I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 102 Course Selection: Slaying the Wind and Water Dragon

Time slips away in a blur, like a dark night under a lamp. People are in the lamplight, unaware that dawn has broken. Looking out the window, time has already flown by.

Pei Ju returned to his Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall.

He practices swordsmanship here every day and rarely goes out, just like his grandfather did back then, guarding this sword hall.

When the mood strikes, he takes out his flute and begins to play.

The blue sea rises with the tide, and waves surge in the small courtyard.

Of course, when the time comes, I will also tutor others.

Many people were sitting in the training ground behind the Gu family's residence. The moment they saw Pei Ju, they all clapped, and some of them shouted "handsome" and "cool" loudly.

After watching the video, they realized that Pei Ju, who had suddenly become popular, was someone they had met before. Even if they couldn't remember clearly, they only needed to ask to find out that he was the one who fought four people at the Gu family and defeated the best swordsman among them with one sword.

After watching the video, no one would find it strange that Pei Ju defeated Gao Mingkai, who had been practicing swordsmanship at Zhanfeng Sword Arena for several years, with a single sword strike, because in that video, Pei Ju actually used two sword strikes.

The first sword thrust out, followed by a flurry of sword shadows, which the ancient figure dodged. Then, one could see the ancient figure's magnificent magical abilities: he could be real or illusory, and could even split into three. When he split into three, he attacked from three directions, but was repelled by Pei Ju's sword.

Then he didn't dare to move anymore and apologized directly. In the eyes of many people, Gu Feng was too shameful. However, those in the know understood that Gu Feng was intimidated by this sword. When he had no way to break or dodge this sword, he simply did not dare to attack Pei Ju again.

Pei Ju didn't care about being surrounded by these people.

These are merely glances that come during times of noise; when silence falls, they will naturally dissipate like floating dust.

Pei Ju continued to teach the Huashan sword technique.

However, the Gu siblings were more serious about their lesson today, and they even asked what sword technique was being used in the video.

Pei Ju said it was just a simple "sky-lifting" technique.

Once swordsmanship reaches its highest level, all sword techniques possess the ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. The key lies in the core essence; the techniques themselves are merely the outward manifestations.

Teaching swordsmanship is very simple. Just correct some movements, explain the essence of the move, and then let them practice on their own.

It ended two or three hours later, and as he left, he could still feel people watching him.

Pei Ju carried a palm-length, two-finger-wide sword token in his hand all the way back, occasionally waving it in the air.

The sword token is not sharp, and it is short and small. When you hold it in your hand and swing it horizontally, you need to focus on intention. When the intention is there, the energy follows. Under the flow of intention and energy, the energy in the sword token is straightened out and matches the intention of the person.

I walked home through the night, cutting through the wind and alleyways.

Later, probably after some of his neighbors found out about his fight, someone asked him if he could still "slay the ghost," and he said he could.

So people started coming to him to exorcise the demons.

However, Pei Ju refused, because he didn't have the necessary certificates and wasn't allowed to operate this business.

Therefore, he put the matter of taking the certification exam back on his agenda.

He remembered that he had a certificate to attend classes at the Rakshasa Retreat Center, so he went there to attend classes.

He needs to attend classes on esoteric studies.

With their attendance cards in hand, they first went to the Rakshasa Spiritual Retreat Center and found the Dean of Students. The Dean of Students seemed to have known about this all along, and led Pei Ju to a seat. Then, a student made tea for the two of them.

The head of student affairs then asked, "What specific class do you want to attend?"

"For now, I mainly want to attend classes on secret arts, because I want to take the relevant secret arts certification exam and start running my family's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall again."

The head of the teaching department nodded: "It's not difficult to pass the certification exam. This course is a basic course, and it's the first thing every student has to take. If they fail, they will have to repeat the course."

"But I believe you should be able to learn it very well. Besides that, are there any other classes you would like to attend?"

"I don't know what other classes are offered at school. Could the director please tell me?"

"I have a course schedule here, take a look." The director was prepared and took out a course schedule to show him.

