Cohabitation with Sword Spirit

Chapter 541 - 42: No Such Thing as Failure in the Dictionary

Essentially, the Celestial Sword Spirit is someone who has love in his heart and is willing to spread true love.

His love for the Sword Dao has spanned his fifty years as a human, and now he has spread this love to more people, igniting a passion for the Sword Dao in many members of the Academy Sword Group who once had a bias against it.

Watching the cultivators enthusiastically showing off their swordsmanship outside the Illusory Arena, Zhao Chenlu sighed and said, "Ah, I had planned to show up and help when you were troubled about how to deal with this bunch of idiots, and then take the opportunity to ask you to agree to a few requests. Now it seems there’s no chance to play."

Zhao Chenlu deliberately assumed a disinterested stance, seeing that Wang Jiu unsurprisingly had no reaction, he waved his hand at him, "Alright, I have to go and teach the other four groups, so I’ll take my leave. If there’s anything, just call me anytime."

After seeing Zhao Chenlu off, Wang Jiu turned his attention back to the Sword Group members and immediately saw hundreds of eager eyes.

"Dean, there’s still time, could you please..."

"I didn’t quite remember the deconstruction of a few Sword Seals just now, could I ask the Dean to demonstrate again..."

For a moment, everyone was talking at once, vying to speak.

Wang Jiu fully understood the mindset of those who, after their first taste of bliss, couldn’t get enough of it.

Back in the day, when his mind was still unclear, he experienced the ultimate truth of the Sword Dao in the Sword Pool, and the beautiful taste of soaking in truth was deeply imprinted in his heart. So much so that for the next 50 years, nothing could shake his pursuit of the Sword Dao.

But that was just his personal experience.

From Wang Jiu’s observation of other humans, his experience is not replicable. Even if someone also received enlightenment in the Sword Dao from the Sword Pool and developed lifelong dedication, it’s impossible for them to possess the same talent in the Sword Dao as him.

Humans are creatures who easily shift their interests, whether it’s childhood dreams, adolescent fantasies, or youthful passions... all are not immune to the passage of time and the onslaught of setbacks.

It’s easy to love the Sword Dao, but maintaining that love is hard, especially when they realize they don’t have enough talent, when they see that their significant efforts are not rewarded, when they enter the battlefield holding a sword and can’t defeat their opponents... their passion for the Sword Dao is bound to wane.

Wang Jiu’s life has been favored by fortune, always able to make crucial breakthroughs at key moments, meet decisive opponents, and claim significant victories. Such a smooth journey cannot be replicated.

Therefore, the current passion for the Sword Dao among these researchers should be classified as temporary enthusiasm rather than lasting faith, and this passion needs to be continuously fortified and their memories deepened...

Thinking of this, he suddenly heard a researcher sigh, "If only I had received the Dean’s guidance a few years earlier, if only I had seriously studied the Sword Dao a few years earlier, there might be a chance to win in next month’s Sword Fighting tournament with Wuxiang Sword Academy."

Wang Jiu was intrigued by these words and asked, "A Sword Fighting tournament with Wuxiang Sword Academy?"

The researcher was even more surprised, "Dean, you didn’t know? The former deans made a bet with Wuxiang Sword Academy before going to the Primordial Ruins. They said that after returning, they would hold a Sword Fighting tournament with Wuxiang Sword Academy to reclaim lost honor..."

Someone added, "It’s said they also agreed to a huge wager, the winners would get hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones... Wuxiang Sword Academy threw a celebratory banquet that night, celebrating the unexpected wealth gained by the Sword Academy. The feast was quite lavish."

An older researcher sighed, "But it’s no surprise, in all these years when have we ever won against Wuxiang Sword Academy in Sword Fighting? The former deans worked hard for decades, yet the gap between our Academy in the Sword Dao field and Wuxiang Sword Academy has only widened. The number and quality of published papers barely keep up, but the only ones who can actually compete in Sword Fighting are the former head and vice deans. Against even the Celestial Sword and Broken Sword of Wuxiang Sword Academy, they haven’t even forced the Academy’s dean to step in during decades..."

Veteran Zhu He said, "That’s not very fair. The dean of Wuxiang Sword Academy is of the same generation as the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect, practicing for over a hundred and twenty years, ranking firmly among the top five in the world in practical skills. Facing Dean Sang and her team is an instance of the strong preying on the weak. The Celestial Sword and Broken Sword are also his top disciples, having practiced longer than Dean Sang and her team, so it is normal for them to have a slight advantage. Besides, when our Academy loses, it’s not really due to the two deans; rather, there simply isn’t a third person capable of competing, which results in a huge disadvantage."

"Yes, it’s a pity Dean Wang arrived a few years too late. If I had known earlier that I had such talent in wielding a sword, I would have certainly mastered the Sword Dao Divine Techniques, and teamed up with Dean Sang and her team to compete against Wuxiang Sword Academy."

"It’s unfortunate that the Sword Fighting tournament is just half a month away, no matter what, it’s far too late..."

Hearing these words, Wang Jiu’s brows furrowed more and more deeply.

