"Hah!"
A low, guttural shout rang out in the quiet garden. Long stood in a horse stance, thrusting his arm straight forward.
From his arm, a strip of jet-black silk embroidered with an Eastern dragon motif slithered out, spiraling into the void. in a split second, those soft coils tightened, condensed, and hardened into the form of a glossy black Guan Dao, exuding a terrifyingly majestic aura.
The cold, sharp blade extended from the mouth of an exquisitely carved dragon head. The dragon's eyes blazed with emerald green fire, radiating a mystical brilliance that glared brighter than the harsh sunlight beating down on the yard.
"Black Dragon Fang... it's truly beautiful."
Merely touching it a few times left Long completely mesmerized by its sharp appearance and the energy it radiated.
"Like grandfather, like grandson."
Lia sat with her legs crossed on the porch, leisurely sipping a glass of cold lemonade Long had made with his own hands, watching the performance. She dropped a casual but loaded remark:
"Alex was crazy about that weapon too. It's a pity that... it eventually turned its spear tip back to stab its own master."
That sentence made Long's spine go cold. A chill ran down his marrow, making him panic as he stared fixedly at the blade in his hand with terrified eyes, as if holding a venomous snake.
"It... betrayed its master? It harmed my grandfather?"
Lia nodded slightly, explaining calmly:
"Something like that. But the weapon itself has no sin. The sin lies with the wielder."
Long's eyes widened, a brutal truth flashing through his mind like lightning.
"You mean... someone stole it to attack my grandfather?"
Lia smiled, raising her voice in praise:
"Exactly. You really are smart."
She took a sip of the cold lemonade, then leisurely continued:
"But it wasn't stolen. Alex gave it away with his own hands... gifted it to his one and only disciple."
Long stood frozen, hurriedly asking again:
"Why did that person betray my grandfather?"
Lia stared at the ground, avoiding his gaze, then drawled lazily:
"It's a long and complicated story. Don't worry about it for now."
Listening to Lia, Long pushed his questions aside and turned back to continue practicing with the wooden block in front of him.
He lowered his center of gravity, planting his legs firmly on the ground. Relaxing his whole body, he started to twist his waist, channeling all his power into his arm, intending to unleash a wind-tearing horizontal slash when—
Fwump!
The majestic, imposing blade suddenly went limp, drooping to the ground like a wet rag. The powerful slash turned into a harmless, flaccid slap of cloth and... missed pathetically.
"Hahaha! Look at your face, you look just as dumb as Alex did the first time he used it!"
Lia rolled around laughing on the wooden porch, delighting in teasing his failure. Seeing this, Long silently walked into the house, asking over his shoulder as he went:
"Did I do something wrong?"
Lia's eyes followed his back as he went into the living room to look for something. She called out so he could hear:
"This weapon is really hard to use. Just imagine the blade extending, and it will extend. You figure out the rest yourself, you're smart, right~"
A moment later, Long walked out holding a soft pillow. He strode over to where Lia was lying, gently lifted her head, and slid the pillow underneath. Lia also relaxed her body, letting him take care of her without resisting at all.
"Let me try again."
Saying that, he walked out to the middle of the yard, lightly gripping the cold, jet-black handle. He closed his eyes, imagining the blade extending. It immediately extended for real, but... it still drooped down, limp as a wet noodle. Long's eyelid twitched; his affinity for this "godly weapon" was plummeting fast.
Refusing to accept defeat, Long closed his eyes, gritting his teeth to mobilize the energy flow in his body to run along his arm, forcing it into the drooping black silk, compelling it to harden while extended.
But it was useless.
The pitch-black strip of metal remained inert, heavy as the corpse of a giant python; no matter how much Long strained until his veins popped, it stayed limp, swaying with gravity in a mocking manner.
Letting out a breath of pure disappointment, he finally relaxed his mind, withdrawing the energy flow. The jet-black blade immediately coiled up, shortening.
"Harden!"
Clang!
A dry, steel-hard metallic sound rang out. The glossy black metal molecules instantly interlocked tightly, shaping into a short, sharp blade radiating a bone-chilling cold under the sun.
Looking at the perfect blade in his hand, Long smirked in triumph, but the smile vanished after just a second. He froze, brows furrowing tight as he realized the ridiculous absurdity of this.
"Is that it? Is that extending mechanism completely useless?"
Thinking this, Long decided to take a gamble. He let the blade extend to its limit, then used all his strength to swing a powerful arc. The obsidian blade undulated through the air exactly like a soft silk ribbon.
"What's the use of this flimsy th—"
The complaint hadn't even finished when a yellow leaf accidentally fell across the path of the "ribbon."
Snip.
The leaf was sliced cleanly in two in an instant without altering the blade's trajectory in the slightest.
Long's eyes went round with shock. That soft ribbon, the moment it impacted a target, seemed to accumulate all kinetic energy and become terrifyingly sharp. It carried his swing force, turning the softness into a powerful slash.
"Wait... that's impossible."
A drop of cold sweat rolled down Long's forehead. His gaze locked onto Black Dragon Fang, a crazy idea flashing in his head.
Long directed his eyes toward the old tree in the corner of the yard. His hand gripped the handle tight, starting to draw a spiral in the air. The pliable blade immediately bent to follow the movement, forming a spring shape.
"Haaa!"
Long twisted the handle violently, causing the spiraled blade to spin like a giant drill, thrusting straight into the target.
Thwack! Crash!
The black drill pierced the tree trunk, gouging out a deep spiral cut, sending wood chips flying. Long stood rooted to the spot, sweating bullets in terror at the sheer destructive power.
"Haha... This is insane... No wonder Grandfather liked it so much."
Lia widened her violet eyes, tracking his every move. In that moment, Long's back momentarily flashed with the silhouette of another man—a broad, towering back with wild, flowing hair, clad in radiant golden armor.
She startled, raising her small hands to rub her eyes. The illusion vanished, leaving only Long standing there panting. Lia turned her head to look at the portrait on the altar in the living room, a soft smile blooming on her lips:
"You must be very proud of this grandson, aren't you? Alex."