Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

Compared to the existing butterfly, the original artwork for the empty spider is much more complex in terms of color scheme.

In the card, the Sky Spider walks in a colorful world, its body enormous, as if the entire world is a web woven by it.

【Into the Sky Spider】

Era: Age of Gods

Stamina: 4

【Replace】: When a character enters a dying state, you can discard one of your equipment slots to restore one point of health. Then, the character can choose one of their skills to give to you. If the character is a Divine General, you will instead increase your maximum health by one point, restore one point of health, and draw three cards.

[Skynet]: Your equipment cards can be used as Iron Chains or reforged.

[Hunting Existence]: Locked skill, you can use cards without distance restrictions and designate any character as the target.

(Another new chapter in my life...)

"This is quite obvious..."

Ying Qin Guan had figured it out; the Time-Space Kill had bound the two together, and legend had it that the Void Spider fed on the Existence Butterfly. So now the skill was somewhat effective against it, but not necessarily completely, since everyone only had four equipment slots, and once they were useless, there was no way to recover them. However, in the current environment, four hits were enough to leave the Existence Butterfly with nothing to lose and end the entire game.

Ying Qin Guan thought for a moment, then covered up the existence butterfly. He was quite confident in himself, believing that he could guess the identity of the general just by looking at their face. He would then mark all the generals and give the marks to his teammates, so that the enemy could not hit him. Wouldn't that make him invincible?!

Clearly, he lacked self-awareness, and this game ended in a crushing defeat.

Over the centuries, the strength of many generals in the game "Time and Space Kill" has become completely out of control, excessively overpowered. Initially, a four-health "Heroic Bearing" general was considered strong, but now even a five-health "Great Heroic Bearing" general is barely usable. Plus, with players adding all sorts of generals in private matches, it's basically a game where strong generals have no established identities. Although Ying Qin Guan himself isn't particularly impressive, with the current strength of generals, it's probably difficult to discern their true identities.

Excuse me.

A knock suddenly sounded at the door, and then a young woman with a cool expression, dressed in a suit, pushed open the door and walked in.

"It's lunchtime, Mr. Ying. Do you plan to eat?"

The girl was a private maid hired by the owner. Ying Qin Guan had seen her a few times, and she always had a blank expression. As for the meal arrangement, it was Ying Qin Guan who had asked him to do it. He figured that since Jiu Yi could work at the board game cafe and save time to play cards, he could too. So he started thinking about what time he could save... and naturally, he thought of eating.

When the owner and Ahe were on duty at the board game shop, people would come to deliver food every day, and Ying Qin Guan wasn't a particularly picky eater. So he asked the owner if he could make one for him too, and the owner readily agreed, which led to what just happened.

"Yes, thank you for your help."

Ying Qin Guan nodded, and the other party turned around and handed over a delicately crafted, fragrant, tower-shaped lunchbox.

The shape of the lunchbox truly stunned everyone. Using a delicate pagoda as a lunchbox, with intricate patterns carved on the wood, it was indeed a bit too flashy. However, Luo Shui's thought process was quite unique, and she suddenly blurted out, "Won't this lunchbox, with its shape, not keep the food warm?"

"It has certain insulation measures inside, and it was delivered immediately after it was made," the maid said calmly. "Generally speaking, as long as it's not left out for a long time after you receive it, it won't get cold."

"Really? I don't believe it, unless I..." Luo Shui thought for a moment, then realized the maid's expression was indifferent, as if she were looking at trash. She seemed intelligent and not easily fooled, so she swallowed the rest of her words and turned to Ying Qin Guan:

"But Teacher Ying, your life is getting more and more regular... Judging from this, are you going to eat here from now on?"

Ying Qin Guan asked, "Don't you think it's quite convenient?"

“But there will always be times when you’re not around,” Luo Shui Tu revealed his true intentions. “When someone delivers it and you’re not there, wouldn’t that be very inconvenient? Why don’t you get to know me first, Miss? That way, I can help Teacher Ying avoid this kind of waste of social resources.”

"Oh." Ying Qin Guan suddenly realized, "You want to get something for free."

"No! I didn't! I just didn't want the crops that the farmers worked so hard to grow to go to waste!"

"It's a waste to feed a piece of social trash like you..."

"Huh?! When it comes to social scum, Teacher Ying and I are just as bad, okay!"

Ying Qin Guan opened the lunchbox and said casually, "In that case, let's decide the winner using the rules of martial arts."

"A true man doesn't accept charity." Luo Shui said righteously, "If someone offers me something as a gift, I'd rather not take it than fight over something like this!"

"Besides... if we fight, someone will definitely die. I don't want to kill you, Teacher Ying."

Ying Qin Pass: "(°ー°〃)"

Luo Shui smiled proudly, and then left the board game arcade, citing it as lunchtime.

