Eating the Great Scholar Tree

(The plot cannot be separated; two chapters are combined into one, 5700 characters. This is all the update for today.)

"Your age?"

Zhang Yuxian looked at the first person, a stout man of slightly shorter stature. The members of the Warrior Reserve Camp were basically all strong and dark-skinned.

This man held a considerable position in the Lian Clan, and even within the Warrior Reserve Camp, he was a strong contender in terms of physical strength. He felt honored to be the first one Zhang Yuxian was examining and was eager to impress.

"Sir, I'm twenty-six this year. I can lift a four-hundred-jin stone roller with one hand. I'm not bragging, sir. That heavy stone roller, I can lift it four or five times in one go like it's nothing. Do you want to come and see? There's a stone roller in the village. I'll lift it for you to see!"

The man introduced himself with full confidence. Zhang Yuxian ignored his boastful claims and simply placed his hand on the man's shoulder, slowly injecting Vital Energy.

Great cultivators who have reached the "Heavenly Eye Opening" realm can see through a person's flesh, blood, meridians, and bone structure with a single glance, thus determining if they are suitable for martial arts.

However, Zhang Yuxian had not reached that level. Therefore, his method of selecting people was to inject a small amount of Vital Energy into the other person and observe how their body absorbed his Vital Energy.

Good absorption indicated good bone structure, while poor absorption naturally meant poor bone structure.

After a brief examination, Zhang Yuxian was speechless. The Vital Energy he had injected into the man's body was absorbed by less than ten percent, about seven or eight percent.

Such talent was truly disheartening.

"Do you think being able to lift a stone roller means you can defeat enemies?" Zhang Yuxian glanced at the big man. "Your bone structure is extremely ordinary. You are not suitable for practicing martial arts."

Zhang Yuxian's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over him. The once arrogant man was stunned into silence.

Not suitable for practicing martial arts? How could that be!

The man felt unconvinced, but upon meeting Zhang Yuxian's cold gaze, he immediately deflated, like a rooster that had lost a fight.

When I was a child, I was stronger than others my age. When I grew up, I could lift a four-hundred-jin stone roller. If I wasn't suited for martial arts, could I lift such a heavy stone roller?

The man grumbled inwardly. He had been practicing martial arts for so many years, only to be told by Zhang Yuxian that he was unsuitable for it. It was as if all his past efforts were being negated.

Of course, he only thought about it; he didn't have the courage to retort to Zhang Yuxian.

"You stand here for a moment." Zhang Yuxian didn't immediately send the man home packing but asked him to wait.

This was because Zhang Yuxian knew that when selecting people in the Great Wilderness, one had to be prepared. The people here had grown up in an environment of scarcity, making it difficult for masters to emerge.

If a tribe continued to reproduce generation after generation without any masters, it would naturally be difficult for geniuses to appear.

However, Zhang Yuxian soon discovered that he had underestimated the barrenness of the Great Wilderness and understood what it meant when there's no worst, only worse.

As he continued the examination, the boastful man from before was actually considered good. The people who came after him often absorbed energy at only six or seven percent, or even four or five percent.

It was simply pathetic.

Zhang Yuxian had to repeatedly lower his standards, finally deciding that anyone who absorbed energy above six percent could stay.

"You... are barely acceptable."

Zhang Yuxian looked at a strong man helplessly, only able to use the word "barely acceptable."

His examination had resulted in a rejection rate of fifty percent.

Out of the forty-odd qualified members of the Warrior Reserve Camp, this elimination rate would leave only twenty-something people, clearly not enough to meet the standard of thirty.

"Lord Zhang is truly strict. Even those formidable soldiers from the Warrior Reserve Camp had half of them eliminated."

"It's a good thing I didn't go up, or I would have been utterly embarrassed."

The First-class Males who had been considering signing up after seeing Yi Yun register now felt a sense of relief.

With such an elimination rate, how exceptional must one's talent be to pass.

Moreover, they could see that Zhang Yuxian was not satisfied with those who passed, but he had no other choice as there was no one else to pick from, forcing him to choose the best among the mediocre.

Realizing this, everyone's admiration for Lian Chengyu grew.

Only Lian Chengyu had received the evaluation of "extremely good."

"Yun'er..." Jiang Xiaorou twisted her small hands together, looking at Yi Yun with worry. She knew Yi Yun had been secretly practicing martial arts these past few days, but Jiang Xiaorou couldn't imagine his strength improving to the point of being comparable to the members of the Warrior Reserve Camp.

Since Zhang Yuxian looked down on those from the Warrior Reserve Camp, how could he possibly choose Yi Yun?

Jiang Xiaorou was still standing in the plaza, her position quite awkward. With everyone watching, and her brother still in the selection queue, Jiang Xiaorou found it difficult to retreat or to continue standing there.