The handover of work at this Academy is utterly disorganized. As the newly appointed Dean, no one even informed him of such a significant matter as the wager with Wuxiang Sword Academy! The Sang Sisters are evidently seriously negligent as well. They didn’t even keep work logs or manuals, resulting in a situation where the new Dean has no idea what tasks require successors to handle on their behalf.

Perhaps they have unrealistic confidence in exploring the Primordial Ruins, or maybe they have rationally realized that if the exploration fails, leaving more inheritance would only benefit future generations.

But anyway, this at least shows that his decision to assign the work secretary sent by the academy to the All Things Group as soon as he took office was very wise. Such cultivators with severe intellectual deficiencies can at most go study the myriad of things in Xiangzhou...

Seeing Wang Jiu deep in thought and silent, someone around him said, "Dean, you don’t have to worry too much. The bet set by the former deans was officiated by the academy. By then, the bet compensation can go directly through the academy’s accounts."

Another person said, "Yes, and it’s not surprising to lose the sword fight to Wuxiang Sword Academy anymore. In the past five years, there’s been such a line in the academy’s annual budget. Just treat the dozens of thousands of Spirit Stones as a new year’s fee."

"Actually, we all felt it’s better to lose. After all, losing only requires paying tens of thousands of the new year’s fee, but if we win, who knows how much trouble those two dean sisters might stir up."

"Ah, I have a little gossip. I heard they plan to establish 170 new Sword Dao research projects to achieve a revolutionary evolution in Xiangzhou’s Sword Dao, forever leaving their names in history... At least half of those 170 projects are sheer fantasies, but they intend to allocate more than half of the academy’s manpower resources and push forward the research at all costs, even if it affects other projects."

"Ah? Bringing in half the people to the Sword Group? With so many people on leave, can the academy still function normally?"

"It’s said they also plan to cancel the current leave policy of the Sword Group. If the goal is not achieved, there would be no subsidies and not even off-duty..."

"Insane, truly insane!"

The sword group cultivators chatted animatedly for a while, but no one took the bet with Wuxiang Sword Academy too seriously.

After all, after losing for so many years, even the most sensitive persons should feel numb, let alone most, besides the Sang sisters, may not genuinely wish to win the bet.

But Wang Jiu cared deeply about this victory or defeat.

In matters of Sword Dao, Wang Jiu has always been meticulous. If Cyan Lotus Academy loses the sword fight to Wuxiang Sword Academy under his leadership, it would be an intolerable blemish to the Celestial Divine Sword. It would significantly impact the academy’s people’s enthusiasm for Sword Dao. The budding Sword Dao interest he just managed to ignite today would be at risk of withering.

"Where can I see the rules of the sword fight?"

"Ah? Hold on, I should have a copy here..." A curious researcher rummaged through a Storage Bag for a while and found a detailed explanation of the sword fight rules, densely covered with annotations.

The researcher, a bit embarrassed, explained, "I was previously designated by Dean Sang as the main force for the sword fight, so I had no choice but to seriously study the rules to find how to admit defeat quickly, or, preferably, feign illness to avoid participating..."

A young man beside him raised an eyebrow happily, saying, "I’m the same! The dean insisted on my participating in that mixed group, and it really worried me. Did you find any method?"

"The simplest is to eat some food before the start that might cause a failed drug test. The imitation Shen City sandstone barbeque stall in the South of Liantian City is said to always use hallucination poppy shells to enhance flavors. If we go for a meal, the drug test during the sword fight will likely show banned substances..."

The two were speaking enthusiastically but were finally interrupted by a colleague’s vigorous tugging on their sleeves, realizing that the new dean looked stern.

Wang Jiu looked at the sword fight rules jointly set by the previous dean and Wuxiang Sword Academy and, after comparing them with information on Wuxiang Sword Academy, quickly calculated the odds of victory in the sword fight.

No matter how Cyan Lotus Academy arranges its lineup, given the current academy’s researchers who only understand theoretical studies, facing the well-trained and formidable Wuxiang Sword Academy, there isn’t even a 0.1% chance of victory.

Among the Three Academies, the real combat abilities of Wuxiang Sword Academy have far surpassed the other two. In recent decades, the focus on practical combat and a large amount of life-threatening combat training has enabled the sword cultivators of Wuxiang Sword Academy to have combat experience comparable to Shen City soldiers who fight year-round on the Chaos Battlefield.

However, the recruitment standards of Wuxiang Sword Academy are far higher than those of Shen City. Sword Dao geniuses, considered once-in-a-century elsewhere, can be found in abundance there. Unlike Shen City, which solely emphasizes practical combat, Wuxiang Sword Academy also values arena battles.

Under the arena rules, competing in the swordsmanship that the academy people excel at, it is now impossible to find opponents in Xiangzhou who can match them. Even in high-end battles in the sword fight tournament against the Celestial Sword and Broken Sword, Wang Jiu himself would not have absolute confidence in winning.

Nevertheless, half a month remains until the sword fight tournament – enough time for the Celestial Divine Sword to defy fate.