Chapter 80: Second-Tier Spirit Planter

Qin Ming stared at the scene outside the wooden door.

He was completely dumbfounded.

Outside the door.

A stretch of glittering golden desert had abruptly appeared in his line of sight.

Outside the illusion realm.

The elders of the Spirit Feather Sect were all gazing toward the wooden formation, discussing amongst themselves.

"How many disciples do you think will pass the assessment this time and advance to the second tier?"

"It's hard to say; even for the Geng-grade illusion realm, which has the lowest difficulty, successful candidates in the past have been few and far between."

"Old Zhuang, your disciple entered once before; surely he's a sure bet this time?"

"Sigh, don't mention that good-for-nothing thing."

"What do you all think of that lad Qin Ming?" Elder Liu asked lightly, stroking his goat-horn beard.

Elder Zhuang frowned, pondered for a moment, then stated with great certainty, "In this old man's view, as long as he does not challenge a high-difficulty illusion realm, the probability of him passing the trial is extremely high."

Upon hearing this, Elder Gu standing nearby wore a somewhat displeased expression.

"Although the highest record for our Spirit Feather Sect has always been passing a Jia-grade trial, in recent years it has been a long time since any disciple succeeded in such a challenge; I wonder if anyone will surpass that record this time."

As they spoke.

Time ticked by little by little.

Half a day later.

Near the wooden formation, a streak of green light flashed, and a figure materialized.

The person emerged with a face full of gloom, making it obvious at a glance that he had failed the trial assessment.

"Sigh, I didn't expect that on my first entry, I would encounter the most difficult path within the Geng-grade illusion realm: the Spirit Plant Heart-Tempering Road."

Before long, spirit planters withdrew from the illusion realm one after another.

Up until now, not a single spirit planter had successfully passed the trial assessment.

"This is too difficult; my trial tested affinity with vegetation, requiring me to find the Primordial Mother Spirit Plant within an entire grassland."

"What's that compared to mine? The illusion realm I entered required curing several unfamiliar second-tier spirit plants, all within a specified time limit."

Unknowingly.

More than half of the spirit planters who had entered the illusion realm assessment had already emerged.

Still, no one had passed.

Just then.

A familiar figure withdrew from within the illusion realm.

Everyone looked and saw it was actually Li Yan, the first to enter.

At this moment, his facial expression was extremely agitated.

Behind him, within the wooden formation, one of the wooden steles lit up with a glow, displaying that Li Yan had passed the trial assessment.

Wu-grade difficulty illusion realm completed; time taken: three and a half hours.

The flow of time inside the illusion realm differs from that in the outside world; within the illusion realm, one feels as though one or two years have passed.

Subsequently, a beam of light descended from the wooden formation and merged into Li Yan's spirit planter identity token; the three leaves on its back fused together, gradually transforming into a spirit plant.

This signified that he had successfully advanced to become a second-tier spirit planter.

Li Yan's face was wild with joy; he quickly stepped before Elder Zhuang Xiran, bowed, and said, "This disciple has not failed Master's expectations and has passed this assessment."

"Mm, for you to pass a Wu-grade difficulty trial is indeed commendable; this time you have a chance to compete for the top three and obtain a wisp of the Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees." Elder Zhuang Xiran rarely showed a smile of gratification.

But next.

Successively, two other exceptionally talented spirit planters passed the trial assessment.

Furthermore, both had completed illusion realm trials of Ding-grade difficulty or higher.

One of those spirit planters had even completed the assessment for a Yi-grade difficulty illusion realm trial.

Li Yan's heart instantly plummeted to the bottom; if another spirit planter achieved a better result than him, he would have no hope of placing in the top three.

Another hour passed.

Most of the spirit planters inside the illusion realm had already withdrawn.

So far, only four named high-grade spirit planters had passed the assessment and advanced to become second-tier spirit planters.

"It seems only the last one remains?"

"It's Qin Ming; he still hasn't come out."

"Not coming out for so long, he probably failed?"

The spirit planters present began discussing one after another.

The words had just left their mouths when a streak of green light flashed, and Qin Ming's figure appeared beneath the wooden formation.

Just as everyone thought he had failed.

The seven huge wooden steles behind him all flashed with light soaring to the heavens.

Extremely prominently, a line of text appeared upon them: Jia-grade difficulty trial assessment passed!

Time taken: five hours.

