Chapter 31 - 27: A Tool Person Delivered to the Doorstep

Chapter 31: Chapter 27: A Tool Person Delivered to the Doorstep

Although Lu Chen was unaware of the teachers’ confusion outside the Secret Realm, he could make a pretty good guess. After all, when he first searched for Cyan Profound Wood, the very first place he checked was the school’s Treasure Pavilion, but there was no Cyan Profound Wood to be found. Yet now, here in the Secret Realm, he had stumbled upon Cyan Profound Trees—something completely absent from the outside world.

What did this mean? It meant that either these Cyan Profound Trees had appeared so recently that the school hadn’t yet added their wood to the Treasure Pavilion, or the Cyan Profound Wood was simply too valuable for the school to list there.

Regardless of the reason, it meant that right now was his absolute best chance to acquire Cyan Profound Wood. After all, even if the school eventually added it to the Treasure Pavilion, he would still need to spend Academic Credits to exchange for it. But right now... he could snag it for absolutely nothing!

Freeloading might be shameless, but it brought immense joy. Lu Chen would never pass up an opportunity for a freebie.

"My in-game self chops trees, and my real-life self chops trees," he murmured. "This world... truly is a wondrous place."

After a brief moment of reflection, Lu Chen immediately raised the Magic Sword in his hand and commenced his grand logging enterprise.

THWACK, THWACK, THWACK...

Before long, the rhythmic sound of tree chopping echoed through the tranquil Five Springs Mountain Secret Realm.

First, he played video games during an exam, and now he was chopping down trees during an exam. In the eyes of the teachers, Lu Chen was no longer just a gaming-addicted teenager. He was a gaming-addicted, rebellious, and utterly eccentric teenager! After all, what kind of proper student would chop down trees during an exam?!

Could you please show a little respect for the school, and for the teachers who designed this test?!

Six hours into the mock exam.

Although only six short hours had passed, the original ninety-two candidates had now dwindled to fifty. A full forty-two students had been eliminated, nearly half the roster. However, with the decrease in candidate numbers and the remaining students grouping up with their teammates from the first phase, the elimination rate was bound to slow down. It wouldn’t be until the second phase was nearing its end that fierce battles would erupt once more, accelerating the elimination process.

Lu Chen, completely engrossed in his logging, couldn’t care less about any of this. They could fight their battles, and he would chop his trees—they all had bright futures ahead of them!

Meanwhile, in a forest one kilometer away from Lu Chen’s area.

A solitary student from the Heavenly Dao Class had surrounded five students from the Earth Dao Class. That’s right—one person had surrounded five.

"Bian Shouyi, are you sure you want to make enemies of the five of us?

"Even if you possess the Innate Sword Body and have achieved Sword Heart Clarity, you are currently only at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Level.

"If the five of us attack together, you won’t necessarily be able to defeat us easily.

"Rather than mutually destroying each other, why don’t we both take a step back and go our separate ways?"

Faced with the warnings of the five Earth Dao Class students, Bian Shouyi remained entirely unmoved. He continued to slowly advance toward them, his sword drawn. An invisible Sword Intent emanated from his body, like a razor-sharp blade revealing its edge, exuding an aura so piercing that one scarcely dared to look directly at it.

Seeing this, the expressions of the five Earth Dao Class students grew even uglier. They cursed inwardly, "Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why did we have to run into a freak like Bian Shouyi, who only cares about engaging in Magical Combat to temper his Sword Intent, right after we finally managed to group up?"

Watching Bian Shouyi draw closer, the five exchanged a glance and finally made their decision. Bian Shouyi might be strong, but the five of them were no pushovers either. Even a cornered rabbit would bite. If all five of them attacked at once, they could surely overwhelm him with sheer numbers! He had forced their hands. He was the Sword Fool of the Heavenly Dao Class, right? Today, they would make him taste the bitterness of defeat!

"Attack together!"

"Got it!"

Bian Shouyi watched as the five stopped fleeing and instead charged toward him. A change finally appeared on his ice-cold, stoic face, and his eyes gradually lit up. As a hint of excitement surfaced on his features, he muttered to himself, "Father once said that the sword is the king of all weapons. Therefore, a Sword Holder must seek victory straight and true, never yielding to compromise.

