Sun Mo originally felt very happy because he had just saved a life. But when an 80+ years old grandpa called him ‘teacher’, his expression suddenly turned to one of awkwardness.

  “Well done!”

  Mei Yazhi praised. This was something the young man she admired ought to have.

  Ding!

  Favorable impression points from Mei Yazhi +100. Friendly (660/1,000).

  “Teacher Sun, after the examination is over, let’s drink together!”

  Tong Yiming issued an invitation. He had no other intentions and purely admired Sun Mo, wanting to have a meal with him to chat about things.

  “Mn!”

  Sun Mo always had a pretty good impression toward Tong Yiming.

  “I didn’t expect Teacher Sun would have such deep attainments in the field of spirit runes.”

  Liang Hongda sighed ruefully. Since he was able to become the vice sect leader of the Saint Gate, he had simply seen too many people and things. Let alone an examinee’s performance, even if a 5-star great teacher died before his eyes, he would still be very calm.

  However, Sun Mo had truly shocked him.

  Liang Hongda knew Jiang Zhitong’s character. Jiang Zhitong was arrogant and very self-confident. Also, he had a very extreme desire to perform. If it wasn’t for the fact he had no solution, he wouldn’t have chosen to give up on Wang Bumin.

  What did this indicate?

  It meant that Sun Mo’s standard was even higher than Jiang Zhitong’s.

  A 21-year old actually had such an accomplishment. This was truly……

  Liang Hongda looked at Sun Mo with admiration in his eyes, feeling a sense of regret about the fact that Sun Mo wasn’t his personal student.

  This was actually a common problem for great teachers. When they saw an excellent student, who wouldn’t hope to nurture them?

  The other major characters smiled and encouraged Sun Mo. However, those below 3-star didn’t speak as they felt that their statuses weren’t high enough.

  When Jiang Zhitong saw this, he felt extremely suppressed while feeling depressed.

  Everyone’s body was different. Skin condition, blood vessels, and the strength of energy channels, also the loading capabilities of spirit qi in muscles……

  All the reasons above made tattooing spirit runes on a person’s body an extremely difficult thing to do.

  If one was casually tattooed, maybe their bodies could only hold three or four spirit runes, and problems would immediately crop up. Hence, if one wasn’t a grandmaster, they usually wouldn’t dare to try this.

  It was precisely because Jiang Zhitong’s talent in spirit runes was very high that he could see tiny clues when he watched Sun Mo’s treatment process. As a result, he understood that Sun Mo’s standard was indeed higher than his.

  (Damn, what nonsense is this?)

  Jiang Zhitong was incomparably depressed. It was like a 40-year-old menial programmer who finally got a promotion and was told to lead the development team in creating a new game. In the end, a 20-year-old kid had just joined the company for a few days and settled everything. Such an impact would really cause one to doubt their lives.

  “T……Teacher S……Sun, thanks……”

  Wang Bumin mumbled, his eyes were filled with gratitude when he looked at Sun Mo.

  Since he dared to tattoo spirit runes on himself, he naturally understood the terrifying consequences. He knew that it was all due to Sun Mo’s effort that he didn’t die.

  Ding!

  Favorable impression points from Wang Bumin +1,000. Respect (1,100/10,000).

  “Don’t speak anymore, just focus on recovery!”

  Sun Mo consoled.

  Next, there was no need for Sun Mo to do anything else. The doctors in the doctor team used a stretcher and sent Wang Bumin away for follow-up treatment. After that, the cleaners began to clean the arena.

  The competition naturally couldn’t continue right away.

  “I wonder who was the one who tattooed the spirit runes on Wang Bumin. His skill is very impressive.”

  Jiang Zhitong frowned as he prepared to investigate. Such a grandmaster would surely cause an impact on his father’s authority.

  In the spectator stands, the audience was still discussing wildly. After all, a human body had exploded, causing blood and flesh to splatter around. It was truly a visually provoking scene.

  They hadn’t wasted their money today.

  “He actually didn’t die?”

