Chapter 319: Chapter 193: Holy Land Fairy, Seven Dissidents and Eight Indignant Ones (Part 2)

The students quieted down, Yang Zhan snorted coldly, swallowed his anger for the moment, and sat back in his seat.

The teacher hosting the event walked onto the stage and began the opening remarks.

"Welcome, students, to the thesis defense of this year’s mathematical modeling competition..."

In the audience, Fang Yuan pulled out her phone and quickly started typing.

[Bao’er, we’ve encountered a bizarre person who refuses to conform...]

Next to her, the fox Moon Claw crouched in its master’s arms, perked up its ears, and looked at Huang Sitong with some danger in its eyes... Foxes are very vengeful!

Bai Mo didn’t care much, he just held his apprentice, stroked its chubby belly, relaxed in his chair, and got comfortable.

He looked at the defense teachers in the front row.

"There was supposed to be Old Chen on the committee, but he didn’t come today."

The defense had begun, with each shortlisted group taking turns to present based on their drawn order and then answer questions from the defense teachers.

The first group was Wan Bocheng’s group. Three people with laptops nervously made their way to the podium and opened their slide show.

"Respected defense teachers, fellow students, good morning..."

Bai Mo was preparing to listen when he suddenly noticed someone had taken the empty seat next to Wan Bocheng. With a high ponytail, upward-angled eyes, and an air of arrogance, it was Huang Sitong!

She turned back to face Bai Mo, about to speak.

Only to see Bai Mo raise his hand.

"Sorry, I have a girlfriend, no love letters accepted."

This was Bai Mo’s newly devised method: Just say he already has a partner when faced with suitors, so they’d stop bothering him.

Huang Sitong froze for a moment, her forehead twitching, gritting her teeth.

"I... I wasn’t handing you a love letter!

"You must be the top student in the Immortal Grass Experimental Class, right?

"I came to tell you, I am not inferior to anyone in your class!

"I didn’t get into the Immortal Grass Experimental Class because I was busy with other things in high school.

"In this mathematical modeling competition, I will prove myself first.

"I must be the champion!

"Even if you can be the top in the Immortal Grass Experimental Class, here in this math competition, competing with me, you’ll only be able to fight for second place!"

Bai Mo curled his lips.

The last time he heard such a declaration was back in elementary school.

Back then, the students were young and often quite theatrical.

After making her declaration, Huang Sitong flicked her high ponytail, angled her eyes with a smile, and was about to leave.

Just at that moment...

Moon Claw in Bai Mo’s arms reached out its fox claw and grabbed Huang Sitong’s necklace.

Its fox head leaned close, eyes wide as it closely examined the necklace.

What is this?

Why have I never seen it?

It was a bronze sphere, walnut-sized, with patterns and rust marks suggesting it was quite old.

The sphere had two small gemstones, dark and bright, seemingly possessed of spirit, like two little eyes.

A hint of panic appeared on Huang Sitong’s face!

She quickly reached to retrieve her necklace from the fox’s paw!

But...

Bai Mo reached out to stop her hand.

"Don’t move.

"Immortal Beasts have big tempers.

"If you snatch things from its paws, it will go berserk!"

Moon Claw perked up its ears, heard its master’s words, and immediately raised its head to glare at, show its teeth to, and growl at Huang Sitong!

"Roar!!"

It wanted to support its master and maintain an image of being untouchable!

Though regarding the bronze sphere, it couldn’t figure it out either... In fact, Bai Mo’s Divine Sense was surging out, like countless delicate, dense invisible tendrils, probing the insides of the sphere.

Inside the bronze sphere, the structure was quite peculiar, filled with all sorts of small parts, an array map, and a few types of ground-up medicinal oils.

Bai Mo’s Divine Sense was very detailed, very careful, exploring bit by bit.

But... this thing truly exceeded his understanding; he had never seen or heard of it before.

"Quite a sophisticated little thing."

He looked up at the panicked expression of Huang Sitong, then signaled Moon Claw to retract its paw.

Huang Sitong retrieved her necklace and hurriedly ran away.

...

The defense moved swiftly.

