Digimon: I really didn't want to be the Digimon Emperor!

Kendo Beast was on the verge of tears, but seeing Cheng Yuan's serious expression, he had no choice but to obediently nod.

Cheng Yuan first wanted to test the Sword Beast's abilities, asking it what skills it possessed and then casting those skills on the Puppy Beast (who was seen as Cheng Yuan's clone). The Puppy Beast was also eager to try.

"Let me see your strength first." Cheng Yuan gestured for the puppy beast to stand on the other side. "Attack it with your skills."

"Teacher, your clone?" Sword Beast looked over; in its eyes, the Little Dog Beast was Cheng Yuan's clone.

Swordmon hesitated before raising its sword, the blade suddenly crackling with blue lightning. "Lightning Hand!" A bolt of lightning struck Puppymon, the Divine Barrier taking the brunt of the attack head-on, shattering instantly.

Immediately afterwards, the sword burst into crimson flames, "Flame Strike!" The fiery sword energy swept across, carving a scorch mark on the ground.

Cheng Yuan yelled "Holy crap!" and the little dog quickly dodged. If it had been hit head-on, it would definitely have been injured.

Cheng Yuan raised an eyebrow: "This power... and you call it no good?"

“Then, let’s analyze your problem first.” Cheng Yuan took out a small notebook and began to take notes in a serious manner. “What is your biggest weakness in battle?”

"I'm afraid of getting hurt..." Kendomon said, head bowed.

"What? Afraid of getting hurt?"

“I’m afraid others will get hurt,” the voice trailed off, “and after I accidentally injured a friend before, everyone avoided me…”

Cheng Yuan pondered for a moment: "In other words, it's mainly a psychological problem. They care too much about other people's feelings, not because of the cowardice that the dragon priest thought." He closed the notebook and revealed a sly smile. "I have an idea."

He left Gearmon and his two clones behind to continue hammering metal, then went out with Puppymon and Swordmon.

They walked through the alley and arrived at the spot on the street where Kendomon had been bullied. They hid in a corner and waited quietly. Soon after, they saw two familiar figures.

The Savage Beast and the Mushroom Beast were surrounding a Flower Beast.

"Hand over the food!" the savage beast shouted, brandishing a wooden club.

The flower beast trembled, spilling the berries from its arms all over the ground.

"It's a Flower Beast!" The sword-wielding beast gripped the hilt of its sword tightly. "It...it's my friend..."

"They're bullying people again."

Cheng Yuan observed the trembling body of the sword-wielding beast: "Aren't you angry seeing your friend being bullied?"

“Angry, but…” Kendomon’s voice choked with emotion, “If I were to hurt someone, everyone would only become more afraid of me…”

Cheng Yuan shook his head: "You're wrong. People aren't afraid of the strong, they're afraid of being hurt by the strong."

He pointed to the sword-making beast's new sword prototype, "Look at this sword, its two sides are sharp enough to cut down enemies, and its front is broad enough to protect friends. You need to let your companions know which side you will use against them."

Kendo-mon listened thoughtfully.

“Also, the Sword Spirit,” Cheng Yuan pointed to the newly forged sword blank, “I forgot to tell you the name of this sword. This sword is called ‘Guardian’.”

After saying that, he kicked the Kendo Beast away.

Swordsman Beast stumbled and charged toward Savage Beast. The two bullies were taken aback for a moment, then burst into grotesque laughter.

"Oh, isn't this a sword-wielding beast without a sword?" the mushroom beast mocked.

Sword Beast turned back to look at its original spot, but Cheng Yuan was nowhere to be seen. It trembled as it raised its sword, but hesitated when it saw the terrified look in Flower Beast's eyes.

"When did you get your hands on this toy sword? You'll lose it soon. Let me play with it," said the mushroom beast.

"Hehe, don't be afraid of it!" the Savage Beast shoved the Flower Beast. "It's just a useless piece of trash!"

Suddenly, Floramon cried out, "Kendomon! Help me!"

These words struck like a thunderbolt. Flames ignited in the sword beast's eyes, and lightning suddenly crackled across its blade.

