Flying Sword

Flying Sword

Zhang Yu could tell at a glance that the flying sword on the field was nothing like the children's flying sword the original Zhang Yu had bought before. It was clearly not something one could just pick up and play with.

Facing the dissatisfied murmurs filling the venue, the host's expression did not change as he finished reading the advertisement and began announcing the rules of the first match.

The flying swords floating on the field at this moment were products of the flying sword manufacturer Nine Heavens Flying Sword—a type of civilian-grade magical-power flying sword.

It claimed that there was no need to learn any sword-controlling arts and no Dao Heart Level requirement. One only needed to vary one's magical power output to control the flying sword. What was being tested was the use of magical power to control the sword.

The sword sheath of this flying sword was like both a remote control and a magical-power transmitter. Differences in the frequency, type, quantity, and so on of the magical power input allowed one to control the flying sword.

The specific task for this round was for the competing students to use their flying swords to strike signal markers flying through the air. The faster they were and the more accurate and powerful their hits, the higher their score.

The total score for this round, like the following second and third rounds, was 100 points.

The final ranking of this Magic Competition would be determined by the combined total score of all three rounds.

As the flying sword instruction manuals were handed out, the students were given half an hour to study.

Behind White Dragon High School's team, a middle-aged man in sportswear smiled faintly. "So it's still testing magical-power control? At least it's not too outrageous. I thought we'd have to learn sword-controlling arts on the spot."

This man was White Dragon High School's competition coach, Han Xingye.

Unlike Songyang High School, where magical-power teachers doubled as competition instructors, White Dragon High School had specialized teachers responsible for competitions.

Hearing Han Xingye speak, Song Hailong casually touched his soaring long hair. "This is our first competition this year."

"Coach, help us see which opponents here are worth watching. Especially Purple Cloud and Red Pagoda—see what this year's batch is made of."

White Dragon High School, Ziyun High School, and Red Pagoda High School were Songyang City's Three Great High Schools. If nothing unexpected happened, many of the opponents they would continuously compete against over the next three years should be on the field right now.

Han Xingye readily complied with Song Hailong's request.

Aside from Song Hailong's outstanding grades, it was naturally also because of his status as an absolutely wealthy man.

This favored son of heaven from a great Songyang City Lineage was a descendant whose KPI ranked among the very best in the Lineage. He could be called the Song Family's trump-card son of this generation.

Han Xingye nodded, repeatedly swiping his fingers across his Talisman Book. The next moment, accompanied by a surge of magical power, he activated the Heaven's Eye Talisman.

The Heaven's Eye Talisman respectfully invited the All-Knowing All-Questioning Great God of the Department of All People to evaluate the people one saw.

This evaluation gathered comprehensive information ranging from a person's bank savings and personal assets to school grades, work performance, family relationships, and more, ultimately producing a vague composite assessment.

Thought the vague assessment was no good and wanted something more precise, more detailed? Then one needed a higher Faith Level—and needed to spend more money.

In short, the more detailed the Heaven's Eye Talisman's effects were, the more expensive they became. The vaguer they were, the cheaper they were.

As Han Xingye looked across the entire venue, he naturally did not dare check any detailed evaluations. He feared that one glance would bankrupt him. Such things had not been unheard of in Kunxu's history.

The instant the Heaven's Eye Talisman activated, golden motes of light gathered in the air and flowed into Han Xingye's eyes.

When he looked across the venue, he could see different evaluations appearing above people's heads.

Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning.

Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning, Bankrupt Gambler, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning.

Not worth mentioning, Ice Muscle Jade Bone (expand details), not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning.

"Hmm?"

Han Xingye's gaze shifted as he discovered that a girl from Ziyun High School had actually jumped up into the audience stands.

"That seems to be Purple Cloud's Le Mulan? Why did she climb up there? Is she looking at the competition's signal markers?"

He looked more carefully, and the evaluation above her head immediately expanded.

Ice Muscle Jade Bone | Pill Critic | High Caste | Purple Cloud Loyalist | Flower on a Lofty Peak

As an old Heaven's Eye Talisman user, Han Xingye found it somewhat complicated at first glance, but after considering the vague evaluations for a moment, he roughly guessed what they meant.

"She has a special physique, can take pills exceptionally well, gets excellent grades, is fiercely loyal to Ziyun High School, and has a complicated background. A high-quality rich person."

