Strength Would Not Allow It

Smack!

The wooden sword struck Sun Qiang squarely on the shoulder. The force contained in the blade instantly penetrated his muscles and bones, and the aching pain made him bare his teeth, nearly crying out.

"Your shoulder is too high."

Zuo Yi's somewhat cold voice sounded beside his ear. Xiao Qiang ignored the pain and hurriedly adjusted his posture.

When he had first begun practicing this move, Slash, his movements had been riddled with mistakes. His grip and method of exerting force looked convincing enough, but in Zuo Yi's eyes, they were full of problems.

Zuo Yi's method of correction was simple: wherever Sun Qiang made a mistake, he struck that spot. Shoulders, arms, back, waist, hips, legs—he beat Sun Qiang until his limbs twitched and his face twisted beyond recognition.

Yet through this repeated "torment," his movements gradually became more standardized. The speed and force of his wooden sword slashes steadily increased, and sometimes he even exceeded himself, producing a faint sense of momentum.

Sun Qiang himself could feel the progress most clearly. He realized that Zuo Yi's strikes were not merely punishment. The force that landed on his body always broke up the stiffness in his muscles at just the right moment, making his next movement more natural and fluid.

Moreover, Sun Qiang noticed that this move, Slash, fit exceptionally well with the Body Tempering Art movements he had been practicing before!

This discovery delighted him. He completely forgot the pain and exhaustion in his body, swinging his wooden sword at the sword dummy again and again, drenched in sweat.

"Slash!"

The blade struck the sword dummy and bounced off its thick rubber hide, leaving shallow marks behind.

At some point, Zuo Yi's wooden sword had stopped striking him. Gritting his teeth and giving it everything he had, Sun Qiang imagined the dummy before him as one of the delinquent boys who had bullied him. He swung, swung again, and swung once more!

Until someone blocked his sword.

"Enough."

Zuo Yi said, "Take a break first."

Sun Qiang stopped practicing somewhat blankly. Only then did he notice that sweat had soaked him from head to toe, and droplets of sweat had even fallen all over the floor around him.

An indescribable soreness spread through his entire body. His limbs and bones trembled uncontrollably, and the wooden sword in his hand had become unbearably heavy, nearly impossible to hold.

His knees gave way, and the chubby boy dropped onto the ground, panting weakly as if all the bones and tendons had been pulled from his body.

He had never been this exhausted in his life. It felt as though his body no longer belonged to him.

Right now, Xiao Qiang wanted nothing more than to lie on the floor and never get back up.

Smack!

Before he could lie down, Zuo Yi struck him across the back with his sword. "Get up and walk a few laps. Go drink two cups of salt water."

What a demon!

Sun Qiang, already on the verge of collapse, felt like crying without tears. He even felt like dying.

Yet a mysterious burst of strength suddenly appeared within him, supporting him as he struggled to climb up from the ground.

"Go, Sun Qiang!"

At that moment, a heavenly voice entered Xiao Qiang's ears, making his entire body jolt.

Sun Qiang turned his head and saw Bao'er waving at him, cheering him on.

An angel!

The chubby boy grinned foolishly and nodded hard.

Smack!

He took another hit to the head.

The great demon king, Zuo Yi, said, "What are you standing around for? Get out there and walk a couple of laps!"

Xiao Qiang immediately fled with his head in his hands.

After driving away the chubby boy, Zuo Yi returned the wooden sword to the sword rack, picked up a bottle of mineral water, opened it, and took a couple of drinks.

He asked with a smile, "Bao'er, were you bored?"

While he had been guiding Sun Qiang through his sword practice, Bao'er had been sitting obediently by the windowsill, hugging Taike.

Bao'er shook her head.

She jumped down from her stool, placed Taike on the floor, and said, "Daddy, Sun Qiang is so pitiful."

She had just watched the chubby boy get tortured until he was almost crying.

Zuo Yi said seriously, "Only by enduring the bitterest hardships can one rise above others. If he doesn't want to be bullied, then he must learn to endure hardship."

Taike: Woof!

The great demon king was absolutely right. Trash should be treated like this!

Unlike a naturally noble extraordinary magical beast like him, who could grow stronger simply by lying around, eating, and drinking, then effortlessly crush trash.

Bao'er thought about it and felt that her father made a lot of sense. She asked, "Daddy, can you teach me swordsmanship too?"

