"Old Sword Man, what's wrong with you? You won, yet your Face is still cold? Your temper is getting worse."
As the sunset faded and under the faint moonlight, Chen Xin, after finishing his sword duel, didn't continue to bother him. Instead, he walked towards the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, somewhat dejected.
Gu Rong called out to him a few times from behind, and Chen Xin turned his head, looking at him speechlessly:
"Old Bones, don't call out. If you call again, I'll really get angry with you. With your cultivation, you should be able to see that I lost this sword duel."
"You lost?"
Gu Rong was stunned: "Dean Su's peach branch was clearly cut by you, so how did it become you lost?"
"Did you even seriously watch our sword fight?"
Chen Xin looked at Gu Rong strangely.
Gu Rong chuckled, too embarrassed to answer.
My apologies, old friend. I was too engrossed in chatting with Wang Sheng and those little guys, and I temporarily ignored you.
Seeing Gu Rong remain silent, Chen Xin said impatiently:
"Although I cut his peach branch, it was when my Seven Kill Sword Qi was about to be completely dispelled by him, and I instinctively used the power of my Spirit. By the time I realized this, the peach branch had already been cut. This counts as a foul, so naturally, I lost."
"Otherwise, in this sword duel, relying solely on my Seven Kill Sword Art, I wouldn't have been able to break his Tai Chi Sword.
Rongrong's teacher, despite being young, possesses such profound swordsmanship. If anyone ever says I'm the number one swordsman again, I'll truly be ashamed."
"However, Dean Su's mind is indeed broad. Even though I fouled, he saw through it but didn't expose it, saving me some Face. I'm ashamed. He is worthy of being Rongrong's teacher."
Chen Xin looked at the dim sky and let out a long sigh.
Gu Rong's expression also changed, "Old Sword Man, what? Your Sword Heart hasn't wavered, has it?"
For powerhouses at their level, their own confidence and Dao Heart are extremely important. If the Old Sword Man's Sword Heart were destroyed, his strength would fall by more than just a little.
"Sword Heart wavering? Is my Dao Heart that fragile?"
Chen Xin snorted:
"For Dean Su, at his age, to render my Seven Kill Sword Art helpless, it truly leaves me quite emotional."
"However, my heart is boiling."
"For how many years, I always thought that only that old fellow in Spirit Hall could surpass me in swordsmanship. I never expected another rising star with extraordinary swordsmanship to appear."
"Old Bones, you wouldn't understand. An old friend, a companion beyond age, I will definitely figure out a way to break Dean Su's Tai Chi Sword. I haven't had this kind of passion in a long time."
At this point, a strange light flashed in Chen Xin's eyes. There were very few who could duel with him.
This made him very lonely in the way of the sword.
"You Old Sword Man, it seems I worried about you unnecessarily."
Gu Rong shook his head, helplessly.
But just then, a sharp aura emanated from Chen Xin, locking onto Gu Rong:
"I almost forgot, I haven't settled the score with you yet. You were just happily munching on melon seeds and watching me get schooled, weren't you? Come here and duel!"
Gu Rong's Face changed: Eh???
He lost the sword duel, and now he's taking it out on me?
...
"Teacher, are you alright!"
"Grandpa Sword is really something. He clearly got too caught up in the fight. Teacher didn't even use his most powerful swordsmanship against him! And he got serious!"
"Teacher, was it because of Rongrong that you intentionally let Grandpa Sword win to save his Face? You're so good to Rongrong, boohoo~"
At the Peach Blossom Spring villa, Ning Rongrong hugged Su Ran's arm, extremely nervous.
If Chen Xin heard this, his eyes would probably pop out.
Rongrong? Are you saying that the swordsmanship that made Grandpa Sword difficult to break wasn't even your teacher's best?
The moment the peach branch was cut, several students instantly tensed up. Wang Sheng couldn't even finish his melon seeds, spilling them everywhere. Only after confirming that Teacher was fine did he honestly go to clean up.
Su Ran smiled faintly:
"Alright, your Grandpa Sword's swordsmanship is indeed incomparably sharp. I was careless, Teacher."
"But don't worry, Teacher is fine."
Su Ran lightly dusted off his clothes. Although Chen Xin fouled by using the power of his Spirit to break his Tai Chi Sword momentum, it wasn't enough to injure him.
"It's getting late, and dinner will be soon."
"Before that, I still need to give you your final competition deployment."
"Gather."
Su Ran said, taking a deep breath.
"Yes!"
Hearing the word "gather," the seven students of Peach Garden Academy stood in a neat line.
