Zhao Changhe went to wash his face in distress, cursing himself for being too foolish and crossing the line. Now he couldn't save face anymore, and the opportunity to get close to Tang Wanzhuang was gone.

This was not something that could be calmly dealt with through meditation and cultivation. This conversation touched upon the topic that they should have avoided the most.

It could be said that one of the main reasons Tang Wanzhuang wanted Zhao Changhe to become a prince was because he had clearly expressed his refusal to this arranged marriage, which aligned with her desires. It was fine to flirt a little, and even a 28-year-old mature woman like her could handle it, and she could even flirt back a few times. But this kind of conversation was a big no-no.

After thinking it through, Zhao Changhe regretted it deeply. Not only did he lose the opportunity to get close to Tang Wanzhuang, but he was also afraid that their future interactions would become serious again...

Sighing, he finished washing his face and went back to continue writing. Just as he sat down at the table, a fragrant breeze swept by and Tang Wanzhuang entered again.

Zhao Changhe: "?"

"Do you know how to paint?" Tang Wanzhuang asked with a serious face.

"...I don't."

"The sword manual must have illustrations, not just textual instructions. If you can't paint, how do you plan to handle it?"

"I have drawn examples of the Blood Slaughter Sword Technique before. They were crooked and ugly, but there shouldn't be any deviations."

"A slight deviation can lead to a thousand miles of error. What do you mean by 'shouldn't'? This is for exchanging Gu techniques with the Ancient Spirit Clan. If something goes wrong, it will be a big deal. Are you confident that your painting won't have any mistakes?"

"Uh..." Actually, Zhao Changhe felt that the Heavenly Book should be able to identify any mistakes, but he wasn't too sure about this. Besides, he couldn't explain it, so he decided to keep quiet.

Tang Wanzhuang handed him a sword and said, "You demonstrate, I'll paint."

Zhao Changhe sniffled and obediently got up to demonstrate.

Originally, they might have been able to teach him how to paint step by step, but now it was all gone... sob...

Tang Wanzhuang sat at the table, turned her head to look at Zhao Changhe's sword dance, and her beautiful face gradually revealed a look of astonishment that she couldn't hide.

This guy, who played the zither like a bear, was expected to be clumsy when dancing with a delicate weapon like a sword. However, it turned out to be elegant and graceful. Apart from being a little unfamiliar, there were no major problems. At least, he had mastered the basic movements of the Sword Emperor's introductory sword technique.

As the saying goes, even if it was just an introductory sword technique, even if someone had explained it to him in detail, it was still extraordinary for someone who had only practiced with a broadsword to learn the sword in one night like this. He was truly a genius.

With sufficient resources and opportunities, he could really become the next Xia Longyuan, both in terms of martial strength and position.

The introductory sword technique was not long, and Zhao Changhe finished practicing it soon. Tang Wanzhuang snapped out of her daze and realized that she hadn't painted a single stroke.

Zhao Changhe glanced over.

Tang Wanzhuang discreetly covered it up and calmly said, "Painting is not that fast. Dance it again... no, twice, and I'll continue painting."

Zhao Changhe looked at her suspiciously. Tang Wanzhuang's face turned slightly red. She knew that this bear-like guy was not easy to fool, and he was also extremely clever when it came to solving cases... Don't think that he was just absent-minded because he was looking at her...

Fortunately, Zhao Changhe didn't take advantage of the situation to flirt again. He obediently returned to his seat and continued to demonstrate.

Tang Wanzhuang let out a sigh of relief and quickly started painting.

By the time Zhao Changhe finished practicing the sword dance twice, Tang Wanzhuang had just finished her painting. The timing was as precise as a well-designed program.

Zhao Changhe tried to peek again, but Tang Wanzhuang didn't let him see. She directly collected the manuscript and organized it into a book, expressionless, and said, "I need to bring this over to Anwen Si Si first."

Zhao Changhe fell silent for a moment and whispered, "Yes, otherwise she will worry."

Tang Wanzhuang suddenly stopped and turned around with a light smile, "Is that why you stayed up all night studying the Sword Seal?"

Zhao Changhe sighed, "Why are you so petty... Since I promised her to exchange sword techniques and Gu techniques, I have to fulfill my promise."

"I couldn't tell just now. Every time I mentioned Si Si, you changed the topic."

"I've done what I should do. What's the point of talking about it all the time? Especially those things you said, as if you were trying to evoke my sympathy. Even if a child says they're breaking off the friendship, they won't make up so quickly. What are you thinking... Are you really trying to separate yourself from me just to find me a wife? I already have a girlfriend, there's no need for that."

Tang Wanzhuang: "..."

Actually, even if she wanted to find Zhao Changhe a wife, the best choice would be Cui Yuanyang, not someone from another race.

But her behavior did make it easy for people to think in that direction, and Tang Wanzhuang couldn't be bothered to explain.

"Go ahead, I'll see if I can create two sets of higher-level sword techniques." Zhao Changhe paused and changed the topic, saying, "I feel like there shouldn't be any problems in writing them, but I'm afraid I won't be able to practice the higher-level ones."

Tang Wanzhuang stared at him with her beautiful eyes for a while and slowly said, "You can... as long as you don't treat it as a task, but as your own learning process. Don't rush to say that you don't want to learn the sword. You have integrated my Spring Water Sword Intent into your knife intent before, so why can't the Sword Emperor's techniques become part of your knife technique? You have too few unique skills. If you can incorporate the Sword Emperor's unique skills into your knife technique, no one in the world will be able to recognize it, which can compensate for your shortcomings."

