Auntie, you wouldn't want Gloria to lose control, would you?

Lu Chen shivered violently as if he had heard a death summons.
"Such a thing... do I really need to be there?"
Madam August lit her pipe, purple smoke curling and rising steadily amidst the water mist like cooking smoke, and said in an ethereal voice:
"Of course. Aili told me that your bloodline can restrain Gloria's demonic nature."
Lu Chen twitched the tip of his nose and said weakly:
"Oh, that might have something to do with my resonance power."
Madam August explained further:
"It goes beyond that. The balance of the Five Elements is neutral and peaceful, whereas those who fall into devilry all possess a single spiritual root; the two are exact opposites and counteract one another. Your bloodline inherently possesses a certain devil-suppressing property, much like how Gloria's demonic blood can enhance your cultivation."
Lu Chen frowned, deep in thought, as if he understood.
"Alright, but even if Gloria needs me... there's no need for both Madam and me to help at the same time, is there?"
Madam August chuckled mutely.
"What a sweet child. You underestimate Gloria, and you underestimate her Blood Demon Seal. I must be here."
That simple "I must be here" from a professional left Lu Chen speechless.
Yet this was a hot spring pool, and in his eyes, Madam August was just like his best friend Wang Qunyu's mother, making him feel exceedingly awkward.
"Then we surely don't need to take off our clothes, do we?"
Madam August smiled as she puffed out more purple smoke, quickly filling the hot spring with a dense haze that caused visibility to plummet instantly.
"Don't make it sound like I'm going to eat you. You'll understand soon enough. Come on down."
Only then did Lu Chen turn around, cautiously stepping back toward the edge of the pool.
In the blink of an eye, the pool felt akin to a sauna room.
Pinkish cherry blossoms drifted down like snowflakes, fluttering one by one through the billowing mist.
The purple smoke also imparted a heavy medicinal scent to the pool.
Lu Chen felt drowsy yet ethereal, as if he were floating in paradise, his sinful soul forgiven and comforted.
He struggled to keep his consciousness clear.
He walked over to the bamboo cabin, removed his garments, and changed into a bamboo-fiber bath towel.
Only then did he cautiously wade into the water, forming a triangular formation with Gloria and Madam August, gazing at each other across the mist.
Gloria was sleeping soundly, even emitting a melodious snore as light as clear wine, showing no signs of any trouble.
On the other side, only the towering silhouette of the Madam could be seen.
The atmosphere felt somewhat bizarre.
Lu Chen wasn't afraid of anything else; he was just slightly afraid she might suddenly pull out a scalpel and painlessly harvest his kidneys.
And then put them back without a scratch...
"Gloria seems alright, is it really necessary to do anything special?"
Lu Chen asked aloud.
Madam August suddenly spoke with utmost seriousness:
"Let me tell you her current condition.
Gloria's Blood Demon Seal is of a very high tier. Three years ago, I intentionally drew it out once and nearly sacrificed this old life of mine, managing to buy her a few more years of lucid consciousness.
The second time was the blood demon you drew out in the cultivation chamber this time, and even though you were in the cultivation chamber, it was far more dangerous than the time three years ago.
Fortunately, Gloria's consciousness saved you from the nether realm.
Afterward, you didn't inform me immediately, nor did you handle it properly, which has caused the Blood Demon Seal to loosen somewhat now.
When she is required to exert her full strength—such as fighting a powerhouse above level sixty-five—she is very likely to lose control and transform into a demon. When the blood demon appears again, it will indiscriminately kill everyone around her."
Lu Chen had indeed been careless, failing to realize the severity of the matter.
"Is the blood demon's tier very high?"
Madam August nodded slightly and said calmly:
"In the abyss, the nether tier is the lowest. Above that are ordinary fixed black-flame nether demons, semi-fixed white-flame nether demons, and unfixed blood demons. However, the high or low tier only indicates the depth of your obsession upon entering devilry; it does not necessarily represent cultivation and combat prowess."
