"You are a genius."
In the training hall, Jingliu moved with her ice-forged blade, exchanging blows with Daichi.
Steel and frost flashed again and again, sword light blooming and vanishing like cold constellations. Jingliu attacked without pause—thrusting, slashing, cutting from unpredictable angles, every strike aimed for a vital point.
Yet Daichi parried them one by one. And each parry came with a counter.
They were using pure technique alone but even so, from the moment the match began, Jingliu felt only astonishment.
She had only taught him for a handful of days. Yet Daichi had already grasped the fundamentals of Cloud Knight swordsmanship—no, he had internalized it.
Internalized enough that, in live combat exchange she felt pressure.
Jingliu swept her sword low toward his side. Daichi blocked, but this time Jingliu rolled the force, guiding his blade away and up, sending his guard wide. Her sword came down, striking clean.
Daichi's sword was knocked from his hands.
A disarmed swordsman meant the match was over.
"As a swordbearer, one must never allow the weapon to leave the hand. If the form scatters, the heart scatters."
Jingliu dispelled the ice blade and allowed herself a small smile.
"Yet to reach this level after only a few days… you have earned the right to be proud."
"If you keep praising me like that Master, it's making me feel a bit full of myself."
Daichi picked up his fallen sword, noticing the faint notch on its edge and his own thoughtful reflection in the steel.
"It is only right to praise what is done well," Jingliu replied with a casual flick of her hand.
"I dislike those teachers who suppress and belittle. Praise when deserved; scold when needed. That is all."
"Training ends here for today. Relax your body."
With that, she turned and left.
It had been tiring—but if becoming stronger required hardship, Daichi was willing to endure it.
Unfortunately, one small, imprisoned dragon girl could not endure her fate.
{Ming-Net}: So boring so boring so boring!
{Ming-Net}: When are you going to come take me out?!
{Ming-Net}: Come rescue me from suffering, hurry!!
Ever since he and Tingyun had taken Bailu out a few times, she realized being escorted out was much safer than sneaking out herself. Far less panic. And the only condition: return before sundown.
So now, whenever she got bored, Daichi received a barrage of desperate messages.
Today was a rest day. But even on rest days, Bailu had to stay in the clinic. Truly tragic.
Was the Xianzhou not supposed to forbid child labor? Bailu hadn't even completed her Coming-of-Age Rite.
Shouldn't the Cloud Knights have shut down the Dan-ting offices by now?
While Daichi was lost in such drifting thoughts, his steps had already led him to the alchemical courtyard.
At this rate, Bailu might really attempt revolution in the name of freedom if he didn't take her out soon.
But before he could find her, he found someone else.
Jingliu stood just outside the Exalting Sanctum area, scanning left and right as if searching.
"Master," Daichi called as he approached.
"Are you here to seek treatment?"
"I am."
She gave him a brief, curious look.
Perhaps wondering why he was here.
"Now that the mara-struck state has been cured, I thought it best to let the dragon physicians confirm there are no lingering traces."
[But your body is perfectly healthy.]
X interjected with mild confusion:
[If it is about the mara-curse, I can simply use Purify Wave again—]
Daichi lightly tapped the X Devize to interrupt him.
X didn't understand—but Daichi did.
This wasn't about medicine.
This was about the lingering ghost of Baiheng, faintly reflected in Bailu's existence.
The tragedy of the High Cloud Five Cavaliers began and ended with her.
A sin too deep to name it.
"…Come, Master. I'll take you to her."
"That would help. It has been centuries since I last walked the Xianzhou. The changes are not vast, yet I remember little."
Guided by Daichi, they stepped into the clinic.
Xianzhou natives rarely fell ill with anything besides mara-struck symptoms so most patients here were outlanders. And at the front desk, Bailu sat slumped over, expression empty and spirit evaporated.
"That is the dragon physician?" Jingliu murmured.
Even without fox ears, with horns of the Vidyadhara and a swaying tail—one look was enough.
Too similar. That was the mystery of Vidyadhara rebirth.
But the soul was not the same.
"Bailu!" Daichi called.
The staff was accustomed to his visits, and let him approach freely.
"Wah!!"
Bailu jolted upright, then immediately puffed her cheeks.
"You finally came! I was going to die of boredom! Tingyun is busy and you're always training, I'm just stuck here forever! Do you know how much I've suffered?!"
And despite the complaining, she looked relieved.
But complaining time was cut short.
"There's a patient for you today," Daichi said.
"A patient? Who?"
Bailu hopped to her feet, right as Jingliu stepped forward.
"It is I. A pleasure to meet you, Dragon Physician."
"Alright alright, hand out. Let me see what's wrong with you!"
Bailu placed her small hand on Jingliu's wrist, gauging her pulse.
Her brows slowly furrowed.
Jingliu blinked in confusion. "Dragon Physician, is there something wrong?"
"You… are messing with me, right?!"
Bailu's cheeks puffed with indignation.
"There's NOTHING wrong with you!"
She slapped Jingliu's hand away, hopped off her stool, stomped over to Daichi, and grumbled:
"…But your body is chilly. Go home and drink more warm water!"