Chapter 212: More Interaction

Chapter 212: More Interaction

For the fourth event of the Opening Ceremony, students from other majors showed much less interest.

But then again, they had already fought and eaten.

By this time, even if they hadn’t received any rewards, most of the new students were quite satisfied.

So for the remaining fourth event, except for the students in the Agricultural Planting Major, it was natural for them to just watch from the audience.

On the stage, senior students started appearing one by one, each holding a special crop.

Some seniors had Martial Souls related to farming, so they directly materialized fields to display the various high-quality crops they had grown.

The most eye-catching was still the crop from Shen Mingluan’s side.

Basically, all the students in the Agricultural Planting Major were drawn to Shen Mingluan’s crop.

Wang Che also watched.

Shen Mingluan’s Martial Soul was very impressive.

It was a tranquil spring, with soil beneath it.

It seemed that the types of crops that could be planted were quite limited.

On the contrary, this tranquil spring could also grow many more powerful Soul Plants.

That crop was a rare Soul Plant that could only grow in water.

Star Spring Begonia.

It was about two meters tall, likely in its growth stage, with flower buds that sparkled like stars, emitting a spiritual and moist glow.

Its delicate fragrance even spread across most of the square.

“What plant did Senior Shen grow? Her Martial Soul looks so beautiful too!”

Many students exclaimed in amazement.

Beside the tranquil spring, there were rockeries with flowing water, patches of lush grass, and the pond shimmered with a serene light.

Compared to the simple farmland-type Martial Souls, this one had much more detail.

More details meant more variations and uses for the Martial Soul.

“I think it’s called Star Spring Begonia,”

Shui Qingling said. “I’ve seen this crop before; it’s a very rare Soul Plant. Wang Che, how much do you know about it?”

Wang Che said:

“Star Spring Begonia contains a small amount of water-attribute Life Energy in its flowers and leaves. When mature, it bears Star Spring Fruits, a rare type of fruit that contains a small amount of Soul Energy. Its roots and stems also contain a slight amount of Plant Life Energy.”

“Every part of it is useful. It’s very difficult to grow, mainly because the conditions are quite demanding. Its growth cycle is also quite long…”

Wang Che briefly explained.

Upon hearing this, everyone was amazed—so many uses!

Compared to those Soul Plants with single attributes, wasn’t this even harder to cultivate and more precious?

“I only grew some ordinary vegetables…”

Kong Shijin said awkwardly. “Now I’m too embarrassed to go on stage…”

“I didn’t grow anything…”

Yun Feimo didn’t feel embarrassed at all. “We can learn more in the future. There’s no mandatory requirement to participate, even if we haven’t grown anything. We can just watch from the sidelines.”

At this time, as the seniors displayed their crops,

new students from the Agricultural Planting Major also began to step onto the stage one after another to showcase their own works.

Since they had chosen the Agricultural Planting Major, they naturally had an interest and had come prepared.

However, most of them had only grown some flowers, plants, or various vegetation that they liked.

Most were just simple crops.

The instructors on stage would comment on the crops grown by the new students and offer some planting advice.

Those who had cultivated their crops particularly well would receive some rewards.

Shui Qingling had grown a Hundred Orchid, an edible common medicinal herb with relatively high value. It was also cultivated very well, so she received a reward from the instructor.

Apart from Shui Qingling, two other students from Class Four had also cultivated some excellent crops.

They all received rewards.

In Wang Che’s Agricultural Planting Major Class Four, more than half of the students had cultivated crops.

Most only received comments.

Only a few received rewards.

The instructors on stage were quite lenient with the new students. As long as they could spot one or two highlights, they would give out rewards.

The rewards were also quite good—they were all high-quality crop seeds. For example, Shui Qingling even received some additional excellent medicinal herb seeds.

After observing for a while, Wang Che decided to go on stage and try showcasing the White Birch Fir he had grown in the Spirit Field.

“It seems like the instructor over at Senior Shen’s side is very strict,”

Shui Qingling said. “That instructor must be a professor, and he’s very demanding. Wang Che, I suggest you give it a try. Maybe this old professor came specifically for you.”

“Whoa, no way!” Kong Shijin was shocked. “That’s so impressive!”

“I think so too. So far, it seems like no student has received a reward from this old professor,” Yun Feimo added. “There’s a good chance he came for Wang Che. Otherwise, a professor wouldn’t join our new students’ Opening Ceremony event.”

“Professors are definitely stricter than regular instructors.”

“If you put it that way, then I really have to give it a try,” Wang Che said with a smile and walked up.

Walking onto the stage, he observed the old professor up close.

