Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

Behind them, the Mianxue sisters disembarked from the star raft one after another, looking around at the familiar scenery, their eyes flashing with nostalgia.

Although they had only been away from Yaoqing for three years, they had not returned home since the expedition ended.

It should be thirty-five years.

"go home."

Qi Zhimu took a step forward.

Jingliu followed silently, her gaze fixed on his broad back, the scene of waking up dozens of days ago flashing through her mind.

When I opened my eyes, I saw my master standing beside me, but his face was frighteningly pale.

Upon learning that she had been asleep for decades, she asked her master how she had been cured.

My master only said that he had found an ancient prescription.

But her intuition told her that things weren't that simple.

During my time back in Yaoqing, I could always smell the bloody stench emanating from my master, a smell that seemed to seep into his very bones and could never be washed away.

But the smell didn't make her uncomfortable; instead, it gave her a strange sense of familiarity that made her feel at ease, even... fascinated.

Jingliu sensed that her master exuded an aura that captivated her, making her subconsciously want to get closer, to be intimate with him... without any gap between them.

But she restrained the impulse and pondered the reason to herself.

Is it because her master has never given up on saving her over the past decades?

Does this mean that her importance in her master's heart has changed from what it used to be?

Is that why I feel like I like my master more and more?

Never mind, time will tell.

Her life was given to her by her master, more than once.

She will stay by her master's side through lifetimes to come.

"Master."

"Um?"

"My disciple is only one medium-sized expeditionary campaign away from fulfilling the conditions you set back then."

Qi Zhimu paused slightly and turned to look at her.

Jingliu's eyes showed a hint of unease, as if she was afraid of his rejection or blame.

"No need," Qi Zhimu said calmly.

Jingliu's heart tightened, thinking that he was not allowed to go to the battlefield again, and his lips involuntarily pursed.

Before she could figure out how to start the conversation, she heard words that made her lose her composure.

"The 427th Cloud Cavalry Martial Arts Examination will be held 125 days from now. The winner will be promoted to the Valiant Guard. Do you understand?"

Jingliu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he nodded without hesitation.

"Understood!"

Becoming a member of the Valiant Guard grants one the qualification to lead troops in large-scale expeditionary campaigns.

Instead of forbidding her, her master gave her a shortcut to skip the stage of accumulating combat experience.

"I will train hard, complete my rehabilitation as soon as possible, and improve my strength!"

"Well, the basic training you received before is no longer very effective for you. From now on, focus on physical conditioning. As for the remaining exercises..."

Qi Zhimu paused, seemingly judging what level of indicators should be set for the current Mirror Stream.

"Attack precision training: unleash ten sword strikes within 0.2 seconds, and all of them must hit."

"We will conduct two hours of agility training every day, and I will arrange the venue. After that, we will conduct regeneration training."

"The training ground for withstanding impact and pressure is still that giant waterfall. You know the location. When you can wield your sword freely under the waterfall, that's when you pass the test."

"You need to complete the above within three months."

Jing Liu had suffered a lot in his youth, so when he heard such harsh requirements, he was not afraid at all, but instead felt nostalgic and eager to do so.

…This is the master she knows.

Strict, cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

He will understand her physical limits and care for her in a less than gentle way.

All you need to do is listen to your master.

"Yes, Master. But it seems there are still three months left?"

"For the remaining three months, while maintaining basic training, you will also practice another skill under my tutelage."

"What?"

"Folk martial arts, Bajiquan."

"Hmm." Jingliu suddenly realized.

She had seen that set of boxing techniques before; they were fierce and violent, capable of crushing enemies a hundred times their size with a mere flick of the wrist.

Without their weapons, most of the Cloud Cavalry were no match for the monsters.

Those who could tear apart Bu Liren like she did back then are ultimately very few.

It's not that the Cloud Cavalry relies too much on various high-tech weapons, but rather that human energy is limited.

I still remember what my master said back then: humans are a species that is good at intelligence but not good at strength.

Fighting against these creatures whose physiques far surpass those of most Immortal Ship inhabitants, without relying on weapons, requires a huge sacrifice.

Currently, the total number of Yao Qingyun cavalry is just over 500 million.

After layers of screening, there are probably less than a million Yunqi soldiers capable of killing evil creatures with their bare hands.

This is the limitation of the genus Homo within the family Hominidae of the order Primates; they are born without organs or limbs with high direct lethality.

Even with longevity, their starting point is still inferior to that of most monstrous creatures in zoos.

The monsters have fangs, claws, horns, and can even use poison, fire, lightning, and so on...

The fox-people also have the advantage of quick reflexes.

In contrast, the people of the Celestial Ship before receiving the blessing of abundance were just ordinary humans, with no extra advantages other than intelligence.

Therefore, various portable weapons forged with wisdom have become the greatest reliance.

Although the Buli people also have monsters like the Chiseltooth Hunting Group who are good at making weapons, their technological level is far inferior to that of the Immortal Ship and even other advanced interstellar civilizations.

The Xianzhou people abandoned their advantages and chose to fight them hand-to-hand, which was tantamount to attacking their strengths with their own weaknesses.

In short: Foolish.

Thinking of this, Jingliu realized that it was no wonder that there were very few people like his master who were willing to temper their physical bodies in such a cruel way.

Without a sufficiently strong foundation, how can folk martial arts effectively kill the abundant evil creatures?

There are readily available examples around us: seniors Mianxue and Qinghan.

At least... Master never allowed them to study together.

"Mianxue and Qinghan should also learn together. With your current physical strength, you can unleash enough destructive power."

"..." Jingliu's lips froze.

With their current physical strength...?

Did Master really know more about Senior Mianxue's body in detail...?

She had thought she would only experience poverty and hardship...

It's okay, it's okay.

As long as I am promoted to Cloud Cavalry Vanguard and fight alongside my master, accumulating more battle merits, everything will be alright.

Sooner or later, she will have a place and tenderness in her master's heart.

After all… she had the advantage of being close to the source, and even if she couldn't have the moon first, she shouldn't share it with someone else.

The two sisters were unaware of the turmoil in Jingliu's heart and nodded in agreement without hesitation.

With a clear goal in mind, Jingliu was full of energy and began rehabilitation training that very day.

You won't know until you try it, and once you do, you'll be amazed.

I originally planned to start with the weighted long-distance running I'm most familiar with, just running a thousand miles to warm up.

To everyone's surprise, she was able to reach a top speed of 800 km/h... Keep in mind that 35 years ago, that was only 300 km/h...

Even without the load, it can only approach 500 miles per hour for a short period of time.

No wonder her master said that the basic training she had received in the past was no longer very effective for her.

It seems that during her slumber, her master did something to her body...

That night, I mustered up the courage to ask, but as expected, I was met with a cold shoulder.

"Why ask so many questions? You'll find out later," the master said.

"Oh..." Jingliu lowered his eyes.