Yi Yun noticed Jiang Xiaorou's worried gaze. He moved his lips slightly and said, "Sister Xiaorou, don't worry. I'll be fine."

Zhao Tiezhu heard Yi Yun's words and burst into laughter. "What a load of crap! I could find a stray dog that's better than you. Even if Lord Zhang chose a dog as his disciple, he wouldn't choose you!"

Yi Yun merely gave Zhao Tiezhu a cold glance in response to the sarcastic remark and said calmly, "You should worry about yourself. As for me, you don't need to concern yourself."

"Oh ho! Kid, you're getting cocky, talking to me like that! If you get chosen today, I'll pull up the big locust tree at the entrance of the village and eat it, roots and leaves!"

Zhao Tiezhu burst into laughter as he spoke. At this moment, a member of the Warrior Reserve Camp standing beside Zhao Tiezhu also chuckled and chimed in, "Then I'll eat the big stone roller at the village entrance!"

"Haha, you guys are really funny. I'll join in too, and drink all the water from the East River."

These members of the Warrior Reserve Camp all joined in the teasing.

Yi Yun looked at them helplessly, shrugged, and said, "Whatever."

At this moment, Zhang Yuxian had reached Zhao Tiezhu. Zhao Tiezhu immediately suppressed his smile and stood rigidly.

Zhang Yuxian pressed down on Zhao Tiezhu and asked indifferently, "Twenty-eight?"

Zhao Tiezhu hurriedly replied, "My lord has keen eyes. My bone age is indeed twenty-eight."

Zhang Yuxian frowned. Clearly, Zhao Tiezhu wasn't satisfactory either, but looking at the small number of people who had passed, he could only grudgingly say, "He barely meets the minimum standard. We'll keep him to make up the numbers."

Now, Zhang Yuxian increasingly felt that holding the Divine Kingdom Grand Selection in Yunhuang was a thankless and difficult task.

Zhao Tiezhu let out a long sigh and clenched his fist forcefully. "That's great! I passed!"

He was extremely excited and also shot a defiant glance at Yi Yun. Even if I only passed by the skin of my teeth, I still passed, didn't I!

I'm about to start learning martial arts under the Emissary Lord. When I'm successful and wealthy, I'll marry three wives and have four concubines, reaching the pinnacle of life. How could a peasant like you compare!

At this moment, Zhang Yuxian walked towards Yi Yun.

All eyes were focused on Yi Yun.

Lian Chengyu sneered, Let's see how you'll get out of this one!

He had just had this thought, but immediately remembered that Yi Yun was just a mentally challenged child with problems. Even if he embarrassed himself, he wouldn't care.

Why would a mentally challenged child care about how to get out of a situation? It's normal to make a fool of himself. Maybe he'll even think people are praising him when they laugh at him.

Thinking this, Lian Chengyu was speechless. This was the principle that you could never defeat a complete idiot, because to defeat him, you first had to lower your IQ to his level, and at that point, you would be defeated by his vast experience.

"Yi Yun, is it?" Zhang Yuxian walked up to Yi Yun.

"Yes, sir!"

"You really haven't practiced martial arts?"

Zhang Yuxian looked at Yi Yun thoughtfully. Zhang Yuxian's cultivation was only at the Purple Blood Realm, so he couldn't sense Yi Yun's specific cultivation level. However, he felt a hidden aura about Yi Yun.

It was sharp and restrained, hidden yet not revealed!

"I've practiced a little," Yi Yun chose his words carefully. Stealing knowledge counts as practicing martial arts.

"Sir, this kid is lying!" Zhao Tiezhu interjected to report, "I can testify that this kid has never practiced martial arts!"

Yi Yun looked at Zhao Tiezhu as if he were an idiot. "How do you know if I've practiced martial arts or not? I've passed by the tribe's training grounds countless times, and when Coach Yao taught martial arts, I also practiced along."

Yi Yun openly admitted to practicing martial arts. This was to provide a reasonable explanation for when he eventually displayed his true strength, making people believe he was a heaven-blessed prodigy and thus reducing the risk of his Purple Crystal being exposed.

Otherwise, where his martial arts skills came from would be impossible to explain.

"Stealing martial arts?"

Hearing Yi Yun's words, not only Zhao Tiezhu, but also the other members of the Warrior Reserve Camp almost burst out laughing. However, in front of Zhang Yuxian, they didn't dare to be too presumptuous.

At this point, no one bothered to pursue the charge of Yi Yun stealing martial arts.

A member of the Warrior Reserve Camp said, "Coach Yao's 'Dragon Marrow Tiger Bones Fist' is profound and extensive. We haven't fully grasped every move and stance, and you, a silly, weak child who can't even lift a chicken, learned it by stealing? What could you possibly learn!"

