Chapter 928: Start of the ‘C’ Graded League Tournament, the Groups From Famous Schools Set Off!
Translator: Lordbluefire
“Teacher Jiang!”
Sun Mo revealed a smile out of etiquette.
The other party was Jiang Mu, a school leader of the Wingspread Academy. This person had once tried to recruit Sun Mo during the 2-star great teacher examination.
“Congratulations on you becoming the champion for the third time.”
Jiang Mu forcefully patted Sun Mo’s shoulders. After he finished speaking, he sighed. “Back then, I should have gone all out and given you a heavenly offer to poach you over.”
Sun Mo evidently was a new rising superstar. After missing out on headhunting him, it was equivalent to the Wingspread Academy wasting several tens of golden years.
.
“Teacher Jiang praises me too much.”
Sun Mo hurriedly spoke humbly.
“Old Jiang, unless your Wingspread Academy has a Headmaster An, it’s impossible for you to headhunt Teacher Sun.”
The headmaster of the Caoliu Academy teased.
“That’s true!”
Jiang Mu sighed ruefully. “Headmaster An, I’m truly envious of you for having such a fiance.”
Although the relationship between the 72 famous schools was a competitive one, other than the few who had intense feuds and viewed each other with mutual hostility, the majority of the other schools were still quite friendly.
Because Sun Mo’s fame was too great, he became the focus of everyone’s attention. Several headmasters gathered over here to chat with him while making insinuations and asking him about things.
But no one attempted to headhunt Sun Mo anymore because they all knew their own standards. For a great teacher like Sun Mo, even if he wanted to leave, only the Nine Greats were worthy of him.
At nine o`clock, the vice sect lord of the Saint Gate, Liang Hongda, arrived. The meeting officially started.
1
“I believe some people here have learned about this from various channels. An expedition group from the Saint Gate discovered a secret realm in the second level of the Darkness Continent by chance.”
After Liang Hongda finished speaking, everyone let out sounds of exclamation.
What was a secret realm?
It was an unknown and mysterious area.
A new secret realm represented new species that included plants and animals. There would also be new darkness ruins. In any case, it was like an unexplored new piece of virgin land that was filled with hidden wealth waiting for people to discover them.
Why was it very rare for countries in the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces to fight in wars?
Basically, people would go to war for the sake of obtaining more population, land, and resources. No one would do things that had no benefits.
On Earth, from an overall perspective of history, when a country wanted to grow stronger, war would surely be involved. But in the Nine Provinces, there was no need for this because of the existence of the Darkness Continent.
Over 70% of this continent had not been fully explored yet, and this represented unknown wealth. The opportunities were waiting for those who could grab them.
The Saint Gate took the lead and got the tens of countries in the Nine Provinces to sign an agreement. For the spirit mines, species, and cultivation resources found by the expedition groups of the various countries, all of these will belong to that country with a time limit of 100 years. If anyone wished to invade and plunder during the 100-year period, they would be punished with an attack by an alliance of the other countries.
And it was precisely this contract that prevented wars from engulfing the Nine Provinces. And the various countries also focused their military force on the Darkness Continent.
After Sun Mo understood the contract, he sincerely felt impressed by the Sect Lord of the Saint Gate who came out with this concept
Not only did he resolve the greatest problem of the Nine Provinces which was war, but he also safeguarded peace for several centuries and allowed the statuses of great teachers to rapidly improve, becoming an esteemed occupation.
What did one need for exploring the Darkness Continent?
Many people felt the answer would be ‘an army’. But in truth, an army could only be used for punitive expeditions and to occupy land. What was truly important was a gathering of various talents.
Without knowledge, no one would be able to identify valuable herbs even if they saw them. Without knowledge, everyone could only dig wildly in the extravagant hopes of finding a spirit mine.
In the Darkness Continent, knowledge represented wealth.
Hence, the status of great teachers who imparted knowledge was clear even without words.
All the countries in the Nine Provinces treated great teachers with courtesy, and they would recruit great teachers to join their country’s expedition group every year to explore the Darkness Continent.
“This year, the content of the competition is for groups from famous schools to enter the secret realm, and we will see whose harvests will be the greatest after a month.”
Liang Hongda publicly announced the content of the competition.
The so-called harvest included but wasn’t limited to mines, new species, new herbs and plants, new darkness ruins, etc…
In any case, after a group discovered valuable items and brought them out, the Saint Gate’s judges would arrange for professional great teachers to evaluate the approximate value of the items.
After that, the schools would be ranked according to the value of the items.
Sun Mo was astonished. He couldn’t help but cock his head and ask, “Does a mine count?”
“Yup, but gold mines and silver mines only have an ordinary value that’s inferior to a heaven-tier secret treasure. However, if you discover a spirit stone mine, your school can rest assured that they will basically be able to maintain their grade.”
An Xinhui explained.
“…”
Sun Mo suddenly found it dull and boring.
It was as difficult as wanting to ascend the heavens for others if they wanted to look for a mine. But Sun Mo was different. Lu Zhiruo had a spirit qi roaming dragon, a creature that had a natural sensitivity toward spirit stones.
“Don’t dream recklessly. The conditions needed for a spirit stone mine to form are simply too harsh. Hence, they are all very rare. Moreover, because the quantity cannot be determined within a short time, the schools who found spirit mines may not decline in terms of their grade, but they wouldn’t be able to get a high evaluation either.”
An Xinhui continued to explain.
Given the experience and theory summed up by the Saint Gate, they thought it was impossible for large-scale spirit mines to appear at the bottom level of the Darkness Continent.
According to current knowledge, the Darkness Continent was split into six levels, and different laws existed in each level. The laws were all bizarre and unfathomable.
For example, at the first level, spirit qi pressure tides.
Cultivators in the Nine Provinces were already used to a type of spiritual pressure. But after they arrived at the Darkness Continent, the swift changes to spiritual pressure would cause people to feel exceedingly uncomfortable.
If spirit pressure suddenly vanished, the pressure in the cultivator’s body would lose balance and their bodies would directly explode.
It was like someone who kept swimming into the deep sea and going back up to the shallow sea region. The changes in pressure were extremely unbearable. So, cultivators that lived in this level had to bring along a spirit pressure reader.
In the second level of the Darkness Continent, not only would the spirit pressure change frequently, but the people there might see illusions or suffer from auditory hallucinations. In serious cases, people might even go mad directly.
When Sun Mo was at the Battlegod Canyon, he discovered that the damage Ying Baiwu had received on this level was the greatest among his students. As for Qi Shengjia, if it wasn’t for Sun Mo being the God Hands, Qi Shengjia basically couldn’t even enter.
For the third level, there was the spirit poison contamination.
Because of various unknown reasons, the spirit qi in the third level of the Darkness Continent contained toxins in it. If cultivators absorbed too much and couldn’t purge the toxins in their body in time, they would be poisoned and all sorts of symptoms would appear.
Each level of the Darkness Continent was connected by several tunnels. The higher one went, the more dangerous things would be. However, there would also be more opportunities.
For example, several large spirit mines were all discovered on the fourth and fifth levels of the Darkness Continent.
For the spirit mine Sun Mo had obtained, strictly speaking, it wasn’t a spirit mine. The spirit stones and diamonds were all formed from the spirit qi radiation from the body of the ancient elemental king.
“…”
Sun Mo was speechless. He was happy for nothing. No matter how good the nose of the spirit qi roaming dragon was, it was useless if there were no mines in the secret realm.
“The main purpose for the competition is to explore and open up land. Hence, the Saint Gate restricted the number of great teachers but not the students. You can bring how many students you want to, but there’s another rule.”
Liang Hongda warned in a solemn voice, “The death of every student will lead to a deduction of ten points, and the death of every great teacher will lead to a deduction of five points.”
Although the majority of great teachers wouldn’t abandon their students during times of danger, some might do so. After this rule was announced, the students selected for this trip would definitely all be top-rated students.
As for the points of great teachers being lower than the students, this had always been the philosophy of the Saint Gate – students were more valuable than great teachers.
“Finally, all the secret treasures of value will be returned to you after the judges determine their value. As for how to distribute the secret treasures, that will be up to the discretion of the respective schools.
“If the secret treasure is discovered by a single student, I hope the great teachers of that school will give the student sufficient benefits instead of just taking it away freely under the pretext of the treasure belonging to the school.”
Liang Hongda laughed. “Alright, I’ve finished speaking. Anyone who has questions can ask them now.”
“This secret realm is a recently discovered one?”
Jiang Mu asked.
“Yes!”
Liang Hongda added. “Before you guys, a few expedition groups have entered, but they have not returned yet.”
Hehe!
All the great teachers smiled.
If one encountered such an opportunity, they wouldn’t be willing to come out.
“Even if someone entered before, isn’t this very dangerous for the students?”
Jiang Mu was worried.
“Teacher Jiang, if the students want to grow, they should risk their lives. You are too protective toward children.”
The person who spoke was a great teacher of Caoliu Academy. His name was Wang Liu and he was the son of the headmaster.
“Teacher Jiang, how much danger can the second level of the Darkness Continent pose? Back then in our younger years, we tempered ourselves in the third and fourth level of the Darkness Continent.”
Liang Hongda’s lips twitched.
The current education style was already much gentler in comparison to the past. A hundred years ago, the students of all famous schools would spend at least half a year exploring the Darkness Continent.
“If there are no more questions, the meeting shall come to an end. Let’s meet at the Qiushui public square at 9 a.m. The map will be given out then.”
After Liang Hongda finished speaking, he walked toward Sun Mo.
“Teacher Sun, it has been a long time since we last met!”
When all the great teachers saw this scene, they sighed ruefully. Sun Mo had truly shot to fame with a single strike. He was a three-time champion, and this caused him to be a target the various major characters wanted to recruit.
After exchanging pleasantries for half an hour and rejecting Liang Hongda’s invitation for a meal, Sun Mo and An Xinhui returned back to their hotel.
“What are your thoughts?”
An Xinhui asked.
Before Sun Mo could speak, the notification rang out in his ears.
Ding!
“Mission issued: Please bring all your personal students and enter the secret realm to temper them. The system will evaluate you based on the quality of the secret treasures your group finds.”
“Note: If you didn’t manage to find one average-grade heaven-tier secret treasure at the very least, there would be a punishment. One of your personal students would die randomly, according to the situation.”
“Note: If there’s a personal student of yours that doesn’t enter the secret realm, he or she will die directly.”
The system’s voice was cold and emotionless.
Sun Mo’s brows were furrowed so hard to the extent where they looked like the character ‘山’. “What lousy mission is this? Can you cancel it?”
“The mission cannot be canceled.”
The system warned, “Also, please pay attention to your wording and attitude. If they continue to be so nasty, the difficulty of the mission will increase.”
Sun Mo gritted his teeth. He was so angry that he wanted to beat someone up.
As expected, the system was not anything good.
“Host. Please understand that I’m the Absolute Great Teacher System, and my job is to aid you to become a great teacher. I’m not a nanny.”
1
The system explained.
“Please calm down and think through it meticulously. Is this mission very difficult? As long as you guys find a secret treasure, you can avoid the punishment.”
Sun Mo naturally knew that this mission wasn’t difficult. What he was worried about was what he should do if the system gave him similar missions in the future?
“Your students are too well-protected by you. Also, don’t you feel that you have too many of them? For example, Lu Zhiruo and Tantai Yutang. If they died, wouldn’t you have two portions of burden less?”
Speaking of aptitude, the papaya girl was truly at the bottom of the barrel. As for Tantai Yutang, a sickly invalid who couldn’t live long, he basically had no future at all.
