Ding! “Mission released. Win the bet against Zhang Hanfu and help the Central Province Academy win the newbie competition. There’ll be a mysterious reward if you succeed!”
“What mysterious reward?”
Sun Mo felt curious.
“It’s a secret!”
The system refused to reply.
“Sun Mo?”
An Xinhui called out again.
“It’s fine, I’ll be with my students. I’ll help them take care of their bodies while I’m at it!”
The other students were looking at Li Ziqi and the group with envy again. Wasn’t it too blissful to be able to enjoy the God Hands’ massage at any time?
“Set off!”
Under An Xinhui’s order, the Central Province Academy’s representative group set off.
They had to head to the Jinling’s suburbs first and go to the Spiritwind City via the teleportation gate. They’d then have to be transported to the White Dew City via the teleportation gate in the Spiritwind City.
The White Dew City was built upon the White Dew Plains. It was the biggest and most majestic infrastructure on the first level of the Darkness Continent. It had a history of over 10,000 years.
Why didn’t they teleport directly to the White Dew City from Jinling, you say? It was because the spirit qi regulations in Middle-Earth’s nine provinces were different from that of the Darkness Continent. Any crystals would wear off extremely quickly in Jinling, so the cost of setting up a teleportation gate was extremely high and not worth it. After all, Jinling City and Spiritwind City were the main routes people would take.
This was like how when a country built railways, they wouldn’t just randomly construct one. They’d consider the traffic flow, shipping quantity, and many other situations.
The teleportation gate from Spiritwind City to White Dew City was opened twice a day. It was jointly guarded by the Saint Gate, as well as the military of the country it was located in.
When cultivators wanted to use the teleportation gate, they’d be put through strict and extensive search. All the belongings they had with them would have to be opened up for checking as well. Once banned goods were found, they’d be confiscated. In serious cases, the cultivators might even be arrested and locked up for a few months. Of course, the various schools’ representatives weren’t subject to this rule. Weapons, spirit stones, spirit diamonds, various medicinal supplies and plants could be brought along by them.
It was because the schools would stand vouch for them. After all, they’d definitely have to prepare a lot of things to participate in the league tournament. They couldn’t possibly buy them all in White Dew City.
In order to assure the students’ condition, some schools might even bring along a tremendous amount of their local products such as spring water, vegetables, and fruits that were imbued with spirit qi.
Jinling City didn’t have any local specialties, well, except for the famous brothels. However, the Central Province Academy couldn’t possibly bring along a group of prostitutes to boost the participants’ morale!
The carriage creaked as it moved on the road.
“It’s said that in the past, when the Central Province Academy set off for the league tournament, many people would come to send them off!”
Li Ziqi looked out of the window and brought up how things had been a grand affair in the past.
“Our school’s popularity isn’t high anymore.”
Tantai Yutang pouted. The rise of the Myriad Daos Academy had taken away some of the Central Province Academy’s popularity.
“With Teacher around, our school will definitely be able to return to the pinnacle!”
Lu Zhiruo swung her small fist then hugged the eight-gate cloud tightly. Little Silver was soft like a marshmallow and it felt comfortable to hug it.
Sun Mo chuckled and patted the papaya girl’s head.
“System, open the treasure chest!”
The bronze treasure chest he had just obtained not long ago opened, leaving behind a lover protection lotion.
“Put it away!”
Sun Mo prepared to close his eyes to rest when the system’s notification rang again.
Ding!
“Congratulations, your prestige connection with Wang Su has risen. You’re rewarded with a bronze treasure chest!”
“Congratulations, your prestige connection with Zhou Sen, Shi Qiao, and Fang Yan has risen. You’re rewarded with three lucky treasure chests. Would you like to combine the three of them into one, upgrading them into a bronze treasure chest?”
“Upgrade!”
After Sun Mo got his affirmation, he then patted Lu Zhiruo’s head again. “Open them
all!”
After the bronze light disappeared, a time emblem and a spring water beauty medicine packet were left behind.
“Level up the Wind King Divine Steps!” Sun Mo gave it some thought then used it up.
Ding!
“Congratulations, your Wind King Divine Steps’ proficiency index has risen to the grandmaster-grade!”
This was an archery technique. The league tournament would be conducted in the wilderness, and there was a high chance that it’d be useful. Therefore, it was good for him to familiarize himself with it beforehand.
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve grasped the Wind King Divine Art, and your proficiency index is above the good-grade but below the expert-grade!”
Sun Mo closed his eyes and quietly studied the Wind King Divine Art, analyzing its advantages and disadvantages.
As there were teleportation gates, the representative group had saved a lot of time and effort. At three in the afternoon, they arrived at the White Dew City.
After coming out of the teleportation hall and standing in the big square, the students looked around curiously. They couldn’t help but take in a few deep breaths.
“The spirit qi here is so dense!” If it wasn’t that this wasn’t the right place for it, Lu Qi really wanted to immediately sit down to meditate. After all, areas with dense spirit qi were greatly beneficial to everyone.
“The teleportation hall’s normal operation would require a tremendous amount of spirit qi, resulting in the dense spirit qi in the air!”
Fan Yao explained, “Furthermore, I have to remind you guys that meditation and cultivation are prohibited on all public facilities and streets. Violators will be expelled!”
“There are so many regulations!”
