"Master Yixuan, it's been a while. How about we do some combat training?"
Hoshimi Miyabi didn't let Yixuan off the hook—she directly issued a sparring invitation. Only by fighting a powerful Void Hunter could she find a chance to improve herself.
The problem was, strong Void Hunters weren't easy to find. Combat power at that level usually came with their own responsibilities and things they had to handle.
"Uh… let's pass this time. Next time, if there's a chance, definitely."
Yixuan was a little embarrassed. She had sparred with Hoshimi Miyabi before and knew Ya was a pure martial artist with no ill intent.
Normally, she wouldn't mind at all—but her older sister had just come back, and she wanted to talk with her.
"Alright, then next time." Hoshimi Miyabi wasn't disappointed.
There would always be opportunities. And without a virtual training environment, a fight between them was more suitable inside a Hollow—it wouldn't affect reality or cause destruction.
"If you two went for the kill, who has the higher chance of winning?" Koji asked.
Hoshimi Miyabi pondered, then shook her head. "That depends on real combat. There are too many factors that can affect the result. Our strength difference isn't huge. If we both go all-out, the most likely outcome is we both end up heavily injured."
Yixuan nodded.
She had personally witnessed Miyabi's strength. For the two of them to decide a winner—hard. Extremely hard.
So if it was sparring, it would be stop-at-the-line. There was no need for a life-and-death battle. They could barely handle the Hollow crisis as it was—if Void Hunters started burning each other out through infighting, that would be stupid beyond belief.
"Master Yixuan is very strong—one of the few experts worth fighting," Miyabi said.
"Miyabi is as well. Becoming a Void Hunter at such a young age… you'll go even farther in the future," Yixuan replied with a smile.
The two of them started exchanging polite compliments.
"Stop. You two are enough, alright? What's there to brag about?" Koji said, utterly speechless.
"Ya—your cursed blade. When you use it, it should affect you a bit, right?"
"Yeah. But I usually don't use the cursed blade's power. To me, it's just a sharp, tough weapon. I don't rely on the blade's power itself."
She was strong enough on her own. She became a Void Hunter through her own strength, not by borrowing the cursed blade's power.
Koji nodded. Miyabi's physical qualities were absurdly strong—she could use an ordinary katana and still be undefeated through a hundred battles.
"Want me to tune it for you?"
"After tuning, the cursed blade won't cause any side effects. You'll be able to use its power freely without worrying about backlash."
Bzzz—
The cursed blade had a spirit of its own. Hearing Koji say he was going to work on it, it trembled anxiously.
It didn't want to be thrown back into the forge and remade!
Smack!
Miyabi grabbed Wu-Wei. So now you know how to panic, huh? Still, if it could be done, that would be perfect.
Even if she didn't depend on the cursed blade's power, she couldn't deny that the blade's power was strong.
If she could use it whenever she wanted with no backlash, it would help her a lot.
"Please," she said.
Miyabi removed the cursed blade and handed it to Koji—an act of trust.
Even if it broke by accident, she didn't really mind. She could use another blade and still slaughter enemies just the same.
"Speaking of which, the Qingming Sword passed down through Yunqi Mountain… seems to be an eerie demonic sword too," Koji said.
"Yes." Yijiang sighed softly. "The Qingming Sword's side effects are extremely obvious. In the end, its users all meet a bad end."
Generation after generation, most sect leaders didn't die of old age. They all perished after using the Qingming Sword.
Calling it a demonic sword really was fitting.
"Want me to handle it for you too?"
"Alright," Yixuan agreed.
If Koji could bring Yijiang back, then his ability was trustworthy. If he did the work, he could tune the weapon properly.
[Blessing of Forging]
Koji could use the all-purpose power of Blessings to reforge these weapons into stronger, more practical forms.
"Ya—your real height."
"Huh?"
This sensitive topic made Miyabi unwilling to answer. What did he mean by "real height"? Her ears were part of her body too—why wouldn't they count?
"If we don't count the ears, you probably aren't even 1.6 meters," Yixuan said, looking her up and down.
If you counted the ears and added shoe height, then sure—she was over 1.7 meters.
At that height, movement and combat were actually more advantageous.
Miyabi fell silent. If you didn't count her ears, she was around the mid–1.5-meter range. That was pretty short.
"Master!"
Ju Fufu blushed. People already often mistook her for an orange-cat Thiren, and her height was one of the reasons she misled people—because being 1.4 meters tall was, frankly, way too short.
If she could have Yixuan's 1.7-meter height—those proportions, those long legs—no one would ever suspect she was an orange-cat Thiren.
But it seemed like she wasn't going to grow any taller, and that troubled her a lot.
Yunqi Mountain's food wasn't bad at all. Their meals were nutritious. There was no way she was malnourished.
And yet… her height hadn't changed in years.
What she wanted to be was a ferocious Tiger King, not a cute Tiger King.
"Small is cute too," Yijiang said with a smile.
In her eyes, Ju Fufu's combat strength could be ignored for now. Her role was more like Yunqi Mountain's mascot.
"Martial Aunt, what I want is to be fiercer—like a tiger, with that kind of presence that makes people afraid even when you're not angry."
Ju Fufu was exhausted. If she really were a cat Thiren, fine—but she wasn't!
"Being fierce-cute counts too. You're adorably cute," Koji said.
"Unless you want to become one of those muscle-bound 'gorilla Barbies'?"
Ju Fufu didn't feel disgusted at all. Instead, she seriously thought about it, then nodded. "If that's possible, that would be even better."
A body full of muscle—big, powerful—that was exactly the look she wanted.
"Uh… let's not," Yixuan said. She pictured it in her mind and instantly shivered.
A cute little kitty turning into a huge muscle brute… for her, that was basically a nightmare.
The current image was better—super cute, so cute it made your heart melt.
As for "gorilla Barbie"… no, thanks.
"Master, I feel like having muscles all over would make me look more like a tiger Thiren," Ju Fufu insisted.
"Fufu… if you're muscles-from-head-to-toe, a lot of people will look at you funny," Yixuan said, sweating, her tone heavy with sincerity.
What was this kid thinking? Right now, Ju Fufu was Yunqi Mountain's beloved little darling—cute and cherished. If she turned into that all-muscle look, the disciples would probably start avoiding her from far away.
The image of "gorilla Barbie Ju Fufu" was going to take a long time to erase from her brain…
(End of Chapter)
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