Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

"If we're talking about the human most likely to achieve godhood in this era... it has to be the Sword Saint, right?"

The debate over combat strength is a timeless topic.

Tigers and lions live in different places, one in the forest and the other in the grassland. They are completely unrelated, yet they are still forced to be compared. That's one thing, since they lived in the same era.

Comparing figures like Guan Yu versus Qin Qiong is absurd. They're from completely different eras; forcing a comparison is pointless. No matter how eloquently you present your arguments, if the other person is determined, you can't convince them. Such a flawed proposition simply cannot yield a conclusion.

Even so, people still enjoy the thrill of heated arguments.

In a world without supernatural powers, combat strength is an eternal topic of contention. And this kind of debate often generates far more buzz than discussions about romantic pairings or female leads. Frankly, men are far more likely than women to admire strength; it's just that their attitudes towards the strong differ somewhat.

In a world where extraordinary powers exist, the conflicts and infighting become even more extreme.

What's worse is that this world doesn't have a "destined hierarchy," which makes infighting even more unrestrained.

What is a divinely ordained hierarchical system?

—Soul Ring.

This is the classic divinely ordained ranking system. Once you reach this level, you must accept the rules and arrangements of heaven and absorb the next soul ring to advance further. This is a divinely ordained ranking system; your every move and level advancement are predetermined by heaven.

There is no predetermined hierarchy in this world, and there is no such thing as "martial artist, martial master, martial saint, or martial god." However, the desire to create hierarchy has always been a great human interest. Even if it is not predetermined, it must be determined by human beings, just like the ranking system in Go.

And to be honest, the fixed ranking system for martial artists or magicians is usually much more stable than that for Go.

The most widely circulated classification among the people is divided into second-rate, first-rate, super first-rate, and god-level.

Logically speaking, there are many levels below the second tier, but generally speaking, those levels are not discussed. Firstly, the third tier is already quite unpleasant to talk about, and secondly, there's basically nothing to say about anything below the second tier.

The term "god-level" needs no explanation. "First-class" refers to the top experts of the era. "Super first-class" refers to those who may be able to become gods, or who may have the strength to become gods, but do not have the achievements to do so.

The process of bestowing titles upon gods is based on battle achievements. To be granted a title, you must have a "battle for bestowing titles." This battle must be unprecedented, unparalleled, and earth-shattering, a "great achievement that no human could accomplish." Otherwise, it is not enough to be granted a title, and there will be a lot of infighting. However, all the characters in Time and Space Kill who were granted titles are without any fatal controversy.

For example, Ying Qin Guan's point of contention is that he has never fought against other top masters, but is that fatal?

Not at all.

The fact that the man who gave the word "national subjugation" the verb form has never fought against other top masters is completely irrelevant; he has already accomplished a feat that is almost impossible for a human to achieve.

However, some top-tier characters are quite controversial.

For example...

"Hey, what do you guys think? Can the Sword Saint really be deified?"

Ying Qin Guan sat in the cafeteria, having dinner with his classmates.

The students clearly didn't have the good habit of not talking while eating or sleeping—of course, since Ying Qin Pass didn't have it anyway, it didn't matter.

It was Fu Feihan who brought up this topic; he was lively by nature and especially enjoyed discussing such things.

The Sword Saint, his voice faded away.

The strongest martial artist in this era is considered a top-tier master—after all, Ying Qin Guan is officially dead, although there is no concrete evidence, everyone assumes that the nameless swordsman of Southern Qin is dead.

If we were to say who in this era is closest to being deified, and who is furthest from it, then without a doubt, it would be the Sword Saint.

The closest is because he is indeed the strongest human in the current era. He entered the Time-Space Killer's Caesar many years ago, and his strength is indeed powerful. He has also defeated several top-tier powerhouses.

The reason he is said to be the furthest from being deified is because he is already old.

Nurturing one's health can indeed slow down aging to some extent. But it's ultimately limited; the Sword Saint is already seventy-three years old. At that age, even if he can maintain his strength, how many more years can he do so?

