No matter what, leg power couldn't compete with technology.
After thinking for a short while, March 7th and Mr. Yang decided to take a starskiff to their destination, the Alchemy Commission.
Stelle didn't comment on it.
The two walking ahead simply took it as her agreement.
Only after arriving at the starskiff dock in Central Starskiff Haven did they realize why they hadn't heard Stelle say anything along the way.
"..."
Looking at the completely empty space behind them, March 7th and Mr. Yang fell into a long silence.
As the younger one, March 7th reacted first. She looked around but couldn't find Stelle anywhere.
"Seriously, where did she run off to now?", Her tone was full of complaints.
The same thing had already happened once in Belobog, and now after coming to the Luofu, Stelle pulled the same stunt again.
Couldn't she at least say something before leaving so she and Mr. Yang wouldn't worry so much?
Was something that simple really impossible?
Stelle felt completely wronged about this, because this time disappearing wasn't her choice at all.
She had been kidnapped by force.
After being silent for a while, Mr. Yang took out his phone and contacted Stelle, asking where she was.
Unfortunately, even after waiting a long time, there was still no reply from Stelle.
Ding! Dong!
Hiding in a corner and trembling, Stelle heard the sound and her eyes lit up like she had seen a savior.
But after realizing it was just her phone ringing in reality...
Disappointment appeared on her face.
She ignored it and continued hiding in the corner, tightly gripping her bat while shaking.
[Stelle: Somebody save me!]
Levi wasn't saying anything, so she could only ask others for help in the group chat.
[Kiana: Who's trying to kill you? Levi?]
Was this guy not reading the messages, or was he really just like this?
She had already @'d Levi and asked him for help. How could it possibly be him trying to kill her?
But Stelle had no mood to complain in the group chat. Listening to the footsteps wandering nearby, she pursed her lips and held her breath.
[Stelle: I'm not joking! Someone's really gonna die!]
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The temperature suddenly dropped several degrees. Stelle's pupils shrank. Before her thoughts could react...
Her body instinctively lunged toward nearby cover.
Sword light struck the place she had just been hiding, leaving a long slash mark across the wall. Ice crystals clung to it and slowly faded away.
Jingliu's emotionless voice sounded out.
"Stelle, if you wish to learn my swordsmanship, then draw your blade and fight me. Make killing me your goal and use all your strength."
Her veil had already been removed, and her eyes calmly stared at the place where Stelle was hiding.
Her posture was perfectly straight. Just standing there, she seemed like a sword unsheathed.
The cold air around her was her blade, constantly cutting across Stelle's body.
In this unnoticed corner, no matter how much noise they made, nobody would come.
She herself didn't have much time to stay here. She couldn't play the master-and-disciple game with Stelle.
She could only use this kind of life-and-death fighting to carve these things into Stelle's bones as much as possible.
But what troubled her was that Stelle's body wasn't like Blade's. No matter how severe the injuries were...
Even if he died, he would revive again not long after.
Nor was she like the Xianzhou people, who possessed impressive healing abilities and could rapidly recover from wounds.
Teaching her swordsmanship required extreme caution.
She had to be careful not to accidentally kill her with a slash.
Coming back to her senses, Stelle looked at the mark on the wall, fear showing in her eyes.
If she could travel back in time...
She would definitely slap her past self hard across the face.
'Told you not to randomly pick a master! Told you not to randomly pick a master! Told you not to randomly pick a master!'
Back in that mysterious space, after seeing Jingliu's crazy side, she had already started regretting it.
When Jingliu left, Stelle had even felt relieved.
But she never expected the other party to kidnap her halfway through.
Not hearing Stelle answer, Jingliu gripped the Transient Glow sword in her hand, and the sharp aura around her became even fiercer.
She planned to use this sword to teach Stelle how to face powerful enemies and how to properly swing a blade.
Blade expressed that he was very familiar with this.
Once again forcing Stelle out from behind cover to face her directly...
"This time, you have nowhere to run!"
Seeing this, although Stelle was scared, she also knew she couldn't keep hiding.
Since Jingliu's goal was to teach her swordsmanship...
Then she definitely wouldn't actually kill her, right?
Those earlier attacks that obviously could have killed her must have been because she was hiding behind cover.
'Yeah, that has to be it!'
After comforting herself for a while, Stelle's eyes became firm. She raised her hand above her head.
The lance symbolizing Preservation appeared in her hand.
Just as she was about to fight back, the sound of someone flashing through the air suddenly rang out nearby.
Looking up, she saw Levi appear on the rooftop wearing an apron, holding a plate of pastries.
Noticing Stelle's gaze, Levi held the plate out toward her. "Want some? A genius made them."
If he hadn't turned his head and immediately seen March 7th's group chasing a dog, and also recognized what model the dog was...
He probably would've possessed Stelle already.
Looking at the pastries being offered to her, Stelle's head filled with question marks. What did he mean by "made by a genius"?
'Is he praising himself?'
She shook her head, saying she wasn't hungry yet.
Seeing Jingliu also looking at Levi, she immediately realized the atmosphere was nowhere near as relaxed as Levi was acting.
"Hah! Finally caught up!"
A series of footsteps sounded, followed by March 7th's voice.
"Woof woof woof!"
"Mhm mhm, you're the best."
After patting Diting's head, the happy Diting started spinning circles around March 7th.
Mr. Yang tightened his grip on his cane and walked past March 7th to face the silent Jingliu directly.
Taking the chance, March 7th waved at Stelle. Stelle glanced at the unmoving Jingliu, then at the completely relaxed Levi.
She swallowed hard.
Then quickly ran to March 7th's side, finally letting down her guard.
Holding Diting, March 7th curiously looked at Stelle. "So how exactly did you provoke her?"
In her view, Stelle had obviously offended that ice beauty somehow during the time they were separated.
That was why she got kidnapped by the other party.
And the woman even looked like she wanted to kill her.
Unfortunately, the truth completely exceeded her expectations. Stelle hadn't provoked the ice beauty at all.
Instead, she wanted to become her disciple.
And this was how the other party taught disciples.
"You deserve it!"
'That's what you get for randomly choosing a master. Happy now?'
'You ended up joining the demonic cult!'
March 7th instantly came to a conclusion. Laughing loudly, she pointed at the bitter-faced Stelle, then turned to Jingliu and said, "Looks like it was all a misunderstanding. Since she's your disciple, we won't interrupt your training anymore."
After saying that, she tried to leave Stelle behind and walk away, but Stelle immediately grabbed onto her leg.
Pulling his gaze away from the two fooling around, Levi lowered his head and met Jingliu's eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched into a faint smile.
"Who knew we'd meet again after only one day. You and I really are fated."
"There is indeed fate between us. The only question is whether this fate is heaven's will or manmade.", Jingliu replied in a low voice.
She completely ignored Mr. Yang, who was watching her like a tiger nearby. In terms of threat to her...
He wasn't even half as dangerous as the one above.
Under Jingliu's gaze, Levi put his hands behind his back. When he brought them out again, an ominous longsword had appeared in his hand.
Holding Jizo Mitama, he casually swung it twice.
Along the path of the swings, faint traces of red remained in the air.
"Coincidentally, I'm also a sword bastard."
"..."
As if realizing that title sounded strange, Levi corrected himself. "A swordsman."
"You're also a sword bastard. I wonder if you could teach me a few ultimate techniques in actual combat."
Hearing the words "sword bastard" come out of Levi's mouth, Jingliu's chest rose and fell heavily twice before she slowly let out a deep breath.
"If you wish to learn, then I will teach."
In an instant, compared to when she was teaching Stelle, power dozens of times stronger burst from Jingliu's body.