Looking at those chaotic yet marvelously exquisite wheat fields right before him... it looked just like the unorthodox, individualized masterpiece of a master!
And looking at the two test questions he put forth.
First, seeing that he excelled at picking grain, Chen Gongxing guessed that his farming attainments might be very high, so he proposed the first question asking him to help weed and kill pests.
This question was very difficult.
If he hadn't possessed the max level farming skill, he would have been duped.
He guessed that Chen Gongxing knew his talent and cultivation level were lacking, so his demands regarding other skills were exceptionally high.
Once his skills passed muster, he had to be tested on a psychological question.
There were two choices.
First: view life and death with indifference, fight if you refuse to submit. Second: live and survive while waiting for a comeback.
Theoretically, the second one was the correct answer.
But in reality, situations were usually very complicated, and theories also depended on the person and the division of labor; they were not correct for everyone.
Right now, the wraiths were coming.
Seeing no hope of victory, the sword-wielding ones immediately fled into safe immortal caves.
This seemingly rational choice did not befit the identity of a sword-wielder.
A flood is coming, and seeing that it cannot be fended off, the stationed garrison immediately retreats to high ground, farms through the flood period, and preserves the sparks of civilization.
Is that correct? The soldiers have all fled, and do the rest have a way to live? How many innocent commoners perish in the torrential flood because of this? Farming is not wrong, but this is the duty of civilians.
If the sword-wielder chose to draw their sword and fight, they could cover more disciples as they fled into the immortal caves, leaving behind more sparks for the sect.
Thinking back to his past life.
Why did the soldiers rush to the front lines when the ninety-eight flood came? Were they not afraid of death? Did they confirm before charging that human flesh could block a flood? Why did the Chinese nation resist America and aid Korea seventy years ago? Did they confirm before fighting that millet plus rifles could stand against airplanes and artillery? The hope of victory is always fought for! It is never predicted! During the Wraith Extermination War, before going to the battlefield, did Master know that she, a Golden Core cultivator, could behead dozens of Nascent Soul wraiths in a row? If not for countless powerhouses like Master who dared to draw their swords against the wraiths, the cultivation world would have been utterly destroyed eight hundred years ago.
View life and death with indifference, fight if you refuse to submit! This is what it means to be a sword-wielder.
As a sword-wielder, Xiao Ran had the system backing him, and he had also found Master as a thick thigh to hug; showing filial piety and cultivating, his progress was a thousand miles a day...
It could be said that he had taken advantage of every possible perk in the cultivation world.
Now, Master had given him the identity of a sword-wielder; if the wraiths came, he would not retreat, nor would he have the face to retreat! Furthermore, Master was inherently a sword-wielder fighting on the front lines, and if Master kicked the bucket, whose wool would he go pluck?
Such a wonderful cultivation world, along with a Master whose intelligence was lacking yet looked as beautiful as a painting—he had to protect them all!
These were the sage-like wild thoughts he had while riding the paper crane earlier.
They were also what he truly thought in his heart.
He hadn't figured out the middle-aged man's questioning mindset in advance.
If it weren't sincere, Chen Gongxing would have been able to tell at a single glance.
Chen Gongxing, it seemed, was dealt with.
The three tricky inner sect enemies Lin Yunzi introduced.
The first was called Ye Fan, in the Foundation Establishment Realm, a protagonist template who was uglily rejected by Master because of his appearance.
The second was Jiang Chuyan, in the Golden Core Realm, exceptionally beautiful, rejected by Master because her talent was too good.
The third was Chen Gongxing, a Nascent Soul bigwig, a human-shaped touchstone, and the hardest one to deal with.
As a result, Xiao Ran blundered into solving the hardest person to deal with first.
All things are difficult at the start, the ancients never deceived me! Chen Gongxing was an admirable bigwig.
Yet Xiao Ran did not intend to exchange too many pleasantries with him.
Before he could complete the assessment, change his mind, and collect payment, Xiao Ran immediately took the two catties of grain he had freeloaded and left Great Valley Peak.
