The darkness illusion was very interesting. When it saw Sun Mo coming out, it also walked out. It didn’t show any intention of joining hands with its comrades to attack Sun Mo.
Sun Mo drew his wooden blade and swung it flashily.
The illusion immediately performed the same actions.
At the next second, Sun Mo performed the Wind King Divine Steps, appearing in front of the illusion like a gust of strong wind. He attacked heavily with his wooden blade and slashed toward its skull.
The illusion didn’t dodge. It struck out toward Sun Mo’s head with the same move, making it seem as if both sides were going to sustain great injuries.
The illusion wasn’t imitating Sun Mo. It understood that if it were to dodge, it’d lose the advantage of the first move and be defeated by Sun Mo completely. Therefore, it could only use such a battle tactic to force Sun Mo to change his move.
As a result, Sun Mo really changed from attack to defense.
Clank!
The wooden blades clashed then separated. The darkness illusion then seized the opportunity to retaliate.
Eighteen Words Order!
Pa pa pa!
The wooden blade tapped consecutively, encompassing Sun Mo’s entire body.
Sun Mo’s brows furrowed slightly. The spots where the illusion attacked were very hard to defend. It felt extremely uncomfortable, like using his uncommonly used left hand to eat and write.
Yujing Ballad, Midnight Songs Poetry, Golden Jade Hibiscus!
Sun Mo fell amidst the blade attacks, and a song that could shake one’s heart rang next to his ears. Many hibiscus flowers bloomed in front of him, emitting an aura of death amidst the extravagance.
“So this is the type of attacks my enemies had to face?”
Sun Mo mumbled, going all out with the Grand Universe Formless Divine Art. The world in front of him instantly slowed down.
West River Moon, Broad Cold Autumn, Late Fragrance!
Sun Mo was careless and received a blow in his left rib.
“Hey, hey, aren’t you going to help? Things don’t seem to be good for Teacher Sun.”
Jia Wendong shouted out. Sun Mo had been suppressed.
Sun Mo and the illusion seemed as if they were made out of the same mold. The reason Jia Wendong could recognize the real one was because Sun Mo was suppressed and beaten up after he passively defended.
No matter how one saw it, Sun Mo was going to lose!
“Making a big fuss out of nothing!”
Li Ziqi’s lips twitched.
“Be quiet and watch!”
Gu Xiuxun pointed out.
“Many cultivation arts that Teacher Sun learned are all at the saint tier. Moreover, he has an extremely rich battle experience. To students, this is a rare chance to watch and learn. You should try hard to remember it!”
“Huh?”
Jia Wendong was stunned. (Several cultivation arts? And they are all at saint tier?)
(Who are you kidding?)
(Do you think saint-tier cultivation arts are Chinese cabbages? Even Chinese cabbages are only available in winter!)
“Is this the level of an outstanding student in Mingshao’s student group?”
Tantai Yutang was amused. “Then it shouldn’t be a problem for us to clinch the first place this time around.”
Hearing this, Jia Wendong was furious. He couldn’t help but question Gu Xiuxun, “Since the cultivation arts that Teacher Sun Mo practiced are all at the saint tier, then why don’t the two of them grasp the opportunity to watch and learn?”
“Watch and learn?”
Li Ziqi laughed. “Are you a fool? We’re Teacher’s personal disciples. Teacher would spar and teach us all the time. Do we still need to watch and learn?”
Jia Wendong suddenly had a strong urge to slap himself. (Why did I go shooting my mouth off?)
However, he then felt a little envious. He had no idea if Sun Mo’s cultivation arts were at the saint tier, but this move wasn’t just extravagant, its prowess was also very powerful.
It was just for Teacher Zhen Yuanxiong to suffer an overwhelming defeat.
“Oh right, Teacher has imparted his cultivation arts to us.”
Li Ziqi thought of her teacher’s generosity and couldn’t help but divulge a small secret. She wanted to let other people know what a great person her teacher was.
“Huh? That must be a lie, right?”
Jia Wendong didn’t believe that. Saint-tier cultivation art? These were all ultimate arts that were only passed down to guys and not girls. Even if a great teacher knew one, they wouldn’t impart it to their personal disciples easily. Their disciples must go through over ten years of testing to ascertain their character and loyalty before the teacher would impart it to them.
“In your eyes, saint-tier cultivation arts are treasures. But in Teacher’s eyes, they are a type of knowledge that can be taught to his students at any time.”
Li Ziqi explained.
Jia Wendong wanted to retort, but after seeing Li Ziqi’s gaze brimming with admiration and yearning when she looked at Sun Mo, he suddenly felt a strong heartache. He was unable to say a word to retort.
“I probably won’t be able to win this girl’s heart in my lifetime.”
Jia Wendong sighed. Judging from Li Ziqi’s gaze, Sun Mo definitely meant more to her than just a teacher.
“The retaliation is starting!”
Tantai Yutang suddenly interjected.
