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Afterward, once Su Yuntao had led everyone out of the room, he looked at the Village Chief and said with a smile, "Village Chief, the number of children who awakened spirit power in your village this year is quite impressive. There are three in total, and one of them even has an innate spirit power of rank five. Although his Spirit is just a rusty iron sword, that is still an excellent result."
Then, Su Yuntao turned to Xiao Tian with a wide smile and said, "Little fellow, would you be interested in joining Spirit Hall and studying at the Spirit Hall Academy?"
Su Yuntao extended the invitation personally. Having come from a commoner background himself, he knew better than anyone that Spirit Hall was the most suitable organization for Spirit Masters without a noble lineage.
When the Village Chief saw Su Yuntao's gaze fall upon Xiao Tian, he instantly understood. It seemed the boy had awakened a Spirit that was to his liking after all. Even though it was just a rusty sword, with an innate rank of five, becoming a Spirit King in the future wouldn't be a problem at all, provided he cultivated diligently. He was a Spirit Master himself, so he was well aware that a Spirit would undergo some changes after spirit rings were attached. Furthermore, as a blacksmith, he was certain that Xiao Tian's Sword Spirit wouldn't remain a rusty blade forever! Absorbing spirit rings carried a significant chance of altering a Spirit's appearance, not to mention greatly strengthening it.
"Xiao Tian, what are your thoughts?" The Village Chief didn't rush to push Xiao Tian into joining Spirit Hall. Every year, any child in their village who awakened with an innate spirit power of rank two or higher was typically invited by Su Yuntao. He had grown quite accustomed to it. However, because most of the Spirits awakened in their village were related to forging, many of the children ultimately chose to study at a nearby academy, returning to work in the village's blacksmith shop after graduation.
Xiao Tian fell silent for a moment before giving Su Yuntao an innocent-looking smile. "Lord Spirit Master, I'd like to see the outside world for myself first. I'll definitely consider going to Spirit Hall when I get the chance in the future!"
Xiao Tian's refusal was a bit of a surprise to Su Yuntao, but he couldn't very well force the issue. He thought to himself that the child was indeed a bit naive, yearning for the excitement of the outside world. That world, however, was not always so friendly to commoners.
'Oh well,' he mused, 'after he runs into some trouble, he'll probably head to the Spirit Hall Academy on his own. It might be good for him to be tempered a little by the outside world anyway.' With that thought, Su Yuntao bid farewell to the old Village Chief and headed off towards the next village.
In truth, Xiao Tian really didn't want to join any organization too early. Right now, he was far more curious about this new system of his. If given the chance, he also wanted to first meet some of the famous characters from this world. After all, the Douluo Continent was commonly known among fans as the 'Romance Continent.' In his previous life, aside from his passion for collecting famous swords, he was also quite the admirer of beautiful women! Hehe.
The old Village Chief respected Xiao Tian's choice and said, "In that case, our village's work-study student slot will go to you. In three months, you can go and enroll at Nuoding Academy, which is near the village."
Xiao Tian hesitated slightly before replying, "Grandpa Village Chief, is it really alright to just give the slot to me? There were other children in the village who awakened Spirits and spirit power too..."
"Hahaha, who told you our village only has one work-study slot? It's just that Nuoding Academy only offers us one such position! Now, you don't have to worry about that. Come on, follow me to the blacksmith's shop. Didn't you say you wanted a real longsword?"
[Ding! An eighty-thousand-year-old Blue Silver King has been detected in the Host's vicinity. Please proceed with caution!]
Xiao Tian followed the Village Chief towards the blacksmith's shop. Along the way, his unhinged system kept broadcasting warnings about a nearby Blue Silver King, but all he could see was the ubiquitous Blue Silver Grass. There was no trace of any Blue Silver King to be found! Xiao Tian shook his head in annoyance, deciding to ignore the incessant notifications.
Suddenly, he accidentally stepped on a stalk of Blue Silver Grass. Not paying it much mind, he simply moved his foot away. Blue Silver Grass was just like the common weeds from his past life; it was impossible for anyone to care about it.
But at that very moment, the system's voice suddenly rang out again.
[Holy crap! The Host actually stomped on the eighty-thousand-year-old Blue Silver King, killing it instantly! The system is greatly shocked! Triggering a critical hit reward!]