  Li Zhuifeng was taken aback and looked at Sun Mo. If his teacher acted, this ending wouldn’t be anything surprising. But this examinee……

  Li Zhuifeng didn’t forget that all the experiments up until now either died or became vegetables.

  “Maybe he’s just lucky?”

  Li Zhuifeng guessed. “However, I have to tell this matter to Teacher no matter what. Also, Wang Bumin’s data has to be recorded. Hmm, never mind…… Forget it, data from trash like this can be ignored.”

  Fifteen minutes later, the competition continued.

  Sun Mo sat in the resting area as he sank into deep thought about the outline of the runes on Wang Bumin’s body. They were very profound.

  Ding!

  “Congratulations on using your knowledge to save the life of an examinee. Your actions fulfilled the requirements of a great teacher feat. Special reward: 1x great teacher emblem and 1x mysterious treasure chest!”

  Ding!

  “Congratulations, your prestige connection with Wang Bumin has improved to the next level and you gained 1,000 favorable impression points in one shot. Reward: 1x gold treasure chest!”

  The system congratulated, rewarding him with two rewards in one go.

  “Keep them first!”

  Sun Mo didn’t dare to open any more chests. Although he had his lucky mascot, he didn’t want to waste her luck so wantonly.

  “Sun Mo, it’s Teacher Xia’s turn on the arena now!”

  Gu Xiuxun suddenly rushed over to inform him.

  With regards to this competition, in order to increase her horizons, the masochist would watch every single battle. However, Sun Mo didn’t do so. Gu Xiuxun also didn’t force him.

  After all, Sun Mo was a genius. It made no difference for him to watch the battles of others or not.

  “Let’s go!”

  Xia Yuan’s opponent was from the Virtuous Academy, a ‘B’ grade academy. Comparing reputation, Xia Yuan from the ‘C’ grade Central Province Academy was clearly weaker. However, the two of them were evenly matched when it came to combat.

  Naturally, the consequence of this was that both parties would end up heavily injured.

  At the very end, their wills became the only driving force of their fight.

  Twenty minutes later, Xia Yuan’s persistence was rewarded. Her opponent coughed up blood and this caused his attack to be a little unstable, losing the power to threaten Xia Yuan. Xia Yuan grabbed this opportunity and blasted him down from the arena with a palm strike.

  “Teacher Xia!”

  Sun Mo and Gu Xiuxun could be considered friends with Xia Yuan. Hence, once the fight ended, they immediately ran over.

  “Teacher Ma, this is Teacher Xia, my colleague. I will leave her to you.”

  Sun Mo called out to Ma Zhang.

  “Teacher, please rest at ease!”

  Ma Zhang ran over long ago. Before he said anything, he immediately took out a pill and fed it to Xia Yuan.

  Xia Yuan thanked him.

  “Don’t speak anymore!”

  Ma Zhang said, “I will do my best and make sure you are in shape for your next battle!”

  “Thanks……”

  Xia Yuan felt tears flowing down her face. Other than joy from the victory, she felt that being acquainted with Sun Mo and forging a close relationship with him was her best and most correct decision in three years.

  Ding!

  Favorable impression points from Xia Yuan +500. Respect (2,770/10,000).

  Xia Yuan had seen things very clearly. At the start, Ma Zhang had been running toward her opponents. After all, it didn’t matter who was treated first. But because Sun Mo had run toward her, Ma Zhang changed his mind.

  Yeah, without Sun Mo’s connection, Ma Zhang was a 5-star great teacher. Why would he choose to care for her first? Also, that pill he gave her was clearly his private pill.

  Up until now, Xia Yuan had seen many battles, but Ma Zhang had never once taken out a pill for any of the examinees before.

  Xia Yuan’s opponent also received emergency treatment, but the person treating him was a 3-star great teacher. Honestly speaking, those who were sick and went to a hospital would hope that the doctor treating them was someone with more experience.

  Very soon, the fifth round started. This time around, Sun Mo was the first to get on the arena.