The professor had black hair and a long beard on his chin. His face looked aged, but his eyes were sharp and bright. When inspecting the students’ crops, he was very serious, carefully examining every detail without missing a thing.

However, his comments were much fewer than those of the other instructors.

He was concise and to the point.

With just one or two sentences, he could make the new students understand and have a sudden realization.

His level was clearly very high.

Shen Mingluan was assisting nearby, arranging the students’ crops and extracting some key parts for the old man to inspect.

“Wang Che, what are you going to showcase?”

Shen Mingluan smiled even more brightly when she saw Wang Che come up. “This is Professor Yun from our Agricultural Planting Major.”

Professor Yun looked at Wang Che calmly, with a kind and amiable smile.

But Wang Che felt something was off.

Because, based on Wang Che’s intuition, this Professor Yun might be looking for faults with him.

‘I don’t think I’ve met Professor Yun before…’

Wang Che thought to himself. ‘Senior Shen already knows my level, so this professor should know as well. Why do I have this feeling that he wants to pick on me? Does he want to test me personally…’

Wang Che’s intuition was very accurate.

Even Shen Mingluan might not have sensed it.

Professor Yun looked at Wang Che. He indeed wanted to test him and find some flaws.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have personally come on stage.

It was not because Professor Yun was narrow-minded, but because a genius needed to be tempered.

Agricultural practice was no child’s play, and cultivating crops was different from raising Soul Pets.

This new student was too dazzling, his skill was too high, and his talent was incredibly strong.

Professor Yun worried that such a genius might find it hard to suppress his pride in the future.

His character was good now, but he was still young after all. He would inevitably face some setbacks later on, and could easily become discouraged. Professor Yun had seen too many such cases where geniuses ended up filled with regret.

That was why he needed to be tempered.

Professor Yun’s intentions were good, but…

“A tree,”

Wang Che said, “White Birch Fir.”

“White Birch Fir!” Shen Mingluan nodded slightly. She had really been afraid that Wang Che would take out some Soul Plants.

Because Soul Plants were hard to cultivate. If he had really grown one, Professor Yun would probably have picked out a lot of flaws.

As an ordinary plant, White Birch Fir was not difficult to cultivate, and its leaves were quite liked by Green Caterpillars.

The original White Birch Milk Fir Leaf was made from the raw materials of this plant, creating a high-quality staple food for Soul Pets.

With common plants, there were generally few problems when growing them.

Given Wang Che’s skill, he should have grown this plant very well.

Wang Che did not take out the entire White Birch tree, but only a small branch.

He took it out from the Little Green Onion medal, and immediately, a faint, fresh fragrance spread around.

“Eh! This is…”

Before Shen Mingluan even took it, her gaze froze.

She had seen plenty of White Birch Firs.

Many companies that produced staple food for Soul Pets grew them on a large scale.

Sometimes, when problems arose in cultivation and the Agricultural Soul Masters from the companies couldn’t solve them, they had to come to their school for advice.

But just looking at this branch, she felt something was off.

After taking it, Shen Mingluan felt even more that something was wrong.

This section of White Birch Fir branch was actually emitting a noticeable Soul Power fluctuation, and the fragrance it gave off was one Shen Mingluan had never smelled on any other White Birch Fir.

For a moment, she couldn’t quite tell if this branch was really from a White Birch Fir.

She walked over to Professor Yun, placed the branch properly on a special table.

“Professor Yun, look, it does look like White Birch Fir, but…”

Shen Mingluan thought for a moment, “But it seems a bit different…”

Professor Yun’s eyes glowed slightly as he began to examine the branch.

The more he looked, the more silent he became.

After a short while, he plucked a leaf from the branch, put it in his mouth, and chewed it.

Then, with a loosely cupped hand gesture, thin strands of Soul Power seemed to extend from his palm, enveloping the entire branch.

Seeing this, Shen Mingluan knew Professor Yun was taking it seriously.

He was using his own Soul Power and Spiritual Power to observe in minute detail.

Before, he had only needed to observe other students’ crops with his eyes.

Now he was directly using Soul Power and Spiritual Power to probe the peculiarities of this branch.

Soon, Professor Yun lowered his hand.

He began to ponder…

and pondered some more.

He found that he couldn’t find a single flaw…

Moreover, he even felt somewhat surprised!

“Professor Yun?”

After a while, Shen Mingluan reminded him.

A branch of White Birch Fir, and Professor Yun was being so serious… Could it be that this White Birch Fir had been cultivated into a Soul Plant?

Shen Mingluan seemed to realize something as well.

Professor Yun put his hand down and gently brushed it over the branch.

After thinking for a long time, he finally spoke:

“To cultivate a White Birch Fir into the simplest Soul Plant crop is quite good, but it must have taken a lot of time and effort, right?”

