“Still add salt?” Li Ziqi rolled her eyes. “Are you a devil?” (What loaches? Do the loaches of your house know how to spit water arrows?)
Sun Mo wanted to ridicule him but then realized something. (Wait, this place is the Darkness Continent. Maybe loaches do spit water arrows here.) “Ah? It’s a little loach. Don’t catch it!” Lu Zhiruo hurriedly ran to the side of the pool and earnestly implored Xuanyuan Po, “Don’t frighten it!”
Huala~
Xuanyuan Po came out from the water and had an unkind look on his face. He kept turning his head to look for the loach, a red mark on his face. Evidently, the loach’s tail must have smacked him earlier.
*SFX* squishing sounds~ The loach jumped onto the shore next to Ying Baiwu and crawled toward the papaya girl. “Little loachie!”
The papaya girl checked the loach. After discovering it was uninjured, she heaved a sigh of relief.
Jiji
The loach let out a bizarre sound toward Xuanyuan Po. “Little Po, it is mocking you. I feel you should slice it in two. We will steam a portion of it and braise the other!”
Tantai Yutang ridiculed. After all, there weren’t many chances to watch Xuanyuan Po at a disadvantage. “What’s going on?”
Sun Mo frowned.
Li Ziqi hurriedly explained. Because Sun Mo was her teacher, the little sunny egg didn’t dare to conceal anything and revealed the fact that the loach was bought at the cost of one spirit stone. “One spirit stone? You guys really know how to waste money!” Tantai Yutang shook his head. “Teacher, please punish me!”
Lu Zhiruo lowered her head. “But please don’t eat little loachie…”
Jiji
The loach was like a snake. Its body curled around the papaya girl’s arm as it bared its teeth at Sun Mo. Evidently. It wanted to protect the papaya girl. “Why would I punish you?” Sun Mo waved his hands, indicating that the three girls could go and play. What could buying a loach count for? When Sun Mo was a teacher in high school back in his world, he had heard too many strange things that little girls would buy.
When they were young, they would buy many expensive make-up products. This was still considered nothing. Some crazier ones would even have plastic surgery when they were still very young. Comparing the papaya girl to them, buying a loach for a spirit stone might be a little extravagant, but she did so in order to save it. It would be great if this loach was like the white snake in the eastern fantasy story, returning in the future in the guise of a human to repay the papaya girl for saving its life. Sigh, ever since he came to the Nine Provinces of Middle-Earth, he couldn’t even watch a movie. But there were indeed many benefits to this place. If one cultivated to the extreme end, they could soar through the air, tunnel through the earth, shift mountains, and even overturn seas. Such might was something even the peak-tier special effects movie groups wouldn’t be able to replicate. Sun Mo tossed a giant medicine packet into the water.
Jiang Leng and Tantai Yutang immediately sat upright and still. They began to soak themselves, not wanting to waste any spirit qi essence.
The water giant appeared. Xuanyuan Po then roared and was the first to rush over.
Bang!
Two fists collided, and the warm spirit qi spread out, enveloping the combat addict, causing him to almost moan in enjoyment due to how comfortable he felt. “It’s really too comfortable!” Tantai Yutang could no longer endure it. He also shouted and seemed as though he really wished to die in this pool. When the three students crushed the water giant, Sun Mo immediately instructed, “Tantai, lie down. I will give you a massage.”
“Thank you, teacher!”
Tantai Yutang had a mischievous smile on his face. He seemed unconcerned, but he was a little moved in his heart.
Ding! Favorable impression points from Tantai Yutang +100. Friendly (640/1,000). The genie appeared. When it saw the weak body of the sickly invalid, it spat out a mouthful of saliva and stretched its index fingers and thumbs in contempt, proceeding to use them to massage Tantai Yutang.
Sun Mo was speechless. (Don’t you discriminate against people a little too much?) When it came to Xuanyuan Po’s turn, the genie directly went all-out. Both its hands moved up and down flexibly in a ‘soft’ manner as he ravaged Xuanyuan Po “Damn!”
