Chapter 1324 Saint Statue Inquiry
The time taken to ascend the heavenly stairs was too long, so the remaining people in the hall were mostly the five secondary saints’ close supporters as well as the people working in the Saint Gate.
Therefore, they were lucky to witness this miraculous scene.
A beam of golden light also burst out of the divine tortoise’s shell and soared into the sky, as if wanting to pierce through the hall’s ceiling. As the golden light spots scattered down like fine rain, the spirit qi in the air turned into phoenixes, kirins, jade rabbits, and celestial plants, presenting an auspicious scene.
At this moment, a sacred and dignified singing voice rang out harmoniously, making everyone who heard it felt happy, washing away all their fatigue.
“This is… the birth of a saint?”
Everyone was surprised and immediately gathered around the divine tortoise, looking at it.
Swoosh!
A stream of golden light shot out of the tortoise’s back, charging into Du Changgong’s forehead. He then opened his eyes.
In that moment, divine light shot out in all directions!
“Congratulations Great Teacher Du for ascending to become an honorable saint!” Xu Chunbo offered his congratulations.
The other spectators also reacted and quickly gave their congratulations.
“Thank you!”
Du Changgong was still in a bit of a daze. He wasn’t expecting to go through such a tremendous change just from listening to a poem from Sun Mo.
At that moment, when Du Changgong had heard [A Trying Journey), a heroic spirit instantly rose in his heart. He had subconsciously felt that he was a secondary saint and should have some reservations for his face, wanting to give up. However, after listening to this poem, he changed his mind.
Even if he were to crawl, he was going to crawl to the top of the mountain!
Never admit defeat! Never give up!
There was nothing easy in life.
Having resolved the burden in his heart, Du Changgong started to climb up. Then, over an hour later, his holy heart was condensed and he comprehended the profoundness, ascending to become a saint.
“Saint Du, may I be so intrusive as to ask how did you gain enlightenment?”
Some great teachers asked hesitantly, wanting to accumulate some experience.
“It’s mainly because I heard a poem from Teacher Sun!”
Du Changgong shared his experience generously.
Sssss!
Everyone was taken by great surprise to hear that it was related to Sun Mo.
Coincidentally, Secondary Saint Zhou, who had come out of the divine turtle, also heard this name and was stunned on the spot. For a moment, he started to feel regretful.
If he hadn’t offended Sun Mo and become friends with him, he might also be able to take advantage of his poems to become a saint.
It was a pity that there was no medicine for regret in this world.
Four hours later, Sun Mo and Fang Hong also came out of the tortoise shell.
Du Changgong, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately went forward and bowed to Sun Mo. “Thank you, Teacher Sun, for your guidance, allowing me to advance to become a saint!”
Fang Hong quickly dodged to the side. This was Sun Mo’s honor. Then, she looked at him and realized that it was indeed that ‘A Trying Journey’ that had enlightened Du Changgong.
“I don’t deserve this bow!”
Sun Mo helped Du Changgong up.
“Sun… Secondary Saint Sun, you’re too amazing!”
Gu Xiuxun came running over too, wanting to call Sun Mo’s name but was unable to. This made her feel very gloomy. The secondary saint title was really amazing.
Other people also quickly came over to offer their congratulations.
“F*ck your mom! If I had known, I would have persisted for a little longer!”
Gao Ning rushed over in a hurry after hearing the news. Feeling so angry that he felt like inflicting harm on himself, he grabbed Sun Mo’s hand. “Teacher Sun, please give me a set of that poem!”
Sun Mo didn’t give Gao Ning any help, but Gao Ning had changed his way of addressing Sun Mo to Sun-laoshi just to benefit from it.
When Secondary Saint Zhou saw everyone crowding around Sun Mo like stars around the moon, he felt displeased. Therefore, he said, “Saint Xu, everyone is out now. What are the results for this round?”
The surrounding people instantly turned quiet.
That was right. Based on the rules, the last person would have to be eliminated. And for this round, Sun Mo and Fang Hong had come out at the same time.
The decision was on Xu Chunbo. Everyone thought that he’d be hesitant but didn’t expect him to make a decision right away.
“Everyone has seen Sun Mo’s performance in the first three rounds. It’ll be such a pity for him to be eliminated!”
As soon as Xu Chunbo finished speaking, everyone nodded in unison to show their approval.
“Given Secondary Saint Sun’s influence and capabilities, he’s qualified to assume the sect lord position!”
Right now, no one felt that Sun Mo was too young or lacking experience for this position.
“As for Secondary Saint Fang, there are only a few female secondary saints across the entire Nine Provinces. Moreover, her performance has been good as well, so we should give her another chance!”
Xu Chunbo proposed, “Therefore, all five secondary saints can participate in the fifth round. With this, the competition will be a lot more interesting too!”
“I think that’ll work. Does anyone have objections?”
Wei Ziyou smiled. “If it isn’t an evenly-matched competition, what meaning would there be to this competition for the sect lord position?”
“Saint Wei is right!”
Everyone called out.
Most people didn’t really have much thought over who’d be the sect lord. They just wanted to watch a few rounds of amazing competition.
Even the close supporters felt bad about saying anything else. If they were to object to this proposal, wouldn’t it make them seem as if they were scared?
Even Secondary Saint Zhou, who held great hatred for Sun Mo, didn’t dare to openly say that Sun Mo had been eliminated. He could only accept this result in disgust.
“Everyone, I have something to say!”
Du Changgong spoke up, “Teacher Sun was the one who helped me attain my saint title. Therefore, I don’t have the right to compete on the same stage as him. As for the others, I shan’t bully everyone as a new saint.”
