Ling Xian hadn't expected him to announce the news so soon. These days, getting married was certainly a big deal, but he hadn't imagined that falling in love would fall into the same category…
Ling Xian surmised that this was probably because he'd been deprived of it for so long… He couldn't even begin to imagine how much he'd been longing for all of this. Once he fell in the pond of love, he was completely hooked.
Clearly, the golden age of romance had arrived.
Meanwhile, Hao Zhen was a bit pissed off…
Dandan was no ordinary owl, as her abilities made clear. She could actually transform into a human, though only for a limited time. At the very least, this was enough to teach Hao Zhen a very valuable lesson.
Especially now, because of that damn precognition, Dandan had to sleep for a full eight hours again to recover her energy…
Even from a distance, Ling Xian could clearly sense the atmosphere. He could feel the tension radiating from the two of them. He even heard Dandan's inner monologue: whips, dildos, handcuffs, belts…
Hssss!—even a soft hiss was enough to conjure up a whole roomful of images in Ling Xian's mind.
Ling Xian never would have imagined that even playing with an owl could lead to such consequences…
Elder Shi, now smitten with love, was far more affable than usual. This was supposed to be a relaxed and carefree spiritual sword training session for the Phoenix Sect, but under Dandan's aura, Hao Zhen remained ashen-faced and speechless.
The moral of the story? Boasting always comes at a price. Those who seek others' approval by flaunting their achievements will eventually face retribution… Ling Xian felt that the principles his parents had instilled in him since childhood had come in handy in this situation.
As always, Ling Xian found the content of this spiritual sword training session incredibly boring. Elder Shi was teaching the introductory stage of spiritual sword techniques.
In theory, it's not impossible for Foundation Establishment cultivators to fly on a sword. However, according to the current educational system established by the Tianxu Kingdom, the "Sword Flight" curriculum has been elevated to the university level.
At the high school level, students only learn how to maintain and control spirit swords, as well as how to establish an emotional bond with them.
In return, students in Prodigy class naturally gain access to more advanced content, such as high-level swordsmanship and techniques that unify body and mind. But this teaching method presented no challenge whatsoever to Ling Xian.
As the ancient saying goes, for a true master of the Way of the Sword, the sword is not in the hand, but in the heart. A single sword can cleave the sun, moon, and stars, or even use a single blade of grass to trace characters in the sky… This is the highest realm of the Way of the Sword as recorded in ancient texts. However, if Ling Xian were to remove one of the sealing pins from his head, cutting down the sun, moon, and stars through sheer imagination alone would be no difficulty at all for him.
The basic sword training primarily involved tracing the constellations in the air. Ling Xian carefully traced them with his jujube wood sword, while straining to restrain his sword intent, for fear that if he exerted too much force, he might split the entire arena in two…
In the end, under the strict scoring system, Ling Xian ranked fifth overall.
Fifth out of six—though this ranking wasn't particularly impressive, he was very satisfied with his achievement.
Xu Yutong, on the other hand, came in last on the list. She wielded dual elemental spirit swords, which were extremely difficult to control, and the corresponding sword techniques were even harder to master than those for a single sword. Furthermore, Xu Yutong had long harbored a misunderstanding regarding the elements within her Sword Spirits.
Although she could separate the elements, she had failed to truly understand how they functioned within her Sword Spirits… Consequently, despite months of arduous training, she had yet to make them work in concert.
"We can't go on like this..." Elder Shi sighed, resting his chin in his hand.
The old man's behavior today was somewhat unusual, but he was not idle. He was compiling data from past Spirit Sword Exchange competitions between the 72nd and 71st High Schools.
However, the Spirit Sword Exchange was a team event with a team scoring system. For Phoenix Ridge to stand out, aside from Zhao Ming and Su Xinyi—currently the strongest members of the team—the remaining three members had to ensure they met or exceeded the minimum score threshold. If even one person lagged behind, it would lead to disastrous results.
It is worth noting that although Ling Xian ranked fifth, his score was actually above average. This baffled Elder Shi. For some reason, he felt that the person who scored fifty-five was more valuable than the one who scored a perfect score…
As things stood, it seemed that Xu Yutong was the one dragging the team down. Her score was truly disheartening. The current citywide average proficiency score was fifty, but Xu Yutong hadn't even reached the passing mark.
However, Elder Shi was still Elder Shi. If Principal Huang didn't hold some weight, he wouldn't have sent this "idiot" over for no reason. Even if he ate dougan during class, his abilities were certainly no ordinary matter.
Afterward, all the students except Xu Yutong left the gymnasium. With an hour and a half until dinner, it should have been free time. But Xu Yutong had to stay behind for extra practice.
"Teacher… I don't know if I can do this…" The aspiring manga artist looked truly dejected, her head bowed. She felt that studying and swordplay were the two most painful things in her life.
Girls tend to be more sensitive, so Elder Shi naturally gave her some leeway. If Teacher Shuang were handling this situation, she would have already launched into a tirade, resentful that the student hadn't met her expectations. Moreover, she would have used every means possible to provoke the girl.
Fortunately, every teacher has their own teaching style.
This method of motivating students through scolding was completely at odds with Elder Shi's gentle demeanor. This was Elder Shi, deeply in love—it was highly unlikely he would criticize a female student over academic disappointment.
Compared to Teacher Shuang, Elder Shi's approach to encouragement is not to be missed.
Moreover, he is particularly skilled at turning danger into safety.
Flying with two swords is more difficult than flying with one, but the principles are the same. One only needs to remember the basic formula. For students in the gifted class, memorization has never been a challenge, especially for Xu Yutong, who, like Lianhua, is one of the top students in the class.
Therefore, Elder Shi felt that Xu Yutong wasn't incapable of learning, but rather hadn't "grasped" or understood the course material. He could also tell she was genuinely upset.
In fact, she had been collecting her favorite manga volumes at the time, but had suddenly lost a few of them. However, Elder Shi was unaware of this and could only judge based on his own observations.
Come to think of it, prying into a student's personal hobbies was actually quite a sleazy thing to do.
However, for now, he simply needed to do what was necessary for this student.
So, Elder Shi opened his palm, and a flash of spiritual light suddenly materialized into a popular manga volume purchased from Xinhua Bookstore. He handed the book to Xu Yutong: "I hope you'll like it. I prepared this especially for you. The protagonist's name bears a striking resemblance to your pair of sword spirits."
Xu Yutong looked at the book cover with curiosity; two characters were printed on it: Dark Mage.
…
Before the spirit sword training and motivational speech, Elder Shi, as a contingency measure, had written a list for each student and prepared gifts.
For Su Xinyi, he prepared a list of Ling Xian's favorite snacks…
For Zhao Ming, he prepared a pair of spirit-powered dumbbells that could adjust their weight based on willpower and gravity…
For Hao Zhen, he prepared a booklet filled with all sorts of gossipy details…
For Ling Xian, he prepared a package of the newly released deluxe grape-orange mix custard buns…