Translator: Lordbluefire

  Sun Mo only met Li Yingqi an afternoon later.

  This Great Tang Emperor might be feeling a case of ‘love me, love my dog’ or he might just admire Sun Mo. In any case, he didn’t exude the imposing prestige of an emperor but was like a friendly neighborhood uncle instead as he asked Sun Mo about everything Li Ziqi had experienced.

  However, his last sentence exposed his temperament.

  “Great Teacher Sun, we HAVE to win the Five Empires War Discussion this time around!”

  It was also because Sun Mo’s fame was too great that Li Yingqi didn’t dare to speak randomly. If not, he might have issued an order to make Sun Mo join the prince group by force.

  “Who is the leader of the prince group?”

  Sun Mo wasn’t polite either and directly went straight to the point. “If I’m the team leader, I will bear all the responsibility. If I’m not, let Han Cangshui be the one responsible!”

  “This…”

  Li Yingqi felt somewhat difficult to speak. Bluntly speaking, he still trusted Han Cangshui a little more. After all, Sun Mo was too young.

  He wasn’t even as old as the crown prince.

  Yes, the Crown Prince of Great Tang was older than Sun Mo by two years.

  As the old saying goes, if you don’t have a mustache above your lips, you won’t be competent in doing things. Sun Mo was simply too outrageously young, so the emperor truly didn’t feel secure.

  Sun Mo smiled and didn’t continue asking, but he had displayed his attitude. (If the ending of the competition is such that we cannot get the first or second rank, don’t find trouble for me.)

  The meeting ended and Sun Mo bade farewell. Under the lead of a low-ranking eunuch, he went to look for Li Ziqi.

  During this period, he stayed in the imperial palace, but he wasn’t permitted to move about freely. This was especially so for the residences of the concubines. Sun Mo was forbidden to enter there.

  After Sun Mo left, Li Yingqi glanced at the chief eunuch beside him. “How do you feel about this person?”

  “Too brazen!”

  Hou Chun expressed indignation in his tone.

  When the other great teachers met the emperor, they would display a subservient attitude and would kneel in greeting. However, the emperor also wouldn’t treat scholars with disrespect. Great teachers didn’t need to kneel before him.

  By doing this, both parties would have face.

  However, Sun Mo basically had no intentions to be subservient. He merely clasped his hands in greeting.

  Naturally, given Sun Mo’s status, he was qualified to do so. After all, Sun Mo didn’t need to care about hugging the Great Tang Empire’s large thigh.

  “A young man that creates so many records, becoming the most dazzling new rising superstar of the great teacher world……It’s understandable if he’s somewhat arrogant!”

  As the saying goes, unruly commanders and soldiers have exceptional combat strength. If Sun Mo didn’t exude such sharpness, Li Yingqi would actually not admire him at all.

  “Mobilize 1,000 royal guards for him!”

  Li Yingqi instructed.

  Every time the Five Empires War Discussion commenced, there would be soldier battles. Logically speaking, the training of the soldiers should be done by Han Cangshui. However, Li Yingqi decided to give a portion of the soldiers to Sun Mo.

  “Your Majesty, there will be a competition between Sun Mo and Great Teacher Han. If Sun Mo wins and obtains the position of team leader, it would already be enough for him to control the current number of students. There’s no need to mobilize more soldiers for him, right?”

  Hou Chun was puzzled.

  “There will definitely be a competition between the two of them, but if victory is decided too late, it would be time for the event. They won’t have time to train those royal guards.”

  Li Yingqi explained.

  “Besides, by giving Sun Mo equal conditions, we will provide him with enough capital to challenge Han Cangshui and also give some pressure to the latter. This move can kill three birds with one stone!”

  “Your majesty is brilliant!”

  Hou Chun revealed an enlightened expression and cheered.

  Actually, he had thought of all these, but when it came to waiting upon the emperor, one mustn’t appear too clever. They had to give the emperor opportunities to display his brilliance.

  …

  Crown Prince Li Xuan was a young man that exuded a very intense scholarly aura. The mustache he purposely kept made him seem slightly older. This was for the sake of letting the emperor see.

  He wanted to prove that he was already a man and was worthy of trust.

  “Great Teacher Sun!”

  Li Xuan was very polite as he clasped his hands and bowed. However, his heart was squirming with discomfort slightly because Sun Mo was outrageously young!

  (Is he reliable?)

  The crown prince felt worried in his heart.

  “Your highness Crown Prince!”

  Sun Mo returned the greeting and activated Divine Sight.

  Li Xuan, 25 years old. First level of the Divine Force Realm.

  Strength: 23. On the weaker side, he hates to endure suffering and prefers admiring art and literature as entertainment.

  Intellect: 26. Slightly better than ordinary people, but before Li Ziqi’s intellect, he is nothing but an unenlightened ape.

  Agility: 24. Average.

  Will: 21. He feels very bored with life.

  Endurance: 23. Just two palace maids are enough for you to complain tearfully. You don’t even have the strength left to wear your pants after the tryst. ……

  Potential value: A hair above average!

  Note: An ordinary person, but his luck is very good and he was born in the royal clan. He even managed to become the crown prince. However, it’s just this. His luck is good!

  Note: Ordinary aptitude for all things. He is extremely obedient, and his only good point is that he is an honest person. He would follow the instructions of Li Yingqi and his teacher unconditionally.

  Sun Mo felt somewhat disappointed. If such stats appeared on an ordinary person, he would be able to accept it. But if such stats appeared on a crown prince, he was truly mediocre.

  Li Xuan’s greatest strong point was that he was obedient and honest.

