After cleaning up the kitchen, Du Yu came into the living room.

On the open balcony, Yang Qingqing sat on a sofa pieced together from leaves, a jet-black hunting bow in her hand. On the tray beside the sofa, there were two short daggers.

"When you enter the Shadow Gu Tower, you can't use Demon Soldier Silver Fire," Yang Qingqing said without looking up, her fingers kneading the end of the bow arm.

Du Yu was a bit confused. "Why?"

"Crack!"

A crisp sound came from Yang Qingqing's fingertips as she pinched a crack into the bow arm.

Du Yu couldn't help but shiver. That was way too decisive!

Even if this hunting bow was a Newbie Demon Soldier, it was still a Demon Soldier!

Its material was a demonic plant from the Demon Taming World, definitely not something Du Yu could crush with his bare hands.

Yang Qingqing casually gestured, and a supple branch automatically dismantled the wooden handle and blade of a short dagger, delivering only the tiny blade into Yang Qingqing's hand.

"Because Demon Soldier Silver Fire is enchanted with the Demon Arrow Array. Any equipment above the Demon Tamer Prentice level can't accompany you into the Shadow Gu Tower. Otherwise, it will make things even harder for you."

Du Yu watched wide-eyed as Yang Qingqing stuffed the blade into the crack at the end of the bow arm, seeing her palm blaze with thick Fire Demon Breath before she gripped the end of the bow arm again.

A scorched aroma drifted over. With an elegant twist of her hand, the 20cm blade perfectly fused into the bow arm, about 15cm of the blade left exposed.

As Du Yu covertly observed, he suddenly thought of something.

His chest tightened, and he hurriedly asked in his mind, "Little Fen Yang, you're so powerful—when I enter the Shadow Gu Tower, will the difficulty I face be above the Demon Tamer Prentice level?"

"Nope~"

Du Yu: "You sound pretty confident?"

"Tsk~" Little Fen Yang replied, very smug. "Who could ever detect me? It's just a broken tower. When the time comes, I'll just hide, hee hee."

On hearing this, Du Yu finally let out a sigh of relief. He trusted Little Fen Yang completely, after all.

But just as Du Yu eased his heart, the muttering of Little Fen Yang returned in his mind: "If we do get discovered, we'll just run for it~"

Du Yu: ???

"Hee hee~ Du Yu, Du Yu, you're so nervous! You weren't like this during your last trial, were you?"

Du Yu let out a deep sigh, replying inwardly, "Master Qing is so good to us—she trains us with such dedication, makes us Demon Soldiers, feeds us all those fruits—I don't want to let her down."

"That's true~ Then let's help Teacher Qingqing fulfill her wish together!"

It's hard not to be grateful after accepting so much care and generosity.

Over the past half month, Little Fen Yang had eaten plenty of dried fruit, and was blissfully happy.

While Du Yu was still dazed, Yang Qingqing repeated the process, this time fusing a blade into the lower end of the bow arm as well.

The sharp dagger blade gleamed cold and bright, with intricate, strange markings acid-etched into a few arcs.

"Put your Demon Pet away first."

"Alright." Du Yu quickly called the Demon Pet home; during this period, Little You Ying had become much more obedient.

Well, as long as Little You Ying was near the Fire Phoenix Tree, she was always obedient. Ever since she tried to explode last time and got bound into a cocoon by the Fire Phoenix Tree, she hadn't dared to act up again.

Xiaoyan secretly glanced at Yang Qingqing, then obediently returned to her Acupoint Home.

Yang Qingqing finally finished her creation, looked up, and handed the Demon Soldier to Du Yu: "The two short daggers on the sides are made from ordinary materials, not Demon Soldiers. Otherwise, the level of this Beginner's Bow might go up."

"Yes." Du Yu hurried forward to accept the jet-black blood-trace hunting bow.

Seeing how Du Yu couldn't put it down, Yang Qingqing said softly, "Give it a name."

