“Friend in the tree, you’ve been watching for so long. Are you still unwilling to come down and meet us?”
Zhu Qiu’s body trembled slightly.
She hurriedly moved the leaves in front of her, ensuring she was completely hidden.
“Don’t try to hide. I noticed you the moment you approached. I don’t like being peeped at. If you come down now, perhaps we can still have a peaceful talk. But if you insist on hiding from me…”
Dinksway waved his large hand, and a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the tree with precision.
Zhu Qiu reacted quickly and leaped down from the tree.
The trunk she had been perched on was pierced by the lightning, bursting into a raging fire.
‘That was close. An accident almost happened.’
“Oh? So it is our Master Sword Saint. Long time no see.”
“Master Sword Saint?”
Was it the Sword Saint? Has her brother actually returned?
A Young Mage’s pupils dilated as he peered through the gap in the black cloth covering his face.
A familiar figure stood not far away.
He reached inside to rub his eyes and looked again.
He had not seen it wrong.
It was the Sword Saint, his brother Soran.
Sote instinctively wanted to rush over and give his brother a big hug, but he suddenly remembered that he was still in class.
He had to follow the President’s classroom order.
Left with no choice, he could only suppress his excitement and watch quietly.
Dinksway took a few steps toward Zhu Qiu.
After drawing closer, he turned around to face his apprentices.
“This is the Sword Saint of our Human Realm. Everyone, greet him.”
“Hello, Master Sword Saint!”
Sote, having dazed off for a moment, was half a beat late.
He quickly added, “Hello, Master Sword Saint.”
Zhu Qiu was also stunned for a moment.
That voice belonged to her brother, Sote, but she still found it hard to believe that Sote would come here to learn Magic.
Dinksway faced Zhu Qiu again.
“Sword Saint, look. My students are very obedient and admire you greatly. However, you were observing us in the shadows. Isn’t that a bit… too impolite?”
Zhu Qiu panicked slightly, unsure of how to respond.
The fact that she had been peeping was already set in stone.
Then, she had a sudden flash of inspiration.
She remembered that she was the Human Sword Saint! Her purpose here was to clear out Magic Creatures.
What was so hard to say about that?
“Ahem!”
Zhu Qiu cleared her throat.
“Hello, Archmage Dinksway. The Sword Saint is pleased to meet you. However, I wasn’t here to peep at you. My mission is to clear out the Magic Creatures.”
“Clear out Magic Creatures? Your mission? That can’t be right.”
“What’s not right about it? As the Human Sword Saint, isn’t this what I’m supposed to do?”
“But the King gave this task to me a long time ago.”
“Even if it was given to you, can’t I come and help? Besides, how am I supposed to know if you’re doing a good job or if you’re being lazy?”
“Are you implying, Master Sword Saint, that you want to supervise us? I don’t believe you have that much authority.”
“Who said I wanted to supervise you? I’m simply doing this for the sake of the Human Race. Look, there are still so many Magic Creatures here that haven’t been cleared out. What if they become a plague later? Wouldn’t that be a result of your negligence?”
“The mission to clear these Magic Creatures rests on my shoulders. I’ll kill as many as I want, and leave as many as I want. I’m using them as training tools for my students. There’s no problem with that.”
“Absolutely not! I have far more experience dealing with Magic Creatures than you do. They aren’t something you can control just because you say so. You might leave a few today, but they could turn into a massive swarm that comes knocking on your door tomorrow. I must put the safety of the Human Race above all else!”
“HOLY SWORD, JIAN GE YI!”
Zhu Qiu raised her right hand and summoned the Holy Sword, leaping high into the air.
“GREAT SWORD SLASH!”
A massive wave of sword intent slowly flew toward the group of Magic Creatures that were too stupid to run away.
Zhu Qiu thought she could easily kill them all, but in the next second, the ground began to vibrate without warning.
A thick, tall granite wall rose up, blocking the trajectory of the sword intent.
*Boom—*
With a loud explosion, the sword intent struck the wall.
The violent collision kicked up a massive amount of dust, obscuring Zhu Qiu’s vision.
Once the dust settled, Dinksway was still standing in the same spot, motionless, with the corners of his mouth curled into a slight smirk.
“Sword Saint, it seems your Great Sword Slash is only so-so. I already told you, these Magic Creatures are for me to handle. I won’t allow anyone to kill them prematurely.”
Zhu Qiu could hear a hint of a threat in Dinksway’s tone.
To avoid unnecessary conflict, she didn’t want to keep arguing with him.
She just wanted to see what was going on with that granite wall that had suddenly risen.
However, as soon as she stepped forward, the granite sank back into the ground.
“Sword Saint, this is noble Earth Magic. Those who don’t understand it shouldn’t touch it lightly, lest they get hurt.”
Zhu Qiu couldn’t take it anymore.
Not only had her attack been intercepted, but she was also being mocked.
Now, she was even being called ignorant.
No one could swallow such an insult.
She had to blow the horn for a counterattack!
“Listen here, old man. Stop talking about what’s noble and what isn’t. Just look at your outfit. You’re draped in literal rags; you can’t even touch the edge of ‘noble.’ On the contrary, you’re just like those Goblins in the neighboring Forest Cave, only capable of wearing discarded scraps of cloth.”
Zhu Qiu intentionally leaned in closer to Dinksway to inspect him.
“You really look like one. It’s practically identical. Old man, how could a Goblin be worthy of noble Magic?”
Dinksway clenched his fists, his anger reaching a boiling point.
“Who are you calling an old man? And who is a Goblin?”
“You, of course.”
“I am only 39 years old, not even 40! Do not call me an old man! And I am not a Goblin! Can’t you see this large human face?”
“Oh, look at that. You’re already 39; you’re an old Goblin then. A human face? I don’t see one. Goblins like to cover their faces when they want to disguise themselves as humans. Am I right?”
“My face is a private matter! Even if you don’t look at my face, can’t you see my height? Have you ever seen a Goblin as tall as me?”
“Just a moment ago you said to look at your face, and now it’s a private matter. I’ve never seen such a tall, immature Goblin before.”
In Dinksway’s mind, it felt as if 10,000 horses were galloping past.
“Sword Saint, are you intentionally looking for trouble?”
“Not at all. I’m just expressing my personal opinion. You wouldn’t… feel the same way, would you?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the first to react wasn’t Dinksway, but Sote among the Young Mages.
The Human Sword Saint before him felt both familiar and strange.
In his memory, his brother had always been a mature and steady Sword Saint.
But the things this Sword Saint had just said didn’t sound like they came from his brother’s mouth at all.
There was only one way to describe those words.
“Childish.”
“EARTH WALL SPELL!”
“Dinksway was furious.”
He was truly enraged.
In an instant, four granite walls rose around Zhu Qiu, trapping her.
Dinksway and his Young Mages then stood atop the elevated granite, looking down at her from above.
“Sword Saint, don’t be ungrateful.”
“Do you want to fight?”