Shocked as she was, Su Qing still couldn’t help complaining, “Since when do midterms double as a sports festival?!”
Then she remembered: they were sword cultivators. Literal P.E. majors.
…Never mind, that checks out.
Back in her school days, Su Qing had barely touched this kind of game.
One, because she was broke and spent all her free time working part-time jobs. Two, she got terrible 3D motion sickness and frequently got stuck behind doors, dying in the most hilarious ways possible.
Only when her dormmates were short one player for squad night would they drag her in to make up the numbers.
So she only had the most basic knowledge, but that was already enough. No matter what, she was a modern person; she had to have an edge over these ancient folks who had never even seen a smartphone.
The interface kept flashing urgently:
【Examinee: Su Qing, please select your drop zone.】 【Countdown: 59… 58… 57…】
It was rushing her.
On the map, some clueless green dots had already jumped at the very start of the flight path, and a bunch of them even piled into the exact same spot. Classic panic picks.
Su Qing took a deep breath, calmed down, and started calculating.
This was an exam—she had to treat it seriously. And with rewards this juicy, as someone with future knowledge, she’d be letting herself down if she didn’t dominate.
Wait, no. She wasn’t the only one with future knowledge. Judging by how hyped the second- and third-years were, they’d obviously played this before and knew all the meta.
Fine. Then she had to pick carefully: rich loot, low population, preferably close to the center of the map so she could rotate easily no matter where the circle closed.
From her knowledge of Sword Sect:
Problem: aside from Body and Artifact peaks, she rarely visited the others and wasn’t familiar with the terrain, uh, terrain.
The main peak, though? She knew it like the back of her hand. Richest spots: Wuya Pavilion and the cafeteria.
But with her current cultivation, hot-dropping either of those would be instant boxed against second- and third-years.
【Countdown: 30… 29… 28…】
After a brief hesitation, she made her choice: 【Sword Tomb】
She practiced there day and night—she knew every inch. Plus, it was the graveyard of ten thousand swords. Loot had to be plentiful.
She hit the 【Depart】 button in the bottom-left corner. Her little red dot peeled away from the main flight path and glided toward the Sword Tomb.
By now the other green dots had finally reacted and were spreading out. A few stubborn ones still rode the flight path all the way to the edge of the map.
More than half the countdown was gone. Su Qing quickly memorized the rough population of each zone:
The Sword Tomb was huge, full of cliffs and ravines. It could hold ten thousand people without issue. Twenty-odd players? She probably wouldn’t even see them.
Countdown hit zero.
The world flashed.
Su Qing reappeared above the Sword Tomb.
She blinked in disbelief. It was clearly a dream, yet it was 100% identical to reality. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she’d gone mad from sword practice and sleepwalked here in the middle of the night.
It was deep night. Only a bright full moon gently illuminated the ground with silvery light.
Her vision was forcibly limited—she could see clearly about ten meters around her, beyond that everything dissolved into darkness.
Classic fog of war.
In the upper-left corner of her vision floated a transparent mini-map. Tapping it opened the full map. Her red dot was inside the yellow safe zone, but near the edge—not ideal.
No enemy player markers, but lots of yellow dots (probably loot or mobs). Inside the Sword Tomb region was a fancy beast-head icon—clearly the zone boss.
She quickly checked her body and found a storage pouch—her “backpack.” Inside: completely empty except for Man Qing Sword.
So the only thing they were allowed to keep was their life-bound sword.
Great for broke sword cultivators like her. Terrible for Tang Yueling. She wondered where her roommate had dropped.
Su Qing drew Man Qing Sword and sprinted toward the nearest yellow dot.
As expected, it was a mob—in the Sword Tomb, that meant a sword.
A faintly glowing sword hovered in mid-air, no stats visible.
She swung experimentally. Only then did a short health bar appear above it: 【1000】
So you had to attack to reveal stats.
Flavor text below: 【A sword’s greatest sorrow is an unworthy master. With a good master, even an iron sword can rule the world. With a bad one, even a divine blade is doomed to gather dust. A sword can only do so much. Choosing the wrong master is a lifetime of regret.】
Su Qing: …Ouch. That hit a little too close to home.
She slashed again. Whether her base stats were high or the mob was just weak, two hits emptied its HP.
It dropped: 【Attack +1】【HP +1】【Spirit Stones +1】【Sword Qi +1】
She could actually raise stats!
Lightbulb moment: stats were split into two parts.
Meaning if you farmed well enough, Foundation Establishment could theoretically beat Golden Core.
Su Qing’s blood boiled with excitement. She charged the surrounding sword spirits like a lawnmower.
