However, Heiqi Long didn’t feel envious at all.
She and Dragon Father had already fought several times, and unlike Baicheng and Evil Father’s childish sparring, theirs were death matches fueled by hatred.
After her battle with Red Dragon, Heiqi Long realized her own shortcomings.
In the end, she hadn’t defeated Orange Sea Dream by sheer force, but through cunning.
If she faced Red Dragon again, Orange Sea Dream wouldn’t be careless next time.
Blackie also refused to acknowledge a victory won through tricks like that.
In fact, she saw it as a stain upon her life as a dragon.
Outside, Baicheng and Evil Father were clashing swords with a constant “ding ding dong dong” late into the night, sounding just like renovation work.
But none of it could ever wake Heiqi Long.
Her special passive was that she could fall asleep instantly once she was full, and sleeping would make her stronger.
After sparring, White Feather Dove and Qingshamu would head to the basement to check on Feini’s condition.
Then, each would return to their own room to meditate and cultivate.
Leveling up was much more troublesome for them than it was for Blackie.
During the day, they’d team up to head to the nearby major city, Sun Arrow City, to gather intelligence.
That city was a sprawling metropolis for Adventurers, built at the border between the Chaos Mountains and the United Kingdom.
It was much larger than the Kingdom of Huanxu, which had previously been built within the Chaos Mountains themselves.
After all, a city was still safer within the territories controlled by humans.
Only seasoned Adventurers dared venture to the Kingdom of Huanxu, while a large portion of Sun Arrow City was filled with rookie Adventurers.
Even so, the place was a jumble of all sorts, and there were plenty of con artists targeting new Adventurers—scammers from shady guilds recruiting newcomers as cheap labor.
White Feather Dove and Qingshamu were both gold-ranked Adventurers. While that wasn’t the highest rank, their youth made their potential obvious at a glance.
As a result, nearly a dozen guild recruiters tried to rope them in every day, and without exception, all were turned down.
Still, this situation was really irritating. Unless they joined a guild, this kind of harassment would never end.
But if they did join, peace would be even more unattainable—countless tasks and obligations would pile on, enough to make anyone’s hair fall out.
After much thought, they concluded there was only one solution: establish their own Adventurer guild to put a stop to the recruiters’ pestering.
But founding a guild would bring another headache—like before, they’d be harassed by enforcers from rival guilds.
In the end, there was never any peace. Compared to being actively targeted, fending off a few recruiters seemed far simpler.
Plus, they had a sleeping beauty at home; the fewer people who knew their address, the better.
“Let’s head home early today.”
From then on, Qingshamu reduced their trips to Sun Arrow City.
After all, most of the necessary intelligence had been gathered.
It was time to summarize what they’d learned over this period.
To obtain a Wuhun Divine Weapon—honestly, finding one wasn’t the hard part.
The challenge was how to actually obtain it.
First, there was the Adventurer Association’s ancestral divine sword, the Blood of the Hero.
However, that sword had long been lost in the Demon Domain.
Back in the day, the previous generation’s Hero had led a party to fight the Demon King there and perished in battle.
Since then, the Blood of the Hero had vanished without a trace—nobody knew where it was now.
Then, there was the Holy Church’s Holy Sword, kept under tight guard.
There was no way to get it unless they fought the Church and snatched it by force.
Finally, the United Kingdom’s Human Emperor’s Sword. It was likewise stored in the Royal Family’s secret Royal Tomb, with an even greater degree of secrecy than the Holy Sword—so much so that most people didn’t even know it existed.
Those were the only three swords. There were no other Wuhun Divine Weapons capable of saving Feini.
But how could they get their hands on any of these swords? That was the real question.
Qingshamu mulled it over. Searching for the lost Blood of the Hero was the only viable path; the Holy Sword and Human Emperor’s Sword simply weren’t realistic options.
But after all their hard work returning to the United Kingdom, did they really have to dive back into the Demon Domain? Wouldn’t that make their return pointless?
Bang~ Bang~ Bang~
Just as Qingshamu was mired in worry, a sudden knock sounded on the tightly shut door.
“Hold it.” Baicheng and Blackie were still fighting off to the side, but Qingshamu raised her hand to halt them, then went to answer the door.
When she reached the entrance, she caught a whiff of something foul and nauseating. Pausing, she frowned before finally opening the door.
Sure enough, outside stood a group of dust-laden Saintly Officials—it was the same group who’d handed over the last mission to her.
Besides high-ranking Saintly Officials, there were a host of imposing Holy Knights, and even a few White-robed Priests. The lineup was nothing short of formidable.
“It’s you? What are you doing here?” The Kingdom Knights Captain from the Holy Church was stunned to see Qingshamu.
“Wrong person.” Hearing his lofty tone, Qingshamu’s face darkened, and she shut the door in his face without hesitation.
But a few seconds later, the knocking resumed, even more urgently.
Qingshamu hadn’t left, though. She knew Holy Church personnel were like cockroaches—impossible to drive out.
Helplessly, she opened the door again; the earlier slam had just been a warning.
“Wait, former Hero, we have something to discuss with you.”
As expected, the Holy Church knights had lost their arrogance and were now pleading.
“……” Qingshamu said nothing, simply watching their performance in silence.
At the back, the White-robed Priests and high-ranking Saintly Officials were whispering among themselves, holding copies of the Saint Book and arguing fiercely, faces full of conflict and disbelief.
Finally, after a lengthy debate, they reached consensus and sent a high-ranking Saintly Official forward, beaming ingratiatingly at Qingshamu.
And this was the very same arrogant squad captain who’d looked down on her last time—now suddenly turned into a lapdog.
“You lot are a blight. If you have something to say, spit it out and stop lingering at my door.” Qingshamu snapped.
“This is your home?” a White-robed Priest asked.
“If it’s not my home, is it yours? This isn’t your church—I don’t welcome any of you here.” Qingshamu cursed loudly.
“Former Hero, we were colleagues once. Must you speak so harshly?” The White-robed Priest’s face burned with humiliation.
“Hahaha, a few days ago you didn’t speak to me like this. You called me a worthless waste with no more use, took the God-Demon Meat Chunk I brought back from the Demon Domain, tossed me a little money, and told me to scram as far as possible.”
Qingshamu spat, “I didn’t cut you down only because I respect the law. Take one more step, knock on my door again, and I’ll cut off all your hands. I mean it.”
That stunned the entire squad of Saintly Officials. They looked at each other, at a loss.
Why was Qingshamu so unyielding? Because she knew they had come with a request.
After all, back then, it was people like them who had barged into her village and whisked her away to be raised by the Church.
Bang!
Qingshamu slammed the door hard and went back to sleep.