The entire office fell into silence. The 46 great teachers responsible for grading papers were all staring at this set of exam papers with complicated emotions.

  No one here was acquainted with Sun Mo. However, they were sure to have heard of his name before.

  After all, a new teacher that dared to shoot his mouth off before the residence of a 6-star great teacher was very rare. No, more accurately, there was basically none.

  And the crucial point was that Sun Mo’s words were extremely well-spoken.

  The words ‘If you don’t have the capabilities, you are just a dog waiting for others in front of their door’, was Sun Mo’s current label. After he said this sentence, the Jiang Manor closed its doors to visitors.

  This was an emergency method to save their face because even if the Jiang Clan didn’t close their doors, no one would dare to visit them.

  There had once been a heavy flow of traffic to the Jiang Clan, but because of a single sentence from Sun Mo, the space outside Jiang Manor became completely deserted.

  One could say that although Sun Mo did this unintentionally, he did trample on the Jiang Manor and became famous from that.

  As for whether this was good or bad, it depended on Sun Mo’s performance in the great teacher examination. If he failed or if his results were weak, he would become condemned by everyone. People would say that he was extremely crafty and scheming, wanting to depend on such a method to become famous.

  However, if his results were outstanding, the unlucky one would be the Jiang Clan. Their reputation would surely be greatly damaged.

  From the looks of things now, the Jiang Clan’s circumstances were dire.

  “He actually got full marks?”

  Teacher Bai revealed a shocked look on his face. However, he soon felt impressed.

  He didn’t have any relationship with the Jiang Clan or Sun Mo and purely admired Sun Mo for his answer. Most of the other teachers here felt the same way, with only a few exceptions.

  Zhang Mai’s hands were trembling. This set of exam papers were graded by him. What if he got implicated by Jiang Wei’s anger?

  (Also, I bragged so much earlier. Even if I want to make up for things now, I also don’t know what I should say.)

  In the previous years, if one managed to grade a full marks set of exam papers, that was considered a lucky charm and the grader would have great fortune. But this year, this was clearly a hot potato!

  Things were truly too awkward.

  Su Tai forcefully blinked and glanced toward the name again.

  The two words ‘Sun Mo’ were written vigorously and felt like they were about to leap out from the paper and punch him fiercely.

  “Why is it Sun Mo?”

  Upon thinking of this examinee, Su Tai felt a bellyful of anger. There was no solution to it. After all, he had been struck by Sun Mo’s ‘Misleading Students’ and ‘Ignorant and Incompetent’ in public during the exam. It was simply a huge humiliation for him.

  Even in his dreams, Su Tai wanted nothing more than for Sun Mo to fail.

  If Sun Mo became famous, his past would surely be dug out. Everyone would surely pay attention to something so important like his transition stage of becoming a 1-star great teacher.

  He, Su Tai, would then become a foil to enhance Sun Mo’s brilliance.

  “I don’t want things to be like this!”

  Su Tai wailed in his heart. He took the papers again and wanted to find a mistake. However, what made him feel despair was that there were completely no mistakes.

  The more he read, the more intense the envy in his heart was. It was now like an inextinguishable wildfire.

  If one looked at Gu Qingyan’s answer, it was very impressive indeed. It was sweeping down irresistibly from a commanding height. He expounded on the pinnacle usage of spirit runes in combat. However, this was just an extension of knowledge that already existed.

  As for Sun Mo, his answer sparked a brand new domain.

  One could say that Sun Mo opened a new world for all spirit rune masters. So, spirit runes could be used in all aspects of daily life too.

  This was an unprecedented concept!

  Even if Su Tai hated Sun Mo to the death and wanted to simp for Gu Qingyan, he wouldn’t dare to say that Gu Qingyan’s answer was better than Sun Mo’s. Because by doing so, his reputation would stink for ten thousand years, and he would become the shame of the great teacher world.

  “Continue grading the papers!”

  The shock Tang Nian felt in his heart was actually deeper than everyone else. One must know that he had personally witnessed Sun Mo answering the questions with ease, as smoothly as flowing water. After that, Sun Mo had handed in the exam papers an hour before Gu Qingyan.

