Once Upon A Time, There Was A Spirit Sword Mountain
chapter-17

The Importance of Compulsory Education

The mysterious figure had disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared . The onlookers had only caught a glimpse of the figure before in the next moment, all there was to see was a group of Young Masters collapsed on the ground .

Having all been beaten half to death, the Young Masters all realised what Wang Lu had been plotting .

Indeed, there was still one person out of the one hundred and twenty villagers that had been obviously forgotten!

The mysterious black shadow, the Garden of Peaches’ Protector: ‘Adada’!

Whether it was a he or she, ‘Adada’ was indeed a mysterious figure . Whenever one tried to ask the villagers about this mysterious protector, the villagers would always respond with something along the lines of, “What sort of stupid joke is this”, and refuse to discuss the matter . To date, this ‘Adada’ had appeared quite a lot, each time appearing just as violence was about to ensue (although verbal abuse was seemingly tolerated, much to Wang Lu’s delight) . He or she was a supreme martial arts expert- even those who had magical treasures could not fight back . The worst incident was when Xie Qian Long and his companions had tried to ambush ‘Adada’ . They had prepared their magical treasures, then attacked another challenger to lure him or her out . However, the end result was that the black shadow had empty palmed smashed the Frozen Seal Downpour Talisman and Flowing Cloud Invisible Sword and left the three people bloodied messes on the ground .

However, because of this, no one had viewed the black shadow as one of the villagers of the Garden of Peaches . This was because in such a peaceful little village, why would there be such a powerful expert? He or she obviously must be one of the Spirit Blade Sect’s disciples! How could they try to gain favourability from a Spirit Blade Sect disciple!?

However… could it be…?

Indeed, this time, after the black shadow ‘Adada’ appeared, it did not immediately disappear, but stopped in front of Wang Lu .

This was the first time the people had seen the black shadow up close… well, it was the same as not seeing it at all . It was pretty much a black shadow, with the semblance of a human, but without any features . It didn’t look at all like a Spirit Blade Sect disciple, but rather an old devil from an evil Sect .

However, Wang Lu did not seem scared at all . Rather, his expression was one of impatience, as if he had been waiting for a long time . “Great hero, please teach me your martial arts . I have very good bones . I will definitely be able to take up the duty of protecting the earth’s peace!”

The black shadow seemed to be caught off guard by Wang Lu’s ridiculous greeting, and paused for a few seconds . It replied in a cold manner . “You’ve done many acts of kindness in this village, which is indeed good to see… but it is not enough to become my pupil . ”

After speaking, the black shadow disappeared with a ‘swish’ .

However, Wang Lu was not disappointed at all, for he had already achieved his goal . Although Adada had not said much, he implied that Wang Lu had not gathered enough favourability . Although he had painstakingly planned for a whole month, working out a perfect completion strategy, Wang Lu had still fallen short .

Despite this, it wouldn’t take too long for Wang Lu to gather enough favourability . The challengers who had thought that one could not collect favourability off a villager once another challenger had started on them were truly stupid . Indeed, once a challenger had screwed up their quest, it was impossible for that villager to help them leave the village . However, what Wang Lu was doing was not relying on a single villager or a few villagers . Instead, by trading one thing for another, and racking up large amounts of favourability, he could do this repeatedly and continuously gain favourability from all of the villagers . This way, he would be able to maintain low risk and gain more favourability than anyone in the village .

Most of the challengers who were still in the village were already able to leave . The only reason they were still in the village was to gain more favourability in order to improve their scores . The methods they used were unintelligent though- fighting to solely occupy quests .

As for Wang Lu, he had been different from the others since day one .

If the attribute being tested was on anything else, Wang Lu would be certain that he would not have much of a chance against all of the other young heroes and geniuses . However, this Immortal Path felt like it was almost as if it had been designed for him . He had found every trial incredibly easy and simple . Since that was the case, he might as well do them to perfection .

With a clear goal, Wang Lu continuously gained more favourability using the same method until the black shadow ‘Adada’ allowed him to proceed to the next step of the quest .

Another half a month passed and more and more challengers left the village . One of the reasons was because they had pretty much completed the quests that they could actually do – quantity was not the most important thing . After all, the princeling that had been too greedy had been punished severely by the village girl Little Fong .

The point of the Garden of Peaches was to test one’s EQ . This reflected that those who could stay until now, were all people who sought perfection and challenged themselves . However, in the end, it was simply too hard to do a quest to absolute completion .

Another thing was that it wasn’t easy watching Wang Lu easily gather more and more favourability . For those who did not have much mental fortitude, they would be tempted to resort to evildoing to take out this frustration .

After half a month, apart from the ones who had failed their quests, most of the challengers had already left . Even the incredibly stupid Wen Bao, who had taken up an A Rank Quest and had received Hai Yun Fan’s help had finally been able to gain enough favourability to be able to leave . He left, smiling like an idiot, with Old Auntie Liu .

Apart from a few useless failures, the only person who was still in the village was Wang Lu .

Perhaps it was because Wang Lu had stayed for too long, or perhaps it was because most people had already moved on . Rumours gradually began to spread throughout the Garden of Peaches about Wang Lu . Or rather, they were more so mockery and derision .

The first person to walk out of the Cloud Wave Map was so incredible, eh? Was it worth it to reside in the Village Chief’s residence? You felt pretty good instructing Hai Yun Fan, didn’t it? It must have been amazing getting all that favourability from one hundred and twenty people .

And now, staying the Garden of Peaches, with us losers, must suck a lot, doesn’t it?

