Zhao Xing's actions on the grass field caught the attention of the three examiners aboard the flying vessel.
He was the first to react, quickly starting to make scarecrows, and both his speed and the quality of his creations were quite impressive.
While the scarecrows made by others swayed unsteadily, Zhao Xing's scarecrows could run and jump, appearing lively and vivid.
"Mm? The Liu Chuan Eighty-One Method, is this child an official under Lord Gao or Lord Tang?" Chen Shijie inquired.
Gao Linong and Tang Wanchun exchanged glances, as they were not fully versed in the method and did not recognize it at first, let alone teach it; they themselves wouldn’t know how to instruct.
"He is not one of my officials."
"Nor mine."
"Oh? This child's scarecrow technique is quite exquisite, but I wonder whose official he truly is."
Tang Wanchun pondered, "The complete Liu Chuan Eighty-One Method, aside from Lord Chen, I suspect only Xue Wenzhong from the Agricultural Affairs Bureau would know it."
Chen Shijie nodded slightly; Xue Wenzhong had been in charge of the Agricultural Affairs Bureau for over sixty years, so it was reasonable for him to know a bit more.
With this reminder, Gao and Tang began to observe Zhao Xing closely.
Unexpectedly, they soon witnessed Zhao Xing competing for straw, throwing stones at others, and forcing his colleagues back.
Gao Linong snorted, "Hmph, this person has a stubborn temperament; for a bundle of straw, he actually resorts to violence against his colleagues. Truly disgraceful."
Tang Wanchun glanced at him in silence, watching Chen Shijie's reaction. Just moments ago, Chen had praised this young official, and Gao's contrary remarks seemed rather inconsiderate.
Chen Shijie said lightly, "An official in charge of agriculture competes with nature for resources; having some sharpness is quite normal. Just like the official Li Chengfeng under Lord Gao, I see he is quite ostentatious usually."
Gao Linong's eyelids twitched, realizing he had misspoken. Even if he thought that way, he shouldn't have said it out loud.
"Lord Chen's insight is profound; perhaps I have viewed it too superficially. Moreover, he arrived at that straw pile first, so he was indeed in the right."
What does it mean for a higher official to suppress a lower one? This is it.
Chen Shijie gave a slight reprimand, and Gao Linong immediately agreed, as he was a subordinate and Chen Shijie was the superior.
Zhao Xing was completely unaware of the discussions among the three examiners. After using up the third straw pile, he finally left the grass field.
At this point, the number of scarecrow puppets he had created had reached seventy-six!
Under pressure, he became even more dedicated, and by the time he finished the sixtieth scarecrow, the proficiency of the [Revivifying Scarecrow] had surpassed 1000, reaching the level of 'First Transformation Spell.'
The last sixteen scarecrows were faster, more agile, and stronger.
"Almost done."
By the edge of the responsibility field, seventy-six scarecrows stepped into the field, holding bamboo poles and standing like soldiers ready for battle.
Zhao Xing glanced at his vital Qi levels.
It had fallen below 50.
"Given the current situation, the [Cloud Walking] and [Thunder Striking] spells won't last much longer. Maintaining these two spells consumes far more than the scarecrows."
After all, scarecrows were supported by materials; once created, they did not require additional vital Qi, while [Cloud Walking] and [Thunder Striking] consumed significantly more.
However, Zhao Xing decided to continue pushing through until he could no longer hold on.
Scarecrows were certainly not as effective as [Cloud Walking] and [Thunder Striking], and there would definitely be many mistakes.
…………
In the first quarter of the Xiaoshu assessment, [Cloud Walking] and [Thunder Striking] had blocked nearly all the 'Grain-Eating Birds.'
In the second quarter, the scarecrows arrived at the responsibility field to wait.
In the third quarter, the frequency of thunder weakened, and some Grain-Eating Birds began to break through the clouds to devour the vital rice, but were stopped by the scarecrows.
In the fourth quarter, thunder had been completely abandoned by Zhao Xing, who only used [Cloud Walking] to block the Grain-Eating Birds. One-third of them managed to break through, and the scarecrows began to drive them away with all their might.
In the fifth quarter, the scarecrows managed to knock down quite a few Grain-Eating Birds, but five scarecrows were also destroyed.
In the sixth quarter, one-third of the Grain-Eating Birds that had not been fed flew away, but the number of destroyed scarecrows had reached twenty-five.
In the seventh quarter, [Cloud Walking] shrank, and under the scorching heat, Zhao Xing's vital Qi gradually waned. He used the scarecrows to attract the Grain-Eating Birds away, as the materials of the scarecrows were made from vital rice stalks, which were the parts the Grain-Eating Birds loved to eat, but as a result, he lost over half of the scarecrows.
In the eighth quarter, [Cloud Walking] shrank by half again, exposing half of the field. Zhao Xing ordered all the scarecrows to become 'sacrifices,' allowing the remaining Grain-Eating Birds to feast, while the field below began to suffer damage.
From the ninth quarter onward, a bell rang in the sky, and all the Grain-Eating Birds in the public field flew away, disappearing into the white clouds.
"Hu~hu~"
Zhao Xing was parched and drenched in sweat.
But he could not afford to think about that; he hurried to check the condition of the responsibility field.
"The southern half-acre suffered the most damage, as it was exposed the earliest and was used as a sacrifice, drawing everything here."
"The other few acres, however, suffered only minor losses."
Zhao Xing walked around and felt a slight sense of relief.
Looking at the scarecrows, only eight remained, each with damage. If it weren't for these eight scarecrows having reached 'First Transformation' strength, they would have collapsed long ago.
"It's over; we can rest now." Zhao Xing waved his hand, and the remaining eight scarecrows lost their luster and fell to the edge of the field.
The heat was unbearable, and after an hour of intense battle, Zhao Xing felt utterly exhausted, wishing he could fall asleep immediately.
Around him, the cries of the officials filled the air.
Due to this assessment, the difficulty was much greater than before, and many people's responsibility fields suffered heavy losses.
The vast majority had lost more than half, with some even completely devoured.
"More than a month of hard work, just like that?"
"Those damned Grain-Eating Birds, how despicable!"
"Sigh, lacking skill, who can I blame? I guess I’ll just have to wait for the retest."
"A retest will only yield a C grade at best, just passing. It’s a waste of effort; how will we cope with the next assessment?"
"How can it be so easy to become a ninth-grade official? The Agricultural Affairs Bureau is decent, with only over five hundred people vying for three to five spots, but the East Lake Army's ninth-grade deputy generals have three to five thousand people competing for a single spot!"
"Don't even mention joining the military; the craftsmen in the Heavenly Workshop also have nearly a thousand people competing."
"I wish I were a daughter; I heard the competition in the Weaving Workshop isn't as fierce."
"Ugh~ you have no ambition at all."
"……"
At that moment, dark clouds suddenly filled the sky, and rain began to fall.
"Pat pat pat~"
The raindrops started sparse and small but quickly became large and dense.
The temperature in the air dropped sharply.
Zhao Xing sat down in the field, letting the rain wash over him.
The rainstorm came quickly and left just as fast.
It was evidently controlled by someone.
The officials were given a quarter of an hour to recover, and then the sky suddenly cleared, the dark clouds turning into white clouds, returning to the normal Xiaoshu season.
A flying vessel descended from the clouds to the grass field, with three people standing at the bow: the head of the Agricultural Affairs Bureau, Chen Shijie, and his two deputies, Gao Linong and Tang Wanchun.
"They're here; they must be announcing the results of the Xiaoshu assessment." Zhao Xing perked up and moved closer to the grass field.
(End of Chapter)