Translator: Lordbluefire
AGT 1273 – An Invention That Shocked the Entire Weaponsmithing World!
The results were published.
Luo Pei, who already knew his score, intentionally ordered a bowl of porridge near the school to waste some time. He only entered after he saw many people looking at the results.
“There should be many people casting looks of envy toward me later, right?”
Luo Pei was extremely complacent, and his lips were curled in satisfaction.
(As expected, I’m truly impressive!)
(Sun Mo?)
(Who is he?)
(As long as he comes, I can crush him with a single hand!)
Luo Pei’s ego swelled. He felt that no matter how strong Sun Mo was, he would at most score the same mark as him. They were on the same starting point, or so he thought.
As expected, when Luo Pei walked to the front of the teaching building, before he could get close to the announcement board, the people there immediately surrounded him.
“Teacher Luo, congratulations on getting full marks!”
“Your results are truly impressive!”
“Lbelieve that the date of becoming an ancestor is just a stone’s throw away for Teacher Luo!”
Everyone here started to praise and fawn on him, especially so for those who had a chance to pass. They were all trying to build their networks as they were from the same batch.
Luo Pei perfunctorily replied. After that, he wanted to take a look at Sun Mo’s results but there were too many people and he wasn’t able to get close. Hence, he could only ask others.
“Everyone, how’s Teacher Sun’s results?”
Swish~
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Luo Pei’s heart thumped as joy appeared on his face. “Why? He didn’t do well?”
“He also scored full marks!”
Everyone felt somewhat embarrassed. After all, they had fawned so much on Luo Pei that his ego soared to the sky, but in the end, there was someone better than him, hence the feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment.
“Eh!”
Luo Pei was so angry that he wanted to beat someone up. (He actually scored full marks as well? Why are you guys so quiet all of a sudden? You guys made me happy for nothing!)
Luo Pei became unhappy and was preparing to leave. But when he turned his head, he saw that there was an old man standing near the announcement board. He was currently closing his eyes in meditation.
“Eh? Isn’t he Ancestor Chao Cuo?”
Pei Luo’s spirits stirred and wanted to go over to greet him. But after he took two steps, he suddenly halted.
He didn’t dare to do so!
(What if Ancestor Chao Cuo is currently contemplating a question and I carelessly interrupt his thoughts. Wouldn’t I offend him then?)
Luo Pei’s worry was logical. When juniors met seniors, their emotions were usually one of nervousness and trepidation.
Just when Luo Pei was conflicted, Sun Mo arrived.
Everyone was in a commotion and immediately gathered over. In the end, only two to three people remained beside Luo Pei, and their expressions showed that they wanted to go over as well.
They didn’t move purely because there were simply too many people around Sun Mo right now. Even if they went, they wouldn’t be able to squeeze their way near him.
“Pui, a bunch of simps!”
Luo Pei didn’t want to look at this. Feeling angry, he prepared to leave. But in the end, he saw Ancestor Chao actually moving hurriedly toward Sun Mo.
“Teacher Sun, can we talk?”
Because there were too many people in the surroundings and to let Sun Mo hear his voice, Chao Cuo used Lingering Sound.
Swish~
Everyone quietened down before hurriedly bowing to greet Chao Cuo. However, when they opened their mouths, they were interrupted by Chao Cuo.
“There’s no need to be so courteous.”
Chao Cuo didn’t care for such civilities.
“You are… 2”
Sun Mo was filled with doubts. This person was clad in great teacher robes, but he didn’t show his star-rank emblem on his chest. However, from the attitudes of the others here, the status of this person couldn’t be low.
“My name is Chao Cuo. I have some status in the weaponsmithing world!”
Chao Cuo reported his origins.
He didn’t want to say that he was an ancestor because it would seem very egoistic. However, he also couldn’t be too submissive, or Sun Mo might feel that he was a salted fish and refused to converse with him.
All of a sudden, Chao Cuo recalled how cautiously he had been living back then. It was only until he became an ancestor did he finally not care about the thoughts of others.
But today, he experienced his feelings of the past once more.
