"The Seven Great Families truly live up to their reputation. The Cyan Cloud Li Family has been lying low for many years, and now they are set to amaze everyone once again."

After the battle, Wang Xiao, the head of the Sword Academy, gently stroked his beard, full of emotion.

As the head of the Sword Academy, renowned for its martial prowess among the Three Academies, Wang Xiao has witnessed firsthand the terrifying legacy of the Seven Great Families over the decades.

In the Xiangzhou Continent, no one is unfamiliar with the saying, "One Sect, Three Academies, and Seven Great Families."

The Saint Sect holds supreme status, with the Three Academies revolving around it to handle various strategic affairs of the Xiangzhou Cultivation Realm. Meanwhile, the Seven Great Families are scattered, each holding onto their primordial inheritance, with their status arranged from high to low.

However, only those involved know how fragile this pyramid structure is. Apart from the exceedingly special and superior position of the Saint Sect, the foundation of the Three Academies is far less solid than that of the Seven Great Families.

Both the Three Academies and the Saint Sect lack the ability to self-generate talent. Most of the promising newcomers they recruit come from the Seven Great Families and their allies or subordinate sects. Within these sects, the proportion of noble family offspring increases with the higher levels of hierarchy. For instance, almost the entire current leadership of Cyan Lotus Academy comes from the Seven Great Families, and most of the Sword Venerables at the Sword Academy also hail from these families.

If not for the supreme Saint Sect balancing things out, the Xiangzhou Continent would undoubtedly be dominated by the Seven Great Families.

In response, the Three Academies have attempted to achieve balance, for instance, by lowering admission standards: as long as someone exhibits good cultivation potential, they can be recruited even if other qualities are mediocre, in an attempt to counteract the noble family advantage... Yet, in reality, even when competing solely on innate talent, noble family offspring still hold a massive advantage.

With excellent bloodlines and exceptional prenatal education, noble family offspring practically have an insurmountable edge from birth. The legacy from the Primordial Era ensures that nearly every generation of the Seven Great Families produces geniuses that leave mortals in awe.

If we were to quantify a cultivator’s aptitude, with a full score of 100, talents scoring above 80 could be considered the backbone of many sects. Such talents are rare and valuable to the Seven Great Families, and even more so to the mortal world... However, given the vast population of the mortal world, selecting one out of ten thousand can still yield thousands of talents scoring above 80.

If the admission standard of the Saint Sect and the Three Academies were merely 80, the Seven Great Families wouldn’t have any advantage, because there are so many individuals in the mortal world meeting that score. Yet, precisely because of the vast total number, the Saint Sect and the Three Academies are compelled to further raise their selection criteria to 90 or even 95. At this high threshold, the numerical advantage of the mortal world nearly vanishes.

Lu Qun’s talent in the Sword Dao, in Wang Xiao’s eyes, is already exceedingly rare, scoring at least 90. However, during the previous battle, Shen Qingming’s physical qualities, mental endurance, and True Essence intensity were all impressive... Considering that she hadn’t even broken through the Wind Barrier at the beginning of last year, her cultivation potential might reach 95 or higher. This is the same potential value that her biological father, Li Fengyun, had at his peak, a level of extraordinary genius that the mortal world might not see even in a century.

Yet, the Cyan Cloud Li Family, during a period of declining family fortune, gave rise to two such geniuses in fifty years.

It’s a pity that such a genius was not discovered by the Wuxiang Sword Academy in time... If it had been known earlier that Shen Qingming possessed such talent, when she was still an unknown in Shen Garden, the Wuxiang Sword Academy would have already sent an envoy to extend an invitation—Wuxiang Sword Academy is quite experienced in recruiting newcomers and knows how to attract those who have yet to rise, whether they are aloof and cold Ice Princes, warm and friendly neighborly brothers, or even adorable feminine boys masquerading as girls. The talent reserve of the Sword Academy is very strong, which is also a key reason for their significant advantage in the junior group competitions.

Even a little later, before Shen Qingming won the Qingyun Grand Competition championship and gained fame, an invitation from Wuxiang Sword Academy would have been incredibly valuable.

Unfortunately, it was ultimately too late. After Shen Qingming completely reconciled with her family, she became a family treasure that the Cyan Cloud Li Family could never let go of. Moreover, Shen Qingming has always followed a private tutelage path and is not accustomed to systemic training.

At this thought, Wang Xiao couldn’t help but feel a regret as if wanting to pound his chest. If he could have recruited such a gem like Shen Qingming into the academy, Wuxiang Sword Academy would have gained a stabilizing pillar for the next fifty years. Especially since it’s said that although Shen Qingming is powerful and has incredible potential, she lacks in intelligence, being slightly mentally deficient, which only makes Wang Xiao all the more eager for her talent.

A girl with this level of intellectual deficiency is perfect to convince into becoming a mainstay of the sect. A little sweet-talk would ensure absolute diligence and loyalty, and with some luck, she might even succeed him as the head of Wuxiang Sword Academy, allowing him to quickly retire from his mentally exhausting position.

