The academic affairs director stared at the sender ID in the upper-right corner of the light screen. His finger swiped open the school archive permissions, and the further down he scrolled, the more color drained from his face.
"They're asking for more than grades—home addresses, medical records, and training data from the past three years. Everyone on the list is included."
The principal reached out and stopped the finger about to tap down, returning the permission page to the basic records section.
"Basic records can be handed over. Hold back the medical records and combat footage for now. Reply that the students have just experienced an Iron-Winged Vulture attack and their physical examinations have not yet concluded."
The principal paused, then added another sentence.
"Before the special investigation team arrives, no one is to make contact with Jiang Yuan alone."
The academic affairs director sent the acknowledgment as instructed, then notified the security team to seal off the school gates.
Two hours would pass in the blink of an eye. The school had to unify its story before the investigation team arrived while also keeping the thousands of students on the training ground under control.
Li Qingshan took the loudspeaker, his soles crunching over scattered feathers along the edge of the platform. A brief burst of static crackled from the speaker.
"The alert has been lifted. Each class, count your members. Injured students, proceed to the medical area. Everyone else, reassemble according to your original formation."
Students scattered throughout the training ground gradually returned to their classes. Several huddled together and passed around a terminal, trying to bypass the campus network restrictions, but the moment the screen lit up, the terminal was snatched away by a teacher.
Li Qingshan inspected Class Eight's formation, his gaze finally settling on Guo Hongtao.
"Little Fatty Liu, step out."
Guo Hongtao looked to both sides, then raised a hand to point at his own nose.
"Teacher, were you calling me?"
"When the entire field was assembling, you were hugging your barbecue and edging toward the grill. When the Iron-Winged Vultures swooped down, you were still standing there like a wooden stake."
Li Qingshan raised the loudspeaker and pointed twice toward the training track.
"After the ceremony, run twenty laps."
Guo Hongtao hugged the remaining half-skewer of barbecue to his chest and protested.
"I was testing it for poison on everyone's behalf."
"Twenty-five laps."
"The Iron-Winged Vultures didn't even get the chance to eat me, but you're already taking half my life."
"Thirty laps."
Guo Hongtao swallowed the rest of his complaint and dragged his feet back into formation.
Jiang Yuan turned his head and reminded him in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Say two fewer words, and you might still keep the other half of your life."
"When you saved me, why didn't you conveniently chop up the teacher's loudspeaker too?"
Li Qingshan looked over. Guo Hongtao immediately straightened his back, pressed both hands against his trouser seams, and even hid the barbecue behind him.
Once the training ground settled down again, the principal stepped onto the platform. He did not mention the Subtlety-grade swordsmanship, nor did he reveal the New Star Investigation Group's arrival. He only announced the injuries caused by the attack.
Two students had abrasions, and one staff member had suffered a sprain. There had been no deaths.
"Jiang Yuan of Senior Year Class Eight actively engaged the enemy during the alien beast attack, saved his classmates, and killed four Iron-Winged Vultures in succession."
Holding the loudspeaker, the principal clearly announced the follow-up arrangements.
"The school will apply for a commendation for righteous conduct on his behalf and provide additional cultivation resources for this semester."
Applause first rose from Class Eight's formation, then quickly spread across the training ground. Students in the front rows stepped aside, opening a path toward the platform.
Jiang Yuan followed Li Qingshan to the foot of the stage. The principal stood beside him while the publicity teacher raised a camera and adjusted the focus on them.
Jiang Yuan glanced at the lens and asked softly, "Principal, we were still blocking the news just now. Is it really appropriate to take publicity photos now?"
"The video has already leaked. If the school keeps covering things up, it will only make more people speculate about your swordsmanship and weapon."
The principal straightened the wooden box on his shoulder, then fixed his crooked collar.
"If the school publicly announces how you saved people, we might still be able to contain the rest. If the investigation team asks about your swordsmanship, say that you achieved a breakthrough in the heat of battle during a critical moment."
The shutter clicked repeatedly.
After taking his individual photos, the principal beckoned Guo Hongtao over and had the publicity teacher take another picture of the rescued student shaking hands with Jiang Yuan.
Guo Hongtao took Jiang Yuan's hand and forced a smile at the camera.
"Brother Yuan, if this photo makes it onto the campus homepage, can the barbecue I owe you count as paid back?"
"Finish your thirty laps first."
"Then I'd better keep owing you."
The ceremony ended early. Staff pushed over transport carts and began clearing the alien beast corpses from the training ground.
Carrying the wooden box, Jiang Yuan returned to the battle zone and cooperated with the staff in recording the sword marks and corpse locations. The fourth Iron-Winged Vulture's blood had soaked through the broken sword, and several dried clots still clung to its blade.
When no one around him was paying attention, he drew the broken sword and slowly wiped its spine with a cleaning cloth.