  What did this mean?

  This indicated that not only did Sun Mo crush Gu Qingyan, but he also crushed many great teachers at the same time!

  “It’s a pity that his writing isn’t that beautiful!”

  Zhang Mai feigned pity, he finally found an area where Sun Mo was weaker in.

  “Teacher Zhang, stop nitpicking. If Sun Mo’s writing was more beautiful, how would the others still be able to live?”

  Tang Nian shook his head and couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, everyone. Let’s focus on grading the other papers!”

  Ding!

  Favorable impression points from Tang Nian +100. Prestige connection unlocked. Friendly (100/1,000).

  Although the great teachers dispersed, their discussion couldn’t be stopped. There were too many topics to talk about because of Sun Mo. Moreover, his answer to the last question was like a bolt of lightning, widening their horizons.

  At this moment, a teasing voice suddenly rang out.

  “Did something happen? Why do I feel like all of you seem to be stunned?”

  Jiang Zhitong pushed the door open. “Did you guys grade a full marks set of exam papers?”

  There were four great teachers behind him. One of them was Mei Yazhi, the one who exuded the charm and beauty of a middle-aged woman. They were in the patrolling group and had two responsibilities. First, they had to ensure that those grading teachers didn’t cheat. Secondly, they were to resolve some problems that might occur in the process of grading the exam papers.

  Swish~

  The gazes of everyone turned and locked onto Jiang Zhitong. A look of rejoicing in the misfortune of others appeared in their gazes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Jiang Zhitong frowned.

  “There’s a full mark set of exam papers!”

  A great teacher replied.

  “Oh? Is the examinee Gu Qingyan?”

  Jiang Zhitong had a joyful look on his face. He walked to Su Tai’s side and was looking at the papers Su Tai was holding. He then smiled. “Is it this set of papers? Let me take a look!”

  Jiang Zhitong took the papers and read the answers. There were no red circles made by Su Tai and this caused him to be full of praise for Gu Qingyan.

  “Excellent, very excellent!”

  In the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces, when it came to grading papers, the teachers would use red ink to circle areas where mistakes were made. If there was no red ink present, it meant that the answers were all correct.

  “Teacher Jiang, this set of exam papers wasn’t done by Gu Qingyan!”

  When Su Tai heard Jiang Zhitong praising the answers, he immediately started and hurriedly reminded Jiang Zhitong.

  The expressions of the newly arrived great teachers turned strange.

  “Not Gu Qingyan’s?”

  Jiang Zhitong frowned. He had read through all the answers and there were no mistakes. “Isn’t this a full marks set of exam papers?”

  Su Tai braced himself and nodded. “Yes!”

  Jiang Zhitong’s expression turned puzzled. (Since this is a full mark set of papers, so what if I praised it?)

  “To whom does the other full marks set of papers belong?”

  Mei Yazhi asked. She saw that the papers in Tang Nian’s hands had the name seal torn off. Usually, only those examinees who scored full marks would have their name seals torn off.

  “Gu Qingyan!”

  Tang Nian coughed.

  “Oh, there are two sets of exam papers with full marks? Seems like there are going to be geniuses born in our spirit rune world……Haha……Ga!”

  Jiang Zhitong laughed loudly. He turned his head and was preparing to check out this genius’s name. But when the name entered his vision, his expression immediately froze as a look of astonishment appeared on his face. It felt like a giant metal cudgel was stuck in his throat, stifling his laughter.

  After that, his hands began to tremble as a look of dislike appeared on his face. It was like he was force-fed shit.

  “Is he angry? He’s definitely angry, right?”

  Zhang Mai wailed in his heart. He hoped that the Jiang Clan wouldn’t make things difficult for him.

  “Teacher Jiang, what’s wrong?”

  A few of the patrolling colleagues showed concern.

  Jiang Zhitong’s lips opened and closed, unable to speak. He finally understood why the other great teachers had looked at him with that gaze when he first entered the office.

  (What was most maddening was that I still praised this set of papers as excellent!)

  At this moment, Jiang Zhitong felt like slapping himself.

