It's 3 a.m. It is still dark outside, but the man and woman have awakened from their joyful night. All that's left is awkwardness, Ryo also feels worried for his future. Kasumi suddenly gets out of bed and asks Ryo:

"You still have my headband?"

"Yes, it is in my gi.", Ryo answers as he points to his Karate uniform hanged on the wall.

"I've said everything I need to say.", Kasumi says. "I don't have a reason to meet you anymore. I'm taking that headband back."

Kasumi did say that the headband was her excuse to meet Ryo again.

"I was not disciplined enough and committed a terrible sin.", Ryo says. "As a Karateka, it is my loss. I'll return that headband to you."

Kasumi does not say another word. She picks up her headband from the gi of "The Invincible Dragon" and walks away, leaving the man she loves alone in the dark room.


5 a.m. Ryo enters the dojo hall and does his usual training routine. At 7 a.m, he hears King informing him that Kasumi has left.

"She left this letter before leaving.", King says. "The letter says that she has finally defeated you and she has fulfilled her wish. Did she really?"

Ryo feels ashamed for what he did last night, he does not say a word. The Karateka wants to confess his affair, however he cannot because of the fear of losing his wife. He only slightly nods his head.

King has never seen her husband being so depressed. Ryo has been in countless battles, regardless of victory or defeat, this man has always been cheerful and optimistic after every fight. She guesses that with what was happening yesterday, his mentality was not at its peak, a loss at such a crucial moment is probably more devastating to him than it should be. She could never imagine the real reason was that her husband was feeling guilty of having an affair with one of her best friends.

Ryo stays silence for a while. He tries to find a word, to confess about what he did with Kasumi, but he has yet to find the right way, or the courage to do so.

"I'm going for a mountain training.", Ryo suddenly says. "I will come back when I'm strong enough."

Yes, his indecisiveness, lack of self-discipline was the reason he could not refuse Kasumi's approach, his cowardice is the reason he cannot face his wife. It is all because his mental is not strong enough. He needs more training. Ryo tells himself, he needs to toughen his spirit to take responsibility for his actions. He does not realize that is merely his excuse to temporarily put off the confession.

"I'm taking the Anh Thư with me.", Ryo says. "Need to straighten her up before she becomes a complete mess like me."

Not knowing the real reason behind his action, King feels amused of her husband's attitude, despite the fact that she still feels upset about him having a child with another woman. She thinks that it may be better to have the girl away before the DNA test comes, regardless of the result, this matter is still too sensitive for a little girl and should be discussed between adults.


Ryo brings Anh Thư in his journey to the Bear Mountain. It is a seclusive mountain, 10km away from South Town. People gave it that name because of how easy to find a bear there, and they are sometimes pretty aggressive against humans, therefore it is still a place with no trace of civilization. It is the perfect location for an old-school martial artists such as Ryo to train their skills and minds.

The father and child stops by big cave. Ryo tells Anh Thư to climb up a tree, while he channels his Ki and lets out a fierce roar. With the immese internal energy that he has cultivated for over 15 years, his roar sounds like an explosion that shakes the wilderness.

"What is it, father?", the girl asks. "Is it "Lion's Roar"? I didn't know there is "Lion's Roar" in Karate."

"No, it is not.", Ryo answers. "That skill is a powerful technique of Buddhist schools. Our Karate probably originated from there, but we strayed of that root a long time ago. What I did was merely implementing Ki into my shout to chase off the beasts in that cave, if there was any."

As the man finishes his speech, a big grizzly bear runs out of the cave. Seeing a human blocking its path, the panicked animal lets out a furious roar and swings it paws in a hurry. While pulling his right leg backward to form a Kokutsu Dachi stance, Ryo performs a Soto Uke when the bear attacks with its right paw, and a Shuto Uke when its left paw strikes. He continues parrying every strike of the bear, using only his left arm. The Karateka has been fighting since he was a teenager, he is familiar with opponents that have superior physicality or power. With fierce yet precise and efficient movements, "The Invincible Dragon" easily overcomes his physical disadvantages.

Seeing its flurry of strikes was useless, the bear makes its ultimate attempt to secure a victory. It stands up on its back feet, trying to overwhelm the human with its giant body. Ryo sees an opening, he channels an immense amount of Ki into his right fist. Ryo makes one big step forward, he lets out a fierce roar while his right punch lands on the middle section of the bear's body. The punch is powerful enough to push the animal off balance, it falls backward while the Karateka retreats with a quick hop.

That punch is Ryo's signature technique, "Tenchi Haoh Ken". If it landed on a human instead of a bear, the victim would have been dead, or at least hospitalized. However the bear's body is thick, that punch knocks it down, but is not powerful enough to kill it. The bear takes a moment to stand up, it takes a look at the person that hit it, then quickly runs away. Although it was not injured, that punch gives the bear a hint that this person can hurt it, and Ryo backing out shows that he is not threatening, therefore the animal chooses the safest route for both of them, peace.

