Immortality begins with raising apprentices

Chapter 99 The Grand Competition of Spiritual Plants!

When Junior Brother Liu saw that it was Chen Ye, he was taken aback at first, but then a smile appeared on his lips:
"Oh, isn't this Senior Chen... no, Master Chen? What, you also want to try your luck and become a spirit plant steward?"

He emphasized the word "senior" and chuckled to himself.

Li Qiuyun frowned slightly, quite dissatisfied with Junior Brother Liu's behavior.

But she was too lazy to stand up for Chen Ye.

If it were someone else, she would have scolded Junior Brother Liu a few times.

But if I speak up for Chen Ye... I'll just invite ridicule from my fellow disciples...

Chen Ye was having a hard time.

Is this Junior Brother Liu just bored and has nothing better to do?
So you're going to make fun of him, huh...

Sure enough, the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to get into trouble.

Chen Ye was too lazy to pay attention to Junior Brother Liu.
He walked calmly to the disciple in charge of registration, his voice steady:
"My name is Chen Ye, and I have come to participate in the Spirit Plant Master Deacon Examination."

The disciple in charge of registration was also one to treat people differently based on their status. Seeing that Chen Ye was dressed plainly and his cultivation was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, he was somewhat negligent and casually tossed out a jade token: "Fill in your name and background, and wait."

Chen Ye took the jade token, found a corner, and carefully filled it out.

After filling it out, I closed my eyes and meditated.

During this time, Junior Brother Liu did not provoke him.

They just buzzed around Li Qiuyun like flies, chattering incessantly.

But she would point at him from time to time, as if using him as a joke to make the lady laugh.

In the afternoon, an elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in a Taoist robe, slowly appeared on the high platform in the center of the square.

This person had a restrained aura, but his eyes were bright and piercing. He was Tian Nong, a second-level spirit plant master and the deacon of the Lingyin Sect in charge of this spirit plant master assessment.

Three deacons stood beside him, one of whom was Zhou Mingyuan.

Tian Nong's gaze swept over the sea of ​​rogue cultivators below the stage, and he said loudly:

"Fellow Daoists, today's assessment consists of two rounds. The first round involves identifying spiritual plants and diagnosing their ailments. The second round involves personally treating the diseased plants. Only those who pass will be allowed to join our Lingyin Sect, serve as stewards, and enjoy the sect's offerings! During this period, performance will be assessed and awarded accordingly..."

As soon as he finished speaking,
Then, many outer disciples carried dozens of potted spiritual plants of various shapes to the front of the stage.

Some of these spiritual plants were thriving, while others were withered and listless, clearly intended for use in the assessment.

This first hurdle may seem simple, but it is actually quite difficult.

Among the myriad herbs, there are many varieties that are similar in appearance but have completely different medicinal properties, and they can easily be confused if one is not careful.

Chen Ye glanced at it and felt secretly fortunate.

Although he had never come into contact with many of these spiritual plants.

When you improve your skills using the proficiency panel, you will naturally gain ample spiritual plant experience, without needing to interact with them at all.

The first round of assessments began soon.

The independent cultivators stepped forward one by one to identify the spiritual plants and diagnose their ailments.

Chen Ye was in the middle of the line. When it was his turn, there were three spiritual plants in front of him.

One plant has withered and yellow leaves, as if it is lacking water;

A plant with rotten roots was emitting a faint, foul odor.
The last plant had its leaves covered with tiny white insect eggs.

These are common ailments of spirit plants, which might be troublesome for ordinary rogue cultivators, but for Chen Ye, who has now perfected all three arts of spirit plants, they are nothing more than a piece of cake.

He calmly stepped forward, took a quick look, and then explained the varieties, symptoms, and corresponding treatments of the three spiritual plants in a clear, concise, and logical manner.

Tian Nong listened, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and nodded slightly.

He whispered a few words to the steward beside him, then picked up his notebook and wrote down Chen Ye's score.

Junior Brother Liu, who had been watching closely, sneered inwardly as he saw Chen Ye answer fluently.

"It's just some basic, introductory skills. What's there to be proud of?"

After the first round of assessments, nearly half of the independent cultivators were eliminated due to making too many mistakes, leaving the field dejected.

It's not that the assessment is difficult, but rather that most of these independent cultivators are just taking advantage of the situation.

Chen Ye passed smoothly, of course.

Zhou Mingyuan glanced at Chen Ye a couple more times, nodded slightly, smiled without saying a word, and picked up his pen to write "Jia Shang".

"Huh? Old Zhou, why did you give it such a high rating?"

The other fat butler couldn't help but wonder.

Tian Nong didn't explain the role of the rating in detail, but the stewards knew it perfectly well.

A high score means a high starting point. Among the Lingyin Sect deacons, some deacons work as farmers growing rice in the spirit fields, while others oversee the Lingyin Sect's market businesses.

This rating influences the Lingyin Sect's assignment of duties to newly promoted stewards.

Therefore, generally speaking...

These assessment deacons are extremely cautious when giving scores.