Ying Qin Guan didn't care. That's just how Luo Shui is. She talks nonsense and brags without any basic principles. He didn't know how someone like her could become friends with someone as old-fashioned as Zhong Hongyu, someone even a nun would be ashamed of.

The maid hadn't left and was watching Ying Qin Guan eat, which made him feel a little awkward, so he asked, "What are you doing here...?"

"Recycle the lunch boxes," the maid said with a cold expression. "The boss said that leaving the lunch boxes in the room would make the room look greasy. But these things are valuable, so we can't just throw them away. He instructed me to bring them back."

"Is that so..."

Ying Qin Guan quickly finished his meal and returned the lunchbox to the maid. As the maid was leaving, Ying Qin Guan suddenly remembered that he should ask her to use a regular lunchbox in the future. It was too embarrassing to be watched while eating, so he reached out his hand, trying to keep her there.

"Hey, wait a minute—"

Before he could finish speaking, the other person suddenly turned around with lightning speed, interrupting Ying Qin Guan.

"First, I don't call you 'Hey'."

Chapter Three: Preparations

"This job isn't easy..."

"The woman could guess it just by imagining it, but in reality, she would encounter even more obstacles. Although with your financial resources, boss, this is not a problem, in the end, I'm afraid you won't be able to break even."

"Faced with such a grand event, is Miss Nocturne only thinking about recouping her losses with these gold and silver treasures?"

"The woman was just giving a reminder."

In the spacious and bright office, Nocturne and her boss sat facing each other. The silver cat that the boss always held in his arms jumped down and crawled to Nocturne's feet, rubbing against her affectionately. Nocturne chuckled softly and picked up the pampered little cat.

The boss, having lost his usual accessory, was momentarily at a loss for what to do with his hands, and could only awkwardly push up his monocle.

He was discussing something with Nocturne, an event the boss wanted to organize, something he had been handling himself. It was indeed a significant matter, fraught with difficulties, and even Ah-He wasn't really of much use. But perhaps because his efforts to pull strings had been exposed, Nocturne, a man who made his living through amusement, suddenly approached him and offered to help.

The boss had no doubts, because Nocturne was indeed that kind of person; she would do anything, no matter how unprofitable, as long as it was fun. And what he was about to do, if successful, would indeed bring a lot of fun... That might sound a bit disrespectful, but it would definitely be very interesting.

The two of them had spent most of the winter break working on this. But the resistance they encountered was so great that even people like the boss and Nocturne were finding it a bit of a headache.

Who is the boss?

An unparalleled money-lover, genuinely wealthy beyond measure, almost every problem in the world that can be solved with money is no problem for him.

Who is Nocturne?

An invincible entertainer, knowledgeable in everything from astronomy to geography, she has made no substantial contributions, yet she is widely regarded by the students of the Imperial Academy as a boss on par with Mu Nandong. However, her ambitions lie not in alchemy. She has a wide circle of friends and extensive connections, and is known for saying that while some people may not like money, no one can dislike Nocturne.

How could two people like these, when put together, actually find something difficult to handle?

Yes, it's very tricky.

The event the boss wants to hold... can be called the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament. Just from the name, you can tell what the event is all about.

The boss came up with this idea during the winter break; it was a big deal. For anyone else, let alone doing it, they would have considered it for months, even years, without question. But that's the advantage of having money—the boss went ahead and did it. Even though he knew there would be countless difficulties and obstacles along the way.

So why did it encounter such great resistance?

There are many reasons for that...

First, let me give you an example.

During the Northern Qin period, Zhang Wudao, the sorcerer who created the Gu Heart Demon, once created three lists: the Heaven, Earth, and Human lists. The rankings were all based on martial prowess. The Human list recorded young heroes under the age of 25, the Earth list recorded masters between the ages of 25 and 40, and the Heaven list had no age limit, whoever was the most powerful could be listed. However, the Heaven list only recorded ten people.

Martial artists are such a warlike and fame-hungry group, so what happened is quite easy to guess: Zhang Wudao used this opportunity to severely weaken the power of the martial arts world. Although the martial arts forces reacted and tried to remedy the situation, it was too late. Zhang Wudao's power was already established, and he was wielding immense influence in Northern Qin.

So, was this plan originally conceived by Zhang Wudao?

of course not.

This plan was devised by Feng Xingyu, one of the only two strategists to be granted godhood, a mastermind who had offered various ingenious schemes. Zhang Wudao merely copied what he had learned, failing to even grasp its essence. It was just one of the most unremarkable of Feng Xingyu's many schemes throughout his life. However, he still managed to weaken the forces of the martial arts world through this strategy, using division and suppression, coercion and enticement, ultimately conquering most of the martial arts world almost without bloodshed. The plan to bury and kill the Burning Demon was also devised by Feng Xingyu.

