Sun Mo felt impressed when he looked at Han Xi’s data. Honestly speaking, he wasn’t able to work as hard as her to that extent.
Recalling the days when he was in university, Sun Mo was a ‘normal’ hardworking student. He would occasionally go to internet cafes to play games, occasionally read novels during classes, and study hard before exams. Other than not experiencing love before, he had done everything else.
Normally speaking, one would be free once they attended university and could do whatever they wanted. However, Sun Mo had met a student so hardworking that it was terrifying.
That student would either be in the classroom or the library until it closed. After that, when he woke up in the morning, he didn’t want to eat breakfast to save time and would head straight to the classroom after buying two buns, learning as he munched on them.
Let alone for a week. Even if someone persisted like this for three days, it would be very impressive. However, that person did this for four years, not changing his habits be it summer or winter.
Naturally, the reward was that he managed to get the scholarship of every school term and found a very good job prior to his graduation. After a few years, he managed to save enough to buy a house in the city and even married a beautiful and virtuous wife, completing the transformation process of a guy born from a poor area.
Someone had asked him before why he didn’t want to further his studies? His reply was that he had no money and time as he needed to work to support his family. Besides, his current lifestyle was very good.
That student could be considered as having used his hardwork to change his life.
However, to Han Xi who was living in the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces, even if she worked 10,000 times harder, it would be impossible for her to break through her ‘ceiling’.
Because this was a world that looked at talent.
/ please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.
Your aptitude was determined the moment you were born, unless you had heaven-defying luck and managed to eat some heavenly ingredients or earthly treasures to change your aptitude for the better.
Han Xi was still somewhat better compared to those people who couldn’t even sense spirit qi. But when compared to someone like Xuanyuan Po, she was like the mud being trampled on by everyone, versus the beautiful floating clouds in the sky.
Xuanyuan Po didn’t need to meditate and only needed to breathe normally to gain a certain amount of spirit qi. However, to attain the same level of spirit qi, Han Xi had to meditate for two hours at the very least.
As long as someone had pride in their hearts, how would they be willing to live like this forever?
(It isn’t my fault that my aptitude is bad.)
Han Xi looked at Sun Mo’s eyes, and her heart was filled with the desire for battle. Not only was she battling against Sun Mo, but she was also battling against her fate.
(My aptitude is bad, and no teachers are willing to accept me as a student. Since that’s the case, I shall train myself. If the distance between me and a genius cannot be mitigated with an hour of hard work, I will put in five hours, ten hours, or at most I will just have one hour of sleep per day.)
(As long as I’m willing to work hard, I will be able to reduce the distance a little. But if I gave up, I would really lose all hope.)
(And now, my chance is finally here.)
(As long as I defeat Sun Mo, a dazzling genius that everyone was focused on, I would receive recognition and the appreciation of all the great teachers here.)
Up until now, Han Xi still couldn’t forget that her mother had sold her dowry, which was a golden hairpin, as well as the only hen in their home for a teacher to take her on as a student. In the end, that fellow berated her mother for dreaming and chased them out of his home.
The golden hairpin was her mother’s only jewelry, a dowry left behind by her mother. Even though the color had faded, it was still the most valuable item her mother had owned.
The old hen was Han Xi’s play companion when she was young. It was also the friend she loved and cherished the most. Although she could only eat its eggs when she was sick, that was absolutely the best food she had ever eaten. That was a taste of her childhood that she would never be able to forget.
After the hairpin and the hen were sold, the only thing they got in return from that person was this sentence, ‘you have no talent, you should just find an honest guy to marry.’
That day was the darkest day in Han Xi’s life. It was also the day where she had lost all hope.
Three years after that, the 12-year-old Han Xi led an ordinary life of a farmer girl. In fact, she was even prepared to marry someone. Everything was good until her mother got sick and started crying and lamenting on her deathbed.
“I was the one who let you down. I didn’t manage to give you a body that can cultivate.”
Since that day, Han Xi learned that when she was young, her mother had already found someone to inspect her. Back then, the son of the village leader returned after passing his great teacher examination, and her mother beseeched him to take a look at Han Xi’s talent.
That person was an impressive 2-star great teacher and had good judgment. His judgment of her was that she had insufficient aptitude and wasn’t suited for cultivation.
Her mother knew that she had no talent but still wanted to change things by selling the golden hairpin and old hen to get money for her tuition.
Maybe her mother just didn’t want her to be sad, or maybe her mother felt that the judgment of that 2-star great teacher was wrong, and Han Xi did have the possibility of cultivating…
Honestly speaking, Han Xi had hated her mother before. (Why did you have to give birth to me?) But after that, that hatred turned into love. This was especially so during the day her mother passed away.
Her mother who was on her deathbed clutched Han Xi’s hands tightly and was unwilling to relinquish her grasp. She blamed herself and felt guilty. She was worried for Han Xi and hoped that her daughter would have better days in the future.
In fact, Han Xi had already forgotten that gaze of her mother that was filled with reluctance to leave her back then.
After her mother was buried, Han Xi ran away. She went to work in a school and secretly learned cultivation arts there. She was beaten up after being discovered and only managed to take this path after she accidentally comprehended the self-taught halo.
“30 years? Or has it been 31 years?”
Because Han Xi was too focused on cultivation, she had already forgotten her age. “It’s fine. Mother, today shall be the day I become famous. Your spirit in heaven can just watch me!”
After praying in her heart, Han Xi’s battle intent surged even higher.
“Han Xi, fifth level of the divine force realm, please guide me!”
She had never used any top-grade medicine, heavenly ingredients, or whatnot. She reached this level solely with her own efforts in cultivation.
“Sun Mo, third level of the divine force realm, please guide me!”
