Chapter 408: Time of Rising Fame

“It’s absolutely true!”

Beitang Ziwei cast a glance at Headmaster Zhang. She hesitated a little but still decided to say everything, “Your school suffered heavy casualties, please be prepared.”

The league tournament organized by the Saint Gate was an opportunity that came with danger. Hence, before the competition started, the school would sign contracts with the participating teachers and students.

If a teacher or student died, although the school didn’t need to be responsible, they had to prepare the compensation. At the very least, they had to pay enough money to the family of those who died.

Naturally, for the sake of their reputation, the schools would definitely not be stingy over something like this. If not, if their reputation became bad, who else would be willing to fight for the school?

“W…who did this?”

Headmaster Zhang stared at Beitang Ziwei as his tone trembled.

“Teacher Sun!”

After Beitang Ziwei spoke, she was worried that Headmaster Zhang might not know who Sun Mo was. Hence, she added another sentence. “Sun Mo from Central Province Academy!”

After all, there were quite a lot of teachers with the surname ‘Sun’ in the competition this year.

Pu!

Upon hearing this, Headmaster Zhang coughed up blood and directly fainted.

Headmaster Ming, who was originally feeling unhappy, suddenly felt pleased upon seeing this. (Who told your Headmaster Zhang to always feign calmness during tense situations? He’s finally suffering now, right?)

(Ming Shao might have lost the championship, but our student group isn’t annihilated!)

“Sun Mo from the Central Province Academy is exceptionally terrifying!”

The headmasters who were spectating were all dumbfounded.

They had thought that Sun Mo was merely lucky in the first two rounds. However, there was no need to doubt anymore. He was the most dazzling dark horse in the league tournament this year!

As the competition concluded, the various student groups returned. Some were joyful, some were sad.

The final result would be announced three days later.

The championship did belong to the Central Province Academy.

After seeing this ranking, the shock everyone felt was indescribable. They started to guess whether the Central Province Academy was about to rise.

That school that had once been a part of the Nine Greats. Could it be that they were about to overturn their current situation?

Sun Mo’s name also appeared in the vision of everyone else for the first time. After all, a 20-year-old expert at the divine force realm was truly too exaggerating.

In the hotel, Li Ziqi was still angry.

“Why are they paying so much attention to Teacher’s cultivation base? Clearly, the God Hands are our teacher’s trump card!”

The little sunny egg felt that those people were neglecting the fundamentals and concentrating on the details. They completely couldn’t understand her teacher’s value.

“That’s right. Our teacher is so awesome, yet those people only care about cultivation level. How shallow.”

Lu Zhiruo expressed her agreement.

“Ziqi, do you want to go shopping?”

Lu Qi came to look for the little sunny egg and invited her while feeling ill at ease.

“Nope!”

After Li Ziqi replied, she went to look for Sun Mo. She had already made an arrangement to tour the streets with her teacher.

…

“I can already see the White Dew Building!”

Xue Tianlei shouted.

The main student group of the Central Province Academy all returned with no casualties. After they heard Xue Tianlei’s words, they all inclined their heads and saw the roof of the White Dew Building in the distance.

“We should be able to get the third-place, right?”

Xia Yi turned her head and glanced back, but she didn’t see the shadows of the other student groups.

“For sure!”

Xu Xun’s expression relaxed. “Right now, we only have to pray that the new student group will get a good result. I’ve already calculated things. Based on the current rankings, as long as they can obtain the 20th place, we will be able to ascend to the ‘C’ grade.”

“With Teacher Sun leading, there shouldn’t be any problems I guess.”

Duan Xiu analyzed.

“They better not screw things up.”

Although Xu Xun didn’t like Sun Mo, he wanted the school to ascend to the ‘C’ grade.

“Don’t worry, even if you screwed up, Teacher Sun wouldn’t.”

Cai Tan mocked.

“What do you mean by that?”

Xu Xun was unhappy.

“Hehe, do you want to make a bet? Let’s bet that Teacher Sun would be able to clinch the top five.”

Cai Tang mocked.

Hearing this, the other students began to laugh. Clearly, Cai Tan was talking about the incident during the second round when they had made a bet about Sun Mo. At that time, Xu Xun had lost thoroughly.

