The starskiff touched down with a soft hum on the mooring platform. Behind Kanzaki, Xueyi and Hanya stepped off one after another. Their eyes swept across the familiar scenery, and a quiet wave of nostalgia passed through them.
They had left the Xianzhou for only three years on that expedition, yet they had not returned home since it ended. When they counted the time, thirty-five years had slipped by.
"Going home."
Kanzaki stepped forward without another word.
Jingliu followed in silence, her gaze fixed on his broad back. The memory of waking up dozens of days ago rose unbidden in her mind.
When she first opened her eyes, she had seen her Master keeping watch beside her, his face deathly pale. After learning she had slept for decades, she asked how he had cured her. He only answered that he had found an ancient prescription.
Her intuition told her it had not been so simple.
During the long journey back to the Xianzhou, she had often caught the faint scent of blood clinging to him. It seemed to have soaked into his very bones and blood, impossible to wash away. Yet that scent was not repulsive. Instead, it carried a strange, intimate warmth that put her at ease… and drew her in.
She noticed something else. Her Master now carried an aura that intoxicated her. It made her want to draw closer, to press against him with no space left between them. She had to restrain the impulse every time, quietly wondering at its cause.
Was it because he had never given up on saving her across all those decades? Did that mean her place in his heart had already changed?
Was that why she found herself liking him more and more?
She pushed the questions aside. Time would give her the answer.
Her life had been given to her by her Master—more than once. In every lifetime, she would remain by his side.
"Master."
"Hmm?"
"I am only one medium-scale expeditionary battle away from fulfilling the condition you set back then."
Kanzaki paused mid-step and glanced sideways at her.
Jingliu's eyes held a trace of apprehension, as if she feared refusal or reproach.
"No need," he said calmly.
Her heart tightened. She thought he meant to forbid her from returning to the battlefield, and her lips pressed into a thin line.
Before she could find the words to argue, he continued, and the next sentence left her stunned.
"In one hundred and twenty-five days, the 427th Cloud Knights Martial Arts Examination will be held. The winner earns promotion to Valiant Guard. Do you understand?"
Jingliu's eyes lit up instantly. She nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Understood!"
Becoming a Valiant Guard meant gaining the qualification to lead troops on large-scale expeditions. Her Master had not forbidden her from fighting. Instead, he had given her a direct path that bypassed the slow accumulation of experience.
"I will train hard," she said, voice steady with resolve. "I will complete my rehabilitation as quickly as possible and grow stronger."
"Hmm. The previous basic training is no longer sufficient for you," Kanzaki replied. "From now on, the focus shifts to physical tempering. As for the rest…"
He paused, weighing the targets against her current level.
"Accuracy training: deliver ten strikes within two-tenths of a second. Every one must land true. Two hours of agility training every day. I will arrange the venue. After that, regenerative power training. The impact and pressure-resistance ground remains the Great Waterfall. You know the place. When you can swing your sword freely beneath it, you pass. You have three months to complete all of it."
Jingliu had endured harsh training in her youth. Hearing such demanding requirements now stirred no fear in her—only nostalgia and anticipation. This was the Master she knew. Strict. Cold-faced, yet never cold-hearted. He understood her limits and cared for her in his own ungentle way.
It was enough to simply listen to him.
"Yes, Master. But… there seem to be three extra months?"
"In the remaining three months, while maintaining the basic regimen, you will follow me to learn another skill."
"What is it?"
"Folk martial arts. Eight Extremities Fist."
"Yes," Jingliu answered at once.
She had seen that style before—fierce, explosive, every movement capable of crushing foes many times larger than oneself. Without weapons, most Cloud Knights would struggle against Abominations. Those who could tear a Borisin apart with bare hands, as she once had, were rare.
It was not that the Cloud Knights relied too heavily on high-tech armaments. Human energy was simply limited. Her Master had once said that humans were a species gifted in wisdom rather than raw strength. To fight Abominations—whose bodies far surpassed those of most Xianzhou people—without weapons would demand too great a sacrifice.
The Xianzhou Cloud Knights numbered just over five hundred million in total. After filtering through the ranks, perhaps fewer than a million could kill Abominations with their bare hands. This was the limitation of their kind. Even with long lives, their starting point differed from the animalistic families among the Denizens of Abundance. Those creatures possessed fangs, claws, sharp horns, and the ability to wield poison, fire, or lightning. Foxians at least had the advantage of swift reflexes.
In contrast, the people of the Xianzhou, before receiving the blessing of Abundance, had been ordinary humans. They held no extra physical gifts beyond their wisdom. That was why the weapons forged by that wisdom became their greatest strength.
Even among the Borisin, groups like the Zaochi Hunting Pack that excelled at crafting weapons still lagged far behind the Xianzhou in technological level. For Xianzhou people to abandon their advantage and fight barehanded would be no different from striking at an opponent's strength with one's own weakness.
In short—foolish.
No wonder so few chose to temper their bodies through such brutal methods as her Master did. Without a sufficiently strong foundation, even the fiercest folk martial arts could not inflict meaningful damage on Abominations of Abundance.
There were ready examples nearby: the seniors Xueyi and Hanya.
At least… Master had never made them train alongside her before.
"Xueyi and Hanya. The two of you will learn it as well. With your current physical strength, you can already exert lethal force."
Jingliu's expression froze for a split second.
With their current physical strength…?
Did Master also understand Senior Xueyi's body in such detail? She had thought it was only Hanya… It was fine. It was fine.
As long as she was promoted to Valiant Guard and fought alongside her Master, accumulating more military merits, everything would eventually fall into place. Sooner or later, there would be a place for her tenderness in his heart.
After all, she was always by his side. Even if she could not be the first to reach his heart, she would ensure no one else claimed that place.
The two sisters noticed nothing of the turmoil in Jingliu's heart. They simply nodded in agreement without hesitation.
With a clear goal in mind, Jingliu threw herself into rehabilitation training that very day.
She had not expected the results.
She began with her most familiar weighted long-distance run, intending to cover a thousand li as a warm-up. Instead, she reached a top speed of eight hundred li per hour. Thirty-five years ago, that number had been only three hundred. Even without weights, she had only been able to approach five hundred li per hour for short bursts.
No wonder her Master had said the old basic training was no longer effective.
It seemed that during her long sleep, he had done something to her body as well.
That night, she gathered her courage and asked. As expected, she received only a gentle refusal.
"Why ask so many questions? You will know in time," her Master said.
"Oh…" Jingliu lowered her eyes, the corners of her lips curving in a small, helpless smile.