  Mei Yazhi walked over and looked at the name.

  “Sun Mo?”

  Shortly after, the image of a young and handsome examinee appeared in Mei Yazhi’s mind. (So, this is the papers of that little fellow!)

  Jiang Zhitong forced himself to calm down and directly flipped to the last paper, starting to inspect those major questions.

  For all full marks set of exam papers, the grading teacher would surely treasure them. Hence, the fixed questions in the earlier papers would surely have no mistake. This was why Jiang Zhitong didn’t waste time checking them. If he wanted to find a mistake, he could only find them through the discussion-type questions.

  However, the more he read, the more despair Jiang Zhitong felt.

  Weren’t his answers all too good?

  His logic was clear and easy to follow, and they were even superior to the model answers that the Saint Gate had given.

  Jiang Zhitong flipped to the first paper to check the name again. Honestly speaking, given these answers, he would have thought that this paper was done by a spirit rune grandmaster if it wasn’t for the fact that he knew it was done by an examinee.

  Tang Nian could guess Jiang Zhitong’s thoughts. He involuntarily shook his head. (Teacher Jiang, you most probably have to forget about your plans.)

  No matter who was the one checking Sun Mo’s exam papers, they wouldn’t be able to find a mistake.

  The atmosphere in the office turned awkward.

  Two minutes later, Jiang Zhitong passed the exam papers to Mei Zhiya in despair. “I feel a little tired, I will return first to take a break!”

  “Teacher Jiang, please wait!”

  Tang Nian spoke.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Jiang Zhitong was in a daze. He was worried about Jiang Manor’s reputation.

  “According to the rules, all full marks exam papers have to be displayed along with the results. But for this case, Sun Mo’s creative concept involved huge profits. Should we still display his papers?”

  Tang Nian suggested this for the sake of Sun Mo. He was worried that others might steal his creative concept.

  Jiang Zhitong’s spirits stirred. He wanted to find trouble for Sun Mo, hence, he spoke righteously, “Rules are rules, we must not make an exception.”

  Tang Nian nodded and no longer spoke. However, Mei Zhiya replied.

  “However, there’s no need to follow some outmoded conventions. For this set of exam papers, the last page must not be publicly displayed!”

  Mei Yazhi had a solemn expression.

  “Teacher Mei, if we didn’t publicly show Sun Mo’s exam papers, how should we convince the public?” Jiang Zhitong persisted. “Besides, Sun Mo definitely wouldn’t want to lose this opportunity to rise to fame!”

  The other great teachers tactfully shut up. In fact, some of them hurriedly graded their papers. They didn’t dare to watch an argument between major characters.

  “In any case, although Sun Mo’s concept is creative, he most probably wouldn’t be able to truly design the runes needed in his entire life.”

  These words of Jiang Zhitong were agreed by several great teachers.

  Everyone here was a professional. They just needed to think about it carefully and would understand the difficult points in the concept.

  For example, could you guarantee the motive power of the washing rune? When an ordinary household wanted to do laundry, where could they find a cultivator to infuse the rune with spirit qi?

  Using spirit stones?

  This was impossible because once spirit stones were brought to the nine provinces, the spirit qi in them would rapidly dissipate.

  “Teacher Mei, I believe in Sun Mo’s magnanimity. Since he wrote such an answer out, he wouldn’t mind his answer being seen or imitated by others.”

  Jiang Zhitong unleashed his secret move, praising Sun Mo in a way that put him at a disadvantage.

  Mei Yazhi no longer persisted because it was useless. Given Jiang Zhitong’s influence, it was as easy as flipping a palm over if he wanted to publicly announce the paper.

  The tough work of grading the papers finally ended in the wee hours. When the results were all tabulated, they would be released at 8 a.m. tomorrow. ……

  Just when dawn broke, Sun Mo was woken up by Gu Xiuxun.

  “Let’s go and check our results!”

  The masochist’s smile was like a blooming flower.

  At the same time, Gu Qingyan also woke up. After his routine meditation and breakfast, he headed to the academy.

  “I should be able to get full marks.”

