Bottleneck

"You're back?"

"Yes, Father."

Mida tiptoed into the manor, carefully looking around.

"Your mother is in the house."

Seeing Mida's cautious demeanor, Xia Lun couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, thank you, Father." Mida nodded. Xia Lun was clearly on her side.

Xia Lun continued to practice in the courtyard, wielding his greatsword with a single hand. With a flick of his wrist, the heavy blade suddenly tore through the air, letting out a dull, whimpering sound. The fierce sword wind swept past, pressing down the bushes in the courtyard as if by an invisible giant hand.

Having practiced enough with his right hand, Xia Lun tossed the greatsword upward. The massive blade flipped in the air, and as it fell, his left hand steadily caught the hilt, beginning to swing it once more.

Mida watched with her heart pounding.

That pitch-black greatsword was clearly not so simple. The moment Xia Lun tossed it up, the surrounding space seemed to distort slightly.

If it were her, even with her strength, she might not be able to do it as effortlessly as Xia Lun.

After all, she was a Chaos Dragon, a race known for their physical strength. Even her mother had said that in terms of pure physical power alone, she might not be Mida's match.

Therefore, Mida completely understood why her mother couldn't beat her father when not using mana or magic.

However, she wouldn't train like Xia Lun. She had no interest in getting stronger; she just wanted to be her mother's obedient daughter.

Xia Lun's training did not stop because of this minor interlude.

Taking a deep breath, Xia Lun made the heavy sword seem weightless as he continued to swing it, leaving behind a series of afterimages in the air.

"Crack—"

"Buzz—"

The surrounding space, unable to bear the burden, began to shatter, blooming with spiderweb-like cracks. But almost simultaneously, a strange, soft chime sounded, and those cracks instantly mended as if stitched together by invisible threads.

Aina had asked Yisi to reinforce the space here in advance to facilitate his practice.

"Phew—"

Xia Lun let out a long breath, forming a small cyclone in the air.

He had hit a bottleneck.

Ever since his resurrection, as he gained mastery over this new body, his strength had been continuously improving. He had already been able to suppress several Demon Kings in combat...

True, the body Aina had modified for him was incomparably powerful, but it was not an infinite treasure trove.

And now, it seemed he was nearing his limit; he had almost fully tapped into the potential of this body.

The training he was doing now didn't make him much stronger, but merely kept his strength in peak condition so he wouldn't regress.

Xia Lun sighed.

He was already very strong... but compared to Aina, he was still lacking by more than just a little bit.

This level of strength alone was not enough for Aina to safely hide behind him.

...

"Mida! You're back!"

Yisi's blustering voice exploded out of nowhere, startling Mida so much she almost jumped.

"Why are you sneaking around? Let me tell you..."

"Shut up!"

"Oh." Seeing Mida's rather serious expression, Yisi quieted down.

It was hard for Mida not to be serious.

For some reason, her mother always knew exactly what she had been up to.

Although Wolund had said this time that he wouldn't tattle to her mother, Mida couldn't shake the feeling that her mother might already know what happened today... It was her intuition.

Mida touched her little bottom, and the small tail hidden beneath her skirt drooped.

Perhaps feeling that she shouldn't disturb Mida, Yisi tactfully faded away into the space.

Mida arrived in front of the living room, took a deep breath, and gently pushed open the heavy carved wooden doors.

Aina was sitting on the sofa, holding a cup of black tea. An exquisite chessboard lay across the table. Liyana and Mo Lini sat opposite her, their brows deeply furrowed as they stared at the board in bitter contemplation, beads of sweat almost forming on their foreheads.

Musen's book was also placed on the table, currently open, manifesting a palm-sized little figure that was also earnestly observing the chess game.

Taking advantage of their inattention, Mida quietly slipped into a seat next to her mother.

Her mother was still playing chess and said nothing.

"This move!" As if having made up her mind, Liyana struck like lightning, fiercely grabbing a chess piece and slamming it down heavily with a loud smack, her momentum like a rainbow.

"How about that! Aina, look at my move!"

Liyana looked triumphant, while Aina's face on the opposite side showed obvious surprise.

"You lose."

Aina tapped her finger, and a chess piece on the board floated up, putting Liyana in checkmate.

"Eh?!" Liyana's smugness instantly froze.

The reason Aina was surprised was naturally because Liyana's move was incredibly foolish. She only thought about attacking, completely oblivious to the fact that her own situation was already in imminent peril.

"I told you, Liyana, you shouldn't make that move!" Mo Lini started to be wise after the event.

"Shut up, you speak as if you could win if you were playing!" Liyana said indignantly.

Aina ignored the bickering across from her and looked at Mida beside her.

Mida sat up straight, her expression solemn.

"Did you do something bad again?" Aina took a light sip of her black tea and asked casually.

Mida's face stiffened.

Sure enough, her mother knew everything.

"You made a friend, so I won't scold you this time. Next time, be mindful of your boundaries and don't cause trouble for Wolund." Aina gracefully placed her teacup on the table.

"Understood, Mother." Mida's tense heartstrings quietly relaxed, and her little tail wagged secretly beneath her skirt.

"Next time, you can also bring your friend back to play."

"Oh." Mida replied obediently.

"Mida, is it okay for you not to return to the Snowfield?" Liyana, who was scuffling with Mo Lini, suddenly turned her head and asked.

It had been several days since Mida left the Snowfield.

"The Demon King Conference just ended. No one would be so blind as to come and cause trouble in the Snowfield." Mida regained a bit of her composure as the Lord of the Snowfield and looked at her mother again.

"You can stay here and play for a few more days if you want. You can always rush back at any time anyway." Aina patted Mida's head. Although her facial expression wasn't very rich, Mida still felt a hint of doting affection.

Xia Lun came in from outside, looking somewhat listless in his eyes.

"Playing chess?" Seeing the scene before him, Xia Lun revealed a faint smile again.

"Xia Lun! Come here, come play a game with Aina!" Liyana shouted across the room to Xia Lun.

"Chess? Me?" Xia Lun was a bit surprised. "I haven't really had much contact with this. I only know the most basic rules."

"It's fine, come and play!" Hearing Xia Lun say this, Liyana became even more enthusiastic.

It was best if he didn't know how to play... She naturally wanted to see Xia Lun lose miserably as well, just to find some balance.