Never in his life had G.S.D witnessed such an anomaly.
It was already unheard of for an ordinary man to practice the Blood Qi arts—those techniques were the sole domain of berserkers. But what truly unsettled him was that Ryuji bore none of the irreversible scars every practitioner should carry. No blood clots stagnating in his veins, no subtle damage to his lungs or heart. His body was… unblemished.
That was impossible.
Even the greatest prodigies, no matter how careful, suffered injury from channeling such primal, violent power. Only Ghost Swordsmen, through the curse of Khazan's demon hand, could ward off some of the damage. Yet even they accumulated scars.
But Ryuji defied every condition. It was as though he had never once stumbled in his practice—yet the mastery he displayed was unmistakably born from years of training.
"Inconceivable… truly inconceivable," G.S.D muttered, stroking his beard. "Live long enough, and one will see everything, it seems."
Most Ghost Swordsmen who sought him out were driven by vengeance. Those men threw themselves headlong into extremity, embracing the savagery of Blood Qi in pursuit of strength. Few survived. Fewer still ever reached Ryuji's level.
Ryuji gave a wry smile. "What? Am I really so strange?"
He knew he was. The Blood Qi within him flowed differently than in other berserkers. Without certain…medkits, he would have died countless times already. That much he understood.
"Yes. If you were an ordinary berserker, your current mastery would allow you to call yourself a Blood Evil. Your Blood Qi alone is strong enough to suppress most others. But because you have never absorbed foreign blood to bolster your own, your power falls short of that title."
"Blood Evil" — a level most berserkers never approached.
The typical path was clear: kill, absorb the blood essence of stronger foes, and pit one's will against the invading chaos. Time and again, a berserker wrestled free of death by crushing alien blood beneath his own. Their reward was terrifying might—Blood Qi that could drown hundreds of lesser streams, strength that could drain a man dry with a single cut.
Ryuji, however, was different. His Blood Qi remained pure, untainted. A blessing that spared him self-destruction—but one that also denied him the berserker's explosive surges of strength.
Strictly speaking, both paths had their own strengths and weaknesses. In G.S.D's eyes, Ryuji's method could indeed be called the "orthodox" way, but it was far too difficult—and the power it yielded was nowhere near that of a berserker who devoured blood-qi.
Yet it was undeniably safer… a kind of safety that came at a great cost.
Ryuji's path offered no way to gain power in the short term. Unlike berserkers, he had none of that terrifying explosive force nor their seemingly endless stamina.
The reason was simple: until Ryuji's own blood-qi reached a certain overwhelming strength, he could not absorb the qi of others without risking corruption of his own. If he attempted it prematurely, all his efforts would be ruined in an instant.
But once he took the next step, his road forward would be remarkably smooth.
He could advance directly to a stage that, until now, had existed only as theory—something no berserker had ever survived long enough to reach.
Bloodburn.
It was the technique a berserker used when they wished to dominate foreign blood-qi with their own. They would ignite their very life force, burning it ceaselessly to temper and refine their blood-qi, strengthening body and spirit alike.
But this step was one of near-impossible danger.
Once bloodburn began, it could not be stopped until one's blood-qi and body reached their current absolute limit. Until then, the burning would continue without mercy.
The risks were not only the obvious—that a single misstep could reduce one's body to ashes—but also far worse.
During this process, every trace of foreign blood-qi inside a berserker's body would ignite as well, clashing violently with their own and transforming into a living blood-qi bomb.
But Ryuji bore no such risk. His blood-qi was wholly his own, entirely under his command. He could enter bloodburn safely, enduring the agony while still retaining the ability to halt it at will. No fear of detonation.
His blood-qi was stable, unlike the volatile, explosive fuel that most berserkers carried within them.
His strength could increase without end.
As long as he kept burning his blood, he could continue to grow stronger!
Yet it was not without peril. Though he would not explode like other berserkers, if he misjudged and burned away too much of his life force, he could wither into weakness—or even die.
At this stage, the difference between the two paths narrowed considerably.
Still, though G.S.D now understood how Ryuji's path unfolded, he could not fathom how the young man managed to refine his blood-qi so purely without dying of malnutrition or deficiency. On the contrary, Ryuji looked healthier and stronger than ever.
No…
G.S.D's perception shifted toward Ryuji's kidneys and prostate.
There were signs of overuse there, slight damage from… excessive exertion.
This only left the old master more bewildered.
That meant Ryuji was lustful, indulgent—and yet, how could a man who wasted so much essence still possess such robust qi and blood?
For the first time, G.S.D found himself at a loss for words when asked about Ryuji's practice.
"Your path…" He hesitated. "It's difficult for me to judge. I can only say this—very likely, it is a path that belongs to you alone."
After a pause, he voiced his final assessment.
"I believe that anyone else who tried to imitate you would die a miserable death."
Ryuji already knew this. But what mattered to him was that G.S.D clearly understood what his next step should be.
He leaned forward, bowing low and asked solemnly:
"Then… what if I wish to go advance further?"
"That…" G.S.D's voice tightened. "That is very dangerous."
But when he remembered how this boy had already mastered such an impossible blood-qi technique, he set aside his doubts.
"Do you know of bloodburn?"
"Bloodburn?"
"Yes. A method of burning one's blood again and again, purifying the qi, and strengthening the body to its utmost."
Ryuji recalled the term. He had read it in the descriptions of berserkers who underwent their second awakening. His own blood-qi technique, by contrast, didn't even carry the ominous name of "Blood Evil."
"In essence, blood-qi arts don't change much," G.S.D explained. "It's simply different ways of strengthening oneself. And if you seek to refine your qi… bloodburn is the fastest way. But it is also the most painful. Do you truly wish to learn it?"
Ryuji did not hesitate for a single heartbeat.
"Yes."
~~~~~~~~~~
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