Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly. The Imperial Academy's doctoral scholars were meant to solve the problem of teaching geniuses according to their individual aptitudes!
If Bathing Mountain and the young patriarch could truly solve this issue, then when facing the problem of Daoist heirs and Buddhist disciples blocking their path, they would no longer need to rely on the Heavenly Demon Sect's power.
This time, repelling the Daoist heir and the Great Thunder Temple's Buddhist disciple had relied entirely on the Heavenly Demon Sect's strength. Qin Mu was the young master of the Heavenly Demon Sect, while Si Yunxiang was likely Granny Si. Granny Si was the former saintess and wife of the previous sect leader, so the Imperial Academy could be said to have suffered a complete defeat.
Shen Wanyun listened as the two exchanged words, feeling incredibly awkward. Every time he mustered the courage to ask his doubts, he hesitated and held back.
Finally, he couldn't help but ask: "Teacher Bathing Mountain, what's this about senior brother and junior brother?"
"Oh, that matter?"
Bathing Mountain said nonchalantly: "He and I share the same master. He's my junior brother, so you should call him martial uncle."
"Martial uncle..."
Shen Wanyun fell silent. After a long while, he said: "If my cultivation strength surpasses his, do I still need to call him martial uncle?"
Bathing Mountain chuckled: "What are you thinking? You're no match for him. His abilities exceed yours by a significant margin. Do you know what 'a significant margin' means? It means he's higher than you by a chopstick's length. Being higher by a thread means higher by a single hair. Being higher by a significant margin means several dozen times that, understand? And forget about not being able to defeat him—even if you did, you'd still have to call him martial uncle."
Shen Wanyun snorted softly, muttering: "How would I know without fighting..."
"Don't fight. You'll lose."
Bathing Mountain smiled: "His abilities are at the level of Daoist heirs and Buddhist disciples..."
Qin Mu tugged at his robe sleeve, and Bathing Mountain immediately fell silent.
He was famously loud in the Imperial Academy, unable to keep anything inside, blurting out matters without restraint. Just now he had almost revealed the location of the flaw in Qin Mu's cultivation technique, and nearly mentioned Qin Mu's defeat of Daoist Heir Lin Xuan.
Bathing Mountain glanced at Qin Mu and stood up: "The Grand Rector wants me to stay close to you, which also means having you follow me. But since you're my junior brother, don't call me teacher. My teaching method is simple—we go out and train together. However, I can't bring too many people when I leave. Too large a group draws too much attention, and I can't look after everyone properly. Last time I left, I only brought Shen Wanyun. Since I must bring you this time, I can only bring one more scholar."
Shen Wanyun looked expectant.
Bathing Mountain knew what he was thinking, stood up and walked outside, shaking his head: "Not taking you this time. I need to select a few scholars with potential and solid foundations. They'll study while training with me, to verify whether the Grand Rector's proposed doctoral scholars are viable. These few will serve as candidates for the Imperial Academy's doctoral positions. Junior brother, go to the Heavenly Records Pavilion and select a few scriptures to bring along. I'll teach you on the road."
He left the courtyard, presumably to seek out a few scholars with outstanding talent.
Qin Mu looked at Shen Wanyun and smiled: "Martial nephew Shen..."
Shen Wanyun's expression darkened slightly. He stood up and said: "Until the day I'm defeated by you, I won't call you martial uncle!" With that, he walked out of Qin Mu's courtyard.
Qin Mu didn't mind. He looked at the little fox and the green ox: "You two pack up your belongings. I'm going to the Heavenly Records Pavilion to select some techniques."
The two were dead drunk, arguing about becoming sworn brothers, unclear if they'd even heard him.
Qin Mu took his token and walked out of the courtyard. Several servants outside came to repair his courtyard and gate.
He stepped outside and headed toward the outer part of the Scholar's Residence. Just then, he saw the doors of various courtyard houses opening. One scholar after another emerged, standing in the middle of the path, facing him, all silent.
Qin Mu looked back and saw that the gates behind had also opened, with scholars walking out from their respective courtyards to stand in the middle of the path.
Most of these scholars were people he had fought before. Some stood their sword cases upright at their feet, others already had them strapped to their backs.
Besides them, there were several he hadn't fought, including Qin Yu who had taken the entrance examination with him, and a few other scions of prominent families. The entire Scholar's Residence probably only had about five or six people who hadn't come out, including Wei Yong and Si Yunxiang.
"Want to fight again?"
Qin Mu chuckled and walked forward. Behind him, a scholar sneered: "Outcast! Don't dare start from the alley's end? Are you afraid?"
Qin Mu stopped and turned to look at the speaker. It seemed to be the only scholar he'd beaten three times. He'd only fought the others twice, but this scholar talked too much, always calling him "outcast." So he'd picked him up, used his face to write characters, and planted him in the ground—counted as three times.
The scholar couldn't hide his excitement: "Outcast! Your weakness has been pointed out by Bathing Mountain! This time I'll make you lose from the alley's end to its head!"
Qin Mu turned around and asked seriously: "Senior brother, what's your name? So after I lose, I'll know who defeated me."
A smile slowly bloomed on the scholar's face: "Allow me to introduce myself. My surname is Yan, given name Qinghe."
Qin Mu said solemnly: "I'm willing to be the first to lose to Senior Brother Yan's hand. I humbly ask Senior Brother Yan to bestow your guidance."
