Sun Mo put down his hand that was about to knock on the door. After all, he was a teacher. Even though this place was his villa, even though it was late into the night, being quiet with no one around, Sun Mo still felt that he should conduct himself with dignity.
“Moreover, it’s too selfish to disturb Zhiruo’s sleep just to open chests!”
Sun Mo reflected and was about to leave when he saw that the door suddenly opened.
“Teacher?”
The papaya girl stood behind the door, rubbing her sleepy eyes with one hand. After ascertaining that it was Sun Mo and not an illusion, she pounced over and hugged him.
“Teacher!”
Lu Zhiruo called out sweetly, giving off a bright smile like the blooming fresh flowers and the arrival of the warm spring!
“Uhh!”
Sun Mo felt very awkward, but they mustn’t stay here. “Come, let’s talk in the room!”
“I understand!”
Lu Zhiruo let go of Sun Mo and let him enter her bedroom. She then leaned by the door, checking around to ascertain that there wasn’t anyone else around before she closed the door.
Li Ziqi had said that she must be wary of Dong He if she were to sleep here. After all, the teleportation gate couldn’t disappear after it was permanently set up. Although Dong He wouldn’t be able to use the teleportation gate without Sun Mo’s approval even if she were to come across it, seeing it alone was considered leaking the secret.
The reason why Lu Zhiruo stayed here was firstly for the convenience of entering the Wind King Divine Hall to cultivate, and secondly, to keep an eye on Dong He.
Sun Mo’s lips twitched when he saw that the guest room’s interior decor had been changed to a strong young lady style, the messy bedsheets, as well as the neatly folded clothes on the bed. It was quite embarrassing to say this, but he had never entered a girl’s room before.
This was Sun Mo’s first time and to think that it was his female student’s.
“I’ve sinned!”
Sun Mo was about to say that there was nothing on and he was going to make a move first when he was hugged from the back by Lu Zhiruo.
“Wuuu, Teacher, I missed you so much!”
The papaya girl put her face against Sun Mo’s body, sensing his body temperature. Her eyes squinted and she wore a delighted expression.
It was like a pet cat had finally seen its master who had just returned from a business trip for many days. It then snuggled up with him on the sofa to watch television and eat chips, not wanting to be apart from him.
“I dreamed that Teacher had come back and got up to take a look. I didn’t expect that it’s really Teacher! Hehe, this is really great!”
Lu Zhiruo’s arms that were hugging Sun Mo exerted force, wanting to hug him tighter.
“Let go of me first!”
Sun Mo coughed.
“Teacher, do you not like me anymore?”
Lu Zhiruo didn’t let go of Sun Mo but asked meekly.
“That’s not true!”
Sun Mo felt puzzled. Why did she say this?
“Then why don’t you pat me on the head anymore?”
After Lu Zhiruo asked that, she suddenly came to a realization. “Oh, I forgot! The posture isn’t right!”
The papaya girl didn’t let go but moved her legs and circled around Sun Mo, wanting to move in front of him.
“Zhiruo, let go of me first!”
Sun Mo felt really troubled, wanting to tug off the papaya girl’s hands, but she was hugging him quite tightly.
“Teacher!”
Lu Zhiruo turned over and raised her small head, looking at Sun Mo like she was going to cry.
(Did I do something wrong? Yes, I must have done something wrong. Otherwise, why would Teacher come back to look for me in the middle of the night?)
At the thought of this, the papaya girl quickly let go and knelt on the ground with a plop.
“Your disciple is stupid! Teacher, please punish me!”
As the papaya girl said that, she crossed her arms and pressed her forehead on the back of her hands, kowtowing.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m back…”
Sun Mo couldn’t continue anymore. He couldn’t possibly say ‘Lu Zhiruo, I’m back only because I want to borrow your amazing luck to open chests.’, right? Hence, he said, “I’m back only because I want to take a look at how you guys are doing!”
Sun Mo pulled Lu Zhiruo’s arm and helped her up.
“Hehe, I know that Teacher is very concerned about us!”
Lu Zhiruo beamed and hugged Sun Mo’s arm. She then blinked her big eyes, looking at him with great anticipation.
(Why are you still not patting my head?)
Only the naive papaya girl would believe Sun Mo’s crap. No matter how much a teacher was concerned for their disciples, they wouldn’t come knocking on their doors in the middle of the night!
Sun Mo patted Lu Zhiruo’s head.
“System, quickly open the chests! Start with that gold treasure chest first!”
Sun Mo urged.
Lu Zhiruo wore a satisfied expression. (This feeling is very gentle. That’s right, it’s Teacher! I’m not dreaming!)
The golden light didn’t dissipate and this made Sun Mo feel a little puzzled. He then discovered that it wasn’t that the light hadn’t dissipated, but that the reward that came up was also emitting a brilliant gold color. It almost blinded him.
This fruit was the size of a walnut. There were many earthworm-shaped bulges on it, forming strange prints.
They seemed to be some kind of words or totem characters. They were very strange and mysterious. Sun Mo only took a look and then was unable to avert his gaze from it.
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve obtained one Divine Force Fruit. This fruit is unique to the Darkness Continent and is rare. As the fruit contains powerful energy within it, after it has been eaten, the energy can be converted into divine force that nourishes the body. Therefore, it is named as the Divine Force Fruit.”
“Eating this fruit can help cultivators at the divine force realm level up. However, the effects will weaken with time after being eaten over and over again.”
“Warning, only cultivators in the divine force realm or higher can take this fruit. If cultivators below the divine force realm take it, in less serious cases, their brain and nerves will be destroyed by the divine force. They’d become idiots or paralyzed. In more serious cases, they’d perish directly.”
