In the dim room, a small, pale hand emerged from a huddled bundle of blankets on the bed. It fumbled around the bedside table for a moment before finally finding a phone, which it immediately gripped and retracted back into the covers.
A moment later, Xing poked her head out of the blankets, her hair a messy mop. Her eyes, still hazy with sleep, stared at the lit-up phone screen.
"How is it already noon…?" Xing mumbled. Her stomach rumbled, and she let out a yawn before tapping open her chat with March 7th.
"Little March said she'd save me breakfast, I wonder where she put it…"
[Xing: March, tummy, hungry, food food.]
After sending the message, there was no immediate reply. It was a little while before March 7th finally responded.
[March 7th: Be good. Your brother didn't let me save you any breakfast, so you'll have to find something yourself! Your brother and I are over at the Training Grounds right now.]
Reading the message, Xing couldn't help but frown, her little mouth pouting high.
"Is Old Bro trying to starve his dear sister to death so he can hog the spotlight later? How despicable…"
Left with no choice, Xing had to get out of bed and forage for food herself. As it happened, there was a place called Golden Automaton Lane right next to the Training Grounds. She'd heard March 7th mention that it was full of all kinds of delicious food. She might as well go there to eat something before settling the score with her old brother!
"A message from who?"
Standing beside March 7th, Fu Zhu noticed her suddenly pull out her phone and tap out a few words, and he asked out of curiosity.
March 7th smiled and showed Fu Zhu her phone. "See? I told you I should save some breakfast for Xing. Look, your sister is crying about being hungry now."
Fu Zhu made a "tch" sound and shrugged. "When a kid's hungry, she'll rummage through the trash herself, you don't have to worry about her. The probability of her dying suddenly from gaming is much, much higher than the probability of her starving to death."
March 7th was speechless and rolled her eyes at Fu Zhu. "Who talks about their own sister like that… You two siblings are really exactly the same sometimes…"
While Fu Zhu and March 7th were chatting, ten training dummies had already been set up inside the Training Grounds as per Fu Zhu's request.
Jingliu's hands had also been unbound, but her wrists were still cuffed with a pair of magnetic shackles. If she showed any sign of turning hostile, the shackles would instantly clamp her hands tightly together.
Jingliu drew the [Kugutsu] from its sheath, gave it a flourish in the air, then turned her head to look at Fu Zhu. "You said you could learn my sword techniques within a single system hour. What do I need to do?"
Fu Zhu nodded, pointing a finger at the [Kugutsu] in Jingliu's hand. "Just use that sword. Use every sword technique you have to attack those dummies, until the blade in your hand breaks."
"Is that all?"
After hearing Fu Zhu's words, Jingliu still couldn't find anything unusual about the request. At least for now, she still couldn't figure out how Fu Zhu planned to learn all of her skills within a single system hour. Or was Fu Zhu simply bluffing?
It was possible, but the probability was low. A single system hour was too short a time; Jingliu didn't think Fu Zhu would tell a lie that could be exposed so easily.
But since he had said so, Jingliu could only do as he instructed. Gripping the [Kugutsu], she began to unleash her various sword techniques upon the dummies.
In an instant, it was as if Jingliu had split into several people, weaving between the dummies as azure sword-shadows crisscrossed through the air.
The spectators who witnessed such divine sword skills couldn't help but marvel, and the most delighted among them was, of course, Fu Zhu.
The stronger Jingliu appeared, the greater his potential gains would be!
March 7th watched for a short while before her eyes started to feel sore. She raised a hand to rub them with the back of her knuckles, then couldn't resist turning her head to Fu Zhu with curiosity.
"I'm really curious how you managed to suppress Jingliu back then. She looks so powerful!"
To March 7th's question, Fu Zhu's answer was very matter-of-fact.
"What else could I do? Obviously, I played to my strengths and caught her completely off guard."
In terms of pure sword skills, Fu Zhu knew perfectly well that even with the SlashBlade's buffs, he was far from Jingliu's equal at the time.
He had been able to win against Jingliu purely because she was utterly unfamiliar with the attack patterns of the SlashBlade MOD, and she had no understanding of his various MC items.
If Fu Zhu hadn't been able to take down Jingliu in a short amount of time, as the fight dragged on, he would have likely been the one to lose. At that point, his only option would have been to slap down a bed on the spot and gamble his life against hers.
Of course, the various MC items and the SlashBlade were his advantages to begin with. He would never be foolish enough to abandon them for a "fair fight" with Jingliu.
Twenty-some minutes later, Jingliu suddenly leaped high from the pile of dummies. She twisted her body in mid-air, the blade's edge sweeping out in a semi-circle, closely resembling a bright moon hanging high in the sky.
The next moment, countless crescent-shaped blades of sword qi rained down from above, slashing into the group of dummies on the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Once the dust settled, Jingliu stood among the dummies, the [Kugutsu] slung over her shoulder. At her feet, a Proud Soul Fragment had appeared out of nowhere.
The moment Fu Zhu saw the Proud Soul Fragment, he immediately walked over and picked it up from the ground.
At this moment, the fragment he held was slightly different from the previous ones.
[Proud Soul Fragment: Jingliu]
"It worked!"
Seeing the two characters for "Jingliu" appear after the item name, Fu Zhu couldn't help but exclaim with joy. He immediately placed his crafting table and furnace on the ground and began preparing to work on the SlashBlade's skills.
Jingliu and the others had also noticed the Proud Soul Fragment in Fu Zhu's hand. Jingliu asked with even more confusion, "Is this the secret to you learning my sword techniques in a single system hour?"
"Yep."
Fu Zhu was busy upgrading the Proud Soul Fragment, so he simply took out the few fragments he had farmed earlier and distributed them to Jingliu, Jing Yuan, and Welt. As soon as they looked at them, they would understand his plan.
After Jingliu, Jing Yuan, and Welt took the fragments from Fu Zhu, they immediately experienced the same thing Yanqing had.
A moment later, the three of them emerged from the illusion created by the Proud Soul Fragment. They couldn't help but exchange glances, a look of astonishment on each of their faces.
Jing Yuan couldn't help but sigh in admiration, "No wonder… No wonder Fu Zhu was so confident he could learn everything in a single system hour… With a treasure like this, truly talented individuals would indeed be able to achieve it."
March 7th stood to the side with her arms crossed, chuckling.
"General, I'm afraid it's not as simple as you think."