Chapter 377: Chen Banxia and Zhang Suannai's Graduation Defense

"..."

Zhang Suannai also fell silent, secretly glancing at them.

Did the effect seem not very good?

Forget it, forget it, let's just pretend nothing happened just now.

Zhang Suannai kept her head down, walking along with her little sister as if nothing were the matter, following behind them to buy groceries, and then returning together to cook.

The table was full of delicious dishes, the aroma hitting the nose.

"Let's count this meal as my birthday feast; I have classes all day on my actual birthday and won't have time to cook for you all," Chen Shu said. A rough man, he didn't actually care much about birthdays, seeing them as nothing more than an excuse to have a meal with people he was close to.

"How old are you?" Zhang Suannai asked.

"24."

"You've turned it?"

"In two days."

"I didn't expect that even though your cultivation is just so-so, you're a few months older than me," Zhang Suannai picked up her chopsticks, then paused, "Though, being able to reach Sixth Stage Peak at 24 is considered a rare genius in this day and age. Of course, you don't have to compare yourself to me."

"..."

"Shut your mouth," Chen Banxia said to Zhang Suannai, "Shall we have a drink?"

"Sure."

Zhang Suannai had a sudden flash of inspiration; she agreed readily, then froze, frowning as she said, "Oh, I forgot, I've already advanced to the Seventh Stage. I can't get drunk on this Spirit Wine meant for Intermediate Cultivators anymore, and it's no fun to drink..."

"Go drink pee then!" Chen Banxia rolled her eyes in speechlessness, "That's got a kick!"

"Hmm..."

Zhang Suannai shook her head, not bothering to argue with her.

This person was just jealous that she was Seventh Stage.

She then continued to eat.

Today, Chen Shu had made her favorite Yuer Chicken. This time it was a brand-new version, no longer the spicy red oil flavor, but a sour and spicy one—still using taro and chicken as the main ingredients, but with pickled vegetables and rehydrated dried bamboo shoots added. The soup was noticeably more abundant, but it was just as delicious.

"This taro is so soft! It's hard to pick up!" Zhang Suannai said, "Good thing I'm already Seventh Stage; my control has become much better!"

"I didn't see you having trouble picking it up before?" Chen Shu's eye twitched.

"Hey! That's because you weren't looking! I'm picking it up much more easily now!" Zhang Suannai explained to him, "Sigh, I'm telling you now but you won't understand. You'll naturally understand in two years when you advance to the Seventh Stage too."

"..."

Chen Shu exchanged a look with Qingqing and Xiaoxiao, communicating their thoughts to each other without saying a word.

As they ate, Zhang Suannai started acting up again.

"Look at my thumb!"

Zhang Suannai held her chopsticks, but her thumb was stretched out long, probably ten centimeters, and it had thickened too. She wiggled it left and right: "Is it poisoned? How did it become like this? Eh, it's back to normal! Haha, didn't expect that, did you?"

Yes—

After reaching the High-Tier, a Cultivator's control over their own body becomes very strong, even allowing them to freely change their height and appearance.

Changing a specific body part was even less of a challenge.

This person was still showing off, still acting smug.

But as for this method...

Chen Shu couldn't help but secretly glance at Qingqing.

Ning Qing's face instantly turned frosty.

"!"

Chen Shu withdrew his gaze and glanced at the little girl.

The little girl was staring intently at Zhang Suannai, her eyes full of fighting spirit. Seeing this, Zhang Suannai only thought she was surprised by her, and in order to turn her little roommate into her little fan, she performed it a few more times.

Over the course of the meal, Zhang Suannai showed off more than a dozen times; who knows where she came up with so many ways to show off.

Not long after the afternoon ended—

Chen Shu was still sitting on the swing in the courtyard, admiring the flowers filling the yard and basking in the warm spring sun, when his Mobile Phone began to vibrate.

"Buzz, buzz."

There was a new message in the Ancient Cultivation Group.

Grandma Always Says: 【Image】

Grandma Always Says: 【Image】

Grandma Always Says: Lunch today, made with greens. The first one was just served, the second one is after we finished. Haha, ate it clean, I ate half of it myself.

Grandma Always Says: The appetite is just good after advancing to the Seventh Stage.

Haoran Righteousness: Looks very appetizing.

Gate of All Wonders: +1

Gate of All Wonders: Senior Brother, look quickly at that Braised Pork @Green Lamp Ancient Buddha

Green Lamp Ancient Buddha: /Bodhisattva facing tribulation, expression complex

Suddenly Standing Still: Brother Chen's culinary skills are top-notch.

