After Wang Dan came down, Tong Yiming passed the result slip to her.
Zero points!
Wang Dan’s countenance turned pale; that piercing number seemed to have blinded her eyes. In an instant, she felt shame, vexation, and reluctance. All these combined caused tears to fill her eyes.
(I can’t cry!)
Wang Dan reminded herself to endure this.
Ever since she was young until now, she had never obtained such a trash result. In fact, she even felt an impulse to find a tree to hang herself.
“Work hard, there’s another round!”
Tong Yiming sighed softly and spoke in encouragement.
Each student would have the chance to give two lectures. Honestly speaking, they should have three lectures because lecturing to ancient sages was also a type of encouragement to oneself. But because the number of examinees participating in this exam was too great, the Saint Gate could only reduce the number of lectures. If not, they wouldn’t finish taking this exam even after three months.
“Mn!”
Wang Dan bowed and left quickly. She wanted to return to her tent to prepare herself mentally.
“Everyone, don’t panic. Maybe her standard is a little weak!”
The examinees consoled each other. However, very soon later, their faces were smacked.
For the entire day, all examinees scored zero.
“Is the Ancient Sage Rampart damaged?”
The bright moonlight cascaded on everyone’s face, revealing looks of panic and regret. Even the young people, who were planning to shoot to fame after a single attempt, felt so much regret that their intestines turned green.
Pak!
A young great teacher slapped himself.
“Why the hell did I choose to come here to partake in the liveliness?”
It was naturally impossible for the Ancient Sage Rampart to be damaged. Hence, the lectures could continue even if it was nighttime.
The number of examinees was really too much.
Each person had an hour and even if no one rested at night, there would only be 24 people taking the exam each day. The efficiency was very low.
After three days, only three examinees managed to make the Ancient Sage Rampart light up. But the best record was only six beams of light.
The examinees were all feeling dread, while the examiners were complaining to each other.
“What is the point of this exam? To fail everyone?”
“This was the exam venue for 6-stars great teachers. Now that 3-stars great teachers are trying it, I already know what their results will be even if I use my little toe to think!”
“I still feel anticipation for Sun Mo, Zhang Wentao, and Wan Xiulin’s results!”
The examiners felt that only these three people would be able to display their capabilities.
“Don’t you guys regard Sun Mo too highly?”
When Baldy Qian heard this, he was immediately unhappy.
“Sun Mo is very strong and can indeed surpass the majority of his peers. But that’s only it. Zhang Wentao is ranked #100 on the Great Teacher Ranking, and Wan Xiulin is Secondary Saint Zhou’s favorite student. It’s said that his capabilities have reached 5-stars at the very least.”
Baldy Qian asserted. “Sun Mo might be able to pass. But to become the champion? Don’t even think about it.”
“Teacher Qian, don’t state things with so much certainty!”
Mei Yazhi spoke.
“Do you want to make a bet then?”
Baldy Qian sneered.
Mei Yazhi narrowed her eyes.
“Why? You don’t dare to?”
Baldy Qian chortled. “If Sun Mo becomes the champion, I will give you a peerless-grade heaven-tier cultivation art!”
“Old Qian, you are not being honest like that.”
Someone tried to help, but Baldy Qian ignored him.
“Shut up if you don’t dare to compete!”
Baldy Qian was a great teacher from the Skyraise Academy. Although his fame wasn’t as great as Mei Yazhi, he didn’t fear her. And as someone from Secondary Saint Zhou’s faction, he naturally wanted to cast stones now when Sun Mo was at a disadvantage.
“Alright, let’s bet bigger if you want to bet.”
Mei Yazhi went all out. She spoke dominantly, “If I lose, I will give you a saint-tier alchemy pill. If you lose, you have to give me the main cultivation art you are training in!”
Si~
Upon hearing Mei Yazhi’s words, everyone drew in a cold breath of air.
Wasn’t this too ruthless?
Baldy Qian hesitated.
The Mei Clan was a great teacher clan, and they had three ancestor-level alchemists when taking into account those from the elder generations. They also had countless great teachers. This was why although a saint-tier alchemy pill was precious to them, they could still afford it.
On the other hand, Baldy Qian’s main cultivation art was a peerless-grade heaven-tier one known as the Origin Unison Qi. Although it wasn’t saint-tier, its advantage was that one could practice this and master it very quickly.
For those people with ordinary levels of talent, they would gain a passable level of strength after training it for a few years. There was no problem for them to make a living with it.
“Why? You don’t dare anymore?”
Mei Yazhi used his words to taunt him.
“Teacher Mei, don’t be impulsive.”
The great teachers who had a good relationship with Mei Yazhi hurriedly persuaded her. They thought she would clearly lose this bet.
“Since Teacher Mei wants to give me an alchemy pill, I’ll naturally accept it.”
Baldy Qian continued. “Naturally, if Sun Mo becomes the champion, I will give you the Origin Unison Qi.”
Baldy Qian was worried Mei Yazhi would regret things, so he intentionally emphasized the word ‘champion’ heavily.
“Hmph!”
Mei Yazhi turned and left.
