First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 119: Your Blade’s Just Low Quality

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Huangpu Lingyun’s tone was calm: “His physical body’s decent. As for the rest—we’ll see.”

Nuomin nodded, genuinely impressed: “His physical body really is terrifying. On that front, I’m not his equal.”

She’d always considered her physical body to be top-tier.

But if it had been her going up against Zhu Yixuan and Gao Han today, just relying on her body alone, she definitely couldn’t have taken them both.

Don’t let the fact that Gao Han crumbled in two moves against Lu Ding fool you—he’s still one of the top three in his district.

Hearing her, Huangpu Lingyun chuckled: “Haha, why boost someone else’s morale and crush your own?”

The smile was simple—

Nuomin had already admitted Lu Ding’s physical body surpassed hers.

But Huangpu Lingyun didn’t agree: “Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Why measure your weakness against someone else’s strength?”

“If I were to face him in a match, and he didn’t use that charged-up Slash Attack, he’d lose for sure.”

“All his techniques are based around slashing. In terms of defense, I’ve got Dragon Qi Protection and the Imperial Jade Seal guarding me.”

“In terms of offense, I’ve got the Sword of Emperor Jing, which can go toe-to-toe with his slashes.”

Though he hadn’t finished speaking yet,

Nuomin’s eyes lit up with surprise: “You got the Sword of Emperor Jing!?”

The topic shifted.

Huangpu Lingyun nodded lightly, looking completely unbothered.

“That was my Advanced Training Reward.”

Nuomin stared at him. Huangpu Lingyun was already strong—

now with the Sword of Emperor Jing, it was like adding wings to a tiger.

Pair that with the Imperial Jade Seal...

If he really did go head-to-head with Lu Ding...

Hard to say.

That’s what Nuomin was thinking.

Because she didn’t know what kind of Advanced Training Reward Lu Ding got,

so she couldn’t just assume Lu Ding would definitely lose.

As evening fell, in a random courtyard within the training grounds—

Wen Ruchu’s voice rang out in irritation:

“Quit f***ing laughing. Keep laughing and if your wounds split open again, you’re dressing them yourself!!”

Xue Ning was laughing so hard he was coughing blood—

all because he’d heard Lu Ding had lined up those so-called geniuses from other districts who arrived early,

and had Bai Hemen smack them one by one.

His barely bandaged wounds were splitting again from laughter.

“Hahahahahaha—s***—hahahahahaha—ugh...”

“Mess with Lu Ding? Hahaha—cough cough cough—puke～”

“If they weren’t carrying the title of 749 Investigator,

every single one of them would be six feet under already.”

“A man’s name is like the shadow of a tree. The title Corpse-Shattering Taishui wasn’t just handed out for nothing.”

Wen Ruchu sighed beside him: “That’s enough. If you laugh any more, your stitches will all pop and I’ll have to redo your whole wrap.

You’re not tired, but I sure as hell am.”

The two had bumped into each other at the gate.

Since they were from the same place, Wen Ruchu saw how bad Xue Ning’s injuries were and figured he’d help out.

But no sooner had he finished bandaging Xue Ning—

the guy busted his wounds open again laughing.

He was seriously over it.

Let it all burn.

Just then—

a knock came at the door.

Wen Ruchu called out, “Come in.”

Lu Ding and Bai Hemen pushed the door open and walked in,

Bai Hemen still holding some ointment.

“Here, put it on. Hang in there a bit longer. Don’t die too fast.”

He’d just happened to spot Xue Ning and Wen Ruchu earlier,

and remembered Xue Ning had been cheering him on when Lu Ding fought Cao Zi’ang.

Now that Xue Ning was badly hurt, he thought maybe he should come take a look.

But something about it felt off—

so he brought Lu Ding along.

Seeing the two of them,

Xue Ning waved a hand from the bed.