He quickly browsed through the courses.

The secret arts are divided into three levels: junior high, intermediate, and senior high, with each level consisting of two volumes.

Besides esoteric studies, there are also "Curse Studies," "Soul Studies," "Vocal Studies," "A Discussion and Overview of Abilities in Various Countries," and "Classification of Spiritual Ritual."

Furthermore, there are works such as "Spatial Studies," "The Relationship Between Spirit, Body, and Heaven and Earth," and "The Study of Spellcasting."

The head of teaching pointed to the list and said, "These are the basic courses. If you pass all of them, you can choose to specialize."

Pei Ju looked at the section on specialization below.

Swordsman, Boxer, Flame Warrior, Hypnotist, Thunder Mage, Mirror Man, Caveman, Shadow Walker, Silver Lamp Master, Ghost Warlock, Druid (Guardian Order), Ocean Warlock, Sun Patrolman, Night Wanderer.

After Pei Ju finished reading, the head of the teaching department said, "These are all normal students. After passing the exams, they can choose a specialization. These professions have been developed over many years and are safe and reliable. The skills they offer may not be the best, but they are definitely stable with minimal negative effects."

Pei Ju couldn't help but think of the creature he had seen that could transform into an owl, a cat, and a crow. He figured they might be studying here, or perhaps they were students here.

It's also possible that because this is a profession inherent to the Rakshasa Spiritual Academy, it's quite normal for their professional abilities to spill over into the city.

"Is that all?" Pei Ju asked subconsciously.

"Of course, it's not just these things. If you are truly spiritually gifted, you might be noticed by the committee members and accepted as their disciple."

Among these, only Committee Member Lei's "Lei's Curse Taoist" is publicly available as a profession.

Other candidates will only be recommended to the committee members after achieving excellent evaluation results.

Pei Ju suddenly realized and couldn't help but ask, "May I ask what our Chairman Zhou's profession is?"

"A spellcaster." The head of the teaching department didn't hide anything.

Pei Ju was somewhat unfamiliar with this profession, but just by hearing the name, he could roughly imagine its characteristics and abilities.

"The profession of spellcaster is one that developed from curses, spells, and some prophetic sayings," the headmaster explained further, but didn't say anything more.

"Then, who was that committee member who went to the Suspended Mirror Research Institute to handle the matter?" Pei Ju asked again.

"Committee Member Ge."

The dean answered whatever Pei Ju asked, and his gaze was neither sharp nor kind, but rather calm, as if scrutinizing, yet not unapproachable.

"What is his profession?" Pei Ju asked again. "He is a feng shui master," the head of the teaching department replied.

This answer surprised Pei Ju, yet it also gave him a sense that it was only right.

"Feng shui masters are a broad category in my country, but this category is further divided into many subcategories. Although everyone may be a feng shui master, their abilities can vary greatly."

Pei Ju realized that he had known very little about professions before, and now he was surprised to learn that there were so many different kinds.

"In fact, there are still many ancient myths and legends in our country waiting to be unearthed and professionalized. You know, old traditions are often accompanied by blood sacrifices or mysterious rituals, and the abilities gained have a huge negative impact and unclear development prospects. In this regard, we still need to work hard and strive to produce more masters."

Pei Ju knew what he meant. A master was already a figure of great importance to a country.

Between nations, in addition to competing in economics and military strength, soft power is also crucial. Soft power is reflected in the resilience of one's cultural attributes. In simple terms, it is whether the ideas passed down from one's ancestors are still applicable and viable in this era.

If you cannot survive, if you cannot adapt to the times, then your own culture will be impacted and shattered.

Another strength lies in the number of masters among the professionals.

Many professions are derived from ancient traditions.

This is now generally referred to as professionalization.

In the past few decades, there has been rapid professionalization among countries.

This means integrating some individual abilities from ancient professions to form a powerful new profession.

"Have you decided which course to choose?" the head of academic affairs asked.

