The Prodigies War

“Lin Xun is too much. His terrible conduct and disregard for the instructor etiquette will destroy the Rune Department’s image!”

“If that is true, Lin Xun has indeed gone overboard.”

“Heh, is this the standard of the most outstanding younger generation rune grandmaster? I think this makes him far inferior to Feng Qingyou!”

The instructors voiced their unhappiness.

“Everyone, that is not the whole truth. The students were also causing a ruckus earlier that angered Lin Xun.”

Shen Tuo frowned and said, “What’s more, the lesson isn’t over yet. Isn’t making such judgments before understanding the situation quite inappropriate?”

Shen Tuo was the head instructor and was someone with great status and authority. Hence, several instructors could not help but become apprehensive when they saw him speak up for Lin Xun.

“Let’s put this aside for now. We can make judgments after seeing Lin Xun’s teaching standard later. If he does have no experience and fails to reach an acceptable standard, we will not allow someone like him to ruin these students’ futures.”

Suddenly, one of the instructors declared in a serious voice, “If his standards do meet our criteria, let’s agree that no one shall say anything else about him in the future.”

Several instructors immediately voiced their agreement.

Upon seeing this, Shen Tuo and Fang Zhongjian could not say anything else.

One of the instructors asked, “What is he doing? Letting the students self-study?”

Shen Tuo casually answered, “Lin Xun instructed them to write the Little Five Elements Reverse Rune. If my guess is correct, he is probably trying to gauge their ability.”

One of the instructors could not help but say, “The Little Five Elements Reverse Rune? Is he joking? There are usually only three methods to evaluate an initiate rune master’s ability.”

“First, make them write a Basic Five Elements Rune and evaluate it.”

“Second, make them craft a low-grade Five Elements Armor and evaluate it.”

“Third, to discuss a rune with the student to gauge his or her knowledge.”

“These three methods are also known as the ‘three talents test.’ I’ve never heard of anyone using the Little Five Elements Reverse Rune as an evaluation method.”

His voice was filled with skepticism.

“Agreed, evaluating someone’s rune mastery is an extremely stringent process. I’ve never heard of his method either.”

“The method is clearly borderline delusional. The Little Five Elements Reverse Rune contains 199 different rune strokes. Ordinary initiate rune masters can’t even write it, so how is he going to use it to evaluate them?”

The other instructors voiced their opinions as well.

As people who had dedicated many years to their craft, they were naturally very familiar with the common rune mastery evaluation methods. However, none of them had ever heard of anything that remotely resembled Lin Xun’s unique method, making it appear quite ludicrous to them.

“I feel that he’s just playing around!”

Of course, Fang Zhongjian’s comment was the rudest and directly accused Lin Xun of not taking things seriously.

“His ‘playing around’ could create a ‘nine draconic cries.’ Dare I ask if anyone here can achieve that as well?”

Shen Tuo had no choice but to retort. He was the one who had personally recruited Lin Xun and naturally would not tolerate such an accusation.

The group was silent, feeling rather complicated.

The nine draconic cries were indisputable evidence of Lin Xun’s talent. Anyone who tried to criticize him would appear powerless before it.

……

An hour quickly passed.

Lin Xun opened his eyes and rose from his chair.

His eyes scanned the classroom, finding that most of the students had already completed the task and only four of five students were still hard at work.

Lin Xun said, “Everyone, stop what you’re doing.”

The four or five students immediately stopped as their expressions turned uneasy. The fatty, Liu Hui, was among them.

For them, the Little Five Elements Reverse Rune had high difficulty and was a tall task to complete within an hour.

Even among those that had completed, several were also showing worried expressions. Although they had completed the assignment, they knew that their work had many mistakes and errors.

They were worried about receiving punishment from the temperamental ‘demon king,’ Lin Xun.

“Starting from the left row, take your work up to the podium.”

Lin Xun nonchalantly instructed before sitting down again.

Numerous students grew increasingly anxious, unable to understand what Lin Xun wanted. They were afraid he would suddenly go crazy again without any warning.

“Instructor Lin, please

The first student from the left row approached with a sliver of panic on his face as he handed over his rune paper.

Lin Xun took it and began to inspect it.

The atmosphere in the classroom seemed to solidify. None of the students dared to breathe too loudly, and they were clearly all very nervous.

Moments later, Lin Xun raised his head and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Fan Zhiqiu.”