“Ah, it’s fine. The wounds just look nasty, won’t kill me. Now that most people have arrived,

if we’re going by the usual process for the Advanced Training Grounds—”

“Once everyone’s here, we’ll enter the Blood Pool.”

“Those of us who got rewards will be seated deeper inside.

Once you absorb the blood and get rinsed clean, you’ll be as good as new—like a reborn dragon.”

“Then it’s all about training. Scouting Winds, Slaying Dragons, returning to the Rolling Dragon Wall,

an all-out Southeast Asian genius monster room brawl—guts everywhere, blood all over, heads rolling, same old routine.”

Wen Ruchu helped Xue Ning sit up.

“Yeah, it’s old-school, hasn’t changed much, but it works.”

“The Blood Pool is a mix of Taishui blood and all kinds of rare spiritual treasures—it strengthens your foundation, boosts base combat power and realm.”

“Scouting Winds means going out to absorb Feng Shui and slay the monsters that come with it—rough battles build experience.

We’re all greenhouse flowers. This part’s necessary.”

“The Rolling Dragon Wall expands our knowledge, helps us understand more.

And finally, the Southeast Asian Monster Room—we flex our new-gen muscles, smack around the foreign Cultivators of Qi.”

“Basically like the old imperial exams—

used to be called keju, now it’s gaokao. Been doing this for ages. Why change what works?”

Xue Ning wanted to add something,

but suddenly turned his head toward the door.

“Hey! You—shifty-eyed kid at the door—what are you doing?”

Everyone turned to look—

it was Zhu Yixuan, who’d sneakily followed behind Lu Ding.

Busted, he looked awkward, glanced at the sky, then the ground...

Finally, he pointed at Lu Ding: “I... hahaha...”

Lu Ding looked helpless.

Why is this guy still trying to hand me a blade?

“I really don’t want your blade. Let me say it again:

your blades are just too low quality.”

“Ah?!!! No way—absolutely impossible! My blades are top-notch!!”

Say he’s weak—Zhu Yixuan might let it slide.

But insult the quality of his blades?

That was a line he would never cross.

He’d been eavesdropping at the door just a second ago.

Now he unstrapped the blade box from his back and quickly stepped forward.

“Try it. Seriously, just try it. I’m begging you to try it.

Give it a shot and then decide—it’s not bad, I swear on my honor!”

Seeing how determined he was,

Lu Ding nodded. “Alright. Pick one that you won’t cry over if it breaks.”

Though he didn’t quite get what that meant,

Zhu Yixuan still picked a blade that wasn’t one of his best and handed it over.

Sure, blades were a swordsman’s life—

but as a Borrowed Blade Heir, Zhu Yixuan’s whole thing was having a lot of blades,

and his main one wasn’t even in that box.

Lu Ding took the Yanling Saber he offered.

“You think just because I can use Slash Attacks, I’m suited for using blades?”

Zhu Yixuan nodded.

Then Lu Ding continued,

“Let me ask you this—what if your blade can’t even handle my Slash Attack?”

“No wa—…”

BOOM!!!

Zhu Yixuan hadn’t even finished speaking when the Yanling Saber in Lu Ding’s hand suddenly exploded—

shards shot out, embedding deep into the ground.

Lu Ding handed back the only thing that remained: the hilt.

He opened his hand, expression helpless.

In this moment—

silence said more than words ever could.

Zhu Yixuan sat down on the bench,

his mind a mess of swirling thoughts.

Lu Ding hadn’t even used his full strength—

and the blade still couldn’t handle it.

If it really came down to fighting monsters or demons,

this blade wouldn’t just be useless as a weapon—

it’d become a liability.

Seeing him looking dazed and devastated,

Xue Ning grinned.

That’s the feeling—sweet, sweet justice!

“Don’t be too down about it. Worst case, you can give one to me instead?”

Zhu Yixuan: ??????

He slowly looked up and gave Xue Ning a once-over.

One word came out of his mouth: “You?”

“Hey!! What’s that supposed to mean, huh?! What do you mean by that?!”