“Did you learn it?”
“Yes, Granny Hua.”
Qin Xiangyi answered, only to see the look of disdain in Hua Nu’s eyes, as if she thought Qin Xiangyi was exaggerating a bit.
Qin Xiangyi smiled, then somewhat clumsily raised the longsword.
The moment she drew it from its scabbard, she almost collapsed under its weight.
Even though she’d spent thirty months improving her physique inside the Flower God Ring, it still wasn’t enough to handle a sword like this.
“Looks like the marrow cleansing did help a bit, at least you didn’t fall over right away.” Hua Nu showed a hint of appreciation, then added seriously, “From today on, you’ll start learning this sword technique.”
Qin Xiangyi struggled to hold the sword that felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, then asked, “Granny Hua, you still haven’t told me the name of this sword technique.”
Hua Nu stopped, thought for a moment, and answered.
“This is the ‘Falling Leaves Plucking Flowers’ from the Cherishing Flowers Record.
If you can master its essence, you won’t even need a sword to kill—anything in your hands can become the most powerful weapon.
As for this sword, it’s just to help you build up your strength.” Hua Nu was full of malice, clearly not optimistic about Qin Xiangyi’s abilities.
Maybe it was because of some kind of same-gender repulsion, but Hua Nu wasn’t being polite at all.
Either way, Qin Xiangyi could only resign herself to keep going.
One day, two days… Qin Xiangyi noticed the sword was getting lighter.
At first, she needed both hands to grip it tightly, but now she could easily handle it with one hand, and her movements were getting smoother.
But if she tried to use it to kill, the sword still felt sluggish.
Five days, six days… Hua Nu was surprised and gave her a few more pointers, and Qin Xiangyi’s progress sped up even more.
Until Shaoyao sent a reminder, and Qin Xiangyi even heard a notification from the system.
System: Congratulations, user has gained Sword Mastery.
From now on, learning any sword technique will be 10% faster.
If the Flower God Ring created the learning environment, then the system was the learning aid.
As long as she worked hard enough inside the Flower God Ring, there was nothing she couldn’t learn.
“Flower Master, Jing Shuxuan is about to wake up.” Shaoyao’s voice reminded her again, and Qin Xiangyi immediately exited the Flower God Ring.
But she was still a step late—when Jing Shuxuan opened her eyes, Qin Xiangyi was standing right by the bed.
After learning swordsmanship, Qin Xiangyi’s aura was even better.
Jing Shuxuan glanced at her a few times, as if thinking she was dreaming, then smiled and went back to sleep.
Qin Xiangyi let out a sigh of relief, went to take a shower, and before Jing Shuxuan officially got up, she quietly crawled back under the covers.
But because her body was so strong, she just closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, while absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when Jing Shuxuan finally opened her eyes and noticed the distance between herself and Qin Xiangyi.
She seemed a bit confused, but didn’t dwell on it, instead staring intently at Qin Xiangyi, feeling like something about her had changed.
“Why does it feel like something’s different?” Jing Shuxuan whispered.
If she didn’t have any self-control, she felt like she might pinch Qin Xiangyi’s little face.
But she didn’t dare, and just stared blankly for a few minutes until she felt she had to get up, then slowly climbed out of bed.
Qin Xiangyi finally breathed a sigh of relief, sneaking a glance and seeing Jing Shuxuan turning her back to change clothes.
Business attire, a neat updo, showing off the mature charm of a city woman.
But Jing Shuxuan seemed to deliberately make herself look older, so she wore heavier makeup, which explained why her looks were only rated 85 back then.
Today, she seemed to be trying even harder to make herself look unattractive, maybe because something bad happened at work.
Like workplace harassment.
Or the trouble that comes with being too attractive.
That’s the kind of problem beautiful women have.
Jing Shuxuan didn’t like using her looks as an advantage, and she seemed very honest.
Thinking about how this kind of Jing Shuxuan ended up as the villain Qin Wangzi’s fiancée, Qin Xiangyi felt like she must have been out of her mind back then.
Luckily, her own appearance had saved Jing Shuxuan from a tragic fate.
Qin Xiangyi comforted herself with that thought, then pretended to wake up.
“Shuan-jie? Are you getting ready for work?” She acted groggy, and Jing Shuxuan seemed startled, then bent down to help Qin Xiangyi fix her hair.
“Yeah, I have to work today.
I left the keys on the table in the living room.
If you need anything, just call me.”
She was much gentler than yesterday, her fingers softly running through Qin Xiangyi’s hair, almost reluctant to let go.
Qin Xiangyi mumbled an “oh,” then pulled the covers up and pretended to keep sleeping.
Seeing that Qin Xiangyi didn’t want to talk, Jing Shuxuan picked up her briefcase and left, even carefully closing the door behind her.
Once the door closed and she was sure Jing Shuxuan wouldn’t come back, Qin Xiangyi got up and started exercising again.
This time, she didn’t go back into the ring to train.
In a few hours, she was supposed to meet Zhou Muning.
But she couldn’t calm down, so she turned on the TV for a bit.
The more she watched, the more she wanted to go back into the Flower God Ring.
“Flower Master, you really are too hardworking.”
When she saw Qin Xiangyi choose to keep training in the Flower God Ring, Hua Nu’s expression was a bit odd.
“Heh, I’m just afraid of dying.
The more I learn, the better.” Qin Xiangyi laughed, feeling like she still wasn’t strong enough.
She always felt like she’d get slapped in the face one day, so before that happened, she had to get even stronger.
“But do you know, at the rate you’re learning now, it would take a normal person about ten years to reach this level.” Hua Nu was helpless, remembering how it took her five years just to get the hang of the complicated Falling Leaves Plucking Flowers.
But she couldn’t say that, and didn’t want Qin Xiangyi to know how hard it had been for her.
“You said it yourself, I’m not a normal person—I’m the Flower Master.” Qin Xiangyi replied with a smile.
Hua Nu was even more helpless, muttering, “But Flower Master, you shouldn’t just abandon the old for the new.
Haven’t you noticed Shaoyao’s been unhappy these days since you stopped kissing her?” Qin Xiangyi looked at Shaoyao in confusion, and sure enough, Shaoyao was sneaking glances at her.
As soon as Qin Xiangyi looked over, Shaoyao quickly looked away.
But now, with her photographic memory skill, Qin Xiangyi didn’t need to give Shaoyao spiritual power anymore.
She’d wanted to respect Shaoyao’s wishes and let her be free, but judging by her expression, it seemed like Shaoyao was addicted to being kissed.
But thinking about it, Qin Xiangyi figured she was overthinking it.
“Isn’t this good? I’m respecting her wishes and not kissing her anymore.” So Qin Xiangyi found herself an excuse, and Hua Nu gave her a look like a rideshare driver.
“Oh? You really think that’s what Shaoyao wants?” As she spoke, Hua Nu moved closer to Qin Xiangyi, putting both hands on her shoulders, as if she was about to run some kind of experiment.
