Volume 2, Chapter 58 – Sudden Release

After grilling Xu Xi in detail, Bai Xiang finally figured out what those two rankings were about.

Put simply, the Nine Daos each had a top academy they were stationed in. The students of those nine elite schools had nothing better to do, so they started this online comparison game among themselves.

The Yao Xiang List took its name from “graceful and fragrant.” It ranked those junior and senior sisters with delicate figures and sweet looks.

The Jinxiu List didn’t care about gender. It was purely a strength ranking for the younger generation in the Nine Daos academies.

Each list had one hundred slots. The criteria had both an upper and lower limit: upper was “graduated,” lower was “admitted.” But depending on personal circumstances, those limits sometimes shifted.

Under normal circumstances, if a student hadn’t even started university, they weren’t eligible to be evaluated for the Jinxiu List at all.

But if that student was exceptionally outstanding—so outstanding they’d already surpassed quite a few sword-track students on the list, and everyone knew they were guaranteed a spot in one of the nine academies—then the Jinxiu List could make an exception and include them early.

Bai Xiang was one of those cases. At the “tender age” of seventeen, she’d been entered onto the Jinxiu List at rank ninety-seven. Including her, every student on the list was in Condensing the Aspect.

That many?

At first she was a bit surprised, but Bai Xiang quickly put it together.

These people were probably exactly the “elite students who didn’t take up Big Exam slots” that Zhang Longze and Principal Zhang of No. 1 High had mentioned before.

Most of these students came from wealthy families. From childhood they’d enjoyed complete instruction and medicinal diets, so their foundations were solid to an absurd degree. If their talent was even a bit above average, it was easy for them to stand out from the crowd. Putting them into the Big Exam pool would just be bullying.

And then there was the “age gap” factor.

Normally, a sword-track student started university life at eighteen, with four years available to push their realm higher.

Four years meant the upper age limit on the Jinxiu List could go up to twenty-two. If someone enrolled late, it might even reach twenty-three or twenty-four.

You couldn’t underestimate those few years of difference. The decade before thirty was the golden period for a swordsman’s growth in strength. A single year’s age gap could mean a world of difference.

And this was the collective roster of geniuses from the Nine Daos academies of Great Yu. If those most elite, top-tier fourth-years—already twenty-two to twenty-four—still couldn’t even step over the Condensing the Aspect threshold before graduating, then this ranking would be a complete joke.

So it wasn’t surprising there were so many Condensing the Aspect cultivators.

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What was surprising, at least in the eyes of “Nine Academies” students, was that she, Bai Xiang, was already ranked ninety-seventh on the Jinxiu List at seventeen. That was what really made people change color.

“Xiang-nü is the third person from Qizhou on the list right now,” Xu Xi said with a laugh. “You’ve done our province proud!”

Only the third?

Bai Xiang almost thought she’d misheard.

Nine academies sharing a hundred spots—even if Qizhou University was weak, it shouldn’t be scraping by with just this few, right?

When she asked, Xu Xi’s tone was full of dissatisfaction.

“Ah… there are just too many factors if you take it seriously.”

“For example, the hard metric for the Jinxiu List is strength. And strength isn’t something you can just compare directly. Their method is to look at the results of every year’s exchange meets between academies, and all the public tournaments in society, then base the rankings on those.”

“But what if someone doesn’t compete for a whole year?” Xu Xi said, audibly shrugging on the other end. “Then they can’t tell where his level is… so they can only temporarily push him down and let the ones who do have competition records, whose reevaluated strength looks higher, move above him.”

Then this ranking isn’t accurate.

Bai Xiang immediately caught the key point.

No wonder… Qizhou University’s status as one of the Nine Academies came from relying on Benling Sword Dao, and Benling’s predecessor was the ancient Fuhu Temple. Their history as “monastics” must’ve influenced their decisions.

“Your school often can’t be bothered to send people to competitions for long stretches, right?”

“Exactly!” Xu Xi nodded vigorously. “That’s exactly what happens! The only competition our teachers care about is the annual ‘Nine Academies Sword Meet.’ They’re not interested in the others at all and just don’t want to send people.”

Then it really isn’t accurate.

Bai Xiang more or less had the measure of it.

She figured if she stayed out of the public eye and didn’t make a move for a while, she’d probably get knocked off the list soon enough.

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As expected, this kind of unofficial ranking was just the students messing around.

