Chapter 103: Only Winners Gain Respect
“Come and take a look a few days later, I’ll save it for you if I have it!”
The shop owner didn’t wish to lose such a generous customer.
“Do you treat such spirit runes as baked sesame cakes that you can get every day? For such a piece of artwork, I’m afraid it’s time-consuming to draw it.”
Fang Yan snorted disdainfully. He studied spirit runes, so how could he not know the amount of time needed to draw such a beautiful spirit rune?
The shop owner’s mouth twitched, but he still decided to tell this iron-tower man [1] that Teacher Sun had only drawn it within an hour.
However, Teacher Sun was really awesome. This iron-tower man majored in the field of spirit runes. If he even mentioned that the item was good, then it must be really good.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from the shop owner +15, Neutral (50/100).
“Help me to prepare these!”
Fang Yan passed a list of items to the shop owner.
Normally, he would be purchasing these items from another spirit rune store. However, that shop had a lack of supplies today and he was in urgent need of these items; hence, he came to this store instead.
The shop owner hurriedly did as instructed. When he was sending Fang Yan out of the store, he was unwilling to give up and reminded him, “When you’re free the next few days, come and have a look. That piece of Spirit-Gathering Rune might be in stock again”
Fang Yan was unwilling to respond. For someone to be able to draw such a Spirit-Gathering Rune, they must be a great spirit rune master.
Such a spirit rune master would be extremely busy. Who would be so free to draw a pain in the ass Spirit-Gathering Rune? If that master were to have free time, he’d have drawn awesome spirit runes that could fetch him more money.
...
Lu Changhe’s house, which was the spirit runes store, was on the east side of the long street outside the campus, about 200 m away. As the distance was very near, he would always return home for dinner.
Today, as Lu Changhe reached home, he was dragged into the study room by his dad.
“What happened?”
Lu Changhe touched his stomach as his thoughts wandered. He could already smell the fragrance of the food and knew that there was definitely chicken stew today.
“Come and take a look at this Spirit-Gathering Rune!”
The shop owner lifted the red cloth that was covering the table as though he was presenting a valuable treasure. He revealed the Spirit-Gathering Rune drawn by Sun Mo.
“Beautiful!”
Lu Changhe’s eyes brightened. He walked quickly toward the front of the table and lowered his head in admiration. “Look at this arrangement of the spirit runes and this is a drawing of Spirit-Gathering Rune, how beautifully portrayed!”
“This is the sixth level!” the shop owner flaunted.
“Sss, this must have cost a lot of money, where did you get it from?”
Lu Changhe also studied spirit runes; hence, he could appreciate the excellence and aesthetical aspect of this spirit rune.
“I didn’t spend any money. It was drawn by one of the teachers in your school.”
The shop owner chuckled.
“Our school?”
Lu Changhe frowned and looked at the Spirit-Gathering Rune. Suspicion filled his face. “Our teachers who are able to draw such spirit runes, I reckon there aren’t more than 10 of them. Since they are all significant characters, why would they interact with a small store like ours?”
“What do you mean by a small store?”
Hearing these words from his son, the shop owner wasn’t happy. He raised his hand and knocked Lu Changhe’s head. “Didn’t I depend on this small store to raise the few of you up?”
“Yes yes yes, it’s my fault!”
Lu Changhe, who was quite hungry, now sat on the stool and was delicately appreciating the spirit rune.
“Sun Mo this teacher, have you heard of him?”
Seeing how his son appeared to be engrossed in the rune, the shop owner was very proud. His son must have been very hardworking. He would definitely achieve some results in the study of spirit runes.
“Of course I’ve heard of him. He’s the intern teacher who’s currently under the public’s limelight in our school. Why? Have you heard of things about him too?”
Lu Changhe was curious.
“Intern teacher?”
The shop owner frowned.
“Oh, that’s not right. He has been officially employed a few days ago.”
Lu Changhe had recalled the past events regarding Sun Mo.
