Chapter 43: Azure Cloud (21)

Outside Zhuoyu Mountain, the noise was already like a boiling pot of porridge.

Mr. Xu from the Pavilion of Heavenly Sounds was being pointed at and mocked sarcastically by Master Lu from Yuanchen Palace. The master from the Pavilion of Ingenuity covered his eyes, unable to bear watching Fu Baiyu get beaten up. The Dean was in the middle trying to mediate, stretching his arms out long, attempting to use his body to separate the two old men spitting saliva at each other. However, he barely served as a spit shield for a moment before quickly covering his face and withdrawing.

Several teachers were pinching each other, old grudges and new hatreds surging up. They looked at each other with utter distaste. Until Xiangli Lingze smashed the array core with his zither and completed the Spirit Resolution. On the mountain wall, Xiangli Lingze’s figure smashing the zither and breaking the array was magnified to the maximum. His score leaped to a thousand points, ranking high at the top.

Everyone stared at that frozen moment during the Spirit Resolution. The jade bead shattered, and the riotous spiritual flow roared, sending everyone flying. Then, as the teleportation activated, the images on the Shadow Retention Stones extinguished one by one.

Mr. Xu slapped his hands together, wailing in heartbreak, “My Fengming!”

The master from the Pavilion of Heavenly Sounds laughed while crying; for a moment, it was hard to tell if he was happy or sad.

Beside them, Qin Tan rested his head on one hand, remaining unmoved. He just quietly watched a small patch of jumping images in the corner. They were blurry and obscure, obscured by the overwhelming rain curtain. In the last instant on the Shadow Retention Stone, an image of displaced walls collapsing with the black cavalry appeared. It was unknown if the rain threads distorted the image or if it was an illusion produced by his fleeting glance.

“Sword Intent.” Qin Tan frowned. “Isn’t his cultivation only at the Second Realm?”

“So what if it’s the Second Realm? Little Fu’s swordsmanship is just that good. Although he always uses that one move, ‘one fresh move eats all over the sky.’ After learning for so many years, what’s wrong with having a bit of Sword Intent?” Su Tan retorted in his mind. He found the fight too intense just now, afraid that He Tingtong and Fu Fengyan would be eliminated, so he didn’t dare to watch and let Qin Tan take over.

Now that the final trial was over, he breathed a sigh of relief, finally not so apprehensive anymore.

“I told you the three of them could definitely pass the trial!” Su Tan showed off happily.

Su Tan had no concept of what it meant for a Second Realm to face a Tenth Realm, nor did he know what Sword Intent meant to a sword cultivator. Qin Tan frowned, hesitated for a good while, and finally gave up explaining, delivering a lukewarm sentence, “Not going to resolve spirits for points, but running off to provoke people who shouldn’t be provoked, only knowing how to cause trouble.”

Pressing his glabella, he pushed Su Tan out again. “You choose the students.”

“I’ll do it then.” Su Tan logged back in. He pressed his knees and sat up straight. glancing sideways at the Dean, he found a trace of surprise on the Dean’s expression. Following his gaze, the mountain wall was already pitch black. Not knowing what the other had seen, he asked concernedly, “Dean, what’s wrong?”

Dean Xu came back to his senses, stroking his beard and laughing lightly twice. “I see they all came out.”

Sure enough, the next second, the screen in front of the mountain wall went black, and then everyone was spat out.

A pile of youths instantly fell onto the square, rolling around like dumplings being dumped into a pot. Some were still fighting. The senior brothers helping on the side went up to subdue and pin them down one by one, calming the scene.

After tying up several “rice dumplings,” the square finally quieted down.

Everyone’s scores were recorded in the registry. Also, because quite a few people were injured, fearing delay in treatment, the injured were directly carried to the Pavilion of Hundred Herbs for treatment.

The teachers could then divide the students one by one according to the roster.

This time there were a total of eight teachers. The Sword Pavilion had only Qin Tan. For the remaining seven positions, the Langhuan Pavilion occupied a full three, the Pavilion of Ingenuity one, the Pavilion of Heavenly Sounds two, and the Pavilion of Hundred Herbs one.