Xuanyuan Po jumped up and directly fought against the genie. “Jiang Leng, do you want to learn the Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands?” Sun Mo couldn’t bear it anymore. The sight of this scene was such an eyesore. “Can I?”
Jiang Leng had a look of joy on his face. “You are my student, so why not?”
Sun Mo counter-asked.
Jiang Leng wasn’t as ignorant as Ying Baiwu. He knew that even among personal disciples, some would be closer to the teacher and some wouldn’t. A student like him was destined to have no future, so how could he be compared to Ying Baiwu who had a boundless one? Their teacher’s Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands was absolutely a saint-tier dark secret art and was priceless… Yet, he was willing to teach it to him…
Ding! Favorable impression points from Jiang Leng +100. Friendly (650/1,000). “Stop talking nonsense, quickly come over!” Sun Mo decided that in the future, he would only give female students and beautiful teachers massages. As for male students, who cares~
After dinner, Sun Mo gave personal lessons to his six students and told them to go and rest.
The night was silent.
When morning came, Sun Mo, who was still in a beautiful dream, suddenly woke up due to the notification ringing in his mind. Ding! “Congratulations, your prestige connection with Jin Mujie has risen to the next level. You have obtained the admiration of a great teacher. Hence, you will be rewarded with 1x bronze treasure chest!”
A bronze treasure chest appeared before Sun
Mo.
“Can you not give the reward so early in the morning?” Sun Mo yawned, he still wanted to sleep. The system remained silent, ignoring Sun Mo’s words.
In the camp, there were already sounds of activity. As a teacher, Sun Mo had to lead by example. Hence, even if he still wanted to continue sleeping, this wasn’t the time to do so.
He walked out of his tent and stretched his body. He could already see the majority of students gathering at a location far away from the tents. Most students had woken up. They were either cultivating in meditation, absorbing spirit qi, or practicing their skills. Some even wanted to spar against Xuanyuan Po but were all rejected by him. Upon seeing that Sun Mo had woken up, Li Ziqi, who had been paying attention to his tent, immediately ran over. “Teacher, let me get some water for you. Breakfast will be porridge, baked sesame cakes, and a dish of salted veggies. Is it okay?” Because they were camping out, the food would surely not be as good. “Okay to breakfast, but there’s no need to fetch the water. I will wash by the creek nearby. You should go and cultivate!” Sun Mo had a calm look on his face. It was like he had been accustomed to it. However, he was actually extremely moved in his heart. To have such a beautiful little girl wait for him every day was too good to be true! If this was in modern times, even if the girl was his daughter, he wouldn’t dare to command her like this. But now, Li Ziqi was doing everything with gusto; even Lu Zhiruo and Ying Baiwu seemed disappointed that they weren’t the one taking care of him.
(Oh right, in this era, it’s okay to get a maid to warm my bed. Should I buy a maid?) But when this notion appeared in his mind, Sun Mo immediately discarded it. (No way, I’m a cultured man!)
Sun Mo’s thoughts wandered as he touched Lu Zhiruo’s forehead.
“Open chest!”
A clicking sound rang out as the bronze treasure chest opened. As the glow faded away, a piece of map remained.
Ding! “Congratulations on obtaining a piece of the fragmented map of darkness. Currently, you have 4/5 of the map!”
II
II
In his joy, he also felt a little exasperated. He was only one piece away from getting the full map. However, getting this at such a time did whet his appetite for it.
After breakfast, Jin Mujie did a headcount. She wanted to let the students who showed signs of allergy stay in this place, planning to move out without them.
“Teacher Jin, please let us come with you.”
Some students sobbed and begged. “No. If you guys continue like this, it will only harm you!”
Jin Mujie rejected in an unyielding manner. There was only a road to take if one wanted to leave the hot spring zone. The unqualified students were all gathered and they kept imploring Jin Mujie. The Myriad Daos Academy did indeed want to make things difficult for the Central Province Academy as they chose this exact time to come. “Alright, you guys should return to the zone. We are about to set off. Teacher Pei, you have to take good care of them.” Jin Mujie explained. “Teacher Jin, don’t worry about us!” Pei Yuanli looked at these depressed students and was very unhappy. “What’s that expression on your faces for? Are you sending off the dead? There are hot springs here, what’s so bad about this place?”
