"Deal!" Uncle Chen slammed a palm onto the counter, afraid Jiang Yuan might change his mind. He immediately pulled out his payment code and handed it over. "Scan this!"
Jiang Yuan looked at the payment code and suddenly sighed.
"Two hundred and fifty isn't a very lucky number." Jiang Yuan took out his personal terminal and scanned the QR code. "Deduct the fifteen yuan shoe-sole wear fee from when I walked over here. Two hundred and thirty-five. Not a cent more."
With a beep, the transfer went through.
Uncle Chen watched the extra two hundred and thirty-five yuan appear in his account, the flesh on his face twitching wildly.
That broken sword had been bought last week when he had gone to the countryside to collect scrap. He had spent ten yuan to buy it bundled together with a pile of rusty farm tools. He had originally planned to use it as a throw-in to fool some ignorant sucker, but instead he had run into someone like Jiang Yuan, who bargained as if his life depended on it.
Though he had still made a net profit of over two hundred yuan, why did he feel so stifled?
Jiang Yuan ignored Uncle Chen's constipated expression.
He tucked the wooden box under one arm, feeling thoroughly pleased.
Two hundred and thirty-five yuan for a famed sword from a martial arts world with both lightning and fire attributes.
"Thanks, Uncle Chen!"
Jiang Yuan waved at the counter and strode out of the shop.
Watching Jiang Yuan walk away, Uncle Chen spat and sat back down in his rocking chair.
"Young people these days really refuse to suffer even the slightest loss." Uncle Chen stroked his beard, then grinned again. "Still, I sold ten yuan's worth of junk for over two hundred. I can add a can of exotic beast meat to dinner tonight."
Jiang Yuan carried the wooden box out of Treasure Gathering Studio without slowing his steps.
Since the broken sword could stir his Nine Yang Inner Force, trying to make it acknowledge him as its master by the roadside would bring trouble if the commotion got even slightly too big. He took a ride back to his residence, first confirming that there were no patrol drones outside the window. Then he drew the curtains tight and laid the broken sword flat on the floor.
Nine Yang Inner Force surged from his palm into the hilt.
The dark golden flame patterns on the guard lit up section by section. The rust coating the blade fell away in a soft shower, revealing a crimson sword spine beneath. Heat poured up his arm and into his meridians. Jiang Yuan immediately circulated the Nine Yang Divine Skill, guiding that foreign force into his grand circulation.
The broken sword trembled several times, and faint cracking sounds came from deep within its guard.
[Heaven-Reliant Dragon-Slayer Thunderfire Sword has successfully acknowledged its master.] [Obtained a fragment of Heaven-Burning Sword Art.] [Obtained Blazing Sun Sword Intent.]
Fragments of memories of wielding a sword flooded into his mind. Slashing, chopping, thrusting, sweeping—every kind of sword technique required pure yang power to activate, and Nine Yang Inner Force met the requirement perfectly.
Jiang Yuan gripped the hilt and swept the sword sideways. Crimson sword light extended half a foot from the broken edge, stopping just before the wall. Before the blade even touched it, the outer paint had already curled and blackened, scorch marks spreading along where the sword light had halted.
[Heaven-Burning Sword Art fragment: Proficient.]
On Wednesday morning, Jianghai No. 1 High School held its fiftieth anniversary celebration.
Teachers and students from the entire school gathered on the training field. Anniversary banners hung on both sides of the stage, while several rows of grills had been set up behind it. Staff in charge of the food sliced meat and arranged it on plates. Grease dripped into the charcoal, and flames leaped up against the iron racks, filling the air with a scorched aroma.
Jiang Yuan stood at the end of Class Eight's line with the broken sword on his back.
Guo Hongtao had been assigned to help maintain order. Taking the chance, Little Fatty Liu shuffled over to Jiang Yuan's side and ran his fingers twice along the edge of the wooden box.
"You actually brought this thing?"
"I've been practicing swordsmanship lately. It's convenient to carry."
Little Fatty Liu patted the wooden box. "The alloy swords in the school equipment room aren't enough for you? If you chop with whatever's inside this a couple times, will there be nothing left but the hilt?"
Several people nearby immediately laughed.
