Chapter 1047 - A Genius’s Concept, A Design That Topples One’s Imagination
Sun Mo's prestige was greatly enhanced.
The first day of the operation had ended, but the major characters didn't disperse. Instead, they gathered around Sun Mo to ask questions, wanting to dispel their doubts.
Even the 3-star great teachers here had many questions, but they basically didn't have a turn to speak.
Cui Shun`en was the no. 2 character in the manor. His status was very high, and he directly 'monopolized' Sun Mo and kept asking questions.
Luckily, the content of the questions was something others were interested in as well.
However, not many of them could understand.
"Little student, your performance wasn't bad!"
Seeing that he couldn't speak with Sun Mo, a 3-star with a bald head decided to respectfully praise Li Ziqi to build up a relationship first.
"Many thanks for the praise!" The little sunny egg smiled. "But you should address me as Teacher Li!"
"Huh?" The nearby great teachers started.
"I just got the champion position in the recently concluded 1-star great teacher examination."
Li Ziqi didn't like vain glory, but right now in this place, she couldn't help but want to speak about her achievements.
If you had no achievements, there was no way these major characters would look at you straight.
Si~
Everyone inhaled a breath of cold air and stared at the little sunny egg with shock.
"How old are you? 17?"
A great teacher with a bald head asked.
"15!"
Li Ziqi smiled.
"So young?"
The bald great teacher scratched his sideburns, which consisted of a few strands of hair. "I remember that the record holder for the youngest great teacher in history is currently held by the Sect Lord of the Saint Gate, right?"
"My eldest martial sister has broken that record."
Jiang Leng interjected.
Silent descended, everyone was dumbfounded.
But after thinking of her performance as Sun Mo's assistant earlier, they no longer felt that it was strange.
"It's all because my teacher has taught me well!"
Li Ziqi's modest words boosted Sun Mo's reputation. "Also, didn't you ask earlier that by using this method to mend the spirit runes, wouldn't the flow of spirit qi be cut?
"The answer is yes. So, we have to use a supreme technique and medicinal herbs with godly effects in addition to the Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands to ensure that the spirit runes are restored to their original state as fast as possible."
At this moment, the little sunny egg gave full rein to her deep knowledge and intelligence as she spoke frankly with assurance, with a tone that was neither servile nor overbearing.
"What a precious little girl!"
Those great teachers and assistants who weren't qualified to speak to Sun Mo immediately gathered over and started to blast off questions.
Li Ziqi meticulously explained everything.
In order to be a competent assistant, the little sunny egg had devoted her time and effort to research these spirit runes. The amount of time she slept for was even lesser than Sun Mo.
Bai Wenzhang stared over, feeling envious of Sun Mo's luck.
He also wanted such an outstanding disciple.
"Alright, everyone, let's head to the lecture theater. This place is too cramped."
Bai Wenzhang clapped his hands.
"The time isn't early anymore, should we have a meal first?"
Xiao Feng suggested.
He no longer dared to let Sun Mo continue talking, or the latter would surely be able to win good will from all the major characters in the Dragonspirit Manor.
"Why should we have a meal now? We won't die even if we go hungry for a few days!"
Cui Shun`en berated. He was deeply afraid that Sun Mo would go for a meal.
Some people in the great teacher world valued the high-level knowledge they had very much, refusing to teach them to outsiders. Cui Shun'en didn't know if Sun Mo was such a person or not.
In order to prevent any unexpected incidents, he wanted to take the chance now that Sun Mo was in a good mood and was willing to speak, to learn all he could from him.
(I must squeeze as much out of him as I can.)
After entering the lecture theater, Cui Shun'en activated his 'questioning mode'.
The others still didn't have any way to get a word across.
For the entire two hours, the conversation was between Sun Mo and Cui Shun`en.
"Teacher Cui, I want to have a turn too!"
Yan Sui was unhappy.
Although Sun Mo's answers to Cui Shun`en's questions were of help to him too, he had even more important questions he wanted to ask.
"Sorry, let me ask three to five more questions before I pass the turn to you!"
Cui Shun`en smiled awkwardly.