She waited a while with no response from Du Yu, so she added, "It's just a Newbie Demon Soldier, barely a month's use."

In other words, Du Yu shouldn't get too attached. With higher-quality materials, he wouldn't be allowed to bring the bow into the Shadow Gu Tower anyway.

Du Yu scratched his head. "But it's the first gift Master Qing ever gave me."

At this, Yang Qingqing looked up at Du Yu. His bright eyes were endearing, but what caught Yang Qingqing and made her look again and again was the sincerity radiating from them.

This time, Yang Qingqing didn't urge him anymore. She leaned back, crossed her legs, found a comfy position, and waited patiently.

After a while, Du Yu said, "Cyan Peak—how about that? Demon Soldier Qing Peak."

Yang Qingqing had no objections, even though the bow was black.

She didn't mind her name being attached to a Newbie Demon Soldier. She just said, "With the special training by the Fire Phoenix Tree, you've developed your own close-combat style—constantly opening up distance, looking for a chance to counterattack."

Du Yu nodded immediately.

Yang Qingqing asked, "But what if the battlefield doesn't allow that? What if you can't create space at all, or even move a step?"

Du Yu thought for a moment, looking at the blades on both sides of Demon Soldier Qing Peak.

"The blades are one way to solve that." Yang Qingqing propped her cheek with a hand, the leaves of the sofa's armrest flowing, piecing themselves together to support her elbow. "Draw the bow."

Without a word, Du Yu drew the bow at once.

Within Qing Peak, a Fire Arrow burst to life.

"Extract the Fire Arrow."

Du Yu: "Huh?"

"Try pulling out the Fire Arrow." Yang Qingqing patiently guided him.

Du Yu pinched the arrow's nock, drawing the Fire Arrow out of the bow by itself.

One second... two seconds...

"Poof~" Separated from the Demon Soldier, the Fire Arrow lost its energy source and quietly extinguished.

Yang Qingqing: "How many seconds did the Fire Arrow last?"

Du Yu's heart stirred; he seemed to get what Master Qing meant. "Two seconds."

"Good." Yang Qingqing's face revealed a faint smile. She guided him gently, "So?"

Du Yu hurried to answer: "So, within those two seconds, I can wield the Fire Arrow in hand and stab it around me."

Yang Qingqing suddenly lifted a hand, and in an instant, endless leaves surged like a tide, wrapping the modern living room into a leafy training field.

Du Yu's chest tightened. In these past eighteen days, this was the place where he'd been pushed to his limits, covered in injuries and bruises.

But Yang Qingqing's raised hand didn't fall. Instead, her thumb moved with a light flick.

"Whoosh~"

Suddenly, a vine shot up from the leafy carpet, right in front of Du Yu to his left, though it showed no signs of attacking.

Yang Qingqing: "Aim for the third leaf from the top."

Du Yu drew and fired without hesitation. Obviously he trusted his bow-and-arrow skills and barely needed time to aim.

"Whoosh~" The straight-rising vine was struck and then plunged right back into the carpet.

But Yang Qingqing merely wiggled her index finger.

In Du Yu's right front, another vine shot up, just the same—straight up and down.

Knowing Master Qing's approach by now, Du Yu handled it easily this time, quickly drawing and nocking an arrow.

"Whoosh~whoosh~whoosh!"

Fire Arrows shot out at high speed, each striking the third leaf on every vine. It was almost like a fantastical game of whack-a-mole.

Yang Qingqing's finger trembled faster and faster. The speed of the vines leaping from the carpet also picked up.

Soon enough, Du Yu started getting overwhelmed.

This was just too fast!

Yang Qingqing had clearly found his limit. Just as Du Yu was getting flustered and missing shots, a vine sprang up three meters right in front of him—not simply straight up, but twisting like a long snake, darting for his face!

Startled, Du Yu reflexively hopped back, drawing and nocking in one fluid motion.

