Chapter 44: Flying Sword

Zhang Yu could tell at a glance that the flying swords on the field were completely different from the children's toy swords he had bought before. Clearly, they weren't something you could just pick up and play with.

Faced with the general dissatisfaction, the host recited the advertisement with an unchanging expression and then announced the rules for the first round of the competition.

The flying swords floating on the field at the moment were products of "Nine Heavens Flying Swords," a manufacturer of civilian-grade mana-powered flying swords.

They boasted that no sword control techniques were required, no level of Dao heart was needed; one could control the flying sword simply by varying the output of mana, testing one's control over the sword with magical energy.

The sword scabbard was like a remote control and mana transmitter. Different frequencies, types, and magnitudes of mana input could control the flying sword.

The specific task of this round was to have the participating students use the flying swords to hit signal plates flying in the air. The faster and more accurate the strike, the higher the score.

The total score for this round, like the second and third rounds, was 100 points.

The final ranking of the competition would be determined by the total score of all three rounds combined.

As the flying sword's instruction manual was distributed, the students had half an hour to learn how to use it.

Behind the White Dragon High School team, a middle-aged man in a tracksuit smiled slightly and said, "So, it's still testing mana control? At least it's not too outrageous. I thought we'd have to learn sword control on the spot."

This was Han Xingye, the competition coach of White Dragon High School.

Unlike Songyang High School, where the mana class teacher served as the competition instructor, White Dragon High School had dedicated teachers for various competitions.

Hearing Han Xingye's words, Song Hailong, with his hair standing tall, casually said, "This is our class's first competition."

"Coach, please help me see if there are any noteworthy opponents on the field, especially how good Zi Yun and Hong Ta are this year."

White Dragon High School, Zi Yun High School, and Hong Ta High School were the three strongest high schools in Songyang City. If nothing unexpected happened, many of their opponents in the next three years would be on the field right now.

Han Xingye readily agreed to Song Hailong's request.

Besides Song Hailong's excellent grades, it was also because of Song Hailong's exceptionally wealthy background.

This proud son of a prominent family in Songyang City was a descendant whose KPI ranked at the top of his family. He could be called the ace son of the Song family's generation.

Han Xingye nodded and slid his finger across his talisman book. The next moment, accompanied by a burst of mana output, he activated the Heavenly Eye Talisman.

This Heavenly Eye Talisman was an invocation of the All-Knowing and All-Questioning Grand Divinity of the Ministry of Ten Thousand Peoples, who would evaluate the people seen in his eyes.

This evaluation gathered comprehensive data about a person, from bank savings and personal assets to school grades, work performance, and family relationships, and made a comprehensive and vague assessment.

Dislike the vagueness and want more details? Then one would need a higher level of faith and spend more money.

In short, the more detailed the Heavenly Eye Talisman's effect, the more expensive it was; the more vague, the cheaper.

Han Xingye, looking around the field, naturally dared not look at any detailed evaluations. He was afraid he would bankrupt himself with a single glance. Such things had happened in the history of Kunxu.

As soon as the Heavenly Eye Talisman was activated, golden light particles gathered in Han Xingye's eyes.

When he looked at the entire field, he could see different evaluations appearing above each person's head.

Insignificant, insignificant, insignificant, insignificant, insignificant...

Insignificant, insignificant, bankrupt gambler, insignificant, insignificant...

Insignificant, jade bones and icy muscles (expand for details), insignificant, insignificant, insignificant...

"Hmm?"

Han Xingye's gaze shifted, noticing that a girl from Zi Yun High School had actually jumped onto the stands.

"That seems to be Yue Mulan from Zi Yun? Why is she climbing up there? Is she looking at the signal plates for the competition?"

He looked closely, and the evaluation above her head immediately expanded.

Jade Bones and Icy Muscles | Pill Refiner | High Lineage | Zi Yun Loyalist | Aloof Beauty

As a longtime user of the Heavenly Eye Talisman, although it seemed a bit complex at first glance, Han Xingye thought about the vague evaluations and roughly guessed what they meant.

"This is a high-quality, wealthy person with a special physique, good at taking pills, excellent grades, loyal to Zi Yun High School, and complex background."