“I can’t be bothered to quarrel with you!”

Ultimately, Xu Xun didn’t dare to accept the bet. After all, Sun Mo was truly impressive.

In the public square of the White Dew Building, they arrived at the endpoint.

“Congratulations Headmaster An, you guys will definitely ascend to the ‘C’ grade!”

“It’s really worthy of celebration. Your Central Province Academy can finally turn the situation around this year!”

“The Teacher Sun from your school is really impressive!”

After Tong Yiming confirmed that An Xinhui’s group had finished the competition, the headmasters in the surroundings immediately crowded over and offered their congratulations.

Between schools, there would also be exchanges for teachers and students. In this system, they would be able to learn from their peers in other schools and gain more experiences from different perspectives.

The Central Province Academy was evidently going to fly. Hence, everyone hurriedly came over to leave a lasting impression.

An Xinhui felt joy in her heart, but she didn’t dare to be sure. What if these headmasters were just exchanging pleasantries? Hence, she glanced around, wanting to look for Zhang Hanfu. However, she wasn’t able to find him at all.

Tong Yiming involuntarily smiled when he saw An Xinhui’s appearance. “The new student group of your school won the championship for the newbie competition!”

“Champion?”

An Xinhui’s eyes brightened and turned red after that. Tears filled her eyes. She had waited too long for this moment.

“Sorry, I lost control.”

An Xinhui apologized.

“Go and celebrate!”

Tong Yiming felt a little regretful when he looked at this young woman.

As the top graduate of the Heavenly Mystery Academy, she could be considered the top genius of her generation. Given her intellect and talent, she would have great achievements when it came to teaching. Sadly, she had to waste her time managing the school.

From Tong Yiming’s point of view, this was like a waste of heavenly treasure.

The headmasters chatted idly with An Xinhui and their topic naturally revolved around Sun Mo. After all, he was the dark horse that won against Ming Xian. He deserved the largest credit for leading the Central Province Academy’s new student group to obtain the championship.

As An Xinhui listened, she felt thankful in her heart.

(Thank you, Little Momo!)

Ding!

Favorable impression points from An Xinhui +1,000. Respect (4,202/10,000).

“Teacher Sun is really awesome!”

Upon hearing the praises of these headmasters to Sun Mo, Xia Yi sighed in admiration.

“Xu Xun, have you heard it yet?”

Cai Tan mocked, feeling very satisfied in his heart. Teacher Sun would never disappoint him.

Ding!

Favorable impression points from Cai Tan +500. Respect (1,350/10,000).

Xu Xun pretended not to hear it, but he rejoiced in his heart. Fortunately, he hadn’t said unpleasant things, or his face would have been smacked again.

(However, I still won’t agree to this marriage!)

Xu Xun felt that only the peak-level heroes of the Nine Provinces were worthy of his teacher. As for Sun Mo? He better got on the Hero Rankings before he spoke!

The Saint Gate had two types of Hero Rankings!

Heroes meant the dragons and phoenixes among humans. They possessed the most outstanding talents in this world, a rarity even amongst ten thousand geniuses!

The Hero Rankings would be modified by the Saint Gate once every year. The reference standard would be one’s combat strength, and only elites above 25 and below 40 years old would be qualified to be ranked on it. All of those who managed to be ranked were overflowing with talent.

Naturally, as long as you were strong enough, you would be able to ignore the requirements and directly ascend to the rankings.

Other than this, there was another ranking named the Great Teachers Hero Rankings. Those on it were all great teachers, and the reference standard wasn’t only limited to combat strength. Teaching capabilities and one’s attainment in different spheres of knowledge were also considered.

Xu Xun felt that if Sun Mo couldn’t even ascend to the Hero Rankings, he would be unworthy of his teacher.

“Impressive!”

Jin Mujie didn’t expect Sun Mo to be so strong to such an extent. She had personally heard some headmasters trying to poach Sun Mo away. They directly asked how much money they must pay the Central Province Academy.

There were such transactions between schools too.

