Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

The third-quarter assessment for the Spirit Farm had finally arrived.

If the yield per mu of a first-grade Spirit Farm reached or exceeded one thousand jin, the cultivator could become a formal disciple and officially join the [Cloud Sea Sect].

Everyone rose early in the morning.

They all stood on the ridges between the fields, waiting with bated breath.

Seeing that Wang Hu, who was conducting the assessment, hadn’t arrived yet, Jiang Chen sat cross-legged, attempting to cultivate.

In the previous three months, aided by the powerful effects of reaching the Third Layer of the [Evergreen Art], the spiritual energy within his body had grown to five strands, distributed among his limbs and lumbar spine.

The benefits this brought were obvious.

He no longer needed to touch each spirit plant individually to check its condition. He only needed to release his spiritual energy, and it would envelop a five-meter radius, allowing him to effortlessly understand the condition of the plants. He could even predict any changes that would occur within the next three days.

Unfortunately, during the harvest stage, the concentration of wood-attributed spiritual energy in the air was extremely thin. After several attempts, he found cultivation too slow and ultimately had to give up.

“Fortunately, the focus this time isn’t on spiritual energy.” Jiang Chen looked out at the Spirit Farm before him.

Over these three months, under his meticulous care, the Spirit Rice had grown exceptionally well.

Each grain was particularly plump, and the golden-yellow ears swayed in the wind, creating rippling waves of gold.

Seeing this filled him with joy, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

“Senior Brother Wang Hu and Senior Brother Chen Bo are here!”

“The third person is quite unfamiliar!”

Not long after, Wang Hu, Chen Bo, and a newly arrived formal disciple appeared before the crowd.

“Everyone, this is Senior Brother Luo from Beast Mountain!” Wang Hu introduced the stranger while his gaze swept over the crowd.

It quickly locked onto Jiang Chen.

He had expected the other party to be nervous. But instead, he found that, compared to the others, this guy was remarkably calm.

Could it be that he had accepted his fate?

“Senior Brother Luo!” Jiang Chen and the others bowed respectfully with clasped hands.

Luo Tie spoke indifferently. “Junior Brothers, I will be weighing your Spirit Rice for you all this time.”

With a casual flick of his sleeve, a ring flew out.

It spun with a diliuliu sound in the air a few times. The next second, a golden shadow shot out from within it. As it landed with incredible speed, it simultaneously expanded.

With a loud bang, a massive Gold Toad appeared on the field ridge.

Its entire body shone with golden light, and its back was covered with round, rolling golden beads.

“A spirit beast!” Like those around him, Jiang Chen instinctively took a step back upon seeing it.

Luo Tie explained, “Everyone harvest your own crops. When finished, call out once. Lord Gold will automatically swallow your harvested Spirit Rice into its stomach. Then we’ll know how many jin of Spirit Rice were produced.”

“Understood!” The crowd exclaimed in amazement, nodding their heads.

Jiang Chen felt a sliver of relief in his heart.

Last time, the person conducting the assessment had been a disciple with a metal spiritual root. That man hadn’t needed anyone to lift a finger; with a casual wave, the entire harvest was done in minutes.

If it were still that person this time, Jiang Chen would have no way to harvest Lifespan.

Wang Hu couldn’t be bothered to waste words and urged impatiently, “Begin.”

Immediately, all the Outer Peak disciples undergoing assessment picked up their sickles and sprang into action.

Jiang Chen was the most diligent among them.

Every time the system prompt sounded in his mind, he felt a rush of excitement.

If not for the worry of arousing suspicion, he would have harvested all the Spirit Rice without resting at all. But to keep a low profile, he maintained the same pace as those around him.

Wang Hu asked with a half-smile, “Fellow Daoist Luo, how many people do you think will become formal disciples this time?”

Luo Tie pondered and said, “There are three hundred people being assessed. It would be good if ten become formal.”

“And you, Fellow Daoist Chen?” Wang Hu then looked toward the permanent overseer of another section of the Spirit Farm.

Chen Bo replied, “Four or five.”

Wang Hu only came occasionally. Luo Tie only came during assessments. Compared to the other two, Chen Bo was the most familiar with the situation on the Spirit Farm. He often patrolled privately and naturally knew who was likely to pass and who wasn’t.

“Lin An counts as one,” Chen Bo said with a shrug.

Wang Hu raised an eyebrow. “I remember that guy. He also only has one assessment chance left. I heard some time ago he actually sought out disciples with earth and water spiritual roots to cooperate?”

It should be known that the Spirit Farm was far from both the [Earth Vein] and [Rain Pavilion]. Moreover, seeking them out meant depending on their goodwill.

Originally, this Lin An had also been on Wang Hu’s radar. He had probed him privately several times, thinking the other party would agree to become a tenant farmer. Unexpectedly, Lin An took a different path—one could even say he went to extremes.

“And…” Chen Bo’s gaze had already locked onto Jiang Chen. But as if remembering something, and after glancing at Wang Hu’s piercing look beside him, he shook his head. “Let’s wait for the final results.”

He knew perfectly well what shady dealings Wang Hu engaged in privately.

In fact, every formal disciple who took on assessment tasks did this. This kind of exploitation had almost become an unspoken rule on the Spirit Farm; everyone tacitly accepted it.

Time passed quickly.

Those who finished harvesting called for Lord Gold one after another.

“Zhang Bensan: eight hundred jin of Spirit Rice. Assessment failed!”

“Zhao Ziyao: one thousand jin of Spirit Rice. Assessment successful!”

The assessment of three hundred people lasted from sunrise until dusk.

Seeing that it was getting late, finally only three people remained.

Among them were Jiang Chen and Lin An.

Actually, the harvesting had finished long ago. It was mainly the queuing that wasted so much time.

“My turn.” Lin An watched Lord Gold getting closer and closer, his breathing becoming rapid.

Wang Hu teased with a half-smile, “Junior Brother Lin An, you went through so much trouble finding earth and water spiritual root disciples to help. Isn’t passing this assessment practically guaranteed?”

“Uh.” Upon hearing this, Lin An’s expression changed slightly; he lowered his head, not daring to look at Wang Hu.

At that moment, Lord Gold approached.

It quickly extended its golden tongue, whoosh, rolling up Lin An’s Spirit Rice into its mouth.

Soon after, the golden beads on its back swelled up one after another.

It didn’t stop until eleven beads appeared.

Luo Tie announced clearly, “Eleven golden beads represent one thousand one hundred jin of Spirit Rice. Assessment successful!”

“Finally… sob sob!” Upon hearing this, Lin An immediately knelt on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

To become a formal disciple, he had given up fifty percent of his future harvests. If he had failed, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

Fortunately, he succeeded.

“Congratulations,” Jiang Chen thought, empathizing deeply.

“Next is…” Wang Hu looked at the remaining two people.

“My turn!” At that moment, the other person stepped forward first.

“Zhao Ying, right?” Wang Hu remembered this person because they’d spoken privately before.

Zhao Ying said meaningfully, “Senior Brother Wang, I agree.”

“We’ll talk later.” However, Wang Hu didn’t show any obvious reaction.

At that moment, Lord Gold used its tongue to roll up the Spirit Rice ahead into its mouth.

The golden beads on its back began to swell up.

One after another, they appeared, but stopped after the ninth bead.

This meant Zhao Ying only produced nine hundred jin of Spirit Rice.

Less than one thousand jin meant the assessment failed.

This also foretold that he couldn’t become a formal disciple!