Chapter 364: I Object! I Request a Duel!

Not only did Du Binqi not anticipate it, many spectators present were also unprepared.

After hours of competition, some had long been unable to hold it, assuming the event was over, and hastily left their seats to claim the best viewing spots; Lei Ting's broadcast suddenly threw them into a dilemma.

Should they hold it and keep watching, or relieve themselves in their pants and keep watching?

As for the option of going to the restroom first and returning, few considered it, because the toilets were too far away—leaving and coming back would mean the competition was already over.

The Grain Seed Competition always saves the most exciting moments for last; could one really miss the most thrilling moment of the entire day just because they had to use the toilet? After all that effort, was one really stuck in the restroom?

Experienced spectators had long prepared bottles; inexperienced ones could only face this difficult choice.

Lei Ting didn't care about any of this and continued broadcasting: "The Saltfish Team has planted Saltwater Magic Rice, a miraculous rice variety with deep ties to our Grain Seed Competition—it originates from the magic rice cultivated by Spring Wind Druid!"

Boom! A wave of noise surged through the entire arena, so sudden it produced a detonation-like effect.

Spring Wind Druid, after whom the Grain Seed Competition is named, has not been heard from in many years.

Especially last year, when Spring Wind Druid's grain yield record was broken—and simultaneously surpassed the thousand-jin threshold—people missed him even more.

Everyone believed that if Spring Wind Druid had competed in the Grain Seed Competition, he too would have broken the thousand-jin barrier; perhaps he simply had no worthy opponents and grew disillusioned with the competition, which is why he stopped participating.

After his record was broken, everyone hoped he would reappear this year with an even higher-yielding grain variety.

Instead of Spring Wind Druid, an unknown team called Saltfish appeared—and their Saltwater Magic Rice was still derived from Spring Wind Druid?

Laypeople enjoy the spectacle; experts listen for the subtleties. The term "Saltwater Magic Rice" immediately suggested deep layers of meaning.

What does "saltwater" mean?

Fortunately, Lei Ting didn't make people wait long—he continued: "Saltwater Magic Rice, as the name implies, can adapt to saline environments and be cultivated in saline-alkali land or saltwater wetlands. Its emergence is epoch-making; from today onward, saline-alkali land is no longer a cursed land."

"Whoa!"

"All coastal wetlands, inland salt lakes, islands, and other areas can now cultivate Saltwater Magic Rice. According to incomplete statistics, globally, saline-salt environments unsuitable for cultivation account for one-fifth of total arable land. If Saltwater Magic Rice is widely adopted, the world will instantly gain one-fifth more farmland, capable of feeding hundreds of millions more people."

"Whoa!"

"This is a grain variety of epoch-making significance, one capable of forcing the Grain Seed Competition to rewrite its rules, one that can establish an entirely new farming system—but…" Here, Lei Ting paused.

Teasing the crowd like this? The audience erupted again.

Seeing the crowd's anticipation sufficiently raised, Lei Ting continued: "But for the sake of fairness, this year's Grain Seed Competition will not change its rules—we will continue to determine the champion by yield per mu."

On the contestant seats and in the private boxes, every competitor, including Du Binqi, grew grim-faced. If the rules wouldn't change this year, yet Saltfish was still saved for last, did their yield exceed their own fourteen hundred jin?

Du Binqi no longer cared about the elven beauty beside him—he didn't even notice she had stopped leaning on the railing, flipped forward, transformed into an owl, and flew toward the contestant area.

Before she got close, Ang spotted her, glanced at her, recognized her, and ignored her.

The owl quickly landed, walked with an owl's gait, and slipped quietly to Elsdoria's side, climbing onto her shoulder.

Elsdoria said: "As soon as I heard 'Elven Team,' I knew it was you. Did you come alone?"

The owl whispered: "The Magic Bow siblings came with me. It's unbelievable—I brought my Elven Rice, yet I didn't even make top two."

"If a team can enter multiple crops, you might not even make top five," Elsdoria added.

The owl opened her beak and couldn't close it for a long time; Elsdoria's remark implied she had seen at least five crops with yields over twelve hundred jin per mu.

For a Druid, never having cultivated five grain varieties higher-yielding than her own was devastating.

"Turn back, won't you? Isn't the owl form uncomfortable?" Seeing Kalandael showed no intention of reverting, Elsdoria asked in confusion.

Kalandael leaned closer and whispered: "I'm afraid I'll be kicked out."

Due to past conflicts, Kalandael dared not linger near Ang and the others, fearing he'd remember what happened back then.

Elsdoria whispered: "Don't worry. My lord isn't that petty. As long as you don't burn his fields or grain, he usually ignores you."

Kalandael opened her beak again, unable to close it—Elsdoria, famously arrogant, had just called him "my lord"? And so affectionately?

"Turn back already. Your feathers are tickling me," Elsdoria said, not noticing Kalandael's expression, urging her.

"Oh." Kalandael slid down Elsdoria's shoulder, and by the time she reached the ground, she had reverted into a curvaceous elven beauty.

Lisa, seated in the front row, turned around and greeted: "Landai, long time no see."

"Oh, Lisa, long time no see—you've gotten even prettier," Kalandael exclaimed in surprise.

Wow, that one line struck straight to Lisa's heart—she beamed, nearly laughing her hair into curls: "No way, you've gotten prettier too—probably because of the Brightening Lotion. Let me tell you, this Brightening Lotion—"

After a few minutes of chatting, Kalandael sat down with Lisa, whispering and giggling about something unknown.

Now it was Elsdoria's turn to be speechless—could someone really have such strong social skills? Lisa had never been this close to her in all the time she'd been here.

The simulation array's imagery had reached its climax, but Lei Ting's voice suddenly turned somber: "Saltwater Magic Rice was Spring Wind Druid's lifelong dream. To fulfill it, he traveled mountains and rivers, measured every inch of land, seeking suitable hybrid plants. Unfortunately, he never completed this dream—he collapsed on the path of pursuing the magic rice."

"What? Spring Wind Druid died?"

"No way? Oh my god, how could this happen?"

"Impossible. Fake. Fake."

The arena erupted in sudden chaos; everyone was stunned, struggling to accept the news.

"Today, the Saltfish Team brings us Saltwater Magic Rice, developed by hybridizing Spring Wind Druid's magic rice with saltwater grass. Its arrival not only fulfills Spring Wind Druid's lifelong dream but also shatters the highest record of the Grain Seed Competition. Please look at the bar chart."

As Lei Ting spoke, the simulation data finished rendering—a brand-new bar rose above all others on the array, its peak displaying a striking number: one thousand five hundred and twelve jin.

"A new high-yield variety has emerged: Saltwater Magic Rice, brought to us by the Saltfish Team. I now declare the champion of this year's Grain Seed Competition: the Saltfish Team!"

As Lei Ting roared, a sudden burst of crackling lightning exploded in the arena, emitting dazzling light.

"I object!" A louder voice rang out across the entire arena, drowning out the dazzling light: "I challenge this result with reasonable doubt. I, Du Binqi, request a simulated duel!"

Kua Ba Da! Kua Ba Da! Simulated duel? How many years had it been since a simulated duel occurred? Oh my god, this is incredible, so dramatic—could one really witness the legendary simulated duel?

The entire arena erupted again; spectators who had endured another round through sheer willpower now faced another agonizing choice—hold it and keep watching, or relieve themselves in their pants and keep watching?

PS: Huh, it's daytime already? This sun's slacking off.