Chapter Thirty: Why Seek the Sword Manual

Jiang Ningguang was so stunned by the shouting that her mind nearly stopped working. She reflexively retorted, “But she hit so hard—the students are injured…”

The principal found her impossible to reason with and turned to the students from the Department of Law, asking, “Do you think Jiang Wangshu owes you an apology?”

The students shook their heads. If it weren’t for their teacher insisting on bringing them here, they would’ve already had their injuries treated in the infirmary.

The principal looked at Jiang Ningguang, speaking earnestly, “I won’t say much more, Teacher Jiang. We’re cultivating pillars of the nation here, not hothouse flowers.”

“Please reconsider your teaching philosophy and methods. If there’s another incident where many can’t defeat the few, I’ll have to start questioning your competence.”

Jiang Ningguang could only nod meekly.

The principal waved his hand. “Students from the Department of Law, please take your teacher and go.”

As the rest of them filed out, the principal, with a genial smile, invited Jiang Wangshu and Yu Jianyi to sit at the tea table.

“Come, sit and have a rest.”

He personally brewed a cup of spirit-infused tea and placed it before Jiang Wangshu.

She was baffled by his intentions and downed the tea in one gulp, setting the cup down with a thud. “Principal, if you have something to say, just say it!”

He’d just scolded Jiang Ningguang in front of her—clearly giving her face.

But she couldn’t figure out what the principal might gain from this.

Yu Jianyi looked at her with a pained expression. “Tea should be savored slowly. What a waste.”

He lifted his cup, inhaled the fragrance deeply, and took a tiny sip, savoring the taste.

The principal laughed heartily. “Ah, youth! So straightforward! Jiang Wangshu, you’re from the Sword Arts Department. You know that the loss of sword techniques is a major reason for the decline of sword cultivation. Since you possess such formidable techniques, would you be willing to share them, for the benefit of all those sword cultivators who have long searched in vain?”

He looked at her with anticipation. “Of course, we won’t ask for it for nothing; the school will do its best to compensate you accordingly.”

She finally understood his purpose and scratched her cheek with her index finger. “But I really don’t know any sword techniques!”

If she had any, she wouldn’t mind exchanging them for money.

She still owed the system a mountain of debt, with interest piling up.

The marketplace was overflowing with spells, talismans, and arrays, but she hadn’t seen a single sword technique.

Her eyes darted. “Principal, I do have comprehensive collections of array techniques, talismans, and spells. Would you be interested in those?”

The principal set down his cup, his tone solemn. “Jiang Wangshu, do you understand why sword cultivation has declined?”

He sighed deeply. “Five hundred years ago, sword cultivators were supreme. Everyone took pride in mastering the sword, and nearly every school focused on sword cultivation.”

“But in a great war five centuries ago, when demons and fiends attacked Blue Star, the sword cultivators went to the front lines to protect this land. Who could have foreseen that so many sword cultivators would perish, their souls scattered in that battle?”

“Countless sword techniques vanished as well.” The principal’s face was tinged with melancholy as he spoke of the past.

After the sword cultivators disappeared, array cultivation quickly rose to prominence. Many suspected that this disaster had been orchestrated behind the scenes.

Alas, no one could ever find proof.

Even now, hope for sword cultivation was growing dim, and fewer and fewer people pursued the sword.

Jiang Wangshu felt nothing, still diligently promoting her “Compendium of Talismans” and “Complete Guide to Arrays.”

The principal immediately frowned. “You keep claiming you don’t know any, but then how did you use those sword techniques?”

Yu Jianyi pricked up his ears, listening closely.

Jiang Wangshu cocked her head, looking at them in puzzlement. “Spells use spiritual power as weapons, arrays rely on materials to display their might, talismans are shaped by brush and paper—but isn’t the most important thing for a sword cultivator to have a sword of their own?”

“I have a sword—of course I can execute sword moves.”

Her string of rhetorical questions left both Yu Jianyi and the principal at a loss.

The principal rubbed his hands together, baffled. “If sword cultivators don’t rely on techniques, then what do they rely on?”

Yu Jianyi suddenly had a revelation, clutching his teacup. “Sword cultivators must rely on the sword itself.”

Jiang Wangshu nodded eagerly. “Exactly! One sword, one person—isn’t that enough? You all keep talking about sword techniques, which is what puzzles me.”

“You practice spiritual power techniques, you know how to release spiritual energy, you have spiritual swords—so why are you so obsessed with finding sword techniques?”

The principal, an outsider, was thoroughly bewildered. He wanted to keep pressing Jiang Wangshu to hand over a sword technique, convinced she was just being selfish. For someone to single-handedly defeat an entire class—without a sword technique—he simply couldn’t believe it.

Yu Jianyi was half-convinced. “Jiang, could you show us?”

Saying this, he offered her his treasured spirit sword.

The sword thrummed with joy, as if expressing its delight.

Jiang Wangshu shook her head, extended her hand, gathered spiritual power, and then let it disperse. She blinked innocently. “Principal, Teacher, I’m out of spiritual power.”

The two men, who had been watching with anticipation, immediately fished out spirit stones and spirit pills for her to replenish her energy.

In truth, Jiang Wangshu lacked nothing in terms of spiritual power. She happily absorbed the energy into her body, discovering that her dantian was like a bottomless pit—it could consume any amount of spiritual power without ever feeling full.

Yu Jianyi and the principal, standing by, went from excited anticipation to heartbroken despair.

They stared at the pile of white powder before Jiang Wangshu, their hearts bleeding for their sacrificed spirit stones and pills.

The principal rubbed his palms together. “That’s enough! You should be able to use a sword move now, right?”

If this little rascal dared to trick him, he would make sure she regretted it.

Yu Jianyi clutched his chest in anguish. “If that’s not enough, there’s nothing left.”

Seeing that she could squeeze nothing more from them, Jiang Wangshu nodded regretfully. “Alright.”

She reached out a hand, but the principal quickly stopped her. “Wait, let’s go to the training grounds.”

The three of them moved to the training grounds, where many third-year students were practicing.

The principal unceremoniously cleared out an entire class to give Jiang Wangshu space to demonstrate.

Zou Xiuzhen and Huo Jinyu spotted Jiang Wangshu’s figure and quietly slipped from their own grounds, blending into the third-year crowd for a better view.

Listening to the surrounding complaints, they heard:

“Who is this? Such special treatment, and now our training is delayed! I haven’t even mastered my array yet!”

“My spirit pills! I was so close to success, and now everything’s ruined.”

Huo Jinyu couldn’t help defending her. “You don’t understand—she’s incredible. Just watch.”

Zou Xiuzhen tugged at her sleeve, whispering, “Don’t bother arguing with those who don’t know—it’s pointless.”

Huo Jinyu burst out laughing but said nothing more, content to listen to the crowd’s chatter with a smug air.

True enough, who else could spot a true master at a glance the way she could?

Zou Xiuzhen kept his eyes on Jiang Wangshu, wondering what great move the master would display this time.

“Look at the sword pendant she’s wearing—it’s from the Sword Arts Department. How powerful could someone from there be?”

“Exactly! There are only a handful of students in the Sword Arts Department. And she’s a new face—clearly a freshman.”

“She is a freshman, haven’t you seen? She went viral on the forum yesterday after provoking the two flowers of the Law Department.”

The area buzzed with noise. Yu Jianyi, seeing all the sword cultivators had arrived, nodded to the principal.

The principal stepped back, giving a nod of permission. “Go ahead.”