June 6, 2018

At the No. 3 Arena of Wuxiang Sword Academy, a sword tournament that should have been full of passion and excitement has fallen into a long stalemate.

Inside the arena, a ferocious beast standing seventeen meters tall was still recklessly unleashing terrifying waves not of this world, causing some young spectators to flee in panic, and giving the Sword Academy’s principal a headache.

"Principal Wang Jiu, I admit that we at the Sword Academy prioritize practice and can’t compare to you Academicians in terms of theory, so I don’t want to debate with you, but to make me acknowledge this big guy as human is simply too farfetched."

Wang Jiu nodded: "I can understand Principal Wang Xiao’s predicament; this situation was within my expectations."

As he spoke, Wang Jiu felt somewhat pleased with himself.

If it were a year ago, he would have found Wang Xiao’s stubbornness incomprehensible. But after spending time with Shen Qingming, he had grown accustomed to the irrationality of humans.

The intelligence of most humans is very limited, not as affable as the Jiu Immortal Venerables back then. Moreover, when seriously summarized, human irrationality actually has traces to follow. Although they are unreasonable, they at least understand to follow instinct, so if you figure out human behavioral instincts, you can grasp their behavioral patterns. With the high intellect of the Celestial Divine Sword, after a year of observation and practice, the patterns of human behavior have been roughly understood.

For instance, the response of this Wuxiang Sword Academy principal was entirely within Wang Jiu’s expectations, and every question he might pose had pre-prepared plans, making it very simple to deal with.

"Humans judging by appearance is a natural instinct, like seeing delicious food that triggers appetite or a beautiful person that triggers desire. And what we need to do is control our instincts in the right way, such as..."

With that, Wang Jiu handed over a pair of glasses. Wang Xiao hesitantly took them and put them on, instantly the scene before him changed. The previously ferocious seventeen-meter-tall beast transformed into a proportionally scaled-up beautiful girl with long hair and long legs, dressed in a stylish and sexy pink short skirt. As she swayed, her figure was faintly visible under the skirt, and the visual information that could have directly polluted the brain was directly turned into a visual delight.

The enormous contrast almost made Wang Xiao spit blood.

"So, how is it? Is it pleasing to the eyes? It’s a new design from the Illusion Group at the Academy, capable of automatically beautifying the targeted object according to the user’s aesthetics, transforming it into the ideal appearance you wish to see. Principal Wang Xiao, what are you seeing now?"

"Wha-what? Is this adjusted according to the user?" Wang Xiao was practically terrified, looking at the seventeen-meter-tall, baby-faced, well-endowed girl with long legs in his view, incredulous that such an image could be projected based on his preferences! As a dignified Sword Academy principal, having worked diligently for decades, how could his aesthetic have degraded to this? His favorite image of a woman was obviously those cultured, slender, and genteel ladies!

Wang Jiu said, "Of course it needs to be adjusted to the user. The aesthetic differences among different individuals in humanity are vast, and they might even have different style preferences for the same object of affection. So, naturally, we have to tailor it to each person."

"I see, what a remarkable design..." Wang Xiao said grudgingly as he took off the glasses, feeling that the indescribable exotic beast was somehow easier to accept than the short-skirted beauty from before.

"It’s great that Principal Wang Xiao could recognize it. After comprehensive testing, we plan to introduce this tool to major cities in Xiangzhou, believing it can effectively enhance social stability, especially in mediating family conflicts. By wearing these glasses, one can transform an unappealing partner into a new flame’s appearance. Thus, they can enjoy the thrill of an affair in their subjective perception without destroying the marriage, a true win-win tool."

Wang Xiao was already numbed by what he heard, shaking his head repeatedly, "It is indeed a good tool, but wearing these glasses and treating a monster as human is blatant self-deception!"

Wang Jiu said, "Humans naturally enjoy self-deception. Take looking in the mirror, for example. People often see a self more attractive than their reality, because subconsciously they use mental embellishments to beautify themselves, yet everyone is accustomed to it. In other words, humanity is a species that engages in daily self-deception. Likewise, even though I’ve proven Zhang Lan’s human attributes, Principal Wang Xiao couldn’t accept it due to the vast visual differences, which is also a form of self-deception. Now, I aim to correct your cognitive bias through this tool."

"..." Hearing this, Wang Xiao was speechless for a long time, "Alright, even if what you say makes sense, that monster indeed has human attributes, and the other conditions also meet the competition rules. I also admit that Wuxiang Sword Academy indeed can’t come up with a strong contender against Zhang Lan now. That mon—uh—Zhang Lan’s actual combat power is at least at the Mountain-Overturning Realm, right?"

Wang Jiu nodded, "It’s roughly equivalent to the entry level of your academy’s Mountain-Overturning Realm."

