Chapter 505: The Slow-Witted Panda

"Is that so?"

Jiang Ding was a little disappointed.

With that kind of drive, one cannot accomplish anything.

Being born of the panda clan does not guarantee one will become a powerhouse.

Most of them are spirit beasts without spiritual intelligence; even among those who awaken it, those with poorer talent and comprehension only ever become mortals or Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, who simply enjoy the same civil rights as everyone else.

"Then Hua Hua Xiaohua will just have to work hard."

"Maybe in the future Hua Hua Xiaohua will become a sword-path powerhouse renowned throughout the world?"

Jiang Ding offered encouragement.

"Mm!"

Panda Hua Hua Xiaohua said loudly.

A gust of wind blew in, lifting the fluffy black-and-white dumpling and carrying it to the window of the skyscraper, then letting it drop downward.

"Ah! Help!"

Hua Hua Xiaohua shrieked, flailing as if drowning, clawing frantically at the air around her, terrified.

She grabbed a calf.

All four limbs wrapped tight around it.

Jiang Ding felt a sudden weight on one leg, looked down, and asked in puzzlement, "Hua Hua Xiaohua, haven't you ever flown through the sky with your elders before?"

"... I have."

The panda cub curled into a ball, clinging desperately to the leg, lowered her head, and let out an extremely faint baby voice lost in the wind—so quiet that without divine sense, no one could hear it.

"Oh."

Jiang Ding understood.

Timid by nature, afraid of heights.

He flew to the middle floors of the skyscraper, opened the floor-to-ceiling window, and flew inside.

"Greetings, Senior Jiang!"

A ring of people bowed in perfect unison—men and women alike, ranging from their sixties or seventies down to their twenties or thirties, over sixty in all.

"Hello, everyone."

Jiang Ding gave a slight nod.

These people were the members of the thirteenth Golden Core Sword-Path Training Class.

Eighty percent of them were cold-weapon instructors within the immortal sects who had solid teaching ability and were beloved by their students—some from public schools, some from private, some from civilian training classes, some from the military, all manner of backgrounds, with no distinction made for origin.

There was no fee, either; they only had to sign an agreement that for the next twenty years they would teach a certain number of sword students to a qualified standard, or else compensate a hefty breach-of-contract penalty.

This penalty, benchmarked against the make-up lesson fees of a Golden Core cultivator, was such that the average Qi Refining cultivator would not dare contemplate the consequences of breaching.

Even so, every year the stream of applicants was endless—nearly every cold-weapon instructor within the immortal sects had applied at some point, year after year.

Some who had not originally been in the teaching profession, upon hearing the news, immediately switched careers, earnestly attempting to teach students and honing their instructional skills.

For no other reason than—

Half a year of guidance from a Golden Core cultivator!

The value of that, for a Qi Refining cultivator, was a great opportunity, and the required compensation was minimal—how could anyone not be tempted?

The remaining twenty percent of the slots went to the sword-path instructors who, over the past year, had taught the most and the best students—this was a reward and cultivation given to them.

"So cute!"

The gazes of the sixty-odd students were drawn to Jiang Ding's left foot, and many of the women's eyes lit up with little stars.

Long after landing, a black-and-white dumpling extended a paw, probing left and right, repeatedly confirming the solidity of the ground, before cautiously releasing the trouser leg and slowly standing up.

Her large, distinctively black-and-white eyes looked around, sniffing every now and then.

"This… classmate Hua Hua Xiaohua will be cultivating alongside everyone from now on."

Jiang Ding said.

"Hello, brothers and sisters, I'm Hua Xiaohua."

Hua Hua Xiaohua bowed, her adorably big eyes looking at the many classmates, and said in a baby voice, "We'll be classmates from now on, please take good care of me."

It was clear she had been taught well by her family and had excellent manners.

"No problem!"

"Welcome, classmate Hua Xiaohua!"

Many students blurted it out on instinct, their reason overwhelmed by the cuteness.

Quite a few could not resist crowding over, pulling out their phones, snapping away with click-click sounds, taking a flurry of selfies with the panda cub, posting them to their social feeds—all in one smooth motion.

"Ahem!"

Jiang Ding coughed once.

