Locus University, Flash Rail Auditorium.
Much like the Stardrop Auditorium at Sword Flower University, the ceiling of Flash Rail Auditorium was thrown wide open. The slight difference was that while Stardrop Auditorium relied on reflecting mirrors to channel the starlight inside, Flash Rail Auditorium used strips of glass tracks. When night fell, starlight traveled along the glass tracks in looping rings that wrapped around the entire hall, synchronizing the interior into daylight and lending it an added air of solemnity.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Two young students were locked in fierce combat on the stage. The slightly shorter male student was a sword sorcerer from Sword Flower University, while the tall female student was a spear sorcerer from Locus University.
As the king of cold weapons, the spear had long reigned supreme. Before the invention of firearms, it stood at the head of the hundred arms; swords, axes, and hammers had all bowed before it.
Yet with the rise of firearms, more agile bladed weapons gradually usurped the spear's supremacy, carrying the swordsmanship faction to become the most flourishing weapon faction in the Starry Country.
Even so, no former king would quietly exit the stage. Through generations of refinement and optimization by spear sorcerers, the standard long spear had steadily evolved into a tripartite mechanical staff-spear—more flexible, more portable, and integrated with the killing arts of various other weapons. Today, modern spear sorcerers not only wielded the raw might of ancient spears, but could also exploit the bizarre versatility of the mechanical staff, holding their ground even against the gun arts faction.
By contrast, the axe arts faction and the hammer arts faction had suffered a total decline. Such was the cruelty of the sorcerer world: sorcerers and knowledge unable to keep pace with the era were swept unceremoniously into the trash heaps of the Void Realm, waiting until future sorcerers panned for gold and refined them before they could return to the historical stage.
Spear arts had always been Locus University's trump card, and Berg, the Whirling Cherry Fierce Saint who led their delegation for this exchange, was a Sanctuary Sorcerer renowned for his spear arts.
At the thought of facing Berg in the final exhibition match, Sonia's heart hammered in her chest. An open, legitimate chance to draw a blade against a Sanctuary Sorcerer was a rare opportunity indeed!
*Clink!*
The female student's spear suddenly shifted into a mechanical staff, binding the male student's longsword like a slick serpent. With a tug and a lift, she knocked the blade flying, then whipped the staff back into a spear aimed squarely at the male student's throat!
"The match is decided!" the host announced in a carrying voice. "The victor: Cathy McIntosh of Locus University! We now invite the faculty advisors to give their commentary!"
Watching the glamorous host command the whole auditorium, Sonia felt a momentary daze. She was supposed to have been sitting in that very spot—first hosting school events, then hosting the League, building up an audience following through screen time before transitioning into a song maiden or screen maiden to embark on the blissful path of making a living on looks alone.
Yet here she sat in the guest section as the chief of this friendly tournament, enduring the focused, weighty, and hostile glares of Locus University's student body.
Locus University and Sword Flower University were both among the five contenders for Jialesi's top three universities, and the rivalry between them was fierce. To make matters worse, Sword Flower University had edged out Locus University by a hair in total points during last year's Intercollegiate League. Locus's students had been nursing a grudge, burning to win it back this year, turning this friendly tournament into an outright forward outpost.
Sonia had missed her chance to be the brightest supporting character, but she now had the chance to be the sole protagonist.
"Cathy's use of the Parting-Joining sorcery spirit was far too shallow. She failed to draw out the mechanical staff's traits and leaned too heavily on the spear's thrusting capabilities..." Berg, the Whirling Cherry Fierce Saint, offered a scrupulous critique of the girl's tactical errors. Cathy was evidently a student he knew well.
This was customary. While friendly tournament teams were supposed to select standout students fairly and impartially in theory, the top students were often the ones favored by the professors. Sonia had become the team chief not only through Leonie's recommendation, but also because their delegation was led by Trozan, the Hidden Hand Sword Saint.
If the delegation leader had been Nidala, the Rhythm Sword Saint, Sonia would have made the team at best, but the chief position would undoubtedly have gone to Leonie—after all, Leonie was Professor Nidala's apprentice.
These so-called friendly tournaments were much like battle-pet matches; the professors naturally wanted to field pets they were familiar with.
