Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 274 - 13: Fired Up

January 13, 2018

Early morning, Shen Family Outer Courtyard, in a circular training arena, nearly a hundred young boys and girls of varying ages stood in neat rows, facing the morning sun.

And facing away from the sun, with a halo as if descended from an Immortal Venerable, was the scar-faced instructor.

The atmosphere in the field was solemn and silent, everyone remained speechless and motionless.

At the back, Shen Qingming was protesting to Wang Jiu through the Mind Passage.

"What do you mean by following in my ancestor's footsteps?! Don't make me sound like a robber! This was a fair duel, okay! Last night I accidentally came across this kid, who was about to open a door with a key, and I proposed a duel. If he lost, he'd give me the room; if I lost, I'd lend him the Original Sword Essence to study. The duel was open and fair, precisely in keeping with the spirit of Shen City!"

Wang Jiu said, "Including pretending to be innocent and cute before the duel to make him underestimate your strength?"

"I just made full use of my natural advantages as a female, not seeing my true strength is his own mistake in judgment!"

"Your so-called natural advantages, are you referring to using a Spirit Cat voice to say before the fight, 'I'm not feeling well, please go easy on me meow'?"

"That's just an occupational habit of mine as an idol!"

When Shen Qingming responded to this question, she blushed slightly, unwilling to dwell on it too long.

Last night, she lingered in the Outer Courtyard for a long time, unable to break the encrypted talisman on the key. Just as she was about to give up, she suddenly saw a hurried young boy with a silver key approaching a small house, prepared to open the door.

The girl then had a sudden idea and stepped forward to propose the duel.

The Shen Family is naturally fond of fighting, and although the young boy appeared innocent and delicate, being able to train in the Outer Courtyard meant he must have inherited the Shen Family's traits, and would most likely not refuse a challenge.

The only problem was that while the Shen Family boy seemed young, his cultivation was rather impressive. Without Wang Jiu's assistance, Shen Qingming wasn't completely sure of victory.

Therefore, she had no choice but to use her natural female advantages a bit, after all, all's fair in war… However, judging by the boy's devastated look after falling for it, Shen Qingming truly shattered a pure young boy's beautiful worldview.

Shen Qingming quickly changed the topic: "Where are Sister Wanqing and the others? I can understand that the fat guy couldn't come, but Chaolu and Sister Wanqing shouldn't be…"

"Li Chaolu and Li Xinyu were caught by traps on the way. As for Li Wanqing, she is currently helping a Shen Family girl trapped by random Outer Courtyard traps and trying to develop a relationship that might lead to mating behavior."

"..."

During the conversation, everyone finally arrived at the training arena, but those who arrived after the countdown ended were left outside, watching eagerly.

Among them were the siblings Li Chaolu and Li Xinyu, who looked somewhat disheveled, clearly having been through some rough treatment from the traps along the way.

Li Wanqing, on the other hand, was comforting a blushing Shen Family girl in a gentle voice, making the girl gaze at her with infatuation.

In a certain sense, this group came to the Shen Family Outer Courtyard to resolve family conflicts, and Li Wanqing was the first to achieve results.

——

On the other side, within the training arena.

After a while of dead silence filled with tension, the scar-faced instructor slightly raised his head, opening his mouth in a harsh voice, "Very good, 107 people should be present, 95 actually are, fewer and fewer useless ones who can't keep up. Starting tomorrow, the countdown will be reduced by one."

The young boys and girls in the arena shouted in unison, "Yes, Instructor!"

"Tsk." The scar-faced man shook his head slightly with dissatisfaction, "Your reactions are quite clever. I was just thinking, if anyone raised an objection, I could add another dish for you. It seems my extra dish isn't welcome?"

Nearly a hundred young men and women shouted in unison again, "Always ready, Instructor!"

The scar-faced man finally forced a smile, "Very good. Although I know most of you aren't speaking from the heart, such a uniform response is excellent. Remember, you are not those without background, born meek and humble soldiers, so I won't brainwash you. You can have all sorts of rebellious thoughts in your mind, you can curse me to die, mock me for never finding a wife, even curse Lord City Lord, as long as you keep these thoughts locked in your head, I won't care. But on the other hand, I will strictly train your bodies to obey me! To obey everyone above your rank! When you walk out of the Shen Family Outer Courtyard with pride, ten years, twenty years from now, some of you will become the backbone of Shen City, some will become top management, some will become Great Cultivators known throughout Xiangzhou, but whatever role you play, obedience will be imprinted deep within you, because that is a Shen Family member, deserving to be a Shen Family member!"

