Chapter 242: Chapter 123: The Reason for Having No Status (Part 2)

“Huh? He’s that amazing? Then why was he blacklisted?”

“Everyone, listen to me!”

“Hurry up and tell us!”

“After he finished learning, he just… ran off! Hee hee, hee hee!”

“Haha, why? That’s hilarious! What was he running from? It’s not like our Mount Emei would have made him pay!”

“Apparently, he didn’t want to go to Sword Storage Peak to retrieve swords for us!”

“What? He wouldn’t even help with such a small favor? That’s outrageous! He deserved to be blacklisted! From now on, he’s not allowed to set foot on Mount Emei again.”

The young women chattered all at once, as if they had just entered the Grand View Garden.

Bai Xuening frowned as she listened from the side. ’He’s that powerful now? He’s even comprehended Sword Intent?’

“Oh, right, he even asked about you, Xuening. It’s a shame he isn’t coming. Otherwise, you two could have met, and he wouldn’t have been blacklisted!”

Wan Ning continued excitedly.

In their quiet lives, where they couldn’t even use their phones, this was a rare bit of spice. They could gossip about this for days!

“All right, I get it!”

Bai Xuening sighed, a little unhappy.

“Hee hee, you two don’t have some kind of special relationship, do you?”

“You have such a big mouth! I can’t be bothered with you!”

The group of girls laughed and joked around playfully.

“Everyone, be quiet!”

Just then, a middle-aged woman walked in through the entrance. She wore a long robe of Shu embroidery and looked as elegant as a figure from a painting.

Hearing her voice, everyone quickly stood up straight, their expressions respectful and solemn as they looked at the newcomer.

“Sun Xi, Bai Xuening, Ye Wanning… the seven of you, pack your bags, change into casual clothes, and follow me down the mountain!”

“Yes, Master!”

After speaking, the woman turned and walked out of the cave.

“Wow, we’re going down the mountain! This is great! I haven’t been down in almost a year!”

The seven female disciples whose names had been called were instantly overjoyed.

Half an hour later, a group of young women dressed in modern clothes appeared on a path on Emei Mountain.

The mountain path was rugged, but to the seven of them, it was like walking on flat ground. Though their pace wasn’t fast, their steps were exceedingly steady.

Walking ahead of them were Nun Lejing, dressed in a gray monastic robe with a longsword on her back, and the middle-aged woman in an ancient-style dress of Shu brocade.

“On this journey to temper your Sword Dao, all disciples must press forward relentlessly, as sharp as a blade’s edge!”

“Yes!”

Their clear voices echoed slowly along the mountain path!

If not for their inappropriate attire, the scene had the distinct feeling of Abbess Miejue leading the charge against Bright Summit.

Meanwhile, Zhao Rui descended Mount Emei under the cover of night, found a nearby hotel to rest for the evening, and returned to Jeju the next day.

The national competition had not yet begun, but Zhao Rui had no intention of going.

After all, only Wang Dalong and Luo Min had qualified. With so few people, it was enough for coaches like Wang Zhanshan to accompany them.

After a brief stop in Jeju, Zhao Rui drove his jeep straight back to his hometown, Lin City.

It was now early August. Zhao Rui hadn’t returned for a vacation, but to organize a joint summer crash course with the Wende Martial Arts Hall, where he had trained before.

The students in this class would definitely have to meet Zhao Rui’s “special” requirements to participate.

Otherwise, there would be no point.

The day after he got home, he rushed to the Wende Martial Arts Hall to personally select the members for the crash course.

When the Wende Martial Arts Hall heard that Zhao Rui was already a Level 9 Martial Artist, how could they possibly disagree?

This was a win-win situation.

So, the Wende Martial Arts Hall launched a unified promotional campaign across its ten branches in the city.

Regardless of your level—even if you were a Level 4 or Level 5 Martial Artist—as long as your Cultivation Technique met the criteria, you could sign up.

Zhao Rui’s dual status as a “Level 9 Martial Artist” and a member of the Dongqi University Martial Arts Team alone was enough to attract a large number of students.

In just one day, he had gathered a small team of twenty people.

“Twenty people… that’s about right.”

After all, he still needed to do the “copying.” Any more than that, and he’d be overwhelmed.

With the participants confirmed, the crash course logically kicked off the very next day.

The hustle and bustle, the rights and wrongs of the outside world, were related to him, but for now, they were also irrelevant.

All else is inferior; only the Martial Dao is supreme!

At this moment, Zhao Rui was completely focused on earning Advancement Points.

With long days and short nights, time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed since the course began.

On this day, while Zhao Rui was teaching at the Martial Arts Hall, his phone rang.