Xiao Feng stared at these major characters whose hair had turned white. They acted like they were students again… seriously listening to the lecture and recording notes. As a result, he felt so anxious that he wanted to die.
(This can't continue.)
Xiao Feng tugged at Wu Li who was beside him. "We have to stop him or our most valuable research result will be learned by him."
Given the terrifying learning ability displayed by Sun Mo, he would surely be able to squeeze the manor dry within a short period, so dry that not even a drop would be left.
"Mn!"
Wu Li replied.
"Find some people with higher statuses so their words would have weightage."
Xiao Feng thought of a plan.
"Mn!"
"Also, arrange a few experimental subjects who are heavily injured to increase the difficulty of the operations, increasing his failure rate by a few times!"
Xiao Feng suddenly discovered that this plan of his wasn't bad.
(Do I have the potential to become a wise general?)
"Mn!"
After hearing this word again, Xiao Feng frowned. He used his elbow to knock Wu Li lightly.
"You keep 'mn-ing', are you like a buzzing fly? Don't you have any ideas?"
"Don't you know you are being an annoyance? Can't you quietly listen to Teacher Sun's lectures?"
Wu Li directly shot back.
Xiao Feng was stunned. (What's with your attitude? Are we still from the same faction?)
Wu Li ignored Xiao Feng. He swiftly wrote down notes in his book, filling the pages.
"It can't be, right? You want to take down all of his words?" Xiao Feng was speechless. "Is there a need to do so?"
"You don't understand!"
Wu Li cast a glance at Xiao Feng and no longer wanted to speak to him.
(You basically have no idea how precious a public lecture of this standard is. After digesting this knowledge from Sun Mo, it's enough to allow me to save five years as I would take fewer erroneous paths.)
Xiao Feng suddenly understood that those 'mn, mn, mn' were simply entertaining him. This fellow basically wasn't listening to what he was saying.
In Sun Mo's vision, he kept gaining favorable impression points.
"It's a pity that favorable impression points from great teachers are the same as those from students. It wouldn't be better due to their statuses!"
Sun Mo sighed.
The 10,000 favorable impression points were the same, but these were contributed by high star-ranking great teachers. The weightage was very heavy.
…
For the next two days, Sun Mo did two full day's worth of operation and caused the major characters of the manor to watch in high spirits.
It wasn't an exaggeration to call Sun Mo's treatment process 'art'.
His movements were too smooth.
Some of the more scheming individuals even started to secretly learn Sun Mo's techniques, wanting to find out the secret of the Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands.
Xiao Feng wanted to find a few more allies, and the people he sought out all agreed readily. However, once the operations started, all his allies sank into trying to understand them and had no way to extricate themselves.
This was an extremely hard-to-come-by opportunity. Only fools would miss it.
And from the start of the fourth day, Sun Mo changed his work plan.
In the morning, he was in the optimal state to do operations. After that, he would head to the ancient spirit rune building during the afternoon to study.
And those books that were originally reserved for a small portion of high star-ranking great teachers were loaned to Sun Mo after Bai Wenzhang's approval.
The seventh day!
"No way, no matter what, I have to make Sun Mo fail today!"
Xiao Feng was determined to act now. If not, if he continued waiting, there would probably be no one who would object if this fellow became the successor of the manor.
"Teacher Sun, can I become your assistant today?'
Before the operation started, Cui Shun`en recommended himself.
Huh?
Xiao Feng who had been pondering over his plan for half a day was completely stunned when he heard this.
(Although you have not officially taken the exam, your standard in the study of spirit runes is also at the ancestor level. Being an assistant for Sun Mo, don't you find it embarrassing?)
"I don't care about losing face!"
Cui Shun`en laughed. "Don't have any reservations. Just treat me like an ordinary assistant and command me on what to do."
After speaking, Cui Shun`en also didn't wait for Sun Mo to agree. He directly stood on Sun Mo's right.
Yan Sui, who was being squeezed to the side, had resentment in his eyes.
(That was my place, alright?)