Lu Chen fell into deep thought.
Since blood demons are unfixed, could Gloria actually conjure up a black cat?
"Where do succubi fall in the tiers?"
he asked out of curiosity.
Madam August took a puff of her pipe, shook her head, and smiled:
"Succubus is merely a colloquial term with no corresponding tier. It refers to nether demons of low strength who can only rely on charming techniques to seduce powerhouses and drain their spiritual energy. Succubi can be male or female. Generally, high-tier nether demons disdain doing such things."
Lu Chen was stunned. Could it be that Gloria's tier wasn't high?
Then why, in the Zuan Nebula, did the skeleton demon run away in immediate terror the moment Gloria revealed her demonic form?
"Is Gloria's true form a blood demon, or is her mother a blood demon, or is there some other background?"
Madam August shook her head.
"I have only known her for three years, and I may not understand her as deeply as you do.
When she first arrived, she even claimed she was here to capture me.
As for her identity, you will need to discover the answer yourself and tell me."
Lu Chen felt that Madam August did not seem to be lying.
Gloria's parentage was indeed a mystery.
He suddenly recalled Kundy Ougust's words and asked again:
"By the way, what happened to that cat?"
"What cat?"
"The nether demon cat."
Mentioning the nether demon cat, Madam August's tone suddenly shifted.
"Are you certain that cat was picked up, rather than it seeking you out voluntarily?"
Lu Chen did not catch her meaning.
"Of course I picked it up. Could the official bounty from the Adventurers Association be fake? Why does Madam ask?"
Madam August said calmly:
"That is a chaotic cat existing between life and death. I can neither kill it nor bring it back to life...
To think that at my age, I still need to learn and research further. As expected of my fine disciple!"
A chaotic state between life and death? Schrödinger's cat?
Lu Chen was dumbfounded.
He suddenly understood why a woman as powerful as the Gray Raven could lose her cat and remain unable to find it.
"Alright, I always seem to run into these bizarre things."
Through the water mist, Madam August gazed intently at Lu Chen.
"Isn't the most bizarre thing yourself?"
"Is that so?"
Lu Chen decided he should maintain a lower profile from now on.
Once you become powerful through cheats, the first to notice you might not be a stronger enemy, but rather scientists.
"Let's proceed with treating Gloria first."
"Go bite her finger."
Following Madam August's instructions, Lu Chen crept over to Gloria, grabbed her wrist, and bit down.
Madam August watched, stunned.
"You're quite practiced at this."
"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"
Gloria was bitten awake by Lu Chen.
She blinked sleepily and took a look around.
Lu Chen was right beside her.
The Madam was opposite her.
None of them were wearing clothes!
"Why is it you? And Madam is still here..."
Lu Chen said calmly:
"This is for your treatment!"
Gloria pulled back her finger.
"Does treatment require taking off all your clothes? Damn it, August, you old hag!"
Lu Chen hadn't expected Gloria to care about such things.
"Fine, fine, fine, I'm not looking at her, I'm looking at you."
"You lecherous thief, who's letting you look!"
Gloria instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, concealing her assets.
Lu Chen thought to himself: *Hah, women. You clearly weren't like this in the spaceship's bathtub last time, yet here you are striking a pose!*
"Who's looking at you? I'm just administering treatment."
Gloria suddenly stared with a serious expression at Madam August on the opposite bank, and said coldly:
"This isn't the cultivation chamber, this is the real world. If you can't cure this, we'll all die; don't expect me to commit suicide to save you in the real world."
Lu Chen understood the logic, but as long as he didn't receive a risk-evasion prompt, he wasn't scared at all.
"Don't worry, we are professionals!"
Madam August didn't say much else.
"Begin."
"How do we begin?"
"How did you release the blood demon last time?"
"That requires the Demon-Slaying Sword!"
Lu Chen retrieved the Demon-Slaying Sword from the storage pouch on the bank.
