Chapter 372: Choose One of Three, Deathly Choice!

Everyone liked beauty!

In modern days, many women treated cosmetic surgeries as necessities for the sake of their beauty. The only thing that restricted them was the insufficient money in their pockets.

Hence, it was too miraculous to have a fairer, firmer, and more tender skin with just a massage.

After the surprise, Jin Mujie held back her impulse to ask Sun Mo for a beauty treatment.

After all, she was a 3-star great teacher and also his senior. She needed to show some restraints. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth it if Sun Mo looked down on her.

Anyway, Sun Mo was in the Central Province Academy. He wouldn’t be able to run!

She should learn to take things slowly.

Of course, friendship was something that needed to be carefully maintained. One mustn’t take things one-sidedly and must learn to give as well. However, after a round of thinking, she still had no idea what she could give.

Given the talent Sun Mo was displaying, she believed that he’d become a 3-star great teacher in less than three years. He’d be able to stand on equal grounds with her then.

Jin Mujie was quite confident of her judgment.

Jin Mujie smiled in self-mockery. (Sigh, Sun Mo, why are you so strong? I can’t even find a weakness when I wish to help you.)

“Wuuu, I’m really envious of Xinhui. Wouldn’t she be able to enjoy the skin nurturing technique every night in the future?”

Jin Mujie stroked her face, feeling a bit down.

(What kind of reason should I prepare next time to make him treat me again? Stomachache? But wouldn’t he just tell me that I’ll get better after drinking more hot water?)

Just as Jin Mujie’s mind was in chaos, Sun Mo received a notification again.

Ding!

“Congratulations, you’ve obtained a tremendous number of favorable impression points from a 3-star great teacher. Your prestige connection has risen. Rewarded with one gold treasure chest!”

Sun Mo whistled.

He gave it more thought. Although Yue Rongbo viewed him in high regard as well, the two of them didn’t work together and his understanding of Sun Mo was limited. However, things were different for Jin Mujie. She knew every major thing that Sun Mo had done and how outstanding he was. Therefore, she gave him a great number of favorable impression points.

“Do you want to open it?”

The system asked.

“Are you making things difficult for me on purpose?”

Sun Mo rolled his eyes. (Why would an unlucky guy like me open a chest when the papaya girl isn’t by my side? I probably wouldn’t get any good spoils even after opening ten consecutive gold treasure chests.)

“Keep it for now!”

Sun Mo felt that if he couldn’t continue to be a teacher in the future, he could open a beauty salon. His ability allowed him to make one more beautiful and fairer without any side effects. He was like a human-shaped mask!

…

In the early morning, the Central Province Academy’s students woke up in succession.

Zhu Ting stretched his back and took in deep breaths, feeling great all over.

“Teacher Sun’s spirit gathering potted plant is amazing!”

Zhu Ting exclaimed and looked at the spirit gathering potted plant that was placed next to his bed.

As the leaves had been engraved with Spirit-Gathering Runes, even if the runes weren’t activated, the plant could continue to absorb spirit qi and maintain a space with a high spirit qi density.

Sleeping in a space like this was like soaking in spirit qi spring water. There were plenty of benefits. At the very least, they’d be able to sleep soundly and feel mentally at ease.

“That’s right!”

Xue Tianlei had gotten up as well. He didn’t wear any clothes and jumped onto the ground. He picked up the watering pot and watered the potted plant. His actions were very careful.

“Do you guys think that Teacher Sun will take back this potted plant after the league tournament is over?”

Zhu Ting was a little worried. He was already used to the existence of the potted plant. He didn’t wish to return it.

“Huh?”

Xue Tianlei was stunned. “I don’t think so. Teacher Sun isn’t petty!”

“Being petty or not depends on the item mentioned as well. If this potted plant were to be sold, it’d bring in at least 100,000 taels, right?”

Zhu Ting felt that if he were in Sun Mo’s shoes, he wouldn’t bear to give someone a potted plant like this for nothing.

“Only a fool would sell it for money. This potted plant can be exchanged for spirit stones. At least 50 of them!”

Fang Yan, who had been squatting by the potted plant to study the Spirit-Gathering Runes on the leaves, spoke up. He learned the study of spirit runes and thus knew the level of skill needed to draw Spirit-Gathering Runes on a plant.

70% of the people wouldn’t be able to do it even after training hard for a lifetime. At this stage, hard work couldn’t cut it anymore. An extremely great aptitude was a must.

“50 spirit stones?”

Zhu Ting gasped. This was a tremendous sum.

“It should be able to sell for more, right? I have never seen a potted plant like this for sale in the market.”

Xue Tianlei questioned.

“Not really. The value of this potted plant lies in its ability to form a space with dense spirit qi around it. However, it’d only be double as dense. It wouldn’t matter for poor people, as it wouldn’t affect their cultivation speed by too much anyway. Meanwhile, rich people might as well buy stronger equipment that has a stronger effect than this.”

Fang Yan explained.

To make things clear, the effect of the spirit gathering potted plant was still too weak, and it wasn’t enough to make people pursue it.

If the effect was like three, five, or even ten times stronger, its value would be sky-high.

“I heard that Teacher Sun drew this potted plant by himself. He’s really amazing!”

Xue Tianlei praised.

Ding!

Favorable impression points from Xue Tianlei +100. Friendly (150/1,000).

“That’s right. It’s like holding onto a treasure bowl [1]!”

Zhu Ting felt very envious. If he had this skill, he’d draw spirit gathering potted plants every day and earn a lot of spirit stones.

“You’re thinking too much. I’m sure some ancestor-grade spirit rune masters had thought of drawing Spirit Gathering Runes on plants in the past.”

Fang Yan shook his head. “This thing is too difficult to draw, and the cost-performance ratio is not that great. If one had the time, they’d rather draw the runes on rune papers. ”

This potted plant was something Sun Mo suddenly came up with, and he wasn’t continuing with it either because things were like what Fang Yan had said. The cost-performance ratio was too bad.

Rich people wouldn’t put such potted plants on display!

It was like how things were like for Sun Mo. He’d go to the Wind King Hall to sleep. The spirit qi there was many times denser than it was in the nine provinces. Even a room filled with spirit gathering potted plants wouldn’t be comparable to it.

This was what a treasured land was like. The spirit qi that Sun Mo and his students could absorb while sleeping was many times more than what an ordinary student could get from cultivating a whole day.

Sun Mo’s drawing technique was only good for showing off in this case.

“However, there’s no need to worry. Teacher Sun wouldn’t take back these spirit gathering potted plants. It wasn’t hard for him to make these!”

Fang Yan said this from the perspective of the human heart and value.

The plants that Sun Mo used to draw the runes on were too common. They weren’t worth a lot of money. As Sun Mo wasn’t lacking in spirit stones, he might as well give these plants away as a favor.

However, his skill was really amazing!

Fang Yan felt envious.

Ding!

Favorable impression points from Fang Yan +100. Friendly (470/1,000).

Hearing his roommates praising Sun Mo, Xu Xun felt displeased. “I’ll be going off to eat first!”

“Xu Xun, hold on!”

Zhu Ting called out.

“What’s the matter?

Xu Xun stood at the door.

“Can you go ask Teacher Sun Mo for a spirit gathering potted plant?”

Zhu Ting suggested.

“No!”

Xu Xun refused outright.

“Old Xu, even if you’re not considering yourself, can you do it out of consideration for us? Every four students sleep in a room, but our room is the only one with only three potted plants. We have less spirit qi compared to others!”

Zhu Ting felt that they were losing out, and the reason for that was Xu Xun.

“Can’t you just go and ask Sun Mo for another one?”

Xu Xun’s lips twitched. He was stronger than Zhu Ting, so he didn’t care about him.

“Xu Xun, mind your address. It’s Teacher Sun!”

Fang Yan reminded him. As the student leader, he had the responsibility to correct Xu Xun’s attitude.

Even if one didn’t like Sun Mo and scold or curse him in private, it didn’t matter. However, in front of others, the most basic respect must be ensured.

“Forget it, Sun Mo isn’t here anyway. There’s no use even if you were to flatter him!”

After Xu Xun said that, he slammed the door and left.

“Crazy. He thinks so well of himself just because he is An Xinhui’s personal disciple.”

Zhu Ting sneered.

Standing in the corridor, Xu Xun was a little perplexed. (Could it be that I was wrong?)

…

Three days passed by. The third round of the competition for the new student group had officially started.

At the White Dew Building’s auditorium.

“Jiang Leng? Why have you come?” Sun Mo frowned. “Where’s Zhao Zhi?”

Jiang Leng looked at Li Ziqi. He didn’t like to talk, so he tended not to speak up if there wasn’t a need to.

“Teacher, it’s my idea!”

Zhang Yanzong stood up. “Zhao Zhi’s performance in the previous two rounds was too bad. He didn’t have the drive to win at all. That’s why I put Jiang Leng in as his substitute.

“What’s Zhao Zhi’s view on this?”

Sun Mo knew this situation.

Once the group encountered trouble, Zhao Zhi would always be the one to say despondent words. It was a great blow to the group’s morale. Moreover, he was unable to bring any increment to the group’s strength.

Sun Mo had had the intention of substituting him, but after some hesitation, he didn’t speak up. It wasn’t easy for the students to get a chance to take part in a competition like this.

Moreover, if Zhao Zhi were to suffer a blow as a result of this, it wouldn’t be good either.

Sun Mo had planned to talk to Zhao Zhi to let him gradually gain confidence.

“He agreed to it after I just said it!”

Zhang Yanzong shrugged, his expression filled with disdain. Zhao Zhi was just a coward. He had the thought of not participating in the competition anymore from a long time ago, but he was just too embarrassed to say it himself.

“Since he has no objection, then we’ll do that!”