"Pills? Physique?"

Han Xingye pondered, sent the keywords to Song Hailong, and then looked at the others on the field.

While he was constantly gazing at the students, the competition officially began.

The venue was divided into eighteen sub-arenas. Each batch randomly drew 18 contestants to compete in their respective arenas, controlling their flying swords to shoot at the signal plates in the air.

In Han Xingye's eyes, students from ordinary high schools, each deemed 'insignificant', entered the arena. They fumbled with the flying swords like raw recruits. If they could hit one or two signal plates in the air, it was considered good, and the judges would give them a score of 10 or 20 points.

"Looks like they've never played with flying swords before?"

Han Xingye knew that although this round nominally tested mana control, whether one had played with flying swords or not made a big difference.

Especially in terms of grasping space, distance, accuracy, and speed, even if someone had strong mana control, it would be difficult to get a good score if it was their first time.

But for the students of the three famous schools, playing with flying swords was not a rare thing.

For example, among the ten people White Dragon High School sent to the competition this time, at least four or five had flying swords at home.

According to what he knew, Song Hailong's family even had a sword vault with hundreds of flying swords and had played with them countless times.

At the same time, in Han Xingye's vision under the Heavenly Eye Talisman, students with 'rare' and 'elite' evaluations began to appear, in addition to those deemed ‘insignificant'.

Han Xingye knew that these were generally the top students from various ordinary high schools or the elite students from key high schools.

"Getting 30 or 40 points would be impressive."

"Their mana control is not good, and they haven't played with flying swords before. If the quality of Nine Heavens Flying Swords wasn't really good, they probably wouldn't be able to hit a single signal plate."Seeing all this, Han Xingye felt a stirring in his heart. He pondered whether he should purchase a Nine Heavens Magic Flying Sword.

Just then, his gaze shifted slightly. Among the countless 'insignificant,' 'rare,' and 'elite' labels, he finally spotted a unique evaluation.

'Pure Grade Slave'

Han Xingye glanced at the student's uniform, recognizing it as belonging to Songyang High School.

In the arena, Qian took a deep breath, slowly gripping the flying sword's scabbard before him.

The next moment, as he channeled a surge of magical power into it, the flying sword within the scabbard shot out with a *whoosh*.

The flying sword, entirely bladed with no hilt, soared skyward like a streak of cold light, aiming for the signal markers in mid-air.

Although he hadn't practiced extensively, Qian had tried out his grandfather's magic flying sword a few times.

Now, following the tips from his private tutor, he gradually injected mana into the scabbard, controlling the flying sword to strike the signal markers one by one by changing the rhythm of mana injection. *Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*

72 points.

Seeing his score for this round, Qian breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Not bad. This should be enough to report back."

On the other side, Han Xingye glanced at the score of 72 and shook his head inwardly. "Alas, Songyang High School is also a well-established key high school, yet the students' level declines with each passing year."

"Ultimately, it's stagnation. They refuse to learn from the advanced experiences of other schools, such as the grade-based caste system of Ziyun High School, or our school's low-score slave system. There's been no innovation in teaching methods, so how can they keep up with the times..."

Just as Han Xingye was thinking this, he saw another contestant with a special evaluation appear.

In his eyes, Lian Tianji of Ziyun High School, labeled 'Son of Diligence,' walked onto the field, flicked his arm, and sent the flying sword shooting out, swiftly scoring 90 points.

"Seems to be that Lian Tianji. The most compatible one with the Heaven's Diligence Art in Ziyun High School this year."

As more and more contestants took to the stage, Han Xingye's eyes darted around, spotting more and more special students.

Over at Songyang High School, a 'Son of the School Board' had just appeared, scoring 78 points.

Le Mulan of Ziyun High School, labeled 'Ice Skin Jade Bones,' instantly racked up the current highest score of 95 points upon her appearance, drawing gasps of amazement from the audience.

As Han Xingye watched intently, a woman suddenly caught his attention.

'Sword Critic (Expand for Details)'

"Oh? A student from Songyang High School?"

Han Xingye watched Bai Zhenzhen walk onto the field. He knew that those who could 'Expand' were usually of complex origins, representing considerable background, strength, or talent, but he didn't expect to see one among the students of Songyang High School.