"A Mountain-Overturning Realm rushed into the mixed group, it’s no surprise we lost." Wang Xiao shook his head, "But Dean Wang Jiu, don’t you think your victory was unmerited? Our academies were competing in swordsmanship, not bio-modification techniques."

Wang Jiu said, "These two are not contradictory. Although your academy is named Sword Academy, besides swordsmanship cultivation, the sword cultivators who value actual combat are all proficient in body refining techniques. Bio-modification is merely one form of body refining, intended to better utilize swordsmanship. After bio-modification, Zhang Lan’s Flying Dragon Waterfall is more than ten times stronger than when he was alive. In a certain sense, this bio-modification is exactly like your academy’s Mad Sword Cultivator program."

"How can you equate them? The Mad Sword Cultivator program uses a meticulous training scheme to stimulate the sword cultivators’ potential in all aspects, allowing them to gain formidable combat abilities in a short period. It’s entirely different from your reliance on external forces, which is nothing but heresy!"

Wang Jiu was instantly surprised, "Is relying on external forces heretical? In that case, the apprenticeship system in the Xiangzhou Cultivation Realm would be completely heretical, and even human civilization itself is heretical. The reason humanity has developed from primitive times to today is exactly because of relying on the external powers of predecessors. If it were solely based on individual knowledge accumulation, humanity would still live in caves."

"That’s sophistry! Formal apprenticeship education is not the same as bio-modification surgery!"

Wang Jiu said, "How is it different? The apprenticeship education system of Wuxiang Sword Academy is merely providing sword cultivators with optimized Immortal Dao techniques and suitable cultivation elixir, while the Academy’s All Things Group is providing Zhang Lan with optimized biological functions and specially prepared liquids to maintain bodily operation. How are these two different? If we speak from the angle of ’stimulating one’s potential’, all modifications we make in the All Things Group are built on the foundation of stimulating Zhang Lan’s physical potential. This massive entity today is entirely derived from that eternally preserved corpse."

Wang Xiao was speechless for a long while, struggling to respond: "But the Mad Sword Cultivator program in my academy at least requires participants to put in enough effort..."

Wang Jiu said, "Is participant’s effort a necessity? Is success without effort not worthy of being called success? Can rote learning not be called education? Is Dean Wang Xiao’s definition of education too narrow? Besides, Zhang Lan likewise put in enough effort for his current achievements. Initially, when I dug up his corpse, the physical vitality was close to zero; it was only after multiple stimulations that the physical vitality was revived. And during this process, the tenacious life force exhibited by his corpse—was that not a form of effort?"

"But he’s already dead! Right now he’s just turned into a flesh puppet by you, nothing to do with effort!"

Wang Jiu countered, "So-called effort is no more than two points: first, acting based on one’s subjective will, and second, putting in enough labor to achieve an objective. Zhang Lan fulfills both points. First, cooperating with the bio-modification of the All Things Group was his dying wish, so this can completely be attributed to his subjective will. Secondly, during the experiments, after his body revived, he conducted substantial devouring and immune work, all of which were autonomously carried out by his body and can undoubtedly be counted as his own labor. So I believe Zhang Lan’s effort is undeniable."

"...But he’s a dead man!"

Wang Jiu said, "Why can’t a dead man make an effort? Moreover, the rules of the Sword Fighting Tournament don’t prohibit dead people from participating. I believe Dean Wang Xiao really has no reason to be fixated on Zhang Lan’s life or death. What’s more, the modifications we made to Zhang Lan can also be applied to the living."

At this point, Wang Xiao was truly at a loss for words.

Emotionally, he still couldn’t accept that a modified corpse monster had defeated Wuxiang Sword Academy’s Mad Sword Cultivator, but rationally, he had to admit that the opponent’s technique was truly formidable.

Even if it was taking shortcuts, even if it was heretical... to be able to revive the corporeal vitality of a corpse that’s been dead for a hundred years, that’s already quite astonishing, and then to fuse the strengths of thousands of species onto this body, finally presenting an indescribable and horrifying form, the technical content of this has already exceeded Wang Xiao’s imagination.

Objectively speaking, if the bio-modification technology of the Academy could conveniently and rapidly produce Mountain-Overturning Realm cultivators, who would still be willing to arduously practice swordsmanship? Humans are efficient creatures, and the so-called hard work, perseverance, and other excellent qualities are merely helpless actions when no better opportunities are available.

If one can capitalize on every detail, they will never toil in vain; this is both a flaw in human nature and the driving force for the progress of human civilization.

Thinking to this point, Wang Xiao even felt somewhat disheartened and was about to concede defeat, but just then, someone vigorously clapped him on the shoulder.

"Senior brother, think clearly, the outcome of this Sword Fighting isn’t just about a budget matter of hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones!"