Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Sword Must Have Its Edge

With vines as their bodies, leaves as their patterns, and thorns as their heads, more than a dozen green spears coalesced in front of the spellcasters. Unlike the earlier petty scuffles, the sight of these spears, devoid of sharpness yet unmistakably threatening, sent a chill through their hearts. Fear crept in, and they swallowed hard, their voices trembling and lacking the bravado of moments before.

“You… you’d better let me down! I’ll have you know, my father is the director.”

“Let us go, and… and we won’t make an issue of this.”

“We’re all classmates here, let’s talk it out.”

As the light faded, Jiang Wangshu emerged, her golden shield gleaming. Smiling, she looked at the group of spellcasters. “We’re all classmates—let’s help each other.”

“I’m sure the spellcasting students will be more than happy to spar with me.”

Zhang Lingyin, standing farther away and untouched by the chaos, watched Jiang Wangshu’s swagger with mounting fury. “Everyone, gather here! Focus on her—attack together!”

Zhang Lingyin, the class president of Spellcasting Class Two, was well-liked for her generosity and friendship with Jiang Ningguang. She often gifted magical treasures to fellow students, earning their favor. Now, with her command, the spellcasters who’d been hesitating immediately abandoned their duels with the sword students and used Light Feather Technique to swiftly float over.

Their spell incantations were already prepared. Unlike the earlier disorganized crowd, these spellcasters moved with precision and order. Earth spells trapped, wood spells disrupted, ice provided support, and metal struck—their attacks layered and interconnected, ceaseless in their assault.

The sword students watched, faces filled with mournful sympathy. How arduous the path of the sword had become!

Even Lian Yangxia widened her eyes, cleaving the ice before her with a single stroke and dashing forward like an arrow released.

Gu Xiu spat blood, staring at Lian Yangxia’s retreating figure. “So you’ve been holding back all along.”

To everyone’s shock, Jiang Wangshu’s golden shield rippled but remained intact, not a single crack marring its surface. She stood unmoving, as if scorning their efforts.

Zhang Lingyin gritted her teeth. “Give it everything you’ve got! No holding back. I refuse to believe her Golden Light Talisman will last forever.”

The spellcasters exchanged glances, spiritual power surging.

On the wide sports field, wild winds howled, branches whipped about.

In Jiang Wangshu’s hand, spiritual energy formed a verdant long sword. She raised it before her, sword energy gathering. “Sword students, watch closely! This move is called—‘One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Spells.’”

She struck with her sword, unleashing an arc of visible sword energy spinning through the air. It sliced through the atmosphere at blazing speed, booming with thunderous sound. All spells dissolved before its force, leaving only faint wisps of spiritual energy drifting in the air.

Clang!

Suddenly, the sword energy shattered, splintering into countless razor-sharp fragments that shot out in all directions.

Spellcasters frantically summoned shields, but no matter the kind, the sword energy pierced through. The shards sliced past them like knives, leaving wounds of varying severity on each.

Zhang Lingyin touched her face in disbelief. Blood bloomed under her fingers. “Ah!” she screamed. “My face! My face…”

Shaken from their stupor, the spellcasters’ lips quivered, terror in their eyes. They hurried to escort Zhang Lingyin away.

“Class president, let’s get to the infirmary.”

“Come on, let’s take the president to the infirmary.”

Gu Xiu’s attention shifted from Lian Yangxia. “You…”

He took a step but was dragged away by You Jie, protesting, “What are you doing?”

You Jie hissed, “Young master Gu, I’m still injured! Let’s just go—she’s not someone you can take on…”

The spellcasters had arrived with bluster, but departed in defeat.

The sword students remained stunned.

Lian Yangxia watched Jiang Wangshu, who still stood at her original spot, manipulating the wooden sword with childish gestures. “You know how to use a sword, so why…”

Jiang Wangshu looked up, puzzled. “What are you saying? I don’t know anything about swords!”

Lian Yangxia was incredulous. “Impossible! That strike just now…” He recalled its brilliance, his gaze filled with longing.

“…was truly beautiful.”

Unlike others, he had grown up listening to stories of sword masters and genuinely wished to excel as one. Sadly, reality was harsh: sword techniques were incomplete, only fragments remained, making it impossible to progress. Even the sword faculty’s teachers spent fortunes traveling each year, yet never found better sword arts.

Thus, the sword sect had fallen into decline.

Jiang Wangshu gazed at the sky, swinging the wooden sword in her hand. “I don’t understand swords—I can’t even produce sword flowers as beautiful as yours, nor do I know sword techniques.”

“But I believe a sword can be the blade of a gentleman, a weapon of protection, but it must never be a tool for hiding one’s weaknesses. If a sword loses its edge, it ceases to be a sword.”

Truthfully, she was baffled by the mysterious power of that sword energy. Her understanding of swords came only from reading a few martial arts novels in another world; even the name of the technique was made up.

The fact it had such power probably just meant her opponents weren’t very skilled!

The premium system in her mind celebrated her victory, but her heart remained unmoved. In her view, only someone like Li Huanyi, calm and imposing, whose presence was as lofty as a mountain, could be considered truly formidable.

As for this noisy rabble—they were certainly lacking!

Lian Yangxia stood as if struck by lightning, his eyes empty, staring ahead.

Suddenly, something shattered inside him. Clarity washed over, and he laughed aloud. “So that’s it! So that’s it! Without an edge, how can it be called a sword!”

“Thank you, junior!” Lian Yangxia clasped his hands with a smile, soaring away. He settled in the center of the field, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

Surging spiritual power revolved like a tornado, drawing in the ambient energy as rivers flow into the sea.

One sword student quickly pulled the others back in alarm. “Senior has achieved enlightenment!”

Jiang Wangshu glanced at the vortex’s center. “This is enlightenment?”

The sword students nodded fervently. “It’s rare indeed! Perhaps senior will create his own technique from this.”

Other students looked at Jiang Wangshu. “We’re sorry—we shouldn’t have blamed you.”

“It was our own cowardice. We’re sorry!”

“Will you teach us swordsmanship in the future?”

Jiang Wangshu felt overwhelmed. “You have teachers for that; I don’t know a thing—what could I possibly teach!”

Meanwhile, Dai Anrong, clutching spirit stones she’d finally managed to wrest from the finance office, happily headed back to the field. Now the kids could get their extra training.

But Jiang Ningguang suddenly appeared, pulling her aside for a long-winded chat.

Out of courtesy to a colleague, Dai Anrong played along for a while.

Only when the field erupted with a tremendous surge of spiritual power did she snap back to attention. “You did that on purpose!”

Jiang Ningguang covered her mouth with a laugh. “Don’t make baseless accusations!”

Dai Anrong ignored the argument, rushing off. “If anything happens to my students, I won’t forgive you!”

Jiang Ningguang raised an eyebrow, smiling. “Just a bunch of sword students—what could they possibly accomplish!”

She turned, intent on finding her own students to see their progress.