"Lightning Strike!" A blue bolt of lightning struck the savage beast's wooden club with pinpoint accuracy, splitting it in two.

"Flame Strike!" A flaming sword aura swept past the mushroom beast's feet, startling it so much that it fell to the ground.

"Get out!" the sword beast roared for the first time. "If you bully me again, I will not let you off easily!"

The two bullies scrambled away. Floramon pounced on Swordmon and hugged him tightly: "Thank you! I knew you were still the Swordmon who protected everyone!"

Kendomon stood frozen in place, looking at his crying friend in his arms, then at the sword in his hand, and suddenly understood something.

On the way back to the workshop, the sword beast's steps became firm. Cheng Yuan patted its shoulder: "Remember, true strength is not about how many people you can defeat, but about how many people you can protect."

Under the moonlight, Kendomon began practicing his sword techniques, each strike imbued with a determination to protect.

As Cheng Yuan watched its smooth movements, he noticed that the light patterns on the sword were becoming brighter and brighter—its almost divine aura had actually intensified.

But that alone is not enough to win the kendo tournament for Kendomon in 10 days.

While Gearmon and Puppymon clones were learning armor forging, he and Puppymon's main body officially began their pre-match training with Kendomon.

Chapter 92 Thunder Flame Cross Slash

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Ten days passed quickly. During these ten days, the mornings in Forging Fire Village were always awakened by the crisp sound of metal being struck.

Cheng Yuan rubbed his sleepy eyes and pushed open the wooden door of the workshop, only to be met by the Gear Beast, which was using a mechanical arm to hold three carving knives and carving energy matrix patterns on a metal plate at the same time.

With the help of the dog-like beast clone, its gear joints precisely controlled the depth of each engraving, and sparks flew in the morning light, like a miniature fireworks show.

"Good morning, Gear Beast. Stayed up all night again?" Cheng Yuan squatted down and poked Gear Beast's hot shell.

Since discovering that industrial process optimization and programming thinking can optimize the forging process, this workaholic has been working non-stop for three days straight. His intensely dark circles under his eyes are so intense that even a clone couldn't outlast them.

"Click... Final quenching process optimized." Gearmon's electronic eyes flashed blue as it recorded data from the tablet on its chest: "Based on 287 experiments, the purification efficiency of Holy Light at 450℃ has increased by 23%... Let's test the next set of parameters..."

With such efficient cooperation, they completed the "impossible mission" set by Village Chief Long ahead of schedule—extracting a batch of metal ingots containing trace amounts of sacred properties.

Each metal tablet had pale golden patterns flowing across its surface, a testament to the growth of Cheng Yuan's digital spirit. The seed of his digital spirit had indeed grown considerably stronger.

"Woof! Breakfast is here!" The little dog hopped in, carrying a grilled fish in its mouth, with a few glowing berries curled around its tail. It had recently become obsessed with "enchanting" food—using divine energy to enhance the flavor of ordinary ingredients.

Cheng Yuan took the berry and took a bite. A minty coolness suddenly burst forth from beneath the crispy skin, making him widen his eyes in surprise: "What kind of black technology is this?"

"Diamond Star Crispy Pomelo!" The puppy beast pricked up its ears proudly. "I learned it from the Flame Beast chef in the kitchen! He said he used to make desserts for Lord Jeannemon..."

Before the words were finished, the village chief's gruff voice boomed from outside the door: "Cheng Yuanshou! Your metal ingot is ready to graduate!" He strode in, carrying a silver ingot gleaming with golden veins, its scales still speckled with coal dust. "The purity is almost catching up to what I forged when I was a young apprentice!"

Cheng Yuan almost choked on a fishbone—this wasn't his doing at all! It was clearly the result of the Gear Beast's standardized processes controlling the error to within 0.01mm. Just as he was about to explain, the Gear Beast quietly tugged at his trouser leg and blinked at the camera.

"Ahem, it's all thanks to the village chief's excellent teaching." Cheng Yuan knowingly changed the subject. "Um... could the armor crafting course be moved up?"

Village Chief Long: "Isn't this learning speed... a bit too fast...???"

