"Junior Brother, Junior Brother."
Xue Jing was practicing swordsmanship when Zhu Shanying's voice came from outside the practice room.
He paused, sheathed the long sword in his hand, placed it on the ground, took down the towel hanging on the wall, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The door to the practice room was pushed open, and Zhu Shanying's petite figure darted in.
"Clang, clang, clang! The hero arrives!"
The girl's bright and lively eyes smiled into crescents, and she held a rectangular black cloth strip in her hands.
"Junior Brother, look what I've brought for you."
Xue Jing smiled and greeted her:
"Senior Sister Zhu."
Then he looked at the black rectangular cloth strip in her hand, curious:
"What's this?"
Zhu Shanying grinned and said, "Guess what?"
Xue Jing glanced at the black cloth strip, about to speak when his expression suddenly shifted.
He inexplicably felt a strange sense of familiarity with the black cloth strip, as if it were calling out to him.
Xue Jing took the cloth strip in his hand, and a feeling of blood connection spontaneously arose.
He exclaimed, "What a good sword."
Zhu Shanying was slightly taken aback and asked curiously, "How do you know it's a sword?"
Xue Jing smiled, "I guessed."
Zhu Shanying pouted, "Junior Brother, you're lying."
"If you were guessing, you would've guessed it's a 'sword', so how could you directly say it's a 'good sword'?"
Xue Jing said in surprise, "Senior Sister Zhu, why do I feel like you're kind of smart?"
Zhu Shanying, upon hearing this, wasn't too happy.
She glared at Xue Jing and muttered, "What do you mean 'kind of'? I've always been smart."
The girl reached out with both hands, grabbing the sides of Xue Jing's cheeks.
"Come on, tell me how you knew this is a good sword."
Xue Jing untied the string around the black cloth strip and removed it.
A long sword with a black scabbard embroidered with simple and elegant silver patterns appeared before his eyes.
Xue Jing slowly drew the sword, revealing a silvery-white chill.
His eyes lit up, and he fondly stroked the blade, chuckling:
"It... was just introducing itself to me."
Zhu Shanying said in confusion, "Huh?"
Introducing itself? Can the sword talk?
Xue Jing gently caressed the beautiful long sword in his hand.
The black hilt, the silver-white blade, the total length was about one and a half meters.
In terms of form, it should be considered an Imperial Forest Army sword, slightly curved, and under the sunlight streaming in through the window, it reflected glimmers of cold light, indicating its extremely sharp quality visible to the naked eye.
The innate close feeling to weapons brought on by his "Combat Skills" allowed him to quickly understand everything about the sword.
It was as if... the sword was introducing itself to him.
Seeing how Xue Jing couldn't put the sword down, Zhu Shanying also felt very happy, resting her hands behind her back and said with a smile:
"This sword is a part of my grandfather's collection."
"Junior Brother, since you are going to participate in U19, you need a good weapon... I haven't given you anything since you joined, so this sword is for you!"
Xue Jing paused in his action, shook his head, about to say something.
But Zhu Shanying stood on tiptoes, touched his head, and said with a smile in her eyes, "Don't worry, my grandfather has lots of collections, and I've talked to him about giving this sword away, and he agreed."
"I see..." Xue Jing looked at the beautiful long sword in his hand, thought for a moment, and said:
"Thank you, Senior Sister Zhu... May I ask, how much is this sword worth?"
Zhu Shanying tapped her chin.
"Hmm... the main material of this sword is 'Dragon Bone Steel', it's an alloy made by smelting dragon bones from the Dragon Breed with other rare metals."
"The smith is a master named He Jiuxi, who has retired now."
The girl calculated with her fingers.
"If you include its collectible value, it should be around twenty million."
Xue Jing's mouth twitched.
Merely unsheathing it equaled his entire fortune?
In an instant, Xue Jing quickly discarded the notion that he was a wealthy man from his mind.
"Zhu Shanying... this is too precious," he said.
Xue Jing shook his head.
But Zhu Shanying spoke softly,
"Junior brother,"
"You once said, 'To the powerful, money is but a pebble that's seen everywhere, easily acquired, and if lost, not even worth a second thought.'"
She gazed at Xue Jing.
"It's just a mere twenty million worth of a sword, do you feel you can't bear it, can't pay it back?"
The girl's tone was extremely calm, completely different from her usual self.
"..."
Xue Jing stared steadily at Zhu Shanying.
Her bright eyes seemed to carry a certain hope.
After a long while, Xue Jing smiled.
"I was being petty."
He sheathed the long sword in his hand, and said earnestly to Zhu Shanying,
"Thank you, Sister Zhu, I'll accept the sword."
In the little over a month he had been in the dojo, his strength had grown rapidly
But his pride... didn't seem to have completely caught up.
Xue Jing rubbed his brow.
He never thought the boastful words he had said before would come back like a boomerang and hit him. Sёarᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Yes, it's just twenty million.
To him, it was no longer something so valuable that he couldn't pay it back.
Just like a normal person wouldn't feel uneasy just because a friend treated them to a meal, to him, this twenty million worth sword was just 'a meal.'
He needed to reflect and adjust his mindset.
"Humph, this is the junior brother I wanted to see," Zhu Shanying said with a smile reappearing at the corner of her eyes, patting Xue Jing on the back.
"Junior brother, junior brother!"
An anxious call suddenly came from outside the training room.
Xue Jing and Zhu Shanying exchanged a glance, and then he carried his sword to the door and opened it.
Outside stood a regular male disciple dressed in a white training garment, who, upon seeing Xue Jing, hurriedly said,
"Junior brother, the master is calling you to the training hall."
Xue Jing asked with perplexity, "What happened?"
The male disciple explained, "People from the Golden Wind Dojo have come to us... it seems they're looking for trouble."
Xue Jing's eyes narrowed, "Golden Wind Dojo?"
...
"So, you kid are here to challenge the dojo?"
Inside the Hidden Dragon Dojo's training hall.
Li Qi sat in a wheelchair, looking at the two people before him, his tone completely steady.
Standing opposite Li Qi, Li Chengxuan raised an eyebrow and said, "Please don't get me wrong, sir."
"Who in Qingcheng would be so suicidal to dare to challenge the 'Dragon King's' dojo?"
"I mean for a pure exchange," he clarified.
Li Qi gave him a look and harrumphed.
"I've heard of you, young and yet able to practice the Golden Wind's White Rainbow Sword to the 'Blade Reaching Four Edges' level, indeed somewhat gifted," he acknowledged.
Li Chengxuan immediately bowed slightly, saying with a smile, "It's an honor to be recognized by you, sir."
Li Qi ignored the flattery, stroking his balding head, and said indifferently,
"But Jiao Hongyuan has protected you too well, making you a bit too conceited."
"Compared to my disciple, your talent is but a piece of wind-dried dung by the roadside, which I can hardly be bothered to glance at."
As Xue Jing approached the entrance to the training hall, he heard these words and his expression became complex.
Master's description... was uniquely vivid.
...