Outer-rim sword spirits all had ~1000 HP—one-shottable. Deeper in, HP climbed to 1500, 2000, 2500…
Drops got wild:
【Fragrant Braised Chicken Legs ×3: Secret recipe by Cook Auntie. #1 on the cafeteria must-eat list for a hundred years. What makes it so delicious? Love ♡ Effect: Restore 20 HP ×3】
【Little Mirror Lake Spring Water ×3 (small): Ever wondered where the lake’s source is? Effect: Restore 100 HP ×3】
【Broken Sword Shards ×50: Not every fragment comes from a divine weapon. Lower your expectations, it’s healthier for both of us. Effect: Attack +5 ×5】
【Sword Manual (Basic Edition) ×1: No time to memorize, but carrying it beats nothing! Effect: Attack +15】
【Blank Talisman Paper (Basic) ×100: 1 spirit stone each at the second cafeteria, no haggling.】
【Talisman Brush (Basic) ×5: 10 spirit stones each, bald within a month.】
【Damaged Array Plate: Arrays are harder than ascending to heaven.】
【Useless Pebbles ×100: Literally useless but takes up space. Effect: None ×100】
【Old Plum Blossom Branch ×1: If you fail the sword exam, aside from praying to the Carefree Immortal’s statue, offering to the plum tree is also an option~ Effect: Luck +1】
Whether her attack was getting higher or her base stats were just busted, everything died in one to three hits.
Killing wasn’t the goal—looting was. Her storage pouch had infinite space. Aside from the useless pebbles, she grabbed everything.
The feeling of picking up junk everywhere was addictively good.
Above her head, golden text kept popping: 【Attack +++】【HP +++】【Spirit Stones +++】【Sword Qi +++】
Visible progress bars were way more fun than normal sword practice.
She suddenly remembered the sword selection ceremony years ago—no sword had chosen her. What terrible taste. Her slashes got a little more vengeful.
Farm, farm, farm like her life depended on it.
When her spirit stones hit 500, a 【Shop】 tab appeared above the backpack.
She opened it: 【Blue Cloud Robes: Defense +100】
Instant purchase. Equipped.
At that moment, a crossed-swords icon flashed on the mini-map—PvP alert.
Only player-vs-player combat (outside of bosses) triggered the icon.
It was roughly 100 meters away.
Su Qing looked at the pitch-black night, activated Breath Concealment Art, gripped Man Qing Sword, and crept closer.
Moments later she found them—two first-years she vaguely recognized.
Without attacking she couldn’t see exact stats, only health bars.
One was down to half HP and losing fast; the other had two-thirds and was pressing aggressively, eyes locked on the opponent, completely tunnel-visioned.
Su Qing understood that state: once you’re in a fight, the only thing in your world is the enemy.
Too bad they didn’t know… the commotion from PvP was visible to everyone nearby.
She crouched in a bush and watched silently.
Early game, time = money. Wasting it meant falling behind on farm. Su Qing was in no rush.
She shrank into the smallest ball possible but spread her divine sense—only to be blocked at ten meters.
So divine sense was restricted too.
She wasn’t upset; her divine sense was far stronger than peers anyway. This was good—more chances against Golden Cores.
The thrill of punching up was exactly what made the game fun. Just thinking about it made her blood burn.
Soon the fight ended. The weaker player got eliminated as expected, collapsing stiffly. The winner, still at half HP, excitedly looted the corpse: “I knew PvP levels you up faster!”
Right then, another player burst out of a nearby bush and charged without a word. Clang! Swords collided, sparks flew.
“Who?!”
“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!”
But it was over from the start: full HP vs half HP, no items except swords. Unless you had some busted skill, no comeback.
Then two more players leapt out of the roadside bushes and joined the fray—clearly a pre-made duo.
They helped the half-HP player against the full-HP one.
Make no mistake: everyone was still competitors. They’d probably kill the half-HP guy right after.
Su Qing, who had been waiting to be the oriole, discovered a new oriole every time she was about to strike.
Su Qing: …When the hell do I get to move?!
After three successive orioles, she calculated the time. Any longer and upper-year players might show up.
The chaotic 4-way was almost decided.
No more waiting.
She gripped Man Qing Sword and charged in.
The last two were shocked—they hadn’t sensed anyone else nearby.
But scared? Not really. It was 2v1, and they were a team.
“Friend Su, exam’s the exam—no hard feelings!”
“Have at thee!”
Two opponents at once—perfect.
Su Qing grabbed her heavy sword by the hilt, spun her body like a top, and turned herself into a human tornado sweeping toward them.
疾风剑法 · 飓如风 (Gale Sword Art – Hurricane Wind)!
Her original weakness was speed, but after integrating Old Lady Liu’s Drunken Mistrack Steps, she was much lighter on her feet.
Still, both opponents used light swords built for speed. She ate several hits—neck, stomach, waist, thighs—all poked multiple times.
Zero damage.
“How?! She’s not losing any blood! Impossible—again!”
“No good, her stats are too high! Drop the loot, run!”
Su Qing thought: I tanked your swords, now it’s my turn~
Momentum unstoppable.
Man and sword became one. A violent whirlwind erupted around her.
Too late to escape.
A few startled screams cut short—everyone was blasted flying.
When they landed, all HP bars hit zero. They collapsed rigidly onto the ground.
Su Qing didn’t even glance at the bodies. Loot loot loot loot loot.
To her shock, she could even pick up their swords.
An insult to sword cultivators everywhere.
Whatever—mine now.
After grabbing everything valuable, she fled into the thick night before more players arrived, guilty pleasure levels at maximum.
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