This was the essence of those wheat fields!
Leaving Great Valley Peak.
Xiao Ran first returned to the outer sect stone building.
Over here, the items on the list had basically all been gathered.
A rice wine fermentation pond, top-tier spiritual field fertilizer, saplings of melons, fruits, and vegetables, as well as spiritual plants for scenery such as green bamboo, maple leaves, and cherry blossoms.
In addition, considering that there was nothing to eat on Sword-Wielding Mountain, Lin Yunzi had prepared quite a bit of rice, flour, wheat powder, and fresh fruits and vegetables for Xiao Ran.
It seemed this little old man was dead set on hugging his thigh! Confirming this, Xiao Ran did not offer spirit stones this time, planning to repay him with human favor in the future.
Putting all the items into the system space for storage, Xiao Ran stepped onto the paper crane, preparing to find the final crucial element for brewing wine—
Natural yeast.
According to Baili Qingfeng's intelligence, there were many black mushrooms that could cultivate natural yeast in the wild forest at the foot of Little Qiong Peak in the southwest.
It was just like running quests in a video game.
Although somewhat dry, when he thought about brewing fine wine and wildly plucking his Master's wool, Xiao Ran felt this kind of quest was still quite interesting.
Arriving at the foot of Little Qiong Peak.
The mountain was rather graceful.
Insects chirped and birds called, chattering without stop until a beast let out a roar to grow a bit quieter, only to resume their endless chattering a moment later.
Xiao Ran strolled around the forest.
He discovered that the black yeast mushrooms were very easy to find because there were many of them.
Considering that his future demand might be very large, Xiao Ran dug up quite a few with both soil and mushrooms, preparing to transplant them to Sword-Wielding Mountain to expand cultivation.
Suddenly!
Xiao Ran instinctively felt that he had been locked onto by someone.
Listening to all things.
It wasn't a human.
It was a tiger!
It was lying in ambush behind him...
He could hear its breathing, which resembled an engine idling.
Human fear of fierce beasts is carved into the genes.
Xiao Ran's back grew cold, his hair standing on end.
Never turn your back on a fierce beast, especially since once he mastered the Art of Resonance, he could be invincible below Qi Refining.
Thus, he steadied his mind, turned around, and faced the tiger head-on.
Deep within the dark, gloomy thorny forest.
A massive tiger head was vaguely visible.
Seeing that Xiao Ran had discovered it, it simply lifted its stride and stepped its body out.
Its footsteps were extremely light, yet its physique was as towering as a mountain range! Xiao Ran took a deep breath.
This was a red spotted tiger, a red spotted tiger larger than an ox.
Its mottled body was covered in rare red markings, its bones towering high like steep cliffs, and its pair of black pupils were even more chilling, emitting a terrifying, freezing glare.
Just looking at it was enough to cause one's mind and soul to violently shake; anyone with slightly unsteady willpower would be frightened limp on the spot and become tiger-food.
As expected... doing quests always involved mob monsters.
Xiao Ran steadied himself.
He could be certain that this tiger had not undergone Qi Refining.
For a red spotted tiger without Qi Refining to grow this large, it must possess talented powerhouse traits.
He had dug enough black mushrooms; there was no need to take risks and entangle himself with a brute.
Thus, he struck out with a palm through the air.
This palm looked plain and unremarkable, yet it was like a stone falling into a calm lake, stirring a ripple in the air.
Bang! In an instant, the palm force resonated with the clear mist in the forest, spreading out with a roar.
The palm force instantly accelerated, quickly resonating with the spiritual energy of the surrounding trees.
Bang! The palm force accelerated once more, finally producing resonance in space itself...
Bang! Triple magnification; the palm force initially looked ordinary, but suddenly accelerated, as vigorous as a dragon and resembling monstrous waves, striking right atop the red spotted tiger's head.
Bang! It resonated once more with the red spotted tiger's physical body!
The red spotted tiger was stunned at first; then its brain violently shook, and its massive tiger physique was sent flying backward with a loud crash, tumbling into the thorny forest.