Sun Mo admired Han Xi a lot. Originally, he wanted to tell her that she wouldn’t be able to defeat him and he wanted to invite her to join the Central Province Academy. But now when he looked at her gaze, he didn’t say anything.
(I will give it my all for this battle. This is my respect for you.)
“I have not said that the match has started yet!”
The main examiner’s lips twitched. But after Sun Mo completed his greetings, Han Xi had rushed out, slashing furiously with thunderous momentum.
Sun Mo didn’t retreat but chose to advance instead. His wooden blade also struck out, facing his opponent head-on.
“What’s going on? Why does our teacher seem so serious? Is he not afraid of beating her to death?”
Jiang Leng leaned forward and his eyes were wide open as he surveyed the battlefield.
Swish~ Swish~ Swish~
Li Ziqi and the others turned over with shock on their faces. The combat addict was no exception.
“Deadman face, you actually spoke?”
Tantai Yutang was surprised. He then glanced at the arena again. “Are you in love with that Han Xi?”
“Scram!”
Jiang Leng cursed.
“So, junior martial brother Jiang’s taste in women is like this?”
Tantai Yutang furrowed his brows. (This can’t do. Young women are the sweetest. There’s a problem with your esthetic conception. As a senior brother, I have the obligation to ‘correct’ your view.)
“Teacher has indeed gotten serious!”
Lu Zhiruo frowned. (Could it be there might be a problem with this opponent?) Seeing Sun Mo so serious caused her to recall the scene when he fought against Daoist White Bird back then.
How terrifying was a Sun Mo who went all out?
With just a single slash, he immediately broke apart Han Xi’s thunderous momentum.
“Beautiful!”
This slash caused many major characters to cry out in admiration and made the eyes of many young examinees shine.
Han Xi’s bladework was skilled and profound. Evidently, she had spent a large amount of time and energy to train it. Her attacks had no flaws but when she fought against Sun Mo, she was directly suppressed.
It felt like a martial grandmaster, who had reached the pinnacle of his skill, was unleashing his attacks brilliantly but got ended straight with a bullet from a gun.
Although Sun Mo’s blade slash looked casual, he only managed to unleash this retaliation strike with a combination of insight from Divine Sight, ‘copy’ of the Grand Universe Formless Divine Art, the Wind King Divine Steps, and Immemorial Vairocana.
Four peerless saint-tier cultivation arts represented four different types of pinnacle might.
“It’s impossible for her to win!”
Mei Yazhi shook her head and sighed. Han Xi’s aptitude wasn’t good enough, but since she could unleash such attacks, it was enough to prove that she was very assiduous and had worked very hard to the utmost of her abilities.
However, it was still insufficient!
“Yeah, the Second Month Lancet is an inferior heaven-tier cultivation art. Even if she mastered it completely, it’s impossible for it to win against a saint-tier cultivation art!”
Tong Yiming sighed.
Han Xi’s cultivation base was two stages higher than Sun Mo’s, but honestly speaking, her spiritual qi reserve would have a limit too. Because Sun Mo was a genius, the quantity of his spiritual qi reserve would surely far surpass those at the same level as him.
One could say that for people like Sun Mo, it was only fair if he jumped levels and fought against a higher-leveled opponent. If he fought against people of the same cultivation level, that would be bullying.
“It’s too brutal. What’s going on with Teacher Sun, why is he so serious?”
The other major characters felt that Han Xi would be defeated in this battle.
When the spectators saw the match starting, they wanted to cheer but decided to shut up instead. This was because the scene before their eyes were truly too shocking.
Han Xi only managed to slash out once – the slash at the very beginning. After that, everything became Sun Mo’s show.
Executing the Wind King Divine Steps to constantly change his position made Han Xi unable to see his silhouette. ‘Copy’ from the Grand Universe Formless Divine Art and Divine Sight ensured that Sun Mo wouldn’t miss any movements of Han Xi. Even the minute expression on her face was seen clearly by him.
Before Han Xi moved, Sun Mo had started to predict her next movements.
After that, he chained attacks using Immemorial Vairocana and caused the spectators to feel stunned. Han Xi was completely dumbfounded throughout the process.
“How strong. However, I cannot give up. As long as I’m not off the arena and I’m not dead, I would have a chance!”
Han Xi bit her tongue furiously to the point where blood flowed. She wanted to use the pain to stimulate her nerves. Following that, in exchange for suffering injuries, she lengthened her distance from Sun Mo.
After that, she waved her blade and slashed at the ground.
Swish~ Swish~ Swish~
Blade qi shot everywhere, splitting apart the flooring.
Han Xi lifted her foot and stomped forcefully.
Bang!
Clouds of dust exploded all around as the floor panels flew into the air from the impact. After that, Han Xi turned in the air. Her blade prowess was akin to a tornado.
Woosh~ Woosh~ Woosh~
The wind brought along the stone panels, smashing them toward Sun Mo. They were like hailstones falling down the arena.
“This battle strategy is quite interesting!”
Xuanyuan Po was surprised. He didn’t expect Han Xi to still retaliate.
“Hehe, teacher might screw things up if he is careless!”
Tantai Yutang teased.
“Impossible!”
Lu Zhiruo shook her head with resolve.
“It wouldn’t happen!”
Li Ziqi rolled her eyes.
“Why don’t you just die?”
Ying Baiwu glared at the sickly invalid.
At the other side of the spectator stands, Hua Jianmu tightly held onto the railing. It felt like the hand of the god of death was clutching tightly onto his heart.
“I’m willing to use ten years of my life to exchange for my teacher’s victory!”
Hua Jianmu prayed. He knew that his teacher had yearned for this victory for a very long time.