This time around, even if someone threatened to beat him to death, Xiao Feng no longer dared to stir trouble, or Cui Shun'en would surely destroy him.
…
The operations that lasted for a total of 15 days actually allowed Sun Mo to have great harvests.
These were all valuable experimental subjects. Sun Mo wanted to do the operation personally and regardless of success or failure, the accumulated experience was valuable.
If he wrote his insights and observations during these days into a book, the entire spirit rune world would go crazy wanting to snatch it.
As for the favorable impression points and respect he gained, they were unworthy of being mentioned.
After another day of operations, Bai Wenzhang called out to Sun Mo.
"Accompany me for a walk?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Feng felt so jealous that he wanted to die.
His teacher had never been so gentle toward him.
Seeing Sun Mo and Bai Wenzhang leaving side by side, the major characters immediately started discussing.
"Sun Mo's growth is really too terrifying."
Cui Shun`en sighed in admiration.
"Yeah."
Yan Sui nodded.
At the start, Sun Mo's operation mainly focused on treating the body. For those spirit runes, unless he was familiar with them, he wouldn't carelessly try and repair them. But now, even if those runes were complicated, he insisted on trying.
This indicated that his understanding of spirit runes was growing increasingly deeper.
"Maybe, his standard will soon reach my level."
Yan Sui suddenly felt somewhat disappointed. He felt that he had wasted his life despite having lived for so many years.
"Are you kidding?" Xiao Feng chortled.
Yan Sui cast a glance at Xiao Feng before turning to leave.
(What's there to chat with someone so lacking in judgment? You still want to inherit the Dragonspirit Manor? Sorry! I'll be the first to disagree.)
…
In the silent forest, the soft cries of bugs could be heard.
"What is your opinion on my research topics?"
Bai Wenzhang asked but Sun Mo fell silent.
"It's fine, just boldly state your thoughts!"
Bai Wenzhang encouraged him.
"A very advanced type of thinking!"
Sun Mo deliberated over his words before uttering them.
"Don't you feel that it is a foolish fantasy?"
Bai Wenzhang counter-asked.
What was he researching?
Firstly, spirit runes that could automatically repair themselves, and secondly, using spirit runes to unleash techniques.
"No."
Sun Mo mentally mused that before computers, artificial intelligence, or even steam engines appeared, who would have thought that inventions like ocean liners and airplanes would become reality?
In this world, as long as there was creativity, nothing was impossible.
Bai Wenzhang stared at Sun Mo and after seeing the latter's relaxed expression, he heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that Sun Mo had said that not because he wanted to intentionally fawn on him.
Honestly speaking, even Bai Wenzhang himself would occasionally be at a loss.
Because these two research topics were simply too incredible.
"Allowing spirit runes to automatically mend itself...I feel that the crux lies in the type of ink we use. Could we use dye from some lifeforms?"
Sun Mo suggested.
Why was it very rare for cultivators to tattoo spirit runes on their bodies unless they were at a bottleneck and couldn't advance anymore no matter what they did?
Because once a spirit rune was damaged, it was too difficult to repair it.
So, some spirit runists wanted to design a spirit rune that could automatically repair itself. It was just that after countless failed attempts, no one was so stubborn anymore.
"This is not a bad direction, but it depends too heavily on luck."
Bai Wenzhang sighed. He had tried it before.
"And the number of lifeforms that have dyes with such a unique characteristic shouldn't be a lot. So, it would be very limited even if we used them to engrave spirit runes."
Different spirit runes required different dyes. The effectiveness would differ greatly.
Sun Mo nodded. Material selection was like this. One had to experiment constantly and depended on luck to find the most suitable one.
"I feel that it's better to put in more effort to think about the spirit rune's core structure."
Bai Wenzhang laughed. "And actually, I've seen spirit runes that can automatically repair themselves before!"
"Ah?"
It was Sun Mo's turn to be shocked.
"I'll show it to you later!"
Bai Wenzhang kept him in suspense. "With regard to using spirit runes to unleash techniques, what do you think about this idea?"
"Excellent!"
Sun Mo praised.
This concept was to use spirit runes to replicate each move of a cultivation art.