"Pills? Physique?"

Han Xingye fell into thought. He sent the keywords to Song Hailong as well, then turned to look at the other people present.

While he continued male-gazing at the students on the field, the competition officially began.

There were eighteen separate arenas in total. Each batch of eighteen randomly selected contestants took the field and controlled flying swords in their respective arenas, firing at signal markers in midair.

In Han Xingye's eyes, students from ordinary high schools, each labeled "not worth mentioning," entered the field. Like raw recruits, they fumbled with their flying swords. Hitting one or two signal markers in the air was already decent, earning them only ten or twenty points from the judges.

"Looks like none of them have played with flying swords before?"

Han Xingye knew that although this round ostensibly tested magical-power control, there was a real difference between someone who had used a flying sword and someone who had not.

In particular, judging space, distance, accuracy, and speed—someone using one for the first time would likely find it difficult to earn a good score even with very strong magical-power control.

But for students of the Three Great Famous Schools, playing with flying swords was nothing rare.

For instance, each of the ten White Dragon High School contestants had at least four or five flying swords at home.

As far as he knew, Song Hailong's home even possessed an entire Sword Repository containing hundreds of flying swords. He had long since played with them more times than anyone could count.

At the same time, aside from the endless "not worth mentioning" labels, students bearing evaluations such as "rare" and "elite" began taking the field under Han Xingye's Heaven's Eye Talisman vision.

Han Xingye knew that these were generally top students from ordinary high schools or elite students from Key High Schools.

"Getting thirty or forty points would already be impressive."

"Their magical-power control is poor to begin with, and they haven't used flying swords before. If Nine Heavens Flying Sword's quality were not genuinely so good, they probably wouldn't hit even one signal marker."

At that thought, Han Xingye was a little tempted himself, wondering whether he should buy a Nine Heavens magical-power flying sword.

Just then, his gaze shifted slightly. At last, amid a heap of "not worth mentioning," "rare," and "elite" evaluations, he spotted a different one.

Pure Score Slave

Han Xingye looked at the other party's school uniform. It seemed to be a student from Songyang High School.

On the field, Qian Shen took a deep breath and slowly grasped the flying sword's sheath before him.

The next moment, as he fed a stream of magical power into it, the sword within the sheath shot out with a whoosh. The entire flying sword was blade, without any hilt, and it soared upwards like a streak of cold light, shooting toward the signal markers in midair.

Although he had not used them much, Qian Shen had tried his grandfather's magical-power flying swords a few times.

Following the techniques his private tutor had taught him, he slowly poured magical power into the sheath. By changing the rhythm of the magical power injection, he controlled the flying sword as it whooshed through the air, striking signal marker after signal marker.

72 points

Seeing his result for this round, Qian Shen relaxed slightly. "Not bad. It should be enough to account for myself."

On the other side, Han Xingye looked at the score of 72 and secretly shook his head. "Sigh, Songyang High School is also an old Key High School, yet its students are getting worse with every generation."

"In the end, they're still clinging to old ways. They refuse to learn the advanced experience of other schools, like Ziyun High School's Score Caste System or our school's Low-Score Slave System. Their teaching methods have never innovated—how can they possibly keep up with the changing times..."

Just as Han Xingye was thinking this, another contestant with a special evaluation appeared.

In his eyes, Lian Tianji of Ziyun High School walked onto the field with the words "Son of Heavenly Diligence" above his head. With a flick of his arm, he launched the flying sword and swiftly scored 90 points.

"That seems to be Lian Tianji, the person in Purple Cloud's current class most compatible with the Heavenly Diligence Heart Method."

As more and more contestants took the field in turn, Han Xingye's eyes roamed everywhere, and he spotted an increasing number of unusual students.

A "School Board Member's Son" from Songyang High School had just taken the field and scored 78 points.

The moment Ziyun High School's "Ice Muscle Jade Bone," Le Mulan, took the field, she wildly racked up 95 points—the highest score so far—drawing gasps from the entire venue.

As Han Xingye continued looking around, a woman suddenly caught his attention.

Sword Critic (expand details)

"Oh? A student from Songyang High School?"