As the sickly guy’s sentence ended, Sun Mo swung his wooden blade and brought up a great killing aura. They were like thunderstorms attacking the illusion.
“What?”
Jia Wendong was greatly surprised. (What the hell? Why did the situation turn around so easily?)
“Do you still not understand?”
Li Ziqi was surprised.
“Understand what?”
Jia Wendong felt so embarrassed that he felt like dying. However, he really didn’t understand.
“The reason Teacher was suppressed earlier wasn’t because the illusion was too strong, but that he was doing it on purpose!”
Tantai Yutang explained, “Such illusions clearly possess the same attacking prowess as the real person, including their battle wisdom and experience. Therefore, Teacher wanted to test his weakness through it. After all, the person one understands the least is themselves.”
“Huh?”
Jia Wendong looked very stunned, then he seemed to enter into deep thought.
It was true. What opportunities were the least in this world?
Of course it was the opportunity to fight against oneself. Many people would have treated the darkness illusions as enemies. However, Sun Mo treated one of them as a sparring opponent to find out his weaknesses.
“Could this be one’s outlook and perspective on the bigger situation?”
Jia Wendong gasped in surprise.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Jia Wendong +500. Friendly (750/1,000).
Sun Mo had felt very awkward when he defended against the illusion’s attacks. He had also received several hits. However, with his Divine Sight and Copy, he had witnessed the way the illusion attacked without missing out on anything.
After the illusion finished one round of attack and was about to repeat the same pattern, it meant that the attacks had no more value. Therefore, Sun Mo retaliated.
The places he chose to attack were the weaknesses the ‘illusion’ had located. Since he was stronger than the illusion to begin with, the tables turned in the blink of an eye.
“This is really exciting!”
Gu Xiuxun praised, feeling a little disappointed at the same time because her illusion had been killed by Sun Mo.
Sun Mo was really improving at every minute and second. This was such a great pressure!
What was the most painful thing in the world?
It was that your competitor wasn’t just a genius, but he also worked harder than you. How could one win like that?
Jia Wendong told himself that he should focus on Sun Mo’s battle. However, he couldn’t help but sneak glances at Li Ziqi and Tantai Yutang.
“Do you guys know about it long ago?”
Jia Wendong asked.
The two students didn’t reply, but the answer was obvious.
A feeling of inferiority and disappointment started to well up in Jia Wendong’s chest.
Before the third round of the league tournament, Jia Wendong was proud. However, he was dealt a blow now.
How amazing was Sun Mo to be able to get such amazing students to be in admiration toward him?
Jia Wendong smiled in self-mockery. He had been hesitating if he should acknowledge Sun Mo as his teacher. But now, even if he did, Sun Mo might not accept him.
There was no other reason other than his aptitude was too weak!
Bang!
Sun Mo crushed the illusion’s head with a blade attack.
The illusion fell, shattering into light spots and disappearing.
“Alright, let’s go!”
Sun Mo headed for the stairs. “Tantai Yutang, I’m giving you three minutes. Get the battle over with!”
“Teacher, I’m so weak! I’ll be killed!”
The sickly guy cried.
Sun Mo paid him no heed.
The four of them went upstairs.
Jia Wendong kept on looking back, assessing Sun Mo non-stop. In the end, he wasn’t able to hold back and asked Li Ziqi softly.
“That student keeps on coughing, looking like he is seriously ill. Can he win against his darkness illusion?”
Jia Wendong had just said this when he heard complaints ringing out from behind him.
“That’s right! I almost died!”
“What?”
Jia Wendong was surprised and turned back, stunned. He saw that the sickly guy had walked up the stairs. This… Wasn’t it too fast?
It was even faster than one round of masturbation!
“How on earth did you do it?”
Jia Wendong felt curious.
“Hehe!”
There was no way the sickly guy was going to say it.
“To think that someone like this is Teacher Sun Mo’s student?”
Jia Wendong gulped. This sickly guy gave him a very strange feeling, making him feel very uncomfortable.
He felt that even Nangong Dao might end up losing when placed against him.
Ding!
“Congratulations, as Nangong Dao has developed some respect for you, your prestige connection has risen. Moreover, he is the top student of another school. Rewarded with one silver treasure chest.”
Sun Mo suddenly heard the system’s notification and he touched Li Ziqi’s head before saying.
“Open the chest!”
Light scattered out and a skill book quietly floated in the air.
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve obtained knowledge of 100 types of plants from the Darkness Continent. The proficiency index is at the elementary-grade level. Would you like to learn it?”
“Learn!”
Sun Mo’s tone was decisive. Although the proficiency index was a little low, he could bring it up. Moreover, if he were to slack a little, it’d just be a matter of two time emblems!
Sun Mo then felt that he had become stronger again.
“Ziqi is really not as amazing as Zhiruo the chest-opening mascot!”
Sun Mo exclaimed.
Third floor!
Fourth floor!
Fifth floor!
…
All the way up to the 12th floor.
