Absolute Great Teacher

Chapter 1180: 5-Stars Great Teacher, #1 in the Nine Provinces!

Translator: Lordbluefire

Outside the exam venue, in the corridor!

The longer the examinees waited for, the more anxious they felt. Panic and trepidation were written on their faces.

“What’s wrong with Great Teacher Sun? Why hasn’t he come out after such a long time? Could he have died inside?”

“Is the second round’s interview really so difficult?”

“If he ‘died’, he would have long since exited. He can’t possibly be giving a lecture to those examiners, right?”

The students gathered together and started gossiping.

If it wasn’t for the fact that they were worried their qualifications to take the exam might be revoked, they would open the door to peek.

An hour had passed.

It was a long time no matter what type of interview it was.

…

In the exam venue, it was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. No one dared to disturb Sun Mo’s thinking.

Liang Hongda was somewhat speechless when he saw this scene.

(Grandmaster Fang has assiduously researched this spirit rune for over ten years but had no gains. Could it be that you want to finish analyzing this within a few hours? No. Even if you could do so within a month, this incident would already be an extremely shocking one.)

However, it just so happened that these grandmasters felt Sun Mo would be able to do it. They were actually sitting cross-legged and quietly waiting for him.

“Everyone, there are still people outsi…”

Liang Hongda wanted to remind the examiners that there were still examinees waiting to be interviewed. But before he could finish speaking, Ancestor Zheng had cast a glance at him that was filled with resentment.

The meaning was clear. (Can you please not disturb Sun Mo?)

(F***!)

Liang Hongda felt very helpless. Just when he was pondering whether he should forcibly stop such absurd behavior, Sun Mo suddenly spoke.

“This spirit rune is very rare. Grandmaster Fang, you’ve struck it rich.”

Sun Mo passed the rune back.

Everyone felt their spirits stirring when they heard this.

“You understood it?”

Ancestor Zheng asked. He had been observing the spirit rune from the side. Honestly speaking, he still had no clue what it was yet.

The others immediately pricked their ears.

“This is a spirit rune that comes in contact with the mental domain. If you place it beside you when you are sleeping, you won’t be disturbed by nonsensical dreams and you can sleep peacefully until daybreak, maintaining a very good mental state.”

Sun Mo explained.

“Indeed. I discovered this by chance. When my mental state wasn’t very good, I would feel very comfortable if I held this and slept.”

Grandmaster Fang hurriedly nodded.

“It’s actually so magical? What’s the theory behind it?”

Xue Pan was curious.

Sun Mo smiled and didn’t continue to share. After all, this was Grandmaster Fang’s private item. He needed the other party to agree before he could continue.

“Old Fang, don’t be selfish and hoard the knowledge. Please allow Ancestor Sun to continue speaking and let us all broaden our horizons!”

Xue Pan sincerely pleaded.

“Hehe!”

Grandmaster Fang was naturally not a fool. (Why should I benefit others? Speaking of which, Sun Mo is truly impressive! He actually managed to resolve this question that has been puzzling me for tens of years.)

Upon thinking of this, Grandmaster Fang’s face, which was initially filled with excitement due to the question being resolved, now changed and reflected deep disappointment and lament.

His skill truly couldn’t be compared to Sun Mo!

Why didn’t Grandmaster Fang mind the fact that there were other people at the side looking at his spirit rune?

This was because he was very confident that since he couldn’t decipher it even after ten years of work, the others wouldn’t be able to do so either. So, he wasn’t afraid that they might learn it secretly.

The truth had proven that he wasn’t wrong. Even when Ancestor Zheng saw it, he wasn’t able to decipher it either. Only Sun Mo could do so and his strength surpassed all of them by an entire era!

“Ancestor Sun, I have an ancient spirit rune here. Could you please help me decipher it?”

“I have one as well.”

“Please allow me to be first. My spirit rune is more mysterious!”

Everyone vied with each other. For those in this field who could reach the grandmaster level, who among them wouldn’t have a few ancient spirit runes?

