Chapter 208 Set a Small Target First. Let’s Earn 100 Spirit Stones!
“Silver Paste? HAHA!” Tantai Yutang couldn’t endure it and laughed out loud.
The students immediately turned their gazes over. (You could still laugh out at this moment? Alright then, actually we want to laugh as well, but this killing aura is so cold. Our facial expressions are frozen!)
“Oh, my heavens.”
Li Ziqi facepalmed. The brains of this combat addict were truly filled with muscles. Even before entering the Darkness Continent, he already stirred up trouble for their teacher.
“Teacher Pei!”
Jin Mujie called out. As the group leader, ensuring the relationship between group members remained cordial was one of her responsibilities.
“I won’t lower myself and argue with a student!”
Pei Yuanli chortled, “I actually admire that fellow’s personality quite a lot. He is courageous and tyrannical enough. In the future, he would surely be as impressive as me!”
“No, I will be even more impressive than you!”
When Xuanyuan Po said this, he maintained a deadly earnest face.
“Hehe, I’ll wait and see!”
Pei Yuanli’s lips twitched as he urged everyone, “Move quicker, the Darkness Continent is much more interesting compared to Jinling City.”
“Crazy fellow!”
Zhang Qianlin was very disappointed. Why didn’t the fight happen? However, he knew there was no need for him to be anxious. This tour would last for half-a-month. Given Ying Baiwu and Xuanyuan Po’s personalities, there would be trouble sooner or later.
After entering the great hall in the public square, one would enter a side chamber. Over there, there was a gigantic gate made from stone and an unknown metallic substance.
Mysterious spirit runes covered the gate. They were now shining with light, and the glows grew increasingly brighter. At the center of the gateway, there was a rotating clump of nebula resembling a spiral.
“Line up, pushing and shoving are not allowed, or your qualification to enter the Darkness Continent will be revoked.”
A middle-aged administrator wearing the uniform of the Saint Gate spoke confidently, maintaining the order.
It was inevitable for the students, who saw the teleportation gate for the first time, to be a little nervous. However, they didn’t say anything. They were staring at the gate and wondering what the world inside would be like.
Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!
The teleportation gate trembled, and the light from spirit runes also reached the brightest point.
“Move out!”
After the administrator spoke, the cultivators who were lining up impatiently entered one by one. The students were in long lines, moving in an orderly manner into the rotating nebula. They then vanished with a flash of light.
“Teacher!”
Lu Zhiruo was slightly worried and subconsciously pulled Sun Mo’s sleeves.
Li Ziqi was nervous and filled with trepidation. Her body trembled slightly. After that, she felt a hand gently pressing down on her shoulder.
The little sunny egg turned her head and saw Sun Mo smiling at her in encouragement. The calmness on his face eased the tension in Li Ziqi’s heart.
“That’s right, teacher is just behind me. What is there for me to be afraid of?”
Li Ziqi smiled radiantly and stepped through the teleportation gate.
Sun Mo’s original self had gone to the Darkness Continent before. However, all the memories he had were negative ones. He had only felt nervousness, oppression, and a sense of unbearable defeat.
Conflict and competition existed in all forms of society.
Outstanding people or people whose parents were outstanding enough would be able to earn more money and possess a luxurious residence. They could change their girlfriends every ten days to half-a-month and enjoy various benefits and resources from society.
Competition even existed during studying. For students with better results, they would enter better classes, giving them a higher chance to join a better high school or university. Those who were from better schools would be able to join better companies upon graduation.
However, these types of competition weren’t brutal enough and even if one lost, the influence on your life wouldn’t be that great. At most, one could always choose to be an ordinary person and stably live your life.
However, on the Darkness Continent, the only rule was the law of the jungle. If you were strong, you would be able to obtain everything. If you were weak, you should be prepared to lose everything you had. This place was a paradise for the strong and hell for the weak.
Honestly speaking, Sun Mo’s original self wasn’t very outstanding. Hence, in a situation where the strong competed with each other, he had felt extremely fatigued as though he was struggling to get out of a swamp.
When his original self had come to the Darkness Continent to temper himself, he had also encountered quite a few great opportunities. But because of his strength and luck, he didn’t manage to gain anything. This was why he loathed this continent from the bottom of his heart.
“Mentality of the weak!”
Upon sensing the emotions in his heart, Sun Mo’s lips twitched. After that, he stepped through the teleportation gate.