Su Ran said:
"Tomorrow is the opening ceremony of the Spirit Master Tournament. After the opening ceremony, the preliminary rounds will begin. If you're lucky, you might be drawn to compete tomorrow."
"Nearly a hundred teams from across the continent will participate, and only thirty teams will stand out. The two great Empires each have fifteen slots, and our Heaven Dou City division has five promotion slots.
The preliminary rounds will adopt a single-elimination tournament format, which means you will need to compete against all teams in the Heaven Dou City division. The top five teams with the highest points will qualify for the promotion stage."
"With your current strength, if you fully exert yourselves, qualifying won't be difficult."
"However, Teacher hopes that in every Spirit Master competition, you can gain more team refinement and individual improvement."
"Therefore, in the preliminary rounds, you cannot use the cultivation methods and unique skills I taught you. Try to fight using only the most primitive Spirit power and Spirit Abilities.
And unless absolutely necessary, Lingling and Rongrong, you two support Spirit Masters cannot act at the same time. This means you will be fighting 6 against 7, until you feel the pressure and crisis of the situation."
"Doing this can both allow you to conserve your strength, preventing you from being targeted too early, and also cultivate your ability to withstand pressure and your 1-on-many combat strength, which will be greatly beneficial for you after graduation when you Face countless enemies alone."
"In the promotion stage, you can use basic unique skills. After entering the finals, you can appropriately use the power of Spirit Bones and cultivation methods."
After Su Ran finished speaking, the seven students of Peach Garden Academy looked at each other. They had originally planned to go all out without regrets, as they had come with a mission.
"Graduation? Graduation is impossible, I want to stay by Teacher's side and learn forever! I don't want to leave!"
Ning Rongrong quickly said.
Zhu Zhuqing, Meng Yiran, and Xiao Wu also nodded: "Me too, I don't want to graduate either!"
Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan were a bit confused:
Although Teacher is very good, and I don't want to leave Teacher either, isn't getting a graduation qualification an honor? That means receiving Teacher's ultimate approval!
Why are they so resistant?
Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and other students' inner thoughts: New students, you don't understand. If we graduate, for whom will our water and blood flow in the future?
"Graduation is still far off for you. Focusing on doing what's in front of you is the right path."
Su Ran was also somewhat speechless about these students' desire not to graduate.
Do you really think graduating from Peach Blossom Spring Academy is easy?
"..."
"But, Teacher, I found a problem. With this deployment plan of yours, what if we can't withstand the pressure and lose in the preliminary rounds? Can we still not use unique skills and cultivation methods then?"
Xiao Wu, unaware of their current strength level, asked innocently.
Su Ran smiled faintly and teased: "Then there's nothing to be done. If you lose, then Teacher will only be able to become Yu Xiaogang's disciple. At that time, you will either have to sever your teacher-student relationship with Teacher, or you'll have to become Yu Xiaogang's grand-disciples.
I forgot to tell you, Heaven Dou Royal Academy has a seeded team that can directly advance without playing in the preliminary rounds. This spot will definitely go to the combined team of the Royal Fight Team and Shrek. So if we don't get past the preliminary rounds, Teacher will have lost the bet."
"Ah?"
"What?!"
Upon hearing this, Ning Rongrong and the others immediately became anxious:
"No way, we can't lose even if it kills us!"
"Becoming Yu Xiaogang's grand-disciples? That's worse than dying!"
"I don't want Teacher to lose!"
Su Ran's single sentence invigorated the students. They had never wanted to win so badly!
Let Yu Xiaogang win by doing nothing? How could that be!?
I'll make those scoundrels from Shrek and the Royal Fight Team crawl and beg for mercy! Otherwise, I won't feel satisfied!
"Alright, alright. As long as you perform at your normal level, you won't lose. If I didn't believe in you, I wouldn't have accepted this bet."
Su Ran looked at the sky and said faintly: "It's getting late. After dinner, everyone should rest early today and prepare for tomorrow's Spirit Master Tournament."
...
"Um... Teacher, you have a bet with Yu Xiaogang, and you've also made combat demands of us. Can you make a bet with Rongrong too?"
Ning Rongrong, behind her other classmates, found Su Ran, with a little selfish thought:
"For every match we win, Teacher, you reward Rongrong—give me a kiss, okay?!"
She didn't expect that her Junior Sisters had already figured out their Senior Sister's tendencies:
"Sister Rongrong, you're hogging all the good stuff again!"
"I want a kiss too!"
Xiao Wu weakly raised her hand: "Um, can I have a wet kiss?"
Su Ran: ( °ー°〃)
"Children, wash up and go to sleep."
-------------------------------
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