Chapter 18: Initial Sword Art Transmission

“Zhang, you’re also shopping?”

Xu Xing and Zhang Yunlu had just stepped out of the mall when they ran into a middle-aged man in a suit with a slicked-back haircut, followed by several students in blue-and-white school uniforms.

Zhang Yunlu hesitated for a moment, then bowed respectfully. “Teacher, hello.”

It was her teacher.

“Heh.” The teacher smiled, turning to Xu Xing. “I’m Fang Chi, Zhang’s teacher. May I ask your name?”

Zhang Yunlu didn’t know how to answer this question.

“I’m the tutor Zhang hired,” Xu Xing said casually.

Guiding her cultivation counts as tutoring.

Upon hearing his identity, the students behind Fang Chi exchanged glances, and his expression stiffened slightly.

“I see. Zhang is indeed hardworking,” Fang Chi nodded slightly. “The combat test is the day after tomorrow—Zhang should do quite well.”

Then he led the students past them and entered the mall.

“Your teacher doesn’t seem to like you much. Care to explain why?”

Especially when you said you were her tutor.

It wasn’t something she couldn’t say.

“Teacher Fang… at the start of this semester, he set up a remedial class. I was the only one in the class who didn’t attend, and since my grades were still decent, over a dozen others dropped out too.”

Ever since that incident, he hasn’t dared openly target her—after all, Zhang Yunlu still has some reputation at the Third Middle School of Xuanjian City.

But he’s deliberately ignored her in class and in every other matter. If her mental resilience weren’t strong, she’d have already withdrawn into herself.

Yet at first, he clearly said the remedial class was voluntary—anyone who didn’t want to attend could skip it.

Sometimes, you don’t even mean to offend someone, yet you still end up offending them for no reason.

“Do you hate him?” Xu Xing asked.

Hate? Hate her own teacher? That sounded overly dramatic. But hearing him ask, she did feel a pang of discomfort.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

Xu Xing wasn’t surprised by this reply.

Such matters are inherently minor or major depending on perspective; Zhang Yunlu’s mental resilience was excellent, and she wouldn’t blame fate or others over this.

She probably never thought about it in her daily life.

But whenever someone brought it up or asked, she’d reflect and feel a tightness in her chest.

Adolescent emotions come fast and fade quickly—you sulk over past wrongs, yet forget them entirely the next moment when something joyful happens.

“Do you want him to pay a price?”

Pay a price?

Memories of past incidents surfaced one by one in her mind; the more she thought, the more suffocated she felt. She nodded firmly: “Yes!”

“If you want, then let’s go.”

Xu Xing waved his hand and flagged down a car.

…………

More than ten minutes later, the two returned to the villa.

As soon as Zhang Yunlu entered, she looked around curiously—she’d heard of this place but had never been here.

Xu Xing activated the “air conditioning” array and set it to the most comfortable temperature, then turned to her directly.

“You’ve just reached Qi Refining ninth level. Don’t rush your cultivation—I’ll teach you a sword art.”

He raised a finger, and a streak of spiritual light shot out, arriving instantly and sinking into Zhang Yunlu’s third eye.

The moment the light entered her forehead, she felt a wave of dizziness, as if something had suddenly appeared in her mind.

When she came to, nearly a thousand characters filled her vision—when she examined them closely, they were a sword technique.

“Flowing Cloud Sword Art”

A sword art emphasizing lightness and fluidity, with exquisite movements, focusing on using the opponent’s force against them, softness overcoming hardness, and skill overcoming brute strength.

Qi Refining cultivators, limited by their spiritual power, gain very low returns from practicing spells—close-combat techniques like this are far more suitable. “For the upcoming combat test, this sword art will suffice.”

“Two days… I doubt I can learn it.”

Come on, isn’t that overestimating me a bit? Learn a sword art in two days? “Don’t worry about that—you’ll understand after you return home,” Xu Xing said, not actually expecting her to learn it alone. “When you report your realm to school tomorrow, after you’ve fully learned about Foundation Establishment, come back here. If you truly wish to forge the Heavenly Foundation, I’ll teach you a suitable scripture, a method to absorb solar and lunar essence, and a celestial treasure.”

As he spoke, he pulled a small wooden tablet from a drawer and tossed it to Zhang Yunlu.

“This is the array access token. Keep it safe and don’t lose it.”

…………

A few minutes later, Zhang Yunlu left the villa, still in a daze.

So all this was just to get an array key?

And “don’t worry”—what did that even mean? Did he really trust her talent so much?

Hmm…

Could she actually be a hidden sword prodigy? She stood by the roadside of the residential complex, lost in thought.

“Xiao Lu?”

A figure descended slowly, riding a sword.

“Brother?” Zhang Yunlu blinked. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to submit a report,” Zhang Xiu explained.

As the first to discover the elder’s emergence from seclusion, he was required to file a detailed account of the event.

“What about you? Why are you here?”

“This…”

How could she explain? That she’d met a powerful elder on the street, and he’d taken a liking to her and offered her a chance? Could she say that?

Seeing her hesitation, Zhang Xiu’s heart sank, yet his face still wore a gentle smile.

“It’s fine—if you can’t say, don’t.”

He could always sneak over tonight to investigate.

“Mm.”

Zhang Yunlu nodded slightly, feeling guilty.

“Let’s go,” Zhang Xiu smiled warmly.

The two walked out together.

After all, sword cultivators below Nascent Soul couldn’t carry passengers while riding their swords—he couldn’t return alone, so they’d have to take a taxi.

“Still no leads.”

In a nearby villa, a white-robed figure watched the siblings’ retreating backs with cold eyes.

Behind him stood another person—Xiao Ning True Person, who had clashed with the demonic cultivator youth during the creation of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

Xiao Ning True Person felt utterly exasperated—why did it have to be this uncle?

“Uncle, since the Sword Sect has already acknowledged that the emerging cultivator is theirs, can’t we stop pursuing this?”

The Dao-Union elder of the Tai Shang Dao Sect turned, calmly facing Xiao Ning True Person: “That emerging cultivator caused such a commotion. He didn’t even come to explain himself to me—instead, he deliberately hid. I have reason to suspect he colluded with demonic cultivators to massacre the city and forge the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.”

Xiao Ning True Person: “...”

Uncle, can you stop saying “this humble one” all the time? According to Sheng Huang Yuan, that sounds incredibly cringey!

And isn’t this clearly personal revenge? Back then, it was your nephew’s own wicked heart—he sacrificed infant souls to practice demonic arts—and was slain by a passing sword cultivator who had just emerged from seclusion.

Ah~ That incident stirred up a huge uproar back then—even the sect leaders of both sects were alarmed. It took great effort to settle.

Everyone thought it was over. But years ago, after this uncle ascended to Dao-Union, his first act was to request a posting in the Ancient Cultivator Response Division within the Sword Sect’s territory.

Clearly, he hasn’t forgotten.

“I’m merely following protocol,” the Dao-Union elder said, violet qi swirling in his eyes. “What? They can do it, but I cannot?”

Please collect and support! (End of Chapter)