Xiao Ran took a look.
Aside from a slight concussion, it hadn't suffered injuries...
It was no ordinary tiger!
Peak Body Tempering was certain.
Xiao Ran couldn't be bothered to risk a battle; a sword-wielder didn't wield their sword just to kill tigers. If he accidentally kicked the bucket, wouldn't the system be left a widow?
Without another word, he soared up on the paper crane!
Pity that executing it in the forest was far too slow.
He only heard a wild, ancient tiger roar, and its massive physique—like a soaring dragon, executing a fierce tiger ascending the mountain—pounced toward Xiao Ran.
Its sharp claws were like iron, flashing with a chilling light; its tiger teeth were like shark teeth, emitting faint wisps of cold light! Wind followed the rain-howl, fallen leaves fluttering everywhere.
Flocks of birds scattered, and beasts fled in all directions.
The situation was critical.
Seeing that the red spotted tiger had thick skin and dense flesh, with a momentum like a falling mountain, Xiao Ran knew that if his palm or fist techniques could only harm its body without blasting it away, just its one ton of weight alone in free fall could crush him flat.
Suddenly, Xiao Ran had a flash of inspiration! Too fast to describe, he drew his sword, slid across the ground, swept past underneath the red spotted tiger's belly, and thrust his sword straight into it.
The sharp blade pierced into the fat, carrying the slight tremor of resonance. Borrowing the momentum of the tiger's pounce, with a swish, it was as if he had pulled open a zipper on the red spotted tiger's belly.
Xiao Ran flipped and landed in the forest.
He hadn't expected his first ground-slide in this life to go quite smoothly.
Looking back.
Bloody entrails fell all over the ground, burying the paper crane completely clean.
Ten paces away, the red spotted tiger flopped into a pool of blood, on its last breath.
Its tiger body shuddered, shuddered once more... trembling all over uncontrollably.
Blood flowed like a waterfall, a messy clatter.
Xiao Ran was benevolent and couldn't bear to watch, hurriedly stepping forward to staunch the bleeding.
This was prime tripe in chili sauce! It couldn't be allowed to go to waste.
When the red spotted tiger was on its last breath, it recovered a bit of blood, forced its eyes open, and discovered that the person staunching its blood was none other than the human it had wanted to kill just a moment ago.
Just as it was feeling overflowing gratitude—
Xiao Ran delivered a palm strike, instantly finishing it off.
Dexterously storing the tiger carcass into his storage space, Xiao Ran once again mounted the paper crane and swiftly left Little Qiong Peak.
Thinking to himself, the max level cooking skill needed to be arranged soon.
A quarter of an hour later.
A maiden dressed in water-green smoke gauze, petite in stature like a young child, with innocent facial features resembling a maiden stirred by spring, returned to Little Qiong Peak on a flying sword.
A middle-aged woman with an extraordinary appearance welcomed her at the mountain gates.
"When Senior Sister Jiang went to the outer sect this time, did she manage to ferret out Xiao Ran's background?"
"It infuriates me to death!"
The maiden's voice was soft and waxy, slightly hoarse, giving off a pure, first-love sort of feel.
"Those handymen kept their mouths shut tight, refusing to say a word no matter how many spirit stones I gave them. That outer sect instructor was even more mystifying, claiming things like this child should only belong in the heavens, how many times is he heard of among mortals, and advising me not to be stubborn anymore..."
The middle-aged woman said, "How about this: starting tomorrow, I'll help Senior Sister guard Sword Guarding Terrace for two hours. The moment that Xiao Ran appears, I'll immediately notify Senior Sister."
"Mn, that's the only way. By the way, have you seen my red spotted tiger? Why hasn't it come out to greet me today?"
"Huh, I really didn't see it today. However, earlier when I was meditating, it seemed I heard a tiger roar down in the forest at the foot of the mountain."
"A tiger roar? Xiao-Hong never makes a sound when hunting."
Suddenly, the maiden gasped in alarm—
"Xiao-Hong is in danger!"
Before you continue