Pausing for a moment, the scar-faced man slightly bent over and lowered his head, "Of course, if anyone is not interested in these rules, that's fine, you can resist. Just defeat me, and the rules of the Outer Courtyard will be set by you. Just defeat Lord City Lord, and the rules of Shen City will be set by you! Well, are you interested in trying?"

The young men and women fell silent.

The scar-faced man regretfully furrowed his brow, "Here, you should respond yes, then struggle to win in front of me with all your might, even if the chances are zero, you must not give up. As Shen Family members, if you don't even have basic ambition, how can one look forward to your future? Good, as punishment for your cowardice and conservatism, I will add a large meal to your morning training and hope you enjoy it."

"Yes! Instructor!"

The scar-faced man nodded, "Very good, the opening speech every morning ends here. But before the formal training begins, I want to introduce a few new faces to you. I believe you have already seen, those standing in the front row and those who rushed in just on time. Finally, three more who were supposed to be here but are not present. These five, starting today, will officially join the Shen Family Outer Courtyard and train with you."

"Honestly, I know nothing about these five people. It's the Deputy City Lord who suddenly threw them into the Outer Courtyard last night, asking me to look after them. So my introduction will be brief. In short, they are from the Li Family of QingCyan Cloud City."

The scar-faced man spoke, coldly scanning the young men and women in front, saying, "Here, you can appropriately express anger and snide surprise, to create a hostile atmosphere, but... forget it, showing hospitality of Shen Family is also no harm."

"These Li Family members came to, uh, resolve decades of grudges between the Li and Shen families. And the first stop in resolving the grudge is here, with you. So, are you ready to be the ones they use to dissolve this historical grudge?"

"Absolutely not, Instructor!"

The scar-faced man sneered, "Very good, that is the attitude a Shen Family member should have. We're not obsessed with hatred, but our hatred is never cheap! If you want to resolve grudges, show something convincing! For instance, on their first day in the Shen Family Outer Courtyard, securing a top room and arriving on the training grounds first on a morning."

Laughing as he moved closer to Wang Jiu, the scar-faced man scrutinized him with sharp eyes, then addressed the others, "Just now, you all expressed absolute refusal to let them easily succeed, but in fact, these Li Family members already made a remarkable impression on their first day! Last night, the most honorable and luxurious room among the 150 rooms in the Outer Courtyard, the Thorn Garden, with the hardest door to open, was entered instantly by someone! And that person stood here at the current position as soon as my countdown began today, faster by two counts than the fastest amongst you! The difference, I assume, needs no further explanation?"

"Determination is good, but unfortunately your strength doesn't support your determination. If it continues like this, one by one, you will be defeated by this Li Family member, no, given the current power gap, you will be ruthlessly trampled by him. Your pride, the historical perspective instilled in you for more than ten years by your family, will be crushed to pieces. Because in this city where strength is revered, he is your undeniable master!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

At this moment, the nearly hundred young men and women could no longer maintain composure, some began to breathe heavily, some hearts started racing, while others glared at Wang Jiu with naked hostility—only to be inadvertently captivated by his appearance.

At this moment, Wang Jiu had undoubtedly become the center of attention.

Unbothered, the scar-faced man continued to praise this outsider.

"Even as the Outer Courtyard instructor, now I'm a bit troubled, for I can hardly think of ways to train you to be as outstanding as this Li Family member. After all, you're not Shen Qing, you're not Shen Feihong, you are just a bunch stuck at Shen Family Outer Courtyard even on rest days, ordinary people."

After this remark, the scene finally became chaotic. The blood in the young men and women began to stir, casting defiant and unyielding gazes toward the instructor.

"Very well, at least I still see a trace of fighting spirit in your eyes. Now, I need you to remember this feeling in your heart at this moment. Then, in the future, remember it forever! Whenever you are trampled beneath this outsider Li Family member, remember this moment, reignite the fighting spirit. Just like how you treated Shen Qing."

"Yes, Instructor!"

——

After a frenzied speech, the Shen Family descendants of the Outer Courtyard quickly entered a state of fervor.

However, before leveraging this fervor to start the day's training…

"For those of you who were late, time starts now! One hour, run around the Outer Courtyard, then return here to make up for the morning's training. If you fail, you may as well roll out of the Outer Courtyard forever!"

According to the Shen Family's rules, Shen Family descendants have only two paths to leave the Outer Courtyard: one, meet the graduation standards, walk out of the main entrance with honor, and invest in the building of Shen City. The second is to fall behind the Outer Courtyard's cultivation pace and be kicked out through the back door.