  “#178 Sun Mo, #2190 Han Xi!”

  As the main examiner announced, the entire area immediately fell silent as all gazes turned to the arena. After all, Sun Mo was a famous person now.

  It was like when a celebrity went up the stage. If that person was Michael Jackson, the attention of everyone would surely be on him. But if it was a third-rate celebrity, who would care about them? The audience would definitely continue to lower their head and browse their mobile phones.

  However, in the silence, someone suddenly roared.

  “Teacher, I’m cheering for you. You will definitely win!”

  Hua Jianmu stood up and placed his hands around his mouth as he shouted loudly, cheering for Han Xi.

  “Who’s that?”

  Li Ziqi was unhappy. She turned her head and instructed, “Xuanyuan Po, shout something!”

  Xuanyuan Po immediately stood up and walked away.

  Jiang Leng stretched out his hand to hold him back. Although he didn’t say anything, his meaning was clear. (Where are you going?)

  “I’m going to explode his head!”

  Xuanyuan Po spoke in a manner as it should be by right. (Cheering? I don’t know how to do that. I only know how to fight. I only know how to fight very ruthlessly!)

  Li Ziqi didn’t manage to speak, but Ying Baiwu already jumped on her chair.

  “My teacher will win for sure!”

  “I’m coming too!”

  After Lu Zhiruo chewed the melon in her mouth, she brushed the back of her hand against her mouth to clean it and also leaped on her chair.

  “Enough!”

  The little sunny egg stopped the papaya girl, feeling exceptionally embarrassed. (Can you guys stop throwing Teacher’s face? He’s just against a nameless nobody. Is there a need to have so many people involved in cheering?)

  Tantai Yutang shuffled to the side and turned his head away, acting like he didn’t know them.

  “Teacher Han!”

  Sun Mo didn’t expect that his opponent would actually be Hua Jianmu’s teacher. She could be considered ‘20%’ familiar.

  “Why is it Sun Mo?”

  Hua Jianmu held onto the railings as a nervous look appeared on his face. Most probably, this match was not going to be so easy for her teacher.

  To Sun Mo, Hua Jianmu felt gratitude. This was especially so after he saw Ma Zhang take Sun Mo as a teacher, as well as the scene earlier. He finally understood how strong Sun Mo’s God Hands were.

  When he thought of how he had managed to receive Sun Mo’s massage and break through, Hua Jianmu rejoiced. He would definitely be able to go a step further in the student battle and might get the championship, helping his teacher gain great glory.

  Hence, when he saw this scene, Hua Jianmu suddenly started hoping for Sun Mo to suffer from bad luck and wanted him to lose the battle. After all, in his heart, Teacher Han was someone irreplaceable.

  Yet, Han Xi didn’t feel worried at all. After she walked up the arena, she stared at Sun Mo. Her eyes were filled with battle intent.

  (Finally, my chance has come!)

  (Sun Mo is so famous. As long as I defeat him, I will instantly become the most dazzling person in the competition. If that was the case, a lot of famous schools would be coming to headhunt me.)

  (There’s no need for me to go back to the rented house that’s as small as a dog kennel. I want to be famous, I want to earn big money, I want to go to Bianjing and buy a luxurious mansion!)

  Han Xi turned her head and looked at the main examiner. Her meaning was clear without words. She wanted him to quickly announce the start of the battle.

  Sun Mo frowned. The battle desire of Han Xi was so strong. Usually speaking, no one would hold back in a battle like this. Hence, there would surely be people injured.

  Upon thinking of this, Sun Mo activated Divine Sight.

  Han Xi, 26 years old. Fifth level of the divine force realm.

  Strength: 39. Able to endure hardships. She has done countless jobs that required heavy physical toil before. She survived because she depended on her hands!

  Intellect: 35. Average standard, but she works sufficiently hard.

  Agility: 36. Average standard, nothing to write home about.

  Endurance: 40. She can handle all sorts of hardship!

  Will: 39. Extremely determined. For the sake of becoming famous, she is willing to pay any price. ……

  Potential value: Slightly above average!

