Chapter 1257: We Are the Most Good-Looking Children!
Translator: Lordbluefire
Sun Mo bent over and hid behind a tall guy beside him, avoiding Ying Baiwu’s gaze.
The preliminaries were heated up, and the people were very exhilarated from watching the matches. They even had a strong urge to join a match themselves.
Amongst Sun Mo’s students, Li Ziqi, Lu Zhiruo, and Tantai Yutang did not participate. The rest did, but Qin Yaoguang was eliminated in the third round.
Everyone was angry over this.
They felt that Qin Yaoguang should either not participate or give it her all. Otherwise, she’d be bringing embarrassment to their teacher.
Qin Yaoguang begged for mercy. She promised that she would never do it again.
In fact, this girl who liked to eat snacks had always been very strong in combat. If she went all out, even Jiang Leng could not guarantee that he would win.
Li Zigi felt that Qin Yaoguang had embarrassed their teacher, but the surrounding spectators didn’t think so. They were stunned by her performance.
Although the qualifiers weren’t that important, every single one of Sun Mo’s disciples could easily win even if they couldn’t deal an instant kill. This was amazing.
Thus, in all betting stations, the odds for Sun Mo’s students winning the championship kept on dropping because many people were buying in.
Anyway, even if they didn’t emerge as the champion, they’d still be able to get into the top ten. Therefore, there was no loss in buying more.
Over the next two days, Sun Mo continued to hide in the dark and observe, occasionally revealing a satisfied expression.
From their performance, he could tell that they had not been slacking off in the four years he had been away. Their standards had improved tremendously. Even if Li Zigi wanted to give them some opinions, there was nothing for her to say.
“Perfect!”
After watching for two days, Yang Shizhan came to this conclusion. He also wanted these kinds of students.
“En”
jiang’s envious gaze was enough to explain everything.
“Thanks for letting me win!”
After taking down his opponent, Helian Beifang bowed, sheathed his saber, and jumped off the arena.
“Handsome!”
A middle-aged man in his thirties squeezed through the crowd and walked over quickly. “Are you free? It’ll be my treat. How about we have a chat at the Fortune Restaurant?”
Fortune Restaurant was one of the most luxurious restaurants in Anjing City. Even high-ranking officials and nobles would need to make a reservation in advance to be able to eat there.
“You want to headhunt me?”
Helian Beifang’s expression was calm. They had encountered many similar situations over the past few years.
“Headhunt?” The middle-aged man frowned. “You already have a personal teacher?”
Without waiting for Helian Beifang to speak, the middle-aged man mocked himself again, “Look at me shooting off like that. What nonsense am I talking about? Given how amazing you are, it’d be strange if you don’t have a teacher!
“However, to be honest, only someone like me is capable of completely unearthing your talent.”
‘The middle-aged man said confidently, “And most importantly, I’m from the Central Plains!”
This was the middle-aged man’s greatest reliance. Many barbarians looked at the countries from the Central Plains as if they were looking at the heavenly court. They were envious of the rich and peaceful lives in the Central Plains.
Some of the barbarians not only learned the trend of the Central Plains with regard to how to dress, eat, act, and speak, but they also used various herbs for skincare, wanting to fade their skin color.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m the Great Wei’s…”
Before the middle-aged man could finish, he was interrupted by Helian Beifang.
“My teacher is Sun Mo!”
Gah!
‘The middle-aged man’s eyes widened and he looked at Helian Beifang. “Sun Mo? That God Hands?” “The youngest great ancestor-level spirit runist in the Nine Provinces?”
“That’s right!”
Helian Beifang smiled faintly.
“T’ve been disrespectful!”
‘The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly, his face turning pale from nervousness. He cupped his hands, lowered his head, and then left quickly as if he was escaping.
(Sun Mo is currently a superstar in the great teacher world. I must really be tired of living to be trying to poach one of his students.)
“Haha, this fellow is still thinking of poaching Great Teacher Sun’s student? He’s really overestimating his capabilities!”
“That’s a swindler!”
“That’s right. I heard that some degenerates in the great teacher world make a living by selling genius students!”
‘The surrounding people were discussing fervently.
Some great teachers, after seeing that it was impossible for them to advance and survive in ordinary schools, would go to the countryside to look for students, scattering their net across a wider scope.
If they happened to take in one or two geniuses, they would bring the students to visit the prestigious and influential high star-level great teachers and then ‘recommend’ the students to them.
Of course, these high star-level great teachers would have to pay some money for their effort.
Although the Saint Gate had always been clamping down on such things, there was always darkness where light existed. It was inevitable that some bad things would still take place.
“Tm going back. What about you guys?”
Helian Beifang asked.
It was almost noon, and there were only two more rounds before the preliminaries were over. They might as well leave early, or the roads would be congested later.
“Let’s finish watching this first! It’s quite interesting!”
Tantai Yutang suggested.
“Oh?” Helian Beifang looked toward the arena. “What do you mean?”
