First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!

Zhu Yixuan released the blade box, and a yellow light flew out, condensing in his hand into a slender, curved saber with an amber-colored blade and a pitch-black hilt.

Tiger stripes coiled across the blade, with a tiger’s tail forming the handle.

Zhu Yixuan flipped the blade, letting the flat side reflect his face—cold gleam flashing, murderous aura surging.

”This blade is called Tiger Soul, weighs thirteen pounds, forged from the refined bones of an evil tiger that once wreaked havoc years ago. It was blended with rare minerals and tempered through secret arts, then sealed in a Yin-Nurturing Ground for a hundred years. After that, it was used by a general for ten years before being passed down through generations until it came to me.”

”You, draw your blade.”

A blade?

Lu Ding shook his head. ”I don’t use blades. Just come at me directly.”

Zhu Yixuan didn’t press the issue.

He powered his arm, flicked his wrist, and slashed upward. The blade aura surged, dragging along its killing intent—an evil tiger leaping for the kill.Lu Ding casually flung a Slash Attack, turned, and started walking away.

In the end... he had still expected too much.

The moment the blade was drawn, Lu Ding knew—this so-called “cuts through anything” sword aura wasn’t even close to the Path of Jinche.

Not the same level at all. Worlds apart.

The tiger-shaped aura was vertically sliced in half and vanished into the air.

Seeing the incoming slash had lost none of its force, Zhu Yixuan’s eyes flashed with fear—

like death itself was waving at him.

But in the next moment, the Slash Attack turned into a gentle breeze brushing past his face, ruffling his hair.

Cold sweat dripped from his nose, stirring up dust on the ground.

Zhu Yixuan stared at the Tiger Soul in his hand, thoughts swirling.

Grandpa, you lied to me. Dad... you lied too.

”Cuts through anything”...

I!!!!

He raised the curved saber in his hand—

but once it was up, he just couldn’t let it go.

Thought about it—

still couldn’t bear to.

Then suddenly, his eyes lit up. A genius is a genius—even the gears in his head spin fast.

Looking at Lu Ding’s retreating back, he muttered to himself,

“Did he just say... he doesn’t use blades?”

“How can that be?! How can he not use blades?!”

“With slashes like that, not using a blade is a total waste!!!”

Carrying his blade box, Zhu Yixuan hurried to catch up.

“Hey, hey, bro, wait up!!”

He caught up to Lu Ding with a slightly sycophantic smile. “Hehehe, um, could I ask—what’s your name?”

Everyone around was stunned.

Hey!

Aren’t you supposed to be a genius? Where’s your pride?!

To that, Zhu Yixuan would say—

Pride? I’m the one asking for something here. What pride do I need?

“No need for the ‘polite’ stuff—surname Lu, name Ding.”

“No wonder! I should’ve guessed. I should’ve guessed it!”

Grinning nonstop, Zhu Yixuan set down his blade box.

“So, uh... Lu Ding, do you... need a weapon? Like a blade, for example.

Sabers, broadswords, ring-hilt blades, horse-slaying sabers—you name it, I got it.”

“How about... would you maybe want one?”

He rushed to add, “For free. No strings. You don’t have to give me anything. I’ll let you owe it forever if you want.”

Lu Ding thought for a moment.

Weapons weren’t exactly essential for him.

Mainly because his strength increased too fast—

blink and the weapon that used to feel perfect no longer matched his level.

Then he’d have to switch again.

And what, hit this guy up for another “loaner”?

Plus, borrowed blades weren’t really yours.

Feeding someone else’s weapon? Yeah, no thanks.

As for keeping it and never giving it back—

Sorry, not Lu Ding’s style either.

And honestly, the quality of that blade... didn’t impress him at all.

If he really wanted a weapon,

he’d rather forge one using Stubborn Stone of Nanshan,

but right now, he only had the core material.

He didn’t have the rest of the components.

