From Qingshan Town to Qianyuan Que Land wasn’t far.
Mu Qing removed the small sword hanging from her belt and tossed it.
The small sword expanded proportionally into a large blade, hovering at the height of a single step.
Lian Chengxue silently backed away to make room, while secretly memorizing the sword seal Mu Qing made with her hand.
She had never even been on a plane before.
Finally having a chance to experience free flight, she naturally wanted to make the most of it.
When the blade had expanded enough for two people to move around, Mu Qing stepped onto it.
A cyan sword-qi barrier formed, leaving an opening for Lian Chengxue to get on.
“Come on up. Don’t be afraid. It’s just like standing on solid ground.”
The little loli master said seriously.
Once Lian Chengxue stood on the large flying sword, Mu Qing pointed to the sky, and the blade rose.
Then she waved forward, and the blade began moving at a steady speed.
After a moment, she pressed three fingers together and waved again.
The blade suddenly accelerated, and Lian Chengxue staggered, nearly losing her balance.
‘Wow, it even has gears.’
Lian Chengxue thought in surprise.
Then Mu Qing kept drawing left semicircles with her left hand and right semicircles with her right hand.
Before long, they arrived at the Sword Forging Hall.
Stopping was convenient too.
She pointed to the ground, and the large sword slowly descended, shrank back into a small blade, and was once again tucked at her waist.
Mu Qing pushed open the doors to the Sword Forging Hall with Lian Chengxue.
Not feeling any burning heat from a furnace, Lian Chengxue was startled.
Snowflake-like wood shavings covered nearly a corner of the floor.
A burly man, slightly smaller in build than Zhang Kuang, was pushing a plane.
Wooden swords.
That made sense.
Looking at the wall full of hanging displays, Lian Chengxue understood.
Though she had comprehended the First Sword Six Moves and was at an upper-intermediate swordsman level among mortals, she was still a novice when it came to immortal swordsmanship.
But why were they making wooden swords when it was called the Sword Forging Hall?
“Pick one?”
Lian Chengxue was still choosing when Mu Qing beckoned, and three swords flew over to float in front of her.
Hmm… the one on the left was too heavy, the one on the right too light.
Only the middle one was balanced—it should suit her.
Lian Chengxue blinked, put her coat, which had bird droppings on it, aside, then reached for the middle sword.
It had a certain weight to it.
Thinking her disciple had found what she wanted, Mu Qing raised her hand and dismissed the technique.
The moment she turned around, she heard a howl, followed by a sharp intake of breath.
“Ah… sss…”
Lian Chengxue’s face instantly turned pale.
She might have broken a toe bone.
“…Cough, cough.”
Helping the disciple move the wooden sword off her foot, Mu Qing’s small face flushed slightly.
“Xiaoxue, I forgot to tell you. This is made of ironwood. Other than not being sharpened, it’s almost no different from an ordinary sword.”
“…”
Lian Chengxue shot Mu Qing a resentful look, too pained to speak.
If it was already black and blue without a blade, what would happen with one?
“Can you still walk?”
Silently reciting three apologies, Mu Qing’s small face returned to its usual masterly dignity.
“My bone is broken.”
Lian Chengxue shook her head.
“Then, let master touch your foot.”
“?”
Lian Chengxue’s eyelashes fluttered.
She didn’t understand what Mu Qing meant.
Could it be that her loli sword-immortal master was a foot fetishist?
“Don’t misunderstand.”
Seeing the look in her disciple’s eyes, Mu Qing stepped forward and gave her a sharp rap on the head.
“Ow!”
Lian Chengxue winced and instinctively raised her hand to cover the spot, only to touch Mu Qing’s small hand resting on top of her head.
Soft. Fragrant.
Feeling her disciple’s warm palm press against the back of her hand, Mu Qing’s expression flickered with discomfort.
Sensing the pain on her head slowly fading, Lian Chengxue quickly let go.
She wasn’t a lolicon!
“All right!”
Mu Qing’s bean-shaped brows twitched.
She turned her back, her tone returning to normal, but a red blush climbed from her neck to her ears.
“Your master is of the wood element. I can channel life-force spiritual energy to help you recover. But to do that, I need to make contact. Come over here, and I’ll treat you.”
‘It’s just touching a hand, isn’t it? If she hugged or kissed, would she be blowing steam?’