Although the sickly guy did not like to fight, everyone knew that this kid had good judgment and was very experienced. He was always able to rely on various means to tur the tables around.
“The person in blue clothes practices a kind of poison art. The gas he breathes out is also poisonous. After his opponent breathes in the gas, it’d cause muscle paralysis and stop the circulation of spirit qi.”
Tantai Yutang explained.
“How do you know that?”
Qin Yaoguang was curious. (Other than Eldest Martial Sister, everyone else should have learned similar things from Teacher. How is it that you know so much?)
“There are records in the Poison Scripture that Teacher imparted to me. I came to this conclusion after seeing the condition of his body.”
‘Tantai Yutang lowered his voice. “Look carefully. When he circulates his spirit qi, a faint layer of black will appear on his face. This means that the poison has invaded his blood.”
‘As the martial siblings were discussing, the blue-clothed youth sent his opponent flying with a punch and won the competition.
“Tantai, why don’t we go and persuade him?”
Li Ziqi instructed.
“Tm not a great teacher, why should I care if he lives or dies?”
The sickly guy shrugged.
“Come on, don’t think I don’t know that you’re going crazy from wanting to comprehend the Self-Taught Halo.”
Li Ziqi rolled her eyes. “Let me tell you, you have to give more ‘guidance’ and accumulate experience before you can have a chance to comprehend it.”
Tantai Yutang hesitated for a moment and went forward.
“Brother, let’s talk somewhere else!”
Tantai Yutang was a strong-minded person. He wasn’t interested in teaching students, but he wanted to have the title of a great teacher.
“What do you want?”
Fei Enjun’s expression was unkind.
“To help you solve a problem!”
‘Tantai Yutang still put on an arrogant front, and the moment he spoke, Li Ziqi and the others frowned.
(No one will listen to you given the tone you’re using.)
“No need!”
Sure enough, Fei Enjun rejected him strictly. He pushed the sickly guy away and wanted to leave.
“Brother.”
Li Ziqi chased after him.
Fei Enjun felt displeased. (What are you guys trying to do?) However, when he turned around and saw that it was a beautiful girl, all the anger in his heart dissipated.
“Your… Your… Your Majesty?”
Li Ziqi was a famous person and everyone knew her, so Fei Enjun felt a little flattered.
“My junior martial brother is trying to help you!”
Li Ziqi explained.
Fei Enjun was stunned. “Help me with what? Matchmaking? I’m so handsome, I don’t lack women.”
Upon hearing this, Tantai Yutang was so angry that his mouth turned crooked.
(How dare someone like you, who has an elephant’s head, call yourself handsome?)
(Even any random man’s face, even one that has been bitten by wild dogs, would be more good-looking than you.)
“Tantai!” Li Ziqi warned. “Watch your attitude!”
“Tm trying to help him, but it looks as if I owe him something!”
The sickly guy muttered, “Do you know that you’re dying?”
“This is what the blind swindler at our village entrance says when he’s trying to deceive people.”
Fei Enjun grinned.
“Tm not helping him anymore. I’m leaving. I won’t take this patient.”
Tantai Yutang was very upset and turned to leave.
“Don’t be throwing a tantrum!”
Helian Beifang pulled on the sickly guy. He was a good person and seeing that there was a problem with Fei Enjun’s body, he felt that they should help him since it wasn’t a big deal.
“There are some mistakes in the poison art you practice, and it leads to poison entering your body. You either have to get rid of the poison or stop cultivating the poison art. Otherwise, you’ll be dead in at most a year.”
Tantai Yutang explained.
“Who practiced poison arts? Don’t you slander me!”
Fei Enjun yelled, feeling so anxious that his facial features were twitching, just like someone who had been having an affair with someone’s wife and was caught by the husband.
The onlookers started to mutter amongst themselves.
In the eyes of the public, once they heard about poison art, they would think that it was an evil cultivation art. The said cultivator would be despised.
“Have you been having frequent pains in your waist over the past 6 months? Especially after patronizing the brothels, do you feel your body stiffening and you are unable to get onto your feet?”
Tantai Yutang ignored Fei Enjun’s feelings and questioned him directly.
Fei Enjun’s expression changed drastically. His gaze wandered for a while, but he still lowered his head dejectedly and asked softly, “Can it be treated?”
“Didn’t I already say it just now? Get rid of the poison and stop cultivating this cultivation art!”
Tantai Yutang pouted.
Fei Enjun looked toward Li Ziqi.
“Did you steal this cultivation art?”
Li Ziqi didn’t give Fei Enjun any face and asked straightforwardly because this guy might be a scum who had stolen someone else’s cultivation art.
“I didn’t. Don’t talk nonsense.”
Fei Enjun panicked. “My teacher died in an accident before he could teach me everything about this cultivation art.”
“What is the name of this cultivation art?”
Li Ziqi asked.
“Golden Toad Art!”
Fei Enjun said proudly, “This is my teacher’s unique cultivation art. It’s one that’s only passed down to the males and not the females.”
