"That Salas is truly annoying. It's as if if the Teacher doesn't join Spirit Hall, he'll devour people."
"I remember the Teacher once lectured in class about the continental situation. Spirit Hall's rise to power is inherently based on the principle of 'those who follow me prosper, those who oppose me perish.' Spirit Hall widely recruits Spirit Masters on the continent. Once a highly talented Spirit Master is discovered by Spirit Hall, if they choose not to join, they might be secretly dealt with. They either die in an accident or their talent is damaged, making them ordinary."
"I'm afraid we've already been targeted by Spirit Hall, which is why Salas so brazenly offered such tempting conditions to the Teacher, along with Emperor Xue Ye, to show goodwill."
After the promotion rounds concluded, the Peach Garden teachers and students had returned to Peach Garden.
Next, the various academies had a few days to rest and travel.
As expected, the location of the finals would be Spirit City—the headquarters of Spirit Hall!
In Peach Garden, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, and other students expressed their indignation for the Teacher.
Xiao Wu listened to Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan analyze the intricacies of the matter, her face filled with surprise:
"Listening to you two, if the Teacher not only refused the Tian Dou Royal Family's recruitment but also rejected Spirit Hall, wouldn't he be caught between two difficult positions? Will both the Tian Dou Royal Family and Spirit Hall then target the Teacher?"
The Senior Sister Ning Rongrong, who had been trained by Su Ran to be the captain and commander, was no longer the little devil from over a year ago. She had developed her own ability to think, which was why Ning Fengzhi directly appointed Ning Rongrong, a female, to the position of Young Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School:
"No, quite the opposite. If the Teacher had accepted the Tian Dou Royal Family's recruitment, then with the Teacher's teaching ability, coupled with our performance in the preliminaries and promotion rounds, we would certainly not be tolerated by Spirit Hall. Spirit Hall would not stand by and watch the Teacher help the Tian Dou Royal Family grow stronger."
"Conversely, the same applies. If the Teacher had accepted Spirit Hall's recruitment, then the Royal Family would feel fear and would certainly be unwilling to see us join Spirit Hall."
"In other words, the Teacher not choosing either side might just be the best choice."
After Ning Rongrong finished her analysis, Xiao Wu, Meng Yiran, and Ye Lingling suddenly understood:
"So that's how it is!"
"The Teacher had already anticipated this!"
"Whether it's the title of Marquis, National Advisor, or Platinum Bishop, they're all traps!"
"Alright, girls, actually, the Teacher didn't think that much."
Su Ran walked over at this moment, taking stock of the improvements the students had brought him after completing the promotion rounds. His own strength had increased by over twenty percent, and the age of his first spirit ring was also approaching ten thousand years.
Su Ran said indifferently:
"However, since you yourselves have realized that we are now in a dangerous situation, you must be especially careful. Spirit Hall is, after all, the strongest Spirit Master force on the continent, so the finals will be even more dangerous than the preliminaries and promotion rounds."
"Nevertheless, no matter what, the Teacher will protect your safety. So from now on, every one of you must ensure you stay within two hundred meters of us and do not go out freely."
"Us? Teacher, besides you, who else?" Ye Lingling asked.
Su Ran smiled faintly:
"And Rongrong's Grandpa."
"Sword Douluo, I trouble you."
As Su Ran spoke, a white-robed old man leaped down from the Taoyuan Villa.
Who else could it be but Chen Xin, the Sword Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?
"Grandpa Sword, why are you here again? You're not here to fight the Teacher again, are you?"
Ning Rongrong's face broke into a bright smile as she happily called out to Chen Xin.
Chen Xin looked at Ning Rongrong with relief:
"Our Young Sect Master, when you were fighting in the promotion rounds, I, Grandpa Sword, had already arrived. At Dean Su's invitation, and also to protect the future of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, Grandpa Sword will accompany you to Spirit City this time, staying by your side every step of the way."
Only, Chen Xin's face held a hint of helplessness. What he didn't say was that he had come down the mountain originally to challenge Su Ran to a second sword practice.