“What do you mean by this? Are we inferior to
you?”
Secondary Saint Zhou sneered.
Du Changgong’s expression was calm and he didn’t reply. He felt that he was a saint and shouldn’t get into an argument.
His attitude made Secondary Saint Zhou explode with anger and have a strong urge to kill him.
“Everyone, please go ahead!”
Du Changgong cupped his hands.
The reason he wanted to be the sect lord was to fight for more benefits for the poor. However, now that he had become a saint, he could do it too because the saint title represented too many things.
Outside the crowd, An Zaiyi looked at everything coldly, as if he was watching a bunch of ants fighting each other. Thereafter, his gaze landed on Du Changgong and nodded in approval. (This is good! I’ll give him a few more years to grow!)
Seeing that the results couldn’t be changed, Secondary Saint Zhou didn’t care anymore. “This competition has been dragging on for many days and everyone’s condition seems fine too. Why don’t we just continue?”
“What are Secondary Saint Sun and Secondary Saint Fang’s thoughts on this?”
Xu Chunbo also felt that it had been dragged for too long
“I’ll listen to Sun Mo!”
Even though Fang Hong had pointed at him, her way of calling ‘Sun Mo’ emitted a hint of closeness, like she was treating him as a junior.
This scene made Secondary Saint Zhou’s countenance look bad too.
It was because the connections that Sun Mo built had surpassed his.
“Any time is fine!”
Sun Mo agreed too.
“Since no one has any objections, then we’ll start the fifth round!”
This time around, Xu Chunbo made a trip by himself again. He invited out a saint statue. “This is a statue that the first generation saint found in the Darkness Continent. It was said that the saint had comprehended Self-Taught Halo after seeing it.”
Swoosh!
Everyone looked at the statue in surprise, only to see that it looked like a small ordinary stone statue. There was nothing special about
it.
However, when people looked at it, they would unconsciously remain humble, feeling as if they were as small as flies.
“This round is called the Saint Statue Inquiry. I don’t know the condition to clear this round because it will tell you the answer. The time limit is seven days. If you guys don’t have any reaction by then, it will be a draw!”
After Xu Chunbo said that, he had everyone backed off and left the first half of the hall to the three secondary saints.
Sun Mo focused and looked toward the saint statue. Instantly, his gaze seemed as if it had been swept into a vortex. He then saw the developing history of the great teacher occupation in the Nine Provinces.
Its past, present, and future!
This scene seemed to have been through a very long time, but in reality, only a few minutes had passed before Sun Mo woke up.
He walked up to the desk by the side and laid out a piece of paper. Before he picked up a brush, he nurtured his feelings and then started drawing.
At the sight of this scene, both Fang Hong and Secondary Saint Zhou immediately felt a tremendous amount of pressure.
They still didn’t get anything, but Sun Mo had started to give his answer. Could it be that their difference was so great?
“Secondary Saint Sun is drawing?”
Everyone was filled with anticipation. After all, Sun Mo was a Saint Artist whose reputation had spread through the entire Nine Provinces.
Sun Mo had become so skilled that he could draw out whatever he thought of. Moreover, his drawings would be lifelike and depict a great artistic conception.
Right now, majestic mountains appeared on the paper under the brush. The lush forest that had few traces of humans became a paradise for the birds and wild beasts.
A stream trickled down and waves seethed. Everyone’s gaze couldn’t help but follow it. Behind a big mountain, the stream of water gushed down like the Milky Way, forming a
pool.
Next to the pool, there were children playing with water.
There was a small village not far away. Out of which, there was a small school in a thatched cottage where a teacher was teaching the students.
“It’s Secondary Saint Sun!”
Although the characters were drawn very small, Sun Mo’s artistic skills were too amazing. Therefore, everyone could see who it was!
“Is the topic ‘dedication’?”
Just as everyone was making guesses, spirit qi suddenly trembled in the hall. Thereafter, they gathered at the tip of Sun Mo’s brush tip. As the brush swept across the paper, it left behind brilliant colors.
Sssss!
To think that it was a famous painting?
“Sun Mo is really putting on such a show. How are others going to win?”
Xu Chunbo sighed. Only when one’s skills and emotions had reached a pinnacle at the same time would they be able to produce a famous painting. For the Saint Statue Inquiry round, not only did Sun Mo see through himself at the greatest speed, but he also gave a perfect answer.
A short moment later, the famous painting was completed!
Boom!
A golden halo scattered out.
Every great teacher whom the light radiated on immediately had an intense feeling of ‘silkworms spin till the end of their living days, burning candles turn wicks to ashes till they can no more tears of wax cry.'[1].
As a great teacher, one should revere teaching and educating people as their lifelong goal! “I’ve presented my incompetency!”
Sun Mo put down the brush and cupped his hands together.
“It’s really an eye-opener to be able to see Secondary Saint Sun’s creation of a famous painting today. It’s a great blessing!”
“I can boast about this for 100 years!”
“It’s really an eye-opener. This old man can now die without regrets to have the great fortune of witnessing such a grand event!”
Everyone gave great praises. In the past, they had thought that Sun Mo’s title as the number one great teacher in the Nine Provinces was like a monkey declaring to be king when there was no tiger in the mountains. However, from the looks of it now, he was both talented and capable, winning against all.
Even a saint couldn’t win against him, let alone secondary saints.
[1] Extract from a poem by Li Shangyin. Expresses how much one misses their loved ones and the continuous and endless pain of being unable to be reunited with them. Extract of translation from: https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2010/12 /21/215/