Chapter 688: It Isn’t So Easy If You Want to Become My Student

After the meal, as the host, Sun Mo led Mei Ziyu on a tour around the Central Province Academy. He was also trying to see if there were any suitable students to recruit.

The student recruitment meet lasted for seven days, and around half the time had passed. If Sun Mo still failed to recruit two personal students when the time limit was up, he would fail the mission.

“The darkness illusion dojo is over there. It is the most valuable building of our school and will become a representative icon of our school in the future.”

Sun Mo introduced, “Do you want to take a look? There are plenty of darkness illusions from the ancient era in there.”

“Nope!”

Mei Ziyu shook her head. She had no interest in combat. “Is there a botanical garden around here?”

“There’s a herb garden, but due to the lack of care from the school a few years ago as we were unable to recruit any good botanist, it led to several of the valuable herbs in the garden dying. The ones remaining are those with little to no value.”

Sun Mo felt very helpless when he spoke of this.

For any school that had a certain level of standard in alchemy, they would have a large botanical garden with a myriad of herbs. Leaving aside whether all sorts of valuable herbs could be found in there, you would at least be able to find 70% of the common herbs.

Alchemy was the most popular subject in the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces.

If the Central Province Academy wished to climb back into the ranks of the Nine Greats, not only must their alchemy expertise be very high, but they also had to be in the top ten of the Nine Provinces. This was something they wouldn’t be able to accomplish if they didn’t have a herb garden.

“What a pity!”

Mei Ziyu felt that it was a pity.

One had to spend several tens of years or even hundreds of years to slowly collect different types of herbs and nurture them before they could build a ‘formidable’ herb garden.

It was like the fast-growing trees in the modern era. They would still need at least a few years of growth before they could be chopped for lumber. There was no need to mention anything about rare plants like the snow lotus, lingzhi, etc.

“Let’s take a look there?”

Mei Ziyu suggested.

This tour took half a day. And after coming out from the herb garden, Sun Mo felt so embarrassed that he wanted to die. Actually, he really wanted Mei Ziyu to help him manage the herb garden of the school, but the current state of the garden was so terrible that he felt embarrassed to speak about it.

Mei Ziyu lowered her head.

“If Vice Headmaster Sun doesn’t look down on me, how about letting me take care of this herb garden for you?”

“Ah?” Sun Mo started.

“If it’s not convenient, just forget about it.”

Mei Ziyu didn’t insist on it.

“No, it’s convenient. Wait, this isn’t suitable!”

Sun Mo felt somewhat at a loss for words. After scratching his head, he spoke gloomily, “Wouldn’t this trouble you too much?”

Even without needing to depend on her mother Mei Yazhi’s social connections, Mei Ziyu herself had a wealth of botany knowledge. This was already sufficient for her to manage any herb garden in one of the Nine Greats.

“There’s nothing troubling about it. I like to ‘interact’ with the plants and flowers.”

Mei Yazhi smiled. When the warm rays of the sun cascaded on her face, she looked very sweet. “Also, plants have no distinctions between them. I don’t care whether they are valuable or not. Even if you want me to take care of the grass, I’ll be very happy.”

“Mn!”

Sun Mo originally wanted to say that ‘I will build the largest botanical garden in the entire Central Province for you.’ But after hearing Mei Ziyu’s words, he decided to shut up.

Talking was useless, action was the best.

(Just you wait, I’ll definitely find the Greenhaze Forest and bring all the precious herbs back, not even leaving a single one behind.)

(Wait a minute!)

Sun Mo suddenly thought of something. He had the eight-gate cloud. As long as he built a teleportation gate leading to there, wouldn’t he be able to construct a wild botanical garden?

And he would be able to send a batch of students and great teachers there for tempering exercises every now and then, allowing them to broaden their horizons and improve their strength.

It was said that the Nine Greats owned some respective botanical gardens in the Darkness Continent, but the travel there was long and arduous.

They were different from Sun Mo. For him, a teleportation gate could settle everything and he would be able to reach his garden just by taking a single step.

