Chapter 54: A Genius Must Be Arrogant

Although Ding Hao knew the distribution of middle-grade and high-grade spirit trees, he did not find a target for cultivation and absorption. The demon trees were far in the depths of the domain, where demons and evil spirits were as numerous as cattle and sheep, with various tribes, including many cruel cultivation races. Ding Hao, at the seventh stage of innate cultivation, could not venture deep into these areas. As for high-grade spirit trees, it was even more impossible. The four great spirit trees belonged to four major merchant houses, all of which were heavily guarded, like being locked in a safe. Only the merchant house's Divine Essence Fruit Tree was planted within the merchant house, while the other three great spirit trees were unknown. The most mysterious of all, the Lustrous White Pine, had been seen by very few people, making it impossible for Ding Hao to come into contact with it.

This trip did not achieve its purpose, but Ding Hao did not leave immediately. Instead, he stayed and helped Master Liu and the others with farming. Under the sunlight, the spirit rice seemed to reflect a metallic sheen. As Ding Hao walked through the rice fields, the golden light illuminated his face.

This was the best variety of spirit rice from the Immortal Refinement World. When mature, the spirit rice would burst out of the husks, making it easy to harvest. Their seeds were multi-seasonal, allowing for harvests in all four seasons after a single planting.

"Ding Hao, over there!" Master Liu called out from the edge of the rice field.

"Coming."

"Ding Hao, I need help here too," the yellow-robed Master called from a distance.

"Coming!"

In the golden rice field, the figure of a young boy ran happily with a large yellow dog. The nearby Masters all knew Ding Hao and had a good impression of him. These Masters were all people with poor aptitude from the Nine Provinces Academy, who usually looked down on geniuses with arrogance. They had never seen a super-first-class genius like Ding Hao, who was humble and down-to-earth, and they all praised him highly.

Actually, with Ding Hao's cultivation, he could not help much. His main responsibility was to clear a type of green weed from the fields. This weed appeared when the spirit rice was about to mature. It grew close to the roots of the spirit rice, and its roots would slowly climb up the spirit rice's root system, absorbing nutrients from the spirit rice, causing the spirit rice to stop growing and produce inferior spirit rice. This weed had a very domineering name: Ancient Bait Grass. According to legend, it was one of the oldest organisms in the Nine Provinces World, making it extremely difficult to remove. It had to be manually pulled out. This weed had strong growth but no medicinal value, making it a harmful plant in the spirit fields.

In no time, Ding Hao had pulled out a large pile of Ancient Bait Grass.

"Is Ancient Bait Grass really so ancient that it has no medicinal value at all?" Ding Hao tried to absorb the spiritual energy from it, but the amount was negligible.

"It's really useless. Just dry them in the sun," Master Liu and the others said indifferently.

Although Ancient Bait Grass had no medicinal value, it had a significant use for Ding Hao. When Master Liu and the others were not paying attention, Ding Hao would grab a batch of Ancient Bait Grass and throw it into the Star Absorption Stone. In the space of the Star Absorption Stone, the short, emerald-green demon vine seemed to love eating this Ancient Bait Grass. This demon vine was a remnant of the Octopus Vine and was very picky about its food, not even liking spirit rice, but it was very fond of Ancient Bait Grass. The demon vine had a large appetite, eating whatever Ding Hao threw in, which was astonishing. Ding Hao was delighted to see that the demon vine was changing. It was not growing larger but was developing golden veins on its emerald-green body.

Ding Hao had read many books but could not find any information about this demon vine. He believed that when it grew up, it would have the power of the Octopus Vine.

While Ding Hao was helping in the spirit plant area, some people had not forgotten about him.

In a corner of the City Lord's residence, in a small courtyard.

"Du Hu, I have found out that this year's autumn hunt will take place in the Lianyun Mountain Range!" the young prince said excitedly.

Du Hu thought for a moment and said, "Based on past experience, the autumn hunt is the entry ticket to the Imperial Examination! If one does not capture enough prey during the autumn hunt, they will not qualify for the Imperial Examination! However, the autumn hunts in Wuzhou have always been near the border villages. Why is it being moved to the Lianyun Mountain Range this time?"

"It's the Chai family leading the charge," the young prince said. "The Lianyun Mountain Range is between Wuzhou and Yunzhou, and the Chai family is nearby. I don't know which Chai family member suggested combining the autumn hunts of Wuzhou and Yunzhou, but Ling Yunxiao agreed immediately."

The young prince continued, "Although it's called a joint autumn hunt, it's really a competition between the two provinces to see which side's geniuses are more powerful."

Du Hu said, "So, Young Prince, you will represent Wuzhou and help Ling Yunxiao save face?"

"Haha, what's the problem with that?" The young prince smiled slightly, but a shadow of gloom flashed in his eyes. "I have some ideas. Although the little waste has been quiet recently, I cannot ignore him. Perhaps the autumn hunt is our last chance!"

"Right!" Du Hu gritted his teeth. "Last time, that brat managed to escape by luck, and it made us look bad! This time, we can't let him off, you little beast!"

