First Transmission of Sword Technique

"Student Zhang, out shopping as well?"

Xu Xing and Zhang Yunlu had just stepped out of the mall when they ran head-on into a middle-aged man in a suit with a slicked-back hairstyle, followed by several students in blue and white school uniforms.

Zhang Yunlu hesitated for a moment before greeting him respectfully, "Hello, Teacher."

So, he was her teacher.

"Heh heh." The teacher chuckled and looked at Xu Xing, "I am Fang Chi, Student Zhang's teacher. May I ask...?"

Zhang Yunlu didn't know how to answer this question.

"I am the tutor hired by Student Zhang," Xu Xing said casually.

Guiding her cultivation—that counted as tutoring, didn't it?

However, upon hearing his status, the students behind Fang Chi exchanged glances, and Fang Chi's own expression stiffened.

"I see. Student Zhang is truly diligent," Fang Chi nodded slightly. "The combat test is the day after tomorrow. It seems Student Zhang will achieve a very good result."

With that, he led his students past the pair and into the mall.

"Your teacher doesn't seem to have a very high opinion of you. Care to explain why?"

Especially after he mentioned he was her tutor.

There was nothing that couldn't be said.

"Teacher Fang... he started a remedial class at the beginning of the school year. I was the only one in the class who didn't go. Since my grades were already quite good, over a dozen other students ended up dropping out of his class too."

Ever since that incident, the teacher hadn't dared to target her openly; after all, Zhang Yunlu still had some reputation at Xuanjian City No. 3 Middle School.

But he would intentionally or unintentionally ignore her in class and during various events. If her mental fortitude hadn't been quite strong, she likely would have shut herself off long ago.

Yet, in the beginning, he had clearly stated that the remedial class was voluntary and that those who didn't want to go didn't have to.

Sometimes, life is just like that—you don't want to offend anyone, yet you end up offending them for no reason at all.

"Then, do you hate him?" Xu Xing asked.

Hate?

Hate her own teacher?

That felt a bit too dramatic, but hearing him ask, she did feel a sense of discomfort in her heart.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully.

Xu Xing was not surprised by this response.

Such matters could be trivial or significant. Zhang Yunlu possessed excellent mental resilience and wouldn't blame others for such things.

Under normal circumstances, she probably wouldn't even think about it.

But whenever someone else brought it up or asked, she would feel a sense of grievance upon reflection.

The emotions of youth come and go quickly; she might feel gloomy when recalling past slights, but she would forget everything the next moment upon encountering something happy.

"Then, do you want him to pay a price?"

Pay a price?

Scenes from the past flashed through her mind. The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. She nodded firmly, "I do!"

"Since you do, let's go."

Xu Xing waved to hail a taxi.

Ten minutes later, the two returned to the villa.

As soon as she entered, Zhang Yunlu looked around with curiosity. She had heard of this place but had never been here.

Xu Xing activated the 'Air Conditioning' formation, adjusted it to a comfortable temperature, and turned around to say directly:

"You have just advanced to the ninth level of Qi Refining. Don't worry about your cultivation for now; I will teach you a sword technique."

He raised his hand and pointed, sending a flicker of spiritual light flying out. It arrived in an instant, merging into the center of Zhang Yunlu's brow.

As soon as the light entered her mind, she felt a momentary trance, as if something had appeared out of thin air.

When she regained her focus, nearly a thousand characters were flowing through her mind. Upon closer inspection, it was a sword manual.

Flowing Cloud Sword Technique

A sword technique that emphasizes agility and elegance. The moves are exquisite, focusing on borrowing force to strike, using softness to overcome hardness, and using skill to break through brute strength.

For practitioners at the Qi Refining stage, due to the limitations of their spiritual power, learning spells is highly inefficient. Such close-quarters combat techniques are the most suitable.

"This sword technique will be enough for your upcoming combat test."

"Two days... I'm afraid I can't learn it."