"Drink!"

In the courtyard, the swordsman was practicing his newly learned sword techniques. The rough "Guardian Sword" gleamed faintly in the sunlight, and each swing carried a faint aura of divinity.

Cheng Yuan squatted down beside him, instructing: "Raise your wrist a little higher... Yes, just like that!"

He wasn't idle for the past ten days. Every day, when Village Chief Long came to give guidance, he had to "act," pretending to be a studious child. In reality, Gearmon was learning by swallowing whales. After Village Chief Long left, Gearmon and his clone were hammering and refining metal ingots. Cheng Yuan, on the other hand, was giving Kendomon special training.

Occasionally, he would wander over to other beast tamers, using his status as a "reserve member of the Twelve Divine Generals" to extract information.

There are currently 18 entrances to the Dark Zones globally, six of which are located within the territory of the Eastern Kingdom. The six outposts established by the Eastern Kingdom, despite the enormous national resources invested, are only barely managing to withstand the attacks from the Dark Zones. If they fail to hold, the evil Digimon from the Dark Zones will directly invade the real world, endangering human safety, making the situation extremely precarious.

Conversely, the Kingdom of Divine Eagle, a powerhouse of mechanical digital beasts, has only three Dark Zone passages; in addition, the Kingdom of Yangon, which is dominated by the Holy type, the Kingdom of Idealism, which is dominated by knights, and the Kingdom of Snowfield, which is dominated by ice and snow, each have two Dark Zone passages; and the island nation and the Kingdom of India each have one passage.

The greatest duty of the Beastmaster Associations in each country is to guard the entrances, and the Eastern Kingdom alone bears the responsibility of guarding six, putting it under the greatest pressure.

No wonder there's such a shortage of professional animal trainers; Xu Xin and his colleagues are always incredibly busy.

"Teacher Cheng Yuan!" The sword beast's call interrupted his thoughts. "What do you think of this move, 'Thunder Flame Cross Slash'?"

Suddenly, lightning and flames erupted from the sword in Kendomonshi's hand, drawing a dazzling cross of light in the air.

This move was made up by Cheng Yuan based on his memories of games from his previous life, but unexpectedly, it was actually mastered by the Kendo Beast.

Thus, in addition to the [Flame Strike] and [Lightning Strike] that it already possessed, Kendomon also managed to develop a new skill, [Lightning Flame Cross Slash], which combines the two moves to unleash even greater energy.

"Beautiful!" Cheng Yuan gave a thumbs up. "We'll rely on this move for tomorrow's kendo tournament..."

“Wait a minute,” he suddenly realized, “you just said ‘conference’? Isn’t that the baby cup?”

Kendomon scratched his head sheepishly: "It's a limited-time Rookie Tournament held by the Digimon League..."

Cheng Yuan: "......" Okay, that's about right.

Just then, Village Chief Long came over again.

“Cheng Yuanshou,” Village Chief Long got straight to the point, “I’ve also registered you for the swordsmanship tournament tomorrow.”

"Huh?" Cheng Yuan almost fell off the stone bench. "I want to participate in the Baby Cup too?"

Village Chief Long said, "Aren't you also in your growth phase?"

……

As night fell, Cheng Yuan was studying the metal ingots forged by the Gear Beast and its clones in his room when there was a sudden, urgent knocking on the door.

"Boom boom boom!"

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Cheng Yuan asked, "Who is it?"

"Lord Qilin!" Xu Bing's voice came from outside the door, "Would it be convenient for us to talk?"

When I opened the door, all five animal trainers were there.

Cheng Yi's hands were wrapped in bandages, Cui Zhuo's dark circles were comparable to a panda's, and Ma Yunlin's exquisite makeup could not hide her fatigue. Only Xu Bing was still relatively energetic—after all, her Martial Rabbit Beast had hands.

"Is this... a mass prison break?" Cheng Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Don't even mention it," Lin Xiaoyang said with a mournful face, "My Gaoga beast's claws are all worn smooth!"

It turns out that for the past ten days, the other five people have been struggling with basic training. Without the blessing of holy light and without the precise control of the Gear Beast, they have relied entirely on the tamers' physical strength to endure it.

