Morning of May 14, 2018

In the Assembly Hall of Cyan Lotus Academy in Heaven-Reaching City, the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect looked grimly at the petite, long-haired woman before him.

Shang Miaoyu, the Chief Elder of Cyan Lotus Academy, in the Mountain-Overturning Realm, a master of languages, adept in all languages of the Xiangzhou Continent, possessing unique skills like True Words, False Words, and Deceptive Words. Her seniority in Cyan Lotus Academy is second only to the deceased deans, making her theoretically the elder with the ultimate authority in the Sword Academy.

And the genuine rancor and disdain on Shang Miaoyu’s face clearly indicated that her words were absolutely heartfelt.

This woman, ranked as the top elder of Cyan Lotus Academy, actually took the initiative to abandon restoring the Sword Manual, the most important scripture of the Sword Academy!

Although the Sect Leader was aware of the internal disagreement within Cyan Lotus regarding the Sword Manual, he didn’t expect the rift to be this severe. After the unfortunate fall of the deans on Golden Cloud Peak, someone actually suggested abandoning the Sword Manual altogether!

That was the supreme scripture handed down through Cyan Lotus Academy for two thousand years, the foundation of its establishment, with profundities not inferior to the heritage of the Saint Sect, and yet they said they didn’t want it anymore?!

As the Sect Leader glanced around, he noticed the other man and two women seated around the conference table shared the same gloomy expression. Clearly, the opposition to restoring the Sword Manual was not solely Shang Miaoyu’s unilateral decision, but a unanimous stance among the four elders.

This made the Sect Leader, who had come full of confidence, feel particularly awkward, especially with Wang Jiu looking on with keen curiosity at the scene, intrigued by the unexpected situation.

The Sect Leader had a hard time convincing this renowned Sword Spirit to help restore the Sword Manual, to complete the inheritance of the Three Academies, yet now the people of Cyan Lotus Academy themselves were the obstacle... This was simply unbelievable.

Over the past centuries, Cyan Lotus Academy and Wuxiang Sword Academy had engaged in countless fierce battles revolving around the Sword Academy; each insisted that they alone were the supreme in Sword Dao, while others practiced deviant paths. Among the Three Academies, only one should carry the name of ’Sword,’ leading to continuous friction and battles, often betting the Sword Academy’s reputation on the line for an intense war.

Fortunately, above the Three Academies stood the Saint Sect, whose intervention kept the disputes between Cyan Lotus Academy and Wuxiang Sword Academy from crossing the line or resulting in any deadly incidents. However, typically every ten or twenty years, they would hold a grand martial contest to decide the rightful bearer of the Sword Academy’s name.

In the past fifty years, it was an era of rising power for Wuxiang Sword Academy, wherein the Cyan Lotus Academy had fallen into decline. Several Sword Academy battles ended with Wuxiang Sword Academy’s resounding victory, leaving no trace of Cyan Lotus Sword Academy in public view, only Cyan Lotus Academy.

To this, the people of Cyan Lotus felt deep shame and have been biding their time for decades, waiting for a chance to avenge. Former deans Sang Yue and Sang Jing also ventured into the Primordial Ruins, risking their lives in search of a breakthrough.

To reclaim the Sword Academy’s reputation, the members of Cyan Lotus were willing to risk their lives; so why now, when there was a great opportunity to recover the Sword Manual, did they choose to give it up?

"Because, right from the start, only a few were particularly enthusiastic. Sect Leader, you often interacted with Dean Sang and the others, so you mistakenly believed that their attitude represented the entire academy, but it wasn’t so. We’re really tired of endlessly battling with Wuxiang Sword Academy," Shang Miaoyu said.

Her words gained direct support from the others.

"Yes, Sect Leader, we’ve long ceased wanting to persist in this meaningless struggle. Truly, Wuxiang Sword Academy holds more expertise in the Sword Dao. Both academies were founded over two thousand years ago, the first disputes began eleven hundred years ago, and eight hundred years ago the first Sword Academy struggle began, and for the majority of the time since then, Wuxiang Sword Academy has held the upper hand. In the past two hundred years, Wuxiang Sword Academy has held the title of Sword Academy for one hundred sixty of those years. I think that says it all."

On hearing this, the Sect Leader felt exceedingly complex emotions.

The struggle over the Sword Academy seemed quite meaningless from the Saint Sect’s perspective, a mere internal feud among the Three Academies. Yet, as long as the competition remained within a healthy scope, encouraging advancement on both sides, it could be seen as something positive. However, compared to Wuxiang Sword Academy’s focus on the Sword Dao, Cyan Lotus Academy embraced a wide array of knowledge, making it hard to gain an upper hand in just the Sword Dao, especially as the Immortal Cultivation Civilization developed, and the gap between the two widened. An end to the Sword Academy struggle would be in line with the course of history.

But the struggle could end without the Cyan Lotus Sword Manual being lost; it was a Primordial Inheritance of Profound Mystic Divine Techniques.

"Sect Leader, pardon my rudeness, but for a sect with three academies and seven noble families, is the Primordial Inheritance really that valuable?" Shang Miaoyu asked. "Which of us doesn’t hold a Primordial inheritance? Our academy alone has four scrolls, with the Sword Manual being just one of them."

The Sect Leader quickly added, "It is among the highest in status, with the most profound techniques."