“Forget it. Quickly scram for me!”
Sun Mo was vexed and didn’t wish to continue speaking with the system.
“Little Momo?”
An Xinhui furrowed her brows. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. But I wish to bring Ziqi and the others along into the secret realm.”
Sun Mo sighed.
“Ah? Wouldn’t the number of people be too high?”
An Xinhui was astonished. After that, she persuaded, “Why don’t you just bring Xuanyuan Po, Ying Baiwu, and a few others who are good in combat?”
For someone like Li Ziqi, what could she do even if she entered?
To become a freebie?
Although the little sunny egg was erudite, her motor ability was truly too inferior.
“Why don’t we split ways? You guys will be the main group, while I will lead Ziqi and the others to just walk around the edge of the secret realm.”
Sun Mo contemplated.
He also understood the more low-year students there were, the greater the pressure on the great teachers would be.
For second-year students like Li Ziqi, they were really useless. The school groups from the other famous schools would definitely consist of high-year elite students.
“No way!”
An Xinhui rejected the idea. “You will definitely not be able to take care of everyone alone.”
Just when An Xinhui was discussing things with Sun Mo, Li Ziqi gathered her junior martial siblings into a room and started a small meeting.
“Our teacher got three championships in a year, creating a brand new record in the great teacher world. This is also a glory to us, who are his personal students.”
After Li Ziqi finished speaking, Lu Zhiruo who was at the side immediately nodded like a chick eating corn. “That’s right. We have to work hard and not lose face for Teacher.”
“Eldest Martial Sister, if you have anything to say, just say it directly!”
Tantai Yutang crossed his hands behind his head and leaned against his chair as he rocked to and fro.
“For the 4-star great teacher examination, the participant must grasp at least 12 great teacher halos and be proficient in four secondary occupations. One of their students must also ascend to the Hero Rankings. For the first two requirements, our teacher has already met them. What’s left next is up to us.”
Li Ziqi’s tone turned solemn. “I hope that during this one year, everyone will take out a ‘to succeed or die trying’ attitude when it comes to cultivation. At the end of next year, we must definitely help Teacher obtain the title of a 4-star great teacher.”
“That’s right, we will defend our teacher’s honor with our lives.”
Helian Beifang nodded.
Xianyu Wei didn’t say anything, but her hands were tightly clenched and her lips were pursed. She looked extremely serious.
“Eldest Martial Sister, this is too difficult.”
Qin Yaoguang chewed on her candy and felt that Li Ziqi was indulging in fantasy. “23 years old, getting four stars consecutively. Do you know what this concept is? This is something even the Sect Lord of the Saint Gate cannot achieve.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhiruo involuntarily cast a glance at Qin Yaoguang and wanted to rebut. But after thinking of the fact that she was her junior martial sister, she decided to endure it.
“A tall tree attracts the wind. I feel that Teacher’s accomplishment is already high enough. He should focus on cultivation and solidify his foundation for a few years first.”
Qin Yaoguang suggested.
Li Ziqi frowned and just when she wanted to rebut, Xuanyuan Po interjected. “I don’t like your attitude. If you are weak, you should fight for it. But if you are strong, you should fight for it even more. If you don’t reach the final moment in combat, you will never know where your limits lie.”
Li Ziqi surveyed everyone, especially Tantai Yutang and Qin Yaoguang. If they were afraid of death, they better not blame her, acting as the eldest martial sister, to cleanse the sect on behalf of their teacher.
(It’s not important whether you guys die or not. In any case, our teacher’s benefit is paramount!)
…
The various famous schools were all in the midst of preparation.
At the encampment of the Royal Dragon Academy, a great teacher revealed a satisfied smile as he looked at a spirit rune he prepared attentively. (You are an ancestor-level spirit runist, right?)
(Sun Mo, tomorrow, I will let you know that not anyone is worthy of having such a noble title.)