Zuo Yi was surprised. "You want to learn swordsmanship?"

"Mm."

Bao'er nodded and blinked her big eyes. "Can I?"

Woof...

Taike came over and rubbed his head back and forth against her calves, his tail wagging furiously.

Why learn swordsmanship? I'll protect you. Whoever dares bully you, I'll eat them one by one—eat them all!

"Good A-Tai."

Bao'er gave him a head pat, but she persisted with her request. "Daddy?"

"All right."

Zuo Yi thought that teaching Bao'er swordsmanship would be fine. Since she would certainly be staying by his side for some time, practicing swordsmanship would keep her from getting too bored and also help exercise her body.

But she was only four years old. Her bones, muscles, and tendons had not fully developed yet, so what she learned needed to be carefully considered.

After thinking for a moment, Zuo Yi quickly made a decision.

He took out a piece of Dragonblood Wood from his Spatial Ring.

This piece of Dragonblood Wood was less than a meter long and about four fingers wide and thick. Square and straight, it was dark red throughout, its surface densely covered in fine, vein-like patterns. It was luxurious and beautiful.

Zuo Yi took out a dagger as well and began carving the Dragonblood Wood.

He intended to make Bao'er a suitable wooden sword.

Dragonblood Wood was a strange tree that grew upon dragon corpses. Its growth cycle was extremely slow, requiring at least a century to mature, after which it would not grow even an inch in ten years.

The piece of Dragonblood Wood in Zuo Yi's hand was at least three hundred years old!

Even in the Sadea World, Dragonblood Wood was an extremely rare material. Wizards used it to make bracelets, bangles, necklaces, and staffs, or to cast high-level spells.

Accessories made from Dragonblood Wood could calm the mind and regulate one's constitution. Worn close to the body, they could also negate or weaken curse-type magical attacks. Dragonblood Wood staffs could enhance the power of many spells, so they were deeply favored by wizards.

The piece of Dragonblood Wood Zuo Yi used to make this wooden sword sold for more than three thousand Law Coins in Sadeya. At the rate of one Law Coin to eighty thousand yuan, the material alone was worth as much as 240 million yuan.

240 million yuan!

The savings in Zuo Yi's bank account and mobile payment accounts combined probably did not even amount to 2,400 yuan anymore.

Although the laws of the two worlds differed and could not be compared so directly, there was no doubt about the immense value of Dragonblood Wood. If the wizards of Sadeya learned that Zuo Yi had used such precious Dragonblood Wood to make a wooden sword, they would probably vomit three liters of blood.

What a waste of a heavenly treasure!

After all, if he merely wanted to make a wooden sword, there were plenty of materials much better than Dragonblood Wood—and far, far cheaper!

But Zuo Yi did not have any of those cheap materials in his Spatial Ring.

He wanted to keep a low profile too, but his strength simply would not allow it!

In only a few minutes, a wooden sword blank took shape in Zuo Yi's hands.

Dragonblood Wood was an extraordinary material. Aside from its magical properties, it was exceptionally hard, unafraid of blades, axes, fire, or water erosion. The longer it was stored, the sturdier it became, yet it weighed little more than ordinary wood.

That was one important reason Zuo Yi had chosen Dragonblood Wood to make Bao'er's wooden sword—it was very light.

As for the craftsmanship required to make a wooden sword, that happened to be one of his specialties.

Zuo Yi had once been trapped for twenty years in the ruins of a special plane. There, he inherited the legacy of a grand artificer and mastered every technique of artifact crafting, rune engraving, and enchantment. He was capable of creating exclusive Rune Artifacts.

Rune Artifacts could also be classified as Law Creations, but there was a fundamental difference between the two. Wizards were also capable of creating Rune Artifacts, while Zuo Yi could not refine even a single Law Coin, the lowest-grade Law Creation.

Although wizards held Rune Artifacts in considerable contempt and did not even consider them Law Creations, Rune Artifacts were actually extremely versatile and far more cost-effective than Law Creations.

The materials Zuo Yi had stored in his Spatial Ring were meant for making Rune Artifacts at crucial moments.

They might even save his life during some adventure.

But now that Zuo Yi had returned to Blue Star World, whether these materials would ever prove useful in the future was a major question.

So he felt no psychological burden whatsoever about taking out a piece of Dragonblood Wood to make Bao'er a wooden sword.

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