Zhou Hu approached with several students, his gaze landing on the wooden box. "Even the top student in the grade lacks a weapon? Carrying half a piece of scrap metal to the anniversary celebration—are you planning to perform some broken copper and rotten iron for everyone?"
Jiang Yuan raised his eyes. "Want to try this sword?"
Zhou Hu moved only half a step forward. His sole scraped the ground, and he immediately pulled that foot back.
He had taken part in the combat assessment. Though the school had deleted the recording, the news that Jiang Yuan had taken a five-hundred-kilogram punch head-on had not disappeared.
"It's a school celebration. I can't be bothered to fight you."
Zhou Hu tossed out those words and turned to squeeze into the front row.
Little Fatty Liu clutched his stomach and laughed. "He didn't even dare take a full step forward, yet he's pretty good at finding himself a way down."
The principal stepped onto the stage, and the loudspeakers around the training field began playing the school's history. Leaning against the edge of the formation, Jiang Yuan kept one palm pressed to the wooden box, constantly adjusting the connection between his Nine Yang Inner Force and the Heaven-Burning Sword Art.
Halfway through the celebration, a piercing alarm rang out above the training field.
A dark shadow pierced through the clouds. When its iron wings spread, they blotted out a vast swath of sunlight. The exotic beast folded its wings and dived along the roof of the teaching building, its sharp beak aimed straight at the students beside the grills.
"Iron-Winged Vulture!"
The teachers responsible for security charged out of the crowd, but half the training field lay between them. By the time aid arrived, it would already be too late.
Little Fatty Liu was still holding a dinner plate. When he looked up, the Iron-Winged Vulture's talons were already descending over his head. The surrounding students fled in every direction. He was knocked back two steps, his back striking a grill. Heat from the charcoal fire crawled up against his clothes, and there was no room to either side.
The wooden box slid off Jiang Yuan's back and smashed onto the ground.
Jiang Yuan drew the broken sword, pouring Nine Yang Inner Force into its flame patterns. Crimson sword light filled in the missing blade along the broken edge. He stepped beneath the Iron-Winged Vulture, twisted at the waist and back, and slashed horizontally.
Blazing Sun Sword Intent spread with the blade.
Just as the Iron-Winged Vulture tried to fold its wings, the crimson sword light had already passed through its chest and abdomen. Its body split in two, the halves flying over Little Fatty Liu and crashing down on opposite sides of the grills. Before the blood could hit the ground, the cuts had already been scorched black by the sword intent.
A mass of crimson energy burst from the exotic beast's body and flowed along the blade into the system.
[Absorbed the residual fire intent of the Iron-Winged Vulture's bloodline.] [Heaven-Burning Sword Art fragment has broken through to the Subtle Realm.] [Reward: One B-rank martial arts selection privilege.]
Jiang Yuan did not check the reward.
The alarm above was still echoing when three dark shadows flew over the stage, their iron wings forming a row. The bloody scent left by the first Iron-Winged Vulture had drawn its kind over. Three sharp beaks turned toward Jiang Yuan at once.
"Get back!"
Jiang Yuan shoved Little Fatty Liu's shoulder, sending him back into the fleeing crowd, then raised his sword to meet them.
The three exotic beasts split into two levels, high and low, sealing off both escape routes to the left and right. The Heaven-Burning Sword Art of the Subtle Realm unfolded in his mind. Every wingbeat and every movement of their joints fell precisely where his sword techniques could cut them off.
His first slash fell diagonally. The Iron-Winged Vulture on the left had its wing severed at once, and the sword light continued through its torso.
His second slash swept upward from below. The talons extended by the middle beast, along with its chest and abdomen, were cut apart together, its body splitting into several pieces in midair.
The last one had already charged before Jiang Yuan. The broken sword thrust out from his side and pierced through the Iron-Winged Vulture's open beak. Blazing Sun Sword Intent poured into its body, flesh and blood splitting along the sword's path. Fragments flew over Jiang Yuan's shoulder and fell onto the cleared training field.
After three strikes, Jiang Yuan withdrew his blade and let the sword tip hang at his side.
Thousands of teachers and students remained frozen where they had been fleeing. Zhou Hu stood over ten meters away, a dropped communication terminal lying by his feet.
On the stage, Li Qingshan gripped the railing, and the metal bar beneath his palm gave a soft creak.
"A Subtle Realm sword art?"
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