Chapter Ninety-Seven: A Windfall from the Sky

A sharp round of applause rang out.

In the hushed hall, it sounded especially piercing.

Xiao Nan turned toward the source and saw a woman descending from the second floor by the corner stairway. She wore a dark blue tailored suit and carried herself with a faintly cool air.

She looked to be in her early twenties, with brows like drawn blades and frosty eyes. The way she walked was not the feminine sway of a delicate woman, but a squared, almost masculine stride.

An unusual, forceful vigor radiated from her entire being.

That sort of bearing seemed to declare to everyone, without pause: I am a tomboy. I am a tomboy.

Well, in truth, her figure was all too perfect, full in the right places and alluring beyond reason.

Yet she had this strange ability to make people forget all of that entirely.

This should be Jiang Yu, the master of the Four Seasons Sword Hall.

Xiao Nan had some impression of her from his memories.

Jiang Yu had come to Yuanjiang City two years ago and had devoted herself to promoting the Four Seasons Sword. Unfortunately, for various reasons, her efforts had not been very successful.

In the memories of his former self, Xiao Nan even recalled that he had once been captivated by a video of Hall Master Jiang personally demonstrating the Four Seasons Sword.

The swordsmanship was simply too beautiful, and the woman’s temperament too distinctive; the original Xiao Nan had been utterly unable to resist, and had begged his mother for money to learn it.

Such a troublesome boy.

Well, now that he was the one in his place, it would not be fair to be too hard on him.

Young boys always like odd and peculiar images.

Just as in his previous life, Xiao Nan had seen many fans of that certain Spring Brother, fanatically devoted in a way he could not understand.

Perhaps it was simply because he himself preferred girls who were a little softer; tastes differed.

As for whether Xiao Bei, the little girl, had secretly encouraged him to take up swordsmanship, Xiao Nan could not quite remember.

“Hall Master.”

Teacher Yang greeted her hurriedly, as though he had seen a savior.

Several staff members also quickly went forward to welcome her.

“I’ve brought shame to the Four Seasons Sword Hall.”

Jiang Lin, who had been lying on the ground pretending to be dead, could no longer keep up the act...

He covered his face in deep shame, his voice so low that only he could hear himself, and stepped forward to speak.

He had not been injured, merely had his sword broken. After being struck by the lightning sword Xiao Nan had suddenly thrust out, his appearance was simply too ugly.

“No, you’ve helped my Four Seasons Sword Hall find an excellent seedling. Far from shaming us, you’ve made a great contribution.”

Jiang Yu’s voice was also peculiar, low and slightly husky.

Although her tone was bright and open, it somehow gave the impression of a murmur close to one’s ear, easily leading people astray.

After saying that, she no longer paid Jiang Lin any attention.

Though she could not openly criticize him to his face and still had to shield him from embarrassment, the fact remained that his loss had been disgraceful; in effect, he had dragged the Four Seasons Sword Hall into the mud with him.

An elite student losing to a newcomer—was that meant to tell them all their usual resources had gone down the drain?

Or that the Four Seasons Sword Hall simply could not cultivate true experts?

And Teacher Yang too, the same...

You are a teacher, for heaven’s sake. The students are fencing, and you can’t even tell who’s who when you look.

What sort of nonsense is this?

If she could not recruit talent and all her subordinates were mediocre at best, then no matter how many plans she had, it would be difficult to carry the sword hall to greatness.

Jiang Yu sighed inwardly. That one fragile thread of emotion lasted only two seconds before being cast to the back of her mind again.

She looked at Xiao Nan with a smile and praised him, saying, “Using the vitality of the Spring triad of swords to nurture the thunder of the Awakening of Insects—there’s no doubt about it, you are a genius.”

“You could tell?” Xiao Nan’s eyes lit up. Now this was someone who knew her stuff.

Teacher Yang was responsible for the explanation, but she had been making things up out of thin air, probably unable even to grasp the true essence of the sword art.

As for Jiang Lin, he had charged and fought in a wild, reckless fashion. He only understood the sword intent of the Summer sword, and tried to force any move into that framework without caring whether it fit.

In battle, he was no more than a brute, hardly worthy of discussing the Dao.

This female hall master before him must have been upstairs earlier...

She had been speaking with the old man beside her and had not been carefully watching the duel between himself and Jiang Lin, yet she understood everything happening on the field with perfect clarity and pointed straight to the heart of the matter.

