Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

"I should have found a sword that suited my hand..." He shook his head. He had many injuries, but none of them were fatal. There were three corpses lying on the ground, and Shen Jiu was standing behind him. Apart from that, there was no one else.

"Fortunately, one of you is skilled with a sword... It seems I'm quite lucky."

Himura Tanzaku exhaled a breath of stale air, her face looking rather pale.

Among all the top masters, he is definitely the least skilled at fighting multiple opponents.

In a one-on-one fight, speed is the most important thing for a martial artist, but when facing multiple opponents, the requirements change completely.

What is the most important thing?

The answer is overall physical strength, in other words, defense and stamina. Because when facing multiple opponents, even if you have godlike agility and extraordinary skills, some attacks are inevitable. Defense and stamina mean a margin for error, and when fighting multiple opponents, the margin for error is more important than anything else.

Unfortunately, Hisumura Tanzaku has a very low margin for error, and in this battle, he also has to protect one of the Shin-9.

“It seems I’ll have to recuperate for a while…” Hisumura Tansaku closed her eyes and said softly, “The trip to the Seven Luminaries Empire… will have to be put on hold for a while.”

Shenzhou-9 said, "They might attack again."

“The Holy Alliance is not their backyard. As long as they don’t organize any heavily armed forces, it’s not a big problem… But staying here is indeed inappropriate. I’ll rest for a couple of days and then go to other countries.”

Chapter Thirty-Three: Return

In mid-July, the group returned to the Seven Luminaries Empire.

The remaining days are not worth mentioning; they were simply a matter of Jiu Yizang's involvement with the God of War being discovered, followed by the baptism of the Consciousness Slash gift package.

Mu Nandong left early, and Gan Xingyao was searching for inspiration... Then, in her search for inspiration, she went out and tried skiing, and became addicted, never writing a single word again. Yu Xietian had to go out to be a nanny again. Because this place wasn't a proper ski resort, it was actually quite dangerous, especially since Gan Xingyao had never learned before and was basically just skiing blindly.

"I have a feeling this deal wasn't very profitable..."

Yu Xietian calculated that the money Mu Nandong and Gan Xingyao had given was limited. Although it wasn't a small amount, the workload these past few days had been enormous. When she was with Mu Nandong, they would be out all day. She thought she could finally rest after Mu Nandong left, but then Gan Xingyao came skiing—she's terrible at it but loves it, and she's been acting as a babysitter all day...

"Ugh.."

Yu Xietian was planning to take a two-day break when Ying Qin Guan passed by, striking a pose as if to say, "Hey bro, wanna get a card?" He pulled out a card from his pocket, but instead of giving it to Yu Xietian, he held it up in his hand and showed it to him.

It's that 'Son of Man' card...

"About this..." Ying Qin Guan thought for a moment and said, "I don't know exactly how to put it, but it feels quite plausible. Are these legends true?"

Ying Qin Guan had already learned from Nocturne that magicians could not use magic directly and had to chant, and that Shen Xin had shown him magic without chanting.

In fact, when he saw that card, he couldn't help but think of Shinshin; they were so alike. Leaving aside the sisters, more importantly, they both clearly possessed extraordinary abilities. Shinshin could unleash magic without chanting. And that Shinku... After Ying Qin Guan encountered them in Sakura, he realized that their meeting at the academy wasn't simple. Shinku and Hisumura clearly didn't seem to have any intelligence sources within the Seven Stars, yet they managed to meet him there...

“Who knows?” Yu Xietian shook his head, then looked at Ying Qin Guan and said, “But… Shen Xin only has one sister.”

Yu Xietian obviously knew about that legend, which is normal, since being made into a card by Time-Space Killer must mean it has a certain level of fame. And even if it had no fame at all... Yu Xietian should still know about it.

Ying Qin Guan was slightly taken aback. He felt that, logically speaking, Shen Xin should have an older or younger sister besides Shen Jiu, and that she should have a hearing problem.

But Yu Xietian said that Shenxin only has one sister, Shenjiu, then...

"However, her mother was deaf...and of course, she became deaf and mute as a result."

"Oh, how come you've become deaf and mute again? Weren't you deaf?"

People with congenital deafness are often unable to learn by imitation because they cannot hear the voices of others. Even if they have vocal organs, they cannot use them, eventually developing from simple deafness into deaf-muteness.