Mind yourselves—it's class time.

The surrounding students gave a start, swiftly returning to formation, chests out, lining up neatly.

Only Hua Hua Xiaohua was left, looking around in bewilderment, her eyes darting inside their dark circles, taking a step to the left, then a step to the right.

"First row, last position."

Jiang Ding said softly.

"Yes, Senior Jiang!"

Hua Hua Xiaohua nodded her panda head vigorously, hurried to the spot, puffed out her chest, planted her paws on her hips, and stood at attention.

"Today, we will once again cover basic swordsmanship and basic sword-flight technique."

Jiang Ding said slowly, "Basic swordsmanship is the foundation of all sword arts. Once your basic swordsmanship is thoroughly mastered, learning other sword arts will become far easier. Let's begin."

"Yes!"

Soon, the group spread out, sword-light dancing, a peacock fanning its tail, layer upon layer of sword Qi rising up.

Jiang Ding split his divine sense into several dozen strands, targeting each trainee's body and meridian condition, pointing out errors, and instantly designing a set of plans, patiently teaching.

With divine sense at the peak of Jin Dan, it often produced the effect of four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds; basically every trainee's swordsmanship would greatly improve after half a year, each one able to fight two of their former selves.

Jiang Ding nodded slightly from time to time.

Compared to six years ago, everyone's swordsmanship was undoubtedly much better now; over a dozen had reached the level of amateur third-grade swordsmen — quite decent.

Now, although it couldn't be called good, the word "unbearable to look at" could no longer be applied to them.

His gaze shifted to the last corner of the front row.

A black-and-white dumpling about a meter tall, her right paw gripping a long sword nearly as tall as herself, clumsily swinging left and right, chopping down, stumbling every so often — making one worry she might fall to the ground and hurt herself.

"Have you never learned before?"

Jiang Ding focused a strand of divine sense on her and asked softly.

"Senior Jiang, no."

Hua Hua Xiaohua's eyes darted away, not daring to look at anyone, feeling that the gap between herself and the older brothers and sisters around her was enormous.

"Just learn slowly."

Jiang Ding comforted her: "Actually, when they first started learning, they were even clumsier than you. Later on, they gradually practiced and became what they are now."

"I'll do my best!"

Hua Hua Xiaohua was indeed encouraged and said firmly.

"Mm, bear-type paws aren't suited for gripping a sword, but that's not a big deal."

Jiang Ding said casually: "Don't we have true Qi inside our bodies? Use true Qi as the palm, extend strands of true Qi, condense them at the tips of the claws — that way you can grip the sword…"

Pandas can also cultivate the "Young Eagle Takes Flight Art," and there's a version suited for them; the subsequent Gong Fa are the same — all of these are the achievements of the Shu Capital Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, part of Old Hua's industry layout.

Hua Hua Xiaohua is currently at the Achieved Realm of Young Eagle inner Qi.

Far behind her is her younger sister Hua Hua Xiaoye, who is already a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator — or rather, demon cultivator.

"I know this one — it's the 'Thousand Silk Guide'!"

Hua Hua Xiaohua's spirit lifted; her right paw fidgeted a bit, and sure enough wisps of sword Qi sprayed out, firmly gripping the hilt. She executed the sword moves again, and indeed was steadier, no longer wobbling.

Another set of basic sword techniques practiced through.

Jiang Ding revealed a slightly strange expression, didn't tell her to stop, and watched a few more times.

Not quite sure, he searched online and found a video of an inner Qi realm giant panda using a cold weapon, carefully comparing.

"Eh, was this video sped up?"

Jiang Ding felt puzzled, looking left and right.

Both Hua Hua Xiaohua and the panda in the video were using weapons; the panda in the video was using a heavy weapon like a great hammer, but between each move, it was much faster than Hua Hua Xiaohua.

She was like doing tai chi — bear paws dancing the sword, slow and leisurely, slow to react.

"Senior Jiang, how is it?"

After performing several sets of basic sword techniques, Hua Hua Xiaohua felt her improvement was huge and said excitedly: "Have I gotten a lot stronger?"

"You have gotten a lot stronger."

Jiang Ding's face showed a difficult expression as he nodded.

(End of chapter)