“Can I do a check?”
Li Ziqi reached out a hand and made an inviting gesture.
Fei Enjun hesitated.
“If you haven’t done anything against your conscience, what’s there to be scared of?”
Lu Zhiruo chipped in as well.
“Alright then.”
Fei Enjun took a deep breath. “Please go ahead!”
Li Ziqi reached out her hand and pressed on Fei Enjun’s body. She even lifted his eyelids and checked the bottom of his eyes.
‘Tantai Yutang also came over and took a few glances before shaking his head. “The poisoning is very severe!”
“Aren’t you going to be honest?”
Li Zigi took a few steps back, her gaze turning sharp. “This cultivation art should be called the Golden Toad Hundred Poisons Art, a peerless-grade heaven-tier cultivation art. When cultivating it, the most important step is to soak one’s body in a medicinal bath every morning and night to neutralize the
toxins. You, on the other hand, didn’t do this step at all.
“Does your teacher hate you very much? To the extent that he didn’t even mention such a crucial point?”
Fei Enjun’s face turned pale. He stared at Li Ziqi, feeling perplexed and then blurted out unconsciously, “How do you know my teacher’s unique cultivation art?”
“Of course, it’s because my teacher taught it to me.”
Li Ziqi let out a snort, feeling very proud. (If it wasn’t because we’re in public and I’d feel embarrassed about it, I’d have put my hands on my hips and raised my head.)
“That’s impossible!”
Fei Enjun shook his head.
“Don’t say that it’s impossible. Your unique cultivation art might be treated as a treasure by you guys, but my teacher doesn’t even care to use it.”
Xianyu Wei thought to herself. (My teacher even knows the Skyraise Academy and Dragon Subduing Academy’s ultimate divine art. How would some toad cultivation art be able to compare?)
“Tm going to report this to the Saint Gate. It’s because you might have murdered your teacher in order to get this cultivation art!”
Li Ziqi’s face darkened.
“Don’t, I’ll speak up!”
Fei Enjun sighed. “When I was chopping wood in the mountains, I saved a great teacher. He said that if I took care of him, he would take me in as his disciple. However, his injuries were too serious and he eventually died.”
“Teacher died, so the things he left behind belong to me. There’s no problem with that, right?”
Fei Enjun raised his hand. “I can swear that if I lie, I’ll be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!”
The people from the Nine Provinces valued oaths very much. If Fei Enjun dared to say that, it meant that there were basically no problems.
‘There was no one to guide him. That was why he encountered a problem when he tried to cultivate by himself.
“Tantai, tell him the method to get rid of the poison!”
Li Ziqi didn’t want to care about this matter anymore. “Also, listen to my advice. Don’t practice the Golden Toad Hundred Poisons Art anymore. Do you know why you’re getting uglier? It’s because of this cultivation art.”
“Wait!”
Fei Enjun hesitated again but still said, “My teacher said that when this cultivation art is practiced to the extreme, one can stay in the water for several days without dying. Is that true?”
“Yes!”
Li Ziqi had no reason to hide it. “It’s because when you cultivate it to the end, you will become a half-human, half-golden toad monster!”
“Huh?”
Fei Enjun wasn’t the only one who was shocked. Even the onlookers were frightened when they heard this.
“The correct method of this cultivation art is to use the golden toad’s toxins to reinforce puppetry, modifying one’s body. You probably couldn’t find golden toad’s poison and thus used some other replacement, right?”
The reason Li Ziqi was willing to waste so much effort saying all of this was to raise her teacher’s reputation. Now that her goal had been achieved, she naturally was going to leave.
Sure enough, the surrounding people started discussing fervently and had forgotten to watch the competition on the arena.
“This technique is amazing!”
“Great Teacher Sun knows so much!”
“Look at that kid. He didn’t even learn the essence of it, but Great Teacher Sun imparted this cultivation art so easily to his disciples. He’s really generous.”
Many people were envious of Li Ziqi and the others’ good luck. They were really blissful to be able to acknowledge Sun Mo as their teacher.
Li Ziqi ruled over an empire and there were probably less than five people across the entire Nine Provinces who were richer than she was. Therefore, after she came to Anjing City, she didn’t stay in a hotel. Instead, she spent a huge sum of money to buy a big manor.
‘Three-horse carriages drove Sun Mo’s students home.
However, they had just driven less than half a li when they were stopped by a horse carriage.
“What’s the matter?”
Lu Zhiruo pulled open the curtain and looked out.
“Be careful!”
Xianyu Wei pulled the papaya girl back. What if it was an assassination?
Jiang Leng, Xuanyuan Po, Helian Beifang, and Ying Baiwu were the fastest to react. They didn’t leave by the door but knocked open the horse carriage and appeared on the long street. They then guarded the carriage that Li Ziqi and Lu Zhiruo were in.
“Your reactions are fast!”
Six young men and women walked out from a small alley at the side, facing Sun Mo’s students, looking like they were here to make trouble for them.