Once Berg finished his critique, the pressure fell squarely on Trozan. The renowned Hidden Hand Sword Saint looked rather impatient at that moment. She scratched at her messy, unwashed-looking curls, then suddenly turned toward the Sword Flower chief beside her. "Did you understand?"
"What?" Sonia was dumbfounded.
"If you understood, you say it," Trozan stated with absolute conviction. "I can't be bothered to repeat the critique."
The village girl was completely floored. *Why do you make it sound like you told me your critique just now?!*
Yet seeing everyone's eyes fixed on her, especially the vanguard from her own school looking up eagerly for her to speak, Sonia silently cursed the shameless professor and rose reluctantly to her feet.
Come to think of it, Trozan rarely taught swordsmanship theory. In her words, "Pain is far easier to understand than words." Her method of instructing Sonia and Felix had always been live combat—and not the kind of sparring where she held her strength back, but outright crushing them with the might of a Sanctuary Sorcerer.
Trozan was like pouring the volume of a swimming pool into their wooden buckets, forcing them to vividly experience every single short plank and flaw. Naturally, this teaching method was brutally severe. Sonia and Felix had barely managed to endure it; anyone else would have been psychologically traumatized long ago. Forget having short planks—the bucket itself would have burst under the deluge.
Sonia had previously thought Trozan was tailoring her instruction to their talents. But now that Trozan was suddenly shunting the critique onto her, a sudden thought sprang into her mind: *Could it be that Professor Trozan has no idea how to give theoretical guidance at all?*
*But I don't know how to give guidance either!*
*I'm just a rookie sword sorcerer who started learning the sword less than a month ago!*
Still, seeing Trozan guiltily avert her gaze, Sonia had no choice but to do her best to salvage her professor's face. Recalling the clash from moments ago, she tried to offer advice from the perspective of the swordsmanship faction, but crisp, straightforward commands rose unbidden in her mind:
*Round eight: upward slash targeting the chest.*
*Round thirteen: retreat and thrust at the throat.*
*Round fifteen: sword ray piercing the abdomen.*
*Round nineteen...*
Beneath the bewildered stares of the crowd, Sonia delivered eight directives. "Those were eight opportunities you could have seized. Had you taken even one, you would have easily defeated your opponent."
"Impossible!" Cathy, who had just claimed victory, retorted immediately. "The entire battle was under my control from start to finish! He didn't have a single opening!"
The male student looked utterly stifled, yet had no grounds to argue. Weakness was the original sin; in defeat, even breathing was a mistake. On top of that, he had lost the vanguard bout of an exchange tournament. Right now, the campus forums were probably in an uproar condemning him for disgracing Sword Flower University.
Berg, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised. He looked at Trozan. "Hidden Hand Sword Saint, is this your guidance?"
Trozan glanced at him, then at the slightly flustered Sonia, and nodded firmly. "Indeed, that was my meaning. So now you see why I couldn't be bothered to comment. With so many chances for victory right there, my student still managed to miss every last one. Alas, it's not that your student is exceptionally strong; it's simply that ours was too weak."
As a popular professor at Sword Flower University, Trozan was quite adept at getting under people's skin. The students of Locus University were nearly brought to tears of frustration. Seeing this, Berg dropped the pleasantries and let out a cold snort. "Replay the match! Let us all appreciate Professor Trozan's pedagogical insights!"
It wasn't that Berg disbelieved Trozan's ability to offer surgical, pinpoint technical critiques, but Trozan had been staring blankly into empty space the entire time, clearly browsing the Curtain. Her mind hadn't been on the match at all! Coupled with her deliberate push to make her student speak, this critique had plainly come not from Trozan, but from that Sword Flower chief!
Although the spear arts faction had become far more versatile after incorporating the mechanical staff, at its core it remained a fierce, straightforward discipline. Spear sorcerers, as a result, were mostly rigid, self-disciplined, and strict, with Berg being a prime example.
What he despised most were slackers who took their work lightly. A brilliant colleague like Trozan—drifting off on the job and paying no heed to her appearance—grated on his nerves even without any personal grudge between them. Now that Trozan had handed him an opening on a silver platter, Berg was more than willing to embarrass her.
