Chapter 286: Learn To Be Low?

　　Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

　　The group of more than ten cultivators immediately went pale when they heard Xu Que’s words. They were extremely fearful and no one dared to speak up!

　　Ding! “Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully acting tough. The reward is 160 Acting Tough Points!”

　　Ding! “Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully acting tough. The reward is 190 Acting Tough Points!”

　　…

　　Hearing the familiar notifications for successfully acting tough, Xu Que was secretly thrilled.

　　Alright! Today, I, the Act Tough King will bear with this and be the legendary Sword Spirit. Haha! I didn’t ask for it, all of you … have mistaken me for it, he thought, sniggering in his mind.

　　The other elite cultivators were at a loss as to what to do. But Lin Guan from Spirit Treasures Pavilion suddenly had an idea. He abruptly pulled out a dazzling sword from his storage ring.

　　It was a sharp, ancient, six-star sword. Although it had had a long history, it was still remarkably sharp.

　　Much to the consternation of the other elite cultivators, Lin Guan respectfully held up the six-star weapon before Xu Que, wearing an aggrieved expression.

　　“Lord Sword Spirit, my name is Lin Guan. Today I stumbled upon this sword in this Sword Catacomb. I initially wanted to put this back where it belonged, but, I was demanded by this group of people to hand the sword over to them so that they could please an elite cultivator who is the Legendary Swordsman. I had no choice but to escape with this sword. Please forgive my recklessness!”

　　Holy crap! How shameless!

　　This fellow can act so well!

　　As well as Xu Que, the elite cultivators present were all furious in their minds.

　　This Lin Guan is twisting his own sword-snatching behavior into such a fresh and refined story! There might be no other who can do that!

　　Xu Que remarked in his heart, this young man has a bright future ahead. He is acting so brazen at such a young age. In years to come, his act tough skills and shamelessness might even increase to be on par with me, the Act Tough King …

　　Xu Que contained his laughter while pretending to be solemn and mysterious. He asked in an indifferent manner, “oh? Is this true?”

　　“Lord Sword Spirit, don’t believe him. This person is sinister and cunning; he clearly wanted the sword for himself. We wanted to stop him, so we chased him all the way here, and accidentally disturbed you, Lord Sword Spirit.”

　　“Yes, Lord Sword Spirit, please believe us!”

　　“Do not trust the words of the villain! Lord Sword Spirit!”

　　…

　　The elite cultivators protested against the words of Lin Guan. If the Sword Spirit believed Lin Guan, then wouldn’t that mean that they were guilty of murderous intent and being bootlickers?

　　By this time, they had been convinced that the entity before them was really the Sword Spirit, as it was impossible to possess such sword will. This was because only the Original Infant Stage cultivators were allowed entry into the Sword Catacomb.

　　In addition, such strong sword will could only be conjured by cultivators in the Void Training Stage!

　　Hence, from their point of view, the entity before them, who possessed such extraordinary sword will and aura, had to be legendary Sword Spirit. And one absolutely could not provoke it.

　　Who would dare offend the Sword Spirit in the Sword Catacomb? None would, if they still wanted to carry on living!

　　Therefore, all these elite cultivators had to salvage themselves by protesting against Lin Guan and beseeching Xu Que not to believe Lin Guan’s words.

　　Lin Guan was alone. He was unable to outtalk so many mouths and became worried as well. “Lord Sword Spirit, please take this sword away so these people can’t get it!” he shouted in exasperation.

　　The others followed suit by shouting, “Lord Sword Spirit, don’t believe him. It is clear that he knows he’s in trouble, and that’s why he is handing over the sword!”

　　“Exactly, it is most fortunate that you appeared in time! Otherwise, this precious sword would have been taken away by him!”

　　“The mighty Lord Sword Spirit will not listen to such slander!”

　　…

　　Enveloped by the sword will, watching from where he was, Xu Que couldn’t help but feel his mouth twitch after hearing the cultivators’ words.

　　What a bunch of shameless bastards!

　　Are they the so-called elites and geniuses of the sects and factions?