You were so arrogant, and gave up on one hundred and twenty chances, and were so determined to complete that ‘hidden quest’ . Now, you’ve ruined yourself, and lost your chance at the Immortal Path . Apart from living in the Village Chief’s residence, what difference is there between you and us, who failed?

In response, Wang Lu didn’t pretend to be noble and forgiving, but rather ran to the centre of the village, and directly responded to those rumours and mocking .

His way of retaliating was very direct .

“Retards, your mum was [xxx]’d by dogs . ”

“Retards, your mum was [xxx]’d by dogs . ”

This short sentence caused the entire Garden of Peaches to lapse into silence . Countless pairs of eyes stared at him, in disbelief that the Wang Lu, who had seemed so high and mighty, would use such insults .

As for Wang Lu, he found that insulting people in public was very effective – not only did being insulted in public add to the humiliation, but it also had an AOE (Area of Effect), allowing him to insult many people at the same time .

Immediately, the usually respectable Young Masters became infuriated .

“Wang Lu, you want to die!?”

“You bastard, don’t think that we’re afraid of you just because you know some sort of evil witchcraft!”

“I’m going to make you suffer indescribable pain!”

In just a moment, the ten or so remaining challengers all began to charge towards Wang Lu .

In response, Wang Lu coldly laughed . “You’re offended? Well, if you’re so offended, see if you trash can actually hurt me!”

Under such provocation, most people lost their sense of reason, and attempted to attack Wang Lu .

A black shadow descended from the sky .

“Adadadadada!”

Looking at the bodies lying on the street, Wang Lu smiled and said to the black shadow, “I’ve waited for you for a long time . ”

The black shadow was not at all impressed with him . “Your mouth is truly evil! I’m not here to be your bodyguard!”

Wang Lu nodded . “I know, you’re here to teach me martial arts . I’ve pretty much maxed out the favourability from one hundred and twenty people . ”

After saying this, Wang Lu almost felt like crying . When he had entered the village, he had suspected that there would be some sort of hidden quest . This was because he felt that there was some sort of connection, some sort of similarity between himself and the designer of this trial . If it was himself, he would definitely design there to be a hidden quest . ！

However, he had never expected this hidden quest to be so troublesome! To only be able to trigger the next step after maxing out the favourability from one hundred and twenty people… if he hadn’t been able to walk out of the Cloud Wave Map first, and reside in the Village Chief’s residence, and have the Village Chief as a source of information, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to devise this chain strategy .

Moreover, if not for this perfect one-hundred-and-twenty-person-chain strategy, even the most sociable and friendly person would find it almost impossible to gain favourability from one hundred and twenty people!

Moreover, if not for this perfect one-hundred-and-twenty-person-chain strategy, even the most sociable and friendly person would find it almost impossible to gain favourability from one hundred and twenty people!

However, the greater the difficulty, the greater the rewards would be . Wang Lu was very, very curious as to what the rewards would be!

However…

“I have seen… the kind things you have done,” the black shadow said, looking at the pile of unconscious challengers on the ground, “But this is not enough . ”

Wang Lu frowned . “Not enough?”

“If you want to learn martial arts, you need to pay tuition fees . ”

“…… Tuition fees?”

The black shadow laughed . “My demands are not high, I just want a single coin . ”

Wang Lu also laughed . “You sure have interesting tuition fees . One coin, isn’t that simple . Here . ”

At the Ru Family Inn in the Spirit River Town, Wang Lu had spent most of his money, but still had some bits of silver as well as coins .

Taking out his money purse, the black shadow shook its head . “What good is outside money? I want money from this mountain . ”

Wang Lu’s expression sunk .

Money from the mountain? Where could you find money on this mountain? The system of trade was so primitive in the Garden of Peaches that it made one want to cry . Let alone gold and silver, not even shells or other primitive things were used . The only system was bartering .

Wang Lu stood there in deep thought . The black shadow didn’t seem like it was in a hurry to leave either, and patiently waited as he thought .

Money from the mountain… the mountain referred to was obviously the Spirit Blade Mountain . Obviously, the Spirit Blade Sect would have some form of currency, but he couldn’t go to the Serenity Peak, much less the Ethereal Peak to get some money . Where else would he get money from this mountain?

Money from the mountain… the mountain referred to was obviously the Spirit Blade Mountain . Obviously, the Spirit Blade Sect would have some form of currency, but he couldn’t go to the Serenity Peak, much less the Ethereal Peak to get some money . Where else would he get money from this mountain?

Wait a second…

Wang Lu’s active adventurer mind suddenly realised something, and his entire mind seemed to flash .

He opened his money purse, and out of the ten or so coins, took out one of the coins .

That copper coin was the coin that the proprietress of the Ru Family Inn had given him . Since it came from the Spirit River Town, it should count as money from the mountain… right?

Sure enough, upon seeing the copper coin, the black shadow stretched out its hand .

Wang Lu closely observed the black shadow . It was strange . Usually, the black shadow’s movements were fast as lightning . Even magical treasures could be destroyed by those incredibly fast fists and feet . However, this motion was much slower than even normal humans .

Strange, very strange . In his mind, his adventurer’s intuition was setting off alarm bells . Wang Lu frowned, and squeezed the coin so hard that his hands began to go white .

In the next moment, he thought he heard the black shadow sigh, and so decided to do something different .

Just as he was about to hand over the copper coin, he took it back .

The black shadow was startled . “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, this copper coin is very important to me . It was left to me by my deceased wife . ”

The black shadow paused, and muttered something incomprehensibly . In the next moment, without any warning, a punch came flying towards him .

“Deceased wife my ass!”