In an instant, the air fell silent.

The elders of the Spirit Feather Sect and the spirit planters present were all shocked.

"Could there be a mistake?"

"It's actually a Grade-A difficulty trial?"

"This nearly broke our sect's historical record."

"What a pity; it missed by just half an hour."

The elders of the Spirit Feather Sect exchanged glances, feeling that what they had lost was far more than just a promising disciple.

Thus, the top three of this Plant Illusion Realm trial were now determined.

Qin Ming had unquestionably taken first place.

He too sighed with emotion, never expecting that the content of a Grade-A difficulty illusion realm trial would be to have him plant three different spiritual plants in a desert.

From the very start of the trial, he had needed to select three spiritual seeds suitable for growth in the desert illusion realm from among hundreds of second-tier spiritual plant seeds.

Merely making a mistake in this first step of selection would cause immediate failure of the assessment.

Fortunately, Qin Ming had not read those spiritual plant books in vain during his usual days.

Relying on his memory, he correctly selected the three spiritual plants and then entered the planting and cultivation phase.

Originally, he had wanted to try passing the trial without relying on any attributes.

But he discovered that he had still greatly underestimated the trial difficulty of a Grade-A illusion realm.

Although he successfully cultivated two types of second-tier spiritual plants within the illusion realm, the time remaining until the trial's end was already scarce.

For the final spiritual plant, he still used the 【Ripen】 attribute.

This trial within the Grade-A illusion realm was equivalent to two years having passed, giving him further insight and improvement in his experience cultivating second-tier spiritual plants.

After passing the trial, he also received the rewards from within the illusion realm; a full seven strands of 'Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees' fell into his possession.

Li Yan stared fixedly at Qin Ming, his heart already filled with jealousy, yet unable to vent it on the spot.

Elder Gu's expression appeared extremely gloomy, his gaze flickering as he pondered who knows what in his mind.

Elder Liu, however, revealed a slight smile of gratification.

The spiritual plant masters present, looking at Qin Ming and the others who had successfully advanced to second-tier spiritual plants, all displayed expressions of envy.

Qin Ming's heart was also overjoyed, after all, he had waited too long for this moment.

Advancing to become a second-tier spiritual plant master.

Meant that from now on, he would be exempted from the Spirit Feather Sect's corvée labor, restoring his free status and no longer being bound by the sect.

Suppressing his excited mood, Qin Ming walked before the assembly of Spirit Feather Sect elders and spoke plainly: "Reporting to the various elders, I have already advanced to second-tier spiritual plant master; according to sect regulations, I hope you will release me from my corvée labor agreement."

At these words, the elders of the Spirit Feather Sect had nothing more to say, after all, this was the rule established when the sect originally conscripted cultivators.

Zhuang Xiran's face twisted in conflict for a moment before he asked Qin Ming, "We several have discussed; given your talent in the path of spiritual plants, we still hope you will remain in our sect. Your corvée labor can also be exempted, and you may, according to your own wishes, choose to become a disciple under any elder. Will Qin Xiaoyou consider this again?"

"Thank you for Elder Zhuang's kind offer, but my mind is made up," Qin Ming rejected without hesitation.

Elder Liu also sighed, "Ai, so be it."

"Elder Gu, bring out the corvée labor agreement registry."

Hearing this, Elder Gu extremely unwillingly took out an ancient-looking jade slip, glanced at Qin Ming, and then handed it to Elder Liu.

Elder Liu scanned the corvée labor registry, then immediately struck through Qin Ming's name along with the signed agreement following it.

In some mysterious way.

Qin Ming felt that something invisible shrouding him was thoroughly cleared away.

"Qin Xiaoyou, congratulations on becoming a second-tier spiritual plant master; now that you have been exempted from our sect's corvée labor, you have restored your freedom."

"From now on, you may come or go as you please, and you shall have no further relation with our sect."

Hearing this, Qin Ming's heart surged with excitement, and he quickly bowed to Elder Liu in gratitude.

After all, this quota of his had been obtained from the other party by Chen Qiaoling.

Qin Ming already had plans for his future.

He had no intention of lingering here any longer.

Subsequently.

He paid no heed to the gazes of others.

He walked directly out of the Spirit Feather Sect's mountain gate, mounted his spiritual light shuttle, and flew toward the direction of Qingyang Market.

(End of Chapter)