Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

The quarrel in the group of cultivators was undoubtedly just a minor incident for the two combat teams.

After all, they were top-tier battle teams capable of leaving the border to fight for the country; such petty domestic squabbles—who won, who lost, who held the primary responsibility—really couldn't arouse much interest.

After dinner, the men went out to play basketball for digestion, while Yan Yu took everyone to the basement to let Li Minghu assess the girls' proficiency in Sword Control Technique.

The test results showed that the highest level of swordsmanship was found in Lin Ning and Zhao Yuanzhen, while the other three were mediocre, each just about the same—Chen Lingyun and Su Yunjin were simply not quick enough in their reactions, and Xie Ruoxi had purely practiced too little.

However, even this was quite a bit stronger when compared to the overall grasp of Sword Control Technique among university cultivators.

"This level of skill should be sufficient for everyday use," Li Minghu said with a smile, "Two are magic cultivators, and one is an Envoy; the core of their combat style is Taoism Method and commanding spirits, not mainly focused on Sword Control Technique. Being able to defend themselves is good enough."

"The problem is even for self-defense, their current skill level is not enough," Yan Yu stated.

"Not enough?" Li Minghu asked in surprise, "Even internationally, unless they are facing powerhouses like Liu Longtao one-on-one, they generally wouldn't be at risk."

"I'm considering the situation where they have to face strong opponents head-on, they need to be able to survive reliably for a sufficient amount of time," Yan Yu replied.

Li Minghu: ......... Find more adventures on My Virtual Library Empire

"Uh." Even though her mind was filled with question marks, she still confirmed by asking, "Yan Yu, you should know that even among the current domestic battle team cultivators, most of those who specialize in Sword Control as Sword Immortals can't last more than a few minutes against Liu Longtao, right?"

"You plan to train these few members of your team, who are not Sword Immortals, to withstand the full-on attack of top Sword Immortals using Sword Control Technique?"

"That's right," Yan Yu answered unequivocally, "What do you think our chances are?"

Li Minghu: .........

No chance at all, you should find someone more capable.

Among the current four major cultivator professions, Sword Immortal is the most popular and most chosen profession, as seen with teams like Golden Wing Battle Team that have all five Sword Immortals, highlighting the desirability of this profession.

One could even exaggerate by saying that those cultivators who do not choose the Sword Immortal profession do so not because they are more suited to other professions, but because they do not meet the requirements of becoming a Sword Immortal.

Chen Lingyun and Su Yunjin both had very ordinary reaction speeds and adaptability; Xie Ruoxi's psychological quality could not withstand pressure, panicking at the first sign of danger, with nearly zero tolerance for stress.

None of these three girls had the makings of a Sword Immortal; it's like a student who gets a headache from math problems is now expected to learn science and reach a level to compete with top science students—how is that possible?

Even if you spent vast amounts of effort and time to reach that level, what good would it do? Forcing a liberal arts student to study science, or a cultivator of a different profession to specialize in Sword Control Technique—wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse, a deviation from the right path?

After all, I owe him a favor; I still need to try to inform him of this.

"Yan Yu, I think this is somewhat unrealistic," Li Minghu said in a diplomatic tone, "To achieve that level, it means you're aiming to transition them into the profession of Sword Immortals. Let alone the feasibility, even if you can afford that cost, wouldn't the time and effort be better spent on their original professional pathways?"

"Ah?" Yan Yu was taken aback for a moment, then he realized and clarified with a smile, "Li Minghu, you've misunderstood me; I'm not trying to make things unduly difficult."

"I don't intend for them to give up their main duties to become Sword Immortals. My idea is, when facing a powerhouse like Liu Longtao, they should be able to use Sword technique with their left hand for defense, to stand their ground; and with their right hand use Taoism Method or command spirits to attack, looking for opportunities to turn defeat into victory.

In other words, they need to master Sword Control well enough, and their main offensive method has to be unique and unrivaled; reaching this level is what I'm aiming for."

Li Minghu:...............

This isn't just challenging someone; this is forcing them up into the sky!

I thought you were asking an arts student to switch to the sciences, but it turns out you want her to be in the top ten for sciences and number one in the entire school for arts! Isn't that a bit... cough, cough!

Seemingly troubled by the thought, Li Minghu coughed for a moment before sighing and saying:

"Forget it, I won't worry about it too much. I'll train their swordplay to the best of my ability, but as for whether they can grow to the level you're asking for, I can't guarantee it."

"That's fine," Yan Yu nodded with a smile. "As long as you do your best..."

His words were still hanging in the air when someone tugged at his sleeve from behind.

"Captain," Lin Ningruo said nonchalantly, "I have some questions about the 'Cloud Dividing Eight Trigrams Step' that I don't understand. Could you come and teach me?"

"Vice-captain Li," Su Yunjin also called out to Li Minghu, "could I ask you a few questions about swordplay?"

"Just call me Minghu," Li Minghu quickly replied.

"Mmhmm, Minghu, come over here, I'll demonstrate for you," Su Yunjin complied amiably.

The two instructors hadn't even talked for a few minutes before they were both called away by their respective students.

"What don't you understand about the footwork?" Yan Yu asked.

"My question is, what's the point of practicing footwork?" Lin Ning asked puzzledly. "Isn't Sword Flight faster?"

"That's a good question," Yan Yu patiently answered. "Sword Flight is indeed faster than footwork, but that's assuming the space is large enough to go straight back and forth.

In smaller spaces like buildings, caves, or Mysterious Realms with flying restrictions, using Sword Flight would split your attention as you guard against bumping into things or triggering restrictions, making it less flexible and convenient than footwork."

"Besides, you currently use Sword Flight to launch assaults, and most opponents can't handle that. But if you encounter a defensively skilled enemy in the future and need to engage in close combat, footwork that allows you to dart and weave in short distances is superior to Sword Flight."

"I see," Lin Ning surreptitiously glanced towards Su Yunjin's direction, saw she had successfully entangled Li Minghu, and continued to ask, "Then, could you take a look at my footwork and see if there are any issues..."

She performed the Cloud Dividing Eight Trigrams Step in front of Yan Yu.

"No, no, no," Yan Yu immediately corrected her, "Did you just memorize that mechanically? The key to Cloud Dividing Eight Trigrams Step is to subtly align with the numerology of the I Ching's eight trigrams so the steps you take are ever-changing; if you just memorize without improvisation, you're not performing footwork, you're dancing!"

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Lin Ning promptly agreed, secretly pleased with herself.

How could I not know there's something wrong with the footwork I'm practicing? The reason I came to you for guidance is precisely because there's a problem!

If there was nothing wrong on my part and you had nothing to correct, you'd be sticking with Vice-captain Li again!

"Watch carefully, I'll go through it once more." But Yan Yu, unaware of her inner thoughts, simply demonstrated and said, "Don't remember how I move, think about why I move this way!"