For example, there was a school that nurtured an extremely talented teacher, or if the school had once shown kindness to the teacher. However, the standard of the school could no longer match up to the teacher, and when the other schools wanted to poach him or her, the school wouldn’t obstruct it. But according to the convention, the poaching school would have to pay a large sum of money.

This could also be considered a form of payback by the teacher to the school. This meant that both sides no longer owed each other anything and they could split amicably.

Such a situation was similar to the transfer fee paid in the soccer world.

To students, this convention existed as well.

Jin Mujie even heard someone asking about Xuanyuan Po.

An Xinhui rejected all the offers decisively. She didn’t feel disgusted but proud instead. This indicated that her school’s students were strong enough to the point where others wanted them.

Honestly speaking, what disgusted her were those headmasters who secretly contacted the teachers and students in private, making offers to them and silently snatching them away.

These people were the scum of the great teacher world.

Liu Mubai didn’t bid his farewell and left directly. He could no longer bear to hear those headmasters praising Sun Mo.

(What the hell? Didn’t he merely get the championship for the new student group? What can that be counted for? The competition I’m participating in is the main competition. The difficulty is much higher compared to the new student group’s competition.)

Liu Mubai felt that if he were the one leading the new student group, he would also be able to win the championship.

…

The carriage stopped outside the stairs leading to the Ten Thousand Maples. Before An Xinhui’s group climbed down, they saw Sun Mo and an old man walking out of the hotel’s door.

“Isn’t that the headmaster of Mingshao?”

Jin Mujie asked in surprise.

An Xinhui’s beautiful brows immediately furrowed. She ferociously pushed open the carriage door and walked quickly toward Sun Mo.

“Little Momo!” An Xinhui called out, “Good afternoon to you, Headmaster Ming!”

“Oh, it’s Headmaster An!”

Headmaster Ming greeted. He chatted awhile more with Sun Mo and then bid his farewell.

He only came here to headhunt Sun Mo due to Ming Xian’s extreme recommendation. If it wasn’t for that, he would absolutely not have come over. After all, he hated Sun Mo very much.

Sun Mo was the one that caused his school to fail to win the championship.

“What is he doing here?”

Jin Mujie asked.

“To poach me!”

Sun Mo’s words were comprehensive and concise.

“Will you be leaving?”

Jin Mujie actually didn’t plan to ask this, but after seeing the look An Xinhui shot her, she decided to ask. However, she felt very curious. (Wasn’t Sun Mo your fiance? How is it possible that he would leave?)

Only An Xinhui knew that she hadn’t been giving much care to her fiance before.

(Seems like I have to pay more attention to this in the future.)

“I’m not leaving. I don’t like the climate of Ming Country.”

Sun Mo smiled lightly. “And the result?”

“We manage to ascend to the ‘C’ grade!”

Jin Mujie gave Sun Mo a light punch. “Little fellow, well done!”

After hearing Sun Mo’s reply, An Xinhui’s heart, which was in her throat, finally eased back down. After that, she ran her fingers through her hair and looked at Sun Mo’s eyes.

“Thank you, Sun Mo. You are the one who made this possible!”

Ding!

Favorable impression points from An Xinhui +1,000. Respect (5,202/10,000).

“I’m only doing what I ought to!”

Sun Mo didn’t become arrogant as a result. “You guys must be tired. Please go and take a break!”

“Headmaster An!”

“Teacher Jin!”

“Hello, students!”

Li Ziqi and the others came over and hurriedly greeted An Xinhui and Jin Mujie when they saw them.

“Let’s go and stroll the streets!”

Sun Mo spoke.

Seeing Sun Mo being led away by the students, Jin Mujie suddenly spoke, “Xinhui, you have to win over Sun Mo!”

All these students were elites and from the looks of things, Sun Mo had a very high position in their hearts. If he decided to leave the school, these students would most probably follow him.

“I understand.”

An Xinhui wasn’t stupid.

“Headmaster An, congratulations, congratulations!”

When Boss Lei heard this news, he had a smile so wide that it looked like a blooming chrysanthemum.

This time around, he really profited a lot. The Central Province Academy obtained one of the championships and allowed the fame of his hotel to be greatly boosted. The future student groups would be willing to pay up to 3x the normal rate just for the tiny hopes that some of the luck would rub off them.