A sensation of dampness suddenly covered his body. It felt as though he had just jumped into the water. His limbs were restrained. But after two to three seconds later, this feeling vanished. A sense of pressure replaced it instead.
His heartbeat quickened, and even the circulation of his blood seemed to increase his speed. The spirit qi became more frantic here, and his mind was like a rubber band that was gradually being stretched taut.
Sun Mo followed the crowd and walked out of the great hall, arriving at another public square.
“Wow, it’s so beautiful!”
All the female students exclaimed.
The sky was covered in several dazzling strips of light bands. They were like aurora, floating about in the air, exuding beauty and magnificence.
“The concentration of spirit qi would differ based on different altitudes. When they move, spirit qi of different densities will squeeze together, mixing and causing various types of phenomena to manifest. In this place, they are known as spirit aurora!”
Gu Xiuxun explained.
Jin Mujie turned her head and swept her gaze over.
Some students had stunned looks on their faces as they admired the beautiful scenery in the sky. Some students were either frowning or moving their bodies uncomfortably.
For the first level of Darkness Continent, the largest natural phenomenon was something known as the spirit qi tides.
In the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces, the density of spirit qi was stable. It was the same no matter where you were. However, things were different here in the first level of the Darkness Continent. There were places with denser spirit qi and some places with less dense spirit qi.
When the densities were different, convection would occur.
Convections existed everywhere. If a cultivator wasn’t able to adapt to this, they would have no way to survive on Darkness Continent.
“If any of you feels extremely uncomfortable anywhere, don’t endure it forcefully. You must tell me immediately!”
Jin Mujie solemnly warned.
Gu Xiuxun surveyed her five personal students and was very satisfied. All of them felt a sense of discomfort, this was especially so for Zhang Yanzong. He even vomited. This indicated that all her students were very sensitive to the minute changes of spirit qi.
The stronger one’s sensitivity was, the better their aptitudes were.
Because she treated Sun Mo as her opponent, Gu Xiuxun also paid attention to his six personal disciples.
The most famous one was Xuanyuan Po, but he actually showed no reactions at all. How surprising. Maybe, his mental state was too overwhelmingly strong that he could directly endure this feeling of discomfort.
Next, was the iron-headed girl Fang Wuji tried to recruit. She was like a pregnant lady who was vomiting. With an exclamation, she directly vomited onto the ground
Li Ziqi covered her mouth with a napkin, her face was slightly pale. Meanwhile, the papaya girl was staring at the spirit aurora in the sky, having no other reactions.
“Hmph, big breasts aren’t so impressive after all.”
Gu Xiuxun suddenly felt a trace of superiority. (Having a pair of big breasts doesn’t make you invincible and allow you to do whatever you want to. At the very least, when the heavens gave you them, the heavens didn’t throw in extra talent or aptitude for you!)
The young man with the word ‘trash’ on his forehead similarly had no reactions. However, this was within Gu Xiuxun’s expectations. His broken spirit runes had already destroyed his sensitivity toward spirit qi. Bluntly speaking, this youth no longer had a future.
Lastly, it was none other than that sickly invalid. He had the most intense reaction. He covered his mouth with a napkin and was coughing constantly. Green veins throbbed on his forehead, and his face was completely flushed.
Everyone else wanted to cough their lungs out just by watching him.
“Out of the six students of Sun Mo, only that iron-headed girl is admirable!”
The various teachers who came along soon had a judgment. As for Xuanyuan Po, he was a special case that needed to be observed further.
The students had no idea that the competition had started the moment they stepped out from the teleportation gate. Those with good aptitudes would receive more attention and resources in the future.
It wasn’t that the school was selfish and couldn’t treat everyone fairly, but time was also an aspect of consideration. After all, the lifespan of a human was limited.
Cultivators with good aptitude were likely able to live longer, and the amount of contribution they could give to the cultivation world would surely be more. Or in other words, their sole existences were a type of contribution.
This was just like the scientists: Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. They were considered the wealth of humanity. Naturally, the longer they were alive for, the better.
In truth, there had always been a debate in the great teacher world regarding this. Should they treat all students fairly, teach the students in line with their ability, or prioritize the education of elites?
“This place is Spiritwind City, a main city that can accommodate roughly 100,000 people. For the herbs dug or mysterious darkness species captured, they can all be transacted here. At the same time, the city is also a place for cultivators to rest and get re-organized.”
Jin Mujie explained to everyone.
“Troops from the Saint Gate are responsible for guarding the Spiritwind City. Their defensive might is very great; hence, there’s no need to worry about the city encountering an attack. One more thing, even if you guys beat each other up so badly that your brains are spilling out, the moment you enter the city, all hostilities must cease. If someone started to kill in the city, they would be expelled by the Saint Gate. For serious cases, the person would be executed.”
The students stared into the distance. There were plenty of people in the streets, but the majority of them weren’t smiling at all. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry and travel-worn. Even for females, many of them had messy hair and dirty faces.
Everyone came here to improve their power or to get rich. Window-shopping and going for an outing? Such things didn’t exist.
“Alright, we will be staying in Spiritwind City for the next six hours. Everyone should sit quietly in meditation for now.”
After Jin Mujie spoke, she took the lead and sat down.
The students just arrived on the Darkness Continent, and their bodies needed time to adjust to the change in spirit pressure. If a rejection reaction occurred, they had to immediately provide emergency treatment. If not, if the students left the main city, any treatment would no longer be on time.
The words of a 3-star great teacher contained great weight. The students instantly sat down. It was just that because they had just arrived here, everything felt fresh to them. It was very hard for them to sit quietly and enter meditation.
“Do you want to return first?”
Sun Mo didn’t bother with Ying Baiwu. Instead, he walked to the side of Tantai Yutang and helped to massage his body. “I’m not returning, I can’t afford to lose face.”
Tantai Yutang laughed. There was a streak of toughness carved in his bones.
“You are about to cough yourself to death, isn’t it better for you to return?”
“That’s right, your body is so weak. You won’t be of any use even if you remain behind!”
“It’s so good to be able to become Sun Mo’s students!”
The students at the side tried to persuade Tantai Yutang, and some were sighing ruefully. From their perspectives, Tantai Yutang wasn’t qualified to enter the Darkness Continent. He was able to enter because he had acknowledged Sun Mo as his teacher.
“So as to speak, it’s really good to have an impressive teacher!”
Some students were envious. This was especially so after they saw Sun Mo giving Tantai Yutang a massage, they felt even more jealous then. That was the God Hands after all.
“Hehe, I depend on my brain for a living. It doesn’t matter if my body is weak.”
Given Tantai Yutang’s pride, he wanted to stop Sun Mo. But because the massage was too comfortable, he felt reluctant to do so. Hence, he felt very conflicted.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Tantai Yutang +20. Friendly (110/1,000).
Sun Mo didn’t treat Ying Baiwu because her reaction was a normal reaction the majority of cultivators would show after entering the Darkness Continent for the first time. It was like after a bout of illness, one’s body would automatically produce antivirus to combat the illness.
In this place, once one had adapted to the difference in spirit pressure, the feelings of discomfort would no longer appear.
“Teacher Jin, I wish to go to the bank!”
After the students fell silent, Zhang Qianlin was the first to ask Jin Mujie for a leave of absence.
“Go ahead!”
Jin Mujie approved it.
After that, the teachers departed one by one. Their reasons were the same.
Roughly 15 minutes later, Gu Xiuxun returned and called Zhang Yanzong and her other disciples.
“There. This is a spirit stone. Each of you, take one. If you want anything, you can go and purchase it when you are free to move around the city.”
ar
Gu Xiuxun passed a stone the size of a fingernail to each of her students.
“So, this is a spirit stone?”
The other students instantly crowded over and stared at the spirit stones with curiosity.
The spirit stones were the size of a fingernail. They shone with a faint golden glow and looked even more alluring compared to gold.
On the Darkness Continent, silver and gold couldn’t be used as currency. Goods were transacted using barter or via spirit stones.
Spirit stones were a type of ore that contained spirit qi within them. Cultivators could absorb the spirit qi in them to cultivate.
One must know that spirit qi was the basis and foundation for cultivation. Hence, spirit stones became the currency for cultivators in the Darkness Continent.
Spirit stones could be classified into inferior, average, superior, and peerless grades. The better the grades, the higher the purity and the more spirit qi they contained.
Above peerless-grade spirit stones, there was an extremely rare item named spirit diamond.
Gao Ben and Zhang Lan returned. They similarly gave a spirit stone to each of their personal students.
This immediately caused the other students to be filled with envy. After that, they turned their gazes into Sun Mo. Sun Mo was known as the God Hands. He should be more generous in giving spirit stones to his students, right?
“Teacher?”
Tantai Yutang glanced at Sun Mo and revealed an anxious expression of great desire, akin to a house cat waiting for food.
“You sickly invalid, you actually want to make things difficult for our teacher? I will make sure to teach you a lesson.”
Li Ziqi was very angry. However, the most important thing now was to help her teacher resolve the predicament. Hence, she stood up. “Teacher, I will help you withdraw your spirit stones!”
Because the laws on the Darkness Continent were different from the laws in Middle-Earth Nine Provinces, it was impossible to bring spirit stones back. Once spirit stones were brought back, even if they contained vast amounts of spirit qi within, they would dissipate completely within three days.
So, when everyone decided to stop their adventure, they would deposit their spirit stones into a bank operated by the Saint Gate before they returned to the nine provinces.
“I don’t have any spirit stones, where are you going to withdraw them from?”
Sun Mo understood the little sunny egg’s kind intentions; she didn’t want him to be embarrassed. However, he couldn’t take his students’ money.
“Teacher, have you forgotten? You told me to safekeep them for you?” Li Ziqi did her utmost to convey her intentions in the glances she shot at Sun Mo. (Teacher, everyone is watching now. You cannot be inferior to the other teachers!)
(Also, isn’t my money your money? There’s no need for you to be polite with me!)
“Everyone, there’s no need to feel shocked. Gifting a spirit stone to each personal student is a tradition of the Central Province Academy.”
Zhang Qianlin intentionally placed a heavy emphasis on the word ‘tradition’ because he wanted to embarrass Sun Mo. After all, everyone could see he didn’t give any spirit stones to his personal students yet.
“Eh? There’s such a tradition?”
Lu Zhiruo had a joyful look on her face. After that, she looked toward Sun Mo. “Teacher, I will definitely keep the spirit stone you give me properly and treat it as my lucky charm.” (Aiya, why is the endearingly silly papaya girl adding to the chaos?)
Li Ziqi was so depressed that she almost coughed up blood. However, she also knew Lu Zhiruo truly worshipped Sun Mo very much. This was why she never considered the possibility of Sun Mo not possessing spirit stones.
“Hehe!”
Zhang Qianlin’s expression didn’t change, but he was laughing in his heart. (This time around, who cares what ‘hands’ you have? You are going to be supremely embarrassed.)
Jin Mujie frowned. Why had the situation developed this way in the blink of an eye?
Before they left, An Xinhui had passed 100 spirit stones to Jin Mujie to give to Sun Mo. This was because she was worried a situation where Sun Mo needed spirit stone would occur.
But who knew that before Jin Mujie had the time to give the stones to him, Sun Mo had encountered trouble. The timing wasn’t suitable now even if she wanted to give him.
“It’s my fault!”
Jin Mujie felt some sense of self-reproach.
In truth, this couldn’t be blamed on Jin Mujie. As the group leader, she had to be responsible for the safety of 50 students and had many things to handle. How would she have the time to care about such a minor thing?
Because Gu Xiuxun and the other two wanted to gain favorable impressions, they had given out spirit stones to their personal students the earliest they could, leading to this situation.
As for why An Xinhui didn’t pass the spirit stones personally to Sun Mo, it was naturally because she was worried she might hurt his pride.
“Teacher Sun, why are you not saying anything? Oh, I’ve forgotten. You just graduated and might not have savings. If you don’t have any spirit stones, I can loan you some. Don’t worry, there won’t be any interest.”
Zhang Qianlin acted like he was very generous.
“This fellow is so loathsome!”
Li Ziqi was very unhappy. Zhang Qianlin said that Sun Mo just graduated. On the surface, it looked like he was trying to explain things for Sun Mo. But actually, he was criticizing him. One must know that Gu Xiuxun and the other two had also just graduated. Why did they have spirit stones then?
Bluntly speaking, it was because the school Sun Mo had graduated from was too inferior. Also, his capabilities had been too low and he couldn’t earn much spirit stones.
“There’s no need for Teacher Zhang to worry. Isn’t it just six spirit stones? Simple!”
Sun Mo laughed and rejected Zhang Qianlin’s ‘help’.
“Teacher wants to earn spirit stones?”
Ying Baiwu’s eyes brightened. “Yes, I’m going to set a small target first and earn 100 spirit stones!” Sun Mo smiled.