As for whether that chief could give an accurate critique... Berg had investigated her background long ago. A month prior, she had been a first-year student in the Water Sorcery Department. She had likely practiced swordsmanship for years in secret, which was why she could summon a sword sorcery spirit in combat to become a sorcerer, and then luckily stumbled upon a Vortex in the Void Realm to leap straight to full silver wings.
Yet such lucky individuals often suffered from an obvious flaw: too shallow a foundation. Her faction realm was likely far behind her sorcery power level. Forget guiding others; she wouldn't even know how to guide herself.
That was another reason for Berg's displeasure with Trozan: promoting a student who had been a sorcerer for less than a month to the chief bout position could have no explanation other than Trozan playing favorites.
Berg held immense disdain for professors who wielded authority in such a self-serving manner.
Not to mention that Trozan not only shirked her duties, but had also shoved her student forward as a meat shield. She was an absolute disgrace to the profession!
Yet as the auditorium's light screen played the fresh recording of the match, the hall gradually quieted, and even Berg's expression shifted into astonishment.
Upward slash targeting the chest, retreat and thrust at the throat... Every single point Sonia highlighted was a critical juncture capable of turning the tide! Had the Sword Flower vanguard acted as Sonia directed, he could indeed have easily broken through Cathy's spear barrage!
Cathy's face drained of color as she watched, unable to believe her victory had hung by such a thread. Her opponent was in no better shape; the thought that he had missed so many openings only to lose so humiliatingly made the Sword Flower vanguard stamp his feet in bitter regret.
When the replay ended, the hall remained dead silent until the host's vibrant voice broke the stillness: "Our deepest thanks to both professors for their meticulous guidance! Next, let us welcome the two students for the Forward Bout..."
Watching the second match get underway, Trozan rubbed her temples like a woman recovering from a heavy hangover. "There's really no slacking off today... I'll handle the critiques from here on. Sonia, your remarks will only make everyone miserable."
Sonia almost thanked her professor on instinct for sparing her—before quickly catching herself. Commenting was supposed to be the professor's job in the first place! Trozan was merely fulfilling her own duty, so why should Sonia be grateful?
She ought to be holding the professor accountable for dumping the blame on her without warning!
*Damn it, this is the terrifying nature of power. A superior can play a cruel trick on a whim, leaving subordinates powerless to resist—and when the superior decides to let it go, the subordinate actually feels indebted with gratitude... What an enviable kind of power!*
*I want to become that kind of superior, whose every word and action brings thunder or rain at will!*
Sonia still didn't quite understand why Trozan claimed her critique would make everyone miserable. But when she looked closely, she noticed the Sword Flower vanguard she had critiqued was hanging his head in utter despondency, while the victorious Locus vanguard on the other side looked haggard and drained, both clearly stung by her words.
Yet Sonia hadn't done it on purpose. Her guidance hadn't stemmed from her faction realm, but from Sword Command!
Sword Command offered no significant boost to individual strength, but when used to direct others, it possessed a miraculous, almost alchemical efficacy.
Sonia felt more and more how fortunate last night's victory had been. Had Demilo been able to command an army against them properly, the Watcher's sports car, no matter how sturdy and fast, would have been reduced to scrap metal beneath such surgical mastery of command.
Unfortunately, the Watcher had dragged the battlefield straight into a cesspool, preventing Demilo from using even a tenth of his true capabilities. Only through the combined efforts of all three sorcerers had they narrowly managed to slay that unfortunate Heroic Spirit.
As she reflected on this, the Forward Bout began. Sonia took one look and lost interest—bluntly speaking, even the Watcher's combat technique was more refined than theirs.
Although both fighters likely possessed the sorcery power of half silver wings, their actual combat experience was far too meager. They lacked ruthlessness in their hearts and viciousness in their hands; in the Watcher's phrasing, "You can't kill anyone fighting like that."
Sonia even doubted whether they had ever slain more than a couple of Fishcleaver Dragons.
Lacking interest in the match, Sonia turned to chat with Leonie, only to find her senior staring down at something in her hands.
The village girl dragged her chair closer. Leonie glanced at her. "Want to read together?"
"Read what?"
"Constellation divination." Leonie held up the book in her hand. The cover read: *1668: Fate and Signs of the Seventy-Two Constellations*.
Chapter 258