The first sword stroke upon coming ashore is always to slay one's beloved.
He prepared to use the sword to cut one of Gloria's other fingers.
Before cutting, there was still no risk-evasion prompt.
Yet with his mouth, he still spoke with trepidation:
"This feels a bit dangerous."
Madam August reassured him:
"Rest assured, I've fed her plenty of demon-suppressing medicine. At most, it will only draw out the blood demon's soul body; its demonic nature won't be able to rise."
Only then did Lu Chen completely let go of his worries, using the sword to slice a bloody gash across Gloria's other finger.
Afterwards, he used the sword to cut his own palm and draw blood.
He replicated the demon-drawing process from the cultivation chamber earlier.
Resonating his own bloodline with Gloria's.
The blood in his palm was instantly shaken into a mist of blood.
The blood mist then connected in a line through the fog, linking with the blood flowing from Gloria's fingertips.
Soon, the demon-suppressing seal within her body... loosened.
Gloria instantly transformed into a demon, her entire body covered in a faint layer of black demonic flame, a pair of cat ears sprouting from the top of her head, a long cat tail emerging from behind, and sharp cat claws growing from her hands and feet.
In the blink of an eye, she had completely turned into a giant feline shape.
Gloria promptly fell unconscious, her body completely taken over by the feline demonic flame.
This fat cat was much quieter than before.
It just lay at the edge of the bank, fast asleep, lacking the bristling nether shadows of previous electrical shocks, and with no bloody patterns flashing in its pupils.
One had to admit, Madam August's demon-suppressing medicine was quite potent, completely subduing the nether demon.
Yet the blood demon still hadn't appeared.
Lu Chen felt something was amiss.
"Why hasn't the blood demon come out yet?"
Madam August asked:
"Think back, compared to the cultivation chamber, is a step missing this time?"
"Right, I need to go inside!"
Lu Chen remembered.
Last time, he had leaped straight into the fat cat's demonic flame, only to be repelled out shortly after.
That must have been Gloria's instinct.
Right now, however, this was a real-world environment; no joking around!
Therefore, he first stretched his finger into the demonic flame to test it.
His fingertips tingled numbly, but they didn't peel off like last time...
This showed that the demonic nature was much weaker.
Only then did he feel reassured and crawl into the cat's body.
This time, he wasn't pushed out.
Hence, Lu Chen crawled toward Gloria's true form.
The moment his hand touched her fingertips, a terrifying repulsive force blasted him away.
Lu Chen flew sideways through the air.
Passing through the water mist and purple smoke, he crashed straight into Madam August's embrace...
His whole body went cold.
Soft and cold, like a corpse's body.
In this materialistic society, people's hearts were cold and ruthless, leaving only this thing with a bit of warmth... Apologies, this thing didn't have any temperature left either!

Lu Chen slipped off the Madam's body and into the water.
His body still didn't carry a trace of demonic flame.
Across the pool, the black cat grew furious.
Crimson patterns erupted in its dual pupils, and its entire body of demonic flame burned violently, flickering and twitching.
In the center of the demonic flame, blood gradually flowed from the sword wound on Gloria's finger.
However, the amount was very small.
In the blink of an eye, the black cat was dyed a dark red by Gloria's blood.
Fortunately, the demonic nature was much weaker than last time.
And the black cat's spiritual pressure stopped rising once it exceeded level sixty.
The pair of crimson-patterned cat eyes subsequently vanished.
In their place was a single eye splitting open on the cat's forehead.
The lone eye displayed far more complex and blinding crimson patterns.
It made Lu Chen's scalp tingle, his blood rush, and made it difficult for him to remain calm.
Especially upon seeing that Lu Chen wasn't wearing clothes, the demon froze instantly.
The steady demonic Qi climbed once more...
Scaring Lu Chen into hastily explaining:
"Auntie, no, no, we're just administering a soothing treatment for Gloria here... You wouldn't want Gloria to lose control and perish, would you?"
