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Chapter 23: The Start of Autumn Exam
🕑 Added 2024-10-01 09:25:08 +0000 UTCSpecial training sessions for the talented could be justified as caring for gifted individuals.
But using a fourth-rank Painting of Teaching to help Zhao Xing pass the exam was purely personal favoritism.
It was the first time the old Shennong Officer had ever used public resources for personal reasons, and he felt somewhat uneasy about it. He remained silent throughout the meal, and once they finished, he promptly told Zhao Xing to leave.
Zhao Xing, sensing the mood, did not mention it either. He bowed and took his leave to return home.
With the old Shennong Officer's help, Zhao Xing had now mastered the beginner spell Vigorous Growth.
Through observing the Copy of the Painting of Growth, he had also effortlessly comprehended an intermediate spell, Wild Growth.
Farm techniques are either "practical" or "extremely practical." This intermediate spell fell into the latter category.
Wild Growth: Intermediate Spell
Progress: 0/9999
Effect: The spell forces growth beyond the environment's natural capacity and negatively affects other species' survival.
The proficiency for intermediate spells remained the same—1,000 points per transformation, with a limit of 9,999 points. However, advancing became correspondingly more difficult.
Why was Wild Growth considered extremely practical? Because it was a powerful combat spell!
During the process of shortening the plant's life cycle, it voraciously consumed the surrounding nutrients in a highly destructive manner, exceeding the environment's capacity to support life.
Most importantly, it crowded out other plant life, even siphoning their life force to fuel its own growth.
The advanced form of this spell, after its metamorphosis in later stages, had a mind-blowing name—Only My Growth Reigns!
It was renowned among Shennong players as the ultimate "internal battle" technique. If your plants thrived, others couldn't survive—an extremely domineering ability!
As for the other beginner spell obtained from the Copy of the Painting of Growth, it was just as useful.
Earth Vein Consolidation: Beginner Spell
Progress: 0/9999
Effect: It draws on the power of the earth's veins to enhance the local energy and nutrient flow.
The earth’s veins are the foundation of the world, connecting all places to the deeper spiritual veins of the land, though varying in strength.
Earth Vein Consolidation is a supportive spell, capable of channeling the earth’s energy to make a plot of land more fertile.
The ultimate goal of Earth Vein Consolidation is to advance to the higher-level spell Five-Element Blessed Land.
This is a core technique of the Earth School, also nicknamed the "Energy Thieving Method."
Unlike Wild Growth, it’s subtle and highly concealed.
Many cunning individuals like to level up this spell to a high level, sneak near someone else's sanctuary, and cast it in secret, enriching their own land.
Stealing crops? Why bother, when you can steal the very essence of the land itself?
"Old habits die hard... why are the techniques I comprehend always these sneaky ones?" Zhao Xing mused. Each person gained different insights from the Painting of Growth, just as the passing of knowledge through divine artifacts varied. Zhao Xing suspected he had simply been a trickster in his past life.
By the time he got home, it was already dark, but not too late.
Zhao Xing planned to head to his own vegetable garden and practice the two new spells he had just acquired.
Not long after entering the garden, his younger brother enthusiastically ran over with a lantern.
"Big brother, what are you doing? Are you making a late-night snack?"
Zhao Xing was speechless. "Didn't your mother feed you dinner? It's just barely dark, and you're already thinking about snacks?"
"I ate, hehe, but it’s not as good as what you make, big brother," Zhao Zheng replied, licking his lips as if recalling something delicious.
Despite his brother often scolding him, Zhao Zheng still saw his cooking skills as a major perk, not to mention the tasty candied fruits he occasionally whipped up.
"Big brother, let me hold the lantern for you! I'll help you light the fire when you make food later!"
"Get lost," Zhao Xing waved him away. "There's a box of snacks under my nightstand. Go grab it and stop bothering me."
"Thank you, big brother!!" Zhao Zheng hung the lantern on the fence and bolted away.
After about two hours of practice, Zhao Xing managed to reach the first transformation for both spells and decided to call it a night.
With the Start of Autumn Exam starting tomorrow, it was important to preserve his energy.
The next morning, just before dawn, Zhao Xing washed up and prepared to leave. His adoptive father, Zhao Ruide, was already in the courtyard, slowly practicing a set of exercises—more for health than strength.
"Father, I'm off to work," Zhao Xing greeted.
Zhao Ruide noticed that Zhao Xing was leaving without a lantern and asked, "Why aren't you carrying a light? The household can certainly afford that much."
"I can see in the dark now." Zhao Xing focused his thoughts, and his pupils quickly shifted to a yellow-green hue under the dim light.
"Oh?" Zhao Ruide glanced at him and nodded approvingly. "Before you go, wake your brother for me."
"Alright." Zhao Xing headed to the other room and, without hesitation, kicked the door open.
Since last year, Zhao Zheng had been sleeping separately from Madam Cai, a result of Zhao Xing forcing the issue. Otherwise, their doting mother would still be coddling him for a few more years.
"Who dares disturb me!" Zhao Zheng cursed before even opening his eyes. But when he saw who it was, he immediately swallowed his words.
"Get up and get dressed." Zhao Xing yanked the thin blanket off him, revealing that Zhao Zheng was clutching a jar of candied fruits in his sleep.
"Big brother, what’s going on?" Zhao Zheng, still half-asleep, obediently started putting on his clothes.
"Time to go practice."
"What? It’s not even dawn yet," Zhao Zheng grumbled.
"Hmm?" Zhao Xing raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, big brother! I'm dressed now!" Zhao Zheng quickly complied. He knew resisting would only get him a beating. Besides, after Zhao Xing left, he could just whine to their parents and sneak back to bed.
After waking up Zhao Zheng, Zhao Xing headed out to the Shennong Division.
Madam Cai soon woke up as well, having heard her son complaining of hunger.
She hurried to the garden to pick some vegetables, only to be astonished by what she found: "Oh! How is this possible? The seedlings I planted just a few days ago are already...!"
"…The Start of Autumn Exam will be held in the Hundred Herb Garden," a voice echoed.
"It will begin at 9:00 AM on August 6th and end at 9:00 PM on August 9th."
As Zhao Xing approached within a kilometer of the Shennong Division, a voice swirled around him. It was the voice of Chen Shijie.
"Sending sound through the wind, carrying it for miles, yet still clear and crisp. A ninth-grade Shennong Officer truly is extraordinary," Zhao Xing thought to himself.
This was an advanced use of the Wind Summoning spell, and the control over energy far surpassed that of ordinary clerks.
There were even more impressive techniques, such as those demonstrated by County Magistrate Li Wenzheng. During the issuance of the "Recruitment Decree," he showcased his ability to project sound over a hundred miles using Metallic Resonance, though that did require some external assistance.
After listening for a while, Zhao Xing arrived at the Shennong Division and roughly grasped the rules.
The exam would begin at 9:00 AM on August 6th and conclude at 9:00 PM on August 9th, spanning four days and three nights.
Each participant could select seeds or seedlings from the "Seedling Area" of the Hundred Herb Garden, with no limit on the number. They would then proceed to the Planting Area for cultivation.
Participants could enter the exam area at any time during the three days, but once inside, they could not leave.
At exactly 9:00 PM on August 9th, officials sent by the county would verify, count, and record the results.
The assessment would be based on three criteria: the quality of the seeds or seedlings selected by the participants, the survival rate of the plants, and the condition of the surviving plants at the end of the exam.
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