Yu Xietian hesitated for a moment, thinking of explaining things to Ying Qin Guan. But then he felt it would be a waste to explain, since Ying Qin Guan would definitely turn around and bite back. So he laughed and said, "Ah, I remembered wrong. I'm just deaf."

"I feel like you're just giving me the runaround..." Ying Qin Guan was very suspicious, but he didn't press the matter further. He was a fairly sensible person, and even if Yu Xie Tian was willing to tell him something, he was too lazy to ask any further questions.

He returned to the Imperial Court with Jiu Yiyequ... Only then did Shenxin get off the plane. From the plane, she saw Ying Qin Guan sneaking over (from Shenxin's perspective) and chatting with Yu Xietian for a few words, but she didn't know what they talked about.

"What are you talking about? You're not talking badly about me behind my back, are you?!"

Yu Xietian narrowed his eyes and said, "We are exchanging experiences in raising children."

"Do you think I'd believe your nonsense?"

"It's true, you can ask him if you don't believe me."

"What the hell are you asking! He came here just to unleash a Consciousness Slash on me!"

Yu Xietian shook his head and sighed, "Let's go, let's go back first..."

Shenxin followed behind him. Although she had contributed nothing in this mission, it did not stop her from confidently raising the small blackboard.

"This mission is over, how about we treat each other to something nice?"

"Haven't you had enough to eat at the snow mountain hotel yet...?"

-

"call.."

Zhong Hongyu stood in her own small martial arts arena and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Her family once enjoyed a period of fame, but times have changed, and their glory has faded. Although their family's financial situation is still quite good, supporting her to attend the Imperial Academy is still very difficult... The martial arts department at the Imperial Academy is truly expensive. Although the fees are all borne by the state, there's no reason for them to be recouped from the students. However, this exorbitant tuition itself is discouraging some students. Martial arts are gradually being phased out by the times, and only the glory of the nameless swordsman of Southern Qin has prolonged the life of this ancient power system.

Closer to home.

Even though the family was already struggling financially, Zhong Hongyu's father still reserved this small martial arts arena for her, so that she wouldn't be disturbed while practicing and could practice for as long as she wanted.

This is actually... a rather heavy love and expectation.

Zhong Hongyu gripped the sword... and was reminded of the Lihe Cansi Sword that Ying Qin Guan had passed down to her.

The Separation and Union Death Sword Technique is a set of techniques, and a very short one at that, consisting of only three moves. Of these three moves, the first two are completely useless, serving as a prelude to the third.

Ying Qin Guan said to Zhong Hongyu, "The third move is a sword technique for killing. I hope you will only use it in life-or-death battles... or, in extreme cases, you can use it in a battle where you can't afford to lose, even if you don't die. But I hope you will never need to use it in your life."

The third move possesses the quality of a kill upon first sight, making it even more unsolvable than the Consciousness Slash. After all, the Consciousness Slash was just a little contraption that Ying Qin Guan tinkered with when he was bored, while this sword technique required considerable effort from him.

Every night when all was quiet, Zhong Hongyu would secretly practice the Separation and Death Sword Technique.

Ying Qin Guan didn't name these three moves, but Zhong Hongyu mentally called them 'Lure the Enemy,' 'Turn Around,' and 'Life or Death Duel.'

To date, she has never used this move on anyone, including her father; no one knows she knows these three moves. Despite practicing day and night, she still doesn't know exactly how powerful these three moves can be.

But it doesn't matter, Zhong Hongyu will still practice.

She has always been best at working hard, whether it's useful or not.

Unfortunately, most of the efforts a person makes in their lifetime are in vain. But you never know which efforts are futile until the very last moment, so people have no choice but to keep striving.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Tales of the Strange

"are you tired?"

Fu Feihan took a bottle of water out of his backpack and handed it to Ju Qiuming beside him, laughing, "Sorry, sorry, my master lives in a rather remote place, and he has a rather eccentric personality..."

The two spent some time completing the school's assignment. Afterward, Fu Feihan went back to see his master and invited Ju Qiuming along the way.

Ju Qiuming actually agreed, and the two embarked on their journey back.

Fu Feihan is one of the few students who has his own school of thought.

In schools, students generally don't belong to any particular school of thought; everyone uses the common methods of cultivation and application taught at school. In other words, someone who comes to school with a pre-existing school of thought... in ancient times, that would be considered someone who has already acquired a skill and is now seeking a master.