He answered and saw it was Wang Zhanshan.

Zhao Rui assumed it was about the national competition, but as soon as he picked up, he heard Wang Zhanshan’s astonished voice, “When did you comprehend Sword Intent?”

“Coach, how did you know?”

Zhao Rui asked curiously.

“Someone from the Emei Sect called me. They said you comprehended Sword Intent on the summit of Emei Mountain and hope the university will send you there. What’s this all about?”

Wang Zhanshan asked, confused.

“After the provincial tournament, I took a trip to Mount Emei and just… accidentally comprehended it.”

Zhao Rui told the truth.

“Accidentally?”

Wang Zhanshan was speechless. ’Why don’t you “accidentally” ascend to immortality while you’re at it!’

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m not going. I’m busy. Coach, don’t try to pull rank on me using the university’s name. If you do, I’ll bring up Elder Ge!”

“…”

Wang Zhanshan felt the urge to slap him. ’Are you really just bringing up Elder Ge?’

’Aren’t you just trying to pull out your “Uncle Master” status?!’

“Fine. I’ve passed on the message. It’s up to you whether you go or not! Also, both Luo Min and Wang Dalong have made it into the top 100 nationwide.”

“Oh.”

“Aren’t you jealous? If you had just followed the arrangements, you’d be in the top 100 right now!”

“What’s there to be jealous of? They can’t beat me anyway.”

“BEEP BEEP BEEP!”

Furious, Wang Zhanshan hung up the phone directly.

In the following days, no one from Emei contacted him again. It seemed they had given up on this path with Zhao Rui.

Zhao Rui also peacefully completed his twenty days of Martial Dao instruction.

The results of these twenty days were quite impressive. He not only accumulated twenty Advancement Points and twenty high-, mid-, and low-level Martial Arts techniques, but he also gained an excellent reputation.

The students who underwent the training all made tremendous progress.

Many students said they would sign up for the winter crash course as well.

By the time the training course ended, it was late August.

The vacation passed in a flash, ending uneventfully, as if nothing had happened at all.

Zhao Rui relaxed at home for a few days before driving back to the university.

“Luo Min broke through to Level 10 mid-competition and took seventh place in the nationals!”

“Wang Dalong was unfortunately defeated by a Sword Dao expert, stopping in the top fifty!”

Back at the university, the team members were still excitedly discussing the recently concluded National University Martial Arts Competition.

Dongqi University’s results this time were quite ideal.

Two first-year team members had managed to break into the top fifty nationwide, with one even reaching the top ten.

With that kind of strength, after another year or two of consolidation, they would be fully capable of contending for even higher ranks.

However, Zhao Rui wasn’t very interested in these matters. He was more concerned about Luo Min’s “online” status.

He wondered if the Emei Sword Sect had contacted their allies to launch a direct assault on the Demon Sect’s headquarters.

Unfortunately, up to now, no one from Emei had bothered to “inform” him.

He couldn’t just run over to Emei Mountain again, could he?

This was the result of having no status or position. For matters big or small, no one bothered to inform a small fry like him.

“Though my position is humble, I dare not forget the worries of the nation.” Zhao Tongxue was still quite concerned about the “great affairs” of the Court.

In front of the Wall-Facing Chamber on the front hill of Mingcan Courtyard, Zhao Rui sat cross-legged, an endless Nirvana Sword Intent surging from his body.

Within a thirty-foot radius in front of him, all the grass and trees were enveloped by this formless Sword Intent. Each blade of grass stood straight, like a sharp sword about to be unsheathed.

Zhao Rui flicked a finger, and a stream of Sword Qi shot out, slicing a tender blade of grass in half from a distance as if it were a longsword.

The severed stalk instantly floated up with the Sword Intent, and with a SWOOSH, it turned into a rain of swords that shot toward a distant tree.

A series of SWOOSHES rang out.

The pieces of the stalk all embedded themselves in the tree trunk, penetrating a good two or three centimeters deep!

“It’s not the least bit inferior to actual Sword Qi!”

Zhao Rui was quite satisfied. Although this wasn’t the proper way to use Sword Intent, he was delighted that it could possess such power.

“Captain Zhao, Coach Wang is looking for you!”

Not long after Zhao Rui retracted his power and stood up, a first-year—er, a second-year team member now—ran up the mountain.

“Got it!”

When he trained, he usually put his phone on silent. Coach Wang must have been trying to call him and couldn’t get through.

Grabbing his phone, Zhao Rui hurried to the main hall of Mingcan Courtyard.

“Coach, you were looking for me?”

“You’re just in time!”

Wang Zhanshan said to Zhao Rui with a smile, “I’d like you to meet someone!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep