Chapter 1284 Question and Answer Day!
The time limit for the Jixia Lectures was at least seven days, with no maximum limit, and the content of the lecture would be left to the great teachers to decide. However, the seventh day was the question and answer day.
This was the Saint Gate’s regulation.
On this day, the main lecturer would do his best to answer every question raised by the audience. Of course, in order to ensure the quality of the questions, in principle, if the questions raised by great teachers below 5-stars were too simple, Sun Mo could choose to ignore them.
“I’m good at the art of spirit runes and weaponsmithing, but you can also ask questions about botany, the study of spiritual control, herbology, and puppetry!”
Sun Mo stood on the rostrum and listed the areas in which they could ask questions.
Actually, Sun Mo would be able to answer questions for the study of poison, but he didn’t dare to mention it. After all, this subject didn’t have a good reputation. As soon as Sun Mo finished his words, many hands around the rostrum were raised with great anticipation, looking like a forest.
Everyone had been waiting very long for the opportunity to ask questions, especially the spirit runists. All of them wished that Sun Mo could give them a private lesson.
Sun Mo called out names, then listened to their questions, and answered them.
The process was smooth.
“Teacher Sun, I am a 7-stars great teacher from the Skyraise Academy.”
After an old man introduced himself as per usual, he took out a stone slab and showed it to Sun Mo. “Back then, when I was adventuring in the Darkness Continent, I found this spirit rune in a ruin. I’ve studied it for several years, but I still don’t know anything about it. Teacher Sun, please help me to resolve my problem!”
After that, Sun Mo walked to the old man’s side. He didn’t reach out to touch the stone slab and just stood there to admire it.
It was not that he was putting on airs, but it was someone else’s item. It’d be best if he didn’t touch it if possible.
As expected, seeing Sun Mo being so understanding and tactful, the old man heaved a sigh of relief. This stone slab was his treasure. Every day, he would play with it for a while before going to bed. If Sun Mo were to touch it, it would feel like the old man’s wife had been taken advantage of. He would be unable to accept this.
The spirit runists nearby also gathered over and sized it up curiously.
“This is a brand new spirit rune, right? Look at the direction of the spirit rune lines. They are so strange!”
The one speaking was a young man. He had wanted to continue, but when he saw Sun Mo glance at him, his heart immediately trembled.
(Did I say something wrong?)
The young man quickly shut up.
“This isn’t a spirit rune!”
Sun Mo made the call.
“Hmm?”
The old man was shocked and blurted out the word ‘impossible’ subconsciously.
He couldn’t accept this.
Otherwise, it would prove that he was too stupid and had studied this spirit rune for more than 10 years like a fool.
“Teacher Sun, look at these lines. I can vaguely feel residual fluctuations of spirit qi from them.”
The old man introduced.
“That’s the roots of some kind of plant!”
Sun Mo answered.
“Huh?”
Everyone was shocked. “The roots of a certain darkness plant, in the process of growing, accidentally pierced into this stone slab. Then, after more than a thousand years, the plant died and the roots slowly rotted. However, the traces remained.”
Sun Mo deduced, “Was the ruin where you discovered this stone slab covered by a lot of lush vegetation? However, there were no weeds growing around this stone slab?”
The old man was stunned. The reason he had been able to discover this ruin back then was because he had discovered the abnormality that no weeds were growing around the stone slab.
“Why is that so?”
Someone asked.
“From the shape of the roots, this darkness plant is called the Immortal Devouring Grass. It has a faint consciousness and will kill all the plants in the vicinity, ensuring that the nutrients in the soil are saved for itself.”
Sun Mo explained.
“The Immortal Devouring Grass?”
Many botanists were stunned. “Why haven’t I heard of such a plant before?”
“This is a darkness plant that hasn’t been recorded. It’s normal that you guys don’t know about it!”
Sun Mo had seen it from the Darkness Species Encyclopedia.
Everyone wanted to ask, (Then how do you know about it?)
However, no one suspected that Sun Mo had a system. This was because the Darkness Continent was too vast and some ruins contained books that the Nine Provinces didn’t have.
Many technologies in the Nine Provinces were made based on those books that had been left behind. Therefore, everyone felt envious of Sun Mo’s good luck.
“Alright, next!”
Sun Mo smiled.
“Teacher Sun, I have a piece of metal here. Do you know what it is used for?”
Another old man brought out a metal board. “Why does it feel like a hard disk?”
Sun Mo studied it for a few minutes and gave his judgment. “This should be a metal medium that is used to store knowledge. This is only part of it. There should be other equipment that can be used together with it.”
The old man blushed, feeling a little ashamed.
He was worried that his good stuff would be decrypted by Sun Mo, so he only brought a metal board over. He did not expect Sun Mo to expose him with one sentence.
Sun Mo didn’t care about the old man’s thoughts. With his current status, ordinary secret treasures were no longer able to enter his eyes.
As time passed, Sun Mo’s knowledgeable image was gradually imprinted into everyone’s minds.
If the previous lectures could be said to have shown him as having made theoretical achievements, then now, it was shown that he was an expert in practicality.
The evaluation system in the Nine Provinces pursued the application of learned knowledge. What one had learned didn’t count unless they could put it to use.
And Sun Mo’s ability to solve problems was really amazing
In the crowd, two people looked at Sun Mo.
“Xiqing, it’s already the afternoon. Aren’t you going to ask questions?”.
The man smiled bitterly. He was tired from waiting
“Shut up!”
Bai Xiqing glared at the man before continuing to look at Sun Mo. Sigh, she didn’t expect that when they met again a few years later, he would already be standing on such a grand stage.
(If I knew, I would have taken him down back then.)
Finally, it was time to ask another question.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Many arms were raised again, but the public square with tens of thousands of people was extremely quiet. From this, it could be seen how great Sun Mo’s influence was.
People instinctively started to respect him and consciously tried to maintain order. Bai Xiqing not only raised her right hand, but she also questioned loudly, “Teacher Sun, I heard that you invented a spirit rune weapon that gives ordinary people the ability to kill cultivators. Don’t you think that such a weapon is too powerful and will bring chaos into the world?”
Swoosh!
Everyone stared over, their eyes complaining.
(Your tone shows disrespect to Great Teacher Sun.) Some vicious women even had the urge to drown this freckled woman in a pig cage.
“Teacher Bai?”
Sun Mo looked over in the direction of the voice. When he saw that it was Bai Xiqing, the little fan who used to idolize him, he couldn’t help but smile. “Long time no see!”
Bai Xiqing nodded as a form of greeting, then continued to ask, “Other than hoes and sickles, the metal tools in the farmers’ houses would only be kitchen knives. Even if they are heavily taxed and suppressed, they won’t be able to cause any waves if they rebel. However, the spirit rune weapon you invented could make a small group of people have the power to defeat a regiment. Putting aside attacking an army, if they are to use it to launch sneak attacks on the officials, there’ll probably be no one who can survive.”
It was no secret that Sun Mo had created something like a spirit rune handgun. Hence, powerful and influential major characters had approached An Xinhui long ago through various connections to get it.
An Xinhui had heard from Sun Mo that such weapons were too dangerous and must not be sold. Hence, she gave an excuse that the production capacity was insufficient. However, those major characters directly increased the money offered and said that it didn’t matter even if they had to wait for years. They were bent on getting a batch of such weapons for self-defense.
In this era, no one was a fool.
Generally speaking, children from wealthy families who were used to extravagant lifestyles would not be able to compare against children from poor families in terms of their cultivation. Over time, the difference in their strength would show.
With money, of course they could hire some bodyguards, but what could be more satisfying than personally blowing up an enemy’s head?
Therefore, a weapon like this would be very popular even before it was released on the market.
The Qi Emperor even thought of working together with Sun Mo to open a factory, relying on the fact that his son was Sun Mo’s personal disciple. The Qi Emperor would then take care of the location, capital, and sales personnel. Meanwhile, Sun Mo would only need to provide the blueprint and technical guidance. The profit distribution would be at 1:9.
Even though the Qi Emperor had to pay such a great price, he only asked for 10% of the profits.
It might seem foolish, but the truth was that the well-developed factory and well-trained workers would all be left in the Qi Country. Moreover, they’d also be able to establish a good relationship with Sun Mo.
However, Sun Mo did not agree to it. After all, his eldest disciple was the Great Tang’s emperor.
After the Qi Emperor’s great show of sincerity, everyone got to know that Sun Mo had such a good item. They then felt great wariness and resentment toward him.
They wanted very much to ban this technology from appearing in the world.
If it wasn’t because Sun Mo’s identity was too honorable and he was also extremely strong, some emperors would have sent men to assassinate him.
“Teacher Bai, you should first ask why the peasants are rebelling!”
Sun Mo retaliated.
Swoosh!
Many voices rang out, thinking about how daring Sun Mo was.
This was just like how an emperor could issue an edict to reflect on his wrongdoings, but other people couldn’t rashly criticize the imperial court. Otherwise, it would be seen as a great disrespect, and they would be caught and imprisoned.
A petty emperor would even take this as a literary inquisition and execute the suspect’s entire family!
“I think if everyone is well-fed and well-dressed, and has some money in their pockets to buy toys for their children, they won’t be so stupid to risk their lives to rebel.”
Sun Mo looked around. Although there were all sorts of people in the square, there was a clear hierarchy.
At the very least, the influential figures were sitting under a temporary awning, drinking tea and eating pastries and iced fruits. They were enjoying themselves much more than him, a great teacher. Those who were close to the rostrum were the great teachers and then further off would be the students, followed by cultivators. In the end, the outermost circle was filled with civilians who came to watch the show.
Under such circumstances, even if there were empty seats in front, they wouldn’t dare to squeeze over. “There are always people who are born to rebel. For example, last year, someone even proclaimed to be an Able and Virtuous Sage. He spread his influence and gathered more believers, bewitching the foolish people. If they had spirit rune weapons, the number of deaths would definitely be higher.”
Bai Xiqing retaliated. “Would you not eat because you’re afraid of choking to death?”
Sun Mo looked at Bai Xiqing. “The world is developing. In the future, there will be more powerful weapons than spirit rune weapons. What do you plan to do then? Continue to ban them? Then the civilization and technology of the Nine Provinces will forever be at a stop.
“Teacher Bai, we shouldn’t be afraid of spirit rune weapons. Instead, we should place them in a suitable position.”
Sun Mo tried to persuade her. “For example, with such weapons, ordinary people would be able to explore the Darkness Continent and adventure too. It would no longer be exclusive to cultivators.
“If you want the Nine Provinces to have long-term peace and stability, we shouldn’t think about banning weapons. Without iron tools and weapons, people will still have wooden pitchforks and stone blades. Only by letting everyone’s stomach be filled will we be able to solve the problem from the root.
“Exploring the Darkness Continent is the true way.”
Wei Ziyou stroked his beard and nodded. A powerful empire should be one that kept on expanding its territory.