Chapter 1272: Outstanding Excellence!
Translator: Lordbluefire
Be it in the student era or after graduation, Luo Pei was in the Jixia Learning Palace, and he belonged to the absolute top-tier geniuses of the Nine Provinces.
Hence, he was extremely arrogant. He admitted that Sun Mo had talent and huge achievements in the study of spirit runes, so good to the extent no one could stand side by side with him. But when it came to weaponsmithing, Luo Pei wasn’t convinced that Sun Mo could be his match.
Luo Pei didn’t dare to openly call out and challenge Sun Mo right in his face. But in his heart, he had decided to give it his all and obtained the first place so he could ruthlessly suppress Sun Mo.
“If it really succeeds, wouldn’t I be able to boast about this matter for several years?”
Luo Pei suddenly laughed.
The grandmaster-level weaponsmith exam was divided into two parts – a written exam and a practical combat.
The written exam was the ordinary questions and answers, and they were crafted by ancestor-level weaponsmiths. Not only would this test the great teachers’ foundation, but the final few major questions would also check what thoughts and understandings they have with regard to the future of
weaponsmithing.
In any case, two words could describe the exam – extremely difficult!
One had to score 90 out of 100 points for the written exam before they could take part in the second segment, the practical combat, where one had to personally forge a weapon in it.
The Saint Gate had set a rule that the examinees had to bring their own materials so the product created would belong to them. But it was okay if they wanted to use the materials provided by the Saint Gate. However, the end product would belong to the Saint Gate then.
Honestly speaking, the vast majority of people would choose the second path because the rate of failure was simply too great.
‘The examinees were all great teachers that had suffered the bite of society, so they knew the rules very well. Nobody wasted words, and under the lead of the assistant examiners, they entered the exam venue. After waiting for ten minutes, the bell to signal the start rang out.
‘The main examiner gave out the papers while reminding the examinees.
“You guys have two hours!”
“No cheating is allowed. Once you are caught, your qualifications as a great teacher would be directly revoked!”
“Don’t whisper to each other and don’t look around you. Once you are discovered to have cheated, your paper will be directly confiscated and you will be expelled from the venue!”
The rules of the examination were very strict. However, everyone here was a veteran and also had no intentions to cheat. Hence, no one panicked.
Sun Mo glanced toward the left corner of this area as a slight smile curled his lips.
Because Sun Mo’s fame was too great, the main examiner had been paying attention to him. So, after he saw Sun Mo’s expression, the main examiner’s heart suddenly trembled.
“It can’t be, right? Has this brat discovered that spiritual beast?”
That’s right, other than three examiners being present on the scene, there was another invisible spiritual beast here. This battle pet was then the true observer.
Luckily, Sun Mo took no other actions, and the main examiner gradually became more at ease.
The written exam began!
Sun Mo couldn’t be bothered to read through the paper first to familiarize himself. He directly started.
What was a study god?
This was it!
‘What did you mean by doing the simple questions and obtaining the marks you were certain to score first?
Sorry, to Sun Mo, all these were as simple as 1+1. As for those major questions behind, they were at most at the standard of a linear equation.
The thing slowing Sun Mo down was only his writing speed.
An hour later, Sun Mo completed the paper.
Hence, he lifted his right hand.
The main examiner immediately walked over and asked in a low voice, “What’s the matter?”
“I’m done, I want to hand in the paper!”
Sun Mo wanted to retum to the hotel and continue his research on some difficult parts relating to the spirit particle calculator.
Swish~
At the same time, all the other examinees stared over with shock on their faces.
(Do you have to be so fierce?)
(You are also so strong in weaponsmithing?)
(Could the paper you are taking be an exam paper for the study of spirit runes instead?)
“Can I leave now?”
Sun Mo asked again.
“A…are you not going to check it again?”
The main examiner stuttered a little.
“Nope, I’ll pass for sure!”
Sun Mo rose and departed directly.
The main examiner had a dumbfounded look on his face. He meant that Sun Mo’s fame was too great, if he didn’t do well, others would surely taunt and ridicule him. But Sun Mo completely wasn’t bothered at all.
Just look at his words – Tl pass for sure!’. How tyrannical was this?!
“Why are the rest of you in a daze? Do you all have too much time on your hands?”
The main examiner scolded them.
Ceng~
A middle-aged man stood up. “I don’t want to take the exam anymore!”
Swish~
Everyone who just lowered their heads looked over again.
“Tm like trash when compared to Great Teacher Sun. I’ve decided to head back and study hard for ten more years. At that time, I would surely be able to be as calm and composed as Great Teacher Sun.”
‘After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he clasped his fists to everyone and quickly left.
“I’m not going to take it either!”
“I think I better go polish my skills for a few more years as well.”
“No matter how good you are, there’s always someone better. Living in the same era as Sun Mo is a type of glory as well as a tragedy!”
Ceng! Ceng! Ceng!
In the exam venue, 39 examinees stood up and decided to not take the exam anymore.
The lips of the main examiners twitched. A few of these people had been stirred by Sun Mo’s behavior and felt inspired, but some also felt it was hopeless, hence, they intentionally dramatized the whole thing.
At the very least, they could say that they gave up the exam for Sun Mo, which sounded way cooler compared to saying their standards were too lousy for the exam.
After Luo Pei finished answering the questions, he discovered that half an hour had already passed. He hesitated a little but decided to give up checking through his answers and then sent his paper in to the examiners in advance.
He was worried that Sun Mo might finish first if he checked the paper.
“That shouldn’t be the case. These exam questions are truly very difficult. Even I can’t guarantee that I will get full marks!”
Luo Pei was in another exam venue on the same level of the building but three classrooms away from Sun Mo. After displaying a calm expression, he feigned a nonchalant attitude and casually glanced into the classroom Sun Mo was in.
After he took a look, he was dumbfounded.
(Damn, what’s the situation?)
(Why are there so many empty seats?)
(Could they have finished the paper in advance?)
(That shouldn’t be the case!)
(The questions are clearly very difficult. Wait a minute, could it be that I’ve been overly immersed in doing experiments these two years, and I could no longer keep up with the footsteps of the era?)
Luo Pei nervously gulped down a mouthful of saliva and felt some panic.
“What are you looking at? Leave quickly!”
The main examiner discovered Luo Pei staring at the corridor and hurriedly urged him.
Luo Pei then left the school. Right now, how would he have time to care about Sun Mo? He immediately returned to the hotel and depended on his memory to replicate the questions and answers. After that, he swiftly sent his answers back to his academy and got his personal teacher to grade them.
“Could I be finished?”
During that day, Luo Pei was so nervous that he couldn’t eat anything.
‘The grading began. Those questions with standard answers were reviewed by teachers from the other subjects. As for the numerous subjective questions at the back, they were marked by the three grandmaster-level weaponsmiths and a great ancestor-level weaponsmith.
“Do you know which paper belongs to Sun Mo?”
Half a day later, an old examiner with white hair sighed. If they could be the first to grade Sun Mo’s paper, it meant that they were Sun Mo’s grader. In the future, they would have a connection with Sun Mo.
Naturally, the most important thing was he wanted to know how Sun Mo did for the exam.
For the sake of fairness, the names of the examinees were blurred out.
“There isn’t a single paper with full marks yet, so Sun Mo’s paper probably hasn’t appeared!”
Great Ancestor Chao Cuo’s lips twitched, and he felt somewhat dull and insipid. He could judge the character of the examinees by their answers, and these examinees were a little too limited in talent and imagination.
“That might not be for sure, Sun Mo might have failed!”
Someone spoke teasingly, mocking Sun Mo. He then tried to fawn on Chao Cuo. “After all, not any Tom, Dick, or Harry could have achievements in the study of weaponsmithing.”
“Sun Mo is a Dual-Sage in Calligraphy and Painting. Since he is the creator of the thin gold body calligraphy style, I feel that there’s an 80% to 90% chance he might use it to flaunt his skill, answering the questions with it. So, it would surely be easy to identify his paper.”
After Chao Chao analyzed this, he continued, “Everyone, grade the papers faster. The earlier we are done, the earlier we can go home!”
And after a while more, the old examiner with white hair slapped his thigh furiously and praised loudly.
“The answers in this paper are so excellent!”
Everyone immediately gathered over. The paper was passed to each examiner one by one before finally being respectfully handed over to Chao Cuo.
“The last question is a little unsatisfying!”
Chao Chao scanned the answers rapidly and shook his head.
“It’s not perfect enough, but I feel that this deserves full marks. After all, young people need to be encouraged!”
This old examiner actually had his own motive.
‘The owner of this paper was definitely a genius. Hence, the old examiner wanted Chao Cuo to agree so it could be considered as him doing the owner of this paper a favor.
Chao Cuo glanced at the old examiner and passed the paper back to him. This could be considered that he silently permitted it.
Honestly speaking, examinees of this level were very rare but they were not non-existence. Under Chao Cuo’s tutelage, he had three students who were capable of answering papers at this level.
The grading continued. Half an hour later, someone sighed in admiration.
“Isn’t the writing style of the words too beautiful?”
‘There was an unwritten rule in the great teacher world. The writing of words represented the person. If one didn’t write well, they would be looked down upon. Hence, all great teachers could write beautifully.
However, not many could reach the standard of calligraphers. After all, it was impossible for them to spend a lot of time researching calligraphy.
Yet, the words on the paper before them were simply too beautiful, so beautiful that it was worthy of being part of a collection.
“Let’s check out the answers?”
Chao Cuo urged.
‘The grader immediately flipped through the papers. After that, he was stunned.
“A.all correct?”
This was the second paper that got all the answers correct today.
“Mn? Bring it to me!”
Chao Cuo stretched out his hand to receive the paper. Firstly, he admired the writing before flipping to the end. But after just taking a look, he became completely immersed.
About the selection and application of catalysts in weaponsmithing.
The demonstration of reinforcement effects caused by spirit runes on weaponsmithing.
Synthesis of spiritual weapons.
These answers were better than the standard answers, not just by one tier. The crucial point was that the way of thought was very fresh and innovative.
It was like everyone kept swimming in the same pool, and someone suddenly came to expand the pool, allowing others to be able to swim to other places.
Even great ancestors like Chao Cuo felt a sense of inspiration from these answers and immediately fell into contemplation.
Everyone knew that this was a rare state of epiphany so no one disturbed him.
This contemplation lasted three days for Chao Cuo, and it even delayed the grading process. However, he was a great ancestor so no one dared to say anything.
However, the examinees were all filled with trepidation. They didn’t know what had happened.
“Could it be that I scored so well that the examiners thought the questions were leaked?”
Luo Pei had already received his teacher’s reply and learned that even if he didn’t score full marks, he would at least score 95 points and above. It was a very impressive result.
“Tt should be enough to crush Sun Mo, right?”
Luo Pei involuntarily smiled when he thought of how depressed Sun Mo would be later. This feeling felt so good.
“Whose paper is this?”
After Chao Cuo woke up, the first statement he made was this.
“It belongs to Sun Mo!”
Although he had long since expected it to be so, now that he personally heard the answer, he still felt incredulous disbelief.
There was truly someone so outstanding?
Sun Mo’s understanding of the study of weaponsmithing was absolutely already at the ancestor level!