Jingliu decided to teach Xianyu swordsmanship.
This was no spur-of-the-moment decision. She had given it careful thought.
As a Cloud Knight, she had slain countless Abominations.
Besides Abominations, she had also killed comrades who had become mara-struck.
She had once told her disciple Jing Yuan how to deal with the mara-struck: a single thrust through the dantian was all it took.
Jingliu had seen plenty of Xianzhou natives become mara-struck. She knew all too well how she would end.
That was why she had instructed Jing Yuan in advance, telling her disciple that even if she, his master, became mara-struck, he must show no mercy.
No one on the Luofu could rival Jingliu's swordsmanship. The only person who might defeat her was Jing Yuan, who knew her sword moves.
Xianyu had excellent talent. With just a little training, she believed he could surpass Jing Yuan.
Surely he would put a swift, clean end to her when she became mara-struck.
But that would be far too cruel to Xianyu.
Had he never met her, Xianyu would have remained a Diviner at the Divination Commission, able to stay somewhere safe forever, far from the clash of blades.
He was only twenty.
Granted, he was steady and thoughtful, more mature than Xianzhou natives hundreds of years old.
But strip away those qualities that drew her to him, and he was just an ordinary person who lacked a sense of security.
Fortunately, Xianyu did have a temper. He was no god seated high in a temple, granting her every wish, either. Sometimes, he showed a side of himself that was both wicked and adorable.
Whether he was deliberately teasing her or frightening children with snacks made from bugs... it was all adorable.
Sometimes, Jingliu wondered whether she was being irrational, always unconsciously taking Xianyu's