Jiang Ke’er and Pei Min walked down the mountain amid jeers and laughter.
Pei Min hung his head, his expression numb.
Jiang Ke’er, however, strutted ahead like a victorious general.
“Little disciple, don’t be discouraged. You can come back often to spar with them,” Jiang Ke’er said.
“His Majesty’s policy also states that friendly sparring cannot be refused.”
“When did His Majesty come up with such a strange rule? And I’m not your disciple!” The previously listless Pei Min seemed to have a button pressed that made his fur stand on end, suddenly exploding with indignation.
“If you take advantage of a dark, windy night and challenge them when they’re alone, and you don’t leave any evidence during the spar, His Majesty will be on your side,” Jiang Ke’er said in a low voice.
“…That’s just ambushing someone!”
“No, no, that’s sparring.” Jiang Ke’er shook her head repeatedly.
“Why is your brain so rigid, kid? You’ll never learn the Sword Dao like this!”
“Learn what?” Pei Min threw caution to the wind, anger flaring.
“Do you even know how to hold a sword? You don’t know a single worthless sword technique—what qualifies you to be my master?”
“Who says I don’t?” Jiang Ke’er glared, then snatched the sword from Pei Min’s hand in one swift motion.
Pei Min froze. He had actually been disarmed by this little girl in an instant.
Something was off.
But it was probably because he was distracted and hadn’t been on guard…
“Watch closely! First form of the Green Lotus Sword Technique!”
Jiang Ke’er drew the sword, raised it, and swung at a nearby tree.
Her stance looked quite professional, as if she really knew what she was doing.
But Pei Min saw clearly that the blade never even touched the tree trunk—it was obviously a futile swing at empty air.
Jiang Ke’er sheathed the sword and looked at Pei Min with smug satisfaction.
“Little disciple, did you grasp it?”
“Swinging a sword counts as a sword technique?” Pei Min sneered.
“You didn’t even touch the tree. In battle, that would mean swinging at nothing… are you tired of living?”
“Too naive,” Jiang Ke’er said with an inscrutable smile.
Seeing her expression, Pei Min’s heart tightened—‘Could it be that she actually used Invisible Sword Qi to inflict internal damage on the tree, making it look like she cut air? Has she reached a realm I can’t even imagine?’
“Please enlighten me.” Pei Min cautiously cupped his fists toward Jiang Ke’er.
“Listen carefully.” Jiang Ke’er stood with her hands behind her back, facing the distant morning sun, leaving her silhouette to Pei Min.
She said in a deep voice, “You think I meant to cut the tree, but I didn’t cut it—that too is a form of cutting.”
“………………”
[Obtained 10,000 Villain Points from Pei Min.]
“Take your time pondering.” Jiang Ke’er continued walking down the mountain leisurely.
Pei Min’s mouth twitched as he stared at the tree. He ran over to examine it closely, then kicked it hard several times.
The tree stood firm, unmoving.
After confirming that Jiang Ke’er really hadn’t used any Sword Qi or anything to leave internal damage on the tree, he heard her distant voice again.
“You think I really didn’t cut it, and indeed I didn’t cut it—that too is a form of cutting.”
Boom—
While Pei Min stared in shock, a small hillside not far behind the tree suddenly collapsed, tearing the tree’s roots clean out of the ground with irresistible force!
“Cough—cough—”
Covering his mouth, a dust-covered Pei Min barely managed to shield his face.
The small landslide kicked up massive clouds of dust, stinging his eyes so hard he couldn’t open them.
When the commotion settled, he jumped over the debris with lingering fear.
He was a bit worried about that bratty girl and wanted to call her name to confirm she was safe—then he suddenly froze.
He realized that after a whole day of knowing her, he still didn’t know what her name was.
“You can call me Master Water, or even better, just Master,” her voice drifted from afar, as if she had fully anticipated Pei Min’s thoughts.
Coincidence?
Staring at the half-collapsed slope behind him, Pei Min was horrified, feeling like his brain couldn’t keep up.
The broken cliff face showed no traces of Sword Qi—no clean cut; it was a perfectly natural fracture.
He sneered and reaffirmed his own theory.
It was just that bratty girl getting lucky, or she used some trick to break the cliff, pretending to be all profound…
“Alright, I know you still don’t believe me.” Glancing at Pei Min, who had jogged up to catch up, Jiang Ke’er sighed.
“But I did study swordsmanship for a few years. If you really have no master to apprentice under, you could try taking me as your master… it’s not like you have any other choice~”
Ouch—
That stung again.
But Pei Min felt his heart had already been riddled with holes; a few more didn’t matter.
Indeed, he was at his wit’s end now. His only option was to stick with this girl.
Even if this was clearly a black ship full of pitfalls, at least she had money.
Yes, he was after her money now.
He didn’t expect her to teach him any valuable Sword Dao techniques.
His thought was: as long as she had even a shred of conscience…
Then from the countless Magic Crystals she had swindled, she might squeeze out a tiny fraction of what rightfully belonged to him to find him a reliable swordsmanship master.
Even a third-rate Scattered Cultivator who only came for money would do!
Five days later
“My good disciple~ practice your sword well~”
[Obtained 50,000 Villain Points from Pei Min.]
He was wrong.
He had completely overestimated Jiang Ke’er’s conscience.
In five days, she never once brought up finding him a swordsmanship master.
And every time he brought it up, she would smile and say, “Don’t rush, don’t rush. Be good and do as I say, and after you practice well, I’ll find you one…”
Fine.
You have the money. Your call.
But…
Big sister! Can’t you have some self-awareness as a layman?!
If you’re an outsider, stop trying to give professional pointers like you know what you’re doing!
You’re really addicted to playing the master, aren’t you?
If you want to play master-disciple roleplay, I can play along… but could you please stop teaching me random nonsense!
“How… how much longer do I have to hold this…”
At that moment, Pei Min was swinging his sword while standing on his hands in a bizarrely twisted pose.
He supported himself with one hand on the ground, the other gripping the sword and slashing forcefully.
It was exhausting. His whole body ached and felt like it was splitting apart, especially his sword arm—it had almost gone numb.
But the girl kept staring at his movements.
Every time he swung incorrectly, she would give his back a sharp lash with a whip and add fifty more swings.
Pei Min couldn’t see any point in this. It didn’t help his Sword Dao cultivation at all—it was just pure torture.
“Mis… Master, forgive me, but I don’t understand what kind of training this is.”
“Huh? Training?”
Jiang Ke’er blinked.
Then, in Pei Min’s inverted field of vision, she wore a strange expression.
“Who said this was training? I was just asking you to help press down a floor tile. That one was loose.”
[Obtained…]
Girl, you going to break your golden goose if you keep this up