

Right now, Kuina was the strongest person in the dojo apart from Head Instructor Koshiro. Every move she made attracted attention.

Simply put, in this world, strength drew attention.

Tang Shen, of course, noticed but did nothing to stop it. He simply watched calmly.

Only when Kuina’s movements grew unnatural and her breathing changed did he speak slowly, “Kuina, the strong will always be watched and admired by others. Those who reach the pinnacle are loneliest of all. Not only are they powerful, but their hearts are as hard as steel. The path of the strong is filled with hardships—it could even be said it’s paved with mountains of corpses and seas of blood. If you want to walk this path, strength can be trained and realized at your own pace, but you must possess a powerful heart—one unafraid, undaunted, and unyielding. A strong heart is not just about determination, but also about facing everyone you meet, whether foe or stranger, enduring their ridicule, contempt, curiosity, or disdain. You must get used to this, ignore it, and eventually become indifferent to it. If your resolve to become the world’s greatest swordswoman is shaken simply by the stares of the weak, then your resolve is far too fragile. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Kuina’s body instantly stiffened, her expression shifting, but soon the discomfort faded. A look of resolute determination flickered in her eyes as she replied earnestly, “I understand, Master.”

Indeed! If her resolve wavered just because of the gazes of the weak, what kind of resolve was that?

Wouldn’t her dream of becoming the world’s greatest swordswoman be nothing more than a joke?

She was still too weak. Harboring such a distant, seemingly unattainable dream, yet she was so self-conscious about others’ gazes, just because her posture was awkward, embarrassing, or undignified?

On the path to power, she was still troubled by such thoughts.

How fragile she must be!

“A dreamer with a strong heart is what I call a young pursuer of dreams. But a fantasist with no such heart is merely a clown in the theater of life,” Tang Shen’s voice rang out, calm yet thunderous in Kuina’s ears. “The pursuer of dreams, no matter how battered and bruised, will not stop moving forward, because they never doubt themselves. The clown, on the other hand, is nothing more than fodder for idle gossip at social gatherings, a topic for others’ amusement.”

A seed had been planted deep in Kuina’s heart by Tang Shen—one after another—awaiting the day when it would be watered and take root, growing not just into a towering tree, but a whole forest.

Her breathing grew steady and rhythmic, her chest rising and falling.

Though her appearance was still childish, it now revealed a trace of determination. There was no awkwardness left in her eyes—only calm and seriousness, fully immersed in her own world.

Tang Shen nodded with satisfaction. It seemed his words had not been in vain.

Of course, he didn’t expect Kuina to understand it all at once—no one could. True strength is forged through battle and despair, through experience and trial by fire, hammered again and again like steel in a furnace, until one becomes truly unyielding.

Without such experience, there is no true strength—he had only planted a seed.

As a teacher, he too could not slack off. Just this morning’s horse stance had cost him five points of stamina, which he found quite surprising. It was the first time in the game he’d lost stamina not by fighting monsters, but by training.

He bent his knees slightly and leaped up. Somehow, training in this world felt rather exhilarating.

Not far from the wooden stakes, a figure stood—when he had arrived, no one knew. He appeared frail yet refined, and as steady as a mountain. From behind his glasses, his eyes shone with a terrifying brilliance, for he had listened to every word Tang Shen had spoken to Kuina…