"That cave is now safe for us to use.", Ryo says while waving his hand, telling the girl to leave the tree.

"If it was me, I would have poked its eyes out.", Anh Thư says while jumping off the branch.

"We don't do meaningless killing.", Ryo says. Seeing how the girl move up and down a tree with little effort and remembering how she fought against him, the Karateka realizes that although she was not taught "Yi Yang Finger", his daughter is already familiar with the Hizoku's Light Kungfu. So she was taught about cultivating and controlling Ki. He continues his speech: "If you want meet, we already have enough for a week. If you want more, there is a market 3-hour away, consider it training."

"What if the bear doesn't stop?", the girl says.

"Animals only do things to survive.", Ryo says. "If you let them know targeting you is too much of a risk while giving them a way out, they will choose that way out."

"I'm impressed, father.", Anh Thư says. "You are smarter than you look."

"I've been training in this mountain for years.", Ryo replies. "I know how to survive here. Now show me all the techniques your mother has taught you."

Anh Thư quickly opens her package and picks up a notebook. She gives it to Ryo and says: "Mother wrote it before she took me here. All of my training is in here. She said that if you want to train me, you will find this useful."

"What a thoughtful woman.", Ryo thinks to himself as he receives the notebook. Luan has expected that Ryo would drag the girl to his martial art training, this manual would become a valuable resource to their training sessions. Afterall, training someone who already has a martial art background is different than training a complete newbie.

The Karateka opens the notebook and starts reading. Usually, it is not a good manner to read martial art manuals of other schools, however as Luan has given him permission, he can read it without any sense of guilt.

The first few pages describe Anh Thư's Ki training sessions. As they begin their martial art training at an early age, children of the Hizoku are taught the methods of cultivating and controlling Ki of Ancient Tomb sect, the ancestor school of today Hizoku clan. Ryo notices the similarities and differences between Ki conditioning methods between his Karate and the Ancient Tomb sect. Both schools have their disciple intergrate slow methodical breathing while doing certain tasks. The differnces is that: In Kyokushin-ryu Karate, Ryo's Ki training is mostly about doing slow yet intense and breathing focused Katas - Sanchin and Hangetsu, then meditation while resting; Meanwhile, in Ancient Tomb sect training, they focus on breathing in the most relaxing forms possible, both in their bodies and minds.

"I've already mastered this Qigong.", Anh Thư says as she sees Ryo reading the beginning of the notebook. "Mother said my internal energy was stable enough, I could move on to practise the Qigong of West Venom sect."

Although she is the Deva of South Emperor sect, Luan begun her training under Lin, the Deva of West Venom. Ryo guesses the woman wants the girl to follow her path. Anh Thư points Ryo to the next section, where it describes the Ki training process of West Venom assassins. The main difference in Ki conditioning between Kyokushin-ryu Karate and Ancient Tomb sect is in how phyisically demanding they are, one is intense, the other is relaxing. However, West Venom sect's Qigong goes with a completely opposite approach in terms of breathing method and the routes that internal energy flows in their system.

These differences reflect the different in the applications of Ki in each discipline. Karate is a very physical style, they develop their physical strength while increasing the prowess of their intenal energy and Ki is a tool to ultilize the potential of the bodies; Ancient Tomb sect was an internal Kungfu created by and for female disciples, they aim for a healthy and balance mind to cultivate and control Qi, using them to improve the efficiency of their bodies' movements. Unlike the way Karate developing Ki to enhance their physical capabilities, Ancient Tomb sect using Qi for swift and effortless movements, the creator of martial arts of West Venom sect, "West Venom" Ouyang Feng, was a master of venom, his training in Qi helped him absorb and store different kinds of poison into his body as well as releasing them whenever he wanted. Because of that purpose, the martial artists inheritting his skills train in an unnatural way, their internal energy flows in an unnatural flow, preventing the poison they absorb from entering their internal organs.

As a Karateka, Ryo's knowledge of Ki is limited, he does not understand the ideas of West Venom sect's unorthodox methods of Ki training. However, even he knows that Ki training is a serious matter, a kid doing so under supervision of a man unfamiliar with the art is too much of a risk. Also, West Venom sect's martial arts use poison to defeat their enemies, Ryo does not want people of his school to train in such vile techniques. The Karateka says:

"I don't understand your mother's martial arts, so you will have to wait for her to come back before continuing training like this. For now, you will train in the art of Kyokugen-ryu Karate."