“According to our agreement, all your lodgings would be free. Don’t be polite with me. If you continue acting so polite, it would be the same as slapping my face!”

Boss Lei’s attitude was very earnest as though he was waiting for his ancestor.

Liu Mubai was standing by the window and coincidentally saw everything. His expression became even more gloomy.

(It doesn’t matter. In the 1-star great teacher qualification exam two months later, I will obtain the first ranking. And next year, I will complete my rise to three-star and my fame will resound throughout the world!)

For March, June, and September of every year, a 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star qualifying great teacher examination would respectively be held. One would only be able to ascend to the 3-star ranking in a single shot if one passed all of them continuously.

It was like trying to become the top scholar in the imperial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the triennial examination in one go. It was very hard to achieve this. After all, the 1-star great teacher exam might be easy, but the 2-star and 3-star ones were extremely difficult.

The 2-star great teacher examination tested a great teacher’s ability to teach their students. Since the majority of young teachers had just joined this occupation and had no fame nor experience, how would they recruit good students and nurture them well to the extent where their students could ascend to the Greencloud Rankings?

As for 3-star great teachers, many teachers would be over 30 or even 40 before they obtained this ranking.

If one wanted to rise to the 3-star ranking, there were three hard conditions that must be fulfilled. First, one must have comprehended at least nine great teacher halos. Secondly, they must have expert-grade proficiency in three side occupations. Thirdly, they had to be in the divine force realm.

For all three conditions, no matter which, the teacher had to spend a lot of effort to accumulate the experience needed.

This was especially for the first condition. If one’s talent wasn’t good enough, even if they spent half their lifetime, it would be impossible for them to comprehend nine great teacher halos.

“Xinhui, just wait. I will let you know who is the true genius and who is the absolute great teacher that would lead the Central Province Academy back into the rankings of the Nine Greats!”

Liu Mubai silently vowed and closed the window.

Zhang Hanfu hid in his room, having no face to come out and meet people. Before this, he made a bet with Sun Mo. If Sun Mo could become the champion, he would resign.

However, how would he be willing to do so?

Leaving aside the fact that he had lost all his face before so many headmasters and it wouldn’t be easy to find a job in the future, even if he didn’t lose face, he would be reluctant to abandon the position of a ‘vice headmaster’ anyway.

“No, I cannot sit here to wait for death. I have to think of a solution. Sun Mo, it’s either you die or I die. You want me to leave the Central Province Academy? Impossible!”

Zhang Hanfu decided to seek out Prince Li Zixing. Li Zixing had been coveting the Central Province Academy, wanting to possess it. Since the Central Province Academy had ascended to the ‘C’ grade, Zhang Hanfu believed that Li Zixing would thirst to possess it even more.

…

Three days later, the main competition and new student competition of the ‘D’ grade league tournament had concluded. The results were announced as well.

The Central Province Academy became the champions.

Being able to have such a good result was due to the new student group being too outstanding. More accurately, Sun Mo was too powerful and he had directly suppressed Mingshao, Sky Orchid, and Weima Academy.

The ultimate ranking of a school depended on the combined results of both the main student group and the new student group.

For the three schools that had the greatest hopes of becoming the champion, their main student groups had results similar to the Central Province Academy. In fact, they were even slightly superior. However, the new student groups were way too inferior in comparison.

This was especially for the third round. Sun Mo had obtained the most valuable darkness illusion secret treasure, while the other groups had only managed to obtain some leftovers, which value couldn’t even be compared to what the new student groups in the ‘B’ secret realm obtained.

Outside Ten Thousand Maples, Boss Lei was walking everyone out.

“Let’s return!”

“It’s time to go home!”

“Let’s go back to enjoy the cheers of the teachers and students back in school!”

An Xinhui gave the order. After that, she turned and took one last glance at this hotel. Next year, they wouldn’t need to come back here. They could go and participate in the ‘C’ grade league tournament!

“Grandpa, me and Little Momo will definitely lead the Central Province Academy back into the rankings of the Nine Greats!”

An Xinhui vowed.