As Lu Chen spoke, he forcefully exerted his resonance power, fusing the medicinal potency to seep into Gloria's Dantian and mingle with her demonic power.
After a long while, the blood demon phantom regained its composure, no longer looking at Lu Chen, but instead staring at Madam August across the pool.
"Professor, do you know what you're doing? Not only has your body changed, but your ideals have too?"
Madam August was slightly startled, not expecting that after so many years, someone would still call her Professor.
"You know me?"
The blood demon said calmly:
"I know everyone."
Her voice tone was identical to Gloria's, but her speaking tone belonged to an entirely different person.
Madam August put down her pipe, picked up the red wine by the pool, and took a gentle sip.
"You cannot do it, at least you don't know the child before you.
I retired many years ago; this is the era of the youth.
Ulysses.
Algernon.
Now even the black dragon has emerged...
I have left my hopes to the new era."
The blood demon shook her head.
"You missed one... Hmm? How long have I slept that I've even forgotten her name?"
Lu Chen understood; the blood demon was speaking of his makeshift master, the Gray Raven, namely Madam Fariel.
Could there truly be a spell that made everyone forget her name?
Holding her wine glass, Madam August smiled faintly and ethereal:
"It seems her soul arts surpass yours."
The blood demon raised her head and laughed:
"Pity that the new era is already a thing of the past; humanity's future holds only hell."
With that, her figure dissipated, turning into dust and smoke.
Gloria then slipped into the pool, sinking to the bottom.
Lu Chen, who had been exerting his resonance power the entire time, was drenched in sweat and hastily fished Gloria out of the water, propping her against the bank.
Madam August glanced over from afar and finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks to your power, the medicinal potency was fully absorbed, and the seal is stabilized. You've made the blood demon so anxious she's cursing all of humanity."
Lu Chen let out a breath of relief as well.
"What did the blood demon mean by saying she knows everyone?"
"Probably some kind of derivative capability. Your master excels at that; I am an outsider."
With that, Madam August rose from the bath, dressing herself in clothes and strapped white stockings.
Her figure and posture were voluptuous, yet due to her exceptional height, she did not look bulky at all, evoking endless imagination.
She looked like a dark, magnified version of Gloria...
Lu Chen couldn't help recalling his facial emergency braking earlier.
Too cold.
Once Madam August was dressed, she sprinkled some healing and soothing herbs into the pool, then stood up and left the bamboo grove.
...
A short while later.
The Madam relieved Aili, going into the wooden cabin to tend to the human women.
Aili, exhausted from a whole day's work, finally returned to the bamboo grove to rest for a moment.
She brought Lu Chen a cup of tea and fed Gloria a sip of wine.
"Is Sister Gloria cured?"
Gloria was still unconscious.
Lu Chen sipped his tea and nodded:
"Temporarily no problem, she'll be fine after a night's rest... How are those human women right now?"
Aili said:
"I can only say their emotions are temporarily stabilized, but their memories are still somewhat chaotic, and they feel quite hopeless about the future."
Lu Chen thought for a moment, and an idea suddenly struck him.
"They might need game pods, to play urban-style games and slowly regain the feeling of normal human life."
Aili pondered it; it wasn't entirely impossible.
Lu Chen put down his teacup and stretched his back widely.
He could tell that Aili was probably even more exhausted than he was.
"This Federation trip has been truly exhausting. You should get into the pool and rest properly too; don't wear yourself out."
Aili felt a warmth in her heart, but inexplicably recalled what happened in the pool last time, her little face flushing crimson down to her ears.
"But I..."
Lu Chen put on a stern face and said:
"This is an order."
"Oh."
Only then did Aili head to the bamboo cabin, change into a pure white yukata, and cautiously wade into the water.
Drinking tea.
Eating pastries.
Resting.
Lu Chen felt quite cozy.
Soon he fell fast asleep.
He had a dream.
He dreamed that the blood-red succubus Gloria merged with him, plunging into the abyss, spinning the world upside down, and ultimately poking a hole in the universe.