[Reward: Host's comprehension has been greatly enhanced! Innate spirit power has been raised to rank ten!]
Xiao Tian: ???
He was completely bewildered. Was this system really that insane? He couldn't help but glance back at the stalk of Blue Silver Grass he had just crushed underfoot. Wasn't that just an ordinary piece of grass? How could he possibly have the ability to kill a Blue Silver King just by stepping on it?
Even with his vast knowledge from countless web novels in his past life, he was utterly baffled. He had good reason to suspect that the system simply thought his original talent was too poor and had concocted this roundabout excuse to give him a reward! After all, he was a system-user now. If the Host was too pathetic, the system itself would lose face, wouldn't it?
Since the system was being so proactive, he supposed he could reluctantly accept this reward. Hehe, talk about accepting a gift while pretending it's a burden!
At the Blacksmith's Shop.
The Village Chief handed the longsword he had forged to Xiao Tian and said with a smile, "Xiao Tian, this is the iron sword you've always wanted. It's forged from the very best ore our village could obtain. However, I was thinking, since your Spirit is also a sword, perhaps this iron sword..."
Before the Village Chief could finish his sentence, Xiao Tian snatched the iron sword away, saying protectively like a mother hen with her chick, "Grandpa Village Chief, since you already said this sword was forged for me, you can't take it back now! It doesn't matter that my Spirit is also a sword."
"Alright, alright, I wasn't going to take it from you," the chief chuckled. "Oh, that's right, Xiao Tian, could you show me your Spirit?"
Xiao Tian nodded and turned his right hand over. "Fifteen, come on out!"
The next moment, a dark, black longsword appeared in Xiao Tian's right hand. He was surprised to find, however, that the rust that had previously covered Sword Fifteen had completely vanished. Could it be that the improvement in his innate spirit power had also improved the quality of his Spirit?
"Eh? Xiao Tian, your Spirit is named Sword Fifteen? That's a curious name. And didn't that Lord Spirit Master say it was a rusty sword? How come I don't see any rust on it now? How very strange."
Then, to the old Village Chief's astonishment, the Sword Fifteen in Xiao Tian's hand gave a polite bow. Its blade bent and swayed softly from side to side in a comically charming way. This left the old Village Chief absolutely stunned. In all his years as a Spirit Master and a blacksmith, it was the first time he had ever seen a Spirit with such a lively sentience!
"Xiao Tian, this Spirit of yours seems incredibly unusual... There's an indescribable quality to it..."
The old Village Chief's eye for quality was quite sharp; he could tell that Xiao Tian's Spirit was something truly special. And now, Xiao Tian was even more certain than before. His Spirit was very likely the Sword Fifteen from his past life's memories, the one formed from the spirit of the Xuanyuan Sword! Xiao Tian simply gave the old Village Chief a knowing grin but said nothing more.
Time passed quickly, and three months later, under the Village Chief's guidance, Xiao Tian finally arrived at the gates of Nuoding Academy.
During those three months, he had spent every day training with his swords on the mountain behind the village. When his spirit power was abundant, he would practice with Sword Fifteen, and once it was exhausted, he would switch to the iron sword the Village Chief had given him. And perhaps it was due to the comprehension enhancement rewarded by the system, but he had managed to cultivate a rudimentary Sword Intent with surprising ease. He could even condense sword qi at his fingertips and launch it outwards!
This development genuinely surprised him. Aside from basic swings, he didn't know any other complex sword techniques. He hadn't expected to grasp Sword Intent first. Wasn't that getting the order of things a little backward?
After the gatekeeper glanced at the work-study student certificate in Xiao Tian's hand, he let him in without saying a word. 'Now that's how it should be,' Xiao Tian thought to himself. 'Where do all those face-slapping scenarios in stories come from? The guard is just an ordinary person; how would he dare to provoke a future Spirit Master?'
As expected, Xiao Tian was assigned to the designated dormitory for work-study students: Dormitory Seven.
The moment he entered, all eyes in the room focused on him. One of the boys spoke with a distinctly arrogant expression, "You must be the new student. The name's Wang Sheng, and we have a rule here in Dormitory Seven. If you want to stay, you first have to fight the dorm leader!"
(End of chapter)