In fact, let alone ancient times, even in the martial arts world of Southern Qin a few years ago, and now in Cherry Blossom Kingdom, having skills before becoming an apprentice is considered a major taboo in the martial arts world. However, apart from these few countries, most organizations don't care much about having skills before becoming an apprentice, especially schools, which don't care about these things the most, as long as you don't have any bad habits from before.

These rules existed for a reason and cannot be simply explained away as outdated social norms. However, it's also normal for them to be phased out; the new era has its own reasons.

".."

Ju Qiuming remained silent until he took the water and took a sip.

He and Fu Feihan are currently mountain climbing.

The mountain was deserted, overgrown with weeds and trees, and had a steep slope. It didn't look like a habitable place, but Fu Feihan said that his teacher lived there.

Ju Qiuming and Fu Feihan are roommates and martial arts partners, and their relationship is very close. Ju Qiuming has the most experience with Fu Feihan's Shenxiang Wushiliu style. This style is free and unrestrained, with wonderful and unpredictable moves, but upon closer examination, the moves seem quite reasonable. Ju Qiuming had never heard of this style before, so he guessed it was created by Fu Feihan's master. He was also curious about who could create such a style. He thought it must be a very talented person.

However, in this day and age, people who still live in places like this... are probably quite likely to be socially anxious.

"arrive."

The two walked for a while longer and finally saw a simple bamboo house on the mountaintop.

"Teacher! I'm back!"

Fu Feihan shouted loudly.

A middle-aged man with a somewhat pale face walked out.

He smiled and nodded when he saw Fu Feihan and Ju Qiuming.

Inside the cabinet in the room were blood-stained gauze pads and a sword sheath, but the sword inside was nowhere to be found.

Fu Feihan was completely unaware, while Ju Qiuming's nose twitched slightly, his face expressionless.

-

Inside the board game arcade, a girl with a bun hairstyle sat at the cashier, holding the owner's cat in her arms, idly petting the kitten.

It was summer vacation, and Ying Qin Guan and Jiu Yi hadn't returned yet. There were hardly any customers in the store. She was known as the "Empress of Hired Managers," having worked in every one of her boss's businesses. Now that she was suddenly free, she couldn't stay still and could only vent her boundless energy on the kitten.

"Boss, what are you looking at?"

But petting cats can get boring eventually, so the girl with the bun hairstyle walked over to the shop owner with the cat in her arms.

The boss was wearing a Tang suit today, with his ever-present pipe in his hand, which resembled a Nocturne fan... except that Nocturne would change the color of the fan, while the boss always used this silver-gray pipe.

He held a pipe in one hand and a book in the other. Clearly, this was the reason the girl with the bun had asked her question.

The shopkeeper chuckled, "It was originally called 'Hidden Secrets,' but it was forcibly renamed 'Tales of the Strange'..."

As for why the name was changed, the reasons are quite complicated. Simply put, the government felt that calling it a "secret record" made it sound like popular science, when it was clearly just information that was difficult to verify.

Now it's been renamed "Tales of the Strange," and you can tell it's just bragging as soon as you hear it; it won't mislead anyone.

"Eh..." The girl with the bun hairstyle didn't care what the book's title was; she was interested in its contents. "It sounds like something very interesting. What's it about?"

"It records some rather mystical things, tales of the strange and supernatural, making it a gathering place for the bosses of the Time-Traveling Killer Company's events," the boss casually said. "The Son of Man, Fear, Night Walker, Clown, and two girls who recklessly pursue immortality..."

The girl with the bun hairstyle worked day and night. She really didn't know about the Son of Man and the Night Walker. Although the former had some fame, the boss of the event was definitely not as famous as the normal general. She knew about Fear and the Clown. She knew roughly about the two god generals who pursued immortality, Marquis Mingxuan and Wang Qiushui. The two of them disappeared in the end, and she didn't know what happened to them.

—In fact, apart from the Burning Demon, no other martial artist or magician in the Investiture of the Gods has been definitively proven dead, but generally speaking, they are assumed to be dead.

The Legend of the God of War records that the God of War "pacified the world, had no worries, and wandered the world, his whereabouts unknown."

The biography of Ye Jiaofang records that Ye Jiaofang "challenged all the heroes under heaven and defeated all the powerful figures in the world. He lamented that he had no equal in the world, so he set sail in a small boat and disappeared without a trace."