Lu Chen jerked awake.
Morning had already arrived.
His whole body still felt numb.
He took a look; Gloria was sleeping soundly.
Aili wasn't sleeping; she was still drinking tea and reading the news.
"Captain, we're in the news again!"
Thoughts returning to reality.
Lu Chen opened his wristband projection.
At last, the Adventurers Association had published news about him!
The article exposed the vile deeds of the Balhe family—raising a primary descendant of interstellar Zerg and keeping human female slaves in captivity to cultivate Zerg-humans.
Regrettably, it made no mention of the secret laboratory and neural network servers.
It was said that the Federation had already dispatched an inspection fleet to the Sen Valley star system to investigate the matter.
The thirty-eight human female slaves rescued by the Primordial Firmament Adventure Group were currently receiving treatment aboard the White Dew, and the Adventurers Association would be following up on the matter.
Lu Chen received another commendation from the Association.
The article stated that if the subsequent investigation proved true, Lu Chen might receive the Exploration Medal from the Adventurers Association News Editorial Department, honoring the Primordial Firmament Adventure Group's liberationist spirit.
"The Adventurers Association actually has an Exploration Medal?"
Lu Chen's eyes lit up.
Yet upon second thought, Nan Yuanzi was deliberately making others think he had connections with the Adventurers Association...
Trying to push him onto Mount Liang!
This battle netted the Primordial Firmament Adventure Group thirty thousand adventurer points, bringing their total to one hundred sixty thousand.
They climbed two spots from seventeenth on the Annual Novetly List to fifteenth.
"Looks like unless we pull off something major, it'll be hard to break into the top ten."
Lu Chen sighed.
One hour after the Adventurers Association's news broke, *Empire Entertainment News* also released a follow-up story.
The news published a video from thirty years ago.
In the video, the Fangya Company dug out human resource contracts signed with the Balhe family back then from their archives.
In other words, most of these female slaves had valid contracts!
The contracts spanned hundreds of pages with dense, lengthy sentences.
Lu Chen couldn't even get through three lines, let alone these human women?
Most of these human women came from the bottom rungs of society.
There were disaster victims, as well as self-abandoned drug-addicted women.
And another portion consisted of captured female adventurers.
The news claimed that unless these human women could state they followed the Leonine of their own free will, Lu Chen was merely putting on a show and cultivating a lofty persona.
In reality, he was violating women's wills, disrupting the long-lost unity between the Empire and the Federation, and angling for the Association's Exploration Medal.
Such fame-seeking hypocrites were fake heroes, and the Empire should strip Lu Chen of his hero medal as soon as possible to avoid tarnishing the rest of the true Empire heroes.
Lu Chen's blood pressure spiked instantly!
Aili's expression was also heavy.
"Captain, what should we do?
Given enough time, we should be able to cure these human women.
But even if they recover, it will be very difficult to get them to admit they came with us voluntarily."
Lu Chen thought to himself: *Clearly, you guys raised your hands back then...*
He shook his head with a smile, his face sinking, his aura turning slightly cold.
"To shoot a horse, shoot the rider first; to capture bandits, capture their king first. This matter is simple; let's go to the Empire and wipe out Fangya Company in one go."
Gloria, who had just been sleeping soundly, woke up instantly upon hearing they were going to the Empire.
"What, you're going to the Empire!"
As expected of you, half-asleep and eavesdropping the whole time?
Lu Chen picked up his teacup and nodded slightly.
"Don't rush, I only have this plan; I still need to study its feasibility. If we don't beat Fangya Company to the ground, any stray cat or dog will dare to put a bounty on me in the future, right?"
Gloria instantly perked up, hurriedly wriggling over to Lu Chen's side and leaning against his shoulder.
"I support you, let's do it! When do we start?"
Lu Chen felt a jolt through his body, warmed all over by her side rubbing against him—a completely different sensation from Madam August.