His gaze sharpened slightly, and he saw a string of words unfold above Bai Zhenzhen's head.

'Sword Critic, Fist Critic, Palm Critic, Saber Critic, Spear Critic, Medicine Critic, Grade Overlord, Loan Slave, Card Slave, Dao Techniques are Useless Theorist, Songyang Black Hater, She's Poor...'

Seeing the endless list of evaluations, Han Xingye was deeply shocked.

He never thought he would be shocked by a student from Songyang High School, and the reason was simply that the person's complexity far exceeded that of ordinary people.

However, the next moment, his shock subsided slightly, simply because her score was 34 points.

"Although I don't know why the evaluations are so long, judging from this score, this woman is insignificant."

Soon, his attention was drawn to Song Hailong.

Before this top student from Bailong High School took to the stage, he removed his long, flowing hair from the top of his head.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Yu exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap! He's balding in high school?"

Bai Zhenzhen returned to the resting area with a gloomy face. Hearing Zhang Yu's surprise, she pointed out, "That's not a wig, that's an external spirit root."

"External spirit root?" Zhang Yu recalled that such a thing existed, but this was the first time he had seen it in reality.

Bai Zhenzhen said enviously, "This isn't like those old-fashioned spirit roots in school. This kind of external spirit root is plug-and-play, replaceable at any time. Yu, remember, this is the birthday present I want most."

Zhang Yu patted Zhenzhen on the shoulder and comforted her, "I can't afford an external spirit root, but I can give you both baldness and wigs."

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes, then continued to stare intently at the wig placed on the chair by Song Hailong, contemplating the possibility of swiping it.

But looking at the students and teachers around, she could only sigh deeply.

After Song Hailong stepped onto the field, feeling the mana flowing smoothly through his body, a smile appeared on his lips.

Installing a spirit root to enhance mana and cause a surge in magical power?

Such are the thoughts of the poor.

Song Hailong's purpose in installing an external spirit root was solely to train his control over mana during the more surging process of breathing spiritual energy and refining mana.

The weak worry that the surge in mana brought about by spiritual energy will become uncontrollable, but for a powerful person like me, this is the best training opportunity.

He grasped the sword scabbard in one hand, and as mana erupted from his palm, the flying sword shot out like lightning.

From below, Han Xingye watched his student control the flying sword on the field as if manipulating lightning, instantly racking up 100 points and becoming the new high scorer of the whole event. A proud expression appeared on his face.

"100 points, simply because the total score is 100 points."

"With Song Hailong's abundant mana, the strength of his mana control, and his familiarity with the flying sword, he is limited by the total score in this match."

Meanwhile, after Bai Zhenzhen returned to the rest area, Teacher Yan's gaze occasionally swept over her.

"Bai Zhenzhen only started practicing for the magic-item competition recently, right? Her progress is very fast. Is it talent? Or is it a coincidence?"

However, in Teacher Yan's eyes, Bai Zhenzhen's talent in mana was still ultimately inferior to Zhang Yu's.

A moment later, when Zhang Yu took to the stage, she also looked forward to this student's performance.

On the field, Zhang Yu gently grasped the sword scabbard. As mana was inputted little by little, he could feel the flying sword inside begin to tremble slightly.

When he was off stage just now, Zhang Yu had been thinking about how he could score as high as possible.

His current situation was like having nimble and unimpaired hands, and then someone ran over and said to him: "Oh? Your finger control is strong? Then let me test you. Use the excavator in front of you to open the bottle cap, and see how good your finger control really is."Damn it, another competition rigged in favor of the wealthy, an utter injustice!

Zhang Yu cursed inwardly.

"The feel of this flying sword...it's akin to a drone, or perhaps a racing quadcopter. Even with my refined control over spiritual force, if I haven't practiced with such a contraption, commanding it with precision will be exceedingly difficult."

The thought of manipulating this flying sword to weave back and forth, striking those palm-sized signal tokens suspended in mid-air, filled Zhang Yu with a sense of daunting challenge.

"Therefore, I cannot employ the traditional techniques of swordsmanship..."