The Gift of a Sword

My sword!

It broke!

That cost three gold coins!

I don't usually kill people. How am I supposed to get three gold coins back?

I could have cried!

Jiang Xueyao watched his expression, shook her head, and asked again:

"What were you thinking when you fought me just now?"

"Nothing—wait, why did you suddenly attack me? Why did we even fight?" Xu Yuan asked, his voice full of resentment.

Jiang Xueyao fell silent for several breaths.

This is too awkward.

How am I supposed to say it?

I thought you were a fraud who hadn't learned a thing?

She suddenly sheathed her sword and tossed it straight to him.

"?" Xu Yuan stared at her, eyes wide.

"I broke your sword. Take this one as compensation."

Jiang Xueyao spoke calmly.

Xu Yuan was startled. He hurriedly drew the sword to inspect it.

The blade was about three feet seven inches long and a little more than two fingers wide. Its edge resembled cold jade steeped in snowmelt year after year, tinged with frost.

In his hand, the sword carried a faint, elusive fragrance.

Probably from its former owner.

Lines of prompts quietly appeared in the air:

"You obtained a sword."

"Jade Clip."

"Sword, rare grade."

"Sharpness +5, agility +3, strength +2."

"Divine Might: Blowing Snow."

"Description: Channel Spiritual Power into this ability to double the speed of your next sword strike."

"Jade blossoms fall into the pond; ask where they came from, and even you would not know."

A rare-grade sword!

Xu Yuan's eyes nearly popped out.

No wonder her attacks had felt like a rising tide during their fight, each wave higher than the last.

No wonder that strike had come too fast for him to react and knocked his sword away!

A pay-to-win player!

Those of us who rely on skill hate running into pay-to-win players most!

That fight had been like life itself: unfair from the start.

Fortunately—

Xu Yuan swiftly sheathed the sword, fastened it at his waist, and smiled as he cupped his hands toward her.

"You've gone to quite some expense."

"It was nothing." Jiang Xueyao shook her head. "Answer my question, and the sword is yours."

"Huh? What question?" Xu Yuan was baffled.

"What were you thinking during the fight?" Jiang Xueyao asked.

Xu Yuan opened his mouth.

You're so pretty, yet you're crazy?

During a fight, you fight.

What's there to think about?

For the sake of Jade Clip—

Xu Yuan considered it seriously, then said:

"Nothing in particular. I was just swinging my sword."

"What was your battle strategy?" Jiang Xueyao asked.

"..." said Xu Yuan.

She had stumped him.

He thought about it more deeply, then chose his words with care.

"I think I know what you mean, but in a fierce fight, taking time to think through a strategy is a waste."

"A waste of time?" Jiang Xueyao asked.

"Yes. Thoughts are too slow," Xu Yuan said.

"What in this world is faster than thought?" Jiang Xueyao pressed.

"Instinct. Turn every move into instinct so you don't even have to think. Sometimes being that one instant faster than your opponent is enough to decide the fight."

Xu Yuan answered honestly.

It was a little insight he had gained from playing countless esports matches.

And it wasn't just esports.

Athletes pursued sheer volume in training for the same reason: to turn technique into bodily instinct and achieve a breakthrough in quality.

It was the simplest truth in competition!

"By the way, I have a question for you too. Why did we fight?" Xu Yuan asked again.

Awkward.

Jiang Xueyao turned to look at the autumn scenery in the distance and said:

"The divine might on Jade Clip is called 'Blowing Snow.'"

"Of all the high school students who have fought me for the first time, you're the first who didn't lose to that strike."

"So the sword is yours."

Their fight had carried them all the way to the rooftop of the school building.

Yang Xiaobing stood not far away.

"It's fine. We were only sparring—Xiao Bing, you won."

Jiang Xueyao said that to her as well, then turned and left.

She left the rooftop, went down the stairs and out of the school building, and headed toward the school gate on her own.

As she walked, she took out her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello."

"Bring Crimson Sky."

A startled question came through the receiver.

"...Don't worry about it. Bring it now. I'll wait at the school gate."

Jiang Xueyao hung up.

That boy really is as strong as Yang Xiaobing said.

Yang Xiaobing wasn't deceived.

They trust each other, and neither lets outsiders sway them.

So.

I'm the one who was fooled?

They treated me as someone who could deceive Yang Xiaobing and handed me that fake love letter to win her trust?

All so they could—

Drive Xu Yuan away, bring Yang Xiaobing into their group, and earn excellent results on this important Monthly Exam.

Jiang Xueyao's almond-shaped eyes turned cold.

As she stopped at the school gate, a streak of light swept in across the sky.

A Flying Boat.

Six cultivators jumped down from the Flying Boat together and landed before Jiang Xueyao.

"Young lady."

The six greeted her in unison.

"Where's the sword?" Jiang Xueyao asked.

"Here." One of them patted the storage pouch at his waist and brought out a sword case covered in talismans.

All six formed hand seals together.

At their command, the talismans peeled away from the sword case one by one.

Only when every talisman was gone did the case slowly open.

Inside lay a longsword enclosed in a crimson scabbard.

"The head of the household sent a message."

"Tell me," Jiang Xueyao said.

"Don't kill anyone."

"Hmph. He thinks his own daughter is that vicious? I'll give him an earful when I get back."

The others lowered their heads and said nothing.

Jiang Xueyao beckoned the crimson sword into her hand, fastened it at her waist, and turned back through the school gate.