Yi Yun couldn't be bothered to refute. Anyway, he just wanted to give people the impression that he was practicing martial arts, so that when he suddenly revealed his strength, there would be a foundation and buffer.

Zhang Yuxian pondered for a moment, then placed his hand on Yi Yun's shoulder, slowly injecting Vital Energy.

Actually, Zhang Yuxian didn't hold out much hope. He merely admired Yi Yun's bravery. It wasn't easy for a child to stand out in such a situation. Of course, admiration was one thing, but practicing martial arts wasn't just about courage.

However, when the Vital Energy Zhang Yuxian released was injected into Yi Yun's body and circulated, Zhang Yuxian waited to withdraw it and see how much had been absorbed, but…

He suddenly found his Vital Energy vanishing like a clay ox entering the sea, leaving no trace!

"This is..."

Zhang Yuxian's eyes widened. How could this be?

His eyebrows twitched, disbelieving what had just happened. He injected another stream of Vital Energy into Yi Yun's body.

This Vital Energy, upon entering Yi Yun's Meridians, was like a great whale drinking water, swirling into Yi Yun's heart and being absorbed by the Purple Crystal, leaving not a drop behind.

"You..."

Zhang Yuxian was shocked. The Vital Energy he had injected into Yi Yun's body had been completely absorbed without a trace!?

Seeing Zhang Yuxian's eyebrows twitching, Lian Chengyu didn't know if Zhang Yuxian was angered. He walked to Zhang Yuxian's side with a grim expression.

Lian Chengyu hadn't expected that Zhang Yuxian's inspection of the Lian Clan would result in such an oddity like Yi Yun appearing in the tribe.

Although he viewed the lives of the Lian Clan members as worthless, Lian Chengyu couldn't tolerate the Lian Clan embarrassing him in front of outsiders, causing them to look down on him.

Lian Chengyu forced a smile and said, "Emissary Lord, the welcoming banquet is ready. Shall we eat first?"

Lian Chengyu wanted to distract Zhang Yuxian and quickly put the matter of Yi Yun behind them. But at that moment, Zhang Yuxian suddenly grabbed Yi Yun's shoulders.

He looked Yi Yun up and down, examining him carefully.

Could such a talent emerge from a poor small tribe in the Great Wilderness?

What's more, this young man before me has a firm and brave heart in martial arts. His ability to stand out in public has already proven his courage.

In addition, the young man's hidden aura also made Zhang Yuxian's eyes light up.

"You are very good, very good indeed! I never expected to find such a rough gem among the small tribes of the Great Wilderness."

Zhang Yuxian did not spare his praise. His voice was loud and carried far.

Huh?

Beside Yi Yun, Zhao Tiezhu, who had been ready to mock Yi Yun once he was rejected, suddenly widened his eyes. His expression was like that of a rooster whose crow was abruptly cut off.

Did I hear that right? What did Lord Zhang just say!

Lian Chengyu, who was busy urging Zhang Yuxian to eat by his side, was also stunned, not reacting at all.

Those on the outer perimeter who couldn't see clearly what was happening inside didn't know what had occurred. They only heard Zhang Yuxian suddenly praise someone and became interested.

"Who? Who received such high praise?"

Someone on the outer perimeter was jumping and craning their neck to look inside.

"You have the 'Flawless Physique', even if it's just a low-level Purple Blood Flawless Body, it's still very good! In a large family, you would also be valued!"

Flawless Physique?

What Flawless Physique? Including Lian Chengyu, everyone had never heard this term before.

But this didn't prevent them from understanding Zhang Yuxian's attitude.

"Very good," "raw jade," "would also be valued in a large family"!

Even Zhao Tiezhu, who wasn't the sharpest, could tell that Zhang Yuxian's evaluation of Yi Yun seemed to surpass Lian Chengyu's!

How could this be? Zhao Tiezhu's expression was incredibly vivid, as if he had just eaten a pound of feces.

The other members of the Warrior Reserve Camp were also dumbfounded, their mouths agape, unable to close for a long time.

"My brother..."

Jiang Xiaorou blinked her large, watery eyes. She was the one among everyone who most hoped Yi Yun would succeed. But the happiness came so suddenly that she could hardly believe it.

She had watched Yi Yun grow up from a toddler in split pants. She had never noticed Yi Yun having any talent. Could what Zhang Yuxian was saying so highly now be true?

Jiang Xiaorou felt it was too unbelievable. It seemed even Lian Chengyu's evaluation wasn't as good as her own brother's?

"Is this kid a martial arts prodigy? How is that possible!"

Lian Chengyu clenched his fists tightly. He couldn't accept it.

Zhang Yuxian clearly favored Yi Yun more!

Lian Chengyu had always been the top genius of the Lian Clan. How could he tolerate someone surpassing him?

And the other person was a mere slave boy!

