Adela's eyes were filled with disbelief. She was still in a daze, unable to accept that she had lost to a frail little girl.
······
After a long while, a leaf fell from a tree outside the window and drifted gently to the ground.
A round of applause rang out in the Cold Weapons Hall, followed by two or three more, and then the applause grew louder and louder.
Luo Xiaoli raised an eyebrow, sheathed her knife, took a few steps back, walked over to the group of students sitting down, sat cross-legged, and lowered her head to take a handkerchief to wipe the cold blade.
She won.
Using the knife to support herself, Jiu Yue slowly walked up to the crowd.
For Adela, who stood frozen in place, the applause was a great humiliation. Her eyes were filled with complex emotions as she bit her lip. The applause around her grew clearer and more jarring, making her feel ashamed and unable to lift her head.
She didn't know how she got back to her seat in the crowd, and after sitting down, she remained in a daze.
I didn't even hear what Teacher Jiuyue said afterward.
"You all saw their duel, what did you think?"
"Brilliant!" Ke Bing exclaimed first.
"It looks quite thrilling. If you make a mistake and get caught, it will be blown out of proportion. It's very nerve-wracking."
"If it were me, I think I'd be instantly killed." People shared their opinions.
September nodded, agreeing with their statement. "That's right. Due to time constraints, I didn't choose to teach you anything more advanced from the beginning. Just basic slashing, thrusting, and parrying—these are movements you've repeated countless times, and that's enough. How you use these moves flexibly in combat depends on your individual mental agility. Now, I'll review all the details of their fight with you, and the real reason for Adela's defeat..."
Although these students were still too novice-level to Jiuyue, who had been immersed in swordsmanship for decades, she still taught them seriously and responsibly, advancing the original curriculum.
What started as simple swordplay and one-on-one practice has evolved into a real, intense battle.
In September, each of them was asked to choose an opponent to challenge, and after the duel, all the details were reviewed.
This went on for the entire afternoon, until 8 p.m. when all the students were starving and dizzy with hunger before it finally ended.
But when they walked out of the venue...
Mealtime, evening washing up, and when you lie in bed and close your eyes.
The issues discussed during the September review kept replaying in my mind.
They benefited greatly from the afternoon's lessons.
Perhaps spurred on, Zhao Xuerou trained relentlessly, yearning to become as strong as Adela, at least enough to rival Luo Xiaoli. Countless training sessions and sparring matches followed, until even Ke Bing, her sparring partner, was utterly exhausted.
Ke Bing finally couldn't help but ask to take a break. As a result, Zhao Xuerou, panting heavily, wiped the sweat from her brow and turned to find another person to continue practicing.
On nights when she was about to fall asleep, she would close her eyes and her mind would automatically play images of knives clashing.
While tensions were high on the Federation's side, a plane flew over the border between continents, traversing the vast night sky, heading straight for Lanjing...
......
Jiang Cheng sat on the plane, his sleep hazy and confused, his mind filled with countless fragmented images, causing his brows to furrow even as he rested with his eyes closed.
He couldn't explain the meaning of these intertwined dreams, only that this wasn't the sleep he wanted.
Jiang Cheng opened his eyes in a daze, pursed his lips, and felt the dryness in his throat.
Consciousness gradually became clearer, a process accompanied by the loss of those images.
Everything that was just a moment ago seemed to have been forgotten the instant I opened my eyes, as if it had been deliberately erased by the gods in the Dream Era.
Jiang Cheng glanced at the water on the table in front of him. Gu Qingwan, who was sitting not far away from him, was not resting and was carefully looking at a document.
He picked up the water, drank it all in one gulp, and turned to look out the window.
Outside, there was a thin layer of fog and the night stretched on endlessly. The horizon was indistinct, blurred into a bubble, like an old photograph with an unclear image.
Jiang Cheng couldn't quite describe his feelings. His thoughts, like the blurred horizon, began to sluggish, or rather, he deliberately stopped thinking about things and emptied his mind.
This state is not about getting distracted and thinking about other things, but about becoming mentally impaired and wasting precious but unbearable time.
There are too many things to do, like a tangled ball of yarn that can't be untangled.
Those who own cats at home probably know that if you put a few balls of yarn in front of your cat and check back after ten minutes, the yarn will be mixed up and have formed knots.
Jiang Cheng's feeling about the current situation was probably like seeing a tangled ball of yarn.
He stared listlessly at the unchanging yet ever-changing scenery outside the window, resting his chin on his hand, his handsome eyebrows reflected in the glass, but his eyes were devoid of emotion.
The softest sound of a page turning triggered Jiang Cheng's senses, and he turned to look at Gu Qingwan, who was still working.
The other person lowered their head slightly, revealing an unbuttoned shirt button below their fair neck, showcasing their beautiful collarbone. A strand of hair, unbound, hung down from the shoulder of their light blue suit.
Looking closely at her back, her black hair was casually tied back with a hair tie, and a lock of hair hung down in front of her forehead.
She wasn't wearing eyeliner, but the corners of her eyes had a cool and aloof feel.
A small and delicate nose, and a very light pink lipstick.
Gu Qingwan was focused on reading the document and was unaware that her boss was watching her. She turned the page every now and then and finally read to the end.
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