“This grading shouldn’t just assess spiritual power points. This old man sincerely believes we need to look at the students’ character more. What do you fellow Daoists think?” Master Lu from Yuanchen Palace pinched a curled strand of his beard and suggested, “For example, those treacherous, two-faced little thieves are truly unworthy of great use. Even if they enter the academy, their characters are likely unruly and difficult to teach. Better to filter them out sooner rather than later, to avoid bringing disaster to the common people.”

He raised his hand and pointed at the character “He,” picked up that thin jade tablet, and waved it up and down. “Like this one, provoking trouble repeatedly, truly a ruffian and scoundrel.”

Master Lu had high cultivation and was an elder of Yuanchen Palace. Since he spoke, others naturally wouldn’t refute him. Moreover, this person surnamed He was just a small rogue cultivator with no sect or faction; it wasn’t worth offending people for him.

However, before he could smash the jade tablet, a hand with distinct joints suddenly reached out from the side, grabbed the top of the jade tablet, tightened the fingers, and indisputably pulled the tablet out of Master Lu’s palm. “Lively is good. This Seat likes to teach the lively ones.”

Su Tan snatched the tablet, weighed it in his hand, placed it in the jade box in front of him, looked calmly at the old men opposite, and raised an eyebrow. “Continue.”

Master Lu: “…”

Qin Tan was indifferent and eccentric, never caring about these messy things. When did he take a fancy to this guy surnamed He? But that He guy’s swordsmanship performance was actually average; his use of celestial talismans was quite good. If he hadn’t offended the Young Palace Master, he would inevitably have to take He Tingtong into the Langhuan Pavilion.

The Sword Sect was powerful, the head of the five sects, while Yuanchen Palace ranked second. The two sects were outwardly harmonious but had been fighting openly and secretly for years.

He couldn’t be sure for a moment whether Su Tan genuinely fancied He Tingtong or simply wanted to target him and make him lose face.

So Master Lu frowned, moving his finger down to land on the character “Yue.” “This person is young and slacked off; his points were mostly snatched during the chaos. I fear he is also unworthy of great use.”

Yue Qianxun had come out of the Langhuan Pavilion to begin with and hadn’t used a single bit of swordsmanship. Qin Tan wouldn’t possibly accept him too, right?

The system in Su Tan’s head beeped loudly, issuing a task, begging him to quickly snatch the protagonist into his pocket and cultivate feelings.

Su Tan had a headache from the system’s noise, so he raised his hand and snatched Yue Qianxun’s tablet over as well, saying simply, “This one isn’t bad, I want him too.”

Master Lu: “…” He was certain now. Sure enough, this fellow Qin Tan came prepared, specifically to target his Yuanchen Palace!

Su Tan’s gaze swept back and forth on the roster. After all, it was Qin Tan letting him choose students, so he couldn’t be too partial and break the law. So he picked and chose, first fishing up Fu Fengyan, then several sword cultivators, and finally his gaze landed on Zhang Duixue’s jade tablet. He had an impression of this person; his sword use was very beautiful.

Unexpectedly, just as he reached out to touch it, he heard the shocked voice of the old man in front, “Master of Guili Sword, absolutely not! This is our Young Palace Master’s wife!”

Su Tan was confused. “So what?”

Master Lu said in a deep voice, “The wife and the Young Palace Master are in perfect harmony. They have always lived together; how can they be separated? Zhang Duixue should go to the Langhuan Pavilion.”

Su Tan’s finger was already pressing on the tablet. Hearing this, he frowned. That Zhang Duixue ran around carrying a sword, didn’t throw a single talisman the whole time. What talisman arrays was he learning?

However, looking at the pale-faced Master Lu in front of him, he hesitated for a moment. After all, respecting the old and cherishing the young was a traditional virtue, so he asked Qin Tan, “This Zhang Duixue, do you want him or not?”

Qin Tan was annoyed to no end. He kicked Su Tan down and took over directly. He raised his eyes, his gaze deep. A calm glance, like a knife or sword, carried a daunting killing intent. “You want to fight me for him?”