Truly worthy of a hall master.

Jiang Yu laughed heartily.

She raised a hand and pointed around the hall, her figure full and graceful beneath the taut lines of her suit, and said with pride, “This is my sword hall. All the teachers and elite disciples were cultivated and instructed by me. The Four Seasons Sword is the sword art I have trained in since childhood. Tell me, could I possibly fail to recognize it?”

“Then, Hall Master, your teaching ability really isn’t much to speak of.”

“Uh...”

Jiang Yu was left speechless.

After a pause, she laughed again. “All right, young man, you’re very quick-witted... Are you interested in joining my Four Seasons Sword?”

Xiao Nan smiled as well. This woman really was extraordinarily self-confident.

“Didn’t I already join the Four Seasons Sword? I’m a junior member.”

“That’s not what I mean. I mean becoming an elite student of the Four Seasons Sword, not merely joining the Yuanjiang Four Seasons Sword Hall.”

Jiang Yu said earnestly, “Have you not realized that you are exceptionally suited to the philosophy of the Four Seasons Sword? You have already trained the Spring triad of swords into three layers of sword curtains by yourself, and have comprehended the marvelous uses of life force, giving birth to thunder from within it.

“As long as you join my Four Seasons Sword, I dare guarantee that the resources you receive in the future will never be inferior to those of a top-tier martial arts university. You will also receive personal guidance from experts of the line.

“At the same time, the Summer, Autumn, and Winter sword arts that follow will be opened to you without condition, helping you grasp the true meaning of the cycle of the four seasons.”

Hearing Jiang Yu’s words, Jiang Lin’s mouth opened wider and wider beside them.

He did not even get that treatment.

After becoming the chief elite student of Yuanjiang, Hall Master Jiang had only promised that the resources he received would be on par with those of a first-rate martial arts university.

Even so, he still had not been permitted to learn the Winter triad of swords to this day. The excuse was that his nature was too unstable and he could not control such bleak and destructive intent, that he might stray onto a crooked path with the sword...

“What merit does this brat have that lets him surpass me the moment he joins?” Jiang Lin felt a bitterness rise in his heart. Thinking back to how he had just been defeated by a single sword strike from the other party, he grew even more dispirited.

Some things really could not be compared.

“Still, no,” Xiao Nan said, shaking his head.

He understood her meaning well enough: this was an invitation to join the sect.

Not to take the martial arts college entrance exam route, but to enter the Four Seasons Sword Sect directly and become one of its disciples, inheriting its teachings and working for its cause.

Though the woman before him was sincere.

When it came to life’s choices, he could not simply alter his decision on a whim.

Compared with the Four Seasons Sword, he still believed that a martial arts university was the best path.

The collision of countless martial styles, the competition of geniuses...

To gallop freely across a vast stage—that was the final thing his heart truly yearned for.

The circle of the Four Seasons Sword was, after all, too small. It could not contain a dream that sought transcendence.

“Xiao Nan, think about it carefully. As for the Four Seasons Reincarnation Sword, you may not understand what level it truly is.

“But you only need to know this: once it is truly mastered, just by swordsmanship alone it can rank among the top three in the entire empire.

“Not to mention, you may even gain the seed of sword intent from it. By then, becoming the empire’s foremost swordsman would not be impossible.”

At times like this, of course, the bigger the pitch the better; after all, boasting did not incur tax.

Jiang Yu continued, “And besides, I heard that you offended Lin Anguo during the martial arts skill assessment that day. I know that man; he is not one to show great leniency.

“If your qi and blood had been just a little weaker, you might not have passed at all. Rather than spending your days wasting away in some third-rate university later on, it would be better to join the Four Seasons Sword.”

After Xiao Nan stepped up, she had watched in surprise and could not resist secretly looking into his background and his situation at school.

In the two years since opening her hall in Yuanjiang City, she was naturally not without connections in the martial arts high schools.

At this moment, with just a few words, she had brought up the crucial point.

She believed that on this alone, Xiao Nan had no reason to refuse.

Perhaps the Four Seasons Sword Sect still lacked the allure of a prestigious university or a first-rate institution.

But compared to the treatment at second- and third-rate martial arts universities, her full cultivation of him would be nothing short of a pie falling straight from the sky.