There was no relief in his eyes. No surprise. Not even the faintest trace of satisfaction at the corner of his mouth.
He merely gave her a brief glance, as though the outcome had been inevitable, then rose, turned, and walked away without a word.
The cheers filling the ruined arena suddenly felt sharp and grating.
Jingliu stood atop the shattered remnants of the training ground, feeling her heart grow colder with every passing moment.
If only he had nodded. Just once. She had completed every special training regimen. She had endured until the final moment of the Martial Examination. She had earned the rank of Valiant Guard, a warrior capable of standing on her own.
Why, Master… why do you still refuse to acknowledge me?
She bit her lower lip and forced back the sting of tears threatening to blur her vision.
Loss, grievance, and a quiet, simmering resentment twisted together in her chest, heavy and suffocating.
She watched his retreating figure until her once-straight posture sagged ever so slightly.
How much more must I achieve before you see me? Before I can stand at your side?
Since words would not reach him, she would let her actions speak louder than any plea.
The title of Cloud Knight Vanguard was no longer enough. She would hunt Abominations across the stars, grow stronger, faster, deadlier. If her blade could one day surpass even Kanzaki himself, then surely his eyes would have no choice but to acknowledge her.
There was still time.
Driven by an obsession that had long since crossed into something sharper, Jingliu became an unrelenting force upon the Xianzhou Yaoqing.
The next two years became a period of relentless pressure for the Cloud Knight combat dispatch officers.
"Absurd" was the only word that came close to describing the actions of the newly promoted Valiant Guard named Jingliu.
In those two years alone, she participated in every one of the eight major campaigns launched by the ship.
Eight large-scale operations. Eight decisive victories.
Even among the martial traditions of the Xianzhou, such a record drew stunned silence.
She always fought at the forefront. Her sword left trails of fallen Abomination corpses in its wake. Every time she returned, she refused leave, ignored the victory banquets, and without so much as a single cup of celebratory wine, she would apply to lead another standby detachment back into the field.
When Jingliu finally completed her ninth campaign and returned to the Yaoqing for a brief rest, her body heavy with exhaustion and hard-won glory, she found the residence empty. Even Kanzaki's Jade Sign could not be reached.
A check of the combat dispatch records gave her a simple answer:
"Lady Jingliu, Lord Kanzaki and his personal guards departed with the army yesterday, bound for the Feige Galaxy to suppress a disturbance caused by the Wing-Makers."
The light in her eyes dimmed for a moment.
Another two years passed without even a glimpse of her master.
This suffocating pattern of missing each other had become something like a curse.
While she fought bloody battles on one front, Kanzaki was severing heads on another. Whenever she returned in triumph, he would already be preparing to depart. Whenever she sought rest, he would appear only long enough to report his mission before vanishing once more.
For four years, the paths of master and disciple ran parallel, never once crossing.
At first, Jingliu told herself it was merely the demands of war. She did not lose heart. She turned every disappointment into sharper resolve.
The Hunt expeditions continued…
Star Calendar 6370, winter.
News that shook the Xianzhou military reached the Yaoqing.
Leading a lone force against overwhelming odds, Jingliu had struck deep into enemy lines and slain the Great War Chief of the Zaochi Hunting Pack. Not only that, she had arranged matters so that other Borisin packs were blamed for the assault, sparking violent internal conflict among them.
One had to understand: the prototypes for the Artifact Beasts and weapons used by the Borisin largely originated from the Gene-shamans of the Zaochi Hunting Pack. Even during the bloodiest periods of their civil strife, no hunting pack had ever dared attack the Zaochi. To do so risked uniting every other pack against the offender.
Because of this, the Zaochi were heavily protected, their movements nearly impossible to track. Countless Cloud Knights had returned empty-handed.
Yet now, the head of their Great War Chief hung from the prow of the Xianzhou Yaoqing.
It was an achievement worthy of the annals. In all the recorded history of the Xianzhou, she was the first Cloud Knight Vanguard to claim the life of a Zaochi Great War Chief.
Upon her triumphant return, Jingliu finally caught up with him.
Kanzaki had not deployed. He was currently in a period of rest.
After the victory banquet, with only a faint warmth of wine in her veins, Jingliu returned home and knocked on the door of Kanzaki's study.
"Master."
She stood before the desk, back straight, a sliver of cautious hope hidden in her eyes.
"For next month's operation to exterminate the Shishou stronghold, I would like to apply to fight alongside your First Detachment."
Kanzaki did not look up.
"No need."
His voice was flat, exactly as it had always been.
Jingliu's heart sank, yet she pressed forward anyway.
"Why? I have the strength now. I slew a Great War Chief. I am no less capable than anyone else, and I will not hold you back, Master!"
Kanzaki finally raised his gaze and regarded her calmly.
"According to Cloud Knight regulations, unless this is an ultra-large-scale campaign or the General issues a direct order, a Valiant Guard must lead their own unit and secure a designated sector independently."
"But…"
"There are no exceptions."
The remaining words died in her throat.
Regulations?
Such an excuse might satisfy a new recruit, but not here. In the Cloud Knights, it was common for masters and disciples, or blood siblings, to fight side by side. For a critical Hunt operation of this importance, a Valiant Guard could petition the General on the grounds of ensuring absolute success, with a very high likelihood of approval.
Was he truly unwilling to fight alongside her?
As she stepped out of the study, Jingliu glanced back at the closed door. A bitter resentment welled up inside her chest.
An absurd thought began to take root, growing beyond her control.
When he had arranged for her to take first place in the Martial Examination… had it been for this very moment? To use the regulation requiring independent command as a legitimate reason to keep her at arm's length?
But why?
It could not possibly be just to stay far away from her… could it?
Her face froze.
The possibility spread through her mind like ink in water, rising into her eyes and casting a shadow over her crimson pupils.
No… it could not be like this. Master would never do something so deliberate. She had not angered him. She had not annoyed him.
Yet he always took Mianxue and Qinghan with him. The sisters clearly possessed the strength to become Valiant Guards, yet they had never entered the Martial Examination — neither in her year nor in the one five years later.
That way, they could remain by his side as personal guards without question.
At that realization, the darkness in Jingliu's eyes deepened completely. Her body trembled faintly.