Tricking Your Crow

Zou Bufan looked at the two large characters "Deer Pear" hanging in the sky, and a sour feeling rose in his heart.

There were three families in all—the Zou Family, the Fan Family, and the Yan Family—with twenty-two people altogether. They had all arrived aboard the same star skiff this time. Even if they did not know each other inside out, they had at least become familiar faces.

But what backwater hole had this Deer Pear crawled out of?

He could accept his own mediocrity. He could accept being inferior to the geniuses of his clan. But what he could not accept was losing to some disciple from the lower reaches.

In their eyes, the lower reaches lagged behind in puppet-craft technology, and its mortals were no different from uncivilized barbarians. It was only natural that they should win—but he, the young master of the Zou Family, was actually inferior to some barbarian?

The other disciples from the middle reaches wore varying expressions as well, though they all managed to keep their composure. Only Zou Bufan cared the most, and showed it the most plainly.

"Find him for me. Find this Deer Pear. I want to know who he is!"

The attendant beside him considered his wording before leaning close and replying in a low voice.

"Young Master, the White Moon Palace is in charge of this assessment. They have the roster, so I'm afraid it wouldn't be convenient... Besides, what if this person also came from the middle reaches?"

"Hmph!"

"Besides, Young Master, these barbarians from the lower reaches only know how to bury their heads in a few lousy books and do some problems at a few shabby private schools. She probably only knows the first volume of the Stamping Art, and that volume is the simplest one—there's nothing worth digging into at all.

"You, on the other hand, Young Master, have comprehended all three volumes of the Stamping Art—upper, middle, and lower—and are proficient in Hundred Explanations of Array Studies. You have even received personal instruction from a master artisan of the Open Source Realm. That little turtle bastard from the lower reaches merely knows a few cheap tricks. How could she possibly compare with you?"

After hearing the attendant's words, Zou Bufan's frown gradually eased. By the end, the corners of his mouth had even lifted slightly, and he regained his former disdain and arrogance.

"Mmm. What you said makes sense, and it sounds good too. This young master likes hearing it."

Just then, an attendant arrived belatedly and handed Zou Bufan a jade slip.

"Young Master, I found that woman you asked me to look into this morning. She appeared as if out of thin air and seems to have arrived in the city around three days ago. Her name is Deer Pear."

Zou Bufan had no interest in looking at the jade slip. Merely listening to the attendant's report made his brows knit once more.

"Wait. What did you say her name was?"

"Deer Pear. That girl is called Deer Pear."

"Is she the one up there in the sky?"

Following the direction of Zou Bufan's finger, the attendant looked up at the ranking list in the sky and saw Deer Pear's name. He nodded repeatedly.

"Well, well. So it was her. I was wondering why she was so arrogant."

"That girl shouldn't have much of a background. Shall I take some men and invite her over?"

"That won't be necessary. What do you all take this young master for? Do I look like some hooligan who forcibly takes civilian women?"

For a moment, all the attendants were speechless. Instinctively, they wanted to nod, but after thinking it over, they did not dare.

"If she only registered for the human-grade assessment, then so be it. But if she also registered for the earth-grade assessment, then this young master will make her lose so thoroughly in the examination hall that she'll be utterly convinced. Hmph!"

The next day, Lu Li arrived outside the examination grounds once again.

Today was the assessment for earth-grade clamp masters. Compared with yesterday, the number of people had visibly dropped by half, leaving only a little over a hundred.

People loved a spectacle. The upper floors of the nearby taverns were packed today, filled with eager onlookers.

Unlike yesterday, far fewer Wood Crows came looking for Lu Li today. Perhaps because he had taken first place yesterday, those academies focused on the human-grade assessment no longer approached him. Instead, advertisements from academies specializing in earth-grade and heaven-grade assessments came flooding in.

"You think that passing the human-grade assessment means everything will now go smoothly? Wrong! Dead wrong! You probably have no idea how intense this year's competition is.

"According to reliable information, disciples from the middle reaches have descended in droves. Yesterday, they nearly swept the top twenty spots in the human-grade assessment. For people like us to seize those spots is simply harder than climbing to heaven.

"According to reliable information, among those who pass Maple Fragrance City's heaven-grade clamp master assessment each year, thirty percent come from the middle reaches. Of the remaining seventy percent, sixty percent have received professional training. And Maple Fragrance Academy's annual pass rate has always ranked among the best. On average, out of every hundred people, only two manage to scrape through by self-study alone."

"Mhm, mhm."

Lu Li rubbed his nose. He himself was one of those top twenty, but after thinking it over carefully, the other party had said "nearly," so it did not count as baseless boasting or false advertising.

And he was precisely that exceptional case. Without him, this Wood Crow would not have needed to say "nearly."

"Alright, alright. I've long heard of your teacher's great name. If I fail this time, I'll definitely go pay your teacher a visit. Stay right here and don't move. I'll go buy two pears."

After dealing with more than a hundred Wood Crows over the past few days, he had summed up a few tricks. When it came to those persistent pests, once you argued with them, they would keep debating with you.

The correct approach was Lu Li's: first draw them a big pie, neither argue nor refuse, simply agree with everything they said—make full use of the "yes" tactic—then seize the chance to slip away.

It was only a verbal promise anyway. So long as he did not pay and kept his little purse tightly shut, he would not be swindled.

Who would have thought that this Wood Crow would not fall for it? Deep resentment actually showed in its tiny eyes.

"Y-you-you, I remember you! You said the same thing last time. You said you'd come back after buying two sets of materials, but I waited all night and you never came!"

"Ah, did that happen?"

Lu Li gave an awkward laugh, vaguely recalling that something like that did seem to have happened. It could not be helped—these Wood Crows all looked alike. He did not recognize Wood Crows, but Wood Crows certainly recognized him.

Ah, so there really was something to be said for artificial spirit intelligence.

That was what Lu Li thought, but aloud he said, "I'm not lying to you. I really am going to buy pears."

With that, Lu Li went right up to the fruit stall in front of the little Wood Crow, bought two premium large pears, and took a bite out of one of them, peel and all. He tucked the other into his pocket, intending to eat it midway through the assessment.

The earth-grade assessment lasted a full two hours and tested one's stamina greatly. Lu Li would not have the spare energy to finish early in this assessment, so preparing some food to replenish his strength midway was quite necessary.

Before Wood Crow could open his mouth, Lu Li turned and ran, taking arrow-like strides into the examination hall.

Though Wood Crow went mad whenever he started playing GG, he still had to observe the most basic rules. No matter how arrogant he was, he would not dare play GG inside the examination hall. That was one of Wood Crow's bottom-line rules.

So little Wood Crow could only remain outside, staring at Lu Li with those tiny beady eyes and doing nothing but glare helplessly.

After entering the examination hall, Lu Li found her seat. Before it stood three mechanisms: a furnace for forging and firing, an anvil-hammer mechanism, and a milling-cutter mechanism.

Besides that, a complete set of tools had been laid out beside them. Lu Li picked them up one by one, feeling out their handling and comparing them with the mechanisms she had used in practice.

Because of what had happened yesterday, Zou Bufan had long since set his sights on this Miss Deer Pear. Watching Deer Pear's unfamiliar movements, his expression gradually shifted from initial surprise to disdain.

"Heh, why does she look like some bumpkin who's never seen the world?"

"Young Master, I told you so. She most likely only knows theory and is nothing to fear at all. We don't need to lower ourselves to her level."