"Indeed, it’s quite a shame," Antonio said with a sigh of sentiment, nodding in agreement with the dean.
"I was actually on quite good terms with him back when he dispersed his cultivation to restart it and we traveled together.
"Don't let his heavy killing intent fool you—despite slaying those five 9th-rank powerhouses, he is actually quite a modest and humble person.
"It's just that his whereabouts are mysterious, and he doesn't like being disturbed, so very few people know where he is."
Jiang Lin carefully folded the letter and returned it to the envelope, handing it back to Antonio with both hands.
A thoughtful light flickered in his golden eyes.
"Master, this senior sword saint... has he ever taken a disciple?"
Antonio took the letter, lightly brushing the sword engraving on the cover, and shook his head.
"As far as I know, no.
"At least in public reports, I’ve never heard of sword saint Loren having any personal disciples.
"However..."
Antonio paused, his gaze toward Jiang Lin turning complex.
"You remind me of how he looked when I first met him...
"In fact, your staggering talent gives me a feeling that if he saw you, he might actually be tempted to take you as a disciple...
"I remember when I was traveling with him, he mentioned that if he ever saw someone with talent enough to amaze him, and if he had already fully paved his own path, he would consider taking a disciple.
"It’s just that, up until now, he probably hasn't encountered a junior with talent sufficient to move him."
Dean Algernon picked up his teacup and took a sip.
Sensing that Jiang Lin was becoming more and more tempted to seek sword saint Loren as a master—and that Antonio was also subtly encouraging him to try—he decided to throw some cold water on the idea.
"Jiang Lin, as the dean, I must remind you that choosing a master isn't simply a matter of comparing strength; you must also consider the compatibility of your paths.
"Sword saint Loren is certainly powerful, but his path is too lonely and far too dangerous. Although you both primarily use the sword, his sword and yours are fundamentally different.
"Many powerhouses are strong themselves but cannot teach students well.
"Because their own talent is too overwhelming, they simply cannot understand why a student might struggle with basic problems.
"Lady Ysera and Lord Alphonse, on the other hand, are seniors who are at least explicitly willing to communicate and have the desire to pass on their legacy."
Hearing this, both Jiang Lin and Antonio fell silent.
The top floor of the Star-gazing Tower grew quiet, save for the occasional bird song from outside the window and the faint magical booms echoing from the distant training grounds.
The sunlight shifted from the eastern window to the southern one, casting long shadows across the polished wooden floor.
After a long while, Jiang Lin looked up, his gaze lingering for a moment on the aged letter in Antonio's hand before finally turning to the dean.
"Dean, Master Antonio, thank you for your guidance. Regarding the matter of taking a master, I would like to consider it a bit more."
Algernon nodded.
"As you should. This is no small matter; it concerns your future path.
"Think it over carefully. Master Antonio will be staying at the school for the coming week.
"However, he leaves next Wednesday at the latest, so you must make a decision soon.
"If you select a 9th-rank powerhouse, it’s best not to change your mind later. Otherwise, if it turns out you go to one 9th-rank powerhouse to be their disciple only to be turned away, and then go seeking another who eventually accepts you...
"That final master of yours would lose a lot of face. And if you don't end up being successful, it would easily invite criticism.
"Taking a master—especially a 9th-rank powerhouse—is quite taboo in that regard.
"So, it’s best if you settle on a firm answer."
"I understand."
Jiang Lin stood up and bowed to the two seniors.
"Then I shall return to the classroom first."
"Mm, work hard in your cultivation..." the dean said instinctively.
But he quickly realized something.
Wait, this kid seemed to be a bit more extreme in his efforts than the dean had previously realized.
Well, hopefully he didn't take that bit of advice too literally...
...
When Jiang Lin left the top floor of the Star-gazing Tower, it was already nine in the morning.
Sunlight flooded the corridor, stretching his solitary shadow as he walked.
In the campus below the Star-gazing Tower, students were in a hurry, either heading to classrooms or toward the training grounds. Every face wore a similar look of intense focus—a state ignited by a certain atmosphere.
Returning to the 5th-grade elite class, the moment he pushed open the door, not a single one of the thirty-four pairs of eyes looked up.
No one spoke, but the air was thick with a silent, mutual understanding.
