Chapter Forty-Seven: Armament Haki, Finally Achieved [First Update]

The sword in Shu Mingyuan’s hand gradually lost its electric glow. The wound on Alfred’s neck widened swiftly, and a torrent of hot blood gushed out, staining the ice beneath his feet. The young man casually tossed aside his ruined sword, and behind him, Alfred collapsed onto his back. The pirates of this frigid hell all drew in sharp breaths.

“How is this possible? Alfred, a renowned swordsman, has been defeated? Could this brat be a swordmaster as well?”

“He’s terrifying. When did such a fearsome man appear on these seas? Pirates with bounties of three hundred million have fallen to him one by one.”

“Swordsmanship, fire, lightning, the ability to grow in size, and he’s a master of the Six Styles too—how many more abilities is he hiding?”

Shu Mingyuan stood with his eyes closed, carefully sensing the changes within his body. In truth, after closely observing the flow of Haki within Alfred, he had gained some insight. Yet with a swordsman of that caliber by his side, he had been forced to focus all his attention on the fight.

Suddenly, a tingling sensation surged from deep within his flesh, quickly followed by intense swelling pain. His expression changed; the agony, as if searing his very soul, made his body tremble uncontrollably until at last he collapsed in the snow, wracked by convulsions.

“Hey? That kid did get hurt after all?”

“I told you, killing a swordmaster always comes at a price.”

“Let’s hope he dies right here, hahahaha!”

Faint traces of an unfamiliar energy began to stir between his flesh, bones, skin, and organs—something distinct from the chakra in his meridians, a unique force coursing throughout his body, generated from within and ultimately nourishing his own flesh.

“So this is Haki?” Shu Mingyuan thought through the agony. He didn’t know what others experienced when awakening Haki, but if it was always this excruciating, it was no wonder that, outside the monsters of the New World, so few could wield it.

After all, the starting point was so high and the process so arduous; if one couldn’t endure this pain, all efforts would be in vain.

The pain raged on; he didn’t know how much time passed before it finally receded, replaced by a cool sensation as though his body had broken free from invisible shackles. Power and freedom flooded his senses, leaving him feeling better than ever before.

With a nimble kip-up, he sprang to his feet, startling the onlooking pirates.

“He’s still alive? And he doesn’t look hurt at all?”

He gazed at his palm, where a faint, strange aura coiled.

That aura was Armament Haki.

“Armament... Hardening!”

With a thought, Shu Mingyuan willed the aura to grow denser, the black gleam deepening. He tried to compress the Haki, pushing it to the point of hardening.

Buzz!

The Haki’s color turned pitch-black, forming a patch of darkened skin in his palm. But before it could fully adhere, it scattered again, returning to a swirling black mist. He tried several times—Haki could wrap around his body, but true hardening remained out of reach.

“So this is just the first awakening—insufficient strength and control. I can only manage basic wrapping, not hardening yet,” he murmured, but since he had awakened Haki, reaching hardening was only a matter of time. Given his training speed, it likely wouldn’t take long before he could wield it in battle.

Once Haki could harden, perhaps even to the point of covering his internal organs, then even opening all Eight Gates might not kill him. This was why he so urgently needed Haki: opening the Gates without sufficient physical strength was a death sentence, but with Haki reinforcing his body, the risk vanished.

“So, the next step is to train Armament Haki,” he sighed, then, under the startled gazes of the pirates, dusted himself off and headed back into his cell.

“Did I see that right? Was that Haki just now? But he couldn’t use it before—how did he suddenly...”

“Don’t tell me the rumors are true, that he really can copy abilities after seeing others use them?”

Shu Mingyuan ignored the chatter, focusing solely on his newly awakened Haki. From nothing to something, from wrapping to hardening—he explored every nuance.

For half a month, he left his cell only twice, each time returning with a slain war-wolf for food. All other moments were devoted to mastering Haki.

He progressed from wrapping small areas to enveloping his entire body, then to coating objects. He found that whenever Haki was active, his strength increased by about twenty percent.

Armament Haki had two steps: wrapping and hardening.

He had mastered wrapping, but hardening still eluded him. At each critical moment, he felt something was missing.

“Is it a lack of cohesion, or is my own strength insufficient? Or perhaps both?” he wondered aloud.

After half a month, he watched as his Haki spun in his palm, faster and faster, until it condensed into a tiny black dot.

Stunned, Shu Mingyuan stared at the dot. With his senses, he realized it had shifted from a gaseous to a solid state.

“As I thought!”

His Haki surged, spreading from that black speck as dark light crept outward, forming a layer like hardened black iron tightly clinging to his skin, eventually covering his entire hand.

“So it’s done?” he rejoiced inwardly. After a month of relentless effort, Armament Haki had finally hardened, thanks to a single spark of inspiration.

“Let’s test its power.”

Drawing a deep breath, he clenched his fist, feeling a surge of unprecedented strength and a near doubling of his defensive capability. If an opponent couldn’t break his Haki, they couldn’t harm him at all.

He struck with a mighty punch.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion rocked the cell—the ice beneath shattered, and even the surrounding walls collapsed.

“This strength... nearly twice as much! The gap between hardening and wrapping is enormous. No wonder those without Haki or Devil Fruit powers can’t survive in the New World—the boost is simply overwhelming.”

But from now on, this power was his.

After three months, Shu Mingyuan had mastered the Six Styles, swordsmanship, and Armament Haki. His journey to Impel Down could be called flawless.

Now, all that remained was Observation Haki.

Narrowing his eyes, he stared out from the ruins toward the other cells.

PS: [Thanks to the reader for the reward of 688 book coins, and to Huang Gaolang, Reader 119**, Red Lips Little Wen, Reader 116**, Rabbit of Brother Jiu Ji, Divine Emperor Shitian, Snow Still So Desolate, Dreamlike Heavenly Fox, Giving Up Is Also a Stance, Light Touch, Chu Changyi, Mad Little Dog, Don’t Know, After the Splendor Only Echoes Remain, Time, and Dustless for the recommendation tickets! Please bookmark, reward, and recommend. You can also ask questions in the book; I’ve changed it so you only need 20 book coins per question. I will answer them all!]