Three months passed in the blink of an eye.
The Spirit Fields welcomed their third-quarter assessment.
As long as a Grade-One Spirit Field produced at least a thousand jin per mu,
one could become a Formal Disciple and officially join the Dongting Immortal Sect.
Everyone rose early in the morning.
They stood on the ridges between the fields, waiting.
Zhang Er, who was overseeing the assessment, had yet to arrive.
Xu Changqing sat cross-legged and tried cultivating.
Over the past two months, with the powerful effects of the third layer of the Evergreen Formula,
the spiritual power within his body had grown to five strands, distributed through his limbs and lumbar spine.
The effects this brought were obvious.
He no longer needed to touch each spiritual plant one by one to inspect its condition.
He only needed to release his spiritual power,
and it could cover an area five meters wide.
He could easily grasp the condition of the spiritual plants.
He could even predict their changes over the next three days.
Unfortunately, during the harvest season, Wood Qi was extremely sparse.
After trying several times, he found it far too slow and could only give up in the end.
"Fortunately, spiritual power isn't the focus this time." Xu Changqing then looked toward the Spirit Fields ahead.
Over these three months, under his meticulous care,
the Spirit Rice had grown exceptionally well.
Every grain was especially plump.
The golden ears of rice swayed in the breeze, sending ripples rolling across the fields.
The sight lifted his spirits, and the corners of his lips rose unconsciously.
"The assessors are here!"
"Senior Brothers Zhang Er and Li Sancai are both here!"
"The third one is unfamiliar, though!"
Before long, Zhang Er, Li Sancai, and a newly arrived Formal Disciple appeared before the crowd.
"Everyone, this is Senior Brother Luo from Beast Spirit Valley!" Zhang Er introduced him while sweeping his gaze around.
It quickly settled on Xu Changqing.
He had assumed Xu Changqing would be nervous.
Yet he discovered
that compared with the others, this fellow was remarkably calm.
Had he resigned himself to his fate?
"Senior Brother Luo!" Xu Changqing and the others respectfully cupped their hands in salute.
Luo Bucheng said indifferently, "Junior Brothers, I will be weighing everyone's Spirit Rice Grain this time."
With a casual flick of his hand, a ring flew from his sleeve.
After spinning several circles through the air,
a golden blur shot out from it the next instant.
Then, while dropping to the ground at tremendous speed, it rapidly expanded.
With a bang, an enormous Golden Toad appeared on the field ridge.
Its entire body gleamed with golden light, and its back was studded with round golden pearls.
"A spirit beast!" Like everyone around him, Xu Changqing instinctively stepped back.
Luo Bucheng explained, "Harvest on your own. Once you are finished, call out. Lord Jin will automatically swallow the Spirit Rice you have cut into his belly, and then we will know how many jin of Spirit Rice Grain you produced."
"Understood!" Everyone nodded in amazement.
Xu Changqing felt a flicker of relief.
The person who had conducted the last assessment had been a Metal Spiritual Root disciple.
They had not needed to lift a finger; with a casual wave of his hand, that man had finished everything in minutes.
If it had still been him, Xu Changqing would have had no way to harvest lifespan this time.
Zhang Er could not be bothered wasting words and impatiently urged, "Begin."
At once, all the outer sect disciples taking the assessment picked up their sickles.
They began working one after another.
Xu Changqing was even the most hardworking among them.
[Harvested 1 stalk of "High-Quality Spirit Rice," lifespan +3 days] [Harvested 1 stalk of "High-Quality Spirit Rice," lifespan +3 days] [Harvested 1 stalk of "High-Quality Spirit Rice," lifespan +3 days] x9 x99 x999 ...
Every time the notification sounded, Xu Changqing was thrilled.
If he had not been worried about arousing suspicion,
he could have harvested all the Spirit Rice without resting.
But in order to keep a low profile, he kept pace with those around him.
Zhang Er asked with a half-smile, "Fellow Daoist Luo, how many people do you think will become Formal Disciples this time?"
Luo Bucheng considered it. "Three hundred people are taking the assessment this time. It would be good enough if ten became Formal Disciples."
"What about you, Fellow Daoist Li?" Zhang Er turned toward the permanent field overseer nearby.
Li Sancai answered, "Four or five, perhaps."
Zhang Er only came by occasionally.
Luo Bucheng came only during assessments.
Compared with the other two, Li Sancai understood the situation in the Spirit Fields best.
He often made private rounds, so he naturally knew who might pass and who could not.
"Who?" Zhang Er was very curious.
"Lin An counts as one." Li Sancai shrugged.
Zhang Er raised his brows. "I remember that fellow. He only has one assessment chance left as well.
I heard that some time ago, he actually found Earth Spirit Root and Water Spirit Root disciples to cooperate with?"
After all, the Spirit Fields were far from both the Earth Vein and the Water-Control Pavilion.
And even when seeking help, one had to watch the other party's expression.
Zhang Er had originally set his sights on Lin An too.
He had tested him privately several times.
He had thought Lin An would agree and become a tenant farmer.
Who would have expected him to find another path, one that could even be called an extreme road?
"Correct." Li Sancai nodded faintly.
Zhang Er asked again, "Who else?"
"And..." Li Sancai's gaze had already settled on Xu Changqing, but he seemed to recall something. After glancing at Zhang Er's aggressive eyes beside him, he shook his head. "Let's wait for the final results."
He knew perfectly well about the dealings Zhang Er had conducted in private.
In truth, every Formal Disciple assigned an assessment task did this.
This kind of exploitation had practically become an unspoken rule in the Spirit Fields, something everyone tacitly accepted.
Time passed swiftly.
Those who finished harvesting called for the Golden Toad one after another.
"Xu Yuan, seven hundred jin of Spirit Rice Grain. Assessment failed!"
"Zhang Bensan, eight hundred jin of Spirit Rice Grain. Assessment failed!"
"Zhao Ziyao, one thousand jin of Spirit Rice Grain. Assessment passed!"
The assessments for the three hundred people lasted from sunrise until dusk.
As the sky grew late, only three people finally remained.
Xu Changqing and Lin An were among them.
The harvesting had actually ended long ago.
Most of the delay had come from waiting in line.
"It's my turn." Watching the Golden Toad draw closer and closer, Lin An's breathing became hurried.
Zhang Er teased with a half-smile, "Junior Brother Lin, you went through such trouble to find Earth Spirit Root and Water Spirit Root disciples to help you. Isn't passing the assessment as certain as nails driven into a board?"
"Uh..." Lin An's expression shifted slightly at those words. He lowered his head, not daring to look at him.
At that moment, the Golden Toad had already approached.
It swiftly extended its golden tongue and, with a whoosh, rolled the Spirit Rice into its mouth.
Before long, the golden pearls on its back swelled one after another.
They continued until the eleventh pearl before stopping.
Luo Bucheng announced loudly, "Eleven golden pearls represent one thousand one hundred jin of Spirit Rice Grain. Assessment passed!"
"Finally... sob, sob, sob!" Lin An dropped to his knees upon hearing this, weeping so hard he could not make a sound.
In order to become a Formal Disciple,
he had given up fifty percent of his future harvests.
If he had failed, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Fortunately, he had succeeded.
"Congratulations." Xu Changqing understood his feelings deeply.
"The next one is..." Zhang Er looked at the remaining two people.
"It's my turn!" At that moment, the other person stepped forward first.
"Zhao Ying, right?" Zhang Er remembered him because they had spoken privately before.
Zhao Ying said pointedly, "Senior Brother Zhang, I agree."
"We'll talk about it later." Zhang Er did not make his stance too obvious.
At that moment, the Golden Toad rolled the Spirit Rice in front of it into its mouth with its tongue.
The golden pearls on its back began to swell.
One after another, but when the ninth pearl appeared, they stopped.
This meant Zhao Ying had only grown nine hundred jin of Spirit Rice Grain.
Less than a thousand jin meant the assessment had failed.
It also meant he could not become a Formal Disciple!
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