Three months later.
The first half of the Grand Line, Lulucca Island.
On a cliff near the sea, Sephiroth sat cross-legged, eyes closed, the butcher knife resting on his knees.
He unleashed his Observation Haki, using the spatial perception of the butcher knife to sense changes within a ten-kilometer radius.
For the past three months, Sephiroth had spent most of his time on this cliff, maintaining a meditative posture like an ascetic monk. He wanted to find the Rainbow Mist as quickly as possible and return to his original timeline. He only slept four hours a day and replenished his life force. He used the butcher knife's spatial perception to search for traces of the Rainbow Mist.
Hours of daily meditation seemed to have completely integrated the butcher knife with him...
Years ago, he'd reached the state of 'man and sword as one.' He treated the sword as an extension of his arm, and his swordsmanship reached an extremely meticulous level.
However...
Sephiroth felt as if he had now touched a realm even more profound and ethereal than 'man and sword as one.'
After much thought, he suddenly recalled something he'd unintentionally heard in his previous life.
Swordsmanship could be divided into three realms:
The first was having a sword in hand but no sword in heart, focusing on specific moves and forms.
The second was having a sword in hand and a sword in heart, the so-called 'man and sword as one,' practicing sword energy.
The third was having no sword in hand and no sword in heart, a state of great emptiness and peace. This third type was considered the highest realm of swordsmanship.
Currently, Sephiroth hadn't comprehended the true meaning of 'no sword in hand and no sword in heart.'
However, he had achieved the level of 'no sword in hand and a sword in heart.'
Before this, he needed to hold the butcher knife to perceive the surrounding spatial changes. But now, he could do so without touching it. At close range, he could merge with the will of the sword and directly use its spatial perception ability!
Suddenly!
In Sephiroth's perception, a spatial distortion appeared eight kilometers away.
Whoosh!
A red light flashed. The butcher knife was unsheathed, cutting open a spatial folding Door. Sephiroth's black wings unfurled from his back. He flapped his wings and instantly passed through the spatial Door, appearing before the Rainbow Mist eight kilometers away, and plunged into it without hesitation.
The familiar misty space was still filled with a strong sense of distortion and chaos.
Soaring in mid-air, Sephiroth flapped his black wings and found a shipwreck in this alternate space to land on.
The alternate space of the Rainbow Mist wasn't very large. Sephiroth's Observation Haki, which could cover a radius of fifteen kilometers, completely enveloped it.
Although the dense fog in the air interfered and made his perception somewhat blurry, he could still sense every stranded ship.
Having learned from the previous experience of sitting and waiting for three months, Sephiroth wasn't sure how long he would stay in this alternate space, nor did he know how many times he would need to try to find the pattern of this space.
Because the butcher knife needed to be regularly replenished with life force to continuously use the power of the Door-Door Fruit and maintain his personal space. That space contained a pile of Devil Fruits, research materials, and other important items he couldn't abandon. Coupled with Sephiroth himself needing life force to maintain his physical state...
This meant he couldn't stay in this alternate space for extended periods. He needed to go out regularly to replenish his life force to sustain the consumption!
That wasn't to say that Sephiroth couldn't replenish his life force in this alternate space.
After all, fish still existed in the deep sea of this alternate space, and he could catch fish by fishing to replenish his life force.
However, this method was simply too inefficient...
Of course, if he could catch a Sea King, he could absorb hundreds of years of life force at once.
But...
Where would he find so many Sea Kings in this broken place?
Furthermore, fishing and catching a Sea King... what kind of fishing skill would that require?
If he couldn't catch a Sea King, he couldn't possibly jump into the sea, could he?
Although Sephiroth prided himself on his strength, having reached the top-tier combat power in this world...
But...
He still couldn't overcome the weakness that seawater rendered Devil Fruit users powerless!
If Sephiroth dared to dive directly into the sea, the seawater could drown him alive...
