Chapter 7: The Bad Old Man_1

"Ah... smart kid..."

Jiang Yongnian stared with bulging eyes, gritted his teeth. His teeth were actually aching.

How many years has it been since he'd had such a troublesome student?

Oh, correction, this lad had no intention of being disciplined; from the beginning till the end, he'd been all set to run wild over his peers.

Suppressing the surging energy and blood in his body, Jiang Yongnian snorted coldly:

"Though I hate to admit it, but you have indeed taken an unusual approach, breaking the confines of the test questions from the most obstinate angles."

"This is not just about will, it also encompasses courage, wisdom."

"I approve of such results, you can rest assured."

"That's good." Ye Hanjun nodded slightly, asking with a calm smile:

"What's the second test about? Shall we proceed right away?"

"Young man." Jiang Yongnian squinted his eyes, like a hawk soaring high above, ready to pounce on its prey at any moment:

"The more mature the rice stalk, the more it has to bend."

"Don't become too arrogant; the real game has just begun."

" Your advice is top-notch." Ye Hanjun bowed courteously, "Modesty is indeed a merit with nothing to lose."

"But excessive modesty is seen as weakness, hypocrisy, and stupidity."

Ye Hanjun, without changing the expression on his face, calmly adds on:

"Moreover, I am young."

"Without the arrogance and conceit of youth, without the vigor and vitality of youth, life would be unbearably dull, wouldn't it?"

"Alright, the victor prevails. I've spoken too much."

Jiang Yongnian abruptly pulled open a drawer, grabbed a handful of colorful scrolls, and slammed them onto the desk:

"Here is the second round, these test papers, to challenge your sharpness!"

"I hope while solving these problems, you can still retain this calmness and composure!"

"Oh?" Ye Hanjun couldn't conceal his curiosity, as his gaze followed suit.

The books in the family library were as vast as the ocean, ranging from the Saint's scroll, to the Dragon and Phoenix Palace Map, to the Fox Demon Bathing Picture... everything one could ask for.

As the legitimate descendant of the Ye Clan and the 1114th blood-related son of the King, from the time when he was too young to speak and could only crawl around on the ground, he had been taught various skills by the sternest of teachers.

Ye Hanjun was indeed curious about what level the knowledge and understanding of an infertile land, a kingdom with no reputation to speak of, truly reached.

"Students' unanswered private messages... 10-year compilation?"

"Recently excavated ancient research reports... Incomplete versions?"

"Unidentified sighting reports of Fond Spirits... Original manuscripts by the Soul Painter?"

"... Wait, elder, are you sure you can answer these examination questions yourself?"

After seeing the labels on the scrolls, even Ye Hanjun felt a sudden pang in his teeth.

If he had to actually test him, he would likely pick just about anything.

But this grumpy old man seemed unwilling to play by the rules, wanting to knock him out in one move. It was indeed annoying.

"Weren't you all confidence before? What's wrong with making things difficult for you?"

Jiang Yongnian dismissed him, his attitude justified and upright.

In his hands, he was busy without stop, with his fingers acting as brush, his soul as ink, he quickly copied the scrolls. With minor modifications, they turned into newly baked test questions.

"Here, a total of one hundred questions. Answer half of them, and I'll consider it as you passing!"

In just a few minutes, a scroll, still faintly warm, was tossed in front of Ye Hanjun.

Jian Yongnian lifted his chin slightly, his hands behind his back imitating the image of a grand and unfathomable sage.

"Is this the 'righteous examiner' Jia Pengpeng talked about?" Ye Hanjun asked, neither laughing nor crying.

There was nothing for him to fear. He opened the scroll and laid his entire palm on it.

Human cultivators in the world of Fond Spirits can communicate through paper text like mortals.

But more commonly, on scrolls made mostly of spirit cloth, with the power of the soul, they leave their own marks.

Doing so is both efficient and safe. As long as one's soul is strong enough, they can easily support reading ten lines or a hundred lines at a glance and essentially understand it simultaneously.

What Ye Hanjun was holding now was precisely such a unique item that only the Patrons could use.

In fact, task distribution, scientific research, correspondence... The uses of the spirit cloth scroll are incredibly extensive, covering all sectors and fields.

The test paper was naturally one such use.

As his palm touched it, his consciousness immersed itself into the scroll.

Ye Hanjun, whose perception far surpassed those of his peers, finished browsing through all one hundred questions in almost an instant.

"This old man, always playing dirty?"

"More than half of the chaotic stuff inside, even if it can be taught to students, belongs to the rarely used knowledge points that may not even be of use in one's entire life…"

Ye Hanjun sighed, immersed in deep thought.

He could answer these questions, and the final score would certainly greatly exceed 50 points.

But as a new Patron, masquerading as an "orphan" descended from Sir Han of Spirit Mountain...

