Chapter 102: Testing the Sword

Xiao Nan had no idea that Jiang Yu of the Four Seasons Sword Hall was determined to have him, and further believed he would encounter setbacks, using the opportunity to educate her own staff. As early as the gravity training sword trial, his mind had detected a feeling of being watched.

Though this life he was merely a high school student with little experience of the world, the skills from his previous life had not been lost.

The surveillance was tucked in an inconspicuous corner of the room—ordinary people wouldn't find it even if they searched carefully. To his eyes, however, it was as if placed right under his nose, spotted with a casual glance.

So, even though he was elated at the discovery and thoroughly enjoyed battling the puppet, he did not use his full strength. Instead, he kept his qi-blood and physical power at an extremely low output state.

On the surface, Jiang Yu seemed merely eager to recruit talent, without malice. But in dealing with people and matters, one must never reveal all their cards—that was his principle.

...

"Do not worry about tomorrow, do not sigh for yesterday, only strive to make today more beautiful..."

Not long after Xiao Nan returned home, his phone rang.

His predecessor's personality had been somewhat disagreeable—overly thoughtful, timid, and with a touch of melancholy. To put it plainly, he had a bit of a literary youth's flair. Students of this age generally loved lively things.

But he was old-fashioned, even setting his ringtone to a philosophical song.

Xiao Nan answered the call with an expressionless face. At this hour, it could only be that little girl Xiao Bei.

"Xiao Nan, did you buy groceries today? I still have one more class—wait for me to come home and cook. If you're hungry, eat some crackers. Also, Grandma Fang is coming over too, so buy a bit more."

Sure enough, Xiao Bei's energetic voice came through the phone, accompanied by laughter and chatter in the background.

"Already bought them," Xiao Nan shattered the girl's hopes in one go. "Listen, Xiao Bei, just eat at school. Coming home every day at noon affects your studies. Don't come back—I'm pretty good at cooking now, I won't starve. And stop worrying about things that don't concern you. Your big brother is so popular with the girls at school, they could fill a whole classroom."

"Fine, I won't come back then. No need to be so harsh about it!" Xiao Bei immediately wilted and hung up with a snap.

"This girl."

Xiao Nan scratched his head. The little girl was increasingly showing signs of becoming a problem teen—no wait, more like a neighborhood busybody. At such a young age, she was already worrying about her brother finding a girlfriend.

Just how much resentment did she hold toward that young lady of the Qin family, that she would introduce her own best friend to steal her fiancé?

Speaking of Xiao Bei's best friend, that would be Fang Luoluo...

He didn't know what wires had gotten crossed, but recently Fang Luoluo had been coming over quite frequently, and her gaze was rather unusual.

Logically speaking, the girl had a nice figure and was pleasant to look at. But whenever he remembered that the owner of those big, blinking eyes was only thirteen years old, Xiao Nan was struck by a deep sense of guilt.

No wonder some people said you had to find a girlfriend in kindergarten—even middle school wasn't safe anymore.

These days, young girls matured absurdly early. If his moral character were even slightly lacking, some honest man in the future would be quietly weeping till dawn.

Having ruthlessly retorted to his sister, Xiao Nan felt somewhat relieved. He went to the nursery and found a tungsten steel wheel axle used to hold down plastic sheeting, carried it to the center of the yard, and set it atop a tree stump.

The axle was somewhat damaged and deformed—it must have taken quite an impact to end up like that.

In Xiao Nan's memory, this thing seemed to have been picked up by Xiao Bei from outside. That was one good thing about the girl—she was very thrifty. She would bring home any old junk she found.

Besides the wheel axle, there were also the siblings' ebony swords, which had actually been carved from a long piece of round wood that Xiao Bei had also picked up. He remembered she had even chipped the kitchen knife in the process.

Thinking of the ebony swords, Xiao Nan picked one up, gave it a few swings, then set it aside. Better not to damage the sword, or the little girl would be heartbroken. After all, it had accompanied them for a full three or four years—they were attached to it.

He drew the standard practice sword he had brought back from the Four Seasons Sword Hall, took a deep breath, and his arms began to swell slightly.

The bulging lines of muscle finally carried a hint of sunlit beauty.

Raising the sword to eyebrow level, the blade gave a crisp "shrrrk"—

In the midst of a hum, a dazzling cold gleam flashed through the air, carrying searing heat, and struck the tungsten steel axle like lightning.

"Clang..."

