Where's My Saber?

Chapter 21 Where's My Knife? 7 Days Later.

"Heh, you woman, don't bother me." Xia Yan curled up on the sofa, her long legs crossed and resting on the coffee table in front, her feet occasionally twitching upward playfully, looking in an excellent mood.

On the other end of the line, Han Jiangxue felt her temples throb with anger but held back from lashing out.

"Alright, that's it. Don't bug me unless it's important." Xia Yan hung up the phone directly, tossing it casually onto the sofa. The next second, she couldn't help but burst into laughter, clutching her stomach and rolling around on the sofa without a shred of dignity.

In the dining room at the back, Zhou Yi watched her young miss acting so unladylike, sighed and shook her head, then turned back to stir-frying.

"Let you be aloof, let you ignore me, let you put on airs." Xia Yan was in high spirits, laughing to herself. Usually, it was Han Jiangxue who gave her the cold shoulder, always waiting for Xia Yan to take the initiative and shamelessly invite her out before Han Jiangxue would reluctantly agree.

But now, Jiang Xiao had only been holed up in the basement for a week, and Han Jiangxue had already called a full seven times, averaging once a day—and she hadn't called at all in the first three days.

Xia Yan picked up Jiang Xiao's phone lying nearby. Every time she grabbed this beat-up device, it felt like handling an antique.

With practiced ease, she opened Weibo. Jiang Xiao's account had already gained eight new posts.

Every single one of them danced on the edge of courting death.

And each post ended with the crowd-pleasing "PS" segment, clearly illustrating the deepening affection of an underage boy for a sexy, beautiful older sister.

"Is this going too far?" Xia Yan muttered, looking at the last post she'd made under Jiang Xiao's name.

Jiang Xiaopi Pi Bu Pi, 2 hours ago, from Huawei Maimang C199: You know even if the rain turns this city upside down, I'll give you a hug.

PS: Day 8 of liking Sister Xia Yan.

Buzz. Buzz. Xia Yan turned her head to look at her own phone on the sofa, picked it up with a grin, and changed her tone to one of annoyance: "What is it?"

"Oh, asking me out to play?"

"But I don't have time. I have to train Little Pi."

"Him? He's just so-so. Not dead."

"Fine, fine, I'll go, alright? Women are such a hassle."

Xia Yan hung up, her annoyed expression vanishing instantly. She bounced up from the sofa with a leap.

She looked just like a neurotic husky, excitedly flailing her limbs and spinning in circles around the living room.

In the dining room, Zhou Yi, spatula in hand, shook her head again with a sigh: Such a pretty girl. What a shame. Meanwhile, in the basement.

Two men were locked in fierce combat inside the octagon.

More precisely, it was a burly man and a kid.

The burly man was strong and imposing, with bulging muscles. His sweat-soaked black tank top clung tightly to his body, likely able to be wrung out.

He stood about 175 centimeters tall, with dark skin and a stern expression. Wearing protective gear and fingerless gloves, he was coaching the kid in front of him on how to throw punches.

And that kid was none other than Jiang Xiao, also fully geared up, correcting his fighting stance through constant sparring.

For Jiang Xiao, the biggest achievement over these past few days was forcing the burly man across from him to put on a headguard.

The two of them had basically eaten and lived together, roughhousing for a full seven days.

Cut off from the world, Jiang Xiao lived up to Han Jiangxue's expectations—and even more so, to his own.

The sweat of these days wasn't wasted, and the time spent in darkness wasn't meaningless.

In truth, Jiang Xiao didn't know whether it was his natural talent or the system's power, but in just seven short days, his combat ability had skyrocketed.

In the Basic Skills section, the Bronze-quality Barehanded Combat had already risen to Lv.5.

Seven days, three whole sub-levels. Such speed astonished Jiang Xiao, and it also surprised his coach, Lei Jin. After all, when Lei Jin first took on Jiang Xiao, he was just a beginner.

Though Jiang Xiao was still a beginner now, he at least looked somewhat competent.

Lei Jin also thought Jiang Xiao had decent talent, but unlike Jiang Xiao's own view, Lei Jin attributed it more to Jiang Xiao's hard work.

A sixteen-year-old kid cooped up in a basement all day would normally go crazy, but Jiang Xiao's persistence and determination truly made Lei Jin see him in a new light.