"In a few days."
Gloria asked again:
"By the way, how much money did you sell that server for?"
Lu Chen had no need to hide it.
"Saliza's box of valuables sold for one hundred twenty thousand; it seems it really scared her. The server you got sold for eighty thousand, making two hundred thousand total. The battle suit I wanted starts at twenty-eight thousand. Thanks to it being so expensive, I'm giving each of you ten thousand in hush money."
With that, Lu Chen opened his storage pouch and presented a box of spiritual stones each to Gloria and Aili.
Ten thousand spiritual stones of hush money made Aili say weakly:
"Captain, isn't this too much..."
Lu Chen drank his tea in large gulps and said with an air of extravagance:
"Not at all, spend it freely."
Gloria couldn't quite believe her ears, staring at Lu Chen suspiciously.
"What's wrong with you, kid? Did you take the wrong medicine?"
Lu Chen smiled:
"When we were poor, saving money was a necessity. When we have money, not squandering it would waste my ability to make money, wouldn't it?"
Gloria's eyes lit up. She put away the ten thousand spiritual stones, grabbed her wine flask, hugged Lu Chen tightly, and burst into laughter:
"Haha, you kid finally have some nouveau riche airs. Guess my eyes weren't blind back then; I followed the right person."

Lu Chen was speechless.
"What do you mean 'back then'... it's only been two months, okay."
Gloria paused slightly; they had only been out to sea for two months?
"Doesn't matter... No time to lose, let's do it!"
Lu Chen calmly sipped his tea and shook his head:
"I still need to rest for a few days and formulate a plan. You're both above level fifty; my own cultivation needs to be raised as well."
Gloria leaned against Lu Chen, ready to get out of the bath.
"Come, come, come, to the cultivation chamber, I'll teach you swordplay."
Lu Chen ducked down and slipped out from under her armpit.
"I'm not cut out for that; you'd better supply me with demonic energy, I need to raise my cultivation as fast as possible!"
Gloria raised her head for a hearty swig and said cheerfully:
"Useless. If you don't break through to level fifty, it makes no difference whether you're level forty-seven or forty-nine. But if you master the most basic Snow-Slaying Sword Technique and become a true sword-spirit warrior, your combat prowess might skyrocket. Let's go, you don't even need to change clothes."
Saying that, Gloria stood up unceremoniously, draped her yukata over herself, and left the bamboo grove.
Lu Chen and Aili were speechless, and could only put on their yukatas, gather their clothes, and follow.
...
As he walked, Lu Chen remotely controlled the Leonine.
Automatically transferring the spaceship from the dock to the lakeside forest, crushing over a dozen trees.
Madam August, who was reading her morning scriptures by the lake, could only shake her head upon seeing this...
The three of them returned to the spaceship.
Without a word, they successively removed their yukatas, changed into semi-transparent cultivation membranes, and lay down in the cultivation chambers.
The three of them logged into the classic Yunlan Sect map once again.
Sword Chief Peak, Back Mountain Sword Terrace.
Expecting snowy weather as before, they were instead met with scorching sunlight.
The disciples on the sword terrace endured the blazing sun while continuing to practice their swordplay.
The Senior Brother, Second Senior Sister, and Third Junior Brother—three NPC figures capable of interacting with the weather—had smoke rising from the tops of their heads under the scorching heat, and resumed discussing extreme weather and cultivation...
Gloria looked up and shielded her eyes against the glare, simply saying:
"Actually, practicing swordplay doesn't necessarily require slaying snow. Killing people works for practice too, and it's even more efficient."
Aili turned pale at the words.
Lu Chen hastily brought up the weather interface, planning to reselect the weather and restore the previous snowy days.
Gloria waved her hand dismissively.
"Forget the snow-slaying. Your talent might not suit this high-tier training method; let's go chop bamboo leaves in the bamboo grove instead. The difficulty is a bit lower than slaying snow."
"Alright."
Thus, the three walked into the bamboo forest at the peak.