"And my fifty million silver bills!" The young prince gritted his teeth. Although he did not know how Ding Hao did it, he was certain that the silver bills had been tampered with.

"Right!"

The young prince continued, "The Lianyun Mountain Range is not our Tang family's hunting ground. Even if something happens there, Ling Yunxiao won't suspect us!"

The more the young prince thought about it, the more perfect it seemed. He said, "Go to the native city and report to the head merchant. Ask the Bamboo Demon Tribe to take action and inform Ding Juncai to return for the autumn hunt."

"The Bamboo Demon Tribe! That little waste is sure to die!" Du Hu's eyes shone with excitement, but he was also worried. "But the Lianyun Mountain Range is quite far from us. What if..."

"Don't worry about that." The young prince dismissed Du Hu, thinking to himself, "Du Hu, you don't know that our Tang family has a secret base in the Lianyun Mountain Range. When the time comes, we can attack or retreat as needed, and no one will know who did it!"

...

In the blink of an eye, Ding Hao had been in the spirit plant area for over half a month. Summer quietly ended, and autumn arrived.

"Harvest time!" A voice of excitement echoed from the rice field.

"Big Yellow, go check it out!" Ding Hao ran out of the house with Big Yellow, standing at the edge of the rice field, looking at the spirit rice in front of him. The grains of the spirit rice had all burst out of their husks, each one like a piece of crystal. The golden husks and the white, jade-like grains created a scene of "gold inlaid with jade" when the spirit rice was mature.

Master Liu and the others were also overjoyed at the sight of the harvest. These were the fruits of their labor, and it was natural to be happy when one's efforts bore fruit, even for the Masters.

"The Spirit Rice Hall has sent someone!" At this moment, a beam of light flew from the distance.

The light was even more dazzling in the sunlight, and Ding Hao had to shield his eyes with his hand. Soon, the light stopped in front of everyone, and Ding Hao saw that it was a flying sword. This was the first time Ding Hao had seen a flying sword being ridden. The sword was over three feet long and wider than a person's foot. A young man in green stood on the sword, expressionless.

"I've heard about riding a flying sword, and it's really like this, so cool!" Ding Hao looked at the young man, his eyes filled with admiration.

In fact, it was not just him; all the farming Masters were also envious. This flying sword was not a regular flying sword but a flying spirit weapon called the Airborne Spirit Sword, which was extremely valuable. Using an Airborne Spirit Sword required a lot of mental energy, and one had to master the object control technique to perfection. Therefore, only Masters who had reached the late Qi Cultivation stage could use it.

Most of the farming Masters were at the early or mid stages, so seeing the Airborne Spirit Sword, they were all envious, dreaming of the day when they would reach the required cultivation and could also ride a sword through the air.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Wan." Master Liu and the others all bowed in respect.

Although Master Liu and the others were older, in the world of cultivation, cultivation level was paramount. No matter how old one was, if their cultivation level was lower, they had to address those with higher cultivation as "Senior Brother." If the other person was one level higher, they would be called "Senior Uncle."

Seeing the farming Masters, who were all covered in dirt, Senior Brother Wan stood high above them, his gaze sweeping over everyone with disdain. The farming Masters here were all those with poor aptitude, who relied on hard work. Although they could eventually enter the Immortal Refinement World, Senior Brother Wan knew that they would still be farming there.

Senior Brother Wan, a true genius, would not bother with these people. After scanning the area, he did not even hum, and with a disdainful look, he patted his spirit treasure pouch, taking out a half-green, half-yellow large gourd. He shouted, "Jungshan Treasure Gourd, collect!"

Then, the half-green, half-yellow gourd grew larger, flying over an acre of spirit rice field, its mouth facing down. The grains of spirit rice, which had burst out of their husks, were all sucked up and collected in the gourd.

In no time, the nearby spirit rice fields were harvested, and the treasure gourd returned to Senior Brother Wan's hand. He then flew to the next harvest site, and Master Liu and the others all loudly bid him farewell, "Senior Brother Wan, have a safe trip."

Senior Brother Wan, who had not spoken a word to the other Masters from start to finish, seemed very arrogant. After he left, Ding Hao could not help but say, "Senior Brother Wan is so arrogant."

Master Liu and the others laughed, "Which genius isn't arrogant? You haven't been to the Nine Provinces Academy yet. When you get there, you'll see that the geniuses in the academy are all more arrogant than the last! Senior Brother Wan is already one of the better ones. If you encounter someone with a bad temper, you'll just have to listen to their scolding and insults."

Ding Hao was surprised, "How can that be?"

Master Liu said, "Many of the elders in the Nine Provinces Academy believe that geniuses must be arrogant and proud. Those who are not arrogant and proud are mediocre. Only by bringing out their arrogance and pride can a genius unleash their full potential."

"Is that so." Ding Hao thought to himself, "Should I be a bit more arrogant in the future?" With this thought, he adjusted his Zangyuan Technique, revealing his cultivation level of the fifth stage of innate cultivation.

"Well, the fifth stage of innate cultivation doesn't seem to be enough to be arrogant."

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