  Gu Qingyan felt some anticipation. (As for ranking? Please, I will definitely be the number one, alright?!)

  Chapter 449: We Agreed to Retake the Exam Together Next Year, Yet You Secretly Got First Place?!

  Although it wasn’t 8 a.m. yet, there were already several thousands of students waiting. They stretched their necks out with a look of anticipation in their eyes, looking like wild ducks waiting for people to toss food to them.

  “How many examinees do you think will score full marks this year?”

  “With such hard questions, I think there’s only a handful. Maybe five?”

  “As long as I can pass, I’m willing to not eat meat for three years. Note: Only pigs, cows, and lambs are considered meat, seafood isn’t considered.”

  The examinees were either praying or discussing with each other. Their expressions were filled with trepidation and unease, and they were like baby birds who just learned to fly.

  On the field, there were many announcement boards made from wood. Later on, the names of those who passed would be pasted on them.

  Very soon, several tens of examiners arrived. They were in groups of four and had in their hands glue and pieces of red paper where the names of those who passed were written. They were waiting beside the announcement boards.

  At 8 a.m., the melodious sounds of bells echoed out. The examinees immediately fell silent as the examiners started moving.

  They pasted the names of the various subjects first.

  A commotion immediately occurred among the examinees. They hurriedly headed to the announcement boards of their respective subjects.

  The examiners used a brush and smeared the glue on the announcement boards. Then, they pasted the name list.

  According to convention, they would paste the names from the bottom rank to the top. Hence, the person whose name they pasted last was the one who scored best in the written exam.

  “Stop squeezing, stop squeezing!”

  “I passed! Yes! Excellent, I’ve passed!”

  “Damn, it’s over for me!”

  The expressions of the examinees were extremely fascinating. In fact, one could see all sorts of expressions here right now.

  Those who knew that their capabilities were low directly despaired when they failed to see their names. After all, even if they went all out and did their utmost, they wouldn’t be able to reach the middle-rankings.

  But even so, they didn’t leave yet. They maintained the last bit of hope as they continued watching.

  Those examinees who had passed continued to observe the names after experiencing a burst of wild joy. After all, the people who passed next would be their opponents.

  “Quickly look, it’s the name of the #10 place now!”

  Someone called out. The surroundings immediately quietened down.

  The names of those in the top ten were written separately on a piece of red paper each. This was an encouragement to them, as well as motivation to the students ranked outside the top ten.

  “We haven’t seen Gu Qingyan’s name yet!”

  “Are you underestimating Gu Qingyan by saying this? He is definitely the best, alright?”

  “Yeah. You should place your focus on whether he can get full marks or not!”

  The examinees discussed. After that, they revealed a ‘sure enough’ expression. Because when Gu Qingyan’s name appeared, there were two words – ‘full marks’ in parenthesis behind it.

  “The reputation of the top graduate from Skyraise Academy is as expected!”

  The examinees sighed, yet they discovered that after the examiners had pasted Gu Qingyan’s name and exam papers, they didn’t stop. Instead, they took out another piece of red paper.

  “What the hell? There’s another examinee that scored full marks?”

  “From the looks of things, it seems that this examinee could fight against Gu Qingyan for the #1 place?”

  “I didn’t hear anything about there being an examinee that’s stronger than Gu Qingyan?”

  The examinees had a stunned look on their faces. Their eyes were wide open and they were preparing to see who it was exactly that was comparable to Gu Qingyan. But at this moment, they heard a roar echoing out with excitement not far away.

  “YES, I’VE OBTAINED FULL MARKS. YES, I’M THE STRONGEST!!! Haha, I’m the only one who got full marks in the subject I applied for. I’m so happy!”

  The examinees turned and saw a young man with a birthmark on his forehead roaring wildly in joy, ignoring the stares from the people around him. Everyone truly felt displeased when they saw his behavior.

  “That fellow is Sun Shao. I was in the same classroom as him. During the first exam round, he was even scolded by one of the examiners.”

  Someone introduced.

  The announcement board was for the weaponsmithing subject. Hence, the examinees for the spirit runes exam took a glance and no longer paid any attention. When they turned their heads back, they saw that the examiners were already leaving, and there was an additional name beside Gu Qingyan’s name.