“Uhh, do you understand what ‘perish’ means? It has the same meaning as demise, death, and breathing one’s last. To say it more simply, it’s passing away!”
Sun Mo was listening to the system’s introduction of the Divine Force Fruit when he suddenly heard this. He almost vomited blood from anger.
“What do you mean? Are you looking down on me? Even though my language was taught by my physical education teacher, I can understand a mere ‘perish’.”
Sun Mo rolled his eyes. “If you continue to tease me, do you believe that I’ll let you ‘perish’ on the spot?”
The system was stunned by the retort. (I’m just joking. Do you have to show such a big reaction?) Moreover, Sun Mo really had a very sharp tongue!
The nickname Black Doggy Sun wasn’t wrong.
“Alright, stop it with the crap. Quickly open the next one!”
Sun Mo patted the papaya girl’s head while urging.
After the diamond-colored brilliant glow dissipated, a skill book was left behind. Its surroundings permeated with pitch-black clouds that emitted a rustic and heavy aura.
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve obtained the semi-cursive script of the calligraphy skill book. Proficiency index, grandmaster-grade!”
If it wasn’t because whistling in his female students’ bedroom might appear too frivolous, Sun Mo would really want to do so to vent the happiness he was feeling.
Sun Mo had always wanted to be able to write beautiful calligraphy. He had practiced for very long but only managed to reach an acceptable level. After all, calligraphy was something that required a tremendous amount of time spent in practicing.
He hadn’t expected to get his dream fulfilled like this.
“Grandmaster-grade… Would that mean that my writings can get a ‘not bad’ rating from a master calligrapher like Wang Xizhi even in the ancient days?”
Sun Mo secretly felt very happy. He had no idea if it was because he hadn’t opened treasure chests recently or that the papaya girl’s accumulated amazing luck had erupted, but these two rewards were really not bad.
“Go and rest. I’ll be heading back!”
After a goodbye, Sun Mo immediately returned to the hotel in Guangling through the teleportation gate. He then took out the skill book and shattered it with a slam.
Hua!
The skill book shattered into countless black-colored big words that danced in the air. All of them then shot into his brain.
Sun Mo felt that the world had turned into a piece of paper while he had become a brush, moving around as he wished. Thereafter, he seemed to have turned into a pool of ink, being painted onto the mountains, rivers, and earth by an invisible brush!
A while later, the system’s notification rang out.
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve learned the semi-cursive script calligraphy. Proficiency index, grandmaster-grade!”
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve obtained the title ‘calligrapher’!”
Sun Mo was elated. “Calligrapher plus artist. Am I also considered to be a master of both calligraphy and art now?”
“Please conduct yourself with dignity! Remaining humble and studious is the drive for a person’s improvement!”
The system advised.
“Tsk!”
Sun Mo stuck up a thumb. “Alright, you can quickly take your leave. I’m going to practice calligraphy!”
Sun Mo decided to skip his sleep. He then took out his brush, ink, and paper and started practicing.
He ended up practicing for the entire night!
In the morning, the sun rose from the east, cascading warm sunlight down.
Knock knock!
Gu Xiuxun knocked on Sun Mo’s door. “Have you woken up? Let’s go have our meal together!”
“Alright!”
Sun Mo replied. A short moment later, he opened the door.
Gu Xiuxun had wanted to ask if Sun Mo had a good sleep. But after seeing his blood-shot eyes and that quite a lot of ink had gotten onto his face, hands, and clothes, she got quite a shock.
“What were you doing?”
Was it some kind of mysterious praying ritual? Did Sun Mo rely on this to get full marks?
Many pieces of paper had scattered over the entire bedroom, almost covering up the entire floor. Moreover, all of them were covered in big words.
“Practicing calligraphy!”
Sun Mo said simply, “Hold on. We’ll leave after I’m done with this set!”
“You couldn’t have been practicing for the entire night, could you?”
Gu Xiuxun couldn’t help but complain after seeing Sun Mo nodding. “Are you crazy? The fourth round of the examination might be starting this afternoon. To think that you didn’t sleep for the entire night? Do you want to be eliminated?”
“It’s fine. I’m young. I can live with skipping one to two nights of sleep!”
Sun Mo recalled how it had been back in his university days. It was a daily norm to go to cybercafes to play games throughout the night and then get a pancake for breakfast the next morning. It was a happy life!
“You’re crazy! But… your writing isn’t bad!”
Gu Xiuxun lowered her head and saw those words, her eyes uncontrollably lit up. These words had the air of a great calligrapher. She didn’t know that Sun Mo was a calligrapher as well!
Wait a minute, the content seemed to be even better?
Gu Xiuxun bent over and picked up a piece of paper, reading it out softly, “Where will I wake up from my drunken stupor tonight? It’ll probably be by the shores with the willow tree, facing the harsh morning wind and the waning crescent at dawn! [1] Tsk, I couldn’t tell that you’re a guy who likes to grieve over the changing seasons. You must have deceived several young girls with this poetry, right?”
Gu Xiuxun teased and picked up another piece of paper.
“The river flows toward the east, the huge waves washing away all the heroes of the past [2]. Ha, this line is bold and imperious. Where’s the next line?”
Gu Xiuxun squatted on the floor and started to go through the papers.
[1] Extract from “Rain-soaked Bell”, a Ci poetry by Liu Yong.
[2] Extract from “Memories of the Past at Red Cliff”, a Song Dynasty poem by Su Shi.