When Ningguang and the other two little ones returned home and discovered that there were suddenly three more shiniang in the house, all three of them completely froze.
"Master... Shiniang... can there really be more than one shiniang?"
Little Ningguang's eyes filled with contemplation, as though she were seriously pondering some profound question.
"Uh... how should I put this? This is kind of... a special situation."
For a moment, Jiang Yan honestly didn't know how to explain it to the three children.
Fortunately, the three of them adapted quickly.
As long as Master was still the same Master, everything was fine!
When Ningguang and the others learned that Jiang Yan planned to take them all to Inazuma for a trip, every one of them became wildly excited, their bright eyes sparkling with anticipation.
After all, ever since they were born, they had only ever stayed in Liyue. They had never visited another nation before.
And according to that gentle purple-haired shiniang, Inazuma was a beautiful country filled with cherry blossoms.
The three little ones were immediately full of expectation.
Most importantly—
their good friend Kamisato Ayaka was there too!
"Master, Master! Will Ayaka come see us this time?"
Ningguang looked at Jiang Yan expectantly.
"Of course."
Jiang Yan smiled and nodded.
"It was little Ayaka who invited us to Inazuma in the first place."
"Hehe, that little girl from the Kamisato Clan really is thoughtful. If Mr. Jiang Yan goes now, you should arrive just in time for Inazuma's Irodori Festival."
Yae Miko chuckled softly.
"Alright then, since that's settled, you all can just focus on having fun for now."
Jiang Yan directly made the decision.
"In another two or three days, we'll depart for Inazuma!"
"Okay!!" ×3
The three little ones immediately shouted enthusiastically in support.
Their lively reactions caused everyone present to burst into laughter.
In preparation for fully enjoying their trip to Inazuma, the three children had been studying and training especially hard every day.
Both Beidou and Shenhe not only exceeded their naval and aerial combat coursework daily, but also spent extra time on the physical training Jiang Yan assigned them.
The two little girls' thoughts were simple.
As long as they completed all the tasks Master and their instructors assigned beforehand, they could enjoy themselves freely once they arrived in Inazuma.
As a result, both children returned home exhausted every single day.
Sometimes they barely managed two bites of food before their little heads started bobbing sleepily at the dinner table.
It made Jiang Yan's heart ache.
After all, he was famously soft-hearted when it came to children.
But despite how distressed he felt, he never stopped them.
This was their own choice.
Even if they wanted to give up, that decision shouldn't come from him, their master.
Your own choices had to be carried through, even with tears in your eyes!
Still, the results of such intense training were obvious.
Little Beidou and little Shenhe had improved tremendously.
The clearest example was that Beidou could now properly wield a claymore.
Although...
it looked a little strange.
Watching a little girl barely one meter tall swinging around a nearly two-meter-tall Unforged greatsword—
and doing so with impressive momentum at that—
Jiang Yan couldn't help twitching at the corners of his mouth as he watched Beidou excitedly hacking at weeds outside the house.
Well...
at least she'd improved a lot.
Shenhe, on the other hand, looked much more refined.
Compared to Beidou's heavy, overwhelming style, Shenhe's movements emphasized elegance and fluidity.
There was even a faint immortal-like aura about her.
Especially when she performed that spear kick—
while spinning her spear, she lifted her leg and kicked the spear upward before smoothly catching it again after several rotations...
Wait a second!
Little Shenhe, who taught you that spear kick?!
Jiang Yan's eyes widened.
The more he looked at that move, the more familiar it seemed!
Morax!
Isn't this literally the flashy spear-spinning trick you use?!
Out of all the spear techniques you could've taught her, why that one?!
Jiang Yan gritted his teeth in frustration.
Morax was exceptionally skilled in martial arts, especially with spears.
As the Geo Archon of Liyue—a nation famous for polearms—his spear techniques were unmatched.
Although Jiang Yan himself understood spearsmanship reasonably well, he still couldn't compare to Morax's mastery.
So he had entrusted Shenhe's spear training to Morax for a while.
Meanwhile, Beidou had been handed over to Azhdaha, who preferred using claymores whenever he took human form, making him the perfect instructor for her.
As for little Ningguang, she studied under Guizhong, whose wisdom and mastery over catalysts made her an excellent teacher.
That's right.
Morax, Azhdaha, and the God of Dust herself—
these three were the martial arts instructors Jiang Yan had found for the little trio.
Of course, because there was simply too much to learn, Jiang Yan only sent the children to train under them once per week.
They would spend an entire day learning techniques, then spend the rest of the week practicing and polishing what they learned.
This way, they could steadily improve without neglecting their other studies.
A perfect balance.
But now—
watching Shenhe execute a spear kick identical to Morax's before seamlessly flowing into a series of spinning spear strikes—
Jiang Yan's face darkened.
His adorable little Shenhe!
He had been looking forward to seeing her perform elegant toe-spinning spear techniques someday.
And now?
She'd become a spear-kicker instead.
At this point, Jiang Yan genuinely felt the urge to beat Morax up.
But after thinking about it, he decided to let it go.
After all, these three instructors were basically free labor he'd shamelessly borrowed.
The fact that they were willing to teach at all was already generous enough.
Why nitpick over details like this?
Thinking that, Jiang Yan sighed sorrowfully.
Forget it.
So be it.
Worst case scenario, I'll personally teach Shenhe the toe-spin later.
No matter what, I must see that move!
Jiang Yan silently fantasized to himself.
"Master, how's Shenhe's spear technique?"
After finishing her routine, Shenhe walked over expectantly.
"It's amazing!"
Despite all his inner complaints, Jiang Yan still smiled warmly and rubbed Shenhe's little head.
"Little Shenhe's spear skills are getting better and better."
"Thank you for the praise, Master~"
Little Shenhe narrowed her eyes happily, clearly enjoying Jiang Yan's head pats.
To read 30+ future chapters, head over to patreon:
patreon.com/ToastWizard