Grandma Always Says: Chen Shu said today counts as his 24th birthday feast. Tsk tsk tsk, at 24 he's already at Sixth Stage Peak, may I ask about you all? I'm not asking you to be like me and reach Seventh Stage at 24, but at least you shouldn't be only Sixth Stage at twenty-five or twenty-six, right?

Haoran Righteousness: /Expression complex

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: It's been a day.

Grandma Always Says: What's been a day?

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: It's been going on for a day.

Gate of All Wonders: +1

Haoran: Is there really no one who can deal with her?

Gateway to All Mysteries: +1

Green Lamp Ancient Buddha: Amitabha, this humble monk has calculated, perhaps two benefactors have a way.

Haoran: @Gateway to All Mysteries

Gateway to All Mysteries: @Qingcai Keke @Zhaoye Qing

Grandma Always Says: Why look for them? It's useless to look for them! Didn't they also fail to promote to the Seventh Stage? I tell you all, instead of being envious and jealous, you might as well start working hard like me from today and promote to the Seventh Stage sooner.

Haoran: /expression complex

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: @Qingcai Keke @Zhaoye Qing

Seeing this, Chen Shu immediately understood that it was time for him to make an appearance, so he typed immediately.

Qingcai Keke: Here, here.

Grandma Always Says: Why are you here?

Grandma Always Says: /alert

Qingcai Keke: After you promoted to the Seventh Stage yesterday, were you delirious and did you do anything stupid?

Grandma Always Says: No, I just fell asleep.

Grandma Always Says: /doubly alert

Qingcai Keke: Who watched over you?

Grandma Always Says: Your sister.

Grandma Always Says: /extremely alert

Qingcai Keke: What a coincidence, I was idle yesterday and missed my sister, so I wanted to start a video call with her, but she didn't agree, then I made a voice call and she finally agreed, but I didn't expect that as soon as it connected, I heard strange sounds coming from the other end of the phone.

Grandma Always Says has exited the group chat.

Qingcai Keke: I even recorded it, do you want to hear it?

Haoran: /eating melon seeds

"??"

Chen Shu was full of question marks.

What does this mean?

Is she that decisive?

I haven't even said anything yet.

Green Lamp Ancient Buddha: Amitabha, it seems that after promoting to the Seventh Stage, Benefactor Grandma's reaction has become much faster.

Haoran: That...

Gateway to All Mysteries: The voice recording...

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: Are you still sending it?

"These two bootlickers."

Chen Shu shook his head and went offline directly.

He had said that to sanction Zhang Suannai, and since the goal had been achieved, if he could disgust the group members as well, it was undoubtedly an unexpected gain. So let them struggle with it.

"Bzz bzz bzz bzz..."

The Mobile Phone vibrated like a massage wand.

Chen Shu ignored it entirely and got up to prune flowers with Qingqing.

Mid-March, Yujing Academy.

In a multimedia classroom, many industry bigwigs in pharmacy were sitting below.

Actually, saying the Dean opened the Heaven Gate for Chen Banxia with a Sword was just a joke. Chen Banxia has become very famous in the pharmacy world over the past two years. Everyone knows that she has successively cracked multiple traditional prescriptions, including the Fifth Stage Secret Sect formula Auxiliary Potion, and has improved and self-developed many prescriptions. At the same time, she has also solved several technical problems in the industry, and the papers she published have caused sensations in international pharmacy journals more than once. In terms of achievements alone, she even surpasses most of the judges present, and she is truly a top-tier genius of the new generation in the pharmacy world. Everyone knows and recognizes her academic level.

Such a person, even if she had no relationship with the academic cliques in the pharmacy world, or even worked against them, getting a Doctoral Degree would be easy.

It would be a laughingstock if she couldn't get it.

So, under the gaze of the Dean, Chen Banxia, wearing a white shirt, walked onto the stage with a sweet smile, full of youthful spirit.

After some operations, she opened the presentation.

"Hello, judges. I am Zhang Suannai. My thesis topic is 'A Study on the Fighting Methods of Traditional Sword Cultivators against Wangting Sword Sect Cultivators'. Since our major is oriented towards practical combat, and this is a thesis oriented towards practical combat explanation, and most of the content of this thesis comes from my own practical experience, please allow me to introduce myself first to increase its persuasiveness." Zhang Suannai looked at the judges below. Most of the judges were Outer Sect Disciples or Inner Sect Disciples of the Sword Sect, whose seniority was not as high as hers, and a small number had no relationship with the Sword Sect.

