Li Bo and the others immediately revealed envious expressions. This was a recruitment by a 1-star great teacher. From today onward, Tan Lu’s prospects would be smooth.
“One mustn’t give up no matter how dire the circumstances they are in!”
Li Bo felt emotional.
A few days ago, Tan Lu had lost to Fei Tong, and his ankle had even sustained a serious comminuted fracture. Everyone had felt that it was all over for him and that he was going to lead a mediocre life. However, he didn’t give up and had climbed back so quickly.
Tan Lu seemed stunned as he looked toward Zhang Qianlin.
“Your performance was excellent, especially your display of will when facing such adversity. I admire it a lot.” Zhang Qianlin praised. Given such traits, Tan Lu would definitely achieve great things in the future. “Teacher Zhang, you’re over-complimenting me!” Tan Lu smiled in self-mockery. (I don’t really have a strong will. After I lost the other day, I felt that the whole world was going to come crumbling down. If it wasn’t for Teacher Sun straightening out my thoughts and giving me guidance, I’d probably still be laying in bed and waiting to rot.) At the thought of this, his gratitude toward Sun Mo grew even more. Ding!
Favorable impression points from Tan Lu +100. Reverence(1,600/10,000). Zhang Qianlin stopped saying anything but smiled, waiting for Tan Lu to acknowledge him as his teacher. After all, he was a 1-star great teacher and it’d be beneath him to take too much initiative to recruit a student.
Tan Lu pursed his lips and hesitated a little. As he didn’t say anything, the atmosphere turned a little quiet and awkward. “Tan Lu, what are you thinking about? Don’t be a fool! There aren’t many chances like this!”
Li Bo secretly tugged at Tan Lu’s sleeve, reminding him softly.
(It’s one thing to reject the recruitment by a senior teacher, but Zhang Qianlin is a 1-star great teacher. His father is also the Central Province Academy’s vice-headmaster. If you are to acknowledge him as your teacher, your future would be bright.) Tan Lu understood this as well. However, Sun Mo’s figure continued to stay in his mind. The scene of Sun Mo sitting by the campfire and giving him guidance was still strong.
Tan Lu took a deep breath and bowed toward Zhang Qianlin.
(It’s a done deal!)
Zhang Qianlin felt very happy and wanted to help Tan Lu up. However, at this moment, what Tan Lu said caused him to freeze on the spot.
“Teacher Zhang, I’m thankful to you for thinking highly of me, but I’m very sorry, I already have a teacher that I look up to and admire.”
Tan Lu rejected.
Li Bo and the others were planning to clap and congratulate Tan Lu when they heard what he said. It was as if the sightseeing vehicle they were on had gone through an emergency brake. Not only were they thrown off the vehicle, but the wheels had almost crushed them as well.
“I didn’t hear wrongly, did I?”
“Tan Lu is really ambitious!”
“It’s understandable!”
The students muttered amongst themselves. If they were the ones showing such a great performance, they’d also have the wishful thinking to get under the wings of a 3-star great teacher and be their personal disciple.
Zhang Qianlin’s countenance turned bad. To think that a genius like him had been rejected? This was really atrocious. However, as there were other students watching, he couldn’t possibly put on a black face. He wanted to just walk away, but after recalling Tan Lu’s exciting battle earlier, he really felt admiration toward this student. Therefore, he tried to persuade him again. “Tan Lu, you’re thinking of studying under a 3 or 4-star great teacher, right? To be blunt, there is no lack of geniuses under those great teachers. Even if you can successfully acknowledge them as your teacher, the resources and support you receive will be limited. However, things are different for me. I’ll put in great effort into nurturing you.” It was impossible for a great teacher to only have one personal disciple. Even if all of their disciples were geniuses, there’d still be differences amongst them.
The stronger ones would get more resources. This was how most great teachers would go about with the distribution.
It wasn’t that they were biased, but that under the same amount of resources and support, the more ingenious disciples could obtain greater improvement and achievement. Therefore, they’d be given more resources.
Of course, the greater the number of stars the great teacher had, the more distinguished their statuses and the stronger they were. The amount of resources they had to distribute would also be higher. Even the resources distributed to the weakest disciple would far surpass that of ordinary teachers.
In the great teacher world, some great teachers abhorred such distribution methods. They felt that every teacher should view their students equally, giving them the same amount of guidance and resources. However, the results were far from satisfactory.
There was one true principle in this world: only competition could spur improvement, while equivalent sharing would just wear down one’s drive to improve. A certain country in history had proven with facts that equivalent sharing couldn’t work. It was because laziness was a bad trait that everyone possessed. The great teachers felt that the most outstanding student could obtain the greatest amount of resources as a reward, and this would form a pyramid distribution system. Under such a fair competition system, every student would strive to work hard.
However, no matter how the great teachers taught their students, the eventual goal would still be to let the students succeed.
Tan Lu shook his head. To speak the truth, given his aptitude, it would be wishful thinking for him to get under the wings of a 3-star great teacher. However, he didn’t care for 1-star great teachers either. It was because he felt that with Sun Mo’s talent, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to rise and become a 3-star great teacher by the time he reached Zhang Qianlin’s age. Zhang Qianlin felt extremely upset, however, he couldn’t possibly show his true emotions in front of students. He said ‘work hard’ and then left quickly.
“Damn, I must rise to 3-star as soon as possible!”
Zhang Qianlin swore.
After seeing Zhang Qianlin walking away, Li Bo put up a thumb. “You’re cool. You can even bear to refuse the recruitment by a 1-star great teacher!” “Who do you want as your teacher? Is it Teacher Jin?”