This was simply perfect.

“Esteemed Teacher Sun, please take me in as a personal student.”

Just when Sun Mo was thinking of the future, a huge silhouette rushed over. After that, a thudding sound could be heard as the figure knelt. As he shouted, he began to kowtow as well.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The surrounding students immediately halted their steps after hearing the commotion.

“Teacher Sun? It can’t be Sun Mo, right?”

“God Hands? Where is he? Let me take a look!”

“Damn, I came this time around precisely because I want to take Teacher Sun as my personal teacher.”

The students rushed over like bees.

Sun Mo immediately felt a headache, but he still maintained a smile on his face. After all, when a student wanted to take you on as a personal teacher, it was a type of recognition toward you.

“Teacher, would you please accept me?”

The boy had a sturdy figure. He clenched his fists and thumped his chest with them. “Look, I’m very strong. Since I was five, I was able to eat two buckets of rice every meal and could dance around with a 50 kg huge hammer.”

Si~

Upon hearing this, everyone took in a cold gasp of air.

This was the so-called being gifted?

The boy before their eyes was almost seven feet tall, but his face looked extremely juvenile. He should be about 13 or 14 years old.

“I’ve never used ‘fitness’ as a criteria when I accept students!”

Although this boy looked fitter than Xuanyuan Po just from purely looking at the body, Sun Mo still had to observe his personality and temperament.

The lips of the boy twitched. (If you don’t look at fitness, what are you looking at?)

(Do you know that when I was very young, some great teachers already wanted to accept me as their personal students?)

(My father has never agreed because he was waiting for my value to increase. Now I sneaked out because I want to take you as a personal teacher and you are hesitating?)

Honestly speaking, the boy felt a little unhappy.

After all, those great teachers said before that if he followed them, they would be able to nurture him into an absolutely powerful general.

“You were injured a few days earlier, right? Allow me to help you take a look?”

Sun Mo saw a bruise on the boy’s body. He was preparing to use the ancient massaging technique to earn a wave of favorable impression points first while taking the chance to inspect the boy’s body.

Although he couldn’t use Divine Sight, Sun Mo still had God Hands.

“It’s just a small injury, there’s no need to look!”

The boy had a look of pride on his face. (Cultivation right? How can one avoid being injured?) He felt that the bruise was his badge of honor, proof that he had worked hard. Hence, he never sought to conceal it.

Sun Mo smiled and walked forward, placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder as he exerted strength with his fingers.

(Eh?)

Sun Mo’s expression didn’t change, but his heart pounded violently.

This time around, Sun Mo started to survey the boy seriously.

“There’s a chance!”

Many of the spectating students immediately revealed an envious expression when they saw Sun Mo’s reaction. As for the boy, he snorted complacently.

(The other great teachers have said before that I will become an absolutely powerful general.)

Mei Ziyu quietly waited at the side for Sun Mo.

Sometimes, there was no need to hide one’s skill. Hence, spirit qi surged and flowed from Sun Mo’s arm, eventually forming into the genie.

It had sturdy muscles and it looked as though its entire body was coated in olive oil. It was also wearing a tiny corset that had no buttons, with a purple turban on its head.

Once it appeared, this genie that looked like an Indian immediately raised its arms to show off its muscles.

The surrounding students were immediately dumbfounded. Some people even felt a hint of unease and discomfort psychologically.

The genie glanced at the boy and after surveying a few seconds, it crossed its arms before its chest and shook its head.

“What do you mean by this?”

The boy didn’t understand. (Does this mean that I cannot make it?)

“It is saying that you have no need for treatment.”

Sun Mo sweated heavily. (This genie actually had consciousness?)

“Teacher, I’ve long since said that I’m very fit. Ever since I was young, it’s very rare for me to fall sick.”

The boy boasted.

“Mn!”

Sun Mo nodded but his lips secretly curled. (You are not sick. Rather, your bones are easily fractured.)

The genie shook its head because this boy had very fragile bones.