Ryo then shows her one of the introducing Katas for beginners, Heian Sandan. It is a short Kata with simple yet decisive movements. After seeing her father performs the Kata, the little girl gives him a disappointed look.

"Those techniques are too easy.", she says. "Is there anything more challenging?"

"I knew those movements were easy for you to do.", Ryo says. "However, I did not teach you this Kata because you couldn't do these techniques. The martial art your mother taught you relies on swiftness and effiency, the Karate I will teach you relies on physical strength and stability. This simple Kata intergrates wide, deep stance with fierce and explosive movements of the legs, hip, shoulders and arms, a perfect excercise to condition your body for more advanced techniques."

"This one looks exhausting.", the girl says. "How about exercises to train my Qi?"

"That is the point.", Ryo replies. "Unlike what you've been until now, Karate is much more physically demanding. These Katas are not just to train your techniques, but also to toughen your body and mind. Believe me, the Katas for Ki condition are even more exhausting."

"Show me then.", Anh Thư says, as if she is challenging her father.

Ryo then performs the Hangetsu Kata. Between the 2 Katas specifically for Ki training purposes, Hangetsu has more variety in movements but simplier breathing technique, while Sanchin has less variety in movements but stricter breathing conditions. For a child that has a solid martial art background but not familiar with Karate's explosive movements, Hangetsu is the easier starting Kata to condition their internal energy.

Ryo has finished his Kata. Although it is the lighter one between the 2 Katas that focus on Ki conditioning, Hangetsu, if performed properly, still requires an significant amount of stamina and concentration. After returning to a more comfortable posture, the Karateka takes a deep breath to relax his muscles and re-balance his internal energy.

Ryo then makes Anh Thư repeat his Hangetsu Kata while he stands by and gives instruction on her forms, pace and breathing. Unlike Heian Sandan, which is the Kata focussing on forms and movements to improve techniques and strength, Hangetsu is the Kata to develop internal energy and train the Karateka how to intergrate Ki into their actions. The father and child can take their time correcting and refining the forms in Heian Sandan while training, however Ryo needs Anh Thư to understand Hangetsu thoroughly before seriously picking up this Kata.

After making sure the girl can perform Hangetsu kata without error, Ryo tells the girl:

"Here is your training schedule. You will start with Hangetsu training at 6 a.m everyday. Once you finish the Kata, you will have one minute to relax your body and calm your breathes down, then you'll start Hangetsu again. This repeats for 15 minutes, then you are going to have breakfast. After breakfast, you continue your Hangetsu training for another 30 minutes. Then a 10 minutes break before doing what you've been doing, but instead of Hangetsu, you will be doing Heian Sandan. You can rest after finishing 5 sets of the Kata, the continue until you finished Heinan Sandan at least 20 times. Then you will spar with me until I say stop. You also have to do Hangetsu once before going to sleep at 9 p.m."

"Sparring is nice but repeating these same 2 Katas is boring.", the girl complains.

Ryo laughes as he says: "Before you are bored, you will be exhausted first. But don't worry, I only have you doing these ones to conditioning your body and Ki. Once you are ready, I'll teach you more technical Katas."

The girl is still doubtful about the training routine Ryo gave her. However she still does as he says, and she does it extremely well for a girl her age. During the first few days, Ryo's only critics about her performance is the lack of strength in her movement while doing Heian Sandan, and her willingness to use vile techniques during sparring sections. This is the influence from her Hizoku's martial art background, which Ryo has planned to fix from the beginning. That is why he has her repeating Heian Sandan to strengthen her body, and during their sparring, the Karateka, with his experience and mastery in combat, uses techniques that force the girl to use the orthodox and Karate-ish techniques and discourage her from using the wicked movements of West Venom sect's martial arts.

Anh Thư proves herself to be talented in martial arts, her improvement surprises Ryo. After a few days, she can use Karate techniques much more properly and naturally while intentionally reduce the usage of Hizoku's skills. Her strength, explosiveness and cardio also improve significantly to fit Karate standards.

However, in the 9th day of their training, Anh Thư suddenly collapses while doing Hangetsu. Ryo quickly jumps in to see what has happened. The girl's face is pale and covered with sweat, her body is hot but her face and limbs are cold. This means the balance in her internal energy is broken, there must be something wrong with her Ki training. Ryo is confused, as he has been supervising her training and seen nothing wrong in her training of the Kata.

The Karateka only knows the problem is in her internal energy, however his knowledge in this area is limited. Ryo does not want to take any risk, the best thing he can do now is to ask for someone knowledgeable in Ki. Luckily, in South Town, there are 2 of them, Tung Fu Rue of Hakkyokuseiken and Li Pai Long of Shaolin's Eagle Claw. He carries the girl on his back and starts going back to South Town in a hurry.