Evil dragon has a warm heart

Chapter 68 - 68 68 Sword Butterfly

?Chapter 68: Chapter 68 Sword Butterfly Chapter 68: Chapter 68 Sword Butterfly The “M” shaped mark was the unique mark of the Little Dream Dragon, visible only to Russell himself, and it was his sole connection to the Little Dream Dragon beyond the Gloomy Dreamland.

Without this mark, Russell found it hard to describe whether the Little Dream Dragon truly existed.

It was this mark, which he could summon at any time, that reassured him that the Little Dream Dragon was not just a dream, but a real Great Dragon with a promising future—one that would eventually burst through the mark and meet him in reality.

In fact, upon closer inspection, the “M” shaped mark was precisely a slender Great Dragon with outstretched wings in flight.

“How interesting, this Sword Butterfly Amber Bug is actually able to merge with the Little Dream Dragon’s mark,” Russell mused with amusement as he watched the butterfly mark, the size of a sesame seed, slowly revolving around the “M” shaped mark.

Even more intriguing, he could now, through this tiny butterfly mark, discern the miraculous functions of the Sword Butterfly Amber Bug.

“Sword… Swordsmanship… This Sword Butterfly Amber Bug naturally masters swordsmanship, and after forming a contract, it can help me master swordsmanship as well!”

Russell was astounded.

Then, calling out to the butterfly that knew swordsmanship in his mind, he received countless strange sensations from the butterfly mark.

Instantly, Russell was blessed with insight and sat down cross-legged with his eyes closed.

In his mind, the various moves of the “Radiant Swordsmanship Technique” he practiced daily for his knight morning and evening lessons flowed through his heart.

He had thought that his mastery over the “Radiant Swordsmanship Technique” was impeccable, but now, influenced by the swordsmanship butterfly, he suddenly realized there were many aspects of the “Radiant Swordsmanship Technique” he had not fully grasped.

“So it can be done like this… There’s still much room for refinement in this move… It’s crude, my previous practice of the techniques was too crude…”

At this moment, he felt as if he were possessed by a peerless master, seeing his past understanding of the “Radiant Swordsmanship Technique” as mere child’s scribbles.

A moment later.

Russell suddenly opened his eyes, glanced at the sunset close to setting, and slowly drew the Green Ceramic Sword from his waist.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then opened them again.

The next moment, the Green Ceramic Sword in his hand became like a silver-gray streamer, fluttering up and down around him.

The trajectory of his swordsmanship was no longer the stiff pattern of the past but became elusive and unpredictable like an antelope hanging its horns.

One move flowed into another, with the grace of a butterfly flitting in the air, and hidden behind the grace was an unmanifested lethality.

Kevin the Gold and Silver Wolfhound, perched on a nearby rock, watched Russell curiously. In his gold and silver pupils, was reflected a set of “Radiant Swordsmanship Technique” that was utterly different from the past—more agile, more exquisite, and more beautiful.

“Ha, ha!”

At the end of the sword technique display, Russell let out a loud shout, and the Green Ceramic Sword in his hand fiercely struck the rock wall.

Clang, crack—the rock wall split open.

The Green Ceramic Sword was unscathed, not because the ceramic was incredibly sturdy, but because the emerald set in the hilt, aside from channeling Battle Qi, also strengthened the entire sword—that was the universal enchanting effect of gems.

“Huff, huff!” Russell gasped for air.

Freeing himself from the profound epiphany he just had, he then looked inward at his own Battle Qi and discovered that his Battle Qi had carved out more than an inch of meridians toward his hands.

This equaled half a month of his hard training before.

“So strong!” Russell felt overjoyed as if he had found a precious treasure. The benefits brought by the Sword Butterfly Amber Bug were immense, not only deepening his insight into the “Radiant Swordsmanship Technique” but also enhancing his understanding of all swordsmanship techniques.

As his swordsmanship deepened, the benefits that followed were a strong pull on the Battle Qi between each move and stance.

This meant that from now on, Russell’s efficiency in training swordsmanship to carve out meridians would greatly increase.

“I was planning to tough it out for ten years to unblock all meridians and rise to become a Great Knight. Now, maybe in three to five years, or even two to three years, I could unblock all meridians and become a Great Knight!” Russell grinned widely, laughing—he might get promoted even earlier than the four Knight Attendants.