  Sun Mo (full marks)!

  “Sun Mo? That Sun Mo who said the phrase about dogs?”

  No one replied, their eyes were blinded by the two words- ‘full marks’ in parenthesis. (My heavens, that Sun Mo was so strong?)

  After that, the gazes of everyone fell onto his exam papers and started to read through his answers, with a hint of critique in their eyes.

  However, the more they read, the more depressed and convinced they felt.

  Because as long as one wasn’t a fool, he or she would be able to see the difference between Sun Mo and themselves. ……

  “Can you walk a little quicker?”

  Gu Xiuxun urged.

  “In any case, the results wouldn’t change. What difference does it make if I walk quicker or slower?”

  Wang Chao spoke. But there was a look of nervousness on his face.

  “Che, I wonder who was the one crying in their sleep last night!”

  Qian Dun teased.

  Very soon, they arrived at the field. They then parted ways and went to look for their respective announcement boards.

  “Damn, how can Sun Mo act like this? I thought all of us agreed to retake the examinations again next year, yet he secretly got first place? Is he still a human?”

  A student wailed in anguish.

  “Are you very close to Sun Mo?”

  Someone was curious.

  “Eh!”

  The examinee started. He braced himself and nodded. “Still passable!”

  He was one of the examinees who handed in his exam papers after Sun Mo. After exiting the classroom, he still encouraged Sun Mo not to feel discouraged. He didn’t expect Sun Mo to get full marks……

  (This……is there still justice?)

  “Are you guys colleagues? Or fellow schoolmates?”

  That curious teacher continued to ask.

  (I only spoke randomly to brag a little, do you have to keep questioning me?)

  The examinee felt a headache, just when he was thinking of what to reply, he heard a voice from behind him.

  “Sorry, please excuse me!”

  “Oh!”

  The examinee stepped aside, after seeing the person who walked past him, he was completely stunned.

  “Tell me quickly!”

  The curious examinee urged.

  “I……I……have a stomachache!”

  The examinee clutched his stomach and almost peed his pants. What a joke, the person they were talking about was already here. If he continued to brag, wouldn’t it be the same as him looking for trouble?

  However, no one paid attention to this examinee because someone in the crowd recognized Sun Mo.

  Very soon, the gazes from the surroundings all landed on Sun Mo. There were gazes of probing, of curiosity, and also of envy.

  Full marks, what an impressive result!

  One would be able to boast about this forever, alright? Besides, with such good results, although it was not certain that one would be able to join the Nine Greats as a teacher, there would definitely be no problem if Sun Mo wanted to join an ‘A’ grade school.

  Sun Mo saw his name, but he was unhappy because he was ranked at the top with another person.

  The top graduate of the Skyraise Academy did have some capabilities indeed.

  “Wow, full marks!”

  Gu Xiuxun’s voice suddenly rang out. After that, her right arm went up as she hugged Sun Mo’s neck. “No way, I’m too jealous. I have to make you die!”

  Ding!

  Favorable impression points from Gu Xiuxun +500. Reverence (14,300/100,000).

  Gu Xiuxun’s heart was already boundlessly impressed by Sun Mo. The written exam this year was the toughest one in the recent twenty years, yet Sun Mo managed to get full marks?

  (Do you have to be such a genius?)

  (How can us mortals still live?)

  “.……”

  The eyes in the surroundings looked over with unkind expressions. Gu Xiuxun was teasing Sun Mo, but at this moment, everyone really felt like making Sun Mo die.

  (You already scored full marks and got #1, yet you are publicly displaying affection? Do you have any morals?)

  (The most important thing is that your girlfriend is actually so pretty. My heavens, check out the little perky as* and her fair long legs. I’m simping to the ends of hell for her!)

  “Did you get into the top ten?”

  Sun Mo asked. As for the case of the masochist failing the exam, he had never considered it before.

  “You should ask if I managed to get into the top three instead.”

  Gu Xiuxun released Sun Mo. She lifted her chin and snorted in a complacent manner.