"Pop~"

The sound of a Fire Arrow hitting a leaf rang out. The long snake-turned-vine lost all energy, falling headfirst onto the leafy carpet.

But Du Yu didn't get a chance to unwind, because all around him, vines kept shooting up, up, up—while among normal vines, a side vine transformed into another serpent, lashing for Du Yu's cheek.

"Whoosh!"

The Fire Arrow streaked by, striking down the Vine Snake.

Du Yu dodged with a side-step jump, landing steady, but his pupils shrank a little.

In the corner of his eye, another vine burst up just half a meter at his side, homing in on his face!

"Whoa!" Du Yu dodged sideways again. Just as he drew back the bow, the vine had already wrapped itself around the Fire Arrow's tip.

Du Yu: !!!

Instinctively, Du Yu swung the bow horizontally, trying to slice the vine with the Cyan Peak Blade at the end of the bow arm.

The vine wasn't ripped apart, but as soon as the blade touched it, the part coiling around the Fire Arrow's tip loosened at once, like it had lost its life, and fell limply to the carpet below.

"Huff...huff..." Du Yu's breath was short and ragged.

He was being pressured not just by the attacking vines. In all the chaos, vines kept popping up in every direction. In other words, Du Yu had missed who knows how many targets already!

If this were a test Master Qing gave him, he'd already missed a bunch of questions!

"Whoosh~whoosh!"

Du Yu tried to steady his mind, focusing hard on rapid shooting. Lost points were already lost, but the next problems had to be answered one by one!

Yang Qingqing sat on the leafy sofa, quietly watching the embattled youth through the many shooting vines.

Suddenly, her little finger quivered.

On the training field, Du Yu felt the past rush back!

Another Vine Snake shot up half a meter from his side. This time, Du Yu's response was clearly more fluid.

He nocked and drew while also flashing out the blade at the end of the bow arm, slashing sideways at the lunging Vine Snake.

Yet even so, something was the same... but also different.

This time, the blade did not snuff out the vine's "life force." Instead, the vine clung stubbornly to Demon Soldier Qing Peak, clearly trying to wrest his weapon from him.

At the same time, another vine burst up at his flank, aiming right for his face!

In that instant, a flash of understanding struck Du Yu!

Unable to pull his Demon Soldier Bow free, he instantly grabbed the burning Fire Arrow from the bow, clenched it tight, and spun fiercely, stabbing at the vine rushing from his side.

"Pop~"

The arrowhead drove hard into the supple leaf.

With that fierce blow, the whole world seemed to freeze in that instant.

All the up-and-down vines stopped, suspending in midair.

The vine tugging at Demon Soldier Qing Peak released its grip, and the vine Du Yu had just stabbed froze too, locked in place.

The scene went completely still, because Yang Qingqing's fingers had stopped moving.

"Huff...huff..." Du Yu panted, his chest heaving violently, eyes warily scanning the surroundings.

Staring at Du Yu's back, Yang Qingqing's eyes held a trace of something unusual.

She'd never participated in Du Yu's actual training. Eighteen days ago, she went on a mission; when she returned, she only saw the results. But now, she had witnessed Du Yu filling out this test with her own eyes.

What unsettled Yang Qingqing was that everything she had ever hoped to see, Du Yu showed her—all of it!

And he did it in just half a lesson's time. This surpassed Demon Taming Talent; it was true Combat Talent!

Last night, she'd told Du Yu to strengthen his use of the bow-arm daggers.

Before the special training, she'd only hinted that Fire Arrows would last two seconds after leaving the bow...

"Master Qing?" Du Yu turned, his gaze crossing countless suspended vines to look toward Yang Qingqing in the distance.

"Continue." Yang Qingqing spoke softly and trembled her fingers, and the whole world suddenly "came to life" again—vines flying, blossoms swirling, a scene out of a dream.

Maybe, just maybe, he really could do it.

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