Chapter 37: So-Called Genius

Business was especially brisk today at several restaurants along the old street.

By the time Zhou Yan finished his errands and returned to the sword hall, it was already three o’clock.

As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Luo Ke hunched over behind the reception desk, busy with something mysterious.

Zhou Yan crept closer, only to find the little girl unexpectedly alert—she noticed someone approaching at once. With a swift motion, she swept her hands over the table, bent forward, and covered a pile of unknown objects with her upper body. Then she lifted her face to glare at the intruding Zhou Yan, puffing out her cheeks, “Zhou Yan! Why did you sneak up on me like that?”

“Heh, I just wanted to see what you’re up to in such secrecy.” Zhou Yan grinned mischievously, pretending to peer over.

“Ah! You villain!” Luo Ke cried out, standing up and bending over even further, guarding her secret with her whole body.

But then Zhou Yan set his insulated lunch box right in front of her face.

“Huh?” Luo Ke was momentarily stunned.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, “Actually, I brought you some delicious sweet soup—courtesy of Old Zhang, haha.”

With that, he reached out to poke Luo Ke’s forehead, then turned to leave.

Zhou Yan had no intention of prying into a girl’s little secret; he simply played along.

Once Luo Ke realized she’d been teased, she made a fierce face at his back, then happily opened the lunch box and picked out her favorite iced mung bean paste, her eyes shining with delight.

She scooped up a big spoonful and popped it into her mouth, closing her eyes in bliss as flavors burst across her tongue.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, glanced down at the messy pile of parts she’d been guarding, then looked at Zhou Yan disappearing into the locker room, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.

“Heh heh, Zhou Yan, I’ll give you a surprise in a few days.”

“Hm… this drive mechanism… I’ll look up some information later.”

Frowning in concentration, Luo Ke fiddled with the parts for a moment, then set them aside, picked up her bowl of mung bean paste, and continued to savor it contentedly.

*

When Zhou Yan returned to the training hall in a short-sleeved shirt, he saw Luo Xuan beckoning him over.

He approached, glanced around, and asked curiously, “Um… Instructor Luo, where are Yan Yong and Luo Zhiming?”

The young woman replied calmly, “They couldn’t accept losing to you, so they made excuses and went home, saying they felt unwell.”

As she spoke, her sword-bright eyes fixed on Zhou Yan’s face.

“Zhou Yan, tell me honestly…” Her gaze seemed to pierce right through him. “Did you recover your memory? Were you already a master swordsman before this?”

Zhou Yan smiled wryly and lowered his voice, “Xiao Xuan, your imagination is wild. Apart from what’s happened since I met you all, I don’t remember a single thing about this world…”

Yes, not a single memory of “this” world.

Zhou Yan felt he was telling no lie.

Luo Xuan studied his face intently. Finding no sign of deception in his confident expression, she nodded, though still suspicious.

“To master the Nanming Sword in a single night, and in just a few days reach such proficiency that you beat my two strongest students the first time you faced them…”

Her expression remained calm. “So, you really are a once-in-a-decade sword prodigy.”

Zhou Yan scratched his head awkwardly. “I’ll admit I managed to beat Luo Zhiming, but this morning, wasn’t it Yan Yong who drove me back? If he’d pressed the attack, I might have been in real trouble.”

Luo Xuan shot him a sidelong glance, her eyes clearly saying, “You can keep pretending.”

She said quietly, “Others may not have noticed, but I did. In that final exchange, Yan Yong used both hands for his ‘Eagle Slash,’ boosting both speed and power; otherwise, he would have been struck by your ‘Kite Spiral’ technique.”

Sharp-eyed, as expected of a true expert.

Zhou Yan laughed, changing the subject. “So, Xiao Xuan, with my talent, I’m only a once-in-a-decade prodigy?”

“What else would you call it?” Luo Xuan tilted her head as she replied, her high ponytail swaying with the motion.

The casual gesture was a stark contrast to her usual cool demeanor—unexpectedly charming.

Zhou Yan couldn’t help but admire her, teasing, “To be able to defeat ‘elite students’ after just a few days of sword practice, ‘once in a decade’ seems like an understatement.”

Luo Xuan thought for a moment, then replied bluntly, “Let’s not speak of the whole world—just our Empire. With about ten million babies born each year, that’s a hundred million in a decade. If one in ten tries martial arts, that’s ten million who’ve practiced swordsmanship to some degree.”

She rattled off the numbers seriously, then met Zhou Yan’s gaze. “You’re the only sword prodigy among those ten million. Does that give you perspective?”

“It does.” Faced with her earnestness, Zhou Yan could only nod helplessly.

Then, curious, he asked, “What about you, Xiao Xuan? To be a sword hall master at your age, you must be an amazing prodigy yourself.”

She didn’t appear embarrassed. After a brief pause, she replied calmly, “The day I first held a sword, my father said I was a talent seen once in a century.”

Well then.

No wonder.

Now Zhou Yan understood why, even when faced with his astonishing rate of improvement, the young woman before him was only a little surprised—nothing more.

Turns out she was a peerless genius herself.

In Luo Xuan’s eyes, someone like Zhou Yan was merely a promising seedling. As for the likes of Yan Yong and Luo Zhiming, they were probably hopeless cases in her view.

“You talk too much.” Luo Xuan seemed uncomfortable under the way Zhou Yan looked at her, as though she were a legendary figure.

She glanced at the other teens and youths practicing independently nearby.

Then she turned back to Zhou Yan, her gaze suddenly cold. “When class ends and everyone else has left, you’ll take an assessment.”

“An assessment?” Zhou Yan was taken aback. “What kind? Is it the Flow Cube?”

“It’s included, but there’s more.” Luo Xuan replied coolly.

Without waiting for him to ask further, she continued, “Physical fitness test, technique proficiency test, Flow Cube assessment—three parts in total. If you meet my standards…”

Her eyes sparkled as she spoke softly.

“Then I’ll teach you the advanced sword techniques.”

Advanced sword techniques?

Zhou Yan’s eyes lit up. He couldn’t help asking, “Xiao Xuan, do you mean…?”

Luo Xuan nodded.

“In the Nanming Sword style, there are a few secret techniques that were excluded because they require extraordinary physical ability, are extremely difficult to master, and are far too lethal.”

“They’re known collectively as—the Nanming Secret Sword.”

***