Chapter 550: Chapter 51: Tragedy in Preparation
June 6, 2018
The shock experienced by those from the Wuxiang Sword Academy upon hearing Wang Jiu mention the Vermilion Jade Sword was indescribable.
Before the Dean led the people of Cyan Lotus Academy through the door, no one took this Sword Fighting Tournament seriously.
Even if the team leader was the newly appointed dean, personally selected by the Sect Leader of the Human Saint Sect and the likely next Sect Leader, so what? No matter how strong he was on his own, he couldn’t change the fact that Cyan Lotus Academy had over four hundred useless students.
The Academy Cultivators indeed excel in their scholarly pursuits, leading the world every year in both the quantity and quality of their papers. Under the leadership of the current Dean Wang Xiao, Wuxiang Sword Academy has painstakingly managed only to gain a foothold in the field of sword dao theories after decades of effort. But sword dao research is just one of the five relatively weaker research groups in Cyan Lotus Academy...
It’s like a scale: when one side rises, the other inevitably falls. The Scholars are adept at reading, but in Sword Fighting, they are dumber than pigs. In the past few decades, the Academy could only rely on a few naturally gifted individuals to compete with Wuxiang Sword Academy for superiority, but with the Sword Academy’s overall strength advancing significantly, combined with the reforms in the Sword Fighting Tournament’s system, individual prowess is becoming increasingly insignificant. Moreover, the personal strength of Wuxiang Sword Academy also presents a crushing advantage.
In other fields, Wuxiang Sword Academy bows to Cyan Lotus Academy, but in the sword dao domain, Cyan Lotus Scholars lack even the right to make a fool of themselves.
Even the newly appointed Dean of the Academy didn’t draw the attention of those in the Sword Academy—despite his youth and promising start, he’s only been in the field for a year or two, and his cultivation isn’t extraordinary, unworthy of serious regard.
But now, everyone felt ridiculous for their earlier disdain.
Reading the style of the residents’ quarters on both sides of the entrance, deducing the currently popular swordsmanship within the Sword Academy, and then from the trend changes, judging the awakening of the Immortal Sword’s spiritual sense... simply stating all this seems effortless, but each step involved leaves the Sword Cultivators of the Wuxiang Sword Academy in disbelief!
After a long while, Dean Wang Xiao nodded: "Indeed, a decade ago, the spiritual sense of the Vermilion Jade Sword among our Ten Immortal Swords suddenly began to revive. According to calculations, it will fully awaken in approximately fifteen years. By then, the spirit of the Vermilion Jade Sword will choose its master... The selection criterion being not the superior realm or deep sword dao insight, but compatibility with the Vermilion Jade Sword. The Vermilion Jade Sword is a Fire Phase Immortal Sword, possessing the divine power to burn mountains and boil seas, so it requires an extremely strong adaptability to the fire element to meet the spirit’s standard for choosing a master. This has been the reason for the popularity of Fire Element Swords at Wuxiang Sword Academy in recent years. Dean Wang’s keen insight is truly admirable."
After saying this, Wang Xiao turned to glance at the Cyan Lotus Scholars behind Wang Jiu.
"It seems that today’s tournament, Dean Wang also has surprises in store for us."
Upon hearing this, the Sword Cultivators of Wuxiang Sword Academy were suddenly awakened.
Indeed, a person with such an extraordinary understanding of sword dao wouldn’t intentionally bring disgrace upon himself. If he dared to accept the wager left by the former Dean of the Academy, it’s evident he has ample confidence in victory!
Today’s Sword Fighting Tournament might not be as simple as imagined.
Wang Xiao further instructed: "Go invite several of the Elders to watch the battle, today’s Sword Fighting Tournament is something not to be missed."
Afterward, Wang Xiao reconfirmed the rules with Wang Jiu.
"The tournament is divided into three rounds, with the first round being a match where each academy selects a new talent to participate. Our academy’s choice is Lu Qun, while your academy’s is the temporary support Shen Qingming."
Wang Jiu said: "Yes, according to the Sword Fighting Tournament rules, the junior group can use temporary support to participate, as long as the swordsmanship used is inherited from their academy."
Wang Xiao replied: "Correct, since they are new, it’s unlikely they would carry strong imprints of the Three Academies. As long as they have indeed been guided by the Three Academies, it suffices. After all, among the Three Academies, the ability to select excellent Immortal Cultivation seedlings is also a part of strength... Lu Qun was recruited by our academy two years ago from the Lu Family and is a sword dao genius. He’s only 20 years old, and the mastery of his family’s Golden Crow Sword is already impressive. During these two years, he has additionally trained in seven Fire Element Swords at our Sword Academy, and although his True Essence Realm only barely reaches the Cloud Flipping Realm, he is already a strong contender for the Vermilion Cloud Sword."
These words left the Cyan Lotus Scholars in an uproar of admiration.
Wang Xiao downplayed his comments, but every word he spoke was decisive. A sword dao genius from the Lu family, a phrase not used lightly, and a 20-year-old at the Cloud Flipping Realm is undoubtedly at the top in Xiangzhou. Moreover, the Lu Family’s Golden Crow Sword is world-renowned, with extremely demanding cultivation conditions and numerous prerequisite cultivation techniques, such that many of mediocre talent fail to grasp its essence in their lifetime. Yet Lu Qun not only mastered the Golden Crow Sword before the age of 20 but also trained in seven Fire Element Swords to adapt early to the Vermilion Jade Sword.