  Teachers loved such students the most, followed by those who were obedient and had good results, and lastly, disobedient students with bad results.

  Because managing such students was the most worry-free. Moreover, their results also wouldn’t pull down the average marks in the class.

  Sun Mo could imagine that after Li Xuan took the throne, he would become one of those mascot emperors that were completely useless. If his subjects were outstanding, he might be able to create a brilliant era. But if his subjects were bad and treacherous, he could only wait to be dethroned!

  Wanting to win with such an aptitude?

  Sun Mo didn’t feel it was possible.

  (Look at how Great Xia handled things?)

  Although the destruction wrought by war would cause many to die, any crown prince that managed to come out unscathed after a massacre like this would be someone with a first-class mental state.

  Sun Mo continued looking and a red-colored warning sentence leaped out, causing him to start in surprise.

  Li Xuan felt uncomfortable being stared at by Sun Mo, but he didn’t dare to interrupt as well. Hence, he could only show an awkward expression and felt very uncomfortable.

  “Your highness, it is already so late. Why are you not studying yet?”

  A confident voice rang out beside his ear.

  Sun Mo frowned slightly because this voice was like a horse-cutting saber. It was thick, powerful, and brimmed with prestige and killing intent.

  “This student obeys!”

  Li Xuan hurriedly entered the study room after he clasped his hands toward Sun Mo.

  Sun Mo turned and saw an old man with white hair that was combed meticulously walking out with vigorous steps.

  His gaze was like a ferocious tiger that had descended from its mountain and was hunting prey. It was very invasive and full of aggression.

  “Hmph!”

  Han Cangshui didn’t bother with Sun Mo and directly left.

  (Wanting my position as the team leader? I will make you regret ever coming out from your mother’s womb! The crown prince is my harvest, and no one is permitted to disrupt what’s mine!)

  …

  After Sun Mo met with Li Ziqi, he followed her and went to meet with the other five princes.

  For the Five Empires War Discussion, each country could send out at least five people and at most seven people. They could also send out a ten-man reserve team.

  The members of the reserve team were all children of nobility.

  “Teacher, how do you feel?”

  Li Ziqi poured a cup of tea for Sun Mo.

  “The chance of winning isn’t high!”

  Sun Mo shook his head. As the Emperor, what women Li Yingqi couldn’t have? Couldn’t he adjust the quality of his bloodline a little? Why did he have to sleep with beauties every time?

  The princes and princesses were all good-looking, but as for their aptitude……it was hard to say……

  “Oh…”

  Li Ziqi was depressed.

  “There will surely be a solution. At most, you can work harder!”

  Li Ziqi started to discuss the content of the war discussion with Li Ziqi and proceeded with targeted training and other arrangements.

  He wanted other princes to attend his training too, but the other princes used the excuse of listening to Han Cangshui’s classes to reject it.

  “Is Han Cangshui’s clout so heavy?”

  Sun Mo was shocked.

  “His title is the Alchemy Martial Sage!”

  Li Ziqi explained.

  Han Cangshui’s title as an 8-stars great teacher was far inferior to the title ‘Alchemy Martial Sage’ because this title represented that he was an ancestor-level alchemist.

  The princes and princesses all knew that their aptitudes couldn’t make it. So, if they wanted to increase their strength and lengthen their longevity, they had to depend on the top-grade alchemy pills concocted by Han Cangshui.

  “I’m the God Hands though!”

  Sun Mo’s lips curled.

  Although he put it this way, he didn’t have any intention of comparing them. The main thing was that after he looked at these royal heirs, he didn’t feel they could win. So, he changed his strategy.

  They could lose the group battle, but the little sunny egg must win for sure.

  To put it in simple terms, it was to allow Li Ziqi to display the most outstanding and fascinating performance so she could become the brightest heir out of all the princes and princesses participating in the war discussion.

  The training was very tough, and the little sunny egg could only sleep for three hours every day. She spent the rest of her waking time learning.

  In order for her to maintain her condition, Sun Mo used his ancient massaging techniques, medicinal packets, counseling, and all other methods he could think of.

  Every day, Sun Mo gave his all to help her. Also, he felt using his mouth to teach was too slow. Hence, he directly used Soul Imprint and branded all the content he wanted to teach into her brain.

  Not only so, but he even used One Heart Two Uses so he could impart two types of content at once.

  The other students of his also got dragged in.

  Yes, Lu Zhiruo and the others had come here because they wanted to explore the local marketplace. But now, they were all forcefully dragged into the training too.

  Time flowed by quickly.

  The 15th of June had arrived.

  Early in the morning, Sun Mo summoned Little Silver and rushed to Shengjing after two hours.

  Today was the grandmaster-level spirit runist examination.

  When Sun Mo entered the door of the Saint Gate’s branch and reported his name, the people in the great hall all looked over.

  “That’s Sun Mo? He’s so handsome!”

  “What is he doing here? Is he here to take the exam?”

  “Should we go over to greet him?”

  The surrounding great teachers started discussing. Because Sun Mo’s fame was too great, they actually didn’t dare to take the initiative to go over and chat with him.

  Very soon, Liang Hongda arrived.

  Upon seeing this scene, everyone was shocked.

  (My heavens, the vice sect lord personally appears to welcome him? This person truly has clout!)

  What shocked them was what happened after that. After knowing that Sun Mo had arrived, all the grandmaster spirit runists rushed over excitedly.

  “Damn, isn’t that Grandmaster Fang from Fan City?”

  “Isn’t that baldy Grandmaster Xue? I heard that he entered seclusion after obtaining an ancient spirit rune and no one had seen him for ten years. Yet, he actually ended his seclusion for the sake of Sun Mo?”