Shang Miaoyu said, "For present-day Xiangzhou, the level of Primordial inheritances is insurmountably high; positive infinity plus one is still positive infinity; to us, it makes no difference. The few scrolls we possess are enough for us to study for centuries; we don’t need a more profound Cyan Lotus Sword Manual to scatter our focus further—Sect Leader, on a comparative basis, the Cyan Lotus Sword Manual is in no way inferior to the Wuxiang Sword Manual, but the people’s focus was too scattered, leading to more losses than wins in the Sword Academy struggle. Now, it would actually benefit us more to concentrate on the other scrolls." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

This argument was undeniably reasonable, so much so that the Sect Leader found himself momentarily without rebuttal. But just then, a flash of insight struck him, and he suddenly realized the hidden reason behind Cyan Lotus Academy’s unusual stance.

"Focus on research... Perhaps what you truly need to focus on is not your energy, but your budget!"

As soon as the Sect Leader finished speaking, he immediately saw four faces whose expressions subtly changed.

Their unmasked expressions made the Sect Leader simultaneously amused and exasperated: "You few are now the highest authorities at Cyan Lotus Academy after the unfortunate demise of the dean and vice dean. Yet none of you are considering the overall interests of the academy; instead, you’re planning to cut off the Sword Manual inheritance just to split its budget!?"

Before he finished speaking, Shang Miaoyu sighed, "We suggested abandoning the Cyan Lotus Sword Manual and its inheritance considering the overall interests. Sect Leader should know that the research funding requirements for Cyan Lotus Sword Academy are the highest among the Three Academies. Our own resources alone are far from enough to sustain our consumption. We have to accept assistance from various parties each year to advance our projects. Naturally, these sponsors are not entirely selfless either; they have always had their demands on Cyan Lotus Academy’s research. In recent times, the research on the Cyan Lotus Sword Manual was unable to satisfy the sponsors. Not long ago, the sponsors explicitly stated that, with the same resources, it is better to fund the Wuxiang Sword Academy directly rather than the Cyan Lotus Sword Manual’s research. For several decades, we have prioritized the Sword Manual frequently at the expense of other projects, causing many sponsors to lose faith in our research efforts, leading the entire Cyan Lotus Academy into a research funding crisis. In such a situation, what’s wrong with abandoning the Sword Manual?"

"..."

"Moreover, from the overall structure of one sect and three academies in Xiangzhou, the academies were founded with their own strengths and responsibilities in mind. The Celestial Craft Institute handles strategic engineering deployment in Xiangzhou, Cyan Lotus Academy specializes in innovating and perfecting Immortal Technique theories, while Wuxiang Sword Academy is a quintessential Martial Combat Sect, once even called the Sword of the Saint Sect. Now Cyan Lotus is giving up the Sword Manual to return to its strengths. Compared to brandishing swords and guns, we prefer wielding pens and ink."

"...If you love wielding pens and ink so much, why was the holder of the Sword Manual elected as the dean back then?"

Shang Miaoyu said, "Sect Leader, why ask the obvious? It’s because none of us combined could defeat any of the sisters. They wanted to be the dean, and we could only say hello, Dean."

"Well said. Then I’ll abandon the Sword Manual restoration and head home."

Shang Miaoyu said, "Then we won’t keep you for lunch."

Before she finished speaking, the Sect Leader’s face revealed a sneer, "Of course you wouldn’t dare invite me for lunch. If I stay a bit longer, you’ll be unable to hide yourself, isn’t that right, Zhao Chenlu?"

Upon hearing this, Shang Miaoyu instantly stiffened. After a moment, she sighed, rubbed her face, and her figure grew more graceful, transforming her unkempt face to Zhao Chenlu’s celestial beauty.

"Old man, you have quite an eye for detail."

The Sect Leader snorted coldly, "I don’t deserve such praise, until just now I hadn’t recognized the nature of your disguise and Illusion Technique."

With the insight of Xiangzhou Immortal Dao’s top figure, even the Illusion Sword Technique of the Celestial Divine Sword had traces he could follow. Yet if it wasn’t for the slip-up in Shang Miaoyu’s speech, he truly hadn’t seen through Zhao Chenlu’s disguise!

Zhao Chenlu laughed smugly, "Of course you couldn’t see it, because that wasn’t an Illusion Technique, but the downward compatibility of charm, a natural principle of heaven and earth – someone of your charm level wouldn’t understand."

The Sect Leader, sorely suppressed by charm, resisted his urge to act and steered the conversation back to the main issue.

"Isn’t the funding issue at Cyan Lotus Academy ultimately your doing!?" As he spoke, the Sect Leader turned to Elder Feng Xiaolu, ranked second, "I warned you before, don’t recklessly accept funding from Golden Jade City!"

The youthful Feng Xiaolu blinked, "We haven’t accepted it..."

Zhao Chenlu said, "Of course, I used an agent, as it’s impossible for the Patriarch of the Seven Great Noble Families to appear publicly for matters that could constrain the Three Academies. But since you’ve discovered it, I’ll be forthright: As a sponsor, I don’t support Cyan Lotus Academy restoring the Sword Manual."

The Sect Leader sneered, "Without your Golden Jade City’s money, Cyan Lotus Academy can’t even keep functioning?"

Second elder Feng Xiaolu immediately showed a difficult expression, "Sect Leader, the truth is, Cyan Lotus’ financial situation has always been..."

"Enough, no need to say more!" The Sect Leader decisively interrupted, "The Saint Sect will find a way to cover your funding shortfall! We won’t let your research be interrupted!"

Zhao Chenlu said, "Don’t trust this old man’s bluffing. I’ve seen the Jade Forest Flower River Warehouse of the Saint Sect, and scouted the treasury of the Myriad Forms Garden. The Saint Sect can’t possibly come up with that much money now!"