From 4:30 AM to 9:30 PM every day, not a single absence, not a single moment of willfulness. He followed Lei Jin's plan step by step, almost always exceeding his daily goals.

To be honest, even Lei Jin, as an adult, felt the need to step out for fresh air and sunlight. But this kid—why was he so hardworking?

Why was he pushing himself so desperately?

Only sixteen, and it wasn't like he'd lost a spouse or anything.

What kind of drive was this kid holding onto? Who was he planning to take revenge on?

It was precisely because of Jiang Xiao's dedication that Lei Jin set aside all his prejudices against this "rich kid" and didn't feel much disgust or aversion toward Jiang Xiao's absorption of star beads.

Yes, over the seven days, Jiang Xiao had absorbed a full four White Ghost Star Beads.

Every time he was exhausted and on the verge of collapse, he would absorb one. According to Coach Lei Jin, that was the best time for the body to absorb and improve its constitution.

Seven days ago, during that trip to the Snowfield, Jiang Xiao had picked up two White Ghost Star Beads while scavenging corpses. Later, after the mission ended, he got another one as his share. On the way home, Han Jiangxue gave him two more White Ghost Star Beads and one White Ghost Witch Star Bead. And when training started at Xia Yan's place, she tossed him another two White Ghost Star Beads.

So, Jiang Xiao had a total of seven White Ghost Star Beads and one White Ghost Witch Star Bead.

Now, after absorbing four White Ghost Star Beads, the star skills "Green Glow" and "Endurance" embedded in his second star slot had both reached Bronze-quality Lv.5.

Jiang Xiao was thrilled about this. The Inner Star Map had said that upgrading a star skill's quality required ten White Ghost Star Beads, but since he had a "One Star Double Technique," he'd assumed he'd need double the beads. To his surprise, absorbing one bead raised both skills in the same star slot simultaneously.

"Faster. Faster." Lei Jin held his hands up in front of his face in a standard defensive stance, then suddenly jabbed his left fist forward.

And this lightning-fast left straight punch not only broke Jiang Xiao's attack, but this extremely simple and effective straight punch also knocked Jiang Xiao back several steps.

"Why didn't you dodge? I'm not a punching bag. I have hands, I can attack." Lei Jin's footwork didn't follow up; he still stood rooted to the spot.

Jiang Xiao shook his head. This guy across from him was originally a sparring partner for Sanda, and especially in this world filled with Star Power, the art of combat had truly flourished, with all kinds of rule-based fighting competitions emerging endlessly.

Lei Jin was relatively close to an Ordinary People's combatant—he at least had the Star Skill "Green Glow." But since he had never taken things seriously, he had never opened his Star Map. Jiang Xiao didn't know what shape his Star Map was, how many Star Slots he had, or what his aptitude was like.

Of course, Jiang Xiao had never opened his Star Map either, nor had he ever shown the "Blessing" Star Skill in front of Lei Jin.

So, when Jiang Xiao healed himself, he either went to the bathroom or took a shower.

And so, Lei Jin always heard the boy's strange noises coming from the toilet or the bathroom.

On that note, Lei Jin had actually advised Jiang Xiao about it, and right during lunchtime.

Jiang Xiao had nearly spat out his soup back then.

He still remembered Lei Jin patting him on the shoulder in a friendly manner and saying earnestly, "We live together every day. There's no way I don't know what you're up to."

Jiang Xiao blinked, not understanding what the coach meant.

Lei Jin: "I know you're young, but you need to learn restraint. I was too embarrassed to say it for the first few days, but it's already been seven days. You're a very hardworking kid, and I like that, so I felt I had to give you some advice."

Jiang Xiao looked at Lei Jin, completely baffled. What exactly are you trying to say? Lei Jin spoke up: "You're still growing. You need to learn restraint."

Jiang Xiao twitched the corner of his mouth awkwardly: "Restraint."

Lei Jin nodded, a little embarrassed himself, and suggested, "Also, if you need some privacy, just tell me. I can go sleep upstairs at night. As someone who's been there, let me give you a word of advice, bro—you're too impatient. Always finishing that fast will become a habit."

Jiang Xiao's face darkened. Damn it.

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