What Took You So Long?

What people coveted most about Sonia was not her beauty, nor the miracles she had created herself, nor even Sonia in her own right! It was the secret she kept hidden! The secret that had allowed her to go from nothing to achieving Swordsmanship Sanctuary in under half a year! Even demigods like the Lake Light Angel, the King of Time, and the Spectre Prophet had needed two whole years to advance from Silver Sorcerer to Sanctuary Sorcerer, despite taking the Path of Origin without needing to deliberately cultivate their faction realms. The preposterous speed of the Red-Haired Sword Princess's advancement was something even a reincarnator like the Spectre Prophet could never match! Even if Sonia faced no bottlenecks at all and simply advanced as soon as her virtual wings finished condensing, the rate at which she condensed them was several times, if not ten times, that of an ordinary sorcerer! Silver virtual wings were one thing—after all, she had the excuse of the Vortex—but golden virtual wings offered no shortcuts; one had to trek the ten thousand li step by step with both feet planted firmly on the ground. Yet she had somehow traversed in one or two months a journey that took others two years! This was a secret that could propel an entire clan, even an entire nation, to great heights. Who wouldn't covet it? Who wouldn't want it? The reason the Starry Country had not demanded Sonia's secret was that every official, from the very top to the bottom, was bound by the Blessing of the Stars. They were barred from making any unlawful decisions that deliberately infringed upon a citizen's interests. Even if they wished to coerce a country girl in the name of the bigger picture, the constitution reminded them that ordinary folks like this country girl were the bigger picture. Besides, the Starry Country was in no hurry. It was only a matter of time before Sonia received the Blessing of the Stars, and if there truly was a secret, it would inevitably remain locked inside the kettle of the Starry Country. For everyone else, however, it was a different story. If Sonia's secret was finite, whoever got hold of it first would see their clan reap the benefits! People like Adele and Lois had previously faced open and covert pressure from their families to find a way to steal the Paw-Stretching Swordmaster's secret. But as their friendship with Sonia grew closer, and with Lois also becoming a sorcerer, the pressure from their families had gradually eased—after all, staying on good terms with a Sanctuary Sorcerer of limitless prospects wasn't a bad outcome either. Lois had long anticipated that people would covet Sonia's remnants. What she had not expected was that before her death was even confirmed, someone would be impatient enough to turn up on their doorstep and ransack the place! On second thought, though, she understood. If her death were confirmed, would it even be their turn to snatch the spoils? *Crack!* The male deputy director sprang forward like a tiger and threw a punch, smashing a chair to pieces! As for the surging torrent under his feet, it hardly hindered him at all! A fist-and-claw sorcerer! Lois's and Ingrid's pupils constricted. In a confined space like a dormitory room, a fist-and-claw sorcerer's advantage was virtually absolute! Ingrid had no room to unfold her swordsmanship, Lois's water arts required time to cast, but his fist-and-claw techniques could be brought to bear at will! Evidently aware of this, he stepped calmly into the room. "It's over—" The male deputy director's voice suddenly choked in his throat. Right before his eyes stood Adele, the weakest and most powerless girl in the dorm, clutching a megaphone. It was something she had picked up in passing while helping out at the masquerade ball a few days prior. "Assault! A thief has broken into the girls' dorm and is assaulting students!" Adele's voice pierced through the entire dormitory building. "These thieves pretended to be from the Administration Office, picked our lock, and turned straight to armed robbery when their break-in failed! They're beating up female students! Help! Thieves! Someone help! Extra academic credits for bravery in action!" Faced with this turn of events, the male deputy director actually regained his composure. He told the men behind him, "Hurry up. Aovila, help me subdue them." The female deputy director was brimming with resentment. "You couldn't handle it by yourself?! What are we supposed to do now? Everyone knows! It's all your fault! If you hadn't picked this time to come, this wouldn't have happened!" "I can defeat them, but I can't stop them from destroying property," the male deputy director said. "Stop complaining. Since we've already botched it, we at least have to achieve the baseline objective." Lois chuckled. "How hard it must be for you to stay so mild-tempered. If it were me, I'd have slapped this menopausal auntie into next week already." The female deputy director's gaze snapped instantly to Lois. In truth, Lois's words were somewhat unfair. Though no longer in the bloom of youth, the woman remained attractive; in her younger years, she might even have contested for the title of Sword Flower. But spite and fury made her facial features look sunken and terrifying, every single blackhead seeming to exude pure malice. *Whoosh!