Shen Mingluan thought to herself, so it was true.

She looked at Wang Che with a somewhat strange expression.

“Indeed,”

Wang Che nodded.

It took me half an hour and a strand of Hundred-Tempered Soul Force—both time and effort.

“It’s rare to see a student cultivate an ordinary crop into a Soul Plant. The vitality of ordinary crops is relatively weak, making it extremely difficult for them to withstand Soul Power. So the difficulty of cultivation is very high. For Agricultural Soul Masters, it’s also a thankless task, and they basically don’t do it.”

“Only students new to the field come up with all kinds of strange ideas.”

“After so many years, to see another student do this again…”

Professor Yun sighed softly, probably recalling something, fell silent for a few seconds, then looked at Wang Che.

“Judging from the condition of this leaf, even though it has been separated from the main stem, it still maintains a rich fragrance and vigorous vitality. Besides containing basic nutrients, the leaf also contains a slight amount of Soul Power. This is already the hallmark of the lowest level of Soul Plants.”

“Very good…”

Professor Yun truly couldn’t find any flaws, so he could only say earnestly, “To have such patience and energy to cultivate an ordinary White Birch tree into a basic Soul Plant demonstrates your ability, but you must keep working hard.”

Later, Professor Yun briefly asked about the cultivation process to confirm whether the White Birch Fir had been cultivated by Wang Che himself.

Wang Che could only expand a bit on that half-hour cultivation process…

It wasn’t impossible to cultivate an ordinary crop into a Soul Plant, but the difficulty was high, and the value wasn’t great.

Why not cultivate a more valuable Soul Plant with the same time and effort?

However, cultivating ordinary crops into Soul Plants was something an excellent Agricultural Soul Master must do.

Because ordinary crops struggled to withstand the infusion of Soul Power, the most important part of the cultivation process was nurturing them with one’s own Soul Power.

Since ordinary crops couldn’t absorb Soul Power from the world around them,

they could only receive Soul Power through fertilizers or watering.

But fertilizers and watering couldn’t control the changes in Soul Power, which could easily cause the crops to die.

Only by having the Agricultural Soul Master personally use their Soul Power to nurture them could they constantly sense the condition of the crops.

The process required far more energy and time than one might imagine.

And the failure rate was very high.

Generally, similar tasks were included in the certification exams for Agricultural Soul Masters.

Professor Yun hadn’t expected that after so many years, he would see a new student capable of cultivating an ordinary crop into a Soul Plant.

Even among the Agricultural Soul Masters in their college, not many could achieve this.

However… when he thought about the fact that the other party was a genius, Professor Yun felt relieved.

“If it’s cultivated well, the reward will naturally be good too.”

Professor Yun said generously, “But you should already have several types of Soul Plant seeds. I remember from your admission information that your Martial Soul is a special architectural Martial Soul, Star Palace. It probably has little to do with agriculture. Giving you more seeds might be too much for you to handle.”

“It’s fine,” Wang Che said, “I can store them.”

“Alright then.” Professor Yun waved his hand, and a brocade box landed beside Wang Che. “Take it. Inside is a special seed. Figure it out on your own. If you can grow it, even if it’s just a sprout, I’ll have more rewards for you later.”

His planting skill was already this high, and he still had the energy and patience to cultivate an ordinary crop into a Soul Plant.

There wasn’t much more to say; he was even stronger than Mingluan.

Professor Yun guessed that this genius came to their college for these rare crop seeds.

“Thank you, Professor Yun.” Wang Che took the brocade box and stepped down from the platform.

This seed was probably not simple.

“Professor Yun, isn’t that…” Shen Mingluan looked at the brocade box in surprise. “Are you planning to let him try?”

“This champion’s talent and skill are exceptional,” Professor Yun said. “Over so many years, I estimate only that guy could compare with him… Let him give it a try.”

“Hmm… That’s true. Cultivating an ordinary crop into a Soul Plant—I’ve failed several times myself.”

Shen Mingluan nodded; she knew very well how difficult it was.

“You should interact with him more in the future,” Professor Yun said. “My intuition tells me this champion is very unusual and incredibly capable. The news Old Man Gu gathered from the Xiyue Continent is probably just the tip of the iceberg.”

“What do you think?”

Shen Mingluan thought for a moment and said, “That might not be appropriate… I’m older than him.”

“?”

Professor Yun looked at Shen Mingluan and was slightly stunned. “I meant for you to learn from him; you might gain some different insights.”

“But you’re not that young anymore, and thinking that way might be even better. Age isn’t a problem.”

“Your teacher’s wife, she’s over thirty years older than me. What’s two or three years for you?”

Shen Mingluan was speechless…