The youth nervously clenched his fists. His face was tense as he stammered, “Instructor, I just learned the Little Five Elements Reverse Rune, I…”

He was interrupted by a wave from Lin Xun. “No need to be nervous. I’m not nitpicking your bad habits but evaluating your capability. I will not criticize you no matter how poorly you do. After all, I wasn’t the one who taught you previously so whatever mistakes you made are pardonable.”

Fan Zhiqiu immediately breathed a deep sigh of relief.

The other students also relaxed and were no longer as anxious as before.

However, they did not understand how Lin Xun was going to assess their ability using the Little Five Elements Reverse Rune.

They had never heard of such a peculiar evaluation method.

Lin Xun returned the paper to Fan Zhiqiu and said, “Take a closer look at your work. I have roughly understood your ability and will now break down your strengths and weaknesses. I hope you will remember this well.”

Fan Zhiqiu’s body shook, somewhat unable to believe that a single rune would allow anyone to understand his strengths and weaknesses.

Wasn’t that far too inconceivable?

The other students’ eyes also widened in disbelief.

“Ridiculous!”

In the distance, Fang Zhongjian could not help but laugh when he heard this. This was just nonsensical. Mastery was mastery and not a rune master’s strengths and weaknesses. It was common knowledge that everyone knew.

Maybe a rune founder might be able to do so, but Lin Xun was only a recently acknowledged young rune grandmaster. How could he possibly have such discernment and judgment capabilities?

He was clearly making things up!

The other instructors were also astonished and bewildered. However, they restrained themselves from saying anything until they properly grasped the situation.

Shen Tuo was slightly dazed as a sliver of curiosity suddenly surged in his heart.

Lin Xun was different from any rune master Shen Tuo knew, and everything he did appear unique and unorthodox.

Given the special insights Lin Xun had displayed towards runes, Shen Tuo could not help wondering if the youth would give him another surprise this time.

“Look carefully, there’s a trace of sluggishness along the ninth rune stroke, the thirteenth stroke has inconsistent width, the fourteenth stroke has a clear rotation error, the…”

Lin Xun spoke concisely like an expert with great familiarity on the topic.

Fan Zhiqiu’s disbelief was soon replaced by shock as Lin Xun accurately described every mistake in the rune, not missing even the tiniest error.

Even Fan Zhiqiu himself had not noticed many of these mistakes, but after having them pointed out, he did indeed realize that there was something amiss.

Moreover, Lin Xun was able to accurately pinpoint any error on each stroke as if even the tiniest of flaws could not escape his all-seeing eyes!

Lin Xun’s unhurried voice rang out in the class while the students displayed bewildered and uncertain expressions.

Although they did not fully understand the situation, seeing Fan Zhiqiu’s constantly changing expression told them that Lin Xun was not bullshitting but actually giving focused and effective guidance!

When Lin Xun finished, Fan Zhiqiu’s face was filled with shame, wishing he could hide as he stuttered, “Instru…instructor Lin, I…I…”

Lin Xun casually replied, “Don’t mind it, these are just small mistakes. Moreover, didn’t I say earlier that I’m helping break down your strengths and weaknesses.”

“Please guide me!”

Fan Zhiqiu took a deep breath and displayed a respectful expression.

The others felt deeply curious.

“You have several weaknesses but the most prominent one is your calligraphy.”

Lin Xun thoughtfully glanced at Fan Zhiqiu’s hands. “Your current calligraphy style does not suit you. I advise you to change to a meticulous and smooth style.”

A problem with my calligraphy style?

Fan Zhiqiu was perplexed. He never imagined that his bad habits and mistakes were because of his calligraphy style.

It was a small problem that was often the easiest to neglect.

Fan Zhiqiu’s heart shook as he fell into deep thought.

Lin Xun continued, “As for your strengths, they are also quite obvious. Your writing speed is fast due to your excellent spirit sense and control. You should be practicing a spirit cultivation method. Not bad, properly developing this advantage will bring you immeasurable benefits in the future when you construct rune arrays.”

Fan Zhiqiu was immediately struck by another wave of shock. He had never expected that a single rune would allow Lin Xun to discover his secret!

Lin Xun was right, the reason behind Fan Zhiqiu’s fast writing speed was indeed a spirit cultivation method inherited from his ancestor!

“You may return to your seat. The second person can come over.”

Lin Xun waved his hand.

Fan Zhiqiu took a deep breath. Heartfelt admiration flooded his face as he bowed deeply. “Thank you for your guidance, Instructor!”

His voice was also filled with respect.

The students looked at each other in astonishment and bewilderment.

Was Lin Xun truly able to discern their strengths and weaknesses from a single rune?

The second student quickly arrived in front of Lin Xun.