Yan Qinghe was overjoyed and laughed: "Though you come from a barbaric land, you at least know when to yield. Very well, I won't let you lose too miserably. Draw your sword!"
BOOM!
Qin Mu lifted his foot and took a step forward. His powerful body actually slammed the air before him into a wall composed of air itself. In the next instant, the air wall shattered. Qin Mu threw almost a full punch, his fist breaking through the air and releasing a round white shockwave that dispersed in all directions.
"Why didn't you draw your sword..."
Yan Qinghe had no time to command his sword with qi. He hurriedly raised both arms, using his forearms to block the punch. He simply didn't have time to control his sword with qi right now. If he tried to unsheathe his sword at this moment, the blade would likely not be out before his own death from this punch!
WHOOSH—
The sound of something heavy cutting through the air came. The scholars behind Yan Qinghe's expression changed drastically as they scrambled to dodge. They saw Yan Qinghe's body fly backward past Qin Mu, instantly reaching the alley's end!
At the alley's end, Wei Yong was about to open his door when suddenly a dark shadow flashed past, followed by a tremendous boom. A person slammed against the wall face-first, their body sinking deep into the wall. The surrounding wall collapsed inward, with cracked stones covered in spiderweb-like patterns.
Wei Yong jumped in fright and hurriedly leaned out to look. He glanced at the scene in the alley and grinned: "Senior brothers, don't misunderstand—I saw nothing and won't say a word!"
He was about to retreat back into his room when suddenly a figure appeared behind him. Wei Yong quickly turned around and saw Bathing Mountain standing behind him.
"Don't speak," Bathing Mountain whispered. "Let him fight."
Wei Yong was puzzled: "Master Bathing Mountain, what are you planning?"
Bathing Mountain glanced at him: "I intend to select a few worthy scholars from the Scholar's Residence and personally teach them divine techniques and cultivation methods."
Wei Yong still seemed confused. Bathing Mountain said proudly: "I just deliberately let slip the flaw in Scholar Qin's shoulder technique, provoking these scholars to know about his weakness. Once they know about it, they'll definitely make moves against Scholar Qin. Scholar Qin will then defeat them. This way, I can assess each scholar's strength. Those who can only withstand one or two moves clearly won't do. They need to be able to take at least three to five moves from Scholar Qin to be worthy of my personal instruction."
Wei Yong praised: "What a brilliant plan! Master Bathing Mountain is truly clever. By the way, Master, what about me..."
Bathing Mountain looked him up and down: "How many moves from Scholar Qin can you take?"
Wei Yong's head throbbed: "Do I also need to go out and exchange a few moves with Scholar Qin?"
Bathing Mountain smiled kindly.
Wei Yong felt his scalp tingle.
BANG!
A loud crash came from outside—another scholar had been slapped to the ground by Qin Mu, shattering dozens of floor tiles!
The servants who were repairing the gate wall for Qin Mu were startled. They all looked distressed. An old servant said unhurriedly: "Young masters, keep the noise down a bit. Don't make us repair this every day."
Qin Mu bowed: "Sorry for the trouble, sirs."
He stepped forward and walked out of the alley. As he passed by a scholar, the scholar's eyelid twitched, but he didn't move.
Qin Mu continued forward. A scholar was about to raise his hand to strike when suddenly a deafening boom rang out. That scholar was directly slapped into the ground by Qin Mu, with only his head showing.
"Less destruction!" The old servant couldn't help but shout.
Qin Mu quickly turned around and apologetically bowed, then continued walking outward.
Another scholar couldn't help but attack. There was a continuous sound of bowstrings vibrating—bang, bang, bang! The scholar's body was sent flying, hanging on a wall. The force from Qin Mu's finger flicks had punched several holes through the wall.
The old servant was about to lose his temper when Qin Mu quickly turned to apologize again.
WHOOSH—
A scholar was sent flying into the air, flailing his limbs as he fell headfirst into a roof, his lower half sticking into the building.
RUMBLE—a tremor came as another scholar was slammed into the wall by Qin Mu. The servants saw this and sighed, no longer asking them to keep it down.
"I'll go!"
Qin Mu suddenly felt a vicious wind hit his face from behind. He quickly turned and saw several sword lights like swimming dragons, dozens of them soaring and fluttering around him.
"Wandering Sword Style?"
Qin Mu was surprised. Very few scholars could cultivate the Wandering Sword Style to this degree. Moreover, this person had integrated dragon intent into the sword—such profound attainment could only belong to Qin Yu.
Qin Mu pressed his fingers together, using yuan qi as a sword. His fingers danced, executing basic sword techniques like thrusting, flicking, clouding, and wiping. He cut through the swimming dragon-like sword lights one by one. The dragon lights dissipated, transforming into sharp swords that pierced into the wall, buzzing and humming.
Qin Yu's entire quiver was emptied, revealing a look of alarm. His body moved like a dragon as he tried to retreat. Qin Mu flicked his fingers rapidly—clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—five explosive sounds rang out like thunder from a snap. Qin Yu was sent flying.
"Good skill. I'd like to see that little dragon's swordplay." Qin Mu praised, speaking to Qin Yu.
The servants who had been repairing the wall saw Qin Mu's sword technique and cheered: "Young master, you have the bearing of a grandmaster!"