“Damn, I didn’t think this woman would be so unyielding!”
Honestly speaking, although this looked like a sure-win bet, Baldy Qian was still very anxious.
This was the difference between people of different origins and temperaments.
Even if Mei Yazhi lost the bet, she wouldn’t lose her bearing.
The surrounding great teachers immediately crowded around.
“Teacher Qian, will you be selling the alchemy pill?”
“If it’s a pill that can help us achieve a breakthrough, I’ll buy it. Don’t worry, I will offer a sky-high price.”
The great teachers all started to express interest.
“We can discuss it, we can discuss it!”
Upon hearing these words, Baldy Qian silently heaved a sigh of relief. (I should be able to win. There’s no problem if Sun Mo wants to pass. But becoming the champion? Do you think Wan Xiulin is useless trash? There’s also another person named Zhang Wentao…. Wait a minute, I think it’s also difficult for Sun Mo to pass. After all, the personal students of these two examinees will be targeting Li Ziqi.)
…
The examinees naturally didn’t know the conflict between examiners. But 50% of them had given up.
It was just too difficult!
Even Zhang Wentao had merely 19 beams of light, and this result was already the best among the examinees who took the test. Besides, he was someone ranked on the Great Teacher Ranking.
This cruel reality caused a huge psychological impact on the examinees.
Right now, the targets of everyone had changed from passing to achieving a beam of light from the rampart. No one wanted to score zero points.
Sun Mo’s opponent, Jiang Zhitong, also went in. He eventually managed to get 9 beams of light.
This caused his expression to become extremely ugly to behold. But when he looked at Sun Mo, he smiled complacently. (No matter how weak my results are, it would still be better than yours!)
It was finally Sun Mo’s turn on the sixth day.
“Sun Mo!”
When Tong Yiming called this name, the entire level fell silent. The examinees resembled weasels stretching their heads out because they wanted to see how Sun Mo looked like.
“Teacher, we are cheering for you!”
The students sent their encouragement.
Sun Mo went up the stairs and entered the lecture room. When he glanced over, he felt a little shocked.
It felt so modern!
It looked kinda similar to the public classroom in his university. There was a rostrum ahead, and the area was segregated into the left, center, and right region, with flights of steps leading down to the rostrum.
Sun Mo glanced below. This place was enough to contain 1,000 people.
“To all sages and seniors, today, I’ll be talking about the study of spirit runes.”
After Sun Mo cast Lingering Sound on himself, he began his lesson.
His trump card, which was the ancient massaging technique, couldn’t be used as the ancient sages didn’t have physical bodies. So, he could only depend on his strongest subject – the study of spirit runes.
Usually, after he finished talking about the simplified spirit runes, he would receive some exclamations. But today, not a single sage appeared.
He could only begin to show the ‘circuit board’ spirit runes.
“This is the Dragon Ball Spirit Rune, and it has the Berserk effect.”
As Sun Mo explained, motes of firefly-like light appeared. When they gathered together, they formed a humanoid figure that also resembled a ball of light.
Sun Mo silently heaved a sigh of relief.
…
At the first level, the examinees were paying attention to the Ancient Sage Rampart.
“There are no lights yet!”
“Can you be more reserved? Only five minutes have passed.”
“Three-time Champion Sun can’t do it either!”
Everyone mumbled to each other and wanted nothing more than for Sun Mo to score zero points. If that was the case, everyone would feel more psychologically balanced, knowing that even someone as amazing as Sun Mo had failed together with them.
Li Ziqi, who was so nervous that she was praying constantly, suddenly saw a beam of light on the Ancient Sage Rampart. After that, she called out happily, “It’s lit up!”
“Teacher is ever victorious!” Lu Zhiruo cheered.
Twenty minutes had passed, and there were a total of nine beams of light.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Wentao smiled confidently while Jiang Zhitong had an ugly look on his face.
Sun Mo’s lecture was only halfway, but the number of ancient sages was already equal to his. This was simply infuriating. And as time passed, more beams of light appeared, but they were very slow.
“Please surpass Zhang Wentao!”
Lu Zhiruo pressed her palms together and piously prayed.
In the public lecture theater, Sun Mo maintained his smile from the start to the end, but his heart was burning with anxiousness. (Do I have to show my trump card?)
The electric board-type spirit runes were something unprecedented in the Nine Provinces and contained an immense amount of ‘killing prowess’. It summoned 15 ancient sages, but that was merely it.
The others didn’t appear because they probably weren’t interested in this subject.
It was just like the Nobel Prize for physics. Other than those from the same industry, no one would be bothered to click on the news even if they saw it. If they had the time, they might as well watch p*rn instead.
“Damn, don’t tell me I have to start making up stories?”
Sun Mo truly felt an impulse to do so.
In order to handle the ancient sages, Sun Mo had prepared his lecture well and set it at the peak of the study of the spirit runes. But clearly, it wasn’t sufficient.
The Skyward Spirit Rune was something that had never appeared in this world. If he took it out, he should be able to summon more ancient sages. But who would dare to guarantee that there were no spies in the surroundings sent by the Saint Gate to monitor things?
