Chapter 44 (Continued)

Instead of hiding in the dense forest, he went the opposite way and ran directly onto the meadow.

Upon reaching the meadow, he controlled his flying sword and with a single strike, dug a huge pit directly into the grass.

He jumped into the pit himself and then covered it with mud.

Immediately afterwards, he scattered the grass seeds that had been specially cultivated for this meadow. Nourished by the Gentle Breeze, they quickly grew into a large patch of grass that blended in with the surrounding clumps.

In just a few breaths, the traces of the large pit were completely invisible. Even if a cultivator with the best eyesight came over, it would be difficult to notice that the newly grown grass was any different from the other grass.

Shan Heyuan hid in the soil, minimizing his physical activity.

He scanned the armlet with his Divine Sense.

The competition has been going on for less than twenty minutes, but a fierce wave of eliminations has already broken out, with a total of thirty-three people being eliminated.

Most of these people lacked cultivation, while a few were simply unlucky.

Regardless, those who remain on the field are all quite formidable.

Shan Heyuan hid himself carefully. He didn't ask to defeat anyone; he only hoped to be discovered later, much later.

He hid in the soil for a day and a night, and half a day.

Aside from the initial wave of eliminations, the number of people eliminated afterward was relatively small, with only one person being eliminated every one or two hours.

There are currently fifty-six players remaining on the field.

A small portion of them have already been eliminated.

I wonder when he'll be identified and eliminated?

He felt a little cold and his body was a bit stiff after being buried in the soil for so long without moving.

Let's wait another 24 hours.

He wasn't aiming for a high ranking; if he stayed for another 24 hours, he should be ranked first in the Planting Institute.

Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a tremor coming from the ground, as if someone had tapped the ground.

A clear voice rang out from outside. "Come out."

Shan Heyuan held his breath.

He didn't know if the outsiders were trying to scam him.

There were quite a few cheaters in the competition.

The grass he cultivated had a certain ability to conceal Divine Sense, so people outside shouldn't be able to see him; they might only sense something was amiss.

If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move either.

He wouldn't budge unless someone was face-to-face with him.

There was no further movement from above for the time being.

Just when Shan Heyuan thought the person had left, a sword suddenly flew out and plunged into the ground.

He recoiled in surprise, but before he could make any further move, the sword had already pried him off the ground, pulling him and the soil out of his body.

To be honest, he wasn't even that efficient at digging potatoes.

He flew high in the air and quickly twisted his body to adjust his posture, thus avoiding a "plop" fall to the ground.

Upon seeing who it was, Shan Heyuan exclaimed in surprise, "Lin Ji, it's you?"

"I was on my way to a meeting at the snow mountain, but I sensed something amiss nearby, so I came down to check it out." Lin Ji smiled. "I didn't expect Assistant Instructor Shan to be hiding here. Perhaps it's fate."

Shan Heyuan sighed inwardly; such a fate was rare indeed.

The two stood facing each other, Lin Ji asked in a friendly manner, "Assistant Instructor Shan crush the armband himself and leave?"

Shan Heyuan didn't speak, just looked at him, then quickly retreated, scattering a handful of seeds in his hand.

In less than a tenth of a second, Shan Heyuan's Spiritual Power enveloped the seeds.

In an instant, all the seeds burst open like umbrellas, and the smoke hidden inside exploded out, obscuring Lin Ji's vision and Divine Sense.

At the same time, Shan Heyuan leaped off the ground and fled down the mountain like lightning.

Lin Ji seemed completely unprepared for his sudden attack, his face showing a look of surprise.

Shan Heyuan felt a little smug.

Just when he thought he had it in the bag, a Sword Qi shot over like a rainbow piercing the sun, shattering his armlet with a snap.

Things happened so fast; the armband shattered, Shan Heyuan hadn't even had time to react.

Until the shards were scattered all over him.

He hovered in mid-air on his sword, looking at the shattered armlet and then at his own undamaged arm.

If the armband breaks, the competition is lost.

Lin Ji said from afar, "Thank you for your kind offer."

Shan Heyuan sighed, knowing he was outmatched, and had nothing to be angry about. "Thank you for going easy on me."

Lin Ji continued flying towards the mountaintop, and the referees who were maintaining order rushed over and took Shan Heyuan, who had already been eliminated, flying down the mountain.

When Shan Heyuan arrived at the foot of the mountain, he found the entrance crowded with people, most of them with bruises and swelling on their faces, taking the elixirs distributed by the academy.

Jiang Zhi was also there.

I don't know what happened to him, but he looked extremely miserable. His clothes were torn, and there was still blood on his cheeks that he hadn't wiped off. His handsome face was ruined.

Meeting Shan Heyuan's questioning gaze, Jiang Zhi wiped his face and offered an explanation. "I ran into a stubborn sword cultivator. How come you're still so clean?"

Shan Heyuan: "Perhaps the person who attacked me was powerful enough?"

Jiang Zhi: "..."

Shan Heyuan: "Lin Ji was the one who eliminated me."

Jiang Zhi sighed, "Lin Ji, the Gentleman Sword, if only he had been the one to eliminate me."

Shan Heyuan: "When were you eliminated? What's your current ranking?"

Jiang Zhi: "Sixty-three, you're forty-nine. You're the highest ranked in our Planting Institute, I'm third."

Shan Heyuan exclaimed in surprise, "You actually came in third?"

Jiang Zhi was somewhat frustrated. "The second one is a disciple who specializes in vine cultivation, ranked fifty-first. You almost got surpassed by him."

Shan Heyuan smiled and said, "Looks like I'm lucky."

They were both eliminated, but the academy's competition was not over yet.

These competitions usually get more exciting as they go on, and many disciples didn't go anywhere else but stayed at the mountain gate to watch the battle.

The jade screen displays the real-time, random status of the disciples still in the arena.

Most of the disciples are not good at hiding, and those who have survived until now are mostly those who have been beaten, so everyone has scars on their faces and bodies.

Several disciples were beaten particularly badly, their entire bodies stained red with blood.

Fortunately, they could take elixirs during the competition; otherwise, the academy's instructors would have forcibly dragged them down in this situation.

Shan Heyuan was already satisfied with winning first place in the Planting Institute and wasn't very interested in the later competitions. He watched for a while, then said goodbye to Jiang Zhi and Li Jian and went home first.

Since there are no classes during this period, it's a good opportunity for him to take a couple of days off and relax.

The five-day final competition has come to an end.

As expected, Lin Ji ranked first, and Sheng Chao ranked second.

The third one was a disciple of the Illusion Academy named Shui Qingyi, a very powerful female cultivator.

Shan Heyuan and his team did not achieve any good results in the college-wide competition and were unable to attend the commendation ceremony; they only received a bonus and a certificate.

The treatment is different at the Planting Institute.

Shan Heyuan ranked first in the Planting Institute, and Jiang Zhi ranked third. Both of them went on stage to receive awards and the prizes they had been looking forward to.

After stepping off the stage, Jiang Zhi eagerly said, "Quickly, let me see the Spring Crystal you got!"

Shan Heyuan handed him the fist-sized Core Formation grade Spring Crystal: "Be careful, it's a bit brittle, it'll break if you squeeze it."

Jiang Zhi took it, examined it closely, and kept praising it. "This is truly a wonderful item. Its Spiritual Power is abundant!"

Shan Heyuan: "Yes. All that hard work for so long was for this. It was worth it."

Jiang Zhi said enviously, "I'll work even harder next time and try to win the first prize."

Shan Heyuan politely complimented her, "The Qishan Worm you got is also quite good."

Li Jian, however, poured cold water on the idea. "You'll be too old next year."