Ma Yunlin's dolphin beast was of no help at all, so she simply gave up hope of passing the test.

"We're still learning basic forging, and you've already started learning advanced armor forging. How did you do that?" Xu Bing asked.

“I can’t teach you this either…” Cheng Yuan said with a smile, “Make good use of the Digimon’s abilities. I used the Digimon’s abilities and the Holy Light to make it more efficient, which is why I was able to finish forging the metal ingot ahead of schedule.”

“We want to too, but here, the Digimon are even more frustrated than we are.” The doctor showed his hands, which were covered in cocoons. It turned out that Digimon without hands could only use their own hands to hold hammers and train, since the trainer and partner were one.

Martial arts instructor Xu Bing said, "I'm a little better off. I have the Martial Rabbit Beast, and I'm already quite skilled in sparring, but I'm not very good at controlling the intensity."

Air Force Cheng Yi, groping his hands covered in calluses, said, "Village Chief Long brags in front of us masters every day, making us feel ashamed. He works us like crazy every day."

"Lord Qilin, are you involved in scientific research in the real world? I heard that the Twelve Divine Generals are all in very core departments. Seeing how quickly you've learned armor forging, and how you've even participated in the complete mechanical modification and evolution, I'm guessing you come from the research department?" Xu Bing asked. "The most sensational thing recently is the successful completion of the Andromon project. Could it be...?"

"Ahem!" Cheng Yuan quickly interrupted, "It's classified, it's all classified."

He leaned back tactically, as if afraid of being devoured alive by this pack of "wolves." Especially Cheng Yi's eyes, which seemed to want to tie him back to the military headquarters.

The military has the most concentrated collection of mechanical Digimon.

"No, no... I'm a bit socially awkward." He deliberately avoided looking at the gruesome scenery, but his interest in the patterns on the corner of the wall grew stronger.

"Ahem," Cheng Yuan changed the subject, "You guys came all here in the middle of the night, you didn't just come to expose me, did you?"

"Actually, we came here for two reasons. First, we wanted to brainstorm ways to pass the test in 16 days. Now that 10 days have passed, our learning progress isn't great. Second, there's the Kendo tournament tomorrow. I heard the prize is something called 'Digital Spirit,' which is the Digital Legacy of the previous leader, Jeannemon. I heard it has a great effect on the growth and evolution of Digimon, but unfortunately, only Rookie Digimon can participate."

"Your Digimon is still in its growth stage, right? I was wondering if you'd like to participate, capture it, and study it. We also want to go check out the excitement and visit the gathering place to gather some information."

Cheng Yuandao: "Regarding the assessment..."

The five men immediately perked up their ears.

“I understand that in addition to basic forging, there is also a team assessment, which is that the whole team works together to create digital armor. If they pass, the whole team passes. You have different strengths, and I think we can try to go in this direction.”

"As for tomorrow's kendo tournament... Village Chief Ryu has already registered me."

Chapter 93 What kind of swordsmanship is this?!

The next morning, the steam train of Forging Village puffed out thick smoke as it carried a group of people toward the gathering place of humanoid Digimon.

Inside the carriage, Village Chief Long sat upright, his scales gleaming metallically in the morning light, looking just like a parent sending their child to an Olympiad math competition.

Beside it, the sword-wielding beast nervously wiped the "Guardian Sword".

Five trainers and their mature partners acted as guards, their expressions serious, as if they were on an S-rank mission rather than participating in the Baby Cup.

In addition, several other participants from the training village, mainly there for "accompanying runners" and "experience," also accompanied the group.

Although it's just a "Baby Cup" competition, the prize is Jeannemon's sacred Digital Spirit, so everyone takes it very seriously.

"Remember this!" Village Chief Dragon brandished his forging hammer, spittle flying everywhere. "This competition concerns the honor of Forgingfire Village! Originmon and Swordmon, you two must make me proud! The rest of you—" He glared at the Digimon eager to compete, "Don't run around, don't cause trouble, and most importantly, don't steal Flamemon's berries!"