Of course, his matter is not important now; we can talk about it another time.

Although we don't have any "Heavenly Ranking," "Earthly Ranking," or "Human Ranking" anymore, the title of "Number One in the World" is still sensitive enough. Moreover, it doesn't just define who is number one in the world; it also defines who fights whom, who wins and who loses. Making some things too clear isn't a good thing.

To give a simple and straightforward example, suppose A beats B, and B beats C, but C submits to B but not to A. However, people keep saying that A is a stepping stone for B, meaning that B is A's stepping stone. And C is B's stepping stone. Once this kind of public opinion spreads, how can C tolerate it?

This isn't child's play, where it's over once it's over and no one cares about what happens afterward. How could that be possible? If a fight really breaks out, who knows how much trouble will follow?

Although modern times are different from ancient times, human nature remains the same, just as in any era, there will always be people who fall for the most basic scams.

This is only one of the reasons.

The second reason... refer to Ouma during the Sword Saint's duel with Kai.

At that time, with the Sword Saint Joshua at the top, martial artists from all over the world flocked to Ouma, and during that period, Ouma's security was almost on par with the Chaotic Province. Although the number of deaths was far less than in Ouma Province, the turmoil it caused was several times greater.

—After all, in that chaotic province, death was nothing. Sometimes, when people were having lunch, gunshots would ring out outside, and the bolder ones would stand by the window with their rice bowls and watch the show.

That time, it was just Sword Saint and Kui. Although these two were somewhat interesting, if the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament were to be held, the number of people attending would be many more than during the Ouma era. With such a large group of martial artists gathered together, could there really be no major chaos?

The boss couldn't guarantee anything either, or rather, both he and Nocturne were well aware that various frictions were bound to occur, which was unavoidable.

These are the two biggest problems. The rest of the minor issues, such as public opinion, who is responsible for serious injuries or deaths during the fight, venue, and a series of other minor issues, are also numerous and extremely troublesome to deal with. Even though the boss used his financial power and worked with Nocturne for a long time, there were still many troublesome things that could not be resolved.

"Now that things have come to this point, there's absolutely no reason to give up." The boss crossed his arms, feeling a sense of emptiness without Silver Cat in his arms, as if he had been turned into a minotaur by Nocturne.

"In that case, let's assign the tasks for the next phase. The young lady can go and visit the Warner family..."

She paused slightly, then said, "However, speaking of which, the woman feels that Qiyao's attitude is somewhat contradictory... Does the boss have any clue?"

"Huh?" The boss feigned ignorance, "What conflict? I don't know anything about it."

He knew perfectly well what was going on.

The dilemma of the Seven Luminaries is that they don't want the competition to be held. However, they can't too much affect their boss, as the competition itself has many problems, for reasons mentioned earlier, that every country opposes it. But they can't completely block it either, because that would seem to be preventing the exposure of Ying Qin Guan's identity, which doesn't align with the Seven Luminaries' consistent strategy, hence the apparent contradiction.

"Hehe..." Nocturne chuckled softly, rubbing the head of the silver cat in her arms, without saying anything more.

Chapter Four: Destiny or Choice

"Have you heard the story of the nameless swordsman from Southern Qin?"

"In the xxth year of the Southern Qin Dynasty, the Black Dragon Empire..."

The first part of the Nameless Swordsman Trilogy of Southern Qin, the Revenge Chapter, has passed the review and is now considering advertising.

To place an advertisement, you need posters and advertising copy. The posters are already decided: a scene depicting the hero's courage unfolds along a ten-mile-long street is perfect. The problem is the advertising copy.

Ying Qin Guan, as the lead actor, was also invited to discuss the matter. Ahe was the first to offer a suggestion, contributing the aforementioned advertising slogan, and proposing to change the name of the first part from "Revenge" to "Wandering Swordsman".

“We’ve already sampled enough.” Zhu Huan shook her head and rejected Ahe’s suggestion with a reason that no one quite understood. “Can we come up with a more serious advertising slogan? Besides, although we’re filming the nameless swordsman of Southern Qin, he isn’t a swordsman yet. He wasn’t a swordsman in the first or second season. He will be a swordsman in the third season. Talking about this now is a bit like putting up a false front.”

“Little sister, you don’t understand.” Ahe had worked with the boss for many years, and she even called Zhu Huan “little sister” as soon as she spoke. She earnestly instructed, “Making movies, TV shows, and novels are all the same. It’s all about creating a gimmick. You have to have a selling point. No matter what the reality is, you have to lure people in first.”

"Take Zhao Yunxian's Travelogue of the Nameless Swordsman of Southern Qin as an example. If she hadn't called it the Travelogue of the Nameless Swordsman of Southern Qin, but instead called it Ji Li's Travelogue with Beauties, who would know what she meant? Would it still be as popular as it is now? Probably not."