Han Xingye watched Bai Zhenzhen walk onto the field. He knew that people whose information could generally be "expanded" had complicated backgrounds, indicating remarkable origins, strength, or talent. He had not expected one to appear among Songyang High School's students.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and a row of words expanded above Bai Zhenzhen's head.

Sword Critic | Fist Critic | Palm Critic | Blade Critic | Spear Critic | Medicine Critic | Score Tyrant | Loan Slave | Card Slave | Useless Daoist Arts Theory | Songyang Hater | She is very poor...

Staring at that evaluation, so long it could not be read through in a single breath, Han Xingye was deeply shocked.

He had never imagined that looking at a Songyang High School student would leave him shocked, and solely because her background was too complicated—far beyond that of ordinary people.

But the next moment, his shock faded slightly, because her score was 34.

"Although I don't know why her evaluation is so long, judging by this score, this woman is not worth mentioning."

Very quickly, his attention was drawn away by Song Hailong.

Before this star player of White Dragon High School took the field, he removed his soaring long hair from his head.

Watching this, Zhang Yu was astonished. "Holy shit! He's bald in high school already?"

Bai Zhenzhen returned to the rest area with a face full of bad luck. Hearing Zhang Yu's surprise, she instructed him from the side, "That isn't a wig. It's an External Spirit Root."

"An External Spirit Root?" Zhang Yu remembered that such a thing seemed to exist, but this was his first time seeing one in real life.

Bai Zhenzhen said enviously, "This isn't like those old-version Spirit Roots at school. This kind of External Spirit Root is plug-and-play, removable and replaceable whenever you want. Yu Zi, remember this—it's the birthday gift I want most."

Zhang Yu patted A-Zhen on the shoulder and comforted her. "I can't afford an External Spirit Root, but I can get you baldness and a wig."

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes, then continued staring fixedly at the wig Song Hailong had placed on his chair, considering the possibility of making off with it.

But after looking at the students and teachers surrounding her, she could only let out a long sigh in the end.

After Song Hailong took the field, he felt the magical power within him moving as smoothly as his own arm and revealed a faint smile.

Installing a Spirit Root was to increase magical power and make it surge dramatically?

What a poor man's way of thinking.

Song Hailong had only one purpose in installing an External Spirit Root: to temper his control over magical power amid the more torrential process of Breathing Spiritual Opportunity and magical-power refinement.

Only the weak worry that the surge of magical power brought by spiritual energy will slip beyond their control. For a strong man like me, this is the finest training opportunity.

He grasped the sword sheath with one hand and released magical power from his palm. The flying sword inside shot out like lightning.

Below the stage, Han Xingye watched his student wield the flying sword as if playing with lightning. In the blink of an eye, Song Hailong had madly cut down 100 points, becoming the new highest scorer in the venue. A proud expression appeared on Han Xingye's face.

"100 points, only because the total score is 100."

"With Song Hailong's abundant magical power, the strength of his magical-power control, and his mastery of flying swords, this round has been limited by the maximum score."

On the other side, after Bai Zhenzhen returned to the rest area, Teacher Yan's gaze occasionally swept across her.

"Bai Zhenzhen only began practicing Magic Competition events recently, right? That rate of improvement is very fast. Is it talent? Or merely coincidence?"

Yet in Teacher Yan's eyes, Bai Zhenzhen was ultimately still inferior to Zhang Yu in magical-power talent.

A short while later, when Zhang Yu took the field, she also began anticipating this student's score.

On the field, Zhang Yu gently grasped the sword sheath. As magical power entered bit by bit, he could feel the flying sword inside begin to tremble softly.

While he had been below the stage earlier, Zhang Yu had considered how he could score as highly as possible.

His situation now was like having nimble hands with no disability, only for someone to run over and say: "Yo? Your finger control is strong? Then let me test you—operate that excavator in front of you and unscrew a bottle cap. Let's see just how good your finger control really is."

Fuck, another unjust and unfair competition where rich people have an absolute advantage.

Zhang Yu silently complained to himself.

"This flying sword feels like a drone—or rather, an FPV drone. No matter how precise my magical-power control is, if I haven't used this thing before, I definitely won't be able to control it as easily as my own hand."

Thinking of having to manipulate this flying sword back and forth through the air to hit those palm-sized signal markers, Zhang Yu felt it was exceedingly difficult.

"So I can't use a conventional flying sword..."