If you think these judges from the Sword Sect would show mercy or even be biased towards her just because she is their "Junior Aunt," "Grand-Junior Aunt," "Saintess," or "Future Sword Master," then you are very wrong.

How cool it is to make things difficult for the Sword Master's Personal Disciple, to make things difficult for a core disciple, to make things difficult for the sect's Saintess, and to make things difficult for the future Sword Master.

"I have already entered the Seventh Stage."

Zhang Suannai showed them her Spirit Power; the High-Tier Spirit Power Quality could not be faked.

There was an immediate uproar below.

Everyone opened their eyes wide, unable to believe it.

Seeing this, Zhang Suannai curled her lips into a smile and continued: "I am the last closed-door disciple of the contemporary Sword Master, and the number one genius in the history of the Sword Sect. During the winter break, I specifically sought out the closed-door disciple of the Wangting Sword King and had a fight, the purpose of which was to write this thesis, so there is no need to doubt its persuasiveness."

"Don't be too arrogant!" a Sword Sect judge said; he believed that he himself was the number one genius in the history of the Sword Sect.

"Who won in the end?" another judge asked.

"Does that even need to be asked?" Zhang Suannai did not answer directly, "Have you heard that she is Seventh Stage?"

"Ahem!"

The advisor gave Zhang Suannai a look: "Be respectful to the judges, don't talk nonsense, start speaking directly."

"Alright, alright."

Zhang Suannai nodded repeatedly, but the sense of self-inflation brought about after advancing to the Seventh Stage still made her add: "Since this thesis leans toward practical combat, if any judge has objections to my theory, we can head outside the city after the defense concludes to exchange pointers."

The faces of the judges all turned dark.

"All you teachers are very professional, so I will skip the introduction regarding Traditional Sword Cultivators and Wangting Sword Sect members and go straight to the main points," Zhang Suannai said. "I personally believe that when a Traditional Sword Cultivator battles a Wangting Sword Sect member, assuming other conditions are equal, it is almost a fifty-fifty split. However, how can one utilize technical combat skills to increase the win rate against Wangting Sword Sect members? I have pondered this for a long time..."

The judges were initially unimpressed, even disdainful, but as they listened, their expressions gradually grew solemn.

The quality of this thesis was very high.

There was not a single flowery word in what Zhang Suannai said; from the fighting habits of both sides to the common tactics used in their duels, she analyzed the pros and cons in detail, finally arriving at the optimal solution for battling Wangting Sword Sect members, with every sentence hitting the mark.

The only drawback was that the data calculations were insufficient and the references were lacking, making it not very persuasive to ordinary learners.

However, everyone present was an expert, so naturally, they knew the truth as soon as they heard it.

As for the issue of persuasiveness...

Considering that Zhang Suannai was the Saintess of the Sword Sect, the youngest Seventh Stage Sword Cultivator in history, and had reached it decades earlier than the runner-up, she was inherently very persuasive. At worst, once she became a Ninth Stage or even a Sword God in the future, what would data and references matter?

Chen Banxia's presentation reached the final page.

While others' presentations ended with phrases like "Thank you for attending, teachers, please provide your guidance and criticism," Chen Banxia had only a dry "Thank you to all experts for attending and listening," which was extremely casual.

"That concludes my thesis presentation. Regarding the improved formula for the Qingling Pill, it has already been recognized and adopted by the Blue Light Company. If any experts are interested, you can keep an eye on Qingling Pill products on the market later; those produced after June of this year by the Blue Light Company use my improved formula. I have also already applied for a patent for the Pill formula... Do the experts have any further questions?"

The people below looked at one another in dismay.

No one made a sound.

Some even subconsciously avoided eye contact when Chen Banxia looked toward them, as if afraid she might ask them a question.

Zhang Suannai had also finished speaking.

On the Wall Projector were only two large characters:

"The End"

Zhang Suannai swept her gaze across the judges below and saw them either wearing expressions of deep thought, or looking shocked, excited, or even eager to try, as if they wanted to go find a Wangting Sword Sect member to fight right away, and she knew in her heart—

This thesis was a sure thing!

At the very least, the first step she had envisioned—shocking all the judges, mentors, and students—had already been accomplished.