The members of the Swordsmanship Club never expected Su Xinyu to lose, and even less did they expect her to lose so badly, unable to last even a single move against Lin Ye.
If it had been a real sword fight, Su Xinyu would already be dead.
Just then, Lin Ye’s voice rang out once more.
“You lost.”
Hearing this voice, Su Xinyu, who had been tapped by Lin Ye’s bamboo sword, finally woke up as if from a dream, her eyes filled with disbelief, just like the other Swordsmanship Club members beside her.
“I actually lost.”
“Impossible, I’ve been practicing swordsmanship since I was 5 years old, how could I possibly lose?!”
At this moment, she seemed as if her faith had collapsed, her face full of bewilderment.
“It’s not a problem with your talent, nor with your effort, but with your direction. The swordsmanship I study is superior to yours, so no matter how high your talent or how much effort you put in, it will be in vain.”
Fearing he might dampen Su Xinyu’s confidence, Lin Ye quickly offered comfort.
However, his words not only failed to comfort her but made Su Xinyu feel even worse.
“You’re talking nonsense. Isn’t swordsmanship all the same? How can there be a difference in superiority?”
“How could it be the same? Swordsmanship, to put it plainly, is a technique, and techniques naturally have their merits and demerits. Just like with chopping, there will be different ways.” After saying that, Lin Ye’s eyes became sharp once more.
The next second, he chopped the air in front of him with the bamboo sword in his hand, right in front of Su Xinyu.
Though it was only a bamboo sword, it cut through the air with a whistling sound, clearly moving at extreme speed.
“It’s not just chopping; there’s also thrusting, slicing, lifting, lunging, and cutting—all are different.”
In front of Su Xinyu, Lin Ye completely demonstrated the basic routine of Noble Swordsmanship.
The set of sword moves flowed like water, swift yet composed, powerful yet elegant.
After demonstrating the sword moves, he retracted his stance, standing with his left hand behind his back and his right hand holding the sword in front of his chest, his breathing not disturbed in the slightest.
Su Xinyu and the members of the Swordsmanship Club, who had witnessed the entire display, were once again stunned.
Clearly, the Noble Swordsmanship Lin Ye had just demonstrated had given them quite a shock.
“Did you understand? The same sword moves have completely different effects in different people’s hands. The moves remain the same, but the sword’s momentum changes.”
“So, I had no intention of offending your Swordsmanship Club just now; I simply looked down on it a bit. I hope you can understand.”
After saying this in a gentle tone, Lin Ye tossed the bamboo sword towards the edge of the field. The bamboo sword, as if it had eyes, accurately landed in the sword basket more than ten meters away from him.
After this, he prepared to leave.
But just then, Su Xinyu’s voice rang out behind him.
“Student, please wait a moment.”
Lin Ye was about to ask her what else she needed when the system prompt suddenly sounded.
“You have deeply impressed a Knight Apprentice. She wishes to follow you and become your Knight Squire. Do you accept?”
“Hmm?” Lin Ye was surprised when he heard this prompt.
At that moment, Su Xinyu also ran up to him.
“Lin Ye, I apologize for my offense earlier. Your swordsmanship is indeed superior to mine, and it has shown me that there’s always someone better out there.”
“I want to learn your swordsmanship. Of course, I won’t learn for free; I can pay tuition.”
“Learn swordsmanship from me?” Lin Ye looked at her with a surprised expression.
“Yes!” Su Xinyu nodded firmly.
“Why?”
“I have a reason why I must learn.” Su Xinyu did not explain much.
“Then how much tuition can you pay?”
“Um… 1000.” Su Xinyu thought for a moment and replied, “I mean 1000 per lesson, and one lesson is calculated as one hour.”
“Alright! Then I’ll teach you!” Hearing 1000 per lesson, Lin Ye immediately agreed. Anyway, he was going to teach Zhou Qing; teaching one or two made no difference.
He even wondered if he should ask Zhou Qing for some tuition as well, since Zhou Qing was a killer and should have a good amount of savings.
And upon receiving his assent, Su Xinyu was also very happy.
“Thank you. Let’s exchange contact information. You can decide when and where the lessons will be.”
“No problem.”
As they spoke, the two exchanged contact information.
At the same time, the system prompt sounded once more.
“Magic Contract established. She has officially become your Knight Squire. Once she becomes a formal Knight, you can bestow upon her the title of Guardian Knight. A great Magician often has a group of powerful followers serving him. Before becoming a Supreme Magician, you can bestow titles upon a maximum of 12 Guardian Knights.”
As soon as the system finished speaking, a magic circle, invisible to ordinary people, lit up on Su Xinyu’s forehead.
Just like when Zhou Qing was recruited, she now became Lin Ye’s Knight Squire.
Seeing this, a hint of curiosity flashed in Lin Ye’s eyes.
“What exactly are these Guardian Knights for?”
“Guardian Knights will fight for you with their lives, provide you with various support and assistance, and can also activate exclusive Knight Skills.”
The system replied.
Hearing the system’s answer, Lin Ye was first stunned, then seemed to realize something.
“That’s right, the system is correct. Both Zhou Qing and Su Xinyu have their own strengths and backgrounds. One is a professional killer, and the other’s family runs a kendo dojo. They definitely have their own connections and networks. If I recruit them, their connections and networks can be used by me.”
“In the future, I can use them to earn more money. By then, perhaps I’ll be able to afford normal goods in addition to those special offers.”
“I cultivate them, and they fulfill me. It’s a win-win.”
Thinking of this, Lin Ye suddenly felt a sense of clarity.
As the only Magician in this world, his future would not be limited to this school, nor just to Black Rose Bar. He would have a much broader world!
In his excitement, he also greeted Su Xinyu and Lu Keke, and then left the gymnasium under the gaze of the Swordsmanship Club members.
By this time, it was already past five o’clock, leaving less than an hour until the final rehearsal for the Freshman Party.
So Lin Ye didn’t do anything else and went directly to the assembly point for this rehearsal: the school’s multi-functional performance hall.
When he arrived at the multi-functional performance hall, the vast hall was already packed with people.
Among them were performers like himself, staff from the student union, some members of the university art troupe, and also some students who came to watch the excitement. There were at least five or six hundred people in the hall.
Both the performers and the staff were busy at this time.
What surprised Lin Ye was that the performers present, no matter what they were performing, were almost all in full makeup and wearing their performance costumes, each dressed up colorfully and dazzlingly.
Compared to them, he was just an ordinary person.
Seeing their serious demeanor, Lin Ye quickly checked the group chat. After reading it, he realized that the previous message had specifically emphasized that all performers must wear their performance costumes, and the school would reimburse the rental fees for the costumes after the performance.
“I actually missed that part.”
Just as he was feeling embarrassed, a staff member from the cultural department, responsible for coordinating the live performers, began to call out the names of the acts one by one.
Whenever she called out an act’s name, the corresponding performers would come up to her and respond.
Before long, she called out the words “Magician’s Hand.”
Upon hearing these four words, Lin Ye quickly went up to her.