"Thus, the true disgrace of a Sword Cultivator is not death, but turning one’s back... to the enemy."

Having said this, Bian Shouyi raised his head to look at the five students. Beneath his messy, fragmented fringe, his eyes were clear and resolute. He had always known where his path lay; he had never been lost.

Facing the charging quintet, Bian Shouyi fully unsheathed the longsword at his waist and said earnestly, "I am Shouyi, the Shouyi who guards the center and holds true to the one. My Sword Dao... does not permit retreat.

"Fellow students, please instruct me."

Half an incense stick of time later.

"You’re a lunatic! Bian Shouyi, you are an absolute lunatic! Someone as inflexible as you is destined to achieve nothing, not just in this exam, but in your entire future!" The last member of the Earth Dao Class quintet cursed fiercely at Bian Shouyi as he was enveloped by the teleportation light.

However, Bian Shouyi was completely unfazed by these words. After the person was completely teleported away, he looked down at the sword in his hand and whispered, "I don’t want to be flexible. I only want to walk my path further... further than anyone else."

With those words, Bian Shouyi walked straight toward a particular direction in the forest. He didn’t know why he was heading that way, but he felt a faint, inexplicable intuition. He felt that only by going this way would he find what he was looking for.

"It took six hours just to chop down one. It seems the Cyan Profound Trees here are much older than the ones in the game," Lu Chen said. He smiled, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he admired the fruit of his six hours of labor.

What an unexpected delight! Truly an unexpected delight. As the saying goes, freeloading once is a thrill, but freeloading constantly is pure bliss. Who would have thought he could actually fleece the school right in the middle of an exam!

At this very moment, the mock exam and Academic Credits were entirely thrown to the back of Lu Chen’s mind. The only things in his eyes were the endless rows of Cyan Profound Trees stretching out before him.

"I’ll rest for a bit, and then..."

Just as Lu Chen prepared to take a short break before resuming his grand logging enterprise, the sudden shriek of something piercing the air rang out. In an instant, Lu Chen vanished from where he stood.

A split second later, a razor-sharp wave of Sword Qi shattered Lu Chen’s afterimage and struck the adjacent tree stump. The Cyan Profound Tree Stump, which boasted a toughness comparable to a Qi Cultivation Ninth Level Body Cultivator, was actually left with a thumb-deep sword mark—a clear testament to the terrifying power of that Sword Qi.

"...Bian Shouyi?"

Retreating to an open clearing, Lu Chen looked at the person who had just launched the sneak attack with a slightly bewildered expression. He hadn’t provoked this Sword Fool, so why had Bian Shouyi suddenly come looking for him?

"Can I help you with something?"

Facing Lu Chen’s inquiry, Bian Shouyi didn’t say a word. Instead, he excitedly raised his longsword. "Fellow student, please instruct me."

Seeing the intense battle lust radiating from Bian Shouyi, Lu Chen pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. Compared to fighting a Sword Fool, he would much rather be a peaceful lumberjack right now. After all, Magical Combat could happen at any time, but an opportunity to freeload like this didn’t come around every day.

However, based on his understanding of Bian Shouyi, once this Heavenly Dao Class’s Sword Fool set his mind on something, he would not give up easily. He was incredibly relentless. This was going to be tricky.

Just as Lu Chen was pondering a countermeasure, he inadvertently noticed the sword mark on the nearby tree stump. An audacious idea instantly popped into his mind.

If he remembered correctly, Bian Shouyi might be exceedingly stubborn, but he was also a man who kept his promises. If Lu Chen used "helping him chop trees" as the wager for a duel, Bian Shouyi surely wouldn’t break his promise once he lost. He would make the absolute perfect workhorse!

Moreover, if Bian Shouyi could become a workhorse to help him log, couldn’t the other students do the same?!

At this thought, Lu Chen felt like Columbus discovering the New World; a whole new realm of possibilities had instantly opened up before him. Consequently, the look in his eyes as he stared at Bian Shouyi became decidedly more intrigued.

He thought gleefully, "This power, this Sword Qi... Bian Shouyi, you are a natural-born lumberjack!"

Author’s Note: Friendly reminder to keep reading, vote with your monthly tickets, and add to your collection!