If a leader checking the 'head-up rate' were to inspect, they would surely be extremely satisfied with the current state of the elite class.
Jiang Lin walked to his seat and sat down, taking out some unfinished dry rations from his spatial ring to continue chewing.
The food was mechanically crushed and swallowed, while his thoughts had already drifted far away.
9th-rank powerhouse...
Sword saint Loren...
Taking a master...
These words collided repeatedly in his mind, each collision splashing with different possibilities.
"Old Jiang, what did the vice dean want with you?"
Neil's voice pulled Jiang Lin back from his contemplation. His front-desk mate had turned around at some point, his eyes filled with curiosity and concern.
"Nothing major," Jiang Lin replied calmly. He paused, then added, "It was just about the follow-up arrangements for all-nighter cultivation."
"That's good then." Neil breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought the school was going to forcibly intervene."
"No," Jiang Lin shook his head.
"On the contrary, the academy has established regulations and is preparing to officially incorporate this method of cultivation into the management system."
"For real?" Neil's eyes lit up. "Does that mean our all-nighters will be legitimate from now on?"
"You could say that."
The conversation between Jiang Lin and Neil clearly reached the ears of other students who weren't as focused. Quite a few looked up, their eyes flashing with excitement.
To them, Jiang Lin's existence was like a flag, a benchmark.
And now that this flag had received official recognition, it meant their direction was indeed correct.
"However..." Jiang Lin shifted the topic.
"The academy requires all students who want to try all-nighter cultivation to first pass a physical and magic essence adaptability test."
"A test?" Neil frowned. "Will it be hard?"
"Probably not." Jiang Lin recalled Inspector General Allison's tone. "It's mainly to ensure safety."
The atmosphere relaxed again, and the students paying attention all breathed sighs of relief.
Jiang Lin, however, fell back into silence.
The sunlight from the window danced on the tips of his golden hair.
He closed his eyes. While three sets of breathing techniques operated simultaneously within him, his mind was not entirely immersed in cultivation.
Taking a 9th-rank powerhouse as a master was undoubtedly a broad and smooth road.
With such a background, he would gain resources, guidance, and protection that ordinary people could hardly imagine.
Whether it was lady Ysera's space magic or lord Alphonse's way of defense, both could allow his strength to make a qualitative leap in a short period.
But sword saint Loren...
That experience of facing nine and killing five 9th-rank powerhouses; that courage to disperse his cultivation and break through the life shackles on his own; that existence whose simple reply contained such staggering sword intent.
Jiang Lin's fingertips unconsciously traced light lines on the desktop, as if tracing the handwriting from that letter.
'The way of the sword is vast, and the path ahead is still obscure.'
Those words seemed to possess a certain magic, echoing repeatedly in his heart.
As his fingers slid across the rough wooden table, Jiang Lin felt as if he could touch the mindset of that sword saint from forty-odd years ago through the yellowed parchment.
Loneliness, determination, and an almost obsessive gazing toward higher ground.
This feeling... shared a subtle resonance with the mood he felt on countless nights while practicing breathing techniques, looking out into the endless darkness.
What he sought had never been just getting stronger. He wanted to see what exactly lay at the end of this road.
The system had indeed given him a shortcut, but the fire in his heart yearned for the scenery of truly climbing to the absolute peak.
He remembered his deepest thoughts during those two and a half years idling in Boulder City: since he had come to this world, he might as well see as much of the scenery as possible before leaving.
And so, from the moment he obtained the system until now, he had hardly slacked for a single day.
Relaxing days could be said to be few and far between.
However, if he were to go seek him as a master, the possibility of success was also pathetically low.
After all, why would a figure who had shaken the continent have any reason to take him as a disciple?
What would his talent count for in that man's eyes?
Nurturing junior talents for the human race?
Please—the man was someone who could face nine alone within the 9th-rank.
He was practically an uncollapsable high wall.
But low possibility didn't mean he should give up.
So what if the possibility was low?
How would he know without trying!
If he didn't even have the courage to try, then he would be even worse than the simp Tie Chen.
...
The movement of his fingertips across the table grew slower and slower, finally stopping at the end of the stroke for the word obscure.