“Eh? Don’t the intern teachers in your school have to go through one year of internship before being officially employed?”
The shop owner had been operating this shop for over twenty years now. He was naturally quite familiar with the rules of Central Province Academy.
“Sun Mo is just that awesome. He managed to recruit 5 personal disciples during the student recruitment meet. Hence, there was an exception and he was accepted in advance,” Lu Changhe explained.
“Oh, I see!”
The shop owner wasn’t surprised at all. Since Sun Mo had such a formidable spirit runes technique, it was definitely a piece of cake for him to recruit a few students.
“After his first public lecture, Sun Mo’s Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands became well known in our school. Everyone says that he possesses God Hands, and they all want to let him touch their bodies to experience it firsthand.”
Lu Changhe wished for that as well, but he knew that he wouldn’t have much opportunity.
“Huh? Ancient Capturing what Hands? What are you talking about?”
The shop owner’s face was dumbfounded. He felt that his son didn’t seem to be talking about a human being.
“Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands, by using it to touch the students, he can find out the state of the student’s health. How awesome is that?!”
Lu Changhe hadn’t even finished saying but had been interrupted.
“That’s not him, I’m talking about the Sun Mo who’s exceptionally good at spirit rune drawing”
The shop owner shook his head.
“There’s only one Sun Mo in our school!”
It was Lu Changhe’s turn to be dumbfounded, but he gradually came to a realization and pointed to the Spirit-Gathering Rune on the table. “You mean this is drawn by Teacher Sun Mo?”
“Yes!”
The shop owner nodded.
“...”
Lu Changhe held onto his forehead. “You hold on, let me have a touch!”
Then, Lu Changhe’s gaze landed on the Spirit-Gathering Rune again and after having an attentive look, he laughed. “Father, you’re trying to test me, right?”
“What am I testing you on?”
The shop owner didn’t understand. (What are you even imagining?)
“Dad, you’re still trying to play dumb. This drawing of Spirit-Gathering Rune has such a high completeness index, and its details are illustrated clearly. The person who drew this must have over ten years of experience in Spirit Rune Depiction Technique, so how could it be drawn by Sun Mo? He’s only twenty years old!”
Lu Changhe was speechless.
Professor He Yuanjin’s spirit rune class was very popular in the Central Province Academy. One would need to snatch a seat 2 hours prior to the class; otherwise, there would be no seat at all.
Lu Changhe came to his classes without missing out on any session; hence, he had seen the kind of Spirit-Gathering Rune drawn by Teacher He Yuanjin, and it was comparable to this one.
No, maybe it was not even as good as this.
The drawing in front of him was really too beautiful.
“That Teacher Sun who came today also appeared to be twenty years old!”
After the shop owner finished talking, he came to a sudden realization. (The Spirit-Gathering Rune of this tier and grade actually came from the hands of a young teacher?)
“Did he start to draw spirit runes ever since he was in his mothers’ womb?”
The shop owner was in shock.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from the shop owner +25, Neutral (75/100).
“Dad, you’re really not joking?” Lu Changhe frowned.
“Why will I lie to you?” The shop owner glared at his son.
Lu Changhe was astonished and could hardly believe this fact.
He was afraid that he couldn’t reach such a stage even if he were to practice diligently for 10 years.
“Sun Mo took less than an hour to finish drawing this,” the shop owner added.
“Dad!”
Lu Changhe started grumbling. In an instant, he felt that life had become even duller.
“Teacher Sun Mo’s mastery in the field of spirit runes is already so high, so he would definitely start a public lecture on this subject. You should never miss it.”
The shop owner reminded his son.
“I got it.”
He didn’t need to be reminded. Once he was certain that Sun Mo had a public lecture on the study of spirit runes, Lu Changhe would definitely go and listen to it.
“You must maintain your respect for Teacher Sun Mo,” the shop owner added another sentence.
“I know!”
