Looking at the handwriting "1875-1910," Wang Zhao felt waves surging in his heart.

Someone who had died young 108 years ago was going to participate as a contestant for the mixed group today?

What kind of approach is this?

Long before Wang Zhao broke through the Wind Barrier, when he was still a young child, he had learned a basic truth in his family’s elementary school class.

Once a person dies, they cannot return to life. This is a decree of the Heavenly Dao, unchangeable. It’s the highest-ranked decree among several Heavenly Dao decrees.

The subsequent decrees are: there is no immortality in the world, the Immortal Dao has no end, and couch potatoes are destined to be single.

And now, Wang Jiu’s entrant list was blatantly breaking the decrees of the Heavenly Dao!

"Impossible, once a person dies, they cannot return to life; this is an unbreakable decree!"

"Senior brother, you are really stubborn." Beside him, Xiao Bai shook his head helplessly, "Even if the Heavenly Dao decree cannot be broken, and the dead cannot return to life, there are still ways to turn a dead person into a living dead."

"Living dead? What kind of nonsense is that?"

Xiao Bai said, "For example, the most classic one: Summoning of Heroic Spirits."

"...Have you read too many novels?"

"It’s clearly you who don’t read enough books, you idiot! Can’t you have a little culture? Haven’t you heard of such a trendy thing like the Summoning of Heroic Spirits? Surely, you’ve at least heard of the Summoning God Skill and Divine Strike Technique, right?"

Wang Zhao’s expression became stern, a bit startled.

According to legend, those heroes who established great feats on the Xiangzhou Continent and were celebrated in life would become transcendental existences after death, akin to deities, responding to human calls to descend and relieve human suffering.

However, this is merely legend, and the sources are often some obscure rural families, or simply tricks by mortal world swindlers to fool the gullible. The academic community currently generally deems this phenomenon of divine descent unreliable, likely hearsay.

"It is the so-called common view of the academic community that is wishful thinking and hearsay. Summoning and divine descent aren’t particularly difficult technologies for us cultivators. As early as three hundred years ago, cultivators could leave behind a wisp of Primordial Spirit before death, remaining for a long time. If a later person were to fuse with this remnant soul and inherit the predecessor’s legacy, wouldn’t it be an outright divine descent? The so-called Summoning of Heroic Spirits is merely the further development and systematization of this technique."

"...How would you systematize this?"

Xiao Bai said enthusiastically, "First, based on the characteristics of the deceased, we categorize them into seven classes, with swords..."

Before he could finish speaking, his shoulder was already pressed down forcefully by Wang Xiao: "That’s enough, don’t say any more!"

Xiao Bai had no choice but to shrug with regret, pouting, "In short, I think there’s a high possibility of heroic spirits descending this time. Wang Jiu wouldn’t confidently send someone out to fight just to forfeit. I suggest you quickly study Zhang Lan and see what abilities he had in life."

Wang Zhao held the roster in his hands, furrowing his brows. Although he still found the whole heroic spirit descent theory incredible, he had to consider the possibility of it.

If Zhang Lan’s heroic spirit descends, how much of his life’s power will he retain? Or perhaps, will he be stronger than in life?

"Junior brother, do you know Zhang Lan?"

Wang Xiao nodded, "I’ve heard a little about him. He was a prominent figure a century ago. I just looked through some documents; you should take a look too."

According to the internal records of the Sword Academy, Zhang Lan, born in 1875, was a genius Sword Cultivator who once shook the Three Academies. He had an innate talent for the Sword Dao, without the pretensions of the Academy’s scholars. His self-created Flying Dragon Waterfall even earned praise from the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect, and for a time, the people at the Academy saw him as a hope for the Academy to surpass the Sword Academy.

However, heaven is jealous of geniuses, and when he was 35, an accidental event during a closed-door cultivation led to his unfortunate demise, dashing the Academy’s hopes of surpassing the Sword Academy.

But before his unfortunate death, the Sword Academy truly felt threatened by Zhang Lan. Those years saw a significantly different intensity in the education of young Sword Cultivators. The harsh educational model caused many internal conflicts, with sword cultivators openly expressing their anger and dissatisfaction in various ways.

Including posting nude portraits of the dean on either side of the Sword Academy’s entrance corridor, spreading rumors of impure physical relationships between the dean and the vice-dean, and relieving themselves anywhere and everywhere.

After Zhang Lan’s unfortunate demise, the Sword Academy felt some regret but also breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Lan has been dead for over a century, and now there are few who remember anything about him. However, the relevant records have always been preserved in the library of the Sword Academy. Wang Xiao searched through the records, suddenly finding them gripping.

Wang Zhao gasped, "Did the academy really have such a promising talent back then?! What was our admissions director doing?! This is dereliction of duty, isn’t it?!"

Wang Xiao had a grave expression, "At that time, Elder Ning was fully recruiting our master..."

Wang Zhao immediately closed his mouth.

Wang Xiao continued, "There’s no need to scare ourselves like this. Objectively speaking, when Zhang Lan passed away, he had been cultivating for less than thirty years, and his True Essence Realm was only at the Rain Cover Realm, making him a youthful prodigy, but not yet a truly mature and powerful sword cultivator. Moreover, no matter how formidable he was back then, he was a character from over a hundred years ago. Even if he were to miraculously return, his swordsmanship would already be outdated, and it would take at least several years or even over a decade to make up for the century of gap, so he’s actually nothing to worry about."