They’d encounter darkness illusions on every floor. The illusions’ battle prowess would get increasingly higher and they’d be increasingly hard to handle.
“Did you guys notice? These illusions seem as if they can learn. Their overall attributes are getting stronger!”
Tantai Yutang couldn’t help but laugh. “This guy even learned the rhythm of my coughing!”
“Hmmm? There’s a rhythm to your coughing?”
Jia Wendong was surprised.
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder is really scary!”
Li Ziqi’s lips twitched. This was something she had noticed long ago. Moreover, she had learned this term from Sun Mo.
“Coughing in itself feels bad to begin with, so I had to find some amusement to disperse some of the pain!”
Tantai Yutang’s tone sounded like it was a matter-of-fact.
Sun Mo, Gu Xiuxun, and Tantai Yutang defeated the illusions without any pressure. Li Ziqi had some difficulty, but she kept on getting hurt. However, the one who got the worst of it was Jia Wendong.
He had not won from the seventh floor onward.
He finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and quickly walked up to Sun Mo, bowing deeply.
“Teacher Sun, Student Jia Wendong pleads to get your guidance!”
Sun Mo didn’t make things difficult for Jia Wendong but just gave a pointer outright. “Your battle pattern is too rigid. Add more variations to it.”
“Huh? I did!”
Jia Wendong frowned. He had noticed this problem.
“Didn’t you notice it? You get anxious and irritated very easily. Once you do, your moves will go back to your old pattern!”
To say it clearly, he wasn’t intelligent and his ability to withstand pressure wasn’t good enough.
“Then what should I do?”
Jia Wendong humbly asked for advice.
“You won’t be able to deal with it within a short time. Have more battles and slowly accumulate experience!”
Gu Xiuxun interjected.
Jia Wendong looked dejected. He understood that such flaws were the hardest to improve on.
“Get your spirits up! From now onward, try hard to sense this mental state!”
As Sun Mo said this, he smashed out his fist toward Jia Wendong’s forehead.
Boom!
Soul Imprint.
A ball of milky-white light shot into Jia Wendong’s forehead and he became spirited. A lot of knowledge, comprehension, and experience instantly appeared in his mind, giving him a calm and composed mental state.
(No intelligence? It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you what intelligence is.)
“Go on, kill it!”
Sun Mo patted Jia Wendong’s shoulder fiercely.
Jia Wendong dashed toward the illusion. When he saw the illusion earlier, he was unable to find a way to tackle it. But after receiving Sun Mo’s battle wisdom and experience, the illusion was now filled with many flaws.
“Die!”
Jia Wendong slashed quickly, going all out.
In just one minute, the illusion was crushed!
Exhilarating!
This was too exhilarating!
Jia Wendong panted fiercely then turned his head abruptly, looking toward Sun Mo. “Teacher Sun, I won!”
“Of course!”
Li Ziqi thought, (Your inner self is now Teacher. It’s like you’ve battled using Teacher’s train of thoughts. If you can’t win, then you’d be trash.)
“What technique is this?”
Jia Wendong looked at Sun Mo, sensing the things in his mind and taking them in greedily.
“Don’t ask. If you do, it’s a great teacher halo.”
Sun Mo chuckled.
“Thank you Teacher Sun for your guidance!”
Jia Wendong bowed once again. He now felt that he was very powerful and could even win against Nangong Dao.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Jia Wendong +500. Reverence (1,250/10,000).
“Great, it’s another experience baby!”
Sun Mo thought of the honest guy Qi Shengjia. He wondered how he had been faring recently. Sun Mo felt that after they left the ancient castle, the favorable impression points contributed by Jia Wendong might surpass 3,000.
Gu Xiuxun assessed Sun Mo, her gaze filled with suspicion.
“The effect of this great teacher halo is a little similar to Enlightenment Provision, but not exactly so. It seems to be able to hit everything that Sun Mo has into a student’s brain!”
Gu Xiuxun analyzed. Had Sun Mo really comprehended a brand-new great teacher halo?
If that was true, then he was really amazing!
“Alright, let’s continue advancing!”
Sun Mo climbed up the stairs.
…
“That student downstairs is from the Central Province Academy, right? It’s really a pity that he was defeated here!”
Ming Xian sighed. He wondered if they could recover the students’ consciousness after getting that secret treasure of darkness. Otherwise, it’d be an extremely great loss for a genius like that to have gone crazy.
Ming Xian went up the stairs. At first glance, the setup was different from downstairs. There was a corridor that led straight to the front.
“This should be the highest level, right?”
Ming Xian didn’t feel any excitement or nervousness. He stepped on the top floor calmly, walking toward the end of the corridor. His expression then turned into astonishment.
Ming Xian had done all sorts of mental preparation. All sorts of illusions could appear in front of him, even the family members who had died. However, he had never thought that it’d be a student from the Central Province Academy.
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me?”
Ming Xian instantly sank into self-doubt.