If Ye Hanjun's answers were too perfect, far exceeding Jiang Yongnian's understanding, it would not help him adapt to the academy environment at all.

The trial of the night... can only rely on oneself!

Until he gains the strength to fend for himself, being overly flamboyant... could cost him his life!

"Senior, your question is too obscure, and some problems are incomplete."

Ye Hanjun pretended to be unhappy, and began to argue rationally:

"Or, I do one, and you do one, too."

"Otherwise, if you can't do it yourself, without a real standard for evaluation, what is the meaning of my answer? Are you purposely trying to make me fail?"

"Only now you realize how challenging it is?"

Jiang Yongnian looked indifferent, feeling confident, and said with a laugh:

"You are the new Patron, my teacher in Canghai Pavilion at the age of just 20."

"If you really succeed, you will break the rules of Canghai Pavilion that have been in place for nearly 200 years. Such personal achievement is indeed extraordinary, even in Giant Frog Marsh."

"I am just an ordinary old man, who has worked hard and been lucky, to get to where I am today."

"What you are trying to accomplish is remarkable. Once done, it would be astounding."

"The exam that matches such quality is undoubtedly appropriate. Wanting to compare and compete with ordinary people like me... Would that not be beneath you?"

Jiang Yongnian leisurely silenced Ye Hanjun with a few sentences.

The conversation always pointed to hope for the young man to give up his futile struggle.

"I'm starting then." Ye Hanjun responded casually, and with a flick of his fingers as a pen, sent his soul's intent.

Approximately an hour later, he coughed and spat blood while pushing the scroll to the other side of the table. His expression was weary, as if he was suffering not just physically but mentally as well.

"Let me see what the young man who claims to have 'read thousands of books' really knows."

Jiang Yongnian laughed heartily, took a sip of his chili tea, and casually flipped through the scroll.

"Crash!"

The teacup fell to the ground, not only shattering into dozens of pieces but also making a dent in the wooden floor.

Jiang Yongnian's other hand also gripped the scroll tightly, his expression changing from calm to a mix of red and white, like a neon light flashing back and forth.

"Unidentified Fond Spirit field sighting report..."

"Because this manuscript comes from the 'Soul Painter,' who is notoriously abstract, artistic and neurotic... If it was replaced with an ordinary 'Sketcher,' it would not draw a creature so bizarre!"

"But with this vague silhouette of black, gray, and white, you judge this to be the species known as 'Double-shelled Crab.' Why?!"

"And this question, this is about one of my students from a long time ago. She loved Zombie-type Fond Spirits so much that she voluntarily gave up her spacious and bright detached mansion, and ran alone to remote areas, setting up tents beside tombs, claiming to 'accompany' them."

"She was waiting... waiting for the moment when the corpse would turn into a zombie so she could study their body structures..."

"She asked me many questions, the most troubling and most memorable one was about 'Zombie Digging and Maintenance.'"

"And you wrote down three to five thousand words, listed more than ten common low-level zombies, from the possibility of zombie transformation, the extent of change, the strength of mutation... to corpse temperature, corpse spots, corpse blood, corpse flesh... providing detailed and profound feasible suggestions?!"

...

Jiang Yongnian muttered to himself, sometimes firing rapidly, sometimes stuttering and stumbling, like a bewitched madman.

Ye Hanjun laughed inwardly, while calmly responding:

"This is the Double-shelled Crab, I have seen this kind of Fond Spirit more than once outside the Giant Frog Marsh."

"Look here, this is its shell... and here, it's the exposed part of its claw..."

"The real key evidence is the antennae. The Double-shelled Crab has two long and two short antennae. The Soul Painter did not arbitrarily change this, so I believe this is the fact and the truth!"

...

Ye Hanjun went on describing for half a day. At first, Jiang Yongnian was enlightened, then he was skeptical and stared at him suspiciously:

"You're not trying to trick me, are you? Just because I've never heard of a Double-shelled Crab, you randomly found a tag and slapped it on the painting?"

"How could I? Liars blush, and I can't do such a thing."

Ye Hanjun repeatedly waved his hand, pointing at his own face, as white as frost, without a hint of pink, nowhere near resembling a liar.

However, he muttered to himself quietly, "The old man is not easy to fool" and "Damn Soul Painter, what on earth did you draw, better go back to farming..."...

Of course, the most important thing was "Only magic can defeat magic."

Who made the old man unreasonable, picking a question he himself couldn't answer. Not bluffing would be a disservice to his hard work in setting the questions.

"What about this 'Zombie Digging and Maintenance' then?"

"Your account was so detailed, it was as if I had been transported to the scene."

"You didn't actually crawl out of a tomb, did you? Have you transformed from a special kind of zombie? Or were you once close friends with a group of zombies?"

"Otherwise, how would you, so meticulously and in such detail, provide me with a comprehensive answer?!"