There was a breeze in the bamboo grove, but it was hot wind as well.
Not refreshing at all.
Lu Chen found a huge boulder.
All around, fallen leaves fluttered. Lifting a hand to chop bamboo leaves made it a good place to practice swordplay.
"Right here."
Gloria nodded, her clear eyes shifting slightly as she tried to recall her own sword practice days, and said patiently:
"In snowy weather, our bodies need to generate more heat, making it hard to maintain relative calmness. Hot weather is actually easier for achieving peace of mind."
Having said just that, she leaped onto a high branch.
And went to sleep on a bamboo bough.
"That's all her advice?"
Lu Chen couldn't help but question her professionalism as a teacher.
Gloria raised her head to drink, shaking the bamboo leaves into a sky full of fluttering green.
"I've taught you everything I know. I learned it on the first day; this kind of basic swordplay is a piece of cake, stop complaining... Have Aili practice alongside you to set an example."
Lu Chen suddenly grew nervous.
He was the one who learned it first; if Aili mastered it before him, wouldn't he lose all face?
Falling leaves.
Cicada chirping.
Wind blowing.
Insects moving.
Though somewhat hot, Gloria got deeply drunk and quickly fell fast asleep.
Her green robe fluttered softly, stirring up wonderful rhythms against her voluptuous figure.
Her light, floating sleeping posture on the bamboo branch looked utterly carefree and brimming with immortal aura.
Lu Chen and Aili sat back-to-back, cross-legged at opposite ends of the giant boulder.
Each held a disciple sword from Sword Chief Peak.
Downgrading from slaying snow to slaying leaves.
The difficulty dropped significantly.
After all, bamboo leaves were much larger than snowflakes and didn't shatter as easily.
Lu Chen shared his insights and experiences from the previous session with Aili.
Aili listened thoughtfully.
Lu Chen casually chopped at the leaves for a while, feeling that unlike chopping snow, cutting them was as crisp and refreshing as slicing a watermelon, possessing a great sense of rhythm.
Sadly, it was too hot, and he was soon drenched in sweat.
Lu Chen's leaf-cutting grew more polished, akin to perfect slicing.
Yet keeping them from separating mid-air... proved far too difficult.
Aili was the same.
Swinging her sword diligently, sweat soaked through her green robe.
Yet her gaze remained resolute, and she continued swinging without stop.
Half a day later.
Lu Chen grew somewhat tired and found it quite monotonous, beginning to question the point of this sword technique.
"What's the actual point of cutting a leaf in two without letting the halves separate immediately?"
Gloria turned over on the bamboo branch, mumbling sleepily:
"Fool, to increase power, of course...
Your sword technique looks like it achieves perfect slicing, but it's merely sharp brute force, falling short of the formless realm.
If you reach the formless realm, the enemy won't even defend, and their body won't instantly tense up. You can catch them unawares and defeat them in a single stroke."
Lu Chen hadn't expected her to still articulate it so clearly.
Aili grew pensive.
"The weather is hot, sitting on the stone is unsettling, and seeking stillness is futile. Why don't we try moving around?"
Lu Chen thought to himself: *If women start moving around, how can I keep my mind still?*
He took a sip of tea and continued swinging his sword cross-legged.
Aili leaped down from the giant boulder and began dancing with her sword in the bamboo grove.
The range of her movements went from small to large. Initially rigid and formulaic, she quickly grew agile and possessed a fine rhythm.
One day later.
Aili entered the zone, her sword-dancing posture nothing short of graceful, resembling a prancing little fawn.
Her physical posture appeared lively and rhythmic, yet her gaze was as still as stagnant water, her spiritual pressure and heartbeat exceptionally steady.
Watching for a long time, Lu Chen felt his own agitated heart settle down as well.
Glancing down, he saw that the bamboo leaves on the ground severed by Aili's sword were completely intact.
"Hey, Aili, why didn't you split the bamboo leaves? They're all completely undamaged."