　　They are all the same!

　　“Silence!” he snapped immediately.

　　Swoosh!

　　All of them immediately shut their mouths. Everyone was panicked and hurriedly bowed, “Lord Sword Spirit, please be appeased!”

　　Xu Que floated around the air for a while, as if he were inspecting each and every one of them. After that, he began to speak slowly. “This is just a six-star weapon. In the eyes of this Sword Spirit, this is just a piece of trash. However, by fighting over this piece of trash, all of you awakened me from my sleep. This is a major sin.”

　　Gulp!

　　All the young cultivators sucked in a mouthful of cold air as thoughts ran through their heads:

　　A six-star weapon is trash?

　　It makes sense, as Lord Sword Spirit has probably seen nine-star weapons. He wouldn’t be bothered with a mere six-star weapon.

　　The owner of this Sword Catacomb was the Sword Spirit. All the weapons here belonged to Lord Sword Spirit.

　　…

　　Just one sentence from Xu Que had all the young cultivators shaking in fear. Xu Que opened his mouth again. He began to speak without any emotion. “However, since all of you can enter the Sword Catacomb, that means everyone here possesses sufficient sword will talent. On account of the pious devotion everyone has shown towards sword cultivation, this Sword Spirit can spare your lives.”

　　…

　　Everyone felt great relief upon hearing that sentence. “Thank you, Lord Sword Spirit!” they said in unison.

　　As long as the Sword Spirit was not angry and chose not to punish them, they would not have to worry about their lives. A single blow from the Sword Spirit would be more than enough to send them all to hell.

　　Xu Que nodded his head satisfactorily, pretending to be a strict and wise old man. “All of you are talented, so as long as you are focused on sword cultivation, your futures will be bright!”

　　The crowd listened and rejoiced in their hearts.

　　Wow, Lord Sword Spirit has actually praised all of us and told us that we are talented.

　　Sure enough, we are the elites! To be exact, we are the elite sword cultivators!

　　Lin Guan from Spirit Treasures Pavilion suddenly kneeled down. With a tone of extreme devotion, he shouted, “Lord Sword Spirit, all of my life, my cultivation revolved around the sword. Will you let me inherit your Supreme Sword Will? I really want to learn sword skills from you, so please take me in as your disciple!”

　　The rest of the young cultivators listened with their eyes wide open.

　　In just a few seconds, all of the elite cultivators followed suit and kneeled down. “Lord Sword Spirit, we want to learn sword skills from you, please take us in as your disciples!”

　　…

　　You want to learn how to be cheapskates from me?

　　All of you want to learn to be cheapskates? Dream on … bah, that’s not right. Damn, all of you are the cheap ones, all your families are cheapskates.

　　Xu Que’s brows were furrowed and his mouth was twitching significantly.

　　But he did not act up. He remained indifferent and maintained his high and mighty attitude, looking carefully at the elite cultivators.

　　After some time, he spoke slowly. “Your talents are indeed impressive. Indeed, this discovery has allowed this Sword Spirit to consider the prospect of having disciples!”

　　The elite cultivators were elated, their faces full of anticipation.

　　What kind of an entity was the Sword Spirit? It was a supreme being that had survived since the ancient times!

　　If one could learn some techniques on sword will cultivation, they might not be strong enough to be invincible but they would definitely know enough to surpass Ye Chang Feng, the so-called Legendary Swordsman!

　　All of a sudden, everyone had the urge to kneel on the ground and shout, ‘choose me, choose me, choose me’, but they were worried that such shouting and yelling might incur the wrath of the Sword Spirit, and elected not to follow through.

　　“This Sword Spirit has calculated that in this lifetime … only two people have an affinity with me!” declared Xu Que.

　　Two people?

　　Who would they be?

　　The crowd stared at their supposed Lord Sword Spirit, eyes full of hope.

　　“Have you ever met a young man by the name of Takumi Fujiwara?” Xu Que asked in a casual manner, his eyes half-open.

　　The group of elite cultivators were confused.

　　“Takumi Fujiwara? Who is that?”