Tan Lin finally noticed this disturbing detail, but this was not the time to think about that. As soon as she picked up her pen, Jiang Fengfeng was already done with her report. She declared cheekily, “Tan Lin, I’m done with my evaluation report. You’ll surely lose this time so don’t forget our agreement. The loser has to respect the winner from now on and address her as ‘Senior’!”
She spoke so confidently it was as if Jiang Fengfeng had already secured a victory.
In fact, she never even considered the possibility of losing.
That was because she had found help in the form of that Rank 3 beast appraiser outside who gave her hand gestures.
That man was her childhood friend and a rising star among the beast appraisers of Heavenly Spiral City. He had just achieved Rank 3 status not too long ago.
Jiang Fengfeng had specifically called him over to deal with Tan Lin.
“It’s such a pity that you’re only a foreigner, Tan Lin. You’re far too inferior to me in terms of connections and background. This time, I will walk all over you and continue to do so in the future. Let’s see how you can keep up with that pompous act of yours. With me, Jiang Fengfeng, around, you can forget about ever achieving anything!” Jiang Fengfeng scoffed.
She figured she had already won.
It was true. She would have won, no doubt about that.
However, now that Lin Jin was here, and he had decided to help Tan Lin, that was no longer the case.
Meanwhile, Tan Lin had finished writing down the answer Lin Jin gave her. After checking it one more time for mistakes, she got up to hand it in, all while ignoring Jiang Fengfeng’s verbal provocations.
She wasn’t being magnanimous. It was simply the fact that indifference was her greatest counterattack.
Sure enough, ignoring and shrugging off Jiang Fengfeng proved to be a devastating blow when Jiang Fengfeng exploded with rage.
“Tan Lin, don’t look so arrogant as if everyone else is beneath you. After the Beast Appraisal Pavilion’s teacher assesses our papers, you’ll know what an embarrassment you are. You’re sure to lose this competition!” Jiang Fengfeng shrieked furiously.
After handing in their evaluation reports, it was up to the Beast Appraisal Pavilion’s teacher to grade them.
Here in Heavenly Spiral Academy, their teachers were also divided into grades. Teachers at the Beast Appraisal Pavilion were mostly prominent figures who possessed profound knowledge. Naturally, their words held more weight than teachers from other parts of the academy.
Soon, the two evaluation reports were delivered into a room on the second floor.
Inside the room was an old man dressed in a lecturer’s outfit, reading a book. His room was packed to the brim with books, some of which seemed ancient. No doubt, these were part of his valuable collection.
The teacher that delivered the evaluation reports strode quickly at first, but he slowed down when he started approaching the old man. The fact that he was acting cautiously reflected the level of respect he had for the elderly teacher.
“Mr. Zhong, the two competing students downstairs have completed their reports. Please have a look at them.” The teacher carefully placed the two evaluation reports in one corner.
The senior teacher was so old that he had stopped giving lectures at one point. He was only here in the Beast Appraisal Pavilion to live out the rest of his days reading books to kill his boredom.
Being able to do so attested to the significance of his status at Heavenly Spiral Kingdom. Or rather, only the most experienced individuals here had this privilege.
“Hehe, I was getting bored, so this couldn’t have come at a better time. Come, let me see how knowledgeable our students are,” said the old man as he put down his book.
Upon closer observation, one would realize that the title of the book was ‘Collection of Daojun’s Beast Appraisals’.
This was a mysterious book on beast appraising that not many people in Heavenly Spiral Academy knew about. It was considered an ancient reading material of the highest grade. The young teacher caught a glimpse of the words on it and shook his head.
He couldn’t understand most of it.
Seeing the young teacher’s reaction, the old man smiled. “Eighty percent of what’s written in this book is in our language, and the remaining twenty percent are hieroglyphics. It is only natural that you fail to understand what the content is talking about. Even after researching these hieroglyphics for all my life, I only managed to understand very little of it.”
“Mr. Zhong is very knowledgeable after all. I’ve heard about these hieroglyphics before. It’s said that they were created by a man who called himself ‘Daojun’ five hundred years ago. It’s a pity that this man fell to the dark side and brought destruction upon himself,” the young teacher replied.
However, Mr. Zhong shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. It is impossible for people like us to possibly fathom Daojun’s motivation. Back then, he restructured the entire villain’s community in such a way that his rules are still being upheld today. Thanks to these rules, villains no longer behaved recklessly. In a sense, Daojun had done a good deed. He may be a part of the villain community, but one cannot deny that Daojun possessed an unprecedented mastery over the art of beast appraising. The way I see it, his contributions in beast appraisal studies cannot be compared.”
The young teacher hadn’t expected Mr. Zhong to have such a high opinion of Daojun.
Although he disagreed, the young teacher dared not oppose Mr. Zhong.
Mr. Zhong picked up the two evaluation reports and said, “The five-colored feather I picked was indeed a little difficult for Rank 2 students, but since it’s a competition, the bar must be higher than usual. Leaving the reason for their conflict aside, this competition would prove to be a good challenge for both of them.”
Having said that, he opened up the first evaluation report.
“Jiang Fengfeng’s work is quite well-founded. Amazing, truly commendable. She could tell this feather didn’t come from a bird and even knows that it belongs to a velociraptor of South Continent. This Jiang Fengfeng has commendable knowledge,” Mr. Zhong immediately praised upon reading it.
The young teacher knew of Jiang Fengfeng’s background so he nodded in agreement. “Jiang Fengfeng has only entered the academy recently but has always maintained a high score. She has great potential.”
“Indeed. Not bad, not bad at all!” Mr. Zhong put down the evaluation report and picked up the other one. In fact, he had a feeling that Jiang Fengfeng might be the winner of this competition.
However, the instant Mr. Zhong opened up the second evaluation report, his brows furrowed ever so slightly.
The young teacher missed this reaction because he felt relieved. He obviously leaned more toward Jiang Fengfeng mainly because the latter had a strong family background.
Although he was a lecturer of the academy, his status wasn’t noteworthy. In contrast, Jiang Fengfeng had a huge network so if he could get on her good side, that would be helpful for his future.
By now, Mr. Zhong had finished reading the second evaluation report. Upon doing so, there was an inexplicable look of enthusiasm on his face.
The old man let out a hearty laughter.
“Wonderful! How excellent! The academy has taken in a great seedling this time.” Then, he said to the young teacher, “Go and announce the results. The victor is Tan Lin!”
The young teacher was dumbfounded.
This result had definitely exceeded his expectations.
“What are you waiting for?” Mr. Zhong urged. The young teacher finally regained his senses. Despite his confusion, he dared not question Mr. Zhong’s decision.
“Wait!” As if recalling something, Mr. Zhong stopped him. “Tell Tan Lin to come up here. I’d like to meet her.”
Upon hearing this, the young teacher drew in a breath of cold air.