The metallic ring was almost deafening. The axle, weighing over ten jin, flew a great distance. Fragments scattered everywhere—shattered steel from the burst.

Xiao Nan walked over, bent down, and picked up the axle to examine it. He found it had been cracked deeply by his single thrust. Where the blade had struck, there was a deep depression with radiating cracks, and a sword hole half a finger deep.

It showed the power of that thrust.

"Even with the axle flying off to dissipate the force, it still pierced a hole this deep. My thrust, 'Awakening Insects, Dragon Serpent,' is indeed formidable. If I used a slashing motion, even an ordinary iron sword could sever tungsten steel."

Having assessed his attack power, Xiao Nan felt quite satisfied.

At the sword hall, he had tested the fusion of his sword techniques, integrating eyes, hands, body, and footwork with his power output. What he tested now was his maximum attack power.

Driven by a constant force of nearly one thousand five hundred jin, amplified by the Thunder Sword, it unleashed a full burst of over two thousand jin of sword force. Moreover, that explosive force carried searing heat.

Compared to the Summer-character Wild Thunder Sword that Jiang Lin had used in the spatial recording, Xiao Nan's thrust, nurtured from vitality, was considerably more powerful.

He sensed that as his mastery of the true meaning of this Thunder Sword deepened, the amplification was still rising.

"At its peak, it might reach a doubling effect."

Even Xiao Nan himself was somewhat shaken.

If that were the case, Jiang Yu's attitude was worth pondering—she clearly understood the secret within.

The same sword technique, in different hands, could display completely different power depending on one's comprehension.

"Perhaps it's because of the fusion of the true meanings of the three Spring-character swords... The strength of the foundational essence causes all the other Four Seasons sword moves to rise with the tide. From the looks of it, no one at the Yuanjiang Four Seasons Sword Hall had ever achieved this. Whether Jiang Yu herself had mastered it was unknown, but judging by her demeanor, she likely hadn't—otherwise she wouldn't be so covetous."

Not that she coveted his looks. He knew what she was after.

Simply put: join my school, serve under my command.

She was ambitious indeed.

Having witnessed the true power of the Four Seasons Sword Technique, Xiao Nan reflected that what Jiang Yu had said at the sword hall was not mere boasting. Mastering the true Four Seasons Reincarnation Sword could indeed dominate the way of the sword.

But the thought only crossed his mind before he forcibly suppressed it.

No matter what, how could he abandon the path he had set for himself to join some school or dojo, fighting and bleeding for their benefit? That would be giving up a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed—putting the cart before the horse.

...

The next day, Xiao Nan rose early. After practicing the Spirit-Conception Body-Forge Method for a while, he felt invigorated in both body and mind.

For the senior students of Yuanjiang No. 1 High School, today was an important day.

After passing today's qi-blood test, the martial arts examination at Yuanjiang High School would be fully complete.

According to the standard examination procedure over the years, as long as they passed the test, even the worst of these martial arts students could, at minimum, be admitted to a second-tier university...

As for which school exactly would favor them, that was yet to be determined. Whether it was a prestigious university ranking at the top of the nation, or a martial university at the bottom—that would depend on their performance in the upcoming provincial capital joint examination, which would yield a comprehensive score.

Based on that score, they would then fill in their college preferences.

From Xiong Bing, he had learned that the upcoming Blood-Bath Trial was essentially a rite of passage. Completing it was simple enough. But standing out, drawing attention, and earning bonus points—that was the difficult part.

The Empire held this trial to keep the national humiliation in mind. Every graduating martial arts student was also on the cusp of adulthood... they were to forever remember the bloody feud with the barbarians, kill barbarians to earn merit, bathe in blood on the battlefield, and never be cowards.

This trial was a protected one; there was essentially no danger to life.

He was getting ahead of himself. The most important task at hand was still passing the qi-blood test.

Crossing the bridge, getting off the car.

Xiao Nan looked up. The school gate was swarming with people, and someone was maintaining order... Well-dressed men and women, some smiling, some looking worried, queued up to enter.

In a corner nearby, a fat man was flushed with excitement, shouting loudly: "I'll bet all of them pass, twenty wagers!"

Well, well. A high school qi-blood test, and members of the public had already set up betting odds.

They were gambling on how many students in the entire senior class would pass the qi-blood examination.

Xiao Nan merely glanced over and stopped paying attention. Dragon or worm—this wave would tell.