Chapter 343: 352 Re-testing

What is the experience of being an Instructor at the best martial arts school in a region like?

Thanks for the invite. I'm in Yunzhou, just got off the sun.

Tang Zhao thinks, it's a very tiring job.

Although he doesn't have many formal classes, it seems his time should be quite ample.

The class that requires the most preparation is the Art Tool class, which involves things from his own arsenal; he only teaches it once every five days, so it isn't much trouble, and even if he went up to teach without preparation, it wouldn't matter. As for the Mysterious Technique class, he only needs to watch them practice and solve any questions the students might have. And the Art of War class, which he is least familiar with, Dong Xingyu has never handed over to him, so he doesn't have to scramble to prepare it from a textbook; that is quite considerate of her.

Therefore, the time he spends on lesson planning and teaching is less than a quarter of his usual time. By rights, it should be a very relaxed and decent job, even easier than the day-and-night cultivation he did with his master on the mountain.

However... who told him to be a good teacher?

He thinks that being a teacher is not his lifelong career, and he might only lead this one class in his entire life. It just so happens he encountered this batch of young people who are about the same age as him; it must be fate.

Since it is fate, why not do something meaningful?

If his arrival could change some things and help certain people take a step further, then this unplanned experience would not be in vain.

However...

Once a person has pursuits, they must pay more.

For example, if he wants to be a responsible class teacher, he cannot be like ordinary teachers who appear for class and disappear after, but must get up in the morning to watch the students' morning exercises, patrol the dorms at night, and catch students who are slacking off. He also has to constantly pay attention to everyone's state and insist on urging them to study diligently.

And if he wants to strengthen communication with the students and encourages them to talk to him in private, he has to face multiple students coming to him day and night to chat about trivial topics, and he cannot be impatient.

Even if there are only thirty students, and only a small fraction come to find him, that is still a double-digit number of people contacting him simultaneously. They have different temperaments, yet they are all equally full of worries: worries about schoolwork, worries about life, worries about puberty...

Tang Zhao not only has to listen carefully to a dozen portions of anxiety, restlessness, pain, and other negative energy, but also try his best to help think of solutions.

Under these circumstances, just the transmission of this negative energy is very disturbing to his mood. He is someone who can empathize, and he is not as experienced as old teachers who can vent on their own. If he didn't practice quiet meditation every night to empty his mind and persist in training his Spirit, he would have been overwhelmed by self-disturbance long ago.

Moreover, even though he is a Sword Guest and a Sword Smith with a certain height of knowledge, he is young after all, his life experience is not worth mentioning, and the problems he can solve are limited. Some of the confusion and bewilderment students have regarding life, interpersonal relationships, and so on cannot find answers with him, and they might even lead him into confusion, eventually forcing him to use some chicken soup inherited from Chen Zong to brush them off.

When it comes down to it, isn't he in puberty himself?

Compared to this, the occasional gawking and chatting from some female students are minor issues. Dong Xingyu has great prestige among the girls and can help him block some of these troubles.

It can only be said that it is fortunate that the first class he led consisted of students with relatively high quality.

Although their grades vary and they have various shortcomings, they all know how to work hard, and there are none that Tang Zhao needs to chase after. Even the few who are still slacking off do not cause much trouble, quietly acting like salted fish in the corner.

Although there are conflicts between students, they are not too excessive, they don't get serious, their clique-forming is not as severe as at Zhuoyu Villa, and even less so does anyone collude with outside hoodlums.

Especially, almost everyone knows what's what. They are aware of Tang Zhao's efforts and maintain respect and gratitude toward him.

Because their ages are close, the youths can get along with him better, truly counting as both teacher and friend.

This is already rare luck for Tang Zhao, which many teachers cannot envy enough.

After several days, Tang Zhao fulfilled his promise, first remodeling the testing room, installing the Testing Platform, and setting up a soundproof space. Then, he conducted a mixed test in rounds of ten, testing their Inspiration direction once again.

The test went very smoothly.

That "Eye Bead" is, after all, a Dharma Artifact of the Gaoyuan Marquis, very powerful, and works on everyone when the Yuan Power is sufficient. Not one of the thirty students was missed, and they all drew their own unbearable scribbles.

These scribbles were all pitch black. When Dong Xingyu delivered them to Tang Zhao, she was filled with expectation amidst her confusion—she really wanted to see if Tang Zhao could discern anything.

Tang Zhao organized the drawings one by one, putting those who hadn't been tested last time aside, and placing those who had been tested together with their previous ones to compare. Then he observed each one carefully. He tried to take his first intuition, and as soon as he felt something, he quickly wrote it down, writing a few words for each person. Then he compared them with the previous ones, crossed some out, and finally screened for the final result.

This is a tiring job, consuming Mental Power and "Heart Power".

Moreover, the time limit is very tight; every day that passes, the essence and spirit on the scribbles dissipate a little, so he had to race against time to finish looking at them.

To seize the time while it was fresh, Tang Zhao rested as little as possible, even using "One Day's Plan Lies in the Morning" on himself in the middle, and finally stayed up until the third watch of the night to finish looking at the drawings. He almost immediately fell into a deep sleep, and in the end, it was Wei Se who sent him back to his room to rest.

By the time he woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day. After drinking some hot soup to calm his nerves, Tang Zhao felt much better.

