"Unlimited Blade Works!"
In an instant, the battlefield fell silent.
The peerless experts famed across the universe stared at their now-empty palms; their former arrogance was gone, replaced only by the cold sweat soaking their backs.
A breeze swept past, lifting March 7th's hair and veiling half her face, but the unrestrained sharpness in her eyes could not be diminished—even if IX THEMSELF descended, they could not dull that light.
She raised one hand, forming a seal, chanting an esoteric sword formula: "When eating grapes, I don't spit out grape skins; when not eating grapes, I do spit out grape skins."
March 7th's slender hand swept outward. The enemies' weapons reappeared from the void—yet no longer alone.
Those artifacts, once mighty enough to dominate entire regions, now materialized alongside tens of thousands of identical copies.
They no longer showed a shred of obedience toward their former wielders—only a violent, bloodthirsty frenzy remained.
Facing the trembling enemies, March 7th smiled brightly. "Go. And make it clean."
With a single sweep of her hand, millions of divine weapons flashed with cold brilliance and tore across the battlefield.
In moments—
All enemies died under the blades they once cherished; every last one was beheaded without exception.
But the blades did not return to the heroine's side. As if responding to March 7th's command to 'make it clean,' they reduced the corpses—and the surrounding mountains—into fine dust in an instant, erasing them from existence.
Only the peak where the heroine once stood still remained, rising alone amid a sea of clouds.
As for the heroine herself, she had long vanished without a trace.
"Wonderful!"
March 7th pumped her tiny fists, deeply moved by her own artistic talent and the spectacular scene before her.
Soon enough, she would surely hear her own stories retold by elders and children across the streets.
By then, she would be such a sought-after heroine across the universe that she'd have to wear sunglasses and a mask just to walk around without being recognized. Otherwise photos and autographs would wear her hand out.
Sigh… being a woman is hard, being a celebrity is harder, but being a famous woman is the hardest of all.
March 7th silently mourned her tragic future of being 'restricted everywhere,' unable to mingle freely with the masses, the corners of her mouth curving upward in a sorrowful arc as she used a smile to mask her inner grief.
Puff.
Yanqing looked at his disciple, still giggling to herself, and let out a long, exhausted breath. He finally accepted reality.
How could he not accept it? She was standing right there.
He asked a barely meaningful question: "Shopkeeper Sylvester said earlier that with this Curio, one could become master of all blades, and that the Curio's name also happens to be [Unlimited Blade Works]. But based on what you said earlier… doesn't that mean it can actually copy any weapon?"
"Yes." Sylvester nodded lightly. "Not only weapons—everything can be copied and projected. But for anything other than blades, the energy cost increases two- or three-fold."
"And the projection ability draws from only two types of energy: the user's Pathforce, and their life force."
He sipped his tea and assessed March 7th's current limit. "With Miss March's present Pathforce reserve, forging a perfect Massacre Ruler would leave her with only a few minutes of life."
He glanced again at the still-smiling March 7th and warned, "So you must watch Miss March closely. She must never act on impulse and cause catastrophe. You understand well—temptation of power is not something easily resisted."
"I understand." Yanqing nodded solemnly. "Even I nearly lost myself once in the pursuit of power. For Miss March, a beginner, if she becomes too fixated on instant success, she truly may fall into the trap of desire. It must be guarded against."
He recalled the last time he was nearly overtaken by a Heliobus—despite his years of training, he almost fell. Little March would have no chance.
"Leave it to me. My stun-bat is starving." Stelle volunteered confidently, glancing meaningfully at the back of March 7th's head.
Ever since she obtained that bat-enchantment stone here, she had never had a chance to use it.
Today was the perfect chance—no, a matter of her companion's life and death—ideal for testing her skills.
March 7th, I'll use the most precise technique to ensure you won't suffer serious harm and will fall asleep peacefully.
"Hey, hey, hey! I can hear you!"
March 7th snapped out of her dramatic fantasies at Stelle's remark.
She puffed up her cheeks. "Why would I recklessly try to copy some weapon? I value my life more than anyone."
But she also understood that everyone was simply worried about her safety. Even Stelle.
Thinking of that, she couldn't stay too angry.
She walked toward the counter and said with mild frustration, "Shopkeeper Sylvester, is there anything that can reduce the difficulty of copying? Or maybe a Curio that can quickly increase my strength? I have all this potential right now, but I can't even copy a good sword. It's suffocating just thinking about it."
"You're absolutely right." Stelle joined in. "It's like carrying a shareholders' credit card from Penacony into a Classic SoulGlad supermarket. Even if you bought everything expensive, you still wouldn't get that real flexing satisfaction."
March 7th tilted her head. "You don't have to be that blunt. You could raise the tone a little."
Stelle brushed her hair and smiled. "I've always been straightforward."
"…"
March 7th ignored her and faced the young man behind the counter again.
Sylvester rubbed his chin and smiled. "There actually is a way to greatly reduce the difficulty."
"And that way is knowledge. Unlimited Blade Works works by exhaustive iteration. It draws from its internal sword-smithing archive and repeatedly trials combinations until it recreates the blade in the wielder's mind."
He chuckled. "Certainly, a portion of the energy becomes the weapon itself. But a huge portion is wasted during trial and error."
"So if Miss March can become well-versed in ancient and modern weaponcraft—if she understands the fundamental structure of all weapons—she can avoid many wrong paths. Not only saving energy, but also time."
"Huh?"
March 7th had imagined many possibilities—for example, a special cultivation method paired with the Curio, allowing her power to be used with twice the efficiency.
She never expected the real solution to be… reading?
March 7th's face instantly crumpled like a bitter melon.
She remembered why she had come here in the first place.
Her primary goal wasn't to become an unrivaled heroine—it was to escape brutal physical training.
Now it seemed she avoided bodily torture, only to be met with mental torture instead.
Is life really just one hurdle after another after another after another?
If you can't see the next hurdle, it's not because it doesn't exist—it's just hidden behind the one right in front of you…
March 7th was speechless with misery, but Yunli beside her immediately perked up.
She said enthusiastically, "So, Little March—come to Zhuming. Our Artisanship Commission is second in the entire Xianzhou Alliance; no one dares claim first. We also house the core of the Flint Emperor, ancestor of the Heliobi. If you want to learn weapon forging, Zhuming is definitely the right place!"