  “Congratulations!”

  Sun Mo laughed. “Let’s go, I will treat you to lunch. We must have a sumptuous meal to celebrate!”

  “That’s for sure, I want to kill you after all!”

  Gu Xiuxun bared her teeth. Her ruby lips and sparkling white teeth actually made Sun Mo feel a sudden impulse of kissing her.

  Qian Dun and Wang Chao also arrived. Qian Dun had a look of disappointment on his face. From the looks of things, he didn’t manage to pass.

  “Just work harder next year!”

  “Mn!”

  Qian Dun sighed and asked, “What about Teacher Sun?”

  “F……full marks?”

  Wang Chao passed. He initially felt a little happy but after he saw Sun Mo’s ranking, he was completely stunned. He had guessed that Sun Mo’s results would definitely be good. But he was still shocked when he saw Sun Mo getting full marks.

  (Do you have to be such a monster?)

  (I will feel very self-inferior if you are so excellent, okay?!)

  “Full marks? What full marks?”

  Qian Dun was puzzled because there wasn’t such a concept in his heart. Hence, his gaze turned to the direction Wang Chao was pointing at. When he saw Sun Mo’s name, he gulped and almost drowned from the large mouthful of saliva he had just swallowed.

  Ding!

  Favorable impression points from Qian Dun +500. Respect (2,100/10,000).

  Other than being deeply impressed, Qian Dun’s mind was blank. No, he felt something else and that something was that he definitely had to hug Sun Mo’s leg tightly.

  His father was a constable and ever since young, his father taught him that one could be mediocre, but one must not lack judgment. As long as you followed the right person, even if you were trash, there was no need for you to worry about food and clothing your entire life.

  “Sun Mo should be the person I must follow!”

  Qian Dun also had his ambitions and he wanted to bring glory to his ancestors. However, the results of this examination gave him a huge psychological blow and made him understand that when reality bit, one would definitely be severely wounded.

  Sun Mo’s group then departed, but there were even more examinees who came to look at the announcement boards.

  Gao Ben and Zhang Lan stood within the crowd. They sighed, truly unable to see a hope of winning against Sun Mo.

  “Gu Qingyan is here!”

  It was unknown who shouted, but the originally noisy scene immediately fell silent.

  As the top graduate from Skyraise Academy, a legendary character like Gu Qingyan was known by everyone.

  Gu Qingyan who was used to being the focus of everyone had no change to his expression. He walked to the front of the announcement board and immediately glanced at the top.

  This was his confidence.

  After that, he laughed.

  (Excellent, I got full marks!)

  Gu Qingyan’s expression remained unchanged, but there was wild joy in his heart. (I’ve succeeded in breaking through my limits and reaching a higher level.)

  (I’ll go and have a drink to celebrate then!)

  Gu Qingyan turned and prepared to leave. Looking at the results of others? Sorry, there was basically no need for this. But when his glance swept past the exam papers, he started. He discovered that there were actually twenty sets instead of ten?

  Gu Qingyan was astonished. His gaze shifted, wanting to find the name of the other examinee. After that, he saw Sun Mo’s name as well as the ‘full marks’ beside it.

  Kacha!

  Gu Qingyan forcefully broke the index finger of his left hand.

  However, he felt no pain. He only felt humiliation and reluctance.

  “I’m not comparable to Sun Mo?”

  Although he didn’t want to admit it, logic told Gu Qingyan that he was inferior to Sun Mo because Sun Mo finished the exam papers in just two hours.

  Hu~

  Gu Qingyan drew in a deep breath and suppressed the complex emotions in his heart. He took a few steps forward and started to read the answers on Sun Mo’s exam papers.

  “What is he doing? Is he trying to find a mistake?”

  “Shh!”

  “It’s a waste of time, the people grading the papers are all great teachers. How can they make a mistake?”

  The examinees mumbled.

  Gu Qingyan naturally wasn’t as shallow as what these people thought. He wasn’t looking for mistakes. He only wanted to ascertain Sun Mo’s standard.

  Three minutes later, he suddenly pulled out his sword and slashed the announcement board.