Chapter 411: I Became Stronger Again, but I Have Yet to Go Bald!
Sun Mo planned to look for Lu Zhiruo. However, after he left his residence, he only took a few steps and already saw the papaya girl sitting under a ginkgo tree at the roadside. She was currently in a daze.
“What are you doing?”
Sun Mo was surprised.
Lu Zhiruo stood up in shock after she suddenly heard Sun Mo’s voice. “Teacher, I...I...”
“What’s the matter?”
Although the papaya girl didn’t say the reason, he had guessed it.
An Xinhui had given the students seven days off. However, the papaya girl felt bored and wanted to look for him to stay together, yet she was also worried that she might disturb his rest. Hence, she fell into a daze here.
“Come with me!”
Sun Mo turned and returned to his villa. “In the future, just come in directly when you are here. Don’t wait foolishly outside!”
“Hehe!”
The papaya girl rose, she swatted the gra.s.s on her b.u.m away and jogged over. She then hugged Sun Mo’s arm in pa.s.sing and revealed a sweet smile.
“Teacher is so good to me!”
Lu Zhiruo entered the house and earnestly helped Sun Mo take off his outer coat and change into his in-door slippers. She was so busy that she was like a little bee.
“Follow me!”
Sun Mo went to the back garden instead of the bedroom. After all, Dong He and Gu Xiuxun were present in the villa, and he didn’t want anyone to see him opening the treasure chests. However, if he brought a female student into his bedroom, it would affect Lu Zhiruo’s reputation. Hence, he could only make do with the back garden.
“Oh!”
The papaya girl obediently followed beside him.
Sun Mo patted her head and mentally spoke, “System, open the diamond treasure chest first as a warm-up.”
A clicking sound rang out as a blinding white light flashed. After that, an item glowing with green light floated before him.
“Skill book?”
Sun Mo’s eyes brightened.
Ding!
“Congratulations on obtaining the skill book ‘Landscape Painting Technique’, a branch of the traditional painting technique. Proficiency level: Elementary-grade.”
The system congratulated him in an emotionless voice.
“Why is it a skill book right off the bat?”
Sun Mo was a little worried that he might have used up all his good luck today.
Although opening a skill book was something good, what was the point of a landscape painting technique?
Sun Mo didn’t plan to become a grandmaster artist. He had only managed to put his painting techniques to good use when he drew some pictures for [Journey to the West] and a portrait of Lu Zhiruo after she went missing.
“Can it really be useful?”
Sun Mo felt doubtful.
“Please, you are a teacher. Have you never heard of the saying before? ‘Having many skills wouldn’t be a burden to you.’”
The system admonished him.
“Even if I went to set up a stall at the bridge to draw every day, everyone would only want portraits of themselves. Have you seen people wanting to purchase landscape paintings?”
Sun Mo naturally knew that having many skills wasn’t bad. But there was no ample scope for this ‘skill’ to be applied.
(Even if I learned the landscape painting technique, there’s no beautiful girl to be a model for me!)
(Wait!)
Sun Mo discovered that he might be mistaken. (There are so many brothels in Jinling. Why would I need this s.h.i.+tty painting technique? As long as there’s love, no, as long as I have money, I can be high any time I want to!)
“My instinct is telling me you are thinking of very dirty things now!”
Sun Mo felt that Sun Mo was very impure.
“Reproduction is what all lifeforms are meant to do. Have you not seen countries advocating couples to give birth more? How can this type of thing be shameless?”
Sun Mo rolled his eyes. “It’s your heart that’s dirty!”
“...”
The system cursed him in its heart and really wanted to shout some vulgarities.
“Alright, let’s learn it!”
Sun Mo urged.
A moment later, the skill book transformed into flowing light and entered Sun Mo’s forehead. Pictures of the vast expanse of land, mountains, lakes, and rivers immediately appeared in his mind.
Sun Mo involuntarily moved his hands. He felt that he would be able to draw all of these vividly.
Ding!
“Congratulations on mastering the elementary-grade Landscape Painting Technique. Please continue to work hard.”
Sun Mo suddenly felt an impulse to draw something now, but he managed to suppress it. “Let’s open a treasure chest, the diamond-level one!”
A few seconds later, a thick skill book floated before his eyes.
“Nice!”
Sun Mo couldn’t help but snap his fingers. (This tempo seems as though I’m about to strike it rich!)
Ding!
“Congratulations on obtaining [Mid-tier Spirit Rune Knowledge Encyclopedia]. It’s at the elementary-grade, do you want to learn it?”
“If I don’t learn it now, should I wait for next year?”
Sun Mo urged. “Hurry up!”
“Sorry, because your Basic-tier Spirit Rune Knowledge is only at the expert-grade, you temporarily have no way to learn this skill book!”
The system reported.
“...”
Sun Mo felt like beating someone up.
“For all kinds of subjects, you have to learn the simple concepts first and then the difficult ones. This is like mathematics. If you don’t even understand the basic plus minus multiplication and division, how would you understand calculus?”
The system explained.
“Stop talking nonsense. How can I learn this skill book?”
Sun Mo asked.
“Your basic knowledge must be upgraded to the grandmaster-grade first!”
The system explained.