Lu Changhe finished speaking and ran off after grabbing the Spirit-Gathering Rune on the table. “This is mine now!”
“You little rascal!”
The shop owner was so angry. He didn’t bother looking for the feather duster and started chasing after his son with a wooden stool. “If you were to spoil it, I’ll break your legs.”
After seeing the attitudes of Fang Yan and his son, the shop owner decided not to use this Spirit-Gathering Rune anymore. He would frame it up and leave it for commemoration.
...
Sun Mo didn’t even think that drawing a piece of Spirit-Gathering Rune would bring about such a great impact.
The library was quiet, but when Sun Mo’s spirit runes started to take shape, it would absorb the spirit qi from around him and form a small tornado. This would disturb other people from studying.
If he were to go to the teaching building, he could find a small classroom with a capacity of 30 people. However, when people heard the sounds, they would come and watch too.
Sun Mo didn’t like to be watched. According to his character, he wouldn’t occupy the classroom alone for an entire afternoon either. That was such a tacky thing to do.
Similarly, the meditation room couldn’t be occupied for more than half a day. After all, he wasn’t the only teacher in the Central Province Academy.
As for the dorm, Sun Mo didn’t want to see Zhang Sheng’s face.
“Could it be that I’ve to rent a room outside of the school?”
During dinner time, Sun Mo started to think about this question seriously.
The school had 2 buildings for the teachers to stay in. However, Sun Mo was only employed recently. Whether it was his experience or achievement, they were insufficient to get him a room allocation.
Life wouldn’t become stagnant just because you didn’t get what you wanted. It would even beat you up badly by giving you an uppercut.
Sun Mo only returned to the dorm very late in the night. After a short sleep, he woke up early and went to the teaching building with his lesson plan. Today, he still had to teach his 5 students and in the afternoon, it was the first session of public lecture.
After Sun Mo left the dorm, Zhang Sheng lifted the blanket that was covering his head.
If it wasn’t that Zhang Sheng didn’t have a place to stay, he’d have moved out of the dorm already. After having several rounds of arguments with Sun Mo, he had been avoiding the latter all along.
“How envious!”
Ludi sighed. Someone else was holding onto a lesson plan and teaching students. As for himself, he was plucking pig’s fur and showing respect to some teachers.
“What’s there to be envious about? I’ll also become an official teacher soon!”
Zhang Sheng snorted.
“Very soon? The internship lasts for a year, just slowly wait!”
Ludi sneered at him.
“Hmm?”
Zhang Sheng was stunned and couldn’t help but look toward Ludi with an unhappy tone. “What did you just say?”
“I’m saying that there’s still 1 year of internship period!” Ludi repeated.
“You...”
Zhang Sheng’s face changed in that instant.
(This Ludi, ever since he came into the dorm, even though he didn’t try to curry favor with me, he was always coupled with a smiling face when talking to me. He always had appropriate behavior and a good attitude, why did he try to provoke me now?)
Ludi continued to pluck the pig’s fur with his head lowered. He didn’t care if Zhang Sheng was angry or not.
Zhang Sheng was outstanding and had a great opportunity to join the faculty in the past. However, now that he had been defeated continuously, Ludi had realized the true colors of this fella.
He wouldn’t be able to do it!
Since everyone’s probability of joining the faculty was similar, why did he have to curry favor with him? Moreover, this fella had offended Sun Mo before.
Zhang Sheng looked at Ludi and recalled that when Yuan Feng had been around, Sun Mo had been the one being ostracized by the 3 of them. However, it was his turn now.
A loser would never receive any form of respect!
As for Sun Mo, he had gained Ludi’s respect with his genuine capabilities. Clearly, in Ludi’s heart, Zhang Sheng was no longer a figure to be curried favor with but someone who could be provoked any time.
His status took a devastating decline.
Sun Mo didn’t know about the argument between Ludi and Zhang Sheng. His ears were only filled with the system’s notification now.
[1] Referring to how his build was as strong as iron and as tall as a tower