“Xiang-nü only asked about the Jinxiu List ?” Xu Xi’s voice carried a hint of mischief. “Aren’t you curious what your rank is on the Yao Xiang List ?”

That was clearly the one she cared more about. And it made sense—in comparison to the frenzied competition around the Jinxiu List , the Yao Xiang List was much more stable, and only underwent big changes during graduation season each year.

“Not interested.”

Bai Xiang truly wasn’t. After answering, she smoothly shifted the topic. “Do you have any other rankings? Like for medicinal and poisonous herbs, or demons and Demon Pools?”

In Great Yu, knowledge was extremely valuable.

You could already tell from the restricted maps and network filtering—the dynasty was still tightly controlling the flow of information between the upper and lower levels.

If Bai Xiang hadn’t joined the Inspectorate and gradually unlocked access to the Nine Provinces Demon Atlas through accumulated commission points, she probably would’ve had to wrestle with those small Demon Pools a lot more in everyday work.

But if a given Demon Pool was already recorded in the Nine Provinces Demon Atlas and its traits and weaknesses were clearly documented, she wouldn’t need to waste that time. Her commission efficiency could multiply.

Naturally, Bai Xiang wanted that efficiency as high as possible. But her points couldn’t be raised quickly, and unlocking the Nine Provinces Demon Atlas progressed too slowly, so she was trying to find another angle.

Maybe these “idle and bored” university students could surprise her.

“No.”

When it came to this, Xu Xi’s tone grew serious.

“There’s no way. Privately compiling that kind of thing and making it public would be illegal.”

“But you can work around it,” she added, changing tack. “You can’t have a ranking, but you can post bounties on the campus forum.”

After getting the details from her, Bai Xiang finally understood how the system worked.

Put simply—Qizhou University’s campus intranet forum had an “Anonymous Reward & Answer Section” that only senior students with certain permissions could access.

Once inside, you’d be given a random anonymous identity. Using that identity, you could post questions and answer others.

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Posting a question required putting up a reward, paid in credits. The credits were deducted from the total you currently held, with a maximum of five and a minimum of one per question.

There was no limit to how many people could answer a given question, and after the reward was distributed, the question would be deleted.

Then this system is useless to me.

After listening, Bai Xiang felt a little disappointed.

“If Xiang-nü wants to study things like that, why ask me?” Xu Xi sounded oddly mysterious.

“In the photos on the forum… that palace-dress woman who got off the plane with you should be Dao Lord Xiang of Yuming Sword Dao, right?”

“Yes.” Bai Xiang nodded, acknowledging it.

“Then…”

Xu Xi originally wanted to ask whether Bai Xiang had already become Xiang Xian’s disciple, but thought better of it and changed her wording. “If Xiang-nü is close with Dao Lord Xiang, you can just ask her directly, can’t you?”

“After all, she is Dao Lord Xiang.”

“They say Yuming Sword Dao has three thousand clever arts and five thousand subtle methods.”

“You do know the Nine Provinces Demon Atlas and the Heavenly Healer’s Treasure Canon were compiled with Dao Lord Xiang’s help, right?”

“Neither of those books is publicly available.”

“But their names—many sword-track students, myself included, have heard of them.”

Is that so…

There was a sound of a door opening behind her. Phone in hand, Bai Xiang turned to look and saw Xiang Xian wrapped in a bath towel, bare shoulders and long legs exposed, humming a tune as she towel-dried her hair. Halfway through, she lifted her head and met Bai Xiang’s eyes.

“Xiang’er?”

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Xiang Xian gave her a bright, slightly goofy smile.

“Got a friend coming to hang out?”

“…Yes.”

“Then you should bathe first,” Xiang Xian said sternly, raising one finger.

“Body odor is a woman’s greatest enemy.”

“You can’t let people see your worst side, okay?”

Her tone and expression were oddly off. Hearing this, Bai Xiang’s brows drew together sharply. She hung up on Xu Xi before speaking. “And if they do see it… so what?”

“If I can’t even pursue my own comfort in training the sword, and still have to care about what others think, then what’s the point of my sword practice?”

She’d only tossed it out as a casual rebuttal, but she never expected Xiang Xian to freeze on the spot.

“Master?”

Bai Xiang was puzzled.

Wasn’t that a bit of an overreaction?

“…You’re right.”

Xiang Xian came back to herself, but the smile at the corner of her mouth only grew wider.

“Xiang’er.”

“Mm?”

“Compared to certain people, you’re so adorable it’s impossible to get enough of you.”