Grass Hound

Fifteen Middle School offered three plant-related courses: Agronomy, Botany, and Plant Practice.

Cheng Han liked the third course best.

Its total class hours were nearly equal to the first two combined.

This fully reflected the school's practical teaching philosophy.

Today's Plant Practice lesson was about—Soft Silk Vine.

At this moment.

Inside a small Botanical Garden on campus, wooden trellises had been erected neatly across the fields. Emerald-green vines climbed over them, transforming the place into a Vine Forest.

Bald Teacher was speaking eloquently. "I'm sure everyone knows that Soft Silk Vine is the most important raw material in the textile industry.

"Strip away the vine stem's outer skin, pull out the vine core, then pound it repeatedly with a wooden mallet, and you will obtain fine, soft 'silk fibers'..."

The students stood amid the Vine Forest, listening attentively to the teacher.

Cheng Han listened with particular focus.

In another time and space, cotton had been the most common textile material.

Yet in this world, humanity had actually made use of vines. Cloth woven from silk fibers was no less soft or breathable than cotton fabric.

"Everyone must remember this: if Soft Silk Vine grows for too short a time, its silk fiber yield will be low, making it economically unviable.

"But if it grows for too long, the silk fibers it produces will become overly tough, and the woven fabric will be rather stiff and uncomfortable.

"Based on experience, the optimal growth period for Soft Silk Vine is five to six months..."

Just then, Cheng Han suddenly felt a tremor in his mind, and an illusory scene appeared before his eyes.

A moment later, the Illusion vanished completely.

A message immediately surfaced: "Proficiency +2. Current Proficiency: 70/1000. Spirit Value: 6.4/13.8."

The Eye of Omniscience had passively activated again.

Cheng Han looked at a classmate beside him and urgently shouted, "Liu Wenyou, give me the knife."

For this practical lesson, since the students needed to learn how to process Soft Silk Vine, the teacher had handed out twelve long knives. Liu Wenyou had happened to receive one.

The boy froze for a moment, then obediently handed over the long knife.

In the past, Cheng Han had merely been an outsider in the class. Liu Wenyou would not have spared him a glance.

But now, he had become a celebrity in the class, and his prestige had soared. Liu Wenyou instinctively obeyed him.

This sudden turn of events made the other students look over in surprise.

With an almost snatching motion, Cheng Han took the long knife from Liu Wenyou's hand and strode toward a Soft Silk Vine several meters away.

Bald Teacher was stunned for a moment and instinctively asked, "Cheng Han, what are you doing with that knife?"

Cheng Han had no time to explain. He raised the long knife with both hands.

Seeing this, quite a few people cried out in alarm.

"Good heavens!"

"What is Cheng Han doing?"

Cheng Han turned a deaf ear to them and slashed down with all his strength.

At the same time, he activated the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame.

Supernatural power descended from nowhere. The blade grew a fraction hotter and gave off an extremely faint glow, but because everything happened so quickly, no one in the class noticed.

The next second, something bizarre happened.

The Soft Silk Vine suddenly came alive. Its body twisted violently, as though it had become a snake.

Several branches from the vine stem, along with a great mass of leaves, rapidly gathered together with a rustling sound. In an instant, they assembled into a strangely shaped object.

It looked somewhat like some kind of animal.

It had a body.

It also had four limbs.

And it had an enormous head. It opened its mouth at Cheng Han, revealing several rows of sharp spikes within.

One could only imagine that getting bitten by it would feel anything but pleasant.

At that moment, everyone, including Bald Teacher, was dumbstruck.

Without the slightest panic, Cheng Han's long knife viciously struck the Soft Silk Vine's stem.

Crack!

The vine stem was cleanly severed in two.

He vaguely sensed that the power of the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame was rapidly eroding the vine's life force.

The Vine Monster was heavily injured. Its branches and leaves trembled violently, yet it still unwillingly stretched its head forward, trying to take a savage bite out of its enemy.

Cheng Han nimbly stepped back, then swept up the long knife with a backhand motion and gave it another slash.

Bang!

The Vine Monster's head exploded.

That slash seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Its body came apart, leaves and broken branches scattering across the ground.

It was dead! Cheng Han stood with his knife in hand, and only then did his heart begin to pound.

It was his first time taking part in a fight. A little nervousness was inevitable.

The entire place fell silent.

Bald Teacher swallowed and broke the stillness. "Student Cheng Han, was that a Grass Hound just now?"

Cheng Han turned around and nodded. "Yes, Teacher Zhang."

A commotion immediately rose from the crowd.

"So it was a Grass Hound!"

"I've learned something today!"

Bald Teacher's voice held lingering fear. "Under exceedingly rare circumstances, vine plants can transform into highly aggressive Grass Hounds. I never expected one to be born in the Botanical Garden."

He then showed admiration. "Student Cheng Han handled it perfectly. A newborn Grass Hound cannot leave the vine. As long as the vine stem is severed in time, it will soon die."

Cheng Han remained calm.

He knew perfectly well that the reason that slash had killed the Grass Hound instantly was the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame. Otherwise, it could have continued struggling for quite some time and might very well have bitten several students.

The gazes the students turned toward him carried a faint trace of reverence.

In everyone's eyes, discovering the Grass Hound first, then drawing his blade to cut it down, was practically the stuff of legend. How could the students not yearn for it?

Bald Teacher changed the subject. "Students, I'm very sorry, but today's practical lesson must be suspended. Please leave the Botanical Garden in an orderly manner and return to the classroom.

"A Grass Hound has appeared here. I must report it to the school immediately and conduct a thorough inspection of the Botanical Garden to ensure that no safety hazards remain."

The students swiftly left the Botanical Garden.

Cheng Han deliberately lagged behind. He reached down to pick up a leaf left behind by the Grass Hound before walking toward the gate.

Bald Teacher noticed this. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.

By the rules, this was a rather sensitive item. It should have been collected by the school and destroyed together with the rest.

But Cheng Han had personally killed the Grass Hound and resolved a major problem for the school. Bald Teacher chose to turn a blind eye and pretend he had seen nothing.

*Because he had delayed for a short while, Cheng Han was the last to arrive at the classroom.

The instant he appeared, the previously boisterous classroom suddenly fell quiet for a moment before the clamor resumed.

It had quite the air of a big shot making an entrance.

Cheng Han calmly walked toward his seat.

He had only taken a few steps when he heard a voice. "Cheng Han, how did you discover the Grass Hound in the Botanical Garden just now?"

It was the short-haired girl, Wan Tengjiao.

The classroom quieted down again.

Everyone waited for Cheng Han's answer.

Cheng Han paused, then replied casually, "My senses are rather sharp."

Wan Tengjiao looked thoughtful. "It seems your perception of Source Energy is stronger than I expected. Perhaps it will not be long before you successfully condense a Source Sense Imprint."

Cheng Han smiled. "Perhaps."

He had a premonition that he would likely succeed in forming the imprint within a month at the earliest, or three months at the latest.

Upon hearing this, all the students looked at him with envy.

Originally, quite a few students had privately criticized Qiu Yuan's choice of Cheng Han, which had granted him the qualification to observe the Town Mountain Profound Wall. They suspected there had likely been some under-the-table dealings involved.

But his performance just now had left everyone completely convinced.

After Cheng Han returned to his seat, Qian Qingqing stared straight at him with a rather strange look in her eyes.

Cheng Han asked curiously, "What are you looking at me for?"

Qian Qingqing sighed. "Only today did I realize that you are the one in our class who has been hiding the deepest."

Cheng Han merely smiled without saying a word.