More than half of the reddish-brown rust coating that had covered the blade had fallen away. Several scarlet patterns stretched upward from the guard, climbing all the way to the jagged fracture.
There had originally been a notch near the blade edge, half a thumb wide when he bought it. Now, only a shallow groove remained.
Jiang Yuan turned the sword over and compared its other side inch by inch with the image in his memory.
Two fine cracks had already closed, and the edge of the fracture had grown outward by a small section. The uneven break was far more orderly than before.
When it recognized him as its master, the Nine Yang Inner Force had shaken rust from the sword. Yet these changes before his eyes were all concentrated where it had been stained with beast blood.
Jiang Yuan crouched beside an Iron-Winged Vulture corpse, dipped the cleaning cloth in a small amount of blood, and placed a drop onto the shallow groove in the blade.
The blood droplet adhered to the metal instead of rolling down the sword. In the blink of an eye, it seeped into the depths of the iron.
The scarlet patterns lit up for two breaths. The two sides of the shallow groove then drew together, leaving behind only a faint line.
This broken sword could devour alien beast blood and repair its own damage.
Jiang Yuan wiped away the remaining blood, returned the broken sword to its wooden box, and fastened the lid shut.
The staff carrying corpses were busy checking serial numbers. No one noticed what he had just done.
The Heaven-Reliant Dragon-Slayer Thunderfire Sword was still in a damaged state. If it could gradually recover through the blood of high-level alien beasts, then the sword's value would have to multiply several times over.
That afternoon, Li Qingshan called Jiang Yuan into the martial arts office.
"The investigation team will arrive in forty minutes."
Li Qingshan pulled up the battle replay and froze the image at the point where Jiang Yuan unleashed his third sword strike.
"Tell me. Why did your swordsmanship improve so quickly?"
"An epiphany."
Li Qingshan raised a finger and tapped the frozen battle image.
"Explain the process clearly."
"The Iron-Winged Vultures sealed off my retreat, so I could only focus on their wings and joints when striking. After the first Iron-Winged Vulture fell, the crucial points in my sword moves that I had never understood suddenly became clear."
Li Qingshan walked around the desk and stopped in front of Jiang Yuan.
"You obtained an incomplete manual during winter break, encountered Iron-Winged Vultures during the school anniversary celebration, achieved an epiphany in battle, and your swordsmanship thus entered the Subtle Realm."
He raised a hand and shut off the battle replay.
"When the investigation team asks, answer according to that sequence of events."
Jiang Yuan agreed, then opened his practical combat assessment record and pushed the light screen toward Li Qingshan.
"Teacher, we had another agreement before this. The practical combat assessment was meant to test my cultivation results in Tyrant Blade. As long as my performance was qualified, you would give me another martial arts slot."
Li Qingshan stood there with his mouth open, unable to speak for a long while.
He recalled the scene when Jiang Yuan had first learned Tyrant Blade. He really had achieved an epiphany on the spot and entered the beginner stage immediately.
At the time, Li Qingshan had thought Jiang Yuan was simply exceptionally gifted with blade techniques.
But now... facing a life-or-death crisis and the siege of three alien beasts, he had actually achieved another epiphany and comprehended swordsmanship to the Subtlety Realm?
What monstrous comprehension was this!
"A monster. He really is a monster..."
Li Qingshan muttered to himself. The way he looked at Jiang Yuan had changed from seeing a promising seedling to seeing a future martial arts titan.
This investment was not merely a blood-soaked profit—it was a profit great enough to change his fate!
"Teacher?" Jiang Yuan called out tentatively.
"Ah? Oh!" Li Qingshan came back to his senses, his face instantly piling up with a smile so warm it was as though he were looking at his own son.
"Ahem, Jiang Yuan, you did exceptionally well this time! You spared the school from a tremendous crisis. The school will definitely remember this merit!"
"Teacher, recording merit is only a small matter." Jiang Yuan changed the subject. "You said before that as long as I showed enough potential, the school would spare no effort in nurturing me. Does that still count?"
"It counts! Of course it counts!"
Li Qingshan thumped his chest in guarantee. "You're the school's treasure now. Forget me—even the principal would have to worship you! Tell me, what reward do you want? High-grade vitality potions? Or stronger martial techniques?"
He felt that with the value Jiang Yuan had now displayed, if he applied for another set of A-Rank Martial Arts, the principal would absolutely approve it without hesitation.
"I don't want potions." Jiang Yuan shook his head, then said something astonishing.
"Teacher, I want to learn all of the school's A-Rank Martial Arts."
The office instantly fell silent.
The smile on Li Qingshan's face froze.
"What did you say? All of them?" He suspected he had misheard.
"Yes, all of them." Jiang Yuan nodded in confirmation.
"Nonsense!"
Li Qingshan's expression darkened. "What do you think A-Rank Martial Arts are? Cabbages? And you want every last one?"
Before you continue