Alas, all of this is now but a dream-like illusion.

With endless regret, Wang Xiao withdrew his gaze, full of longing, from Shen Qingming, turning his attention back to the arena.

"Next, according to the rules, is the high-level group’s battle. Our representative..." Wang Xiao shook his head with a sigh, "is our academy’s new Celestial Deformed Sword, Xiao Bai."

After speaking, Wang Xiao added, "Due to the last-minute change in our roster, to ensure fairness, your academy can also change your combatant..."

Before the words were out, an angry and astonished voice rang out: "Senior brother, what do you mean!? I worked so hard to become the Celestial Deformed Sword, and you’re about to ruin my plan in the blink of an eye!? You can’t strip me of my chance just because you’ve been single for so long, right?! Wait, could it be... you’re secretly in love with me?!"

Wang Xiao, originally extremely well-mannered, was also furious upon hearing this: "Xiao Bai, what nonsense are you spouting in front of so many people?!"

Xiao Bai said: "Hmph, I’m not changing people anyway, he agreed to fight me, what opinions do you have? Stop making decisions for others without consent!"

Wang Xiao had a splitting headache, looking at Wang Jiu, thinking to himself, we’re both heads of the Three Academies and from the Wang Family, can’t we have some tacit understanding? Help me hold back this middle-aged woman who refuses to calm down? At most, I’ll give up these 20 points willingly.

And Wang Jiu, having lived in Xiangzhou for so long, had greatly improved his ability to read the room. After listening to the conversation between the senior brother and sister of the Sword Academy, and seeing Wang Xiao’s secret glance, he thought for a moment and very tactfully said: "Headmaster Wang Xiao’s tenderness for his junior sister deeply moves me, so I have decided to change the participants, in order to avoid an unsightly result in this duel."

Wang Xiao was about to collapse on the spot, wondering if this guy was specially hired by his junior sister to mess with him. How on earth did he manage to interpret his sincere look into something so twisted?! Like hell he cares about this Xiao Bai, who gives him a headache 360 days a year!

But given the situation, Wang Xiao had no choice but to say: "Alright, the joke ends here. There are many people watching the battle here, so let’s not waste time. Next, please allow us to witness the skill of the new head of the academy."

After speaking, Wang Xiao stepped aside, clearing the path to the center of the arena. As Wang Jiu was about to step forward, Xiao Bai giggled and approached, tiptoeing to lean over, almost touching Wang Jiu’s Sword Spirit Illusion Technique with her nose.

But Wang Jiu observed clearly that the other party gauged her limits perfectly, not advancing a further inch, so he didn’t change his posture and instead awaited her next move.

"You’re quite interesting, even this close I can’t see through you. Are you real?" As she spoke, Xiao Bai reached out trying to poke Wang Jiu’s cheek.

Wang Jiu didn’t move, because Xiao Bai’s hand withdrew before even fully extending.

"Forget it, I suppose even if I touched, I wouldn’t find anything real. As I said, how could such a handsome man really exist," Xiao Bai sighed, withdrawing her hand but then raised her eyebrows, saying with great interest, "But, the person capable of creating such a perfect man is more intriguing to me. What kind of person are you? Are you really just the new headmaster of Cyan Lotus Academy?"

This barrage of questions indeed made Wang Jiu look at her with new respect.

Nowadays, not many people could see through his Illusion Sword Technique; after several upgrades in the Sword World, the current Illusion Sword Technique was far beyond what it was in the Cyan Cloud days, when its illusion suffered deformation due to poor coating technology. It simulated visuals, smells, and even the touch indistinguishable from a real person, enough to counter almost all Immortal Techniques’ detections on Xiangzhou Continent. In a way, Wang Jiu already had his own flesh body, albeit its form of existence was somewhat unconventional.

However, Xiao Bai alone noticed something amiss, her perceptiveness was truly rare.

After posing a series of questions, Xiao Bai did not wait for Wang Jiu to respond, instead springing directly to the arena’s center, extending her hands to reveal a thick ancient tome. As the pages unfurled, countless fierce Sword Qi spread from within.

Upon seeing this tome, Wang Xiao couldn’t help but sigh: "Junior sister’s Lifeless Sword Manual has taken yet another step up."

Beside him, Wang Zhao also shook his head, saying: "A prodigious talent, but alas, eschewing the proper path."

No cultivator at Wuxiang Sword Academy would fail to recognize that thick and unadorned ancient tome.

The Lifeless Sword Manual contained the entirety of Xiao Bai’s life’s memories and understanding of the Sword Dao, and being a prodigy, she could remember the essence of any Swordsmanship at just one glance. Thus, this Lifeless Sword Manual was an all-encompassing, mystical work; simply by opening the pages one would be dazzled by Xiao Bai’s Sword Dao world.

This precious item was rarely brought out by Xiao Bai in front of outsiders, even when sparring with Brother Wang Zhao, who was stronger than her, it was seldom used... but given her enthusiasm now, briskly flipping through the manual, she clearly intended to give it her all.

"I truly can’t wait to see your Swordsmanship. Please, broaden my horizons."