As expected, he had racked his brains and come up with a method for the Taiji Sword that he believed could defeat Su Ran. To summarize it in four words: going with the flow.
Instead of forcefully breaking the sword with a sharp sword, he would break the sword by flowing with the Taiji Sword's momentum.
But what frustrated Chen Xin was that the method he had meditated on for so many days and realized could break the sword, when put into practice, was played like a dog by Dean Su.
He went with the flow, but Su Ran's sword moves flowed even better than his, directly leading his sword in circles.
With no one else watching, Su Ran didn't need to save face for him anymore. A proper Sword Douluo's sword challenge was turned into a guidance sword session by Su Ran.
A so-called guidance sword session is when one side's swordsmanship is clearly superior to the other's, predicting the opponent's next sword or even the next two swords with superb swordsmanship, and responding calmly, thereby testing the opponent's swordsmanship level.
To put it plainly, it was a test match between a teacher and a student.
In this second sword challenge, Chen Xin was already thoroughly convinced of his defeat.
Su Ran, by requesting Chen Xin to protect the Peach Garden students, informed Chen Xin of the method to break his sword.
This is why Ning Rongrong and the others saw Sword Douluo today.
But the appearance of Sword Douluo also made Zhu Zhuqing, Meng Yiran, and the others realize the seriousness of the situation.
They knew very well that with the Teacher's detached nature, he would never seek outside help unless absolutely necessary, unless the situation's development was likely to go beyond the Teacher's predictions at any moment.
It seemed the danger of this journey was much greater than they had imagined.
"With Sword Douluo protecting you, I feel much more at ease."
Su Ran said indifferently.
"Dean Su, rest assured. Speaking of which, you are half a teacher to me in swordsmanship. Accompanying Dean Su on this trip, even if Spirit City is a dragon's pond and a tiger's den, this old man will cut off dragon claws and tiger heads to protect the girls' safety."
Chen Xin's words carried a certain arrogance. At this point, his relationship with Su Ran was already that of both teacher and friend.
"Half a teacher?" Ning Rongrong's eyes widened as she looked at Chen Xin. This was the first time she had heard Grandpa Sword call someone else a teacher, and in swordsmanship at that.
What on earth did the Teacher do to Grandpa Sword?!
Grandpa Sword, where is your arrogance!
Su Ran actually only taught Chen Xin four words: "Supreme goodness is like water."
...
At night, under the starry sky, outside Peach Garden.
A beautiful girl in a fiery red qipao looked left and right, hiding behind a large tree outside the garden, seemingly hesitating about something. Just as she took a deep breath, preparing to step out.
She saw a young man, also dressed in fiery red clothes, walking around, looking left and right, which startled the delicate red-haired girl. She quickly pulled the young man behind the large tree:
"Brother, what are you doing here?"
"Huo Wu, why is it you? What are you doing here? You wouldn't be..."
That young man was Fire Wushuang of Blazing Academy. After recognizing the red-haired girl, he looked surprised.
Huo Wu bit her lip, a little embarrassed, but still stubbornly said:
"I... I just finished the promotion rounds and came out for a walk. I unknowingly wandered here."
"Is that so? Actually, me too."
Fire Wushuang followed Huo Wu's words. The two smiled at each other, as if they understood something from each other's eyes, and said in unison:
"Alright, stop pretending. I'm your brother (sister), don't I know what you're here for? How about we go in together?"
"Let's go!"
As expected of siblings, they quickly reached an understanding.
But just then, from a large tree about ten meters away, a voice came:
"How about, you take me with you?"
The siblings looked up and saw a piece of green clothing and a grinning face peeking out from the large tree behind them:
"Feng Xiaotian, why are you here too?"
"Didn't we agree you wouldn't come? How did everyone end up here?"
"Can't there be more trust and sincerity between people?!"
"Hey, you guys—"
"Shh, it seems someone else is coming!"
The finals are about to begin. In the finals, Su Ran will overcome a mortal tribulation to achieve enlightenment, and after that, he will no longer wear his mask.
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