  “Quickly look, Ancestor Zheng personally came too. Oh my heavens, he’s actually being so friendly with Sun Mo!”

  All the spirit runists who came to participate in this exam saw old seniors who had been famous for a long time appearing before their eyes. For a time, they were stunned and were somewhat nervous.

  “The grandmaster-level examination this time around should be very difficult, right? Is there a need for so many top-level spirit runists to supervise and come out with questions?”

  “Don’t panic, they might simply be here to see Sun Mo!”

  “I heard that Secondary Saint Zhou deliberately tried making things difficult for Sun Mo and arranged the venue to be set at the Ancient Sage Building for the 4-stars examination. Say, do you guys think that this examination…”

  “Mummy, I’m scared. I want to go home!”

  Many examinees immediately wanted to retreat. Their faces turned pale, and they felt that they would surely fail this time around.

  “Everyone, can you guys chat after the exam is finished?”

  Liang Hongda interjected. “If you guys act like this, you will surely affect Sun Mo’s condition!”

  “Why is there still a need for an exam? For a person who could create a flying spirit rune in our era, you can directly give him the ancestor title.”

  Ancestor Zheng didn’t want to waste time…… It wasn’t easy for him to meet Sun Mo and he truly wanted to chat with him for a total of seven days and nights without sleeping.

  Chapter 1179: What Is Called an Ancestor of the Nine Provinces?

  Translator: Lordbluefire

  Nothing could be accomplished without norms or standards.

  Even though Sun Mo was a supreme genius and had obtained extraordinary accomplishments, with all the examiners saying that he need not take the exam, the Saint Gate wouldn’t grant him a grandmaster license unless he did so.

  Because this would be unfair to the others.

  Once precedence of something like that happened, it would mean that great teachers from aristocratic clans of great power and influence could use the same method to pass the grandmaster-level examination despite not having the capabilities to do so.

  In reality, there had been truly talented people that were worthy of being vied by famous schools even before they took the grandmaster-level examination and were ascertained as grandmasters.

  However, all Sect Lords of the Saint Gate had held fast to their principles and had never allowed anyone to be exempted from the grandmaster-level examination if they wanted the license.

  Also, the content of the examination was the same in the entire Nine Provinces.

  …

  At 10 a.m., the written exam started, and the duration was five hours.

  Sun Mo sat in the exam venue and first glanced through the paper.

  There were many questions because only by setting the exam like this would they be able to broaden the testing scope and test all aspects of an examinee’s knowledge.

  Generally, the topics could be split into four parts.

  The first part was the basics. It occupied 40% of the paper and as long as one depended on rote memorization, they would be able to obtain full marks here. The difficulty lay in the fact that the knowledge required was something very obscure.

  So if one wanted to do well, they had to read a vast number of books and have much experience.

  The second part was the advanced questions and this part occupied 30% of the paper. This was to test if the examinee could creatively apply their knowledge. To put it simply, it depended on one’s creativity and talent.

  Examinees who had memorized a lot of questions were useless since they didn’t know how to apply their knowledge creatively.

  A grandmaster that was publicly acknowledged by the Nine Provinces had to have creativeness. They had to be able to create new things and bring change to the subject, instead of simply being fixed in the old ways and letting themselves be restricted by old rules!

  The third part was the super difficult questions. They occupied 20% of the paper.

  They were all difficult questions grandmaster spirit runists had to solve daily. This included analyzing unknown spirit runes and designing new spirit runes, etc.

  This part tested the examinees for their knowledge and to verify whether they had the standard of a grandmaster or not.

  The fourth part was ancestor-level questions, and it occupied 10% of the paper.

  It was mainly there to see if the examinee had any potential to become an ancestor or not.

  “This model isn’t bad!”

  Sun Mo silently praised.

  Although the first part consisted of many basic questions and occupied 40% of the paper, it only took up about 10% of the total marks. The second portion also had plenty of questions, but it only took up 20%. The third part actually occupied the highest percentage of the marks.

  This indicated that the examinees couldn’t waste time on basic questions. They had to clear the questions quickly in one stretch. If they wanted to get points based on the basic questions to pass the exam, they would be dreaming.

  Also, in order to let the examinees save time and focus on the latter questions, the Saint Gate had decreed that if someone made five mistakes or more for the basic questions, they would be disqualified immediately.

  Yes, the examinees couldn’t get more than five questions wrong for the basic questions which numbered several hundred. From this, one could see how difficult the grandmaster-level examination was.

  Naturally, grandmasters who passed the exam were also relatively valuable.

  As long as they could obtain the grandmaster license, it meant that they needn’t worry about food and clothes for their entire lives, and their societal position would also be extremely high.

  A clamor suddenly rang out through the entire venue because when the examinees read through the paper for the first time, they discovered that the major questions at the back were all exceptionally difficult.

  They completely had no idea how to answer the questions.

  “It’s over. Indeed, the examiners have raised the difficulty level because of Sun Mo!”

  “Isn’t this a scam?”

  “Mummy, I want to go home!”

  Several examinees had turned pale and secretly started to hate Sun Mo. If they wanted to be employed by any of the Nine Greats, they couldn’t have a history of failing any examinations by the Saint Gate. But this time around, they were definitely going to stumble because of Sun Mo’s presence.

  However, Sun Mo didn’t care about this. He dipped his writing brush in ink and carefreely answered the questions.

  (Thinking? I don’t need that!)

  The answers were as though they had been branded in Sun Mo’s brain. When he saw the questions, the answers would automatically appear in his mind. Just like 1+1 = 2.