  Note: Host, if you are as hardworking as she is, your achievements will be even higher.

  Note: Sadly, her talent is merely at the level of a mortal. No matter how hard she works, the ceiling will always be there.

  Chapter 581: Teacher Is So Serious, Is He Not Afraid of Beating Her to Death?

  Sun Mo felt impressed when he looked at Han Xi’s data. Honestly speaking, he wasn’t able to work as hard as her to that extent.

  Recalling the days when he was in university, Sun Mo was a ‘normal’ hardworking student. He would occasionally go to internet cafes to play games, occasionally read novels during classes, and study hard before exams. Other than not experiencing love before, he had done everything else.

  Normally speaking, one would be free once they attended university and could do whatever they wanted. However, Sun Mo had met a student so hardworking that it was terrifying.

  That student would either be in the classroom or the library until it closed. After that, when he woke up in the morning, he didn’t want to eat breakfast to save time and would head straight to the classroom after buying two buns, learning as he munched on them.

  Let alone for a week. Even if someone persisted like this for three days, it would be very impressive. However, that person did this for four years, not changing his habits be it summer or winter.

  Naturally, the reward was that he managed to get the scholarship of every school term and found a very good job prior to his graduation. After a few years, he managed to save enough to buy a house in the city and even married a beautiful and virtuous wife, completing the transformation process of a guy born from a poor area.

  Someone had asked him before why he didn’t want to further his studies? His reply was that he had no money and time as he needed to work to support his family. Besides, his current lifestyle was very good.

  That student could be considered as having used his hardwork to change his life.

  However, to Han Xi who was living in the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces, even if she worked 10,000 times harder, it would be impossible for her to break through her ‘ceiling’.

  Because this was a world that looked at talent.

  Your aptitude was determined the moment you were born, unless you had heaven-defying luck and managed to eat some heavenly ingredients or earthly treasures to change your aptitude for the better.

  Han Xi was still somewhat better compared to those people who couldn’t even sense spirit qi. But when compared to someone like Xuanyuan Po, she was like the mud being trampled on by everyone, versus the beautiful floating clouds in the sky.

  Xuanyuan Po didn’t need to meditate and only needed to breathe normally to gain a certain amount of spirit qi. However, to attain the same level of spirit qi, Han Xi had to meditate for two hours at the very least.

  As long as someone had pride in their hearts, how would they be willing to live like this forever?

  (It isn’t my fault that my aptitude is bad.)

  Han Xi looked at Sun Mo’s eyes, and her heart was filled with the desire for battle. Not only was she battling against Sun Mo, but she was also battling against her fate.

  (My aptitude is bad, and no teachers are willing to accept me as a student. Since that’s the case, I shall train myself. If the distance between me and a genius cannot be mitigated with an hour of hard work, I will put in five hours, ten hours, or at most I will just have one hour of sleep per day.)

  (As long as I’m willing to work hard, I will be able to reduce the distance a little. But if I gave up, I would really lose all hope.)

  (And now, my chance is finally here.)

  (As long as I defeat Sun Mo, a dazzling genius that everyone was focused on, I would receive recognition and the appreciation of all the great teachers here.)

  Up until now, Han Xi still couldn’t forget that her mother had sold her dowry, which was a golden hairpin, as well as the only hen in their home for a teacher to take her on as a student. In the end, that fellow berated her mother for dreaming and chased them out of his home.

  The golden hairpin was her mother’s only jewelry, a dowry left behind by her mother. Even though the color had faded, it was still the most valuable item her mother had owned.

  The old hen was Han Xi’s play companion when she was young. It was also the friend she loved and cherished the most. Although she could only eat its eggs when she was sick, that was absolutely the best food she had ever eaten. That was a taste of her childhood that she would never be able to forget.

  After the hairpin and the hen were sold, the only thing they got in return from that person was this sentence, ‘you have no talent, you should just find an honest guy to marry.’

  That day was the darkest day in Han Xi’s life. It was also the day where she had lost all hope.