Lian Chengxue thought in astonishment, marveling at her master’s unexpected innocence.
She quickly supported herself on the floor and stood up, hopping on one foot to a corner of the hall where no one was.
She sat down heavily on the stone steps, lifting a hand to smooth her swaying collar.
Mu Qing was speechless and silently puffed out her chest.
“Do I need to take off my shoes?”
“You don’t have to, but it’ll be faster if you do.”
“Then… I’ll take them off.”
Lian Chengxue said, putting her hands on the heels of her shoes but hesitating.
The fabric shoes had been stuffy for two days, and she wasn’t wearing socks.
Would they smell bad?
“Hurry up. Morning practice time is about to start.”
Mu Qing crouched beside Lian Chengxue, stretched out her hand, and it began to glow with green spiritual light.
“Maybe I’ll just not take them off…”
“Fast,” Mu Qing interrupted, furrowing her bean-shaped brows.
Fine.
If you get stunk, don’t blame me.
Lian Chengxue blushed.
Here she was, a person whose two lives added up to over forty years, being asked by a little loli to take off her shoes and touch her feet—for the first time ever.
But maybe this little loli’s actual age was even older than her two lives combined?
Thinking this, Lian Chengxue dug her fingers into the backs of the shoes, gently peeled them off, and slowly slid her foot out.
Cool air met the warmth of her sole.
After a light sniff, she didn’t smell any bad odor and relaxed.
On the gray stone, that glossy, pinkish foot was dazzlingly white.
Mu Qing bit her lip and channeled spiritual energy through both hands as she moved closer.
The intense life-force made Lian Chengxue instinctively flinch.
A vein bulged on Mu Qing’s forehead, and she reached out and grabbed firmly.
“Don’t move.”
“Mm.”
Lian Chengxue froze, lowering her eyes to the hand covering her toes.
It was small, soft as a cloud, with a stubborn warmth.
Spiritual energy began flowing through her meridians.
The strange, warm current made her throat feel as itchy as her toe bone.
“Hahh~nn…”
Hearing the unconscious moan, Lian Chengxue’s breathing hitched.
‘Damn it, why am I moaning like that? Was that my voice? Making that sound in front of a little loli—I’ve lost all face as a man!’
No, that wasn’t the point.
The point was, what would Mu Qing think?
Glancing sideways, Lian Chengxue secretly gauged Mu Qing’s reaction.
They were only a leg’s length apart.
She had definitely heard it, but… her reaction was strangely calm?
Her small, round face was serious, her bean-shaped brows still furrowed.
Her little hands steadily output spiritual energy, giving off the demeanor of a worried mother.
Could it be… that using spiritual energy to treat someone always made them moan like that?
Was that a normal reaction?
Lian Chengxue consoled herself, unaware that Mu Qing was channeling spiritual energy through her whole body, forcefully suppressing the rising flush, refusing to turn into an embarrassing steam-vent form.
Spiritual energy was already a dimensionally crushing force against mortals.
In fact, from start to finish, the treatment took only five seconds.
Lian Chengxue stretched her well-proportioned toes, put her shoes back on, and stood up.
“Get the wooden sword and wait for me outside.”
With a flutter of her lotus-leaf-green skirt and a tap-tap-tap, Mu Qing was gone, speaking so fast that Lian Chengxue didn’t catch what she said.
Pausing to think and guess for a few seconds, she turned back, picked up the slightly heavy wooden sword, and chased after her.
“Master, your face is really red.”
“…From running.”
Lian Chengxue, with her long legs, quickly caught up to the short-legged figure.
The short-legged figure’s bean-shaped brows twitched, and she began to dodge the topic.
The suppressed blood and qi surged endlessly.
The loli master’s flat chest was clearly heaving.
Lian Chengxue watched in confusion.
This reaction really did look like what happened right after sudden stopping from a run.
From inside the hall to outside, her master couldn’t handle such a short distance?
Frail and delicate and prone to… what was it again?
The two walked side by side to an open space.
The flying sword grew large again.
Lian Chengxue didn’t think too much and stepped onto it.
Morning practice time had arrived.
With a flash of sword flight, they reached the training grounds.
Geez, so many people down there!
Was she about to descend from midair in front of over a thousand people?
Lian Chengxue couldn’t help feeling nervous.