After all, the students’ mathematical modeling papers, being very homogenous, had only a few issues. The defense teachers were experts in this field; a quick glance and a bit of listening were all it took to get the gist.

Huang Sitong’s group soon moved forward for their defense.

"Good morning, teachers, I am Huang Sitong, and I will discuss the mathematics and programming parts of the paper..."

She single-handedly took charge, finishing the slide presentation.

Single-handedly again, she answered the teachers’ few casual questions.

Then, triumphantly, she led her two companions back to the audience.

...

The last group to perform was Bai Mo’s group.

Yang Zhan and Fang Yuan took to the stage, working together to present their meticulously prepared slideshow.

This group didn’t even need to answer questions.

For the entire paper had already been circulated among the math department teachers.

The host took the stage again.

"Alright, please wait a moment while we tally up the scores. We’ll announce the results in ten minutes."

At this statement, the audience was instantly excited and tense.

"Ah, a total of forty groups qualified for the defense this time; I wonder what rank we’ll achieve?"

"The Immortal Grass Experimental Class qualified ten groups; their quality seems really high!"

"I didn’t quite understand Bai Mo’s group’s presentation."

Huang Sitong turned back to look at Bai Mo, sneering coldly.

The results were about to be announced, and she would finally prove herself for the first time!

Quickly, ten minutes went by.

The host was on time to return to the stage with the score sheet, announcing the results.

"First place, Bai Mo, Wu Qingyun, Fang Yuan."

The audience showed little reaction; everyone had anticipated this result, merely offering polite applause.

Huang Sitong furrowed her brows in disbelief, wondering if she was second place?

"Second place, Wan Bocheng, Lan Fangfang, Yang Zhan."

Huang Sitong’s face fell in disbelief, wondering if her level was only average for the Immortal Grass Experimental Class?

"Third place, Guan Yue Ling..."

Huang Sitong’s expression became more and more out of control, stiffer, and more unsightly.

Until she heard...

"Thirty-ninth place, Huang Sitong..."

Her face turned completely dark.

After announcing the scores, the host spoke again and invited a defense teacher to speak.

Once the formal defense concluded, the teachers were leaving, the students were either joyful or disappointed, and each chatted and left.

She sat there dumbfounded, about to leave when Yang Zhan approached, full of smiles.

"Oh, Huang Sitong, what a coincidence, we’re both second place.

"I’m a positive second place.

"You’re a negative second place.

"Hahahahaha!"

Huang Sitong’s face darkened instantly, speechless, she grabbed her backpack and was ready to leave.

Only to see Yang Zhan step forward, blocking her path.

"Don’t rush! There’s more entertainment!"

Yang Zhan pulled out his phone.

"Someone from our class recorded a very amusing clip earlier; let’s enjoy it together."

He turned the phone volume to the maximum, and the phone played Huang Sitong’s earlier declaration to Bai Mo.

"...I didn’t get into the Immortal Grass Experimental Class because I was busy with other things in high school...

"...Here at the mathematical modeling competition, competing alongside me, you can only fight for second place..."

Yang Zhan’s grin spread to his ears.

Huang Sitong wiped her tears, pushed him aside, and left straight away.

She heard Yang Zhan persist behind her.

"You’re in a hurry and can’t enjoy it anymore?

"No worries, I’ll upload this clip to the campus BBS, campus group, and campus confession wall later, so you can listen to it wherever you want!"

...

Bai Mo grinned, carrying Moon Claw on his shoulder, and left the lecture hall, exiting the teaching building.

Today, his view of Yang Zhan shifted a bit. Although not great with people, the kid was pretty reliable.

As he reached the entrance of the building, he heard the rain "swish" outside, still pouring heavily.

He was about to have Moon Claw open an umbrella when he felt his pocket vibrating.

"Someone sending me a message?

"No, that’s not it."

He reached into his pocket and felt his keychain vibrating furiously!

"This..."

Once, he gifted Professor Zhang a plant machine that could detect Immortal Grass in the present world. But the machine had a backdoor; if Immortal Grass was detected, it would send a signal to Bai Mo’s keychain, causing it to vibrate!

"Judging by this vibration intensity, it’s no ordinary Immortal Grass.

"Sequence Seven, or higher?"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com