This is a garden-style campus, with countless pavilions and waterside gazebos, all exuding an elegant atmosphere. Everywhere looks antique and beautiful beyond words—no wonder Sister Emily said this place is even more beautiful.

After passing through a row of pavilions, Emily Baker opened the car door and pointed into the darkness, saying, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to the Sword-Grinding Office!”

I grabbed my luggage and followed her into the darkness.

In fact, the Sword-Grinding Office was just a small wooden hut, with a faint light glowing inside.

Sister Emily stood in front of the wooden door and gently knocked with her finger, saying, “I’m Emily Baker, bringing you a new candidate here. Be a little polite.”

“……”

It was silent inside, and I looked confused.

“Go on in.” Emily Baker gave a gentle smile. “For quite a long time, this will be your home.”

With that, she lazily yawned and said, “I’ll head back to rest first.”

Before I could say anything, she had already disappeared into the darkness, moving incredibly fast!

……

“Creak…”

I pushed open the wooden door with my luggage, and under the oil lamp not far away, I saw an old man sharpening an iron sword with a grinding wheel. These iron swords were all training swords for students; many had chipped edges and needed to be repaired. I guess that’s the main job of the Sword-Grinding Office.

The old man’s face was full of wrinkles. He didn’t even look up, focusing intently on sharpening the sword, until I tossed my luggage onto the wooden bed with a thud. Only then did he finally look up at me.

“Kid, are you the candidate the vice dean recommended? What’s your name?”

“Ethan Baker.” I replied calmly.

“What Yi Xuan?”

“Bu—Ethan Baker!”

“Bu what Xuan?”

“Bu Yi—Xuan!”

“Bu Yi what?”

“Forget it, call me whatever you want.” I was about to give up; his hearing didn’t seem too good.

“Kid, my ears got deafened by thunder a couple of years ago, they don’t work too well. You’re the new one, right? Move that pile of swords over to the grinding wheel.”

“Okay, teacher.”

“Don’t call me teacher, call me instructor.” He squinted at me with a playful smile.

His smile sent a chill down my spine. “You’re the instructor? What can you teach me?”

“First lesson: how to grind a sword.”

……

I sat down, holding a grinding wheel in my arms, stepping on the pedal, and placed a dulled iron sword against the wheel. Instantly, the blade veered off under the friction.

The old man laughed. “If your mind isn’t steady, your strength won’t be steady. Do you think just anyone can do the work of the Sword-Grinding Office?”

I paused, readjusted, applied more force with my palm, steadied my left foot, shifted my weight to the left, and pressed down. This time, the blade didn’t veer, and sparks flew.

The old man shook his head and sighed, “Turns out, anyone really can do this job…”

Me: “……”

The old man stood up, picked up a hammer, and started pounding a chipped sword beside him, each strike rhythmic. As a newcomer, I actually had to grind swords here, and couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated.

“Your three meridians—heaven, earth, and man—are all swollen and red. What, someone drained your spiritual veins?” He seemed to notice something and said casually.

“Something like that.”

My voice was low. No one could remain cheerful after such a blow.

But the old man smiled. “Spiritual veins are like water, the spiritual reservoir is like a canal. Your canal is dry, but it’s still there. A heavy rain and you’ll be reborn. What’s there to be depressed about?”

Such a short sentence actually hid deep meaning. I couldn’t help but look at him in surprise. This Wanling Academy really is full of hidden talents—even the old man in the Sword-Grinding Office is so impressive!

“Don’t look at me. All these swords must be sharpened tonight and delivered to the eight training grounds by nine tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.”

I worked until late into the night before finally finishing all the dull blades. I made my bed and went to sleep. Maybe I was too tired to care if the wooden boards were hard or not—I lay down and fell fast asleep.

……

In the morning, I was startled awake by a noisy alarm clock. It was an old-fashioned one, very loud.

It was seven o’clock.

I hurriedly got up and washed. Outside the door, a woman’s voice called, “Is Ethan Baker here?”

I went out and saw a woman in uniform, about twenty-five years old, quite attractive—an eight out of ten. She was holding a stack of clothes and said, “I’m Emily Baker’s assistant, my name is Lucy Hughes. Here are two sets of clothes for you, and your work schedule for today.”

“Oh, thank you, Assistant Hughes.”

“You’re welcome. Hurry up and change. The vice dean is busy today, so I’ll show you around the academy so you don’t get lost. The old guy at the Sword-Grinding Office won’t help you get familiar with the place.”

“Okay.”