The Teaching Elder glared at him. “Nine Saints Hall was founded on the sword. No matter which path a newly admitted disciple chooses in the future, swordsmanship and qi control are your foundation. If a medicine cultivator doesn’t know how to fly on a sword, do you expect to walk on foot to gather herbs? If a pill cultivator doesn’t know self-defense, are you just going to wait for death when you encounter a demon beast? And formation cultivators—if a formation cultivator doesn’t improve, you’ll even place your stones slower than everyone else!”
The one being scolded was Mo Zifeng, Eighth Elder’s disciple, who possessed a Heaven-grade earth spiritual root.
Song Yao cast a sympathetic look at him, only for the Teaching Elder to bark again, “The rest of you, go back and rest. You, Lin Mu, are late again today! Go copy books of your own accord!”
Song Yao: “...”
By now, heading off to copy books had become a highly familiar routine.
Not wanting to waste time, she even brought along her pill manual.
She refused to believe it!
With the sun shining brightly in the middle of the day, how could she possibly fall asleep?
Before she entered the Library Pavilion, Ning Zhou stuffed a basket of steamed buns into her hands. “This is from my master. He said you should eat more for lunch so you don't go hungry. You still have sword practice this afternoon.”
This boosted Song Yao's confidence even further.
How could she possibly pass out while eating buns and reading at the same time?
However, after the sixth bun settled in her stomach, Song Yao stared at the pages as her vision began to blur.
Oh no.
She seemed to be experiencing a food coma.
“Lin Mu!”
“Mu-Mu-Mu-Mu-Mu-Mu-Mu-Mu!”
“Wake up!!”
Song Yao was violently shaken awake.
By the time she snapped out of it, Ning Zhou was already dragging her out the door.
With half a bun in one hand and her pill manual clutched in the other, she asked dazedly, “Where are we going?”
“To practice swordsmanship!”
Ning Zhou ran like the wind without looking back. “You’re late for the very first class! Ninth Elder is absolutely furious and sent me to find you!”
Panting and lightheaded from the running, Song Yao tried to stop him. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Ninth Elder is an incredibly easygoing person. He won't do anything.”
“Incredibly easygoing?! Are you out of your mind? He’s already punished half the class! He’s even more terrifying than the Teaching Elder!”
“Ah?!”
The sword training field was set up in an open space to the east of Fuguang Platform, surrounded by several wooden posts.
When Ning Zhou dragged Song Yao to the edge of the field, a crowd of youths inside was holding swords while holding painful horse stances.
At the very front stood a man in a plain robe, his hands clasped behind his back.
He appeared to be in his thirties or forties, with a lean face and sharp eyes. His entire aura was heavy and profound, like an unsheathed sword.
“Useless.”
“Every single one of you is useless.”
The man paced from one end of the line to the other, his cold gaze scraping over everyone's face like he was looking at a pile of worthless scrap metal. “You can’t even hold a sword steady, and you can’t even stand straight. Do you even deserve to be called disciples of Nine Saints Hall?”
No one dared to make a sound.
After a few rounds of scolding, some of the more timid new disciples had red rims around their eyes. They bit their lips hard, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
“Don't move! Stand straight!”
Ninth Elder walked to the end of the line and suddenly sneered. “Not a single one of you has decent talent. With the likes of you, this old man could teach for a lifetime and never see any of you succeed.”
These words carried blatant humiliation.
Several of the Heaven-grade disciples looked up in resentment, their expressions incredibly ugly.
Most of them had been carefully selected and sent by their respective clans. Raised as the darlings of their families, they were hailed as prodigies and geniuses wherever they went.
Though they knew there would always be someone better after entering Nine Saints Hall, being called useless to their faces was a first.
Even Jiang Jin was starting to lose his composure.
He took half a step forward and was about to speak when a girl in a pale yellow robe beside him looked up first, her gaze fixing straight on Ninth Elder. “Forgive this disciple's offense.”
Her voice was crisp and echoed clearly across the quiet training field. “What kind of person counts as having good talent in your eyes?”
Her words were filled with absolute defiance.
As Ming Ran, the most talented sword cultivator of the Ming family's current generation, she had studied the sword for seven years before coming to Nine Saints Hall. Her cultivation was already close to the Golden Core stage. Everyone she met called her a genius.
Yet now, she was being disparaged to this extent.
She truly could not understand!
The field fell dead silent.
A few new disciples peeked at her before quickly looking away.
Ninth Elder turned around, glanced at her, and then at the sword in her hand. His gaze was indifferent. “Good talent? Of course there is.”
“Though you entered the sect late, you should have heard her name. Song Yao.”
“She achieved great mastery in the sword Dao within five years. A single strike of her sword qi could suppress all her peers within the entire Tianshu Realm so much they couldn't lift their heads. When her sword was drawn, ten thousand swords hummed in resonance. Everything you are learning now, she could master in a single breath.”
“Well? Does that count as good talent?”
Ming Ran's expression shifted, and she pursed her lips even tighter.
Living in the Tianshu Realm and coming from a family of sword cultivators, she had naturally heard of Song Yao's reputation.
That person was a once-in-a-millennium genius of the sword Dao, someone even her strict father praised constantly.
She had come to Nine Saints Hall specifically to defeat Song Yao.
A sword Dao genius? She could be one too.
Yet before she even entered the sect, and before she could even challenge her, Song Yao was gone, leaving behind only the title of the Sword Demon to weigh heavily on all of them.
No genius wanted someone forever standing a cut above them.
She was no exception.
“Ninth Elder, those words are unfair.”
Jiang Jin took a step forward in front of her and cupped his hands. “While Third Senior Sister's swordsmanship was indeed excellent, this disciple has heard that she committed all kinds of evil deeds. Furthermore, she is already dead. Shouldn't you focus more on the living?”
His words carried a hint of subtle steering, perfectly prompting Ming Ran.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Ming Ran nodded in agreement. “Senior Brother Jiang is right. Third Senior Sister committed so many evil deeds; perhaps she was practicing some unorthodox, wicked path. Besides, we aren't necessarily inferior to her!”
These words were rather arrogant, and the field fell silent once more.
A few disciples silently edged away.
Speaking ill of Song Yao right in front of Ninth Elder—wasn't that just begging for trouble?
But to everyone's surprise, Ninth Elder did not lose his temper.
He walked back to the front of the platform, his voice slightly cool. “Having ambition is a good thing, but being defiant in words is useless. You must prove it with your actions.”
Ming Ran was startled, then she straightened her spine. “What do you mean?”
Ninth Elder swept his gaze over them. “Have a duel. Let this old man see your strength.”
The joy on Ming Ran's face was almost impossible to conceal.
Although there were other Heaven-grade disciples here, none of them could have practiced the sword from childhood like she had.
The only one she had to be wary of was Jiang Jin.
If she could have an evenly matched duel with Jiang Jin and show Ninth Elder their true strength, that would be excellent.
However, Ninth Elder paused for a moment, his gaze shifting as he spoke abruptly, “You, the latecomer.”
Song Yao had been taking advantage of their argument to sneakily slip into the ranks, hoping to blend into the crowd and avoid further punishment for being late.
By the time she realized something was wrong, countless gazes had already locked onto her in unison.
Song Yao: “?”
Her?
Had Ninth Elder lost his mind?
She looked so frail and weak. Where did she look like someone who could beat others in a fight?
“I'm talking about you.”
Ninth Elder mercilessly shattered her last shred of hope. “Step out.”
Song Yao: “...”
Did Ninth Elder notice something?
Rate on N.U.