* The female deputy director suddenly pointed at Adele's water cup. It burst apart instantly, hurling a jet of black water straight at Lois—she was a water sorcerer as well! The black water moved with astonishing speed, likely blended with a darkness sorcery spirit! And with sheer malice, the jet flew straight toward Lois's face. Even if it wasn't lethal, it would leave a gruesome scar! An ordinary Silver Sorcerer wouldn't have been able to dodge this miracle even if they noticed it. Yet Lois showed no fear whatsoever! Two patches of watery ripples surfaced beneath her feet. Without exerting any force of her own, her body glided across the floor riding the current, unbelievably fast! The Wave Trace sorcery spirit! This was precisely the reward Lois had obtained from the Lake Light Inheritance! Nor was Lois sliding aimlessly; she glided straight in front of Sonia's desk, unleashing a surging torrent at the four men in black and forcing them on the defensive. Even if the female deputy director wanted to retaliate, she had to worry about damaging Sonia's relics behind her! Just then, however, Ingrid had already drawn her wooden sword, its shadow falling like the azure firmament as she slashed toward the female deputy director! *Clang!* The male deputy director intercepted Ingrid's wooden sword with his fist. Unbeknownst to them, he had slipped on chainmail gauntlets; the impact of the wooden sword set the entire gauntlet rattling, yet he remained completely unharmed! Ingrid's eyes turned frosty, her wooden sword dissolving into over a dozen afterimages that rained down on the male deputy director! He appeared pressed into passivity, unable to strike back, forced to continually defend as the room echoed with countless crackling thunderclaps! A few seconds later, both disengaged. The male deputy director glanced down at his glove, surprised to find it battered and frayed, a strange look coming over his face. "To accomplish this with only a few basic sorcery spirits... Truly, a new generation of talents. "For a One-Wing Sorcerer, you've done remarkably well. "However..." *Snap.* Steam rose from Ingrid's entire body, her freshly wiped skin soaked through with sweat once more. The hands gripping the hilt suddenly went limp, letting the wooden sword shatter into pieces on the floor. She looked at the torn flesh between her thumb and forefinger; sweat the size of beans dripped from her forehead into her eyes. Her expression remained impassive, save for a slight trembling of her lips that betrayed how fiercely she was enduring the agony. "Game over," he said. The clamoring Adele was dragged over by the female deputy director. Adele clutched the swollen half of her face, tears brimming in her eyes though she fought desperately to keep them from falling. The megaphone had been smashed to pieces. Lois still stood guard before the desk, but when she saw more men in black blocking the hallway outside to keep other students from checking on the commotion, she knew hope was gone. "I demand that Professor Trozan be notified," she said. The female deputy director responded immediately by reaching out to stroke Adele's face—plainly not a gesture of affection. "We are merely nobodies," the male deputy director said calmly. "Of course we fear the Hidden Hand Sword Saint. But the people behind us do not." "Do they fear the Paw-Stretching Swordmaster, then?" The moment that voice sounded, the male deputy director threw an explosive miracle punch while the female deputy director instinctively hoisted Adele in front of herself— Yet it was useless! Control over their bodies vanished. Hands of iron clamped down on their throats, slamming them into the floor in an instant and dragging them along like rags straight toward the balcony! *Boom!* Lois slumped limply to the floor, asking feebly, "What took you so long?" "Slept a bit, took a bath, got a haircut, and changed into fresh clothes." Throttling the two by their throats, Sonia shoved their heads straight into the balcony tiles with sheer brute force. She looked back with a smile. "How could I dare come back to the dorm and face everyone without dressing up nicely?"