To describe this kind of person as a "once in a century genius" might seem cliché, but it’s no exaggeration.
Then, looking at the Academy’s participating candidate, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.
The 15-year-old girl at the Cloud Surge Realm, who only achieved the True Essence Realm of the Cloud Surge Realm through short-term training and elixir pills, her swordsmanship is mediocre, and her Intelligence Index is reportedly borderline mentally deficient...
From another perspective, outside of being a swordsman, Shen Qingming offers little of interest. Regarding her background, being the treasured gem of the Cyan Cloud Li Family and the Southeast Shen Family may add some points, but in the Three Academies, status is never the focus. And in terms of physique and appearance, her underdeveloped build may only appeal to a select niche group. On the other hand, Lu Qun is reputed to possess looks that rival his swordsmanship, a being seemingly chosen by fate.
In this way, the Cyan Lotus Scholar even suspected that the new dean chose this person as a contestant in the Sword Fighting Tournament on purpose to forfeit the match?
But at this moment, Wang Jiu began to introduce Shen Qingming. The introduction was very straightforward: "Our contestant is Shen Qingming, acting as temporary support, champion of the Cyan Cloud Grand Tournament, my... personal disciple."
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiao knowingly nodded: "Then we shamelessly request to cancel the realm balance."
"Okay."
The so-called realm balance generally refers to situations where there is a significant difference in True Essence Realm between the participants. It involves limiting the stronger party’s realm or strengthening the weaker party in a special way to achieve a relatively balanced situation. Although this method of balancing might seem to disrupt the fairness of the competition, not all competitions are purely about determining a winner or loser. Therefore, after balancing the realms, the outcome of the participants becomes more meaningful for the competition’s purpose.
Previously, the Wuxiang Sword Academy intended to use realm balance to compensate for the age gap between participants. Still, after hearing Wang Jiu’s confident introduction of Shen Qingming, Wang Xiao suggested fighting solely based on skill without using realm balance.
"For the second match, our Academy will field both Celestial Sword and Broken Sword together."
Wang Jiu responded: "I’m the only one meeting the participation requirements in our Academy, so I’ll compete alone."
Wang Xiao pondered for a moment and said, "According to what I know, your Academy should have at least a few Elders who meet the requirements."
Wang Jiu replied: "The participation requirements specify mastering the Cyan Lotus Core Inheritance Swordsmanship, but those few have only grasped the basics at most and none truly mastered the core of the Cyan Lotus Swordsmanship."
"I see." Wang Xiao closed his eyes, recalling the strength Shang Miaoyu and others demonstrated in various occasions over the years...
Even though, in the eyes of Wuxiang Sword Academy, those people might have been too distracted and not exceptionally gifted in Sword Dao, they have indeed become experts holding positions as team leaders or Elders. Their strength is not lacking. But in the eyes of the new dean, those people aren’t even qualified to participate in high-level competitions?
"The final match is the mixed group, represented by five of our Academy members, namely..."
Unexpectedly, for the mixed group, Wuxiang Sword Academy is fielding five Mad Sword Cultivators, exceptional ones at that. While individually they might not be the strongest among Mad Sword Cultivators, they are most coordinated, equipped with the strongest sword array combination. When facing experts of the Rain Cover Realm, the five Cloud Flipping Realm cultivators can handle it with ease.
Wang Jiu then said: "Our contestant is Zhang Lan."
The name Zhang Lan made everyone frown, as it was too unfamiliar. Even the cultivators from Cyan Lotus Academy mostly looked puzzled. Only a few people showed expressions of disbelief.
Wang Xiao asked, "Only one person?"
"Only one person."
"...Alright, I look forward to witnessing the Academy’s prowess."
——
Walking along a narrow corridor for a short distance, Wang Xiao led the group to the venue for this Sword Fighting Tournament, the No. 3 arena of Wuxiang Sword Academy.
For the Sword Academy, which places great emphasis on actual combat, the arenas are as common as public restrooms. There are over 20 officially numbered arenas within the Academy, with more than a hundred smaller privately constructed ones. Still, for the battle-loving Wuxiang cultivators, arenas are never enough, often resulting in Sword Academy cultivators secretly engaging in unsanctioned battles in unapproved areas.
The No. 3 arena chosen for the Sword Fighting Tournament applies cave space technology. From the outside, it appears to be a peculiarly shaped, even distorted, wooden house. Yet upon entering, it reveals a vast space exceeding five square miles, complete with mountains, rivers, vegetation, self-sustaining Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind, and Dao Laws circulating endlessly.
Inside, the audience was already present. The one with the most intense True Essence Fluctuation was a young man with black clothes and black hair, seated with eyes closed, deep in thought.
Upon seeing this young man, even Dean Wang Xiao revealed a shocked expression, quickly approaching to ask, "Senior brother, you’re here too?! Didn’t you just say you were going into seclusion..."
The young man opened his eyes, and in an instant, his black hair turned snowy white, countless wrinkles appearing on his shiny face, making him look even older than Wang Xiao.
"Seclusion upon seclusion, since 50 years ago I’ve been frequently in seclusion, yet there have been no qualitative breakthroughs in the Sword Dao Domain, unable to grasp that spark of inspiration. My talents are dull; mere hard work is far from enough. So I thought I’d come and casually see if I could gain any inspiration from these young geniuses."