Gloria, fast asleep, suddenly opened her eyes and leaped down from the bamboo bough.
She picked up a bamboo leaf and inspected it closely.
There was a sword mark right across the middle of the bamboo leaf, yet the leaf hadn't torn.
She pulled the leaf apart with her fingers, splitting it into two halves.
"This is cutting too fast and too thin, causing them to stick together... How much time has passed?"
Lu Chen replied:
"A day and a half."
Gloria stared at Aili in astonishment.
"I wouldn't have guessed it; little Aili actually has this kind of swordsmanship talent... She's approaching ten percent of my talent!"
Such humble-bragging—truly you!
Lu Chen was speechless.
Aili, however, was quite excited.
"It's not that amazing; I just integrated vegetation spirit-control with wind-blade techniques, taking a shortcut."
Lu Chen put on a stern face and said to Gloria:
"Are you saying I don't even have ten percent of your talent?"
Gloria sighed helplessly, not looking at Lu Chen, but simply patting his shoulder encouragingly.
"Keep it up, young man, don't be impatient. Until you master the basic sword technique, we aren't leaving."
Lu Chen asked curiously again:
"Did Aili succeed?"
Gloria shook her head.
"Aili has succeeded halfway. The next step is to make the bamboo leaves separate and fall to the ground after being cut; that's the true severance... Otherwise, why bother cutting them at all?"
Observing the bamboo leaves closely, Lu Chen saw that Aili had indeed taken a shortcut. What she would ultimately master might be spirit-control swordsmanship, which was also useful, but it still fell a bit short of Gloria's sword-saint fundamentals.
Yet her train of thought in moving about was correct!
Inspired by Aili, Lu Chen stopped sitting cross-legged on the giant boulder and leaped down to the ground.
Putting away his sword, he stepped on the fallen leaves of the bamboo grove, closed his eyes, and swayed his body, attempting to find stillness amidst motion.
He actually started dancing!
All things resonating, becoming an organic whole.
With eyes closed, Lu Chen felt as though he were riding the wind, nearly floating away—quite a cozy feeling.
This dance made it impossible for Gloria to sleep; her eyes went blank as she marveled:
"Why'd you switch to dancing? It's way too seductive; you're just learning swordplay, no need to go this far."
Beside him, Aili watched Lu Chen's dance steps, vaguely sensing an extraordinary aura, and covered her mouth with a smile:
"The Captain must have his reasons..."
Aili said so, though she didn't quite understand either.
Until yet another day later.
As Lu Chen danced and danced, he truly floated into the air.
(Physically)
Lacking any spirit-control spells whatsoever, Lu Chen simply floated into the air out of thin air!
He resonated with the bamboo grove's wind, resonated with the flying leaves, resonated with space, resonated with heaven and earth's spiritual Qi, until he resonated with all things...
Purely through strands of ethereal resonance power, his hundred-and-forty-pound physique drifted upward in the bamboo grove.
Gloria was stunned.
"For real? Way too demonic, give him the sword."
Aili quickly handed the sword she held to Lu Chen.
Taking the sword, Lu Chen slashed horizontally, tracing a circle.
Aili squatted down in a panic, dodging Lu Chen's sword Qi.
The sword dropped to the ground.
Without a sound.
Silence filled the bamboo grove.
Aili looked around.
The bamboo forest still swayed in the wind, its branches and leaves rustling endlessly.
"Too quiet..."
Gloria suddenly furrowed her brow.
Thud!
She fell headfirst down from the bamboo grove.
The surrounding bamboo forest fell down in swathes.
Spreading outward from the center of the bamboo grove.
In the blink of an eye, the bamboo forest at the peak of Sword Chief Peak was razed to the ground like harvested leeks.
Aili was dumbfounded.
Gloria leaped to her feet, looked around in all directions, and stood frozen for a long time before finally spitting out a single line:
"It takes sword-dao trash like you guys to actually figure out swordplay."