On the rooftop.

Xu Yuan and Yang Xiaobing stared at each other.

"She'd rather give me a sword than answer my question?" Xu Yuan asked.

Yang Xiaobing laughed and tried to smooth things over:

"I bet you could take one strike from her. She didn't believe me."

"The sword was the wager?" Xu Yuan asked.

"Yes," Yang Xiaobing said.

Neither of them meant any harm. They're both good people. Why tell him the truth?

"You've got a good eye, Xiao Bing. I owe you for this sword. Dinner's on me later," Xu Yuan said at once.

A rare-grade sword.

He had made a killing!

Ten minutes remained in the pre-exam warm-up.

Xu Yuan returned to the athletic field.

By then, nearly all the students from every class had arrived.

Everyone had also seen Xu Yuan and Jiang Xueyao fighting earlier.

But once the two rushed up to the rooftop, they had disappeared from view.

The teachers keeping order had shouted for everyone to stay back so no one would get hurt by accident.

Sword Qi could do serious damage.

So until Xu Yuan stepped onto the field, no one knew how the fight had ended.

"Look, he came back alive!"

Someone couldn't help shouting.

Xu Yuan rolled his eyes.

Ignoring the doubtful, fearful, appraising, and curious looks, he beckoned to Zhao Afei.

Zhao Afei had just finished warming up with a set of punches. He ran over, panting, looked Xu Yuan up and down, and suddenly cried out:

"Jade Clip!"

At his shout, the others looked over too.

Sure enough.

The sword that had once hung at Jiang Xueyao's waist now rested securely at Xu Yuan's.

A silent stir spread through the crowd.

Jiang Xueyao's sword!

She had given it to him!

"Incredible! So the love letter was for Jiang Xueyao?"

Zhao Afei looked at Xu Yuan with almost worshipful eyes.

"Bullshit!"

Xu Yuan grabbed the scabbard and swatted Zhao Afei on the backside before explaining:

"She broke my sword, so she gave me one to replace it."

"Oh, I see." Only then did Zhao Afei relax.

But something still didn't add up.

Replacing a broken sword was only right.

But she hadn't needed to give him the sword she carried herself.

That was a genuine high-grade weapon!

"Wait. Did you just smack my butt with that sword?"

Zhao Afei pointed at it, his voice full of disbelief.

"What, got a problem?" Xu Yuan asked.

"Could you hit me again?"

"...Since when did you get so creepy?"

"But that was Goddess Jiang's sword!"

"Cut the crap." Xu Yuan shot him a glare. "Xiao Bing and I have formed a team. Want to join us?"

"Of course!" Zhao Afei agreed at once.

Just then,

a teacher stepped onto the platform and announced loudly:

"Students of all classes, attention."

"You may now begin forming teams."

"Form squads of four for this Monthly Exam."

"Students who haven't found a team, gather on the left side of the field. In five minutes, you'll be assigned to teams at random."

"Begin!"

The neat ranks of every class immediately dissolved.

The graduating students headed for the teammates they had already arranged to join.

Those who still hadn't found a team could only stand where they were, watching each newly formed squad with envy as they waited to be assigned at random.

Xu Yuan waved toward the distance.

Yang Xiaobing came over and greeted Zhao Afei with a smile:

"We're counting on you for the pills, Zhao Afei."

"No problem! I've prepared plenty of mechanisms and traps, too—I'm counting on you to carry me, Xiao Bing!" Zhao Afei hurriedly put on a broad smile.

"You've taken up Artifact Refining too?" Yang Xiaobing asked curiously.

"I really don't like fighting head-on." Zhao Afei scratched his head sheepishly.

Xu Yuan stood to one side, about to speak, when lines of prompts suddenly appeared before his eyes:

"The Monthly Exam is about to begin."

"This exam can be converted into a 'competition.'"

"Would you like to convert it?"

So any kind of fight really did count as a competition!

Xu Yuan immediately asked, "Will converting it into a competition come with rewards?"

A line of small text appeared before his eyes:

"Every competition has rewards corresponding to its tier."

"Convert it," Xu Yuan said without hesitation.

Before the nightmare arrived, I needed to do everything I could to build up more power!

Besides,

there was something even more important.

The Qi Refiners' Combat Prep Room had yet to show its true potential.

Because he had no money!

He had only fourteen gold coins left.

And competitions were a way to farm gold coins!

In any competition, if you didn't build your economy, upgrade your equipment, and raise your overall strength—

no amount of skillful play would help!

It was another way of saying even the cleverest cook couldn't make a meal without rice.

Several breaths passed.

Lines of faintly glowing text quietly appeared:

"Available competition: 'Eight-School Joint Examination' is now open."

"Difficulty: Easy (variable)."

"Open competition. Observer groups from various factions in the current world are in position."

"Win the audience's ringing endorsements to receive special rewards!"

"Objective: Do your utmost and strive for the best possible result."

"Note: What you do in the competition will be shown to those secretly observing everything and may influence their decisions."

"If you win at this difficulty, or become the highest-scoring student in this competition, there is a chance you will influence the course of the subsequent nightmare-level competition."

"If you fail to meet the objective, you will immediately enter the nightmare-level competition 'The Road to Survival and the Revival Match I Had No Choice but to Enter Because a Sword Got Stuck in Me During My Crossing and I Couldn't Come Back to Life (Second Half).'"

"—Fight with everything you have to win!"

(End of chapter)