Chao Cuo didn’t have any complaints. First, leaving aside Sun Mo’s far-sighted answers, just his title as the Number One Spirit Runist of the Nine Provinces was already worthy of Chao Cuo being so respectful.
“Well met, Teacher Chao. I wonder what I can do for you?”
Sun Mo had no idea that Chao Cuo was the main examiner.
“Lwish to invite Teacher Sun for a meal while discussing some crucial points when it comes to creating spirit weapons!”
Chao Cuo revealed a kind smile. This was his current research direction.
Hua~
Upon seeing this scene, there was some slight commotion in the crowd. (Isn’t Ancestor Chao being way too polite? Besides, Sun Mo is a newbie that has yet to obtain his grandmaster title. What qualifications does he have to participate in a discussion with Ancestor Chao?)
“I’m not very familiar with that topic!”
Sun Mo’s time was tight, so he didn’t wish to waste it.
“Teacher Sun must be joking. Your answers gave me huge inspiration and allowed me to enter a state of epiphany for three full days, letting me have some small gains. Hence, I decided to thicken my skin and wait here for you because I wish to consult you more detailedly!”
Upon speaking of this, Chao Cuo bowed to thank Sun Mo for his help.
Wow!
Everyone was shocked; no one had expected such a reason.
“Alright then!”
Sun Mo nodded.
“Over here please!”
Chao Cuo immediately led the way.
Luo Pei who witnessed everything was directly dumbstruck. He didn’t expect that Great Ancestor Chao was actually waiting for Sun Mo!
This.
Luo Pei’s heart was filled with complications.
“Loriginally thought that both Teacher Luo and Teacher Sun obtained full marks and should be equal. But from the looks of things, Teacher Sun obtained full marks only because there are only so many marks available!”
An examinee sighed ruefully.
“Wrong. Even for full marks, there’s a disparity between who is superior and inferior. Didn’t you see Ancestor Chao personally running over to meet Sun Mo? Evidently, Teacher Sun’s answers for those subjective questions at the back were too outstanding.”
“That fellow truly doesn’t give anyone a path of survival.”
Luo Pei’s countenance grew increasingly unsightly when he heard the discussion of others.
(No, I mustn’t be discouraged. There’s still the practical combat segment. I still have a chance to turn things around.)
The Saint Gate had chosen the Rock Dragon Academy as the exam venue for the grandmaster weaponsmith examination because this academy was somewhat stronger compared to other academies in this subject. Their facilities were quite comprehensive and well-developed.
They had a total of twelve weaponsmithing chambers, which could allow 36 examinees to take the exam simultaneously.
‘The #7 weaponsmithing chamber was none other than Sun Mo’s exam venue.
“Here are two proposed smithing plans. You guys can choose freely!”
The examiner passed a list to the three of them. However, his gaze still landed on Sun Mo, wanting to know what was his decision.
The other two examinees didn’t speak, and they both were looking at Sun Mo instead.
“I want to create my own product!”
Sun Mo rapidly glanced at the list. Very good, all materials he needed were available.
Truthfully speaking, Sun Mo also had no plans to create a weapon that was too high-end. Otherwise, wouldn’t he suffer a huge advantage if he had to give it to the Saint Gate? This time around, what he wanted to flaunt was the ‘concept’.
‘The examiner’s eyes brightened and couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll await Teacher Sun’s creation with anticipation!”
After he finished speaking, he realized that his attitude was incorrect, and it would make others feel that cheating might be involved. Hence, he coughed twice to mask his previous intent.
Sun Mo didn’t waste words. Under the observance of the examiners, he started to create his weapon after choosing the materials he needed.
An expert only needed a single glance to tell the standard of a weaponsmith when the others created a weapon.
The grade of a product was just a criterion, so the examiners paid more attention to the weaponsmithing capabilities displayed by the examinees.
However, several weaponsmiths had their own private techniques that needed to be kept a secret.
According to the convention, after a body search, the examinees would then enter the weaponsmithing chamber, and they were not permitted to leave during the exam period of three days. Even when it came to eating and shitting, they had to do it in the chamber.