This was a spirit rune that could change the entire combat system of the Nine Provinces. Even if Sun Mo was brain-damaged, he wouldn’t talk about it.
Even if there were no spies, he wouldn’t do so.
The lecture ended and the total number of ancient sages was eventually fixed at 19, equal to Zhang Wentao.
The entire level was silent.
There was no need to doubt Sun Mo’s strength. Sharing the first-place with Zhang Wentao was already enough to explain everything.
“Teacher Sun, very good!”
Tong Yiming smiled.
“Is Teacher Tong teasing me?”
Sun Mo bitterly smiled.
“When you come here again for the 6-stars examination, your results will surely be better than now.”
Tong Yiming consoled him.
In the crowd, Zhang Wentao stared at Sun Mo and decided that he would take out his trump cards for his next lecture. In any case, he absolutely couldn’t lose to Sun Mo.
“Damn, why is this Sun Mo so fierce?”
Baldy Qian felt some panic and was wondering whether he should find an excuse to leave the Ancient Sage Building. This was because he couldn’t afford to lose. But when night came, he calmed down again.
In the afternoon, Wan Xiulin had achieved a feat of 38 ancient sages, surpassing Sun Mo and Zhang Wentao by one fold.
“As expected of the favorite student of Secondary Saint Zhou. I’m sure to win this bet now.”
Baldy Qian relaxed. He even was in the mood to drink some wine to celebrate.
The exam continued and a minority of geniuses also started to rise above the others.
Jin Mujie only obtained three beams of light for her first lecture. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to die.
“Sun Mo, I’m done!”
Late at night, Jin Mujie sat beside a bonfire and stared at the moon in the dark sky. She felt an impulse to seek death.
“It’s still not time to give up.”
Sun Mo sat beside her. “Think of your students.”
“Damn, Secondary Saint Zhou is simply inhumane!”
Jin Mujie cursed verbally. After venting, she stared at Sun Mo. “What are you preparing to talk about for the second lecture?”
“Philosophy.”
Sun Mo didn’t conceal it.
“Philosophy?”
Jin Mujie blinked her eyes. (What the hell is that?)
“A new subject!”
Sun Mo smiled. “I feel that if one wants to convince those ancient sages, our lecture has to have some highlights, containing unprecedented things that are worthy of praise.”
Jin Mujie’s eyes brightened.
This starting point wasn’t bad!
Speaking of which, Sun Mo was truly impressive. When she was wallowing in self-pity, he was thinking of how to become number one. His will was truly resolute.
After that, Jin Mujie lay down limply on the grass.
“You can lecture about philosophy, but I cannot.”
Jin Mujie was someone with moral integrity. She didn’t ask Sun Mo what ‘philosophy’ was.
“You can talk about archaeology!” Sun Mo advised.
“Sun Mo, don’t tease me anymore.”
Jin Mujie bitterly smiled.
“I’m not joking.” Sun Mo revealed a serious look. “If you lecture well on archaeology, it’s very promising too. You can analyze the biological reproduction history of the Nine Provinces through the ancient creatures and determine why some species have gone extinct…”
The more Jin Mujie listened, the brighter the glow in her eyes.
(This seems doable!)
“You can even lie, no, imagine…something like Jurassic Era, etc. Maybe… even humans like us are merely puny creatures trapped in a huge cage called the Nine Provinces, but we have no idea.”
Sun Mo spoke frankly with assurance.
To people of the modern era, these concepts were common sense. After all, who hadn’t read fantasy stories or watched fantasy-themed movies before? However, to an aboriginal of this world like Jin Mujie, such a concept would turn her world-view topsy-turvy.
“The Nine Provinces is a huge cage and we are creatures that are reared in an enclosure?”
When Jin Mujie thought of this possibility, she suddenly started shivering as she subconsciously glanced at the sky.
“I’m just giving an example. You can think along the lines of archaeology.”
After Sun Mo finished speaking, he stood up and prepared to return to sleep.
Swish~
Jin Mujie executed a movement art and shuttled before Sun Mo and grabbed his arm. “Talk to me more about this!”
“…”
Sun Mo was speechless.
“I’m begging you, Sun-laoshi!”
Jin Mujie acted coquettishly.
It’s over… Sun Mo truly couldn’t withstand this. After all, Jin Mujie was truly too fair and too huge.
“Alright then!”
Just when Sun Mo wanted to sit down, he was stopped by Jin Mujie.
“Wait a minute, I think we should head to my tent.”
(What if the content of his words are heard by others if he says it here?)
She didn’t give Sun Mo the chance to reject and directly pulled him into her tent.
Li Ziqi, who had finished her homework, exited her tent and was preparing to ask if Sun Mo was hungry or not, so she could prepare supper. In the end, Sun Mo wasn’t present in his tent.
“In Teacher Jin’s tent.”
Qin Yaoguang divulged the secret.
“Ah?”
Li Ziqi was stunned. She then hurriedly asked, “How long has it been?”
“In any case, it’s enough time to get pregnant with a kid.”
Qin Yaoguang mentally mused. (Maybe two.)