As you age, you gradually decline from your peak. Every day you open your eyes, you know you're not as good as you were yesterday. No matter how hard you try, you can't maintain your peak performance. Under these circumstances... is it even possible to complete the "battle for godhood"?

The closest, the furthest.

“The Sword Saint is old and frail, I’m afraid he can’t do it.” Zhong Hongyu was a martial artist after all. Although she seemed to follow the rules, she was very interested in this kind of topic. “Besides, in this era, there are no conditions for becoming a god like the nameless swordsman of Southern Qin back then. If the Sword Saint wants to become a god... I’m afraid he can only find another being who became a god through martial arts and fight against him to prove himself.”

“Yes, then the only choice is Kui.” Fu Feihan held chopsticks in his hand, but showed no intention of eating.

To achieve godhood, besides accomplishing great feats, an even faster method is to challenge another being who has achieved godhood through force.

In this era, there is only one person who has clearly survived and achieved godhood through force... or rather, only one person exists.

For example, Kui.

Kui...a foreign race.

In this era, alien races are quite rare, but they do exist. Some people are born destined to be powerful, such as Ying Qin Guan, but he can only be considered "pseudo" because he still cultivated. Kui is different.

He was born to be powerful.

He has a famous saying.

"Never practice, never train, never strive, never hone skills, never cultivate techniques, never dodge, never parry; always be the strong, always be the challenged."

"If you are born strong, and you still shamelessly work hard to make everyone unable to catch up with you, then that is too despicable."

This is "Kui".

He said it, and he did it.

You don't need to see him in person, you don't need to see his record. Just this one sentence is enough to make people feel his invincibility.

"What do you think, teacher?!" Fu Feihan looked at Ying Qin Guan excitedly and asked, "If the Sword Saint were to face Kui, how far could their battle go?!"

—They didn't even think the Sword Saint could win, and directly asked how far the fight could go.

"Who knows about that kind of thing?" Ying Qin Guan stared with dead fish eyes, showing no interest in such topics. "But judging from the Time-Space Kill, the strength of Kui Shen's skills is far beyond what it used to be."

[God? Kui]

Era: Modern.

Stamina: 7

[Born Strong]: Increases damage dealt during the turn by 1 and reduces damage received outside the turn by 1.

【Proud Spirit】: Cannot respond to any cards—including but not limited to Kill, Duel, All Laws Resound, Alien Invasion, and Forgetting Qin.

Both one's own invulnerability and evasion are considered 'kill'.

[Investiture of the Gods]: Omitted.

[Rage]: Gain a 'Rage' mark for each card you lose, use, or play. When you have five 'Rage' marks, you can choose any effect to activate.

1. Draw two cards.

Second: Deal a small amount of damage to a character.

3: Discard any two cards on the field.

(If you're strong, why block? Why dodge? Why try? Come on, I'll give you a chance, grab it.)

This card is incredibly powerful. With seven health points and a one-reduction-out-of-turn damage effect, it's almost impossible for him to be killed normally. The Berserk mode is explosive in actual combat, making him a perfect general who combines burst damage, card draw, and survivability. If he had an infinite "Crazy Sword" to unleash his attacks, he would be a god of war reborn... It's just a pity that he's a bit clumsy. Without the "Strike" ability, it would be quite painful if he were infinitely "Enjoying the Music of the Forbidden City".

In comparison, the Blademaster's card is a bit weaker.

"Who's asking you about the Time-Space Killer?" Fu Feihan was clearly quite dissatisfied with the answer and was about to ask a couple more questions when a discordant voice came from the side.

"What on earth is going on?!"

Chapter 18 Yorozuya

Not far from the group, a blond-haired youth with freckles and an emerald ring on his left hand roared at his companions.

"Keep your voice down... Everyone's looking this way." His companion looked both amused and exasperated, waving his hand.