  Three of the examiners immediately went over to Sun Mo. After glancing at his paper, they walked away.

  Not long later, they all gathered together.

  “He does live up to his reputation!”

  Other than this notion, they didn’t know how to evaluate Sun Mo.

  Five hours was a duration that was insufficient for many examinees. However, Sun Mo had handed his exam paper to the examiners in advance.

  He nodded to the examiners and left the venue.

  “It isn’t even noon yet, but he has handed in the paper?”

  A middle-aged examiner was shocked. He had seen these questions before. Even a grandmaster like him wouldn’t be able to complete the paper so fast.

  “Didn’t you discover something? He didn’t even do a final check. How confident must he be?”

  “Being in the same era as a genius like this can be both a blessing and a tragedy!”

  The examiners sighed ruefully.

  It was a blessing because they could witness the birth of a legend. It was a tragedy because even if they had some achievements, they were destined to fall into the shadow of Sun Mo’s radiance.

  As for people of the next generations, when they spoke about the spirit runes of this era, the first thing they thought about would surely be the Skyward Spirit Rune.

  The written exam finished. There was a day of rest for everyone due to the grading of papers.

  The graders first looked at the basic questions. Those who got five questions wrong were directly eliminated even if they got full marks in the higher-difficulty questions behind.

  The rules were simply so cruel.

  On the third day, the results were released.

  Sun Mo’s name was high-up in the number one position. He also got full points. The second place wasn’t too bad either, and it was someone who obtained 88 points. If it was in the past, they would be the first place. Sadly, the owner of this 88 marks encountered Sun Mo.

  “Teacher Miao, congratulations. You are only 12 points lesser than Sun Mo. If you work a bit harder, you will be able to catch up to him.”

  Upon facing the praises of those familiar with him, this Great Teacher Miao could only smile bitterly.

  “Just 12 points lesser? You guys are wrong. Sun Mo got full marks because there are only so many marks he could get in this exam. My distance from him is far far far far far more than what the difference in points represents!”

  Great Teacher Miao sighed and felt a little disheartened. He was pondering whether he should change his major?

  The results were announced that afternoon, and the interview that was the second round also began then.

  Sun Mo was naturally arranged to be the first interview.

  At the exam venue, Grandmaster Xue saw over 60 people packed in a house and couldn’t help but scold these people.

  “What are you guys doing?”

  Grandmaster Xue was very angry. “Do you know that by doing this, you will affect the mental state of the examinees during their interviews?”

  “Xue Pan, don’t think we don’t know what you are thinking about. You simply want to chase us away so you can ask Sun Mo your own personal questions, right?”

  Everyone here was a grandmaster, so no one cared about Xue Pan.

  “F*** you!”

  Xue Pan’s expression turned gloomy and he pointed a middle finger. He then glanced at Ancestor Zheng, wanting him to say something.

  Ancestor Zheng felt embarrassed to speak because his current position as an examiner was something he had snatched over. Besides, there were so many grandmasters here that they could constitute half of the great teacher world. He also didn’t want to offend everyone.

  “Go and invite Vice Sect Lord Liang!”

  Ancestor Zheng kicked the ball in his court away.

  Very soon, Liang Hongda arrived. When he saw the number of people here, he was shocked.

  “What are you guys doing?”

  (In the past when I wanted to look for you guys to be examiners, all of you kept giving excuses. Why are you guys so active now?)

  “We just want to sit in and observe Sun Mo’s interview!”

  Someone spoke.

  “Stop farting, I think you guys want to ask him to solve all your personal problems, right?”

  Xue Pan rebutted.

  Everyone knew that the Five Empires War Discussion was about to start and Sun Mo would surely be very busy. He would leave immediately once the examination was over and had no time to be visited.

  And honestly speaking, given Sun Mo’s current status……even if everyone sent visiting cards to beg him for an audience, they might not be able to meet him. Hence, they wanted to use this chance to consult him on some questions that puzzled them.

  The so-called interview was usually the examiners asking questions and the examinees answering. The content wasn’t fixed.

  If they consulted Sun Mo in private, they naturally would owe him a favor. But now, they could use the interview as an excuse. If Sun Mo refused to answer, he would naturally have the risk of failing.

  …

  Outside the exam venue, the waiting examinees had waited for over 15 minutes, but the interviews hadn’t started yet. For a time, their hearts were filled with trepidation.

  Could something have happened?

  Luckily, a few minutes later, the door to the exam venue finally opened.

  “Great Teacher Sun, please!”

  The low-ranking great teacher responsible for calling out the names had a face filled with reverence.

  When Sun Mo entered the exam venue, he saw over sixty pairs of eyes staring at him ravenously like how wolves looked at their prey.

  “What the hell?”

  Sun Mo swept his gaze around before finally landing on the three people seated behind a long table.

  Swish~ Swish~

  Xue Pan and that Examiner Fang subconsciously stood up and revealed very amiable smiles. As for Ancestor Zheng, his body shook and after a moment of hesitation, he still decided to stand up.

  The man before him was a major character that had been invited by Bai Wenzhang to the Dragonspirit Manor. Although he was an ancestor, he didn’t have any capital to act arrogant before Sun Mo.

  Liang Hongda was standing here and his lips convulsed when he saw this.

  Was Sun Mo’s influence already so great in the spirit rune world?

  This meant that Sun Mo’s attainment in the field of spirit runes had received their approval.

  “Dear examiners, can we get started?”

  Sun Mo smiled.

  “Cough! Cough!”