Jiji!
Lu Zhiruo heard the loach in her bag calling out urgently. It was also flopping around. Hence, she hurriedly opened her bag. “Little loachie, what’s wrong?”
Lu Zhiruo asked.
Jiji– Jiji~ The loach cried out loudly. It even curled around Lu Zhiruo’s arm and bit the corner of her sleeves, wanting to pull her away. “It wants you to hurry up and leave?” Li Ziqi guessed. “Mn!” The papaya girl nodded. “That’s what it meant. But little loachie, there’s no need to be in such a hurry. We will leave now!” In the next phase of the journey, they would surely encounter spirit-winds. According to the rules of the Darkness Continent, whoever attacked the spirit-wind first would be able to claim ownership of it. Such lifeforms could be used to temper the combat strength of students. Hence, Jin Mujie didn’t intend to spare any of them and immediately announced that they were setting off.
The loach was still calling out loud. Lu Zhiruo could only comfort it. They traveled for roughly three minutes. If they turned their heads, they would still be able to see the steam created by the hot spring zone. At this moment, a spirit qi tide suddenly occurred with no prior warnings.
BOOM!
In an instant, several students in the group cried out in pain. Even some teachers felt discomfort as well.
“Oh no, it’s a spirit qi tide!”
Gu Xiuxun’s expression changed. Also, from the intensity, this spirit qi tide seemed to be that large-scale type that was rare even in the Spiritwind Canyon. “Sit down at where you are now. Concentrate your spirit and calm your qi. If the spirit qi from the spirit qi tide enters your body, immediately purge it.”
Jin Mujie instantly reminded.
When a spirit qi tide came, cultivators were like drowning mortals choking on the water. Even if the cultivators didn’t actively absorb the spirit qi, the powerful spirit pressure would directly send the spirit qi into their bodies, creating spirit qi fluctuations internally. When this occurred, the cultivator must hurriedly absorb them, transforming them into their own spirit qi. If not, if the wild streak of spirit qi wreaked havoc in their bodies, not only would the spirit qi damage their energy channels, blood vessels, and muscles, but the dire effects would be even more serious than spirit pressure allergies. The students immediately followed instructions. But there were a few who coughed up blood and directly fell onto the ground as their bodies convulsed in pain. One of them even fainted instantly.
“Teacher Sun!”
Jin Mujie called out loudly.
“I’m here!”
Sun Mo was currently massaging Tantai Yutang. Upon seeing this, he immediately went over to the fainted student and displayed his circulation technique to help the student operate his spirit qi. “Yi Jiamin, help the student beside you and support him over!” Sun Mo commanded.
Although Yi Jiamin was unhappy being commanded by Sun Mo, he knew this was very urgent. He could only follow the orders. Sun Mo performed his circulation technique with both hands, a hand on each student respectively.
“Things will be fine, right?”
Lu Zhiruo grew nervous. Li Ziqi surveyed the papaya girl and realized she was completely fine. Other than her face being a little pale due to her nervousness, she wasn’t affected at all. Jiang Leng felt some discomfort, but Ying Baiwu was using her newly learned Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands to give him a massage.
Tantai Yutang was suffering the most. However, it wasn’t because he had a spirit pressure allergy. Rather, his body was too weak. If he was stronger, he wouldn’t have such a reaction.
Over at Gu Xiuxun’s side, Zhang Yanzong showed no reaction at all. He was helping Gu Xiuxun aid the other students.
“Teacher, I’m here to help you!”
Li Ziqi observed the situation. She ran toward Sun Mo and in the end, she stumbled over a small rock and staggered, almost falling down.
Hu!
The spirit qi tide suddenly weakened in intensity. The students immediately felt better. “Damn!”
