Chapter 200: Establishing the Swordsmanship Dojo

He closed the door and prepared to leave when Yuris appeared in front of him, frowning and asking, “Are you planning to drop out?”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s have another match.”

Leo hesitated for a moment and replied, “Okay.”

It was just a simple spar, and neither of them used their full strength.

After a while, the two stood with their swords drawn, and Yuris said, “Your sword has become hesitant; indeed, your heart is not as calm as it seems on the surface.”

Leo looked up, his gaze falling on the white clouds in the sky, where a beautiful smiling figure of the saintess emerged. Recently, his mind had been occupied with thoughts of Michelle; how could he possibly be calm?

“Are you going?” Yuris suddenly asked.

“Going where?” Leo was a bit confused.

“To take Michelle away from the church.”

Take her away? Leo had not been without such thoughts, but he was more concerned about Michelle’s feelings.

Why did she leave without saying a word, just disappearing silently?

He could not let go of this thought, unable to understand why Michelle could easily abandon the feelings they shared. Were all their moments together so insignificant?

Could it be that Michelle had some concerns and did not want to see him one last time? At the very least, she should have told him to put an end to it.

In the past, he had considered the possibility of Michelle becoming the chosen saintess and had thought about taking her away from the church.

But when faced with the situation, it was not as simple as he had imagined. He cared about Michelle’s thoughts and did not want to put her in a difficult position. If he were to take action, it would become fraught with challenges.

“After the chosen saintess appears, she will travel throughout the empire under the protection of the church’s strong, equivalent to walking the path of trials that all saintesses in church history must take. During the return journey, when they approach the imperial capital, the church’s strong will become lax, and that will be an opportunity.”

Yuris had specifically investigated this and paused for a moment before continuing, “After completing the trials, the chosen saintess will perform a ritual to the gods, gaining their recognition and officially inheriting this profession. If this opportunity is wasted, there will never be such a good chance again.”

“The church’s strong are not easy to deal with,” Leo felt it was unrealistic.

“I am a sword saint, and your strength is at least equal to mine. Plus, with Michelle, the three of us together could defeat even the demon king. The church’s strong would be no problem. Afterward, we could team up like before to take down the demon king. The demon king is the biggest obstacle, isn’t he?”

“This is between me and her; you shouldn’t get involved.” Leo said apologetically, “I’m sorry.”

Yuris opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, and after a long pause, he finally said, “Think about it.”

Yuris left, and Leo also departed from the small house that had accompanied him for over a year.

He walked across the bridge and glanced back at the Nidlan Dojo hidden in the mountains, a place that had given him many beautiful memories, and he feared he would not return.

He arrived in the imperial capital and first went to a real estate office to buy a courtyard as a base for the swordsmanship dojo.

The housing prices in the imperial capital were very high, costing at least ten million gold coins.

Over the past year, Leo had completed many difficult missions, and with the rewards from defeating the Four Heavenly Kings, he had become a small wealthy man, sitting on tens of millions of gold coins, more than enough to buy a courtyard.

He chose a relatively remote courtyard and followed the guide to see it in person.

The guide said, “This courtyard only costs five million gold coins. It was originally worth twenty million, but because it is haunted at night, it is only sold for five million.”

The overall layout of the courtyard was quite suitable, and the interior was luxuriously decorated. It was said to be a genuine villa built by a famous noble.

“Alright, I’ll take this one.”

Leo had specifically inquired before choosing this courtyard, which saved him a considerable amount of gold.

After the paperwork was completed, he signed and paid the gold coins, and the transaction was finalized; the courtyard belonged to him.

He stepped outside the courtyard, and under the clarity of his sword heart, he could faintly see a layer of evil energy floating above the courtyard, transforming into a ferocious skeleton that roared.

Leo struck out with a heart-following slash, and the skeleton was obliterated, causing the evil energy enveloping the courtyard to completely vanish.

Afterward, Leo carved a plaque for the Heartflow Swordsmanship Dojo and hung it on the door beam.

Next came the issue of recruiting disciples. He spent a day posting handwritten flyers around the imperial capital and then waited patiently.

The next morning, there was a commotion outside.

Leo got up and went outside, only to see a long line of people waiting.

“Are you all here to join the swordsmanship dojo?” Leo asked the person at the front.

“Are you the dojo master?”

The speaker was a slightly plump nobleman. “I heard that the Heartflow is a sword technique mastered by a famous genius from Nidlan Academy. Is that you? You don’t look like much.”

“Being able to recruit noble disciples is a blessing accumulated by your Heartflow over generations. Hurry up and let us in; we’ve been waiting for half a day. Let us in for some tea and maybe some good food and drinks.”

Leo’s face darkened. Not all nobles understood how to be restrained like the students from Nidlan. These people were used to being arrogant; he was there to recruit disciples, not to gather a bunch of lords to serve him.

“Sorry, the flyers were fake; the Heartflow is not recruiting disciples.” He immediately shut the door.

These nobles probably learned about him and the Heartflow swordsmanship through the academy’s students. Their only goal was to gain the power of the Heartflow, and Leo did not want to teach even the slightest bit to these people.

A few days later, the commotion settled down, and no one queued outside the swordsmanship dojo anymore; they just assumed it was a rumor.

Leo went into the city, preparing to look for a few common children to recruit as disciples.

Suddenly, a child ran past him, being chased by a few middle-aged men.

Leo decided to follow and see what was happening. Turning a corner, he saw the child curled up, being punched and kicked by the middle-aged men, who were cursing at him.

“Teach him a lesson.”

“Break his hands and see if he dares to steal again.”

From the looks of it, this scene seemed to have happened many times before.

The child gritted his teeth, tightly clutching a bun in his arms.

After venting their anger, the middle-aged men left, even spitting on him as they departed.

The child stood up, wiped his face with the dust on the ground, trying to cover the bruises on his face.

Suddenly, he spotted Leo nearby, and his expression changed to one of excitement.

“Big brother!” The child ran towards Leo.

Leo looked behind him; there was no one there. He pointed at himself, “Are you calling me?”

“It’s you, big brother! You saved me; I have always remembered you.” The child’s dirty little face broke into an excited smile.

“You know me? When did I help you?” Leo was a bit puzzled.

The child’s smile instantly faded. “Well, you probably forgot me long ago. I’m sorry, but I still want to thank you.”

The child turned and decisively left. Watching his disappointed back, Leo called out to him.

“Wait a minute.”

In the past, the old man had taken him in as an orphan, and now he wanted to continue that legacy, giving orphans a chance to change their fate.

However, he was not a kind person; if there was no talent for swordsmanship, then he could only say sorry.

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