And spending Contribution Points to buy them wasn’t worth it.

Better to just focus on leveling up and deal with it later.

If the opportunity came, great—

If not, oh well.

Even without a blade, he could still slash with a wave of his hand.

He declined, “Nah, I don’t like feeding someone else’s blade.”

Zhu Yixuan started to panic, “Then I’ll give it to you! No loan, I’m gifting it! Seriously! Don’t go!!”

The onlookers’ eyes were about to pop out.

Those who didn’t know the context were just confused.

But those who did—

Their eyes went red.

A Borrowed Blade heir giving away a blade—for free!?

And not just giving—he’s basically begging on his knees.

And the guy doesn’t even want it.

Most people wouldn’t even dare to dream of such a thing—

and this guy just flat-out refused.

Can you believe that?!

Comparing people will really drive you mad.

Forget gifting—Zhu Yixuan wouldn’t even lend to them.

Now he’s out here offering it for free—and still gets rejected.

For some reason, the others watching felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

Hehehe...

You wouldn’t loan us one before, no matter how we begged.

Now you’re offering one for free and still getting turned down.

Now you know how it feels!

Satisfying!!!

“Did he just say his name is Lu Ding?”

Someone finally caught on.

“I heard it too. Surname Lu, name Ding.”

“Wasn’t Lu Ding supposed to like wearing that Wenwu-Sleeved robe? Why isn’t he wearing it today? Agh!! I’ve been using that to figure out who was Lu Ding this whole time—and today he didn’t wear it!!”

“Dude, he doesn’t only have one outfit. He’s gotta wash it sometime, right?”

“I’m so done. That Wenwu Sleeve thing totally messed me up. Total bias!!”

“Well, at least we didn’t judge ahead of time. We got to see with our own eyes how strong he is.

As expected—his reputation’s the real deal.”

“This is what they call ‘you don’t truly know someone until you’ve fought them,’ right?”

“So that guy is Lu Ding... and the one in all black must be Bai Hemen?”

“D*mn, we really ganged up on Bai Hemen just now... and it was a pretty even fight too—HAHAHA. I’m definitely bragging about this when I get back!”

“Though seriously—Bai Hemen was holding his own against all of us and didn’t fall behind. These two got in on direct admission, and man, there’s not a hint of favoritism.

Respect. Seriously, respect.”

As the crowd chatted,

some of them quietly glanced over at the two figures lying in the pile of leaves.

And in their hearts, they silently muttered—

Really, thanks for that—helping us test the waters.

Otherwise, with Lu Ding’s ridiculous strength, anyone who stepped up first would’ve been screwed.

Getting beat down in front of all these people—how humiliating would that be?

Good thing it wasn’t me who went first.

Up in the treetops not far away, two people stood with arms crossed.

If Lu Ding and Bai Hemen were the biggest dark horses admitted by direct selection this year,

then these two were the top geniuses aside from Lu Ding and Bai Hemen.

One was Huangpu Lingyun, a prodigy from the Eastern Region who opened his apertures using the Imperial Jade Seal of Jing Dynasty.

Dressed in embroidered uniform, radiating nobility,

his gaze remained calm and steady throughout.

The other was Nuomin, a girl from the Northwest Region favored by the heavens of eternal life.

She wore fitted, agile combat clothes, her long hair loose and wild—

exuding the untamed spirit of the grasslands.

The two had encountered each other outside the Advanced Training Grounds, exchanged a few moves, and both came to the conclusion:

The other was no weaker than themselves.

Kindred spirits, both saw themselves as a cut above the rest—

head and shoulders above the other trainees.

They saw each other as their biggest rival in this academy session.

As for Lu Ding and Bai Hemen—

they were direct-admit entries, and since they hadn’t fought them before, they didn’t weigh them too heavily in their minds.

But they didn’t underestimate them either—

After all, reputations that big don’t come from nowhere.

“What do you think?”