  Ancestor Zheng coughed twice and after adjusting his emotions, he asked, “Great Teacher Sun, can I ask what is the principle behind the Skyward Spirit Rune?”

  Swish~

  The astonished gazes of all the grandmasters directly turned to him.

  (Do you still want face? You immediately asked such a question the moment you came up?)

  Ancestor Zheng smiled bitterly and spread his hands wide. He also knew that this question was too much. But in his current realm of expertise, there were truly too few questions that could stump him.

  He wanted to find a trace of inspiration from Sun Mo’s invention.

  “It’s the application of a certain force. Through the spirit rune, the surroundings of the human body will produce a forcefield that can dispel gravity!”

  Sun Mo’s inspiration came from the metallic robot inside the mysterious box that the papaya girl opened.

  “A certain force?”

  “Forcefield?”

  “Gravity?”

  The grandmasters were dumbfounded. What did these terms mean? Although they couldn’t understand, they felt that they were something very deep and profound.

  “There are various invisible forces in this world!”

  Sun Mo wasn’t selfish and didn’t mind sharing his knowledge. He immediately shared the concept of ‘invisible forces’ with everyone.

  The grandmasters all felt very clueless when they heard this, but they also felt some inspiration. It was like a corner of the dim and dark world was suddenly pierced through by the light of dawn.

  “I once said before that spirit runes are a type of language and all languages contain power. The crucial point is how can we display such power?”

  Sun Mo deliberated over his words before speaking. He hoped that everyone could understand this easier through his explanation.

  Even for computing languages, they could display the ‘power’ belonging to them through a medium and change the world. Actually, spirit runes could do the same too.

  This was impossible as of now because the wisdom of humans still couldn’t conceptualize such a thing.

  After Sun Mo finished speaking, Ancestor Zheng bowed.

  “Ancestor Sun, I’ve benefited from your teachings!”

  As an ancestor, he understood that Sun Mo’s words had benefited him the most.

  The other grandmasters hurriedly bowed as well.

  Liang Hongda inhaled a breath of cold air when he heard this. Earlier, Ancestor Zheng still had pride in his heart. He felt Sun Mo was unworthy of the title Ancestor Sun, but if he addressed him as Grandmaster Sun, it would seem that he was petty. Hence, he used the title ‘Great Teacher Sun’ instead.

  This was the change in the attitude of an ancestor!

  What did this mean?

  It meant that Sun Mo’s standard was a tier higher compared to normal ancestors!

  No wonder Bai Wenzhang admired Sun Mo so much and had even written a letter to the Black-White Academy saying that if Sun Mo died, he would pay any price necessary to raze the entire academy to flat ground.

  This matter wasn’t a secret among the upper echelons of Saint Gate because back then Wan Kangcheng was badly frightened and had sought help from the Saint Gate.

  If Bai Wenzhang had gone ahead and organized a terrorist attack on the school, the reputation of the Black-White Academy would be finished.

  Grandmaster Xue bowed and asked, “Ancestor Sun, what do you think about combination spirit runes? Will they be the future direction of development for the study of spirit runes?”

  The so-called combination spirit runes were spirit runes that could generate more than one effect.

  “Indeed, it is a development direction!”

  Sun Mo acknowledged. “I feel that the evolution of spirit runes will appear in different forms depending on the ‘carrier’. For example, on a human body, because the skin surface is only so wide, it would be best if there’s a spirit rune that could produce as many effects as possible!

  “But, if the carrier is different, things might not be the case. We have to do analysis based on actual situations in reality!”

  Grandmaster Xue hurriedly clasped his fists. “Ancestor Sun, please guide me!”

  “For example, my disciple Li Ziqi has thought about a type of spiritwave cannon. It is to use spirit runes to gather spirit qi before blasting it out.”

  Sun Mo took the chance to help boost Li Ziqi’s fame. “For something like this, it doesn’t need a lot of combination spirit runes. Rather, it needed thinking to allow the might produced from a single-entity spirit rune to be maximized fully!”

  “Spiritwave cannon? It sounds very powerful!”

  “I heard that Li Ziqi used it to crush everyone in the 1-star examination!”

  “Si, is it so powerful?”

  The grandmasters were all shocked.

  “Ancestor Sun, I have an ancient spirit rune here. Could you provide me with some guidance?”

  Grandmaster Fang carefully took out a spirit rune and passed it to Sun Mo.

  “This…”

  Sun Mo didn’t take it. If this spirit rune was those types with rare effects, Sun Mo would have benefitted and a dispute might happen.

  “It’s fine, please feel free to look at it!”

  Grandmaster Fang smiled bitterly. “I’ve researched this for ten years but am still clueless about it. I don’t want to live in ignorance anymore!”

  “Please pardon me then!”

  Sun Mo took it and started to analyze it.

  The grandmasters immediately slowed their breaths as they were deeply afraid that they might disturb Sun Mo.

  “Damn, is this still an interview? It’s clearly a Q&A session!”

  Liang Hongda became speechless when he saw all these grandmasters becoming as obedient as students. (Did you guys forget your actual responsibilities here?)

  Ancestor Sun?

  (These people are truly calling him that sincerely!)

  Liang Hongda did want to give Sun Mo an ancestor-level license, but it was a pity that this title was too precious. It was not something the Saint Gate could test for.

  For every subject, grandmasters who wished to become ancestors not only had to take out peak-level achievements, but they also had to tour the Nine Provinces and give lectures everywhere.

  This meant that they had to lecture at ‘A’-grade schools and above in the Nine Provinces. After they convinced everyone, their reputation would spread by word of mouth and they would naturally gain the ancestor title.

