Chapter 585: Finals
“I understand!”
Gu Xiuxun patted Li Ruolan’s shoulder, sharing her sentiments.
Li Ruolan turned her head and looked toward the m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t, unable to hold back and asked,
“Are all the youngsters these days so ferocious?”
The waves weren’t just slamming their predecessors to the beach, but they were going to wash the entire beach away!
“It’s because Ziqi is smart and talented. Of course, Sun Mo’s guidance is very amazing as well!”
Gu Xiuxun sighed for not being as good in comparison.
Li Ruolan nodded. She had no doubt about this point. No matter how good the student’s apt.i.tude was, if their teacher was a fool, it’d only waste the student’s talent.
The results erupted by the combination of outstanding students and teachers would be several times better.
“It seems like Sun Mo deserves a series of feature stories about him.”
Li Ruolan thought about it. She wanted to summarize Sun Mo’s successful experience and see if there was any possibility of duplicating the effects and spreading it to others. If that was possible, it’d be a tremendous contribution to the great teacher world.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Li Ruolan +300. Friendly (500/1,000).
“Teacher Sun, what’s the name of the poem you read out loud?”
Mei Ziyu asked in a soft voice. After she asked this, she saw that other people also looked over, and she instantly felt a little nervous. She was still not good at interacting with strangers.
If it wasn’t because she was too surprised and wanted to take a closer look at Li Ziqi, Mei Ziyu wouldn’t have shown herself.
“That’s right, what is its name?”
Li Ruolan’s gaze lit up again. “It’s too beautiful and has such a good state. ‘A day with gusty winds shall come to help cleave through the waves, for me to make full sail and navigate to an open boundless sea.’ It’s really well said!”
“I liked the line ‘Yet, in the face of such a feast, I could not bring myself to taste, with wrath, I draw my sword and look around, feeling completely at a loss.’”
Mei Ziyu chipped in.
“It’s called [Trying Journey].”
Sun Mo couldn’t help but throw a glance at Mei Ziyu. If he were to use poetry to a.s.sess her, she was really a pessimist to like such sad things. She wasn’t like Li Ruolan who was outgoing, pa.s.sionate, and filled with hope toward life.
Although he didn’t like how this paparazzi female reporter kept on pestering him, Sun Mo had to admit that her smile was very influential.
She was like a female lead from those inspiring films, always suns.h.i.+ne and full of vigor, not defeated by setbacks.
“Xiuxun, which line do you like?”
Sun Mo felt curious.
“Frozen is the Yellow River when I wish to cross it, enshrouded in snow is the sky when I wish to climb Taihang Mountain.”
Gu Xiuxun gave a reply without any hesitation.
“...”
Sun Mo looked at Gu Xiuxun, really feeling speechless. (It’s been verified, you’re really a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t.)
“Who’s the one who wrote it?”
Li Ruolan frowned. (I’m a talented lady who has read many books since young, but why haven’t I heard of this poetry before?)
“I heard it at a teahouse outside a mountain when I was traveling. The shop owner said that it was written by a wine immortal who liked to dress in white clothing!”
Sun Mo thought to himself. (If I were to be a little more shameless, I’d be able to obtain the great reputation of a poetry immortal, right?)
“White clothing? Wine immortal?”
Li Ruolan frowned and continued to ask, “Where is that teahouse?”
The sharp senses of the female paparazzi told her that she had probably encountered another big news.
“Teacher was the one who came up with it, right?”
Li Ziqi guessed, propping close to Li Ziqi’s ears and whispering.
“It must be. Teacher is always like this, not caring for reputation.”
The little sunny egg felt that her teacher was too modest. It was like how he never boasted about his drawing skills or his calligraphy, or just like when he had taken Ma Zhang in as his personal disciple.
Sun Mo only said that he knew the study of spirit runes, art of spiritual beast control, as well as botany. However, he didn’t say that he was a famous artist.
Sun Mo was a famous artist who had created five famous paintings of the Wondrous Blossom level. In the art world, he’d be considered a high-producing artist.
Of course, as it wasn’t considered mainstream enough, famous artists didn’t enjoy a high status in the great teacher world. However, if this famous artist had G.o.d Hands and was a rising new star, things would be different. It’d just make him look more brilliant.
Other people could spend their entire lifetime drawing but not reach the Wondrous Blossom level. However, Sun Mo taught in school on a daily basis, occasionally drawing for leisure but easily producing famous paintings...
How much stronger was his apt.i.tude compared to others?
“Anyway, Teacher is the best!”
Ying Baiwu cracked her knuckles. She’d crush the head of anyone who had objections.
“That’s right!”
The papaya girl nodded.
“I concur!”
Li Ziqi smiled.
“...”
Jiang Leng and Tantai Yutang looked at these three fangirls, deciding not to say anything bad about their teacher in the future. Even if they did, they’d stay far away from these three while doing so.
The three martial sisters spoke amongst themselves. Although their voices weren’t loud, Mei Ziyu had a good sense of hearing, let alone the female paparazzi.
Their ears twitched and they wore a “so that’s it” kind of expression.
As for Gu Xiuxun, she remained very calm because Sun Mo was a great talent in both calligraphy and drawing! She had witnessed it herself.
“Oh my, when I’m free, I must get Sun Mo to paint me a portrait!”
Gu Xiuxun glanced at Mei Ziyu and Li Ruolan. (I’m sorry, this time around, I’m first.)
“Let’s go back and watch the compet.i.tion!”
Sun Mo had only taken a few steps when Lu Zhiruo came running over, hugging his arm.
The mouth of Ying Baiwu, who was following behind, twitched.
Sun Mo had just returned to the resting area when the system’s notification rang out.
