A Twist

Someone was already stepping onto the stage again.

I thought the others might hesitate after hearing the stage's honey-tongued remarks.

Her?

Li Fengping, seated among the judges, quickly recognized Zhang Yunlu. This Qi Refining student, who had stirred his sword intent, was the reason he'd taken a vicious beating—because he'd followed her.

The last time he'd seen her, she'd been at the eighth level of Qi Refining. Now she'd reached the ninth, and her spiritual energy was no weakling's, even among ninth-level Qi Refining cultivators!

She'd improved so quickly.

"Do you know this student, nephew?" the principal asked from beside him.

As one of the top cultivators in Spirit Transformation, he'd noticed something was amiss, even with Li Fengping's head wrapped in bandages.

"We've met once."

"If she's caught your attention, she must be a promising talent."

Huh?

I didn't say anything.

Zhang Yunlu walked steadily across the field, past the outer stages, and came to a stop beside the largest one, in the middle, under everyone's gaze.

Whoa!

Was she really that confident?

She'd chosen the biggest stage right off the bat!

"Zhang Yunlu. I humbly ask my fellow students to instruct me!" Zhang Yunlu held her sword in her left hand, her expression calm.

If she'd felt a little nervous before stepping onto the stage, once she was up there, her heart had settled into perfect calm.

Fang Chi's face darkened.

The first two had both announced their classes, but Zhang Yunlu had only given her name. Clearly, she was targeting him.

Still, that was all right. It saved him from having the honey-tongued stage make some humiliating comments later and making him lose face.

He glanced back at Fang Lin, who was watching Zhang Yunlu onstage.

Should I go up now? he wondered, hesitant.

Everyone only had two chances, so choosing the right moment mattered. Although he didn't think much of most of the students at this school, there were a few he still had to be wary of.

As he hesitated, someone had already stepped forward.

His pale gray eyes shimmered with spiritual light, and his spiritual energy brimmed so full that it seemed ready to spill out. He was the same boy who'd discussed "Cang Jiezi" in the classroom.

He hurried past the rows of stages, making straight for Zhang Yunlu!

All right. I'll see what they can do first.

At this point, Fang Lin couldn't be bothered to follow Fang Chi's earlier instructions. Who could've guessed Zhang Yunlu would be so quick to take the largest stage? Protecting his own ranking was more important.

"Hou Xiang, Class Three. I humbly ask Student Zhang to instruct me."

Hou Xiang also carried a long sword. Its blade was bright and glinted coldly, but it too was merely an ordinary sword.

The two stood facing each other from a distance, each holding a sword.

Zhang Yunlu leaned forward slightly. The next instant, she shot straight at her opponent, a thin layer of spiritual light coating her sword as she charged.

Hou Xiang quickly retreated, channeling spiritual energy and forming a hand seal with his left hand. A hazy mist of water began to gather into a shield.

Just as the water shield was about to form, Zhang Yunlu had already closed the distance. The fierce gleam and killing intent in her eyes made Hou Xiang's heart pound.

Damn!

Was that really the look a student should have?

His thoughts raced, and he made his decision in an instant. He swung his sword at Zhang Yunlu's waist, intending to force her back before using the water shield to widen the distance.

Clang!

A crisp clash rang out. His sword was blocked by a short sword, and Zhang Yunlu's blade had already pierced through the mist, stopping just a hair's breadth from his brow.

A stabbing pain struck. Blinding white light swallowed everything before his eyes. He hurriedly shut them and retreated.

Thud!

A dull impact. A sharp pain flared at the back of his head, as if he'd hit something.

Hou Xiang opened his eyes in confusion and saw Zhang Yunlu looking down at him from the stage, her face full of surprise.

Only then did he realize he was somehow beneath the stage. What he'd struck with the back of his head was another stage.