  Bluntly speaking, if one wanted to become an ancestor, they had to truly depend on their own capabilities because during the Q&A session, there would definitely be people asking questions.

  If Sun Mo could convince all these grandmasters here, it meant that in reality, he would also be able to convince all those great teachers in the other schools of the Nine Provinces.

  The current Sun Mo might not have the ancestor title but already had the capabilities of an ancestor!

  Chapter 1180: 5-Stars Great Teacher, #1 in the Nine Provinces!

  Translator: Lordbluefire

  Outside the exam venue, in the corridor!

  The longer the examinees waited for, the more anxious they felt. Panic and trepidation were written on their faces.

  “What’s wrong with Great Teacher Sun? Why hasn’t he come out after such a long time? Could he have died inside?”

  “Is the second round’s interview really so difficult?”

  “If he ‘died’, he would have long since exited. He can’t possibly be giving a lecture to those examiners, right?”

  The students gathered together and started gossiping.

  If it wasn’t for the fact that they were worried their qualifications to take the exam might be revoked, they would open the door to peek.

  An hour had passed.

  It was a long time no matter what type of interview it was.

  …

  In the exam venue, it was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. No one dared to disturb Sun Mo’s thinking.

  Liang Hongda was somewhat speechless when he saw this scene.

  (Grandmaster Fang has assiduously researched this spirit rune for over ten years but had no gains. Could it be that you want to finish analyzing this within a few hours? No. Even if you could do so within a month, this incident would already be an extremely shocking one.)

  However, it just so happened that these grandmasters felt Sun Mo would be able to do it. They were actually sitting cross-legged and quietly waiting for him.

  “Everyone, there are still people outsi…”

  Liang Hongda wanted to remind the examiners that there were still examinees waiting to be interviewed. But before he could finish speaking, Ancestor Zheng had cast a glance at him that was filled with resentment.

  The meaning was clear. (Can you please not disturb Sun Mo?)

  (F***!)

  Liang Hongda felt very helpless. Just when he was pondering whether he should forcibly stop such absurd behavior, Sun Mo suddenly spoke.

  “This spirit rune is very rare. Grandmaster Fang, you’ve struck it rich.”

  Sun Mo passed the rune back.

  Everyone felt their spirits stirring when they heard this.

  “You understood it?”

  Ancestor Zheng asked. He had been observing the spirit rune from the side. Honestly speaking, he still had no clue what it was yet.

  The others immediately pricked their ears.

  “This is a spirit rune that comes in contact with the mental domain. If you place it beside you when you are sleeping, you won’t be disturbed by nonsensical dreams and you can sleep peacefully until daybreak, maintaining a very good mental state.”

  Sun Mo explained.

  “Indeed. I discovered this by chance. When my mental state wasn’t very good, I would feel very comfortable if I held this and slept.”

  Grandmaster Fang hurriedly nodded.

  “It’s actually so magical? What’s the theory behind it?”

  Xue Pan was curious.

  Sun Mo smiled and didn’t continue to share. After all, this was Grandmaster Fang’s private item. He needed the other party to agree before he could continue.

  “Old Fang, don’t be selfish and hoard the knowledge. Please allow Ancestor Sun to continue speaking and let us all broaden our horizons!”

  Xue Pan sincerely pleaded.

  “Hehe!”

  Grandmaster Fang was naturally not a fool. (Why should I benefit others? Speaking of which, Sun Mo is truly impressive! He actually managed to resolve this question that has been puzzling me for tens of years.)

  Upon thinking of this, Grandmaster Fang’s face, which was initially filled with excitement due to the question being resolved, now changed and reflected deep disappointment and lament.

  His skill truly couldn’t be compared to Sun Mo!

  Why didn’t Grandmaster Fang mind the fact that there were other people at the side looking at his spirit rune?

  This was because he was very confident that since he couldn’t decipher it even after ten years of work, the others wouldn’t be able to do so either. So, he wasn’t afraid that they might learn it secretly.

  The truth had proven that he wasn’t wrong. Even when Ancestor Zheng saw it, he wasn’t able to decipher it either. Only Sun Mo could do so and his strength surpassed all of them by an entire era!

  “Ancestor Sun, I have an ancient spirit rune here. Could you please help me decipher it?”

  “I have one as well.”

  “Please allow me to be first. My spirit rune is more mysterious!”

  Everyone vied with each other. For those in this field who could reach the grandmaster level, who among them wouldn’t have a few ancient spirit runes?

  Right now, their thoughts had cleared. Even if they spent a few years or a few decades, they most probably wouldn’t be able to decipher their runes. So, they might as well ask Sun Mo for help.

  As for being worried that Sun Mo might learn their runes secretly?

  Sorry, what they should be worrying now was what they should do if Sun Mo refused to decipher the runes for them.

  Besides, if he really wanted to earn money, he could solely depend on his Skyward Spirit Rune and easily become the top wealthy person in the entire Nine Provinces.

  After all, who in the world wouldn’t want to fly in the sky?

  “Grandmasters, we have delayed the progress of the interviews for quite some time. There are still examinees waiting in line. If you guys have any questions, feel free to write to me. If you are free, you can also come to the Central Province Academy. I will definitely welcome you all with open arms!”

  Sun Mo clasped his fists.

  “Ancestor Sun, it is settled then. After your participation in the Five Empires War Discussion is over, I will pay you a visit!”

  Ancestor Zheng took the initiative to speak.

  The others weren’t willing to appear weak either.

