Zhao Mu's speed was too fast, as fast as when he previously practiced drawing straight lines and broken lines on white paper.
Zhao Mu's mind was clear and ethereal. The Turtle Breathing Technique allowed his mind to calm, enabling him to forget himself completely and focus his attention.
"The problem Liang Gongchi presented seems difficult, but in reality, it's only testing fundamental skills."
"Over 95% of the entire pattern consists of square broken lines, forming a massive matrix. Only in a few extremely small areas were diagonal lines used to connect the pathways of two regions."
"Therefore, I only need to draw the straight lines straight, the broken lines smoothly, and then follow the entire sample diagram to complete the drawing."
"What she wants to test are the fundamentals. Jinhai Manufacturing is extremely difficult; every Jinhai Master is a Genius among ten thousand. If one cannot even meet these most basic requirements, there is no need to waste time learning Jinhai Manufacturing."
"This is the true purpose behind her test!"
"However,"
Zhao Mu did not stop for a moment, the tip of his brush barely lifting from the surface of the paper.
Only after completing the Spirit Pattern Drawing in one area would he lift his brush again. The result of this drawing method was that the coherence of his Spirit Pattern Diagram was absolutely flawless!
Liang Gongchi had originally intended to keep a stern expression, adopting a cold, unapproachable demeanor, to avoid the annual influx of ignorant fools who pestered her relentlessly, begging to learn Jinhai Manufacturing.
But after witnessing everything Zhao Mu was doing with her own eyes, she could no longer maintain her coldness; her jaw dropped in astonishment.
"This guy... this guy..."
"Bu Yanhuan, you old hag, you truly sent me a priceless treasure!"
Shao Han and Shen Moran were standing further away. Shen Moran was immersed in the joy of obtaining the assistant qualification. Knowing the difficulty of the drawing, she didn't believe Zhao Mu's reckless attempt could possibly pass Liang Gongchi's assessment.
Shao Han was eagerly waiting to see Zhao Mu severely lectured by the strict Liang Gongchi.
"Wasting Master Liang's drafting paper is a great sin, you know!"
He smiled brightly, waiting for Zhao Mu's misfortune to unfold.
A few minutes later, Zhao Mu gently placed the drawing pen in his right hand onto the pen holder.
He turned his head and gave Liang Gongchi a polite smile.
"Master Liang, I'm finished drawing."
The little loli with her hair in a bun, who had been busy tapping away, looked up, blinking her watery eyes.
"Huh? Master looks a bit strange, why?"
She tilted her head and looked at Liang Gongchi. In her memory, it was the first time Master's expression looked like this.
As if she had seen something incredible.
Liang Gongchi's face was solemn, and her steps seemed to weigh a thousand catties as she walked towards Zhao Mu step by step.
Shao Han sneered, "Zhao Mu is finished! Look at Master Liang's expression, she's probably furious over his messy scribbling!"
Shen Moran frowned slightly, "What exactly is he trying to do?"
In terms of drawing ability, perhaps Zhao Mu was not worse than her. However, Liang Gongchi was willing to accept Shen Moran as an apprentice mostly because of her B-rank Space Attribute Spiritual Energy Talent, which is a very suitable ability for a Jinhai Master.
But Zhao Mu's talent and ability were both very poor.
She felt that Liang Gongchi could have no reason to accept Zhao Mu as an assistant.
Liang Gongchi walked up to the workbench with a serious face, stared at the blueprint on it, and then looked up at the schematic diagram on the whiteboard.
Then, she looked at Zhao Mu's drawing, then the whiteboard, repeating this cycle several times.
Zhao Mu felt that his work was fine, but Liang Gongchi's reaction was truly strange.
After all, this was his first time performing Spirit Pattern Drawing. He cried out inwardly, "This is bad! Could there be some profound mystery in this sample diagram that I failed to notice?"
Suddenly, he felt a tightening around his neck, and then Liang Gongchi forcefully grabbed his collar and lifted him up!
Liang Gongchi's arms were firm and strong, her muscles even more powerful than Zhao Mu's.
"Master Liang?"
"You scoundrel!!!"
A roar suddenly erupted from Liang Gongchi's mouth, startling everyone in the entire workshop.
Shao Han rejoiced inwardly, "I knew it! Causing trouble here would definitely make Master Liang angry. Zhao Mu is about to get beaten up!"
Meng Qiuqiu and the others were trembling in fear.
"Huh? How can this be? I... I thought Mumu drew it pretty well!"
"Yeah, it's stronger than mine anyway."
"Mhm."
The three of them reacted this way.
Zhao Mu was also completely dumbfounded, blinking his eyes as he looked at Liang Gongchi, only to see fierce flames burning in her eyes.
Where... where did I go wrong?
Zhao Mu truly didn't understand.
Liang Gongchi roared at him, "You bastard! You still dare to say you haven't studied Jinhai Manufacturing! Tell me quickly, which Jinhai Master did that woman Bu Yanhuan introduce as your Master? How dare she let you study with someone else behind my back? What, is she looking down on me?"
Zhao Mu blinked, saying somewhat speechlessly, "Uh... this really is my first time!"
"Impossible! No one can draw like this on their first try! Do you take me for a blind person? Are you messing with me, kid!"
She stared intensely at Zhao Mu, her gaze seeming ready to devour him!
Then, she actually pushed Zhao Mu down onto the workbench with one hand, and with the other, she held up the Spirit Pattern Diagram he had drawn for others to see.
"Look at this, is this damn thing drawn for the first time?"
It was only then that the others had a chance to see what Zhao Mu had drawn.
The Spirit Pattern Diagram he had copied, and the sample diagram on the whiteboard, couldn't be described as similar—they were identical!
Shao Han froze on the spot, his mind blank, suspecting there was something wrong with his eyes.
Shen Moran also looked stunned. She had drawn the Spirit Pattern Diagram stroke by stroke herself, so she clearly understood how immense the difficulty was.
Yet, what Zhao Mu drew was vastly, vastly better than hers???
Boom!
It was as if a thunderclap had exploded in her mind.
She had just been smugly confident because she could simply trace the Spirit Pattern Diagram and become Liang Gongchi's odd-job assistant.
Yet, in the blink of an eye, she saw Zhao Mu produce a piece of work a hundred times better than hers!
Her confidence instantly collapsed; it was hard to accept this reality.
"Ah!"
The little loli with the bun hairstyle hopped over. After staring at Zhao Mu's drawing for a moment, she shook her head frantically, her head bobbing like a rattle-drum.
"Impossible, impossible! This definitely can't be drawn on the first try! Even Lingling can't do that."
After Meng Qiuqiu heard Xia Lingling's muttering, a flash of realization crossed his eyes.
"Lingling? Does that mean she is Xia Lingling, the B-rank Specially Recruited Genius?"
Liang Gongchi stared intently into Zhao Mu's eyes.
Zhao Mu tilted his head back slightly: "Master Liang, could you please not put your face so close? I know I'm handsome, but I'm a reserved man."
She had practically pressed her face against Zhao Mu's, as if trying to look straight through his skull and analyze his internal structure.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)