Tang Wanzhuang left, leaving Zhao Changhe with a headache.He had thought about it, but the difficulty was too great. Integrating a trace of sword intent and combining it with the ultimate skill to transform it into a sword move, this was a difficult task...

But Tang Wanzhuang's words made sense, no matter how difficult it was, he had to overcome it.

Even if the Divine and Buddha's Scattered technique had been modified by the Heavenly Book, the level of the Xuan Guan Triple Level ultimate skill was no longer considered an ultimate skill. Now, he had no powerful move other than activating a berserk BUFF. Once he had a truly hidden ultimate skill, his combat ability would double.

He decided to take action. Zhao Changhe locked the doors and windows and took out the golden foil again.

He didn't immediately study advanced sword techniques, but started from the basics and progressed slowly.

This kind of thing couldn't be rushed. Without mastering each level, it was impossible to understand higher-level things.

For a while, Zhao Changhe didn't realize that he was actually learning the complete system of sword techniques from beginning to end when he wanted to transform sword techniques into knife techniques. By the time he could transform the sword into a knife, he had already learned all the sword moves, sword intent, and sword principles clearly.

At that time, he would truly inherit the legacy of the Sword Emperor.

On the other hand, Tang Wanzhuang, who was originally a swordsman, had never even thought of touching the sword seal, just to avoid distracting from the Sword Emperor's inheritance and focusing on him.

...

Inside the Sword Emperor's tomb, Sisi sat by the dog hole, absentmindedly watching the members of the Demon Suppression Bureau carefully inspecting the surroundings. Her mind was wandering.

The dog hole was no longer a dog hole. It had expanded to allow normal walking space. It was no longer dark, and some restrictions had been lifted. At least it was not as intimidating as before.

Actually, Tang Wanzhuang didn't impose any restrictions on her. The door was behind her, and she could leave at any time.

But Sisi was waiting for the sword technique.

After a year of venturing alone in the Divine Continent, she had suffered a lot. Wasn't it all for this? How could she leave...

Zhao Changhe had promised that he wouldn't deceive her.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and Tang Wanzhuang sat directly beside her, handing her a booklet. "He is very efficient. The first set of basic sword techniques is already complete. Take a look. He should be studying the advanced ones now. At least one complete set should be ready within three days. Is that enough?"

"I don't know, I have to take a look..." Sisi took the booklet and quickly scanned through it, her expression quickly becoming strange.

Why did the sword diagrams on it look exactly like Zhao Changhe?

"What are you doing?" Sisi's expression was blank. "Are you trying to humiliate me? Even if we break off our relationship, do you still want to bring his face back and think about it day and night?"

Tang Wanzhuang smiled. "Because he was the one demonstrating, and I was the one drawing. I subconsciously drew his appearance. If you're uncomfortable, then just erase his face."

Sisi remained silent for a moment, then directly put the booklet into her arms and continued to sit there without saying a word.

Tang Wanzhuang also remained silent, as if she had nothing to do and was just sitting there with her.

Sisi looked at her strangely, then looked at her again, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you impose any restrictions on me?"

Tang Wanzhuang said, "Because we are similar people. Anyway, I have nothing to do. Once I calm down, I won't be angry anymore. What's the point of continuing to be angry?"

This explanation didn't seem to explain why she didn't impose any restrictions. Wasn't she afraid of causing trouble? Sisi found it strange and kept looking at her, but besides thinking she was beautiful, she couldn't see anything else.

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"Why do you say we are similar people? How am I like you?"

"For the sake of Da Xia's goal, I won't care about the life and death of people from other races. To you, we are just people from another race, right? What's the fundamental difference between you and me? It's just that I have eaten a few more years of food and won't act without considering the consequences." Tang Wanzhuang said softly, "From this perspective, even if you really seduced and deceived Changhe, it would be normal. But you didn't, so I find it hard to dislike you."

Sisi pursed her lips.

She knew that they were actually different, their values were completely different... But Tang Wanzhuang's words were still comforting, and it was foolish to argue.

"I asked you about your past actions. You were obviously a very shrewd person, but this time, you only cared about the beginning and not the end. You even missed the obvious fact that there were people outside who could isolate us. It was because you felt guilty about Changhe's trust and your heart was in chaos, so you were only anxious to explain." Tang Wanzhuang patted her shoulder gently. "After all, you're just a little girl."

Sisi felt a bit rebellious and pursed her lips, but she knew that Tang Wanzhuang was right. At that time, she was indeed in chaos, which caused her to neglect many things. She felt like a fool afterwards.

Why didn't she impose any restrictions? It seemed that there was no need to say more.

Such means would only provoke the other party's resentment and rebellion. They would do everything they could to break free, and if they couldn't, they would want to bite you. It was easy to cause problems.

But what about the opposite?

Love was the restriction, and the heart was the shackle.

Sisi was smart, and she understood what Tang Wanzhuang was doing. But she was speechless to find that even though she thought Tang Wanzhuang was overthinking, she couldn't resist it.

After all, not imposing any restrictions was a personal favor. Being misunderstood as having a romantic interest was better than being forcibly controlled.Sisi could only grumble resentfully, "I don't like him! If I really did, I wouldn't have put him in danger! I just consider him a friend. We, the Ancient Spirit Clan, value loyalty, so my heart is in turmoil. We're not like you people from the Divine Land who are heartless and unprincipled!"

Tang Wanzhuang was left speechless and could only laugh awkwardly, "Oh."

Sisi glanced at her sideways, "You may be twenty-eight, but you've never had a man. Why are you pretending to be some wise older sister who understands love? I bet you don't even understand as much as I do! I dare to kiss, do you?"

Tang Wanzhuang's smile froze on her face.

———

PS: That's all for tonight, more tomorrow~

(End of this chapter)