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve guided your students and resolved their problems, enlightening them and allowing them to comprehend a great teacher halo. You’ve completed a great teacher feat. You are specially rewarded with one great teacher emblem and one mysterious treasure chest!”
Ding!
“Congratulations, your personal disciple Li Ziqi has comprehended three great teacher halos and can be called a great teacher now. This is all because of your great teaching and so you’ve completed the achievement ‘nurturing a great teacher student’. You’re rewarded with a mysterious treasure chest.”
“Note: As Li Ziqi is only 14 years old and the results she has obtained are extraordinary, you’re rewarded with an additional reward of one mysterious treasure chest!”
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve received over 10,000 favorable impression points in one go, completing the achievement ‘a great teacher’s charm’. You’re rewarded with one mysterious treasure chest!”
The system congratulated and offered three rewards in one go. Moreover, they were all extremely luxurious.
“Did I manage to get a nest of mysterious treasure chests? I was given four in one go?”
Sun Mo was surprised. “There’s no scheme to this, is there?”
“I’ll say it again, the system’s ratings are definitely fair, just, and open, ugh, cancel off the open!”
The system explained.
“...”
Sun Mo thought to himself. (I don’t ever believe in this. Otherwise, why is it that I have never won a lottery before?)
“These peak-grade rewards are what you deserved. But I have to admit that I’m surprised by how outstanding you are.”
It was rare for the system to be praising Sun Mo.
A new round of the compet.i.tion had started. Gu Xiuxun wasn’t lucky and encountered Xiao Li, the person who had his arm broken by Sun Mo.
He was now at the Longevity Realm and there was no chance for Gu Xiuxun to win. Therefore, after a few moves, the m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t surrendered.
Her focus was placed on the next round, the battle between personal disciples.
In comparison, Sun Mo’s luck was good. As his opponent had a drawn-out battle in the previous round, he had suffered heavy injuries and had yet to recover from them.
He wanted to fight it out if his opponent was in a similar state as him, but when he saw Sun Mo, he surrendered decisively.
Sun Mo advanced without doing anything.
Of course, some examinees were also ‘lucky’ like Sun Mo. After all, under such high intensity and closely-packed battles, only the elites amongst the elites would be able to maintain at least 80% of their battle prowess.
As the last round of the ordinary battles came, there were even more people who gave up.
It was because they were sure to advance to the next round given their current achievements. Even if they continued fighting, they’d just damage their bodies and there was no way that they’d be able to get better rankings.
After all, geniuses like Xiao Li, Bai Shuang, Shan s.h.i.+, and Liu Mubai weren’t easy opponents.
The top 12 examinees from the two groups were decided. There’d be a duel amongst the geniuses tomorrow.
In order to let the examinees have sufficient time to rest, they’d only go through one round of compet.i.tion every day.
The morning sun gradually rose and the Westmountain City’s air emitted a scorching aura.
There was half an hour before the battle started, but the spectator stand was already two-thirds filled.
To ensure fairness, lots would be drawn every round to ascertain one’s opponent.
Xiao Li, who was in the Longevity Realm and from the first group, was the opponent that examinees wanted to encounter the least. However, those who could reach this far were those with a firm mind and they wouldn’t intentionally avoid a Longevity Realm opponent. It would be too low-cla.s.s for them to do that.
“Teacher Sun!”
Mei Ziyu greeted Sun Mo. She had successfully gotten into the top 12 from the first group.
“Teacher Mei!”
Sun Mo felt a little troubled as Bai Shuang was standing not far away, staring at him. Even a blind man would be able to tell that she wanted to fight it out with him.
As the time hit 8 o’clock, Liang Hongda went up the platform.
“Next, we’ll be drawing lots!”
This job didn’t usually need a Vice Sect Lord to carry out, but Liang Hongda hoped to take this opportunity to have more interactions with the partic.i.p.ants, making his existence stronger. Therefore, he replaced Tong Yiming.
“Ladies first?”
Sun Mo put up an inviting gesture.
“Thank you!”
Mei Ziyu was the first to go up to draw lots. She drew number one.
“Teacher Sun, you first!”
Fang Wuji said humbly.
“Teacher Sun, please!”
Xiao Li also did the same.
“I won’t stand on ceremony then!”
When Sun Mo walked to the wooden box with the numbers, the entire battle dojo fell silent. Over 30,000 people waited quietly.
“This Sun Mo’s influence is so great!”
“He is a famous one after all!”
“If Sun Mo were to come out in first place, his popularity will definitely shoot through the roof !”
The examinees felt very envious. Which one of them didn’t want to become a renowned great teacher?
Sun Mo took out a wooden ball that was the size of a fist from the box, clenching it and opening it. There was a ball the size of a grape inside, having a number written on it with a brush.
“Sun Mo, number 12!”
Swoos.h.!.+
The spectators’ gazes immediately turned toward Mei Ziyu. Based on the rules, number 1 will be up against number 12, number 2 will be up against number 11, and so on and so forth.
“There’s no doubt anymore! Sun Mo will definitely win!”
“That might not be the case. Although that girl looks weak, she managed to win every round easily.”
“Anyway, this round will definitely not be exciting.”
The spectators were very disappointed. They wanted to see Sun Mo going up against Bai Shuang. After all, the bet the two of them had with each other had spread far and wide.
“Hehe, I’ll be congratulating Teacher Mei first.”
The major characters on the judges’ stand all offered Mei Yazhi their congratulations. The audience knew nothing, but they did. Mei Ziyu’s apt.i.tude could definitely get her into the top three amongst people of the same age as her.
The reason she was unknown to the public was because she was sick. However, she shouldn’t have any problems winning against Sun Mo.