After a pause, Wang Xiao said seriously, "What’s more, compared to such unparalleled genius sword cultivators, the mad sword cultivators trained by the Sword Academy in recent years have a clear advantage in practical combat abilities, so there’s no need to fear the revival of just one genius."

Wang Zhao nodded immediately, "Junior Brother is right, the Mad Sword Cultivator strategy is a grand strategy that the Sword Academy has been planning and setting up for over two hundred years, it can’t possibly lose to a spontaneous summoning of heroic spirits... If we really lose, we can only blame ourselves for not being as skilled as others."

The brothers encouraged each other, and finally, the mixed group competition began.

First to enter were the Mad Sword Cultivator team from the Sword Academy.

Five male cultivators, almost identical in appearance, stepped into the arena under countless watching eyes.

These cultivators looked only eighteen or nineteen years old, and both their figures and appearances were much more immature than their real age... Yet on their youthful faces, there was a mature coldness forged by experience. The five mad sword cultivators seemed to be wearing identical human masks, quietly standing in the field, allowing people to watch.

Outside the arena, observers from other sects watched these young cultivators meticulously crafted by the Wuxiang Sword Academy with interest. Although their current cultivation is limited by their age and is of little concern, in decades, these individuals will undoubtedly step onto the historical stage of Xiangzhou. And today’s Sword Fighting Tournament should also be considered a carefully arranged debut ceremony by Wuxiang Sword Academy.

The only flaw was that the two preliminary matches ended in unexpected defeats for Wuxiang Sword Academy, adding a blemish to what should have been a perfect debut ceremony. But conversely, this also increased the suspense, further emphasizing the value of the mad sword cultivators.

Otherwise, given the academy’s consistent performance against the Sword Academy, there would be no need for the Sword Academy to go to great lengths to send out mad sword cultivators to face them; they could simply pick a few eligible sword cultivators to easily crush the academy’s cultivators.

However, this time at the Sword Fighting Tournament, Cyan Lotus Academy is evidently different from the decline seen during the tenure of the Sang Sisters as deans. Although there seems to be an element of trickery in both the junior and advanced group battles, victory is victory. If tricks could secure victory, Cyan Lotus Academy wouldn’t have suffered defeat after defeat over the past years.

And in the mixed group battle, which in theory is the hardest to manipulate and best reflects the training ability of practical cultivators from both academies. If Wuxiang Sword Academy could achieve a sweeping victory in this battle, Cyan Lotus Academy’s previous victories would immediately lose their luster.

After confirming that the mad sword cultivators in the field were ready for battle, Wang Xiao asked, "Next, may the academy’s contestant Zhang Lan enter the arena."

Wang Jiu nodded and said, "Please wait a moment, moving will take some time."

"...Moving? Moving what, equipment?"

Wang Xiao immediately furrowed his brow. Equipment that requires significant effort to move? Could Cyan Lotus Academy be planning to create a colossal puppet like a Five Elements Elemental Beast and then forcefully claim it as contestant equipment? In a gamble between the two academies over a hundred years ago, Cyan Lotus Academy used this trick to severely blindside Wuxiang Sword Academy once.

However, since then, whenever the two academies scheduled a sword fighting event, they would explicitly stipulate that both sides’ contestant equipment must meet regulations, and those magical treasures and items more powerful than the contestants themselves were strictly prohibited.

Wang Xiao truly didn’t believe that the new Dean of Cyan Lotus would make such a basic mistake in the rules, so what exactly were they planning to transport over?

A moment later, a huge, square iron box was seen flying from a distance. Four corners of the iron box were pulled by four beams of light, gently flying over.

Wang Xiao glanced at it and recognized it as the civilian portable cargo magical treasure "Shunguang 3" recently designed and manufactured by Cyan Lotus Academy’s Celestial Craft Group. Each beam can carry twenty tons, flying at a maximum speed of three hundred kilometers per hour for over ten days. And most importantly, Shunguang 3 can self-absorb Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind and the essence of sun and moon, without needing energy infusions like spirit stones to continue operating, making it one of the civilian divine artifacts prepared by the Celestial Craft Group to compete with the Celestial Craft Institute.

Of course, as the dean of the Sword Academy, Wang Xiao never paid much attention to this type of mortal-oriented civilian magical treasure, but watching the four beams barely lifting the iron box at this moment, he couldn’t help feeling a twinge of apprehension.

What exactly is this magical treasure!?

A moment later, the massive iron box thudded to the ground. Its nearly hundred-ton weight caused the arena floor to ripple like water.

Wang Jiu said, "Alright, our contestant has finally arrived."

Wang Xiao was stunned for a long time before glaring with wide eyes, incredulously asking, "Contestant? Do you mean to say inside that box is..."

"Yes, inside the box is Zhang Lan, our academy’s participant in the mixed group sword fighting. Now, may the friends of Sword Academy start the match."

As the words fell, the iron box shattered open, and a sinister giant beast like a small mountain roared and charged out!