"Secret Studies, Curse Studies, Soul Studies, Vocal Studies, A Discussion and Overview of Abilities in Various Countries, Classification of Spiritual Ritual, Spatial Studies, The Relationship Between Spirit, Body and Heaven and Earth, Spellcasting Studies, and Swordsman."

After Pei Ju made his selection, the head of the teaching department nodded and said, "Very good. It's commendable that you are willing to further solidify your foundation."

"However, if you want to learn so much all at once, I'm afraid you won't have enough time to allocate. Besides, students in school usually choose to study certain basic subjects in depth after they have a major in mind, because many professions require a deep understanding of the prerequisite basic subjects," the head of teaching advised.

Pei Ju also felt that learning too much might cause conflicts when attending classes.

"How about this? Since you're here to learn for certification, you should prioritize learning the forbidden disciplines, then choose one or two from the basic disciplines, and add your own 'Swordsman' skill. What do you think?"

Pei Ju thought for a moment and said, "Then let's have the secret arts, soul arts, and spatial arts, plus swordsmanship."

“Okay,” the head of the teaching department replied, and then showed him the class schedule.

Fortunately, Pei Ju has plenty of time now, and he teaches swordsmanship to the Gu siblings in the evenings.

After receiving the books, he was told that he could start class the next day.

After returning home and resting for a night, Pei Ju arrived at the Rakshasa Spiritual Cultivation Academy early the next morning for his class.

He took a simple map of the school and found his classroom according to the map.

Because he arrived early, he waited for about half an hour below the school, standing there watching the sun shine down from the east, casting a dim light on the ground that had been soaked by last night's rain.

The sunlight refracted in a swirling pattern between the buildings on campus, which surprised Pei Ju. Not only did it make the sunlight appear more beautiful, but he also sensed a subtle, almost imperceptible power within it.

Is this the skill of a feng shui master?
Because this place gave him a sense of being a world unto itself, something he hadn't felt when he first came in.

He mentally tried to cleave the sky in two with a single sword stroke, but when he looked up, the sunlight refracting between the glass panes of the roof seemed to be touched at that moment, suddenly becoming blinding in his eyes.

As if startled, the light dragon, its scales swirling, seemed to come alive. Suddenly, it turned and looked at him, its eyes shining like gold, as if formed from condensed sunlight. This light shone on Pei Ju's eyes, causing him to involuntarily close them.

Because he felt a slight pain in his eyes, and more importantly, a dragon seemed to rush down from the light and directly into his mind.

If just now he only had a restrained desire to unleash a sword strike on the sky, then at this moment, he had no choice but to strike.

Imagine a sword in your heart, draw it out, and slash it out.

He slashed at the invisible yet brilliant dragon of light that rushed into his sea of ​​consciousness.

The sword was drawn, and the light dragon dispersed.

A wind arose out of nowhere in the void, and it swirled around.

Suddenly, rain began to fall in the wind.

A student came to class, suddenly covered his head with his hand, and said, "Oh, it's raining again."

Some students looked up and felt that the light reflected on the glass of the teaching building in front of them was swaying, like water rippling, causing the light to sway randomly.

But that wasn't water; it was solid glass.

The student who witnessed this scene suddenly felt dizzy, nauseous, and wanted to vomit.

An older student suddenly squinted and said, "It feels like someone has disturbed the feng shui arrangement on campus."

"Seems to be."

Someone echoed.

However, this turbulent feng shui situation only lasted for a very short time, and the dizziness and nausea did not recur.

Some people saw that below the two school buildings, someone was standing on the steps looking at the sky.

His appearance and long hair style were not particularly special here. There were quite a few male students here with long hair and Taoist-style topknots, and quite a few of them were good-looking.

People hadn't seen him much before, so they were curiously observing him.

However, some students still recognized him, after all, he had become quite a prominent figure over the years.

"That looks like Pei Ju. He's so amazing, is he here to be an after-school tutor?"

Someone asked in a low voice.

"I don't know, I just woke up and haven't brushed my teeth yet, don't talk to me."

Upon hearing this, Pei Ju felt inexplicably relieved.

He felt that there were still many beautiful things in this world.

(End of this chapter)