Lubuti-VIII.
A small-scale campaign involving five Abominations tribes, which lasted for half a month, had just ended.
The Cloud Knights were clearing the battlefield; the smoke from the Fire Crossbows had not yet fully dissipated, and the air was thick with the scent of blood and scorched earth.
"Don't you think Jingliu has changed a lot during this expedition?"
A young Cloud Knights member holding an Array Blade asked in a low voice.
He was chopping the remains of an Abominations at his feet into three pieces, his movements quite practiced.
"She's changed quite a bit, and in many ways. I'm not sure which aspect you mean?" Qianzhi gave her weapon a light flick, shaking off the bloodstains.
As the two talked, their hands didn't stop, continuing to process the piles of Abominations corpses on the battlefield.
Even in death, the remains of these Houyhnhnms and the Artifact Beasts they enslaved still emitted an unpleasant odor.
Chen Dong hacked at the corpse beneath his feet once more.
"In every aspect, especially her combat power. It's much higher than the last expedition; you could almost say it's doubled."
"It's not just higher; her rate of improvement is simply exaggerated... Think about what she did when the captain ordered a free pursuit?" Qianzhi asked back.
Both of them simultaneously recalled the scene from not long ago—
The enemy forces were routed, and the captain ordered a pursuit to capitalize on the victory, allowing them to temporarily break away from the coordinated formation.
As soon as the order was given, Jingliu, who had been following the team's coordination, seemed to shed all restraints and appeared a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.
Her figure flickered through the fleeing Abominations, with several supporting flying swords circling around her.
Wherever the sword light passed, the Abominations putting up a final struggle were all reduced to fragments.
Not long ago, while holding the front line during coordinated operations, Jingliu would also frequently chop enemies into several pieces.
One must know that the pressure on the front-line soldiers is the greatest.
They absolutely could not allow the enemy to break through the defensive line, let alone let their attacks threaten the comrades in the rear responsible for long-range kills.
Therefore, every attack by the front-line soldiers had to be precise and efficient.
In other words, killing an enemy charging at you with a single strike was the most effective way to maximize stamina conservation and shift attention to the next target.
Jingliu clearly managed to insta-kill the enemies coming for her, yet she never forgot to add a few more slashes on the spot.
It... just gave off an impression of being unnecessary.
However, her behavior of finishing them off early didn't hinder her comrades or break the formation, so no one said anything.
Jingliu was too fast.
In the time it took others to launch one attack, she had already swung her sword three or four times, and she was using a Cloud Knights standard heavy sword.
The blade contained Lihuo, which was enough to slice through the inert outer armor of Artifact Beasts at the moment of contact.
The heavy sword that most people needed two hands to wield, she could swing with one hand, easily cutting Abominations in half at the waist.
Thinking of this, Qianzhi also chopped off the head of the Abominations by her feet to prevent it from reviving, a thoughtful look flashing in her eyes.
"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like she's in a bad mood."
"Is she? She's always had that iceberg face, releasing a'stay away' aura. Although, fighting alongside her does greatly reduce the pressure, and her coordination is quite seamless."
"That may be so, but a woman's intuition is sometimes very accurate."
"Uh... bringing intuition into this... then what do you think the reason is?" Chen Dong asked.
"Based on my years of experience, it must be a romantic disappointment. With nowhere to vent on the Xianzhou, the battlefield is different—there's an endless supply of punching bags," Qianzhi said seriously.
"Huh? You're only eighteen this year, right? 'Years of experience'?"
"You don't understand. Every time my father goes to mate with my second mother, my other two mothers release... an aura similar to Jingliu's current state."
"..." Chen Dong couldn't help but fall silent for a moment. "Your family story is not simple either."
Although the Xianzhou doesn't have monogamy and only The Propagation of offspring is regulated, this was still too... "Don't get distracted."
Qianzhi pondered and said:
"This 'aura' thing is mysterious, but it definitely exists. Wasn't the news about Jingliu's Coming-of-Age Ceremony a perfect example recently?"
"That's true... When her Vanguard master, Lord Zhimu, arrived, just one look from that lord was enough to make one's heart tremble. The aura was too terrifying; I wonder how many Abominations one has to kill on the battlefield to form that."
"The Vanguard lords are all powerhouses who are an army unto themselves. Don't overthink it; let's get back to Jingliu. I really didn't expect her to have someone she likes. Who do you think it is?"
"I couldn't guess if the sky fell. You have accurate intuition, don't you have an answer?" Chen Dong looked helpless.
Qianzhi looked around, and after confirming that nearby comrades couldn't hear, she lowered her voice:
"I don't have definitive evidence... but I can make a bold guess: Jingliu likes her master, Lord Zhimu."
"...You seem to be getting a bit extreme." Chen Dong almost choked on his own spit.
"Is it? The trope of the master-defying disciple is so compelling."
"If this gets out—"
Before he could finish, both of them felt a chill rise from their spines.
Turning their heads stiffly, they saw a familiar figure standing quietly not far away.
Jingliu had appeared there at some point, her heavy sword resting on the ground, with deep red blood still remaining on the blade.
No emotion could be seen in the crimson pupils within her helmet, but her gaze made Qianzhi and Chen Dong's skin crawl.
The two immediately shut their mouths and lowered their heads to clean the battlefield, their movements several times faster than before.
In the air, only the dull sound of blades cutting through flesh remained.
Jingliu watched the two for a moment, but in the end, she said nothing, turned, and walked toward the other side of the battlefield.
Watching her departing figure out of the corner of her eye, Qianzhi let out a soft breath and said in a voice that was almost inaudible.
"See, there's definitely something wrong with that aura."
"I told you gossiping about others isn't good. We were caught red-handed. Let's get to work!"
Chen Dong didn't dare say any more and just buried his head in his work.
Being stared at by Jingliu's seemingly calm eyes just now felt like being targeted by hundreds of incredibly hungry Abominations that couldn't stop salivating.
No... that's not right—
It was even scarier than that!
...On the other side.
Jingliu stopped her pace, her gaze scanning her comrades who were seriously clearing the battlefield in the distance, her hand gripping the sword unconsciously tightening.
In her mind, she uncontrollably imagined scenes of her master and the senior engaging in reproductive acts.
She quickly suppressed those images, forcing herself to focus on the matters at hand.
The ground beneath her feet was soaked deep brown with blood, and the remains of Abominations were scattered all around.
No matter how many she killed, the irritation in her heart could not be calmed.
Jingliu raised the heavy sword in her hand; the surface of the blade, still stained with blood, reflected her own eyes.
Something seemed to be churning in those eyes, an emotion she herself was unwilling to examine closely.
Qianzhi just said that she liked her master?
The word "like" was not distant to her.
Back at the Cloud Knights training camp, many boys and girls had told her they liked her.
However, looking at her expressionless and silent face, most of those who spoke up chose to back down in unison.
The few who persisted were all defeated by her under the guise of an invitation to spar, and they didn't dare to speak up again.
She could recall the different faces and eyes of people when they said they liked her.
But she didn't know what her own eyes looked like when she looked at her master.
What exactly is "liking"?
And what is it supposed to be like?