Xuanyuan Po scratched his head. He was feeling a little impatient.
White Dew City was situated on a plain and there were no forests or mountains. Therefore, it lacked vegetative stretches, but generations of nine provinces’ citizens had excavated stones from underground and built this city.
The long time left great marks on the walls and rock paths, bringing out a rustic and heavy aura.
This White Dew City was like a giant that was weather-worn in travel and was curling up into a ball to rest. It was lonely but powerful!
The representative group stayed in the square for about half an hour. After everyone arrived, they regrouped and set off, heading for the hotel that they had placed a reservation at. This league tournament would go on for about half a month. Although it was only for the ‘D’ Grade schools, all the representatives and logistics members from all 108 schools would add up to over several thousand. The number was huge.
Schools of higher grades, as well as those who were below the ‘D’ Grade, would send people to come and observe the league tournament. If there were people with potential, they’d offer a high price to headhunt them.
With the inclusion of the rich and influential people, the great teachers, and the bored people, the White Dew City would be overcrowded with people every year during this time. The property prices would also rise incessantly.
When An Xinhui arranged for her assistant to make a reservation in a hotel, the Central Province Academy was still having a great financial crisis. Therefore, they eventually booked the hotel in the southern part of the city.
Any city would have areas for rich people and areas for commoners. This was no exception in the modern world.
The southern part of White Dew City was considered the poorest part of the city. The environment was dirty and chaotic, and it wasn’t safe either. Of course, the good thing about it was that the rent was cheap.
Sun Mo had just gotten off the carriage when he noticed someone secretly assessing them. “Headmaster, it’s this place. I’ll go take care of the check-in procedures!”
The assistant came up and reported.
“Isn’t there a better hotel?”
An Xinhui frowned. The environment here wasn’t good. Although they didn’t see any blacksmith stores, she could hear the sound of blacksmithing. It would affect the students’ rest.
“This is the second-best hotel in the southern part of the city.”
The assistant explained. “Why didn’t we place a reservation for the best hotel?”
Zhang Hanfu walked over and questioned.
“There are people with similar circumstances to us and can’t afford the hotels in other areas. Therefore, they chose the best hotel in the southern part of the city. When I arrived, there were no more rooms left.”
The assistant wore an innocent look. (They don’t have any more rooms, so what can I do?) “Then why didn’t you come earlier to place a reservation?”
Zhang Hanfu said this then looked at An Xinhui. “You said that you’ll take full responsibility, but why do things turn out this way? Do you care about the league tournament at all?”
Zhang Hanfu wasn’t going to let go of any opportunity to defame An Xinhui. He started spurted out in the middle of the road.
“Can you not make a ruckus here? You might not find it embarrassing, but I do!”
Jin Mujie couldn’t hold it back anymore. One shouldn’t wash their dirty linen in public, but what was Zhang Hanfu trying to do here? In order to deal a blow to An Xinhui’s influence, he really didn’t care about the method used.
The hotel’s reception quickly noticed the long row of horse carriages in front of the hotel and went to inform their boss.
Very soon, the boss led the attendants out to greet them.
“Headmaster An, Vice-headmaster Zhang, we’ve been waiting for you. The rooms have been cleaned and are ready for you guys to move in at any time!”
The boss was very friendly. After all, this was a big business.
“Boss Tang!”
An Xinhui said some polite words and then wanted to let the students move in.
Zhang Hanfu stopped mentioning the poor environment. After all, he knew about the school’s financial situation as well.
The reason he said what he did earlier was just to defame An Xinhui.
“What are you guys all standing there for? Quickly move the stuff!”
The boss urged.
Just as the attendants were about to make a move, Sun Mo spoke up.
“Hold on!”
Sun Mo moved his limbs while admiring the scenery, walking over. “Headmaster, putting the living environment aside, this place is too far away from the competition building. It’s too much of a waste of time to come back here every time.”
Everyone knew that when a group participated in some kind of competition, the closer they stayed to the location of the competition, the better.
The Saint Gate conducted the league tournament at the White Dew Building. It was a well-known building that was similar to Beijing’s National Stadium. It could accommodate a lot of people. Talks by great teachers as well as exciting duels and many other events would be conducted there.
The fact that it could accommodate a lot of people meant that they could sell a lot of tickets.
“Headmaster An, this is…”
The boss’s countenance sank. He naturally felt displeased when the money that was going into his pocket was at risk of flying away. “This is Sun Mo, a new teacher of our Central Province Academy. He’ll be leading the new student group to take part in the league tournament. At the same time, he is also my fiancé!”
An Xinhui introduced.
The boss seemed unconcerned when hearing the first part of the introduction. After all, such a background was unable to move him. However, when An Xinhui mentioned the word ‘fiancé’, he was stunned.
The boss knew who An Xinhui was. Only men with top-notch power and talent would have the right to marry women of this caliber.
(Is this Sun Mo a son of some influential character? His surname is Sun, could he be that person’s son?)
The boss wore a smile on his face again.
There was no helping it. He had been shocked by the word ‘fiancé’. This was like how people’s first reaction was when seeing a first-tier female celebrity getting married. They’d think that her husband must be some rich guy or the son of a government official, not a commoner.
“Teacher Sun, you make things sound so simple. If we don’t stay here, then where should we stay?”
Zhang Hanfu sneered.