Master Lu’s scalp tingled. He couldn’t understand how this guy changed faces so fast. Qin Tan’s fierce reputation was widespread. It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid, but on second thought, this was Azure Cloud Academy. Even if he was angry, so what? Could he possibly use force against him?

Although cold sweat broke out on his forehead, he didn’t yield a step, stiffening his neck and stubbornly saying, “This person enters Langhuan Pavilion.”

Qin Tan released his hand expressionlessly, grabbed straight for the box in front of Master Lu, picked out a tablet, held it up and shook it lightly. “Old man Lu, are you sure? If you choose him, I’ll choose your Young Palace Master.”

Master Lu was first angered backward by the address “Old man,” then burned by the three words “Xie Xuanxiao” held in Qin Tan’s palm. After reacting, his face changed color, black as the bottom of a pot. Suppressing his anger, he said, “Qin Tan, don’t bully people too much!”

“When did I bully you?” Qin Tan’s voice was indifferent. “Choosing people is just choosing people. If you can’t compete, then let’s fight. When did Azure Cloud Academy become your Yuanchen Palace’s dictatorship?”

He slammed his sword onto the table with a palm. The force was so heavy that the jade tablets on the table jumped three times. “Go, to the drill ground. I’ll give you a handicap of three moves.”

Master Lu raised his arm, pointing at the tip of Qin Tan’s nose, trembling: “You… you boor!”

Qin Tan looked down from above, eyelids drooping with disdain, and said coldly, “You fool.”

“Let’s go!” Master Lu’s face was flushed red. He rolled up his sleeves and grabbed an array disc from his bosom. “Even if this old man risks this life, I won’t tolerate your insults to my Yuanchen Palace!”

Qin Tan looked calm. “I didn’t insult Yuanchen Palace; I insulted you.”

Master Lu: “…”

Seeing the two daggers drawn, the other teachers who had been watching from the side couldn’t continue playing dead. However, they weren’t familiar with Qin Tan and couldn’t easily persuade him—of course, mainly they didn’t dare to. They could only all talk at once to persuade Master Lu, saying things like, “How dare you, an array master, fight a sword cultivator?”

“You’re so old, a bag of old bones, do you still want your life?”

“We came to teach, not to fight. Be harmonious, don’t get angry and ruin your health.”

“Don’t fight, don’t fight. If we teachers fight, aren’t we setting a bad example for the children?”

It wouldn’t be good if Qin Tan really hacked the Langhuan Pavilion master with a sword before school even started.

The crowd couldn’t watch the show anymore. Everyone offered steps for Master Lu to back down. After much difficulty, they barely coaxed the person into staying. Looking up, they saw Qin Tan placing the two jade tablets together. Pressing on his sword, his tone was forest-cold and stubborn, “Today I want you to choose one of the two. If you don’t choose, I will.”

Watching helplessly as Qin Tan was about to throw Xie Xuanxiao’s tablet into the box, Master Lu’s eyes nearly split open.

He now increasingly suspected that Qin Tan was sent by the Sword Sect specifically to screw them over, and the target was the Young Palace Master!

The Young Palace Master was only nineteen this year but was already at the Seventh Realm. His cultivation speed was even fiercer than Qin Tan’s back in the day… The Sword Sect probably saw that their Yuanchen Palace had a successor, so they intentionally took the opportunity to suppress him.

If the Young Palace Master really fell into Qin Tan’s hands… he would lose a layer of skin if not die!

Master Lu was almost scared to death by his own thoughts. He reached out at light speed to scoop Xie Xuanxiao’s tablet into his own box, wishing he could cover it immediately and add a hundred layers of protection. “The Young Palace Master only studies arrays and has no attainments in swordsmanship. We won’t trouble the Master of Guili Sword to worry about him.”

So Qin Tan withdrew his hand, tossed Zhang Duixue’s tablet into the box, and kicked Su Tan up again to handle other matters.

Thus, everyone saw “Qin Tan’s” expression change, suddenly revealing a smile that could be called gentle, and saying softly, “Elder Lu, sorry. That was truly rude just now. You won’t be angry, right?”

Everyone: “…”

So sarcastic, so scary.