  Liang Hongda was dumbfounded when he saw this scene. He finally cast his gaze onto Ancestor Zheng. (You don’t want your prestige and clout anymore?! Ancestors in the Nine Provinces are people with the highest and most illustrious status. Usually, people were the ones paying visits to them, but you actually want to go and pay a visit to Sun Mo instead?)

  “Ancestor Sun, please!”

  Grandmaster Fang respectfully sent Sun Mo away.

  As for the interview result?

  (Stop joking. How would we have the qualifications to interview Sun Mo?)

  …

  Creak!

  The door opened.

  Swish~ Swish~ Swish~

  The examinees who had grown impatient from waiting immediately turned their gazes over.

  Sun Mo walked out in a calm and composed manner.

  “Next interviewee, Song Yuan!”

  As the name was called out, a middle-aged man pushed the door open and entered. After that, he was stunned and cold sweat immediately drenched his back.

  (What’s going on? I thought there were only five interviewers? Why are there so many people?)

  “Since Ancestor Sun has left, we will bid our farewell too. Please forgive us if we caused a disturbance earlier!”

  The grandmasters all said words like this and left the scene.

  “So these people came to meet Sun Mo!”

  Song Yuan secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

  (Wait a minute, who’s the Ancestor Sun they were referring to? Could he be… Sun Mo?)

  Si~

  (Being able to make so many grandmasters willingly refer to him as an ancestor……what has Sun Mo done exactly?)

  The examinees in the corridor were stunned when they stared at the major characters of the spirit rune world leaving in groups of two and three.

  So many people came for the sake of seeing Sun Mo?

  During dinner time, the news of Sun Mo answering doubts of over 60 grandmaster-level spirit runists soon circulated around.

  After all, there were quite a few working staff on the scene then.

  This news caused many examinees to feel incomparably envious despite their shock.

  (We are all here to take the exam and are so worried, not knowing whether we would pass or fail. But Sun Mo is actually so relaxed to the point where he provides guidance to the grandmaster examiners.)

  Comparing humans to humans was truly infuriating.

  Three days later, the interviews ended and the results were announced.

  For the grandmaster-level spirit runist examination this time around, a total of three people passed!

  According to the standard procedure, after Sun Mo had obtained his grandmaster license, he still had to wait a few more days before the final inspection for his 5-stars qualification could proceed.

  But who told him to have people supporting him from the inside?!

  Liang Hongda completely resolved that for him.

  Including the ‘Teacher for a Day, Father for Life’ halo that was a compulsory halo, Sun Mo activated 15 great teacher halos successfully in one go.

  After that, he received the 5-stars great teacher emblem.

  “Teacher Sun, congratulations!”

  Liang Hongda congratulated Sun Mo.

  “Thanks!”

  Sun Mo held this emblem and felt somewhat excited in his heart. This was because his social status had risen again.

  5-stars great teachers already possessed the authority to select schools. They could join any ‘B’ graded schools they wanted to and even if they wanted to join ‘A’-graded schools, there shouldn’t be a problem.

  The only problem would be the difference in the treatment and benefits they would receive from each respective academy.

  After all, 5-stars weren’t great teachers that the headmaster of an ‘A’-graded school would want to recruit at all costs.

  Naturally, Sun Mo was an exception.

  Even if he wasn’t an ancestor-level spirit runist, just based on his outstanding external appearance, he could still become a celebrity teacher and the ‘billboard guy’ for the school.

  After reaching 6-stars, it would mean that one could casually pick any ‘A’-graded schools they wanted to join. No matter what conditions they requested, those headmasters would do their best to satisfy them.

  However, 6-stars great teachers usually had huge ambitions. They basically wouldn’t choose these schools as they wanted to join the Nine Greats instead.

  It was like in the modern era, everyone wanted to be a public servant. In the Nine Provinces, there were no great teachers who didn’t want to join the Nine Greats. After all, that represented status, glory, and wealth……

  “Rising to the 5-stars rank in a single stretch. You are the first in the Nine Provinces to achieve this!”

  Liang Hongda felt envious. “You’ve just created a record again.”

  “It was all luck!”

  Sun Mo was humbled.

  “How about it? Are you planning to tackle the 6-stars rank as well?”

  Liang Hongda teased.

  “What’s the content of the 6-stars examination this time around?”

  Sun Mo was curious.

  He didn’t know the specific content and only knew the rough format.

  For the 6-stars great teacher examination, because the star rank was too high and the number of examinees was too few, there might not even be one examinee every year.

  Since this was the case, its test period was set at three years. The examinees had to achieve a certain objective, and they would be promoted upon completing it.

  “You know the common rules. That’s to comprehend 18 great teacher halos and have grandmaster-level expertise in two secondary occupations.”

  These were hard conditions that needed to be met or the great teacher wouldn’t even have the qualifications to participate in the 6-stars examination.

  “The current session of the 6-stars exam began at the end of last year. The duration is three years and the content of the exam is to temper oneself in the Prison of Desperation!”

  Liang Hongda bitterly smiled. “Because it is too difficult, not a single examinee is willing to participate even up until now!”

  “The Prison of Desperation?” Sun Mo frowned. “What place is that?”

  “It is a place that only the upper echelons of the Saint Gate would know about. It is located on a tiny island in the Darkness Sea. The prison is a place where all extremely ferocious and evil dark great teachers are detained. For example, the Yin-Yang Child Granny you captured is currently imprisoned there.”

  Liang Hongda revealed everything freely, wanting to do Sun Mo a favor.

  Naturally, given Sun Mo’s identity as a 5-stars great teacher, he was already qualified to know this type of secret.

  “What is the content of the tempering exercise?”