An example was breaking the dome of the heavens with a single sword strike. It means that after activating a spirit rune, one could release this ultimate move. If it was successful, this type of spirit runes could be tattooed on the body of a cultivator.
Even if that person didn't know this sword-type cultivation art, after activating the spirit rune, they would still be able to release that move.
"But it is too difficult."
Sun Mo shook his head.
"Yeah!"
Bai Wenzhang sighed. "If we want to do this, other than it being too troublesome, it is truly too difficult to use a spirit rune to unleash an ultimate move."
It was very difficult to create a new spirit rune. For some grandmaster spirit runists, they might not be able to create a brand new spirit rune even if they tried their entire lives.
And even for a great ancestor like Bai Wenzhang who was at the top of the pyramid, he had at most invented 12 new spirit runes in his life. Moreover, the creation of these new runes depended on sudden insights.
12 spirit runes sounded a lot, but with regard to the millions of moves in the various cultivation arts out there, it was like using a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood.
Hence, although Bai Wenzhang's thoughts were beautiful, reality was cruel.
"Bai-laoshi, I feel that your thoughts are erroneous."
Sun Mo smiled.
"Don't address me as 'laoshi', you have the qualifications to address me as 'Teacher Bai'!"
Bai Wenzhang frowned.
"Alright then!"
Sun Mo shrugged, it didn't matter to him.
"My thoughts are erroneous?"
Bai Wenzhang listened with respectful attention.
"What is the greatest function of a cultivation art?"
Sun Mo counter-asked.
"To kill?"
Bai Wenzhang didn't even need to think about it.
If one said that cultivation arts were used to safeguard world peace, that person would be lying. The reason cultivation arts were made was to allow one to kill their enemies faster. With them, they could hunt prey with greater efficiency and fill their bellies, allowing them to possess more battle spoils
"That is correct. Since the ultimate purpose is to kill, no matter the moves, as long as the function is achieved...wouldn't that be enough?"
After Sun Mo finished speaking, Bai Wenzhang was stunned.
(Yeah, this logic is so simple, yet I actually didn't think of it?)
Truthfully speaking, it was because Bai Wenzhang's perception had been shackled by the 'common sense' of this era.
In everyone's perception, the higher the tier and grade of a cultivation art, the more powerful the destructive might it would produce. Hence, everyone was pursuing powerful cultivation arts.
And what was Sun Mo's meaning?
There was no need to spiritrunize so many ultimate skills. It was enough as long as one turned the most powerful technique into the form of a spirit rune.
In any case, as long as they used it, the enemy would die for sure.
After Sun Mo discovered Bai Wenzhang's research direction, his first reaction was to see whether he could turn his divine-level cultivation arts into spirit runes. By doing so, his students would be able to use them.
But after seriously contemplating, he discovered that he wasn't able to do it with his talent.
After pondering for a few days, he was still clueless.
But everything changed when he discussed this with the little sunny egg, and she brought up the Myriad Manifestations Spirit Wave Art.
Li Ziqi said that she simply needed something that could kill an enemy with a single strike. She would be invincible then.
This sentence brought inspiration to Sun Mo because it caused him to think of artillery.
Bluntly speaking, it didn't mean the bigger the caliber, the better it would be.
Hence, all questions inclined toward the same point. And that was to use a spirit rune to unleash a gigantic blast from the Myriad Manifestations Spirit Wave Art. At its maximum output, it should be able to destroy an entire region with a single blast or even an entire planet.
"Spirit qi is a type of energy. All cultivation arts are simply methods to use energy. In that case, if we invent a spirit rune, wouldn't it do if we directly use it to tap on energy? Why is there a need to do an extra step such as incorporating techniques inside?"
Sun Mo asked again.
Bai Wenzhang was directly stunned. The spirit pressure radiating from him started to surge and rage wildly. This was because Sun Mo's words had just opened the door to a brand new world for him.
[1] the term 'laoshi' (old/elder teacher) has been mentioned before.. In this story's context, it is a much more respectful way of addressing someone compared to simply using the word 'shi' (teacher).