Zhou Shanyi’s expression drastically changed. This was why spirit qi tides were terrifying. They didn’t gust constantly with the same pressure but would gust with differing intensities. It was precisely because of such changes in pressure that they had a huge capability of destroying human bodies. As expected, 30 seconds later, the spirit qi tide suddenly intensified. This sudden impact caused three more students to faint without a sound.
“Bring those who are unconscious back to the hot spring zone!” Jin Mujie instructed. For the hot spring zone, because of its terrain, it was a natural haven that could slightly weaken the intensity of spirit tides. Li Ziqi was doing her best to support a female student. Because she brought along her spirit gathering potted plant, it was a little troublesome. However, this potted plant was one drawn by her teacher for her, and she was truly reluctant to throw it away. “However, human lives are precious. I can wait for the spirit qi tide to abate before coming back to pick it” Li Ziqi made her decision. But when she was about to put the potted plant down, she discovered that the breathing of the girl she was supporting was much smoother now!
“Eh?”
Li Ziqi was startled. What was going on? However, she was an intelligent girl. After thinking a little, she guessed the reason correctly and looked at her spirit gathering potted plant.
The plant in the pot was a ten-thousand leaves luo.
The spirit gathering runes drawn on the leaves were now emitting a faint light. All of them were activated. They were absorbing the spirit qi, purifying it before emitting it out again, letting the spirit pressure around achieve a subtle and wondrous balance. This was the method that plants used to defend against spirit qi tides in nature. Because there were spirit gathering runes drawn on the leaves, the effect was magnified and this was observed by Li Ziqi. The female student who suffered the spirit qi allergy naturally felt much better as the spirit pressure weakened by being near the spirit gathering potted plant. “Zhiruo, Xuanyuan Po, bring your spirit gathering potted plants over to Teacher’s
side!”
Li Ziqi instructed. She then reminded Sun Mo, “Teacher, the spirit gathering potted plants can balance out the spirit pressure.”
“Is this real or fake?”
Yi Jiamin was shocked.
“What?”
Zhang Qianlin started. But after that, a look of comprehension dawned on his face. After all, he had a talent in the field of spirit runes. Hence, he managed to think of the reason.
This time around, Sun Mo would profit a lot!
“Everyone, come over and crowd around the potted plants!” Sun Mo instantly called out. Regardless of their effectiveness, there was nothing wrong with giving this method a try. The perception of the students wasn’t that good. But when the teachers came here, they immediately discovered the effect. The spirit qi around the plants was indeed more stable. “I didn’t expect that it would have such an effect.”
Xia Yuan was marveled. “If the potted plants are the large-types, wouldn’t the effects be even better?”
Zhou Shanyi was amazed. “Being large is just one aspect. The most important thing is for the plants to have as many leaves as possible. Only by doing so would we be able to draw more spirit gathering runes on them!”
Li Ziqi explained. “Teacher Sun, you would be able to profit a lot this time around!” Gu Xiuxun was filled with envy. Once the effect of the spirit gathering potted plants was verified, they would be able to be sold for high prices. They were much more effective compared to normal spirit gathering runes.
On the Darkness Continent, spirit qi tides were one of the greatest safety hazards. But once someone had a spirit gathering potted plant made by Sun Mo, they didn’t need to worry about spirit qi tides so much. Jin Mujie looked at Sun Mo and discovered that he had a calm look on his face. He didn’t seem to care that he had just found a ‘gold mine’ and was doing his best to treat those students with more serious allergies. “He is a good teacher that cherishes students!” Jin Mujie emotionally sighed.
Ding!
Favorable impression from Jin Mujie +30. Friendly (240/1,000). Naturally, it didn’t mean that other teachers didn’t cherish students. Rather, compared to this ‘gold mine’, Sun Mo cared more about the students. This was a very rare quality. When Li Ziqi saw that the situation had stabilized, she heaved a sigh of relief. After that, she furrowed her brows and looked at Lu Zhiruo who was running to and fro to take care of the injured students. That loach had disappeared! “It can’t be. I must be thinking too much!” Li Ziqi had a self-mocking smile on her face.