  Sun Mo couldn’t understand. What could being inside a prison test for?

  “To us great teachers, we have to impart the dao, our knowledge, our experiences. We have to teach people to be kind, guiding students on the right path…”

  Liang Hongda’s expression turned solemn as he continued. “If we see people like dark great teachers who have diverged from the correct path, we can naturally just kill them off. But to high star-ranking great teachers, an even higher goal is to make these people turn over a new leaf, converting them from evil to kindness, allowing them to contribute their body and knowledge to others in this world.”

  “…”

  Sun Mo wanted to ridicule. (Isn’t this something monks ought to do?)

  “To put it simply, it is to test the great teacher’s ability to brainwash people!”

  Liang Hongda lowered his voice.

  “Understood!”

  Sun Mo revealed an expression of gratitude in a timely manner.

  “However, Teacher Sun, I will persuade you to stabilize your position first. You should wait two years more to participate in the next session. The 6-stars examination this time around is truly too difficult.”

  Liang Hongda sincerely persuaded Sun Mo.

  In the Prison of Desperation, the evilest great teachers were imprisoned there. Their star rankings weren’t any lower than Sun Mo. Hence, there was a chance that Sun Mo might be the one being brainwashed instead.

  In history, many such situations had happened before.

  “Mn, I will treat this cautiously!”

  Sun Mo nodded. “What should I do if I want to participate?”

  “Go to the Saint Gate first to check your qualifications. After it’s confirmed that you have comprehended enough great teacher halos and two grandmaster-level licenses, the Saint Gate will arrange for a boat to send you to the Prison of Desperation.”

  Liang Hongda felt that Sun Mo might actually choose to challenge it despite his warning. “Without a secret token from the Saint Gate, you won’t be able to enter that place.”

  …

  After eating a meal with Liang Hongda, Sun Mo sat on Little Silver and returned to Chang`an.

  During the meal, Sun Mo had asked why the exam this year was so difficult.

  Liang Hongda’s reply was that the Sect Lord felt that the great teacher exams for the recent tens of years had been too simple and this had caused many people to pass despite them muddling through, allowing them to have a star-rank they didn’t deserve.

  Hence, he had given the order to increase the difficulty of the great teacher examinations at every star-level.

  It wasn’t only for this batch, as long as the Sect Lord was still in power, no one should even dream about ascending to a higher rank easily.

  Although Liang Hongda’s expression didn’t change when he said this, Sun Mo could feel that this fellow was rejoicing secretly.

  Why?

  Because if the Sect Lord did this, he would offend the entire great teacher world.

  Even those major characters who didn’t need to take the exams would be unhappy with him. Because in a great teacher clan, there would surely be great teachers among the junior generations. If the difficulty of the exam was too high and the juniors couldn’t be promoted, it would then be strange if they didn’t hate the Sect Lord.

  Liang Hongda wanted nothing more than for the Sect Lord to offend all these people so he would be forced to resign. After that, Liang Hongda would be able to ascend and become the next Sect Lord.

  Actually, Sun Mo admired the current Sect Lord’s attitude very much. Honestly speaking, the current great teacher world was a very murky one. There were simply too many people having the position without real capabilities.

  Although the tempering exercise in the Prison of Desperation was very difficult, Liang Hongda had also divulged a small secret. If this mission was done well, there would be many benefits.

  All those captured dark great teachers had secret treasures that they had stashed away. Even if they didn’t have them, they still possessed their capabilities. If Sun Mo had the chance to learn a few things from them secretly, it would naturally be very beneficial for his growth.

  For example, some dark alchemists possessed unique pill prescriptions. If Sun Mo could obtain them, he could definitely make huge money.

  Liang Hongda felt that Sun Mo had an innate advantage because those dark great teachers would surely be interrogated with torture. Meanwhile, Sun Mo’s ancient dragon capturing hands could cure all injuries. If he used that as a bargaining chip, he would be able to gain a wave of benefits.

  Sun Mo felt that it was possible. Hence, he began to seriously plan.

  The Prison of Desperation was a forbidden ground. Without a special reason, no one would be able to enter it. If it wasn’t for the sake of the examination, Sun Mo wouldn’t have had the opportunity to visit. So, now that there was an opportunity, he felt like he had to grab it.

  …

  Chang`an, Imperial Palace.

  “Teacher, have you passed?”

  After Lu Zhiruo knew that Sun Mo had returned, she immediately rushed over and hugged his arm. Her eyes also shone like the bright stars in the sky.

  “Yes!”

  Sun Mo rubbed the lucky mascot’s head.

  “Congratulations, Teacher!”

  All the other students who rushed here congratulated him in unison upon hearing this.

  …

  Very soon, Han Cangshui also learned of this matter because after the lower-ranking eunuch reported this matter to the Emperor, Li Yingqi gave Sun Mo another set of rewards.

  “Isn’t he just a 5-stars? I’m an 8-stars, alright?”

  The princes and princesses that were currently listening to his class didn’t express any change in expression. However, they all privately felt that Teacher Han’s words were laced with extreme jealousy.

  (Yes, you are an 8-stars, but what rank did you have when you were 25 years old?)

  (Moreover, Sun Mo is someone who rose to 5-stars in a single stretch, he is a person that created history!)

  However, although Sun Mo might be strong, they had never considered him being their team leader. After all, he was too young and if they really wanted to win the Five Empires War Discussion, they still had to rely on an 8-stars great teacher with high prestige like Han Cangshui.

  Another half a month passed. The prince group of Great Tang formally set off and headed to the Qi Country’s Capital, Western Jing, to participate in the Five Empires War Discussion!