After a while, Dong Xingyu also came to visit him. Before asking for the results, she said: "Are you really not considering staying to be an Instructor? You work so hard even for a temporary position. With your heart, you will definitely be a good teacher!"

Tang Zhao waved his hand and said: "Don't even mention it. How did I know a good teacher was so tiring? It's so hard to lead one class, I don't know how those old teachers managed to survive it?"

Dong Xingyu said: "If one understands the principle of 'when it is time to let go, let go; everyone has their own fortune,' it wouldn't be so tiring. It's a pity that we are flesh and blood, and sometimes we can't get past our own hurdles; it's just a worrying fate."

Tang Zhao was thoughtful. Since Dong Xingyu said this, it was clear that she was not one to let things go easily either, and she would also do extra things.

Clearly, one only needs to pan for gold in the water with a sieve over and over again, yet she still couldn't help but reach her hand into the cold water to fish back those drifting grains of sand.

Tang Zhao said: "This kind of thing is indeed hard to bear when one gets old. How about this, starting tomorrow, I will let them come to me one by one to talk about Inspiration, and that will be me doing my part."

Dong Xingyu asked curiously: "Did you really see it? Every single one?"

Tang Zhao said: "I can't say it like that. I still have to combine various judgments."

Dong Xingyu nodded and said: "So that means you really did see it all. This ability of yours is rare. Remember to tell them not to talk nonsense, otherwise, people will be coming to you to see what they've drawn from time to time."

Tang Zhao nodded. He had always been careful not to show special talents. However, this was still far inferior to his skill of being able to dig a Sword Seed out of a Soul.

Those big shots who could influence him were already Sword Guests long ago and had no use for this, and even the brothers and nephews of big shots had many ways to determine their direction, so why count on a not-so-reliable "guess"? Unless there were special circumstances, it wouldn't be too eye-catching.

At that moment, Tang Zhao prepared a bit and began to call the students over one by one to chat.

Of course, it was not mandatory. If someone didn't want to chat with him, they naturally didn't have to come, and he would have one less workload.

It was a pity he didn't get a chance to be lazy; every student he called came to the appointment happily, which shows that his affinity as a teacher is not bad. It could also be that this is the Training Camp after all, and the students don't know that they can defy an instructor.

Ouyang Zhou was the first to be called over. His information was the most complete, and his worries were the fewest. Seeing Tang Zhao, he came out quickly, his face full of joy. Wen Caifei asked from the side: "How was it? What did Instructor Tang say?"

Ouyang Zhou didn't answer directly and said: "Instructor Tang is amazing; you'll know when you see him." After saying that, he left.

Wen Caifei watched him walk away. Qu Huan from the side said: "You're just asking him for nothing. When would he tell us anything? The next one will be you and me, what are you in such a rush for? Anyway, since Ouyang Zhou said it's good, it must be really good. Instructor Tang wouldn't make things difficult for students anyway."

Wen Caifei sighed: "You all say Instructor Tang is kind and Friendly, why haven't I noticed? He always keeps a straight face in front of me, looking like he's keeping people at a distance."

Qu Huan chuckled twice and said: "Is it because you're too enthusiastic? You lot are all so fired up, which is why the Instructor seems calm."

Wen Caifei said angrily: "Where am I enthusiastic? How many times have I even looked for the Instructor? Qin Yongcheng goes to find the Instructor every three days, why isn't the Instructor cold to him?"

Qu Huan teased: "I heard that Qin Yongcheng goes to find the Instructor with a crying face, while you go to find the Instructor all smiles. Maybe the Instructor doesn't like that? You should cry next time, and the Instructor will come to comfort you."

Wen Caifei pondered: "So that's how it is... Go to hell—"

Qu Huan ran away laughing. Just then, the owl spat out a note; it was Tang Zhao looking for him, so he went over with a bit of trepidation.

Soon Qu Huan came out, also with a face full of smiles. Tang Zhao then called for Wen Caifei. Wen Caifei went for a trip, and when he came out, he smiled at the others: "I told you, Instructor Tang is very kind."

That day, Tang Zhao talked to more than a dozen people. These students were all youths whose Inspiration was not bad and who already had some vague directions. They were already quite certain, and now they were even more joyful.

However, those who were not called could not help but feel uneasy, especially since most of them had ordinary Inspiration, and they naturally wondered if only those students who had reached the One Foot Line could see the clues.

In that case, was their small hope for this trip dashed once again?

Once the sense of dejection was exchanged between two or more people, it spread like a plague, and the Training Camp was shrouded in gloom, a world of difference from those Disciples with Inspiration.

Qin Yongcheng, who had been the most despondent before but had recovered quite a bit in these past two months, was still able to hold his ground; he always felt that Instructor Tang Zhao was a man of his word and would not let things end with a whimper after such a start.

The next day, Tang Zhao met with the students again, and this time, he saw Qin Yongcheng first.

With his heart pounding, Qin Yongcheng entered the office he was now somewhat familiar with, only to see Tang Zhao sitting on the desk, beckoning him over.

Tang Zhao's eyes were smiling and his expression was gentle, which put Qin Yongcheng at ease, and he sat down opposite the Instructor.

Tang Zhao pointed to the space in front of him and said, "Come, pick one."