  Three years after that, the 12-year-old Han Xi led an ordinary life of a farmer girl. In fact, she was even prepared to marry someone. Everything was good until her mother got sick and started crying and lamenting on her deathbed.

  “I was the one who let you down. I didn’t manage to give you a body that can cultivate.”

  Since that day, Han Xi learned that when she was young, her mother had already found someone to inspect her. Back then, the son of the village leader returned after passing his great teacher examination, and her mother beseeched him to take a look at Han Xi’s talent.

  That person was an impressive 2-star great teacher and had good judgment. His judgment of her was that she had insufficient aptitude and wasn’t suited for cultivation.

  Her mother knew that she had no talent but still wanted to change things by selling the golden hairpin and old hen to get money for her tuition.

  Maybe her mother just didn’t want her to be sad, or maybe her mother felt that the judgment of that 2-star great teacher was wrong, and Han Xi did have the possibility of cultivating……

  Honestly speaking, Han Xi had hated her mother before. (Why did you have to give birth to me?) But after that, that hatred turned into love. This was especially so during the day her mother passed away.

  Her mother who was on her deathbed clutched Han Xi’s hands tightly and was unwilling to relinquish her grasp. She blamed herself and felt guilty. She was worried for Han Xi and hoped that her daughter would have better days in the future.

  In fact, Han Xi had already forgotten that gaze of her mother that was filled with reluctance to leave her back then.

  After her mother was buried, Han Xi ran away. She went to work in a school and secretly learned cultivation arts there. She was beaten up after being discovered and only managed to take this path after she accidentally comprehended the self-taught halo.

  “30 years? Or has it been 31 years?”

  Because Han Xi was too focused on cultivation, she had already forgotten her age. “It’s fine. Mother, today shall be the day I become famous. Your spirit in heaven can just watch me!”

  After praying in her heart, Han Xi’s battle intent surged even higher.

  “Han Xi, fifth level of the divine force realm, please guide me!”

  She had never used any top-grade medicine, heavenly ingredients, or whatnot. She reached this level solely with her own efforts in cultivation.

  “Sun Mo, third level of the divine force realm, please guide me!”

  Sun Mo admired Han Xi a lot. Originally, he wanted to tell her that she wouldn’t be able to defeat him and he wanted to invite her to join the Central Province Academy. But now when he looked at her gaze, he didn’t say anything.

  (I will give it my all for this battle. This is my respect for you.)

  “I have not said that the match has started yet!”

  The main examiner’s lips twitched. But after Sun Mo completed his greetings, Han Xi had rushed out, slashing furiously with thunderous momentum.

  Sun Mo didn’t retreat but chose to advance instead. His wooden blade also struck out, facing his opponent head-on.

  “What’s going on? Why does our teacher seem so serious? Is he not afraid of beating her to death?”

  Jiang Leng leaned forward and his eyes were wide open as he surveyed the battlefield.

  Swish~ Swish~ Swish~

  Li Ziqi and the others turned over with shock on their faces. The combat addict was no exception.

  “Deadman face, you actually spoke?”

  Tantai Yutang was surprised. He then glanced at the arena again. “Are you in love with that Han Xi?”

  “Scram!”

  Jiang Leng cursed.

  “So, junior martial brother Jiang’s taste in women is like this?”

  Tantai Yutang furrowed his brows. (This can’t do. Young women are the sweetest. There’s a problem with your esthetic conception. As a senior brother, I have the obligation to ‘correct’ your view.)

  “Teacher has indeed gotten serious!”

  Lu Zhiruo frowned. (Could it be there might be a problem with this opponent?) Seeing Sun Mo so serious caused her to recall the scene when he fought against Daoist White Bird back then.

  How terrifying was a Sun Mo who went all out?

  With just a single slash, he immediately broke apart Han Xi’s thunderous momentum.

  “Beautiful!”

  This slash caused many major characters to cry out in admiration and made the eyes of many young examinees shine.