Sun Mo thought of the time emblems he had just used and felt heartache. Forget it, luckily he managed to gain quite a lot of favorable impression points during this compet.i.tion. He was able to afford to waste a few.
“I’ll purchase a 1x time emblem.”
Very soon, after the green light enveloped Sun Mo, his basic-tier spirit rune knowledge was upgraded to the grandmaster-grade.
“It should work now, right?”
Sun Mo scratched his hair.
“Yup!”
As the system’s voice faded, the skill book was used. Vast amounts of knowledge immediately flooded into Sun Mo’s neurons. Given the current development state of his brain region, he felt a headache.
The amount of knowledge wasn’t only vast, but it was very deep as well. Hence, it wasn’t easy to understand.
One must know that for a spirit rune master of ordinary apt.i.tude, if they wanted to master mid-tier spirit rune knowledge and use it proficiently, they would need to spend at least seven to eight years of learning.
Sun Mo didn’t continue to open more treasure chests. Instead, he cast an Encyclopedic Knowledge halo on himself and leaned on the chair as he worked hard to digest and understand this knowledge, matching them with the knowledge he already knew. He was making the new knowledge thoroughly his.
Upon seeing this scene, the system sighed emotionally.
All the hosts of the past thought that they had obtained everything because they had the system. After that, they started to get lazy and completely gave up on hard work, only wanting to enjoy things. In the end, this led to them crumbling in the midst of the journey. All of them died. They didn’t even manage to make it past the ‘beginner-stage missions’ given by the system. There was no need to speak about epic missions.
However, Sun Mo was different. This fellow had always treated the system like a computer-like tool. (You can bring me convenience, but you definitely won’t become the foundation I depend on. You won’t become so important that I cannot continue to live on even if I lose you.)
Upon thinking of this, the system suddenly felt a little disappointed.
Since Sun Mo didn’t speak, Lu Zhiruo naturally wouldn’t disturb him. In any case, the papaya girl would feel satisfied just by looking at her teacher.
Hence, Lu Zhiruo sat at the side and propped her chin up with her hands, observing Sun Mo.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Lu Zhiruo +100. Reverence (22,100/100,000).
Gu Xiuxun finished bathing and came over, wanting to greet Sun Mo and thank him for his hospitality. But after seeing that he had his eyes closed in meditation, she decided to leave.
(I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel that Sun Mo has gotten stronger.”)
Gu Xiuxun had a puzzled look in her eyes. The aura Sun Mo exuded when he was in deep contemplation made him seem like a scholar.
Five hours later.
Ding!
Congratulations on mastering the mid-tier spirit rune knowledge. Because of your hard work, the proficiency-level of this skill has been upgraded to the good-grade. Please continue to work hard.”
Sun Mo glanced at the sky and discovered that it was already evening.
“Continue to open the chests.”
Sun Mo saw that the papaya girl was sitting at the side. Her head was drooping, and she was currently napping. He was unable to restrain a smile on his face and gently stroked her hair.
The third diamond chest was opened.
Ding!
“Congratulations on obtaining a part of the [Darkness Continent Great Plants Encyclopedia]. There’s information on 3,000 species. Proficiency level: expert-grade!”
Sun Mo wanted to stay calm, but his lips already curled into a smile.
This time around, it wasn’t just a skill book, and it was very practical. He had benefited immensely!
“What day is today? The papaya girl’s luck is blasting out with full force!”
Sun Mo stood up and called out to Lu Zhiruo. “Let’s go and have dinner!”
There was still the most precious limited-edition mystery treasure chest, but Sun Mo didn’t dare to open anymore. After all, he had opened up so much good stuff. According to the law of probability, what he opened next would be trash.
The maid Dong He was proficient in zither and chess, and she was also knowledgeable when it came to books, painting, the way of the tea, and flower arrangement. In fact, she even knew how to serve a man well. However, her cooking skill was sub-par.
After all, a maid of Dong He’s level wouldn’t be sent to the kitchen. Hence, Sun Mo brought Lu Zhiruo to the school’s canteen to eat.
After that, the two of them took a stroll and sat at the Sorrowless Lakeside to admire the night view.
“Let’s open the treasure chest. Set the category to ‘great teacher halo’!”
Sun Mo drew in a deep breath, hoping that a rare great teacher halo would be opened up by him.
A clicking sound rang out amidst purple light. A skill book was then left behind with two blazing words in gold.
“Model Teacher?”
Sun Mo blinked his eyes. The name of this great teacher halo sounded so magnificent.
“Congratulations on obtaining ‘Model Teacher’. After comprehending this halo, once you cast it, your charisma would improve. Students would unconsciously feel a natural sense of closeness to you and take you as their role model.
“You can strengthen your impression. For example, those boisterous students would become composed and studious during lectures, and those interacting with you would feel a sense of amiability. You will sound even more imposing when you are lecturing students!
“To weak-willed people, the effect is even stronger!
“In any case, after mastering Model Teacher, your demeanor and image will be upgraded by one tier and would suit whatever situation you are in!”
The system explained.
“Good stuff!”
Sun Mo’s tears covered his face. Wasn’t this simply a G.o.dly skill that +1 his charisma? With this, his social skills would immediately rise a level.
For the most practical usage, the probability of him successfully getting a girl’s number on the streets would be much higher. Even if he failed, he wouldn’t be slapped!