"This... Emissary Lord, you say this kid is a martial arts prodigy? Is there a mistake..." Everyone doubted Zhang Yuxian's words. Finally, Zhao Tiezhu couldn't hold back and blurted out foolishly.

Zhang Yuxian's expression immediately darkened, and his voice turned cold, "You doubt me?"

"Uh..." Zhao Tiezhu was startled and shook his head like a rattle drum, "I wouldn't dare, I absolutely wouldn't dare."

Zhang Yuxian glanced coldly at Zhao Tiezhu and said, "My time is limited. Half an hour later, those selected will gather here. I will teach you martial arts, and I will only teach for three days!"

After speaking, Zhang Yuxian turned and left, seemingly uninterested in the welcoming banquet.

He left Zhao Tiezhu, Lian Chengyu, and the other Warrior Reserve Camp members staring at each other, at a loss.

They all looked at Yi Yun as if he were a monster, unable to accept this reality!

Yi Yun had passed the preliminary selection and received such a high evaluation. How could this be?

"Yun'er!" Jiang Xiaorou saw the hateful gazes Lian Chengyu and the others cast at Yi Yun and felt uneasy. She quickly pulled Yi Yun to her side.

"I don't believe it! I don't believe it! That adult said I wasn't suited for martial arts, and then he called that kid jade, or some kind of body. I can lift a 400-pound stone roller, and that kid can't even catch a chicken. How could I be worse than him?"

The short, stout man from before suddenly shouted.

His words were met with a strong response from many others.

"He actually said I'm worse than that brat? I don't believe it either!"

"This little punk got lucky!"

The members of the Warrior Reserve Camp were originally full of confidence, but the preliminary selection had utterly crushed them. Only Yi Yun, who couldn't even lift a chicken, received such high praise.

How could they be convinced!

At this moment, Zhao Tiezhu walked up to Yi Yun and grumbled, "Kid, don't get cocky. Lord Zhang might not know what's going on with you, but we do. You've been sickly since you were little, looking like a scrawny chick. You can't even lift a 50-pound stone lock, and you trip and fall picking herbs. Someone like you is a martial arts prodigy? Bah!"

What Zhao Tiezhu said was actually not wrong. Children of Yi Yun's age in the village could already lift a 50-pound stone lock, while Yi Yun, just a few months ago, could barely lift thirty pounds.

Yi Yun himself hadn't expected to receive the evaluation of "Flawless Physique."

Relying on the Purple Crystal and his keen senses after breaking through to the Meridian Realm, Yi Yun had already guessed what Zhang Yuxian had been doing. He had been testing his talent by injecting energy.

All this energy had been absorbed by the Purple Crystal, which led to Zhang Yuxian's misunderstanding.

In reality, if one were to talk about talent, the talent of this body was truly mediocre. It was far from being a Flawless Physique.

A true martial arts prodigy would not have such a poor physique like Yi Yun. If their body truly had a high affinity for energy, then the unconscious absorption of surrounding energy would already make them strong and robust.

A child who grew up in the wilderness, struggling to even get enough to eat, how could you expect them to be a genius?

Of course, whether he understood or not, Yi Yun intended to accept the title of genius.

Otherwise, when his strength was exposed in the future, how would he explain it?

Thus, Yi Yun looked at Zhao Tiezhu with a half-smile.

Seeing Yi Yun look over, Zhao Tiezhu glared back disdainfully, "What? Not convinced? If you're not convinced, come and spar with me. I can kill you with just one finger. If you move even a single hair, consider yourself the winner!"

Zhao Tiezhu was also furious and wanted to teach Yi Yun a lesson.

Yi Yun simply said lightly, "Uncle Tiezhu, have you finished eating your Great Locust Tree?"

One sentence, a fatal blow!

Zhao Tiezhu's planned taunts were all stuck in his throat. His eyes widened like a dead fish dried on the ground, and he couldn't utter a word.

"And which warrior was it earlier... who wanted to eat the stone mill?"

"Hmm... and another one who wanted to drink all the water from the East River."

Yi Yun chuckled innocently. He was small in stature, with a childish look on his face, appearing harmless. However, the words he spoke carried tons of destructive power.

The members of the Warrior Reserve Camp quickly distanced themselves, denying they had said anything. Being publicly refuted right after speaking in front of so many clan members was too embarrassing for them to bear.

"Esteemed warriors, this young one needs to rest a bit and prepare to train in martial arts with Lord Zhang. Speaking of which, Young Master Lian, since I'm going to practice martial arts, I'd like to request a few days off for the Savage Bones tempering. I wonder if that's possible."

Yi Yun appeared to be sincerely requesting permission, and Lian Chengyu's face turned completely dark. Did he dare to refuse?

"Of course, martial arts training is paramount." After saying this, Lian Chengyu felt like his intestines were twisted together.