After saying that, Sun Mo looked at Jiang Leng. “Can you do it?”

“No problem!” Jiang Leng’s meaning was simple.

“So many teachers and students are observing us!”

Qian Dun was a little nervous, but he also felt a strong sense of excitement. He and Wang Chao were the substitute teachers for Fan Yao and Song Ren.

“We’re now strong contenders for first place!” Wang Chao was prepared to go all out.

“Ziqi, you’re also involved in the change of members, right?”

Sun Mo asked in a soft voice.

“Hehe!”

The little sunny egg stuck out her little tongue. This was the first battle led by Sun Mo, and they had the chance for victory. Therefore, she wouldn’t allow any trash to drag them down.

Thankfully, Zhao Zhi himself was a coward to begin with. Otherwise, she would have to play some more tricks to get him to drop out.

With Tantai Yutang as her accomplice, it would be too simple to get Zhao Zhi to fall sick unknowingly and drop out.

Clank! Clank!

The bell rang twice and the main judge, Tong Yiming, walked up the platform.

“The third round of the competition will be starting officially, and I’m going to announce the rules and content. I’ll only say it once. If you can’t remember it, then count yourself unlucky!”

Tong Yiming’s sharp and solemn gaze swept through the entire scene.

“The theme for the third round is to search for secret treasures of darkness, and the time limit is ten days. The ranking will be judged based on the value of the secret treasures you found. The more precious the secret treasures, the higher the ranking.

“Of course, you can also choose not to search but snatch other student groups’ secret treasures instead. It’s allowed. But remember, teachers mustn’t raise a hand against students. However, if the students were to attack you, you are allowed to retaliate.

“Secret treasures can only be held by the students!”

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the auditorium became stiff. As expected, it was another round of killing. However, this was understandable. Whether a school was strong or not depended on actual combat capabilities.

“Of course, students and teachers alike are allowed to give up when their lives are in danger. No one is allowed to attack those who have given up. Violators will be seized of their rights to take part in the competition and will never be able to participate in all competitions held by the Saint Gate!”

Tong Yiming took the extra effort to warn them in case some participants were to kill intentionally!

“Haha, I like to battle!”

Qian Dun bumped his fists together but then furrowed his brows because a lot of people were staring at them.

From their uniforms, they looked like they were from Sky Orchid and Weima.

“F*ck, have we become the main target for all?”

Qian Dun was stunned.

“We got second place in the previous round. They won’t be able to accept this!”

Wang Chao smiled, but his smile was a little stiff. The difficulty level of this round would spike up if they were targeted by two strong schools.

“Although there are various mysterious and unknown places in the Darkness Continent, as well as many secret treasures with mysterious abilities, in order to save time and make it easy for surveillance, the judges have limited it to three secret realms. You guys can only explore these areas!”

Tong Yiming continued to introduce the rules.

Secret realms, as their names suggested, were places that were mysterious and unknown. They were basically virgin land that no humans had ever entered before, and the danger level was very high.

“The Category ‘A’ secret realm is a new secret realm that the Saint Gate’s exploring team has just discovered. Based on the current information, the chances of discovering peak-grade secret treasures are very high. But if one were a little careless, they’d get the entire group wiped out!

“The Category ‘B’ secret realm is at the mid-level for both the degree of exploration and danger level. You might lose some members, but the group won’t be wiped out.

“The Category ‘C’ secret realm has almost been explored fully, and the danger level is extremely low. It’s possible to get some low-grade secret treasures, but it’s almost impossible to get peak-grade secret treasures.”

Tong Yiming added, “The leaders of the various student groups, come up to the stage to collect the maps and information! The Saint Gate will give you all the information about the three secret realms. You guys can decide for yourself on what you pick!”

Zhang Yanzong went up the stage and the other students immediately started discussing amongst themselves.

“Is there a need to hesitate? Of course we should choose the Category ‘A’ secret realm!”

Xuanyuan Po, whose mind was filled with nothing but muscles, immediately cried out. He liked challenges.

The students were all raring to go as well, wanting to challenge the most difficult grade. However, Sun Mo and the other three teachers couldn’t be so impulsive. They needed to consider the current situation.

“Given our current results, we should go for the Category ‘B’ secret realm. As long as we find a mid-tier secret treasure, we’ll have a 90% chance of advancing. We can then preserve our battle prowess and wait to hunt down the other student groups who came back from the Category ‘A’ secret realm!”

Qian Dun suggested.

Li Ziqi threw a glance at him. Although this teacher had a sturdy body and was holding a great saber, looking like a brute, he had some brains.

“We can do that!”

Gu Xiuxun was in agreement.

The Category ‘A’ secret realm was too difficult. Even if they were to find the secret treasures successfully, they would probably lose some members, suffering great casualties. Therefore, they might as well wait to hunt the other student groups down.

This plan was the safest bet for them!

[1] It’s a source of wealth in the legends similar to Cornucopia, the horn of plenty