"Let them listen then! What did I say wrong?! Besides, it's fine if you sleep in the dorm every day, but it's different for me!" The blond youth looked around, sensing the questioning looks from the crowd. Far from being intimidated, he gained inexplicable courage from them and shouted, "Do you all think this is appropriate? We're already university students, elites who have received higher education from the Empire. But now, what's going on? Because of something no one has ever heard of, we're all required to be back in our dorms by nine o'clock..."

He gave a sarcastic look. "Nine o'clock? Please, even elementary school students aren't asleep at nine o'clock!"

He spread his arms and ran in the same posture as Yagami Light before his death, saying, "That so-called Gu Heart Demon is just Mu Nandong's own claim. Has anyone heard of such a thing? And it's been a whole day, and no one has reported it themselves... Even if that Gu Heart Demon really exists, it might have already run off somewhere."

"Does that mean the Imperial Household will have to maintain the 9 PM curfew every single day unless they catch that thing?!"

Nine o'clock! Are you kidding me?!

He looked particularly angry, with veins bulging on his neck.

"What's wrong with this guy? Is it really necessary for him to be so angry?" Fu Feihan muttered under his breath.

Ju Qiuming glanced at the other person and said calmly, "I know him. There was no news of him last night. He suddenly disappeared. Many people looked for him and finally found him at a love hotel next to the school. According to the owner of the love hotel, he sleeps there every day and basically never goes back to the dormitory."

Upon hearing this, Fu Feihan, despite trying his best to suppress it, couldn't help but chuckle softly, "What's going on with this guy..."

"Students, please don't get too excited." Zhong Hongyu didn't seem to have heard Fu Feihan and Ju Qiuming's conversation. She stood up to draw their attention and said seriously, "Nine o'clock is indeed a bit early, but the situation is special right now. The dean is under a lot of pressure, and he must be doing this for the students' own good."

"For the students' own good, humph..." The other party opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't dare to directly attack Dean Jiu Yi. Instead, he said sarcastically, "To put it bluntly, the Gu Heart Demon is entirely Mu Nandong's claim, and its authenticity is impossible to verify. Even if it were true, who in the entire Imperial Academy would have the ability to concoct such a thing..."

"It must be him! He's read so many books, both good and bad, he might have secretly learned the sorcery of the Northern Qin demons."

"How could the Imperial Household tolerate the son of such a sinner becoming a teacher..."

"Maybe he created that thing himself, otherwise how could he know so much about it..."

Zhong Hongyu frowned slightly, about to reprimand the other party, when she saw Ying Qin Guan sigh and put down his chopsticks.

He recalled Mu Nandong's words from the previous night, "Clearly, what I taught was the only useful one," and felt somewhat saddened.

"Really..."

He lazily raised his eyes and looked up.

“That’s right, maybe that’s it.” The blond youth’s logic seemed to have convinced even himself, and his eyes lit up as he began to fill in what he thought were reasonable details. “Years ago, he obtained the demonic arts of the Northern Qin demon and wanted to control the power of the Gu Heart Demon, so…”

Suddenly, his voice stopped.

Like a duck being choked, his eyes suddenly lost all their luster, and his whole body seemed to have had all its bones removed, causing him to fall limply downwards.

What did he see, and what did he feel?

It was a long sword that slashed down with unparalleled power, cutting through the skin, breaking the bones, severing the flesh... cutting it in two with a single stroke!

He collapsed on the cafeteria floor. Before anyone could react to what had happened, consciousness returned to his eyes, which were filled with horror.

Like a frightened bird, he suddenly jumped up, his expression changing drastically as he looked around—naturally, he couldn't see anything.

He frantically touched his body while screaming in terror as he fled the cafeteria.

"...?" His companion looked completely bewildered, standing there motionless for a long time, which seemed a bit abnormal. But considering the special circumstances, most people didn't think much of it.

The turn of events was incredibly perplexing. One second the person was confidently spouting off, and the next they were sprawled out, frantically touching themselves and running away like a freak.

Most people in the room didn't understand what was happening, except for the students from Ying Qin Pass.