Therefore, he began to search for usable supplies in this alternate space—food, treasure, anything he thought could be used. He gradually collected them and piled them up in one place.
....
Twenty days later.
On the deck of a stranded warship, Sephiroth sat on a small stool. In front of him was a whetstone, and in his hand was a blue-black saber that hadn't been sharpened yet, slowly grinding the blade.
On the blade of this saber, patterns resembling red blood vessels spread, giving the blade an eerie beauty.
Even though it hadn't been sharpened, this sword still emitted a fierce aura, like a ferocious beast that had broken free from the bottomless abyss!
This sword was a weapon he began forging after crafting the 'kill intent' sword of the Supreme Grade Swords rank. It took him over two years, and he still used the blood refining method...
Kouzaburou had once said he couldn't forge a cursed sword that could absorb life force and convert it into Armament Haki. Sephiroth was troubled by this for a long time.
However, he suddenly remembered the attributes of the Shichiseiken. It seemed capable of seizing life force for its own use, healing its own injuries, and providing great power to the user!
Years ago, Sephiroth had specifically researched the material composition of the Shichiseiken. He discovered that a certain mineral in its composition wasn't found on the Pirate King's planet.
Based on his analysis, he speculated that the substance was a special component extracted from extraterrestrial meteorites. The ancient Aska Kingdom had used this material to forge the Shichiseiken, which possessed this special power!
Therefore, Sephiroth used the broken blade of the Shichiseiken as material for forging, hoping to create a weapon that could absorb the user's life force...
Unexpectedly, his attempt was successful!
This saber, which hadn't yet been sharpened, had gained the attribute of absorbing life force.
Once he finished the final steps, like sharpening, it would be a brand new 'butcher knife'!
Suddenly!
Sephiroth's movements paused. He turned to glance in a certain direction in the distance.
Immediately, he quickly packed up his things, drew the butcher knife from his waist, opened a spatial Door, and stepped directly through it.
.........
Sea Calendar 1469.
On the surging Blue Sea, a three-masted sailboat with a bull skull figurehead, flying a black flag with a bull skull on its mast, sailed straight towards Lulucca Island.
"Bring Binks' Sake to your side; Like the sea breeze, do as you please, sailing through the waves! On the other side of the sea, the sunset is also noisy; The birds' song draws circles in the air; Farewell, harbor, land of silk; Let's sing a song! A song of departure; Golden waves and silver waves, also turn into splashing water; We leave, only for the sea; Bring Binks' Sake to your side; We Pirates, cleave through the waves; Pillowing on the waves, home is on the ship; Skull sail and skull flag, flying in the wind; Under the boundless sky, fierce winds blow; Waves dance, drums beat; If you tremble, you'll be finished; It's not that there isn't, tomorrow's morning sun..."
On the deck of the pirate ship, a group of pirates held musical instruments. They played with abandon, completely immersed in the music.
A spatial Door quietly opened, and Sephiroth stepped out, standing on the crow's nest of the main mast of the sailboat. He leaned on the railing, turned his head, and glanced at the black skull flag fluttering in the wind beside him.
Hmm!? What's going on...?
These guys actually have such a high level of musical perfor...
The guys on this ship should be called a music troupe instead of a pirate crew...
To make Uta happy, Sephiroth had learned a lot of music-related knowledge, and he could play many instruments, in addition to being a plagiarist.
With just a piece of music, he could tell that most of these people were professional musicians, and some of them even had master-level musical skills...
Originally, after Sephiroth had just come out of the Rainbow Mist, he perceived a ship on the sea through his Observation Haki.
He had stayed in the alternate space of the Rainbow Mist by himself for too long, and his reserved life force had also been consumed quite a bit.
He thought that if he encountered a pirate crew, he would drain the life force of all those guys and then kill them all...
However, after seeing the scene on the deck below, Sephiroth felt a little confused.
He patiently sheathed the butcher knife, sat down in the crow's nest, rested his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.
He planned to wait for the group of people below to finish playing this song before asking questions...