All this was brought about by this mysterious and rare Amber Bug.

“Woof!” Kevin barked.

Russell gave a thumbs up and replied, “A stroke of luck, Kevin, I’ll give you an extra treat when we get back!”

“Woof, woof!” Kevin was overjoyed.

Russell then turned his gaze back to his palm, where the “M” shaped mark was still twinkling, and the butterfly mark was still spinning.

“Come out.”

At his call, the butterfly mark rushed out from his palm and rebirthed into a fist-sized silvery-grey butterfly.

Its four wide-sword-like wings fluttered gracefully.

Then, it alighted upon the finger that Russell extended, its wings coming together, forming two broad swords; no matter how one looked at it, they possessed the true essence of swords.

“Aside from helping me comprehend swordsmanship, can you perform swordsmanship on your own?” Russell asked softly.

The Sword Butterfly made no sound, but the antennae on its head shook slightly, then it took off and began to flap its wings rapidly in the air.

Whoosh!

A few traces of barely discernible sword energy flew from its wings, slicing through the air.

“Cool!”

In his perception, this Sword Butterfly’s combat strength was negligible, unless one day it could evolve again, into a larger Amber Sprite. Then, with the magic power of an Amber Sprite, exhibiting sword energy would certainly be enough to harm someone.

Of course.

Russell did not know whether the Amber Worm could evolve like the Spirit Insects or Mushroom Bugs, as there was too little information about it.

“Little guy, you’re so dashing, might as well call you… Sword Butterfly, Sword Butterfly Amber Bug,” Russell named this sword-wielding butterfly.

The Sword Butterfly immediately began to flutter up and down as if quite pleased with having a name.

“Let’s go, home!” Russell waved his hand.

The Sword Butterfly instantly transformed into a beam of light, returning into his palm, becoming the butterfly mark again, revolving slowly around the “M” shaped mark.

That night, Eric and others returned from Grotto Village.

Russell immediately pulled Knight Attendant Tom for a duel. Before, he was no match for Tom, even finding it difficult to counterattack, only able to passively defend against Tom’s onslaught.

This was why he was able to defeat Rolin with a tortoise strategy, after all—the tortoise strategy had been thoroughly battle-tested.

But this evening’s fight saw a massive turnaround.

Russell was like a nimble butterfly, whirling swiftly around Tom, his fine steel longsword flipping and flying in his hands, momentarily pressuring Tom from every angle.

At this moment, it seemed as if their roles had been swapped.

Russell was on the aggressive, while Tom was beginning to adopt the tortoise strategy.

For a full quarter of an hour, Russell, drawing on his newfound comprehension of the “Radiant Swordsmanship Technique,” turned Tom into a bona fide tortoise. Had it not been for Tom’s substantial battle qi, this exquisite series of sword techniques might have been enough to defeat him.

After a quarter of an hour, Russell’s battle qi began to flag, and his assault also slowed.

Tom, having found a chance to breathe, finally began his counterattack and quickly overwhelmed Russell—instead of continuing to turtle up, Russell met the attack with swordplay, thus his defeat was swift.

“Power can overwhelm skill… While my swordsmanship has greatly improved, my lack of battle qi means that there has been no substantial change to my combat ability,” Russell gasped for breath and assessed his gains and losses, no doubt his combat power had doubled.

But it had not reached a qualitative transformation.

Nonetheless, this doubling of combat power still stunned many observers.

Charles exclaimed weirdly, “My God, under the Great Dragon’s gaze, Sir, if it weren’t for Tom turning red in the face, I’d really suspect he was acting! Your swordsmanship is as if it has been imbued with a soul by the Great Dragon, utterly mesmerizing!”

“Very strong, Sir’s swordsmanship has broken through,” Eric commended in a muffled voice, “It has surpassed my own swordplay!”

“Sir is a genius in battle qi martial skills!”

“Indeed, it’s unbelievable!”

“Soon we will all be defeated by Sir’s hand.”

“If we don’t keep up in our training, we’ll be unable to follow Sir,” said Tom and the other Knight Attendants, offering their resounding flattery.

Russell dusted off his collar and said with a slight smile, “Stay calm, it’s just a small improvement.”