A Thousand Days in an Instant, the Assessment Is About to Begin

Xu Changqing held half a stalk of spirit rice and soon returned to the residential quarters where outer sect disciples lived and rested.

But this time, instead of heading to his own room, he walked in the other direction.

Before long, he arrived before a half-closed door.

Hearing faint movement inside, Xu Changqing immediately asked, "Is Senior Brother Li in?"

"Who is it?" Before long, the pattering footsteps drew nearer, and the half-closed wooden door was pulled open, revealing a mature face filled with puzzlement.

Xu Changqing smiled faintly. "It's me, Changqing!"

"Xu Changqing?" Li Sancai barely recognized him, then asked, "What do you need from me?"

"Everyone says Senior Brother Li is formidable and has already cultivated the [Evergreen Formula] to the second level, so I wanted you to take a look at this spirit rice." Xu Changqing handed it over as he spoke.

"This is the inferior spirit rice you planted?" Li Sancai took it with a surprised expression.

A thicker layer of pale green spiritual power swiftly appeared in his palm.

He quickly sensed the condition of the inferior spirit rice in full detail.

Xu Changqing hurriedly asked, "How is it?"

"It lacks nutrients, water, and spiritual energy," Li Sancai blurted out.

"Is that why my yield has been insufficient?" Xu Changqing frowned at those words.

The gap between the first and second levels of the Evergreen Formula was obvious.

He himself could only grasp a general idea, while the other man understood it in such detail. No wonder Li Sancai had been able to guard the spirit fields for so long.

"Yes." Li Sancai nodded, then changed the subject. "Ordinarily, a Grade-One Spirit Field should not have such problems."

Xu Changqing pondered, "You mean there's something wrong with it?"

Judging from the current situation, Li Sancai guessed that there was most likely something wrong with Xu Changqing's acre of spirit field, which was why its yield would not rise.

Xu Changqing hurriedly pressed, "Is there a solution?"

"If you have connections, you can find disciples with Water Spirit Roots from the [Water-Control Pavilion] and have them cast the [Minor Cloud-Rain Art].

"Or you can find disciples with Earth Spirit Roots from the [Earth Vein] and ask them to loosen the soil."

"Is there another way?" Xu Changqing looked somewhat troubled.

Li Sancai nodded slightly. "There is."

"What way?" Xu Changqing's eyes lit up.

Li Sancai immediately said, "Raise the [Evergreen Formula] to the second level, and the yield will increase as well."

"Raise it to the second level..." Xu Changqing fell into thought.

"You seem to have only one chance left?" Li Sancai looked at him with complicated eyes.

"Yes." Xu Changqing gave an awkward smile.

"I wish you success." Li Sancai returned the half stalk of spirit rice, then shut the door.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Xu Changqing cupped his hands in salute, expressing his gratitude.

Back in his room, Xu Changqing looked at the half stalk of spirit rice in his hand and considered the three methods Senior Brother Li had suggested.

For now, only raising the [Evergreen Formula] could put out the fire at his eyebrows.

As for seeking out disciples from the [Earth Vein] and the [Water-Control Pavilion]—

First, he had no connections.

Second, it would take time.

By contrast, he could regain the lifespan he lost by harvesting spiritual plants. That price was neither painful nor itchy to him.

With a great tree at his back, he could enjoy the shade.

Since he had chosen the path of immortal cultivation, he could not casually leave a top immortal cultivation sect like [Dongting].

How many people begged for such an opportunity yet could not obtain it, unable to join even if they wanted to?

Once he left, he could only keep lowering his standards.

In the end, he would either join some small sect.

Or marry into some immortal cultivation lineage.

He might even become a rogue cultivator with no background whatsoever.

[Do you wish to consume 1,066 days of lifespan to raise the Evergreen Formula from the first level to the second level?]

The prompt appeared again.

"Yes." Xu Changqing agreed without hesitation.

All at once, a vast amount of experience and techniques concerning the [Evergreen Formula] flooded into his mind.

[Successfully consumed 1,066 days of lifespan to raise the Evergreen Formula to the second level.]

Xu Changqing looked at his status panel again.

[Remaining Lifespan: 762 days]

[Evergreen Formula (Second Level)]

(Effect One: Cultivation Speed +20%)

(Effect Two: Yield Increase +10%)

(Effect Three: Can thoroughly diagnose the condition of spiritual plants)

The effects brought by the upgrade were indeed as different as heaven and earth, and the second level truly increased yield.

"Senior Brother Li did not deceive me." Xu Changqing smiled.

Next, he sat cross-legged and tried cultivating.

Yet he discovered that although his cultivation speed had indeed increased, the wood spiritual energy in the room was far too thin. Forget advancing his realm—even maintaining normal cultivation was difficult.

The next day arrived.

The sun had just risen.

Xu Changqing's breakfast was a bowl of thin porridge and a small dish of pickled vegetables.

The food could only fill his stomach and offered no help whatsoever to cultivation.

There was no helping it. These were the conditions of outer sect disciples.

At that moment, noisy voices came from outside.

It turned out that people were leaving.

Whether they had passed or failed the assessment, they could no longer remain here.

Yet the number of outer sect disciples had not decreased. Instead, it had grown even greater.

As one of the three top immortal cultivation sects, the Dongting Immortal Sect never lacked people.

The few acquaintances around Xu Changqing had all vanished, replaced by unfamiliar faces.

Since they did not know one another, no one could be bothered to talk.

After breakfast, Xu Changqing carried a hoe over his shoulder and headed for the spirit fields.

There were still three days before the third assessment began.

This time, he could only succeed. Failure was absolutely not an option.

Therefore, none of the preparations before planting spirit rice could be skipped.

The first step was turning the soil.

It was also called loosening the soil.

The reason for doing so was to improve the spirit field's aeration while turning weeds and old roots into the soil to rot.

"My heavens, Lin An actually hired an Earth Spirit Root disciple to help him!"

"He's really going all out!"

"Where did this kid get so many spirit stones?"

"If I remember correctly, even an outer sect disciple with an Earth Spirit Root charges ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones each time, right?"

"He traded one-tenth of his harvest for a long-term partnership with him!"

The crowd erupted in uproar.

Standing before his spirit field, Xu Changqing looked toward the other side.

Lin An's spirit field was not far away, and a young man followed at his side.

This man should have been the Earth Spirit Root disciple everyone was talking about.

He looked tall and imposing.

His skin was somewhat yellower than an ordinary person's, yet it possessed a healthy sheen.

Soon, the Earth Spirit Root disciple stepped barefoot into the spirit field.

With every step he took, the ground trembled.

Bang! Bang! The sounds rang out without end.

Before long, the weeds and leftover roots were all shattered by the vibrations.

At the same time, the compacted earth turned over rapidly, as though an earth dragon had burrowed through it.

The efficiency was astonishing. In only a short while, more than half the field had been finished.

While others toiled themselves half to death, Lin An had not even broken a sweat.

The sight left everyone around them staring wide-eyed.

But Xu Changqing had to admit that Lin An's move was indeed clever.

Not only did it increase his chances of becoming a formal disciple, it also tied him to disciples with other spiritual roots.

Though he gave up part of his harvest, he gained a partner.

Xu Changqing's heart stirred as he watched, and he too developed the idea of cooperating.

But just as he wanted to ask, everyone around him surged forward in a swarm, and he could not get a place in line at all.

Even the Earth Spirit Root disciple was surprised. He had not expected himself to be so sought-after.