  Han Xi’s bladework was skilled and profound. Evidently, she had spent a large amount of time and energy to train it. Her attacks had no flaws but when she fought against Sun Mo, she was directly suppressed.

  It felt like a martial grandmaster, who had reached the pinnacle of his skill, was unleashing his attacks brilliantly but got ended straight with a bullet from a gun.

  Although Sun Mo’s blade slash looked casual, he only managed to unleash this retaliation strike with a combination of insight from Divine Sight, ‘copy’ of the Grand Universe Formless Divine Art, the Wind King Divine Steps, and Immemorial Vairocana.

  Four peerless saint-tier cultivation arts represented four different types of pinnacle might.

  “It’s impossible for her to win!”

  Mei Yazhi shook her head and sighed. Han Xi’s aptitude wasn’t good enough, but since she could unleash such attacks, it was enough to prove that she was very assiduous and had worked very hard to the utmost of her abilities.

  However, it was still insufficient!

  “Yeah, the Second Month Lancet is an inferior heaven-tier cultivation art. Even if she mastered it completely, it’s impossible for it to win against a saint-tier cultivation art!”

  Tong Yiming sighed.

  Han Xi’s cultivation base was two stages higher than Sun Mo’s, but honestly speaking, her spiritual qi reserve would have a limit too. Because Sun Mo was a genius, the quantity of his spiritual qi reserve would surely far surpass those at the same level as him.

  One could say that for people like Sun Mo, it was only fair if he jumped levels and fought against a higher-leveled opponent. If he fought against people of the same cultivation level, that would be bullying.

  “It’s too brutal. What’s going on with Teacher Sun, why is he so serious?”

  The other major characters felt that Han Xi would be defeated in this battle.

  When the spectators saw the match starting, they wanted to cheer but decided to shut up instead. This was because the scene before their eyes were truly too shocking.

  Han Xi only managed to slash out once – the slash at the very beginning. After that, everything became Sun Mo’s show.

  Executing the Wind King Divine Steps to constantly change his position made Han Xi unable to see his silhouette. ‘Copy’ from the Grand Universe Formless Divine Art and Divine Sight ensured that Sun Mo wouldn’t miss any movements of Han Xi. Even the minute expression on her face was seen clearly by him.

  Before Han Xi moved, Sun Mo had started to predict her next movements.

  After that, he chained attacks using Immemorial Vairocana and caused the spectators to feel stunned. Han Xi was completely dumbfounded throughout the process.

  “How strong. However, I cannot give up. As long as I’m not off the arena and I’m not dead, I would have a chance!”

  Han Xi bit her tongue furiously to the point where blood flowed. She wanted to use the pain to stimulate her nerves. Following that, in exchange for suffering injuries, she lengthened her distance from Sun Mo.

  After that, she waved her blade and slashed at the ground.

  Swish~ Swish~ Swish~

  Blade qi shot everywhere, splitting apart the flooring.

  Han Xi lifted her foot and stomped forcefully.

  Bang!

  Clouds of dust exploded all around as the floor panels flew into the air from the impact. After that, Han Xi turned in the air. Her blade prowess was akin to a tornado.

  Woosh~ Woosh~ Woosh~

  The wind brought along the stone panels, smashing them toward Sun Mo. They were like hailstones falling down the arena.

  “This battle strategy is quite interesting!”

  Xuanyuan Po was surprised. He didn’t expect Han Xi to still retaliate.

  “Hehe, teacher might screw things up if he is careless!”

  Tantai Yutang teased.

  “Impossible!”

  Lu Zhiruo shook her head with resolve.

  “It wouldn’t happen!”

  Li Ziqi rolled her eyes.

  “Why don’t you just die?”

  Ying Baiwu glared at the sickly invalid.

  At the other side of the spectator stands, Hua Jianmu tightly held onto the railing. It felt like the hand of the god of death was clutching tightly onto his heart.

  “I’m willing to use ten years of my life to exchange for my teacher’s victory!”

  Hua Jianmu prayed. He knew that his teacher had yearned for this victory for a very long time.