Chapter 202: Awakening of the Sleeper

“Good, I’ll take your kind words.” Qi Rui, with a hearty gulp, drained more than half the jar.

“Oh, by the way, Senior Brother Qi, is there a betting platform within the sect for the Grand Competition?”

Qi Rui choked on his drink halfway through, startled by Chen Mobai’s question. Both he and Xi Jinghu stared wide-eyed at Chen Mobai.

“What are you planning?”

“I’m just asking.”

Seeing their expressions, Chen Mobai knew there wasn’t one, and felt a slight regret.

After finishing their drinks, the three men continued to marvel at the location of Xiaoyang Ridge. Even core disciples were only allocated spirit vein cave dwellings of Tier 2 high-grade. The fact that Chen Mobai was assigned such a spiritual site just by joining the Spiritual Plant Department showed how highly he was regarded.

Soon, the Sect Grand Competition began.

Although Qi Rui was at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation, he had only recently advanced. His sword techniques and talismans were not as refined as those of the seasoned peak Qi Cultivators. Despite fighting valiantly and making it into the top fifty, he ultimately fell short before reaching the core disciples. Xi Jinghu, on the other hand, didn’t even make it into the top three hundred.

After observing the entire Sect Grand Competition, Chen Mobai was even more impressed by the combat techniques of the cultivators in the Heavenly River Realm. He estimated that if he were to participate, he would likely be at the bottom, even among those of the same cultivation level.

After the New Year, the Daoist Academy’s new semester began promptly. Before classes started, there was one more item on the agenda: make-up exams.

Upon entering the exam hall and seeing the questions, Chen Mobai felt relieved. The teacher had been lenient, only asking them to draw a Tier 1 high-grade “Lightning Attraction Talisman.” This was a talisman heavily covered in the first-year textbook. Chen Mobai picked up his green bamboo brush, unrolled the Tier 1 talisman paper prepared for him in the exam room, and closed his eyes to recall the technique.

About three minutes later, confident in his ability, he dipped his brush in ink and, with fluid strokes, completed the talisman in one go. After drawing it, he infused spiritual energy to confirm it could be activated. However, to avoid any issues, he took two more sheets of Tier 1 talisman paper and drew two more “Lightning Attraction Talismans,” both of which were also successful.

“Teacher, may I submit my paper?”

The proctor, who had just sat down, checked his watch. Only ten minutes had passed. However, early submissions were quite common in universities, especially at the Four Great Daoist Academies. After all, some geniuses were exceptionally brilliant, and their valuable time shouldn’t be wasted.

The two proctors walked over to Chen Mobai and examined the three “Lightning Attraction Talismans” he had drawn. They found their exquisite quality was no less than their own. They looked at the examinee information in the top-left corner. So, he was that Chen Mobai! These two teachers also taught elective talisman-related courses, so they had naturally heard of his name. They had initially thought it was just a rumor, but now it seemed he truly was a genius.

“Yes, no problem. You’ve passed the make-up exam.” Due to the small number of students, make-up exams for talisman courses were graded and approved on the spot. After the two proctors unanimously agreed, Chen Mobai completed this make-up exam with a perfect score. His academic credits increased by three points again. However, these three points could only be used to exchange for spiritual items at the end of the current semester.

The other people in the exam room stared at Chen Mobai with shocked expressions. There were five students from their current year who had failed, as well as some from previous years who had not yet passed. As they watched the elegant young man depart, they all felt the vast difference in talent. Everyone had studied over the break, so how did he become so formidable? Could this be the “Sleeper” who had finally awakened?

After seeing the make-up exam results, Si Guanyu and Zhuang Jialan felt a slight pressure. “Maybe he just got lucky with the questions,” Si Guanyu couldn’t help but say, comforting a somewhat nervous Zhuang Jialan.

Then, when the results of the first monthly exam for this semester’s talisman course were released, he too began to feel nervous.

“For this Dust Gathering Talisman exam, first place goes to Chen Mobai.” The teacher who taught their talisman course, Xu Xiu, handed the perfect-score Dust Gathering Talisman to Chen Mobai, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. “Very good. Last year, I accurately assessed your level, and it was indeed correct to fail you on that particular question. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have worked so hard this semester.”

Chen Mobai, who had been in a good mood because he scored first place, gaped in disbelief at the teacher after hearing Xu Xiu’s words. How could a teacher behave like this! But Xu Xiu, basking in his self-proclaimed excellent teaching skills, waved his hand and dismissed Chen Mobai.

“Second place, Si Guanyu.” “Third place, Zhuang Jialan.” The class monitor and study committee member still had similar grades, but they no longer alternated between first and second place. For the entire semester, neither of them managed to reclaim the top spot.

Spurred on by Xu Xiu’s ‘fail-to-teach’ method, Chen Mobai, under the watchful eyes of all his classmates, swept all six monthly exams in the first half of the year, taking first place every time. In fact, he could have continued his winning streak until the final exam, achieving a full twelve consecutive first-place finishes.

However, something happened at home that forced him to take leave and return. Chen Xinglan had reached his sixtieth year, his cultivation deadline, and had to activate his spiritual energy to begin Foundation Establishment.

Meanwhile, Senior Uncle Zeng from the Pill Refining Department of the Divine Wood Sect had not emerged from seclusion to refine Foundation Establishment Pills. Chen Mobai even made time to return to the Water Mansion to retrieve the formation disc embedded with high-grade spirit stones, hoping to use it for exchange if Foundation Establishment Pills ever became available for trade. Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished. Ultimately, he could not wait any longer.

After Chen Mobai reached the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, he used the Foundation Establishment Treasure to deduce his father’s success rate for Foundation Establishment, which was only 14.5%. It turned out that this deduction was accurate. Chen Xinglan’s Foundation Establishment failed.

However, fortunately, Chen Xinglan did not gamble his life away. After the meridian cleansing, he felt that his qi condensation into liquid was already becoming strenuous. He thought of his family and decisively gave up on the subsequent transformation. He halted the Foundation Establishment process at the cost of self-harm and injury.

When the cave dwelling’s door opened from the inside, Chen Mobai saw Chen Xinglan, who, though gaunt, still seemed to have his spirit intact and was not severely weakened. “Alright, don’t cry. Life rarely goes as planned, but having Mobai as my son, I am already very content with my life,” Chen Xinglan said softly, comforting Tang Pancui, who was crying profusely, upon emerging from seclusion.

“Big Brother, it’s good that you’re okay.” Besides Chen Mobai’s immediate family, his second aunt, Chen Yulan, and youngest uncle, Chen Baolan, had also arrived.

After gathering at their home in Danxia City for two days, Chen Xinglan and Tang Pancui went together to Qingshan Village. He hadn’t seen his in-laws for two years because of his Foundation Establishment preparations.

“Son, after I recover in Qingshan Village, I’ll take your mother to travel around the various immortal sects. You just focus on working hard at the Wuqi Daoist Academy, and don’t worry about us.” Seeing his father’s open-mindedness, Chen Mobai could only nod. However, as he watched his father leave with a slightly hunched back, he secretly resolved to successfully achieve Foundation Establishment himself.

Upon returning to the Daoist Academy, Chen Mobai began to study even more diligently than before. He finished his second year with perfect scores and first place in all subsequent monthly exams for the talisman course, right up to the final exam.