Jiang Lin opened his eyes. In his golden pupils, the light pouring in from the window condensed into a sharp line.
"I’ve made up my mind."
He whispered to himself, his voice so soft only he could hear.
Jiang Lin looked up, his gaze resolute.
"Neil."
He spoke, his voice calm.
Neil didn't turn around. It was already class time, and he was following Jiang Lin's previous advice, immersing himself quite intently in his own world.
His momentum interrupted halfway through, Jiang Lin patted Neil on the shoulder.
Only then did the other boy slowly turn his head.
"What is it?"
"Help me ask the teacher for a leave of absence," Jiang Lin said. "I won't be attending today's classes."
"Oh, okay."
Neil didn't ask further, but watched as Jiang Lin walked straight out of the classroom.
"Why does he feel a bit weird today?" Neil wondered aloud.
Soon, however, Neil's desk mate reminded him.
"When is he ever not weird?"
Hearing this, Neil nodded in realization.
"True."
...
The corridor was very quiet, lit only by the soft glow emitted by the magic crystal lamps.
Jiang Lin's footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, their rhythm steady, mirroring the certainty in his heart.
Walking straight toward the Star-gazing Tower, Jiang Lin mentally played out the situations he might encounter.
The door to the top floor of the Star-gazing Tower was slightly ajar.
Jiang Lin raised his hand and knocked. Antonio's gentle voice came from inside: "Come in."
Pushing the door open, he found the circular room empty of the dean, with only Antonio standing before the astronomical telescope, adjusting something.
Hearing footsteps, he turned and saw Jiang Lin standing at the doorway.
"Decided so quickly?"
"Yes, Master." Jiang Lin walked to the round table and stood tall. "I want to see senior sword saint Loren."
The observation log in Antonio's hand was tossed aside.
He turned around, his white eyebrows arching. A scholar's keen gaze lingered on Jiang Lin's face for a long time.
"Have you thought it through?"
His voice was soft, yet it carried a weight that pierced the air.
"Even though I treasure that letter and hold lord Loren in the highest esteem, to be honest... this path is too slim."
He walked to the round table but did not sit down.
"I have no more news of him. The only help I can offer for your apprenticeship is to write a few recommendation letters for you.
"And never mind me—even in the world today, those who know his whereabouts can be said to be few and far between. If you want to find clues, you might have to head to the Northern Ice Field and look for traces he might have left for me there.
"A forty-seven-year-old letter, a long-blurred address...
"Forty-seven years have passed... Is he even still there? And even if he is, why should he see you, and why should he take you as a disciple?"
Each question was like an icicle—sharp and grounded in reality.
Jiang Lin listened quietly. There was no wavering in his golden eyes, only an almost pure composure.
"I know.
"It's slim, uncertain, and might even be a wasted trip—a waste of time and energy that causes me to miss out on the other two more reliable seniors."
He paused, his voice clear and steady.
"But Master, I choose him not just because he is the strongest sword saint, but because the road he walks is his own road.
"To disperse his cultivation and restart, to break through the shackles by himself...
"Just making that decision is something an ordinary person cannot do. It's a kind of spirit, an obsession with becoming stronger."
He looked into Antonio's eyes.
"'The way of the sword is vast, and the path ahead is still obscure.' When I read that sentence, what I felt wasn't confusion, but a kind of clarity. He knows the road ahead is dark, yet he keeps walking. That makes me want to be near him more than any clear legacy.
"I want to go see, even if only from a distance, what the scenery looks like to a swordsman who has walked alone in the darkness for decades."
Antonio gazed into Jiang Lin's eyes.
The air in the room seemed to solidify. After a long while, the old man let out a long, slow breath.
The scholar-like rigour and worry on his face gradually faded, replaced by a complex expression that bordered on sentiment.
"So young," he whispered, shaking his head, yet a very faint smile touched his lips.
"Fair enough. Some roads can only be chosen at this age, with this kind of spirit."
At that moment, he pulled out a small notebook from his spatial ring.
"Actually, back then, he gave me an address where he might be living, telling me that if I ever had difficulties in the future, I could seek him for help.
"However, in all these years, I have never gone to disturb him.
"I suppose if you do manage to find him, this favor should at least get him to consider taking you as a disciple..."
Rate on N.U.