Right now, their thoughts had cleared. Even if they spent a few years or a few decades, they most probably wouldn’t be able to decipher their runes. So, they might as well ask Sun Mo for help.

As for being worried that Sun Mo might learn their runes secretly?

Sorry, what they should be worrying now was what they should do if Sun Mo refused to decipher the runes for them.

Besides, if he really wanted to earn money, he could solely depend on his Skyward Spirit Rune and easily become the top wealthy person in the entire Nine Provinces.

After all, who in the world wouldn’t want to fly in the sky?

“Grandmasters, we have delayed the progress of the interviews for quite some time. There are still examinees waiting in line. If you guys have any questions, feel free to write to me. If you are free, you can also come to the Central Province Academy. I will definitely welcome you all with open arms!”

Sun Mo clasped his fists.

“Ancestor Sun, it is settled then. After your participation in the Five Empires War Discussion is over, I will pay you a visit!”

Ancestor Zheng took the initiative to speak.

The others weren’t willing to appear weak either.

Liang Hongda was dumbfounded when he saw this scene. He finally cast his gaze onto Ancestor Zheng. (You don’t want your prestige and clout anymore?! Ancestors in the Nine Provinces are people with the highest and most illustrious status. Usually, people were the ones paying visits to them, but you actually want to go and pay a visit to Sun Mo instead?)

“Ancestor Sun, please!”

Grandmaster Fang respectfully sent Sun Mo away.

As for the interview result?

(Stop joking. How would we have the qualifications to interview Sun Mo?)

…

Creak!

The door opened.

Swish~ Swish~ Swish~

The examinees who had grown impatient from waiting immediately turned their gazes over.

Sun Mo walked out in a calm and composed manner.

“Next interviewee, Song Yuan!”

As the name was called out, a middle-aged man pushed the door open and entered. After that, he was stunned and cold sweat immediately drenched his back.

(What’s going on? I thought there were only five interviewers? Why are there so many people?)

“Since Ancestor Sun has left, we will bid our farewell too. Please forgive us if we caused a disturbance earlier!”

The grandmasters all said words like this and left the scene.

“So these people came to meet Sun Mo!”

Song Yuan secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

(Wait a minute, who’s the Ancestor Sun they were referring to? Could he be… Sun Mo?)

Si~

(Being able to make so many grandmasters willingly refer to him as an ancestor...what has Sun Mo done exactly?)

The examinees in the corridor were stunned when they stared at the major characters of the spirit rune world leaving in groups of two and three.

So many people came for the sake of seeing Sun Mo?

During dinner time, the news of Sun Mo answering doubts of over 60 grandmaster-level spirit runists soon circulated around.

After all, there were quite a few working staff on the scene then.

This news caused many examinees to feel incomparably envious despite their shock.

(We are all here to take the exam and are so worried, not knowing whether we would pass or fail. But Sun Mo is actually so relaxed to the point where he provides guidance to the grandmaster examiners.)

Comparing humans to humans was truly infuriating.

Three days later, the interviews ended and the results were announced.

For the grandmaster-level spirit runist examination this time around, a total of three people passed!

According to the standard procedure, after Sun Mo had obtained his grandmaster license, he still had to wait a few more days before the final inspection for his 5-stars qualification could proceed.

But who told him to have people supporting him from the inside?!

Liang Hongda completely resolved that for him.

Including the ‘Teacher for a Day, Father for Life’ halo that was a compulsory halo, Sun Mo activated 15 great teacher halos successfully in one go.

After that, he received the 5-stars great teacher emblem.

“Teacher Sun, congratulations!”

Liang Hongda congratulated Sun Mo.

“Thanks!”

Sun Mo held this emblem and felt somewhat excited in his heart. This was because his social status had risen again.

5-stars great teachers already possessed the authority to select schools. They could join any ‘B’ graded schools they wanted to and even if they wanted to join ‘A’-graded schools, there shouldn’t be a problem.

The only problem would be the difference in the treatment and benefits they would receive from each respective academy.

After all, 5-stars weren’t great teachers that the headmaster of an ‘A’-graded school would want to recruit at all costs.

Naturally, Sun Mo was an exception.

Even if he wasn’t an ancestor-level spirit runist, just based on his outstanding external appearance, he could still become a celebrity teacher and the ‘billboard guy’ for the school.

After reaching 6-stars, it would mean that one could casually pick any ‘A’-graded schools they wanted to join. No matter what conditions they requested, those headmasters would do their best to satisfy them.

However, 6-stars great teachers usually had huge ambitions. They basically wouldn’t choose these schools as they wanted to join the Nine Greats instead.

It was like in the modern era, everyone wanted to be a public servant. In the Nine Provinces, there were no great teachers who didn’t want to join the Nine Greats. After all, that represented status, glory, and wealth...

“Rising to the 5-stars rank in a single stretch. You are the first in the Nine Provinces to achieve this!”

Liang Hongda felt envious. “You’ve just created a record again.”

“It was all luck!”

Sun Mo was humbled.

“How about it? Are you planning to tackle the 6-stars rank as well?”

Liang Hongda teased.

“What’s the content of the 6-stars examination this time around?”

Sun Mo was curious.

He didn’t know the specific content and only knew the rough format.

For the 6-stars great teacher examination, because the star rank was too high and the number of examinees was too few, there might not even be one examinee every year.

Since this was the case, its test period was set at three years. The examinees had to achieve a certain objective, and they would be promoted upon completing it.

“You know the common rules. That’s to comprehend 18 great teacher halos and have grandmaster-level expertise in two secondary occupations.”

These were hard conditions that needed to be met or the great teacher wouldn’t even have the qualifications to participate in the 6-stars examination.

“The current session of the 6-stars exam began at the end of last year. The duration is three years and the content of the exam is to temper oneself in the Prison of Desperation!”

Liang Hongda bitterly smiled. “Because it is too difficult, not a single examinee is willing to participate even up until now!”

“The Prison of Desperation?” Sun Mo frowned. “What place is that?”

“It is a place that only the upper echelons of the Saint Gate would know about. It is located on a tiny island in the Darkness Sea. The prison is a place where all extremely ferocious and evil dark great teachers are detained. For example, the Yin-Yang Child Granny you captured is currently imprisoned there.”

Liang Hongda revealed everything freely, wanting to do Sun Mo a favor.

Naturally, given Sun Mo’s identity as a 5-stars great teacher, he was already qualified to know this type of secret.

“What is the content of the tempering exercise?”

Sun Mo couldn’t understand. What could being inside a prison test for?

“To us great teachers, we have to impart the dao, our knowledge, our experiences. We have to teach people to be kind, guiding students on the right path…”

Liang Hongda’s expression turned solemn as he continued. “If we see people like dark great teachers who have diverged from the correct path, we can naturally just kill them off. But to high star-ranking great teachers, an even higher goal is to make these people turn over a new leaf, converting them from evil to kindness, allowing them to contribute their body and knowledge to others in this world.”

“…”

Sun Mo wanted to ridicule. (Isn’t this something monks ought to do?)

“To put it simply, it is to test the great teacher’s ability to brainwash people!”

Liang Hongda lowered his voice.

“Understood!”

Sun Mo revealed an expression of gratitude in a timely manner.

“However, Teacher Sun, I will persuade you to stabilize your position first. You should wait two years more to participate in the next session. The 6-stars examination this time around is truly too difficult.”

Liang Hongda sincerely persuaded Sun Mo.

In the Prison of Desperation, the evilest great teachers were imprisoned there. Their star rankings weren’t any lower than Sun Mo. Hence, there was a chance that Sun Mo might be the one being brainwashed instead.

In history, many such situations had happened before.

“Mn, I will treat this cautiously!”

Sun Mo nodded. “What should I do if I want to participate?”

“Go to the Saint Gate first to check your qualifications. After it’s confirmed that you have comprehended enough great teacher halos and two grandmaster-level licenses, the Saint Gate will arrange for a boat to send you to the Prison of Desperation.”

Liang Hongda felt that Sun Mo might actually choose to challenge it despite his warning. “Without a secret token from the Saint Gate, you won’t be able to enter that place.”

…

After eating a meal with Liang Hongda, Sun Mo sat on Little Silver and returned to Chang`an.

During the meal, Sun Mo had asked why the exam this year was so difficult.

Liang Hongda’s reply was that the Sect Lord felt that the great teacher exams for the recent tens of years had been too simple and this had caused many people to pass despite them muddling through, allowing them to have a star-rank they didn’t deserve.

Hence, he had given the order to increase the difficulty of the great teacher examinations at every star-level.

It wasn’t only for this batch, as long as the Sect Lord was still in power, no one should even dream about ascending to a higher rank easily.

Although Liang Hongda’s expression didn’t change when he said this, Sun Mo could feel that this fellow was rejoicing secretly.

Why?

Because if the Sect Lord did this, he would offend the entire great teacher world.

Even those major characters who didn’t need to take the exams would be unhappy with him. Because in a great teacher clan, there would surely be great teachers among the junior generations. If the difficulty of the exam was too high and the juniors couldn’t be promoted, it would then be strange if they didn’t hate the Sect Lord.

Liang Hongda wanted nothing more than for the Sect Lord to offend all these people so he would be forced to resign. After that, Liang Hongda would be able to ascend and become the next Sect Lord.

Actually, Sun Mo admired the current Sect Lord’s attitude very much. Honestly speaking, the current great teacher world was a very murky one. There were simply too many people having the position without real capabilities.

Although the tempering exercise in the Prison of Desperation was very difficult, Liang Hongda had also divulged a small secret. If this mission was done well, there would be many benefits.

All those captured dark great teachers had secret treasures that they had stashed away. Even if they didn’t have them, they still possessed their capabilities. If Sun Mo had the chance to learn a few things from them secretly, it would naturally be very beneficial for his growth.

For example, some dark alchemists possessed unique pill prescriptions. If Sun Mo could obtain them, he could definitely make huge money.

Liang Hongda felt that Sun Mo had an innate advantage because those dark great teachers would surely be interrogated with torture. Meanwhile, Sun Mo’s ancient dragon capturing hands could cure all injuries. If he used that as a bargaining chip, he would be able to gain a wave of benefits.

Sun Mo felt that it was possible. Hence, he began to seriously plan.

The Prison of Desperation was a forbidden ground. Without a special reason, no one would be able to enter it. If it wasn’t for the sake of the examination, Sun Mo wouldn’t have had the opportunity to visit. So, now that there was an opportunity, he felt like he had to grab it.

…

Chang`an, Imperial Palace.

“Teacher, have you passed?”

After Lu Zhiruo knew that Sun Mo had returned, she immediately rushed over and hugged his arm. Her eyes also shone like the bright stars in the sky.

“Yes!”

Sun Mo rubbed the lucky mascot’s head.

“Congratulations, Teacher!”

All the other students who rushed here congratulated him in unison upon hearing this.

…

Very soon, Han Cangshui also learned of this matter because after the lower-ranking eunuch reported this matter to the Emperor, Li Yingqi gave Sun Mo another set of rewards.

“Isn’t he just a 5-stars? I’m an 8-stars, alright?”

The princes and princesses that were currently listening to his class didn’t express any change in expression. However, they all privately felt that Teacher Han’s words were laced with extreme jealousy.

(Yes, you are an 8-stars, but what rank did you have when you were 25 years old?)

(Moreover, Sun Mo is someone who rose to 5-stars in a single stretch, he is a person that created history!)

However, although Sun Mo might be strong, they had never considered him being their team leader. After all, he was too young and if they really wanted to win the Five Empires War Discussion, they still had to rely on an 8-stars great teacher with high prestige like Han Cangshui.

Another half a month passed. The prince group of Great Tang formally set off and headed to the Qi Country’s Capital, Western Jing, to participate in the Five Empires War Discussion!