[In the space of one sword stroke, victory and defeat are decided, and life and death are settled]

[Defender: Defeat the challenger with one sword stroke and you may be rated excellent]

[Challenger: You have spiritual energy but lack decisiveness. You were defeated by one sword stroke—what arrogance. Calling yourself a cultivator when you're nothing but a pig waiting to be slaughtered]

You've got quite a vocabulary for insults!

Hou Xiang had thought he'd prepared himself, but even so, he couldn't quite hold it together when he heard that—especially when he remembered how he'd stumbled backward in a panic after falling off the stage, like some sort of clown...

Damn!

Stupid stage!

Zhang Yunlu sheathed her short sword, satisfied with how the match had gone.

Her opponent had been a little weak, but it would've taken at least three sword strikes to defeat him head-on.

The monsters in that trial had been a little underhanded, but their moves had been pretty useful.

"Your eye for talent is truly sharp, nephew. No wonder you're a disciple of the Sword Sect," the principal praised.

Others might not have seen through it, and might have thought Zhang Yunlu had won by taking a crafty shortcut. But he knew better. Even if Hou Xiang had been lucky enough to evade the first strike, he'd lost the initiative and certainly wouldn't have dodged the second.

The school actually had such a promising student with an extraordinary talent for combat.

"Principal, you flatter me."

It seemed the last time she'd stirred his sword intent hadn't been a coincidence. The girl really did have the potential to become an outstanding sword cultivator.

He'd also wondered whether the body cultivator who attacked him had anything to do with the girl, so he'd sent someone to investigate.

But they'd found that both her parents were dead, and that her only brother was merely at the Golden Core Realm—and had been the first to discover the powerful cultivator emerging from seclusion.

Aside from reporting to the two seniors from the Supreme Dao Sect, the siblings hadn't had any contact with cultivators above the Nascent Soul Realm recently.

On the field.

Zhang Yunlu soon faced several more challengers. After all, in the eyes of the others, her first victory had been a bit of a fluke.

The result was the same every time: Zhang Yunlu defeated each challenger with a single sword stroke.

Most of them weren't even as good as Hou Xiang had been.

Fang Lin's expression was grave. He didn't dare underestimate Zhang Yunlu anymore. One win might have been a trick, but after so many, there was no doubt it was sheer strength.

But what he couldn't understand even more was this: Had something gone wrong with his uncle's brain?

He'd targeted such a formidable student over a little tutoring fee. He wondered if he regretted it now.

How could Fang Chi not regret it? His heart was practically bleeding.

Last year, a teacher from the neighboring class had taught a student who came first in the whole city. The school had rewarded him with a huge amount of cultivation resources, which had taken him straight from the late Golden Core Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm.

That student had also joined an Immortal Sect in his second year, with boundless prospects ahead of him. The neighboring class's teacher had even been promoted to deputy director of the academic affairs office because of it.

For teachers like them, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm and getting promoted was already the peak of what they could hope to achieve in their lives...

Fang Chi could already imagine how many teachers would invite Zhang Yunlu to transfer classes after this Dharma Combat Test.

"The sword technique she uses is one I've never seen before."

True Monarch Purple Universe, seated high among the clouds, watched Zhang Yunlu. He knew every sword technique recorded by the various secondary schools in Mystic Sword City.

But he'd never seen the sword technique Zhang Yunlu was using.

Could it have something to do with that sword cultivator who emerged from seclusion?

He remembered the young cultivator seemed to have an older brother who'd disguised himself as a Golden Core cultivator. It seemed they really weren't simple. Once this Dharma Combat Test was over, he could ask them about it.

Suddenly, True Monarch Purple Universe's heart tightened. His Divine Sense swiftly reached toward a certain place in Mystic Sword City.

He sensed a hidden yet terrifyingly powerful demonic aura surging into the sky.

A member of the demonic path—and a Dao Integration Old Devil at that!

"No!!!"

A despairing scream followed.

What was it?

What could make a Dao Integration Old Devil so utterly desperate?

At that moment, Xu Xing also looked toward the place where the demonic aura was rising.

"What a commotion. Looks like I'd better go pick him up."

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