From his bone setting technique’s feedback, Sun Mo knew that the density of this boy’s bones was very low. This indicated that he wouldn’t be able to endure high-intensity training.

It was like some sportsmen. They looked tall and big, but they would frequently be injured when they clashed against their opponents. Also, it wouldn’t be easy for them to recover and if they lay on the sick bed, they would require half a season to rest. They wouldn’t even have the chance to see the match.

This was what was called ‘fragile’.

On the contrary, some short sportsmen were so sturdily built that they resembled tanks. Although they had no advantage in terms of height, when they snatched the ball, they would be extremely fierce.

Sun Mo inspected the boy’s body and took the chance to ‘patch up’ his bones a little. However, the boy grew impatient from waiting. He then asked, “Teacher, so do you want to accept me or not? Tell me your answer!”

From the boy’s point of view, he came here to take Sun Mo as a personal teacher due to Sun Mo’s reputation. Hence, Sun Mo should feel happy and quickly accept him.

But what was going on with his hesitation?

“I’m strict when it comes to accepting students. My students have to experience many tests before I recruit them. Can you accept this?”

Sun Mo counter-asked.

“Hehe!”

The lips of the boy curled in disdain.

Sun Mo didn’t mind. Actually, he wanted to persuade the boy to stop cultivating.

Right now, the boy’s body was fine because his cultivation base was low, meaning that his training intensity was also low. When his cultivation base improved, wouldn’t his bones suffer from fractures once every ten days to two weeks?

However, Sun Mo couldn’t bear to say such words. After all, which youth wouldn’t have dreams of becoming a hero?

If he told the boy the truth, that he wasn’t suited for cultivation and was simply a taller and more muscular person compared to ordinary people, would he be able to endure such a psychological impact?

One must know that the boy had always judged himself as a genius.

“You will meet a good teacher!” Sun Mo patted the boy’s shoulder. “Also, thank you for your recognition of me.”

Sun Mo turned and left.

The guy also stood up. He had wanted to say something like Sun Mo would regret it if he didn’t accept him. But he felt that doing so would make him seem very pathetic. Hence, the boy decided to look for other great teachers.

(I heard that there’s another great teacher named Jin Mujie in Jinling. Not only is she beautiful, but she is very strong as well.)

(As for Sun Mo…)

(Just wait and see, you will definitely regret the fact that you missed out on recruiting me today!)

“He’s just a kid and isn’t mature in terms of mentality. Having such an attitude is normal, don’t be too affected by it!”

Mei Ziyu consoled.

“Do I look like someone who would be angered by a child?”

Sun Mo laughed.

Mei Ziyu shook her head and felt curious after that. “There’s something wrong with his body, right?”

“More accurately speaking, the toughness of his bones isn’t high enough and he won’t be able to endure high-intensity training. The strength of his bones also isn’t enough to support his strong muscles and veins. Ai, what a pity!”

Sun Mo sighed.

How could it be so easy to become a powerful general? China had 5,000 years of history but only a few famous generals. When the boy discovered that he was just an ordinary person, he would most probably feel despair, right?

Also, recruiting students was a two-way process. Sun Mo didn’t mind the students he rejected resenting him now. If not, they might hate him more after becoming his personal student and it would already be too late for regrets.

In a flower bed 50+ meters behind Sun Mo and Mei Ziyu, Li Ziqi and two others were hiding here.

“That’s already the third person.”

Li Ziqi took out a notebook and made a note.

“I don’t like that fellow, he’s too arrogant.”

Lu Zhiruo’s lips twitched.

“Speaking of which, it isn’t too good if we follow behind Teacher like this, right?”

Ying Baiwu felt conflicted.

“You can choose not to follow him!”

Li Ziqi didn’t mind it.

The iron-headed girl stopped speaking, but her footsteps didn’t.

“Should we go over to the battle dojo for a look?”

Sun Mo suggested. When they passed by the student dorms, a male student with a panicked look ran out. After he saw Sun Mo, his countenance was immediately filled with joy as he rushed over.

“Teacher, something is bad. Something happened to Wang Meng!”