Fortunately, for experts at the Divine Force Realm and above, they would be able to last many days even if they didn’t eat or drink. So, this was just a minor problem.
The crucial point was how they could keep their techniques a secret.
The Saint Gate decreed that when the weaponsmiths were about to commence the crucial steps when smithing their weapons, they could get the examiners to temporarily leave the area.
Because Sun Mo’s answers in the written exam were so good, he naturally became the focus of attention from many examiners. In this case, they used patrolling the area as an excuse and kept going around the no. 7 weaponsmithing chamber, wanting to see Sun Mo’s skill. But soon after they watched,
they no longer wanted to leave.
‘What was Sun Mo doing?
This wasn’t a saber, a spear, a sword, or a halberd. Its shape was incredibly weird.
Could it be an imitation of some darkness secret treasure?
The examinees looked at Chao Cuo but discovered that he was also clueless.
“However, his skill is truly supremely high!”
Sun Mo’s working process was filled with confidence and as smooth as flowing water. It was like a worker who had worked in a factory assembly line for 50 years. He wouldn’t make a mistake even if he closed his eyes.
‘What Sun Mo created was the spirit rune handgun. He then spent an entire day and after finishing the various components, he started to engrave spirit runes on them.
“Teacher Sun, should we wait outside?”
Chao Cuo asked out of politeness as he thought that Sun Mo had forgotten about it.
The other examiners also spoke out, indicating that they ought to step out as well to avoid gossip. However, their eyes were staring at the component in Sun Mo’s hands. They wanted nothing more than to move closer for more detailed observation.
No one wanted to miss such a crucial step.
“There’s no need!”
Sun Mo calmly uttered three words.
Chao Cuo started, after that, he smiled bitterly. (Am I being underestimated?)
Sun Mo meant that they could just watch as much as they liked to. If his secrets were stolen, it would be considered his loss!
Not long later, the spirit runes on the gun were completed.
Boom!
After that, spirit qi gushed forth frenziedly into the spirit runes.
This act from Sun Mo was more than enough to prove that his identity as an ancestor was justifiable.
After that, Sun Mo finished fitting the gun together.
“Beautiful!”
Everyone hadn’t seen a weapon like a handgun before, but this was not important. Just based on the beautiful spirit runes on the exterior, the sharp contours of the weapon, the smell of iron, and the high-quality feeling from the color black, it wasn’t too much to call this a work of art.
Chao Cuo originally wanted to ask what this was.
However, he saw that Sun Mo was still busy and didn’t seem to have finished yet. Hence, he quickly closed his mouth while also glaring at the examiners beside him.
“Everyone get out!”
(Damn, you guys are supposed to patrol and supervise the exam, but you came here instead?)
Ahigher-ranked official could easily suppress the lower-ranked ones. Therefore, the other examiners had no choice. They couldn’t afford to offend Chao Cuo and could only leave.
Two hours later, Sun Mo finally finished creating 15 bullets, and all of them were engraved with spirit runes.
“It’s completed!”
Sun Mo heaved a sigh of relief and took out his pocket watch for a look. A day and a half had passed.
“Teacher Sun, what weapon is this?”
Chao Cuo was impatient and couldn’t help but ask.
“A spirit rune handgun. My invention!”
Sun Mo smiled and plugged the ammunition clip in. “Where can I test the weapon?”
“The experimental station!”
Chao Cuo led the way.
For A-grade schools like this, all of them had specialized experimental stations.
“IL really wish to see the destructive might of that weapon!”
“ai, I failed again. Damn, how would I be in the mood to create a weapon while I am in the same exam venue as Sun Mo? My thoughts are all on admiring his masterpiece!”
Two examinees that were in the weaponsmithing chamber grumbled. In the end, they exchanged a mutual glance and went out the door in unison, heading toward the experimental station.
They decided to give up on the exam.
In any case, they could take the exam again next year, but if they missed out on watching Sun Mo’s test, they probably wouldn’t have a chance to watch it again..
