JSCMU-Chapter 101: The First Evaluation

Soil Control Technique, Minor Cloud and Rain Technique, and Pest Extermination Finger. These three were the most practical botany techniques in Tianxing Sect.

Most botany cultivators used this combination. Even Ma Hongyu himself primarily cultivated these three.

Otherwise, Elder Ming wouldn’t have specifically selected these three for Yun Jin.

Ma Hongyu looked at Yun Jin and said, “I know that these are also the three techniques you exchanged for from the Manual Library. In that case, it shouldn’t be considered bullying you, right?”

The expressions of the onlookers shifted.

It sounded fair, but Yun Jin had only studied for ten days. Whether she had even reached entry level was unknown.

Having her compete with Ye Cheng…

That was simply striking a stone with an egg.

But since the challenge was proposed by Yun Jin herself, even if she regretted it now, she could only grit her teeth and carry on.

“Of course.” Yun Jin smiled slightly. “Uncle Master Ma’s arrangement is very fair. I have no objections.”

Ye Cheng nervously added, “I… I have no objections either.”

Ma Hongyu nodded. With a wave of his hand, a spirit field that was covered by a barrier fully revealed.

“This spirit field has average soil quality, it’s only suitable for planting Huang-level plants. This time, the Soul-Calming Fruit was chosen. Every plant has different soil requirements. The two of you will each be responsible for half of the area. To prevent interference, I will set up a barrier to block your view of each other. During the entire competition, you will not be able to see the other’s progress.”

Ma Hongyu moved his hand, and a tall wall rose in the middle of the spirit field, completely blocking the line of sight.

“Both areas are exactly the same. Do you need to inspect them?” Ma Hongyu asked.

Yun Jin and Ye Cheng both shook their heads.

Ma Hongyu’s expression eased a bit. “Very well, then you may begin.”

He truly hadn’t tampered with this spirit field.

First, with so many people watching, any manipulation carried the risk of being discovered.

Second, in a fair competition, is it even possible for Ye Cheng to lose? He had confidence in his disciple.

Yun Jin and Ye Cheng each entered one half of the field.

Once the partitioning wall stood, they indeed couldn’t see each other, nor hear anything from the other side.

However, the crowd of onlookers was not affected and could still clearly see every move they made.

As soon as he entered, Ye Cheng became visibly nervous.

The Soul-Calming Fruit is a relatively easy spirit plant to grow, with one exception. it had very high requirements for the soil.

The soil for cultivating Soul-Calming Fruit had to be repeatedly tilled to ensure every patch was completely loosened. Even slight clumping would affect the plant’s growth.

His Soil Control Technique is only at level three, so he could only manipulate a small amount of soil at a time and had to carefully loosen it bit by bit. It was a meticulous and physically demanding task.

Ye Cheng didn’t dare waste a single moment and immediately got to work.

Yun Jin looked at the field and didn’t move right away. She asked curiously, “Is there a time limit for this round?”

Ma Hongyu froze for a moment. He originally didn’t plan for a time limit, but since Yun Jin asked, it wouldn’t hurt to set one.

Estimating the time Ye Cheng would need to complete the task, Ma Hongyu said, “Then let’s set it as two hours.”

He had someone light a stick of incense. “This incense burns very slowly. Once it’s fully burned, exactly two hours will have passed. After that, we’ll begin the next round.”

The incense was placed between the two contestants.

Seeing this, Ye Cheng became even more anxious and sped up his movements.

Yun Jin looked at the incense and felt a bit troubled.

Damn.

She really shouldn’t have asked that question!

Two hours?

The task would take her at most a quarter of an hour, and now she had to wait two whole hours.

Yun Jin couldn’t help but sigh.

Then she pulled out a sword.

Now what?

She had nothing else to do anyway.

Might as well practice swordsmanship.

Everyone watching was wondering if Yun Jin had really learned the Soil Control Technique.

Then they saw her pull out a sword?

And start doing some kind of weird ritual dance?

???

Several peak masters exchanged glances, a hint of disappointment flickering in their eyes.

They hoped Yun Jin might bring some surprise.

But now it seemed she just didn’t want to offend the Sect Master too directly, and was using this opportunity as a way to spare Ye Danxia.

Sigh.

In the end, Tianxing Sect still belonged to Zhao Wuji.

Whatever rebellious thoughts that arose earlier now quietly faded away.

Zhao Wuji watched Yun Jin’s clown-like display and laughed unrestrainedly. He turned to Lin Ya and said, “With time so tight, why isn’t your disciple starting yet? Is it because she doesn’t want to?”

More like she couldn’t!

But Lin Ya nodded seriously. “She probably thinks there’s still plenty of time.”

Zhao Wuji laughed. “Still plenty of time? With such a large piece of land that must be tilled bit by bit with the Soil Control Technique, even Ye Cheng is racing against time, yet she thinks there’s still time?”

Lin Ya sighed. “It seems so.”

If they were told in advance that there would be such a large gap in time, based on what he knew of Yun Jin, she’d probably have arranged a whole performance segment.

He already saw Yun Jin’s Soil Control Technique with its tiny innovations, and knew that completing the first round wouldn’t take her long.

A normal person might choose to go all out from the start, finish preparing the soil quickly and rest afterward.

But Lin Ya understood Yun Jin well by now.

Where’s the thrill in going all out from the beginning compared to building suspense first, then making a dramatic turnaround?

His disciple is once again putting on the “playing dumb to act cool” routine.

Sigh.

Why does such a good girl love showing off so much?

Lin Ya looked entirely distressed.

Seeing that his words were stubborn while his face betrayed worry, Zhao Wuji assumed Lin Ya was merely putting up a front, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

So much for the nerves he felt in the past few days.

Turns out, Yun Jin was really yielding to him after all!

And that was normal.

Even if she had ten times the courage, she wouldn’t dare touch Danxia.

Zhao Wuji glanced at the other peak masters.

At this point, they had all returned to their respectful demeanor, not daring to entertain any improper thoughts.

Zhao Wuji was very pleased.

In a subtle way, Yun Jin helped him reinforce his authority!

For that alone, he could allow her to die a more dignified death on the life-or-death duel later.

Yun Jin swung her sword with full concentration. Everyone else thought she had given up in despair.

But Sword Elder watched for a long while.

His brows alternated between furrowed and relaxed, his entire expression was strangely conflicted.

As for Yun Jin’s technique, there truly was no technique at all.

And yet…

Why did it seem like her casual sword swings carried a trace of some peculiar rhythm?

What kind of rhythm?

He looked again and again but couldn’t figure it out.

This disciple does have something special about her.

Still, today’s challenge is a botany competition. Had she really given up?

He didn’t think so.

Sword Elder remembered the sharp glint in Yun Jin’s eyes that day when she said she would walk the path of the invincible.

Someone with a heart set on invincibility, how could she give up so easily?