Zhou Mingyuan said quietly, "It's because I saw that this person has extensive experience with spiritual plants that I gave him this rating."

The fat butler frowned, not believing Zhou Mingyuan's nonsense at all, and muttered to himself:
Could this Chen Ye have connections within the sect...?

and many more!

The fat deacon was startled when he suddenly saw Junior Brother Liu pointing at Chen Ye.

Could this past karma be the same as that past karma?
It is said that the little devil from the Bai family once intended to arrange a marriage for Chen Ye...

He was unaware of this matter.

But this disciple surnamed Liu kept talking about this matter loudly in the Internal Affairs Hall every day, so it was hard not to know about it!
"Oh no, better to mess with the King of Hell than with Susu..."

The fat deacon felt a chill run down his spine and quickly picked up his notebook to write it down.

The second round of assessment involved hands-on practice.

Tian Nong personally selected more than a dozen spiritual plants with different symptoms, but all of which still had hope of being cured, and distributed them to the rogue cultivators who had passed the first round of assessment.

Seeing this, Junior Brother Liu secretly winked at the junior brother in charge of distributing the spiritual plants.

With so many people on the field, no one really noticed Liu's gaze.

The junior brother understood and pushed a pot of Fire Cloud Grass with almost completely withered leaves and only a faint trace of life in front of Chen Ye.

"This Fire Cloud Herb is a fire-type spiritual plant with tenacious vitality. But this one in front of me has been away from the Fire Swamp for too long and hasn't been cared for in time. Its spiritual energy has been severely depleted, and its life force is almost gone. Ordinary methods are no longer effective in saving it," Junior Brother Liu thought to himself. "I'd like to see how you, old man, deal with this!"

"and many more!"

Zhou Mingyuan had been secretly watching Chen Ye, and upon seeing the Fire Cloud Grass,

He suddenly stood up and said in a deep voice,
“Steward Tian, ​​things are different now. Fire Cloud Grass was a spiritual plant used for assessments in previous years, but this year a sudden cold disaster has affected it as well. How can it be used for assessments?”

The fat deacon shook his head: "Deacon Zhou's words are true. I hope Deacon Tian will think it over!"

Tian Nong turned back to look at the two stewards with a puzzled expression, only to find that the two stewards looked completely at ease and showed no signs of anything amiss.

He pondered to himself:
That's strange. Normally, would these two stewards speak up for rogue cultivators?

Even if it's truly unfair, it's none of their business...

Tian Nong looked at Chen Ye seriously: "Fellow Daoist, what do you think? If we change midway, no matter how the other stewards score it, it will definitely drop one level in my hands! Since I chose the Fire Cloud Grass, I naturally have a way to manage it!"

Chen Ye looked at the dying Fire Cloud Grass in front of him and raised his eyebrows slightly.

He naturally saw through the trick, but he really didn't take this level of disease seriously.

No need to replace!

Chen Ye remained calm and composed, using his Cloud and Rain Technique to condense a burst of vibrant spiritual rain, gently nourishing the cracked roots of the Fire Cloud Grass.

"It possesses an inner vitality that is inexhaustible!"

Tian Nong suddenly stood up, staring intently at the ball of spiritual rain, his expression changing drastically.

If Chen Ye had used the Sweet Dew Nourishment Technique, he wouldn't have been shocked.

But this person was clearly using the Cloud and Rain Technique!

Even Zhou Mingyuan, who had expected it, could not hide the shock on his face.

Chen Ye ignored the warnings and activated the Life-Generating Technique at full power, continuously injecting pure wood-type spiritual energy into the Fire Cloud Grass.

Amidst the astonished and uncertain gazes of the crowd, the Fire Cloud Grass, which had originally resembled withered firewood, began to visibly sprout green shoots!
A faint, fiery red glow gradually appeared at the edges of the withered yellow leaves, and a faint life force began to flow again!
"This...how is this possible?!" Junior Brother Liu stared in disbelief, almost unable to believe his eyes.

Even Li Qiuyun, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but show surprise on her usually cold and stern face.

On the high platform, Tian Nong's eyes gleamed with excitement as he stared intently at Chen Ye's movements and the Fire Cloud Grass that was rapidly recovering its vitality!
As a second-tier spirit plant master, he could naturally see the exquisite nature of Chen Ye's spirit plant technique.

This person... is no ordinary herb farmer!
Half an hour later, Chen Ye finished his practice and stood up.

The Fire Cloud Grass was now standing tall and graceful, its leaves fiery red and full of vitality, a stark contrast to its previous dying appearance!
The other examinees had already stopped what they were doing, their faces ashen.

They tried their best, but could only get the spiritual plants to a preliminary state of health, and their spiritual energy was already waning.

Compared to Chen Ye's vibrant and radiant Fire Cloud Grass, it was worlds apart.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Tian Nong exclaimed "Good!" three times, clapped his hands, laughed heartily, and looked excited.
"Fellow Daoist's skill in cultivating spirit plants is truly divine! I admire you greatly! You have passed the spirit plant master assessment! I would like to ask the other deacons to provide their evaluations!"

(End of this chapter)