A guy wrapped his arm around Tan Lu’s neck, trying to persuade him, “Don’t just look at the star level. The best one is a teacher who is the best suited for you.”
“I understand!”
Tan Lu had a lot of things on his mind.
Li Bo and the group returned to the campsite and quickly shared the story of how Tan Lu had defeated Fei Tong. Since they had managed to apply pressure on the Myriad Daos Academy, their archenemy from the same city, they felt good about this. Moreover, they wanted to boost Tan Lu’s reputation, making his process of acknowledging a teacher smoother. They had been living together as teammates, and their relationship had gotten quite good. They’d naturally hope to see Tan Lu getting his wish fulfilled.
Of course, everyone was smart to not say anything about Tan Lu’s refusal of Zhang Qianlin’s recruitment.
The campsite wasn’t big and everyone heard of the story since Li Bo and the others had made such a fuss. Not only the students, but even the teachers as well. All of them seemed to be a little surprised as they looked toward Tan Lu.
Tan Lu enjoyed the attention. All was thanks to Sun Mo’s guidance. “It’s about time. Go on!”
Li Bo spurred him on.
Tan Lu hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
“Alright!” Tan Lu got up, took a few deep breaths, and then walked over to the camp belonging to Sun Mo’s small group. “Huh?”
Li Bo was dumbfounded. He subconsciously turned his head and threw a glance in the direction of Jin Mujie’s tent. He then looked back toward Tan Lu. (Where are you going? Aren’t you heading in the wrong direction?) The other students from the same group all appeared stunned as well. (Did he want Teacher Jin as his teacher but try to get Teacher Sun to put in a good word for him?)
“Teacher!”
Tan Lu went up to Sun Mo. After standing firmly, he left his hands on both sides of his hip and bowed respectfully, greeting Sun Mo.
“I heard that you won against Fei Tong?”
Li Ziqi had told Sun Mo about this the first instant she heard about it.
“En!”
Tan Lu appeared very calm on the surface but was unusually elated inside. (Very good. Teacher also knows how outstanding I am now.)
“You’ve done well.”
Sun Mo praised.
“It’s all thanks to Teacher’s guidance!”
Tan Lu wasn’t trying to flatter Sun Mo but had heartfelt admiration toward him. If it wasn’t for Sun Mo, he’d never have the courage to give up on his family-inherited spear art in his lifetime. No, he might not even dare to harbor the thought of it.
“Tsk!”
Tantai Yutang’s lips twitched. It seemed that they were going to have another martial brother today. “Have you eaten? Do you want to join us?” Sun Mo said, “The porridge that Baiwu makes is quite good!” Tan Lu hesitated for a moment and felt that if he continued to drag things on, Sun Mo might think that he wasn’t decisive. Therefore, Tan Lu dropped to his knees with a thud. “Teacher, please take me in as your disciple!” After saying that, Tan Lu dropped to his knees. Half of the Central Province Academy’s campsite fell silent.
“I heard that Tan Lu has gone over to the Myriad Daos Academy’s campsite earlier and won against that Fei Tong!” “That must be fake news, right? Tan Lu was crushed in that duel the other day, and it has only been a few days since then. Even if his strength did surge explosively, how much could it possibly grow?” “Do you guys think that Teacher Sun will take him in?”
The students talked amongst themselves, having curious gazes.
“This... this...”
Li Bo was stunned. What was this?
“Did he make a mistake?”
“Wasn’t he planning to acknowledge Teacher Jin as his teacher?”
“Why would it be Sun Mo? Is there a reason behind it? Wait a minute, it can’t be due to Teacher Sun’s guidance that he was able to defeat Fei Tong, could it?”
The students in the same group as Tan Lu were all stunned as well. It was because this came as a bit of a surprise. While feeling envious, Du Xiao was also happy for Sun Mo. He could get another disciple now.
“I’ll need to buck up as well!”
Gao Ben cheered himself on. If this were to continue, he’d be thrown behind further and further away from Sun Mo.
Zhang Qianlin stayed by himself on the campsite’s border. When he saw this scene, he was stunned. He then smashed the roasted meat in his hand onto the floor.
“Damn it!”
Zhang Qianlin was so angry that his countenance turned grim. If Tan Lu were to acknowledge Jin Mujie as his teacher, he’d be able to accept the outcome. But Sun Mo? Why him? Zhang Qianlin couldn’t understand this. “Teacher, without your guidance, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat Fei Tong. Teacher, I really wish to receive your teachings.’ Tan Lu’s voice was filled with respect. His forehead was stuck to the ground, and he maintained a kowtow posture.
“Teacher is so amazing!”
Lu Zhiruo broke into a smile, sharing Sun Mo’s pride.
“This is bad!”
Li Ziqi sneaked a glance at Sun Mo. She saw that he was hesitating and knew that things weren’t going to go well.
“Tan Lu, get up first!”
Sun Mo spoke up. He couldn’t possibly let the student continue to remain kneeling.
“Teacher!”
Tan Lu’s voice started to tremble. It was because he also had a bad premonition.
“You’re very outstanding. Otherwise, it’d be impossible for you to improve tremendously within just a few days and defeat that student from the Myriad Daos Academy.” Sun Mo said solemnly, “What you’re feeling now is definitely agitation and excitement. Those will affect your judgment. You should consider this again seriously after you’ve calmed down.”
“Teacher, I’ve thought through it. I want to study under your wing.” Tan Lu insisted.