No way, is he overestimating me? Learning a sword technique in two days?

"You don't need to worry about that. You'll understand once you go back," Xu Xing said, not actually intending for her to self-study. "After you return to school tomorrow to report your cultivation level and learn more about Foundation Establishment, come back here. If you are determined to build a Heavenly Dao Foundation, I will pass on a suitable cultivation method, a technique for gathering the essence of the sun and moon, and a rare treasure of heaven and earth."

As he spoke, he took a small wooden plaque from the drawer and tossed it to Zhang Yunlu.

"This is the access token for the formation; keep it safe and don't lose it."

A few minutes later, Zhang Yunlu left the villa, still in a state of bewilderment.

So, the only reason she was asked to come over was just to pick up a key to a formation?

And what did he mean by "don't worry"? Did he really have that much faith in her talent?

Hmm...

Could it be that she was actually a hidden genius of the Sword Dao?

She stood by the roadside of the residential complex, lost in her wild thoughts for a while.

"Xiaolu?"

A figure stepped off a long sword and slowly descended.

"Brother?" Zhang Yunlu was stunned. "Why are you here?"

"I came to submit a report," Zhang Xiu explained.

As the first person to discover the ancient cultivator emerging from seclusion, he was required by protocol to submit a detailed report of the process.

"What about you? Why are you here?"

"This..."

How was she supposed to explain this?

Should she say she ran into a big shot who had just come out of seclusion on the road, and that the big shot took a liking to her and wanted to gift her an opportunity?

Could she even say that?

Seeing her hesitant expression, Zhang Xiu's heart sank, though he still maintained a gentle smile on his face.

"It's fine, you don't have to say anything if it's inconvenient."

At worst, he would just sneak back over tonight to investigate.

"Mm."

Zhang Yunlu nodded slightly, feeling a bit guilty.

"Let's go." Zhang Xiu smiled gently.

The two walked out together.

After all, sword cultivators below the Nascent Soul Realm could not carry passengers while flying on their swords, and since he couldn't just leave her behind, they had to take a taxi.

"Still no leads."

In a villa not far away, a figure in white watched the backs of the siblings, his gaze indifferent.

Standing behind him was another person—True Person Xiaoning, who had fought the demonic youth when he was refining the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

True Person Xiaoning felt quite helpless at this moment. It would have been fine if anyone else had come, but why did it have to be this Martial Uncle?

"Martial Uncle, since the Sword Sect has already acknowledged that the cultivator who emerged from seclusion belongs to their sect, can't we just stop dwelling on this?"

The Dao Integration expert from the Supreme Dao Sect turned around and looked at True Person Xiaoning calmly. "That cultivator caused such a massive commotion, yet not only did he fail to come to This Seat to explain himself, he even deliberately went into hiding. This Seat has reason to suspect that the Sword Sect cultivator who emerged from seclusion is colluding with demonic cultivators and intends to slaughter the city to refine the Ten Thousand Soul Banner."

True Person Xiaoning: "..."

Martial Uncle, could you please stop saying "This Seat" every other sentence? According to Saint Emperor Abyss, that is really chuunibyou!

And it was blatantly obvious that he was just seeking personal revenge.

Back then, it was clearly his nephew who had a twisted heart and practiced evil, heretical arts by sacrificing the souls of infants, which was why he was slain by a passing sword cultivator who had just emerged from seclusion.

Sigh~

That incident had caused such an uproar back then that even the sect masters of both sects were alarmed, and it had been resolved with great difficulty.

Everyone thought the matter had been put to rest, but after this Martial Uncle advanced to the Dao Integration Realm several years ago, he immediately applied to be stationed at the Ancient Cultivator Response Department in the Sword Sect's territory.

Clearly, he had not forgotten.

"This Seat is merely acting according to regulations." Purple energy swirled in the eyes of the Dao Integration expert. "What? They are allowed to do it, but This Seat is not?"

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