The Sword Spirit swung hard at the Demon King, but unexpectedly the Demon King twisted his body to dodge, and the blade struck the ground directly.
As luck would have it, the Sword Spirit accidentally let go at that moment.
The Demon Sword bounced off the ground and flew toward Zhu Qiu.
‘Oh no!’
Zhu Qiu had no idea this would happen.
She stood frozen, not even trying to dodge.
The rusty Demon Sword precisely sliced across Zhu Qiu’s arm.
With the added speed, it successfully cut her skin, and blood stained the blade.
“Zhu Qiu, are you okay? I-I didn’t mean to.”
The Sword Spirit’s hands trembled as she realized she had messed up.
Zhu Qiu felt the pain on her arm and instinctively pressed the wounded area, pretending to be calm.
“I-I’m fine, Sword Spirit. It’s just a small wound. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.”
Zhu Qiu didn’t blame the Sword Spirit; instead, she replied nonchalantly.
“Are you really okay? This is the Tetanus Blade, you know? Should we go to the hospital?”
“Really, no need. I’m a Dragon Race now; my body is pretty tough.”
Zhu Qiu patted her chest to reassure.
But just then, Zhu Qiu’s blood on the Demon Sword on the ground slowly seeped into the blade.
The rust on the entire sword began to fall off, gradually revealing its original form.
At the same time, the Slime suddenly vanished from sight, as if summoned.
“Huh? Sword Spirit, where did that squishy Slime go?”
“It probably ran away. I knew it was useless. It would be a waste of effort to kill it.”
The Sword Spirit looked disdainful.
“So what should we do now? I’m so bored.”
“Isn’t it simple? You’re the Sword Saint. Step up your training and become stronger.”
“But training is tiring.”
Zhu Qiu started to back out.
“Are you serious? How did you get so lazy? Where’s your former ambition?”
“I… I…” She was speechless.
“Anyway, I can’t be bothered with you. I’m leaving. The rest is up to you.”
With that, the Sword Spirit vanished on the spot.
“Hey! Hey, hey, hey!”
Zhu Qiu was already bored to the point of irritation, and now she had to be criticized by some random person.
She turned around and stormed into the interrogation room.
Furious, she summoned a Magic Orb and shoved it into the Demon King’s mouth.
“Feeding all day long! Let’s see if you still want to feed now!”
“Mmm—mm mmm mmm! (I’m sorry! Take this thing out!)”
But Zhu Qiu only understood normal speech, not whatever “mmm” language that was.
To resolve her inner frustration, the Little Princess decided to find Zhu Xiaxia.
She was the Queen of the Dragon Tribe and always had the best ideas.
Asking her was definitely the right move.
Zhu Qiu left the room, making sure to close the interrogation room door, then went to the second floor to the door of Zhu Xiaxia’s workshop.
If Zhu Xiaxia wasn’t anywhere else, she would always be here.
Knock knock knock.
The Little Princess politely knocked and asked, “Zhu Xiaxia, are you in there?”
“Of course, dear daughter. Come in.”
With Zhu Xiaxia’s permission, Zhu Qiu pushed the door open and got straight to the point:
“Zhu Xiaxia, I’m so lost. What should I do?”
“Oh? Why is my dear daughter feeling lost?”
“Because ever since I lost my human status, I feel like my life has no goal. Everything I do now is boring and I can’t muster any enthusiasm.”
Zhu Xiaxia suddenly stopped what she was doing, looked up, and replied, “Then you could try to defeat me.”
“Defeat you?”
“That’s right. You’re the Sword Saint, daughter. Don’t you want to surpass me, the Dragon King?”
“Of course I do, but that doesn’t seem realistic, and… it doesn’t seem meaningful, does it?”
“How can you say it’s meaningless? When I retire in the future, the Dragon King position will inevitably be passed to you. If you don’t learn more now, what will you do later? Do you want to be scolded publicly by Nidhogg again? Hm?”
Zhu Qiu didn’t expect Zhu Xiaxia to still remember that.
If she hadn’t brought it up, Zhu Qiu would have completely forgotten.
“That probably won’t happen again, and besides, I have you, right?”
“Silly child, the future is the future, and I can’t be with you forever, right? There comes a day when everyone leaves. The same goes for dragons. All living things are limited by lifespan. I’m over 4,000 years old now. Although it’s still early before I grow old, that day will come eventually.”
Zhu Xiaxia said earnestly.
This topic was very sensitive.
Zhu Qiu remained silent, not knowing whether it was because she felt ashamed by Zhu Xiaxia’s words or afraid of aging.
Zhu Xiaxia didn’t stop and continued, “So, daughter, you’re going to become an independent adult in the future. Don’t you want to give it a try?”
After a while, Zhu Qiu nodded slightly.
“Alright, dear daughter, Mother won’t keep you in suspense. After the holiday, I’ll take you to a place dedicated to learning. I believe you can not only grow there but also make many good friends.”
Hearing that she was going somewhere else to study, Zhu Qiu immediately looked up and asked what she cared about most:
“Can it make my swordsmanship stronger?”
“I’m not too sure, but that place teaches everything. Even very niche magic has corresponding courses there. In theory, swordsmanship can also be improved.”
Swordsmanship is often what a Sword Saint cares about most.
Hearing that she could improve her swordsmanship, the previously lifeless Zhu Qiu instantly became interested.
“I’ve said what I needed to say. So, dear daughter, do you want to go?”
“Yes!”
The Little Princess raised both hands and answered without hesitation.
“Okay, then Mother will sign you up.”
“Yay!”
But before Zhu Qiu could celebrate for long, Zhu Xiaxia added, “Daughter, you need to be careful. The place I mentioned is in the Dragon Kingdom, so you absolutely must not use the Holy Sword, otherwise they might suspect your identity. You don’t want to die of embarrassment from that, right?”
“Alright! Even without the Holy Sword, I can still practice swordsmanship. When I finish my studies and return, I’ll use the Holy Sword then.”
“Good, since my daughter is so motivated, Mother feels more at ease.”
Zhu Xiaxia smiled with relief, as this was one of the rare occasions when Zhu Qiu actively proposed to study.
“Oh, right, such an important matter. I need to go downstairs and tell my father, otherwise he’ll worry about me.”
“Okay, go ahead and come back quickly. Breakfast will be ready soon.”
Oh right, breakfast.
Zhu Qiu went downstairs, ran to the kitchen, and saw Xiaguang making breakfast.
Curious, she asked, “Xiaguang, is breakfast ready yet? I’m starving.”
“It’s already done, Princess. It will be served soon. Please wait a moment longer.”
But Zhu Qiu didn’t want to wait.
Seeing five large bowls of food on the stove, she directly took two of them to give to her father on the surface.