wavenovel Chapter 108 Bamboo Cutting Assessment
Chapter 108 Bamboo Cutting Assessment
At the foot of Qingzhu Mountain, below the Hanging Bamboo Slope.
Countless emerald bamboos grow on the slope, covering the foot of the mountain, stretching as far as the eye can see.
The bamboo here comes in many varieties and comes from different years.
Therefore, it is also one of the best locations for the bamboo-cutting assessment in previous years.
The foreman, leading more than 20 new bamboo cutters who were participating in the assessment, arrived at this place.
"Alright, the place at the foot of the Hanging Bamboo Slope is where you will be tested on your bamboo-cutting skills today." The middle-aged manager casually picked up a bamboo stalk, weighed it in his hand, and said, "My Zhou family has never taken in useless people. If you fail this test, then go back to where you came from."
Upon hearing the foreman's words, the bamboo cutters all tensed up, but a hint of anticipation flickered in their eyes.
Although failing the assessment to become a permanent employee would result in being expelled from the Zhou family, by the same token, if the assessment were successful and the employee became a formal bamboo cutter, the original temporary treatment would double.
Four spirit stones a month! That's a huge sum of money for ordinary rogue cultivators like them.
The steward looked at the green bamboo in his hand, then looked up and glanced at the crowd behind him, getting a clear look at their expressions.
"I don't need to go into details about how good the benefits will be for my Zhou family after I become a permanent employee. But I still want to remind you that the success rate for becoming a permanent employee in previous years was only one in five. It would be good if six out of the 30 of you could be retained."
"To truly pass the test, you have to rely on your real skills and techniques in cutting bamboo. Don't worry about anything else."
The middle-aged manager had a serious expression and gave everyone a special warning before the assessment.
In previous years, there were always some cunning and lazy youngsters trying to take advantage of loopholes. To prevent any accidents from happening this year, he went to great lengths.
With renewed vigor, Run-Knife Rat followed the middle-aged steward through the bamboo forest and together they arrived at an open area on Hanging Bamboo Slope.
The middle-aged manager pointed to the surrounding bamboo grove and began to explain the content of the assessment.
As the saying goes, the greatest truths are the simplest.
The bamboo-cutting test naturally assesses a cultivator's bamboo-cutting skills.
Therefore, the real assessment only has this one core element.
The specific task is to use a given iron axe to cut down three frost-jointed bamboo stalks within a time limit of one incense stick, ensuring the cuts are clean and the roots are undamaged so that the bamboo can regenerate.
Run-knife Rat knew that although it seemed like just cutting three frost-jointed bamboo stalks in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the actual difficulty was not small.
First, when it comes to cutting down the frost-jointed bamboo, observation should be given priority over cutting.
Frosty bamboo looks very similar to ordinary bamboo, but the difference lies in the fact that there are barely visible frost patterns at the bamboo nodes, which need to be carefully identified in the morning light.
Coincidentally, at the foot of the Hanging Bamboo Slope, Frosty Joint Bamboo and ordinary Spirit Bamboo grow together, and cultivators can easily mistake them and cut them down by mistake.
Once such a mistake occurs, there will definitely not be enough time afterwards.
If you barely pass this stage, but your subsequent cutting skills aren't refined enough, you'll still be eliminated.
Frost-jointed bamboo is three times harder than ordinary bamboo. A few blows with an ordinary iron axe will dull the blade, and the roots are fragile and will crack if too much force is used.
This meant that the cultivator had to use just the right amount of force to cut the three frost-jointed bamboo stalks in one stroke.
If you don't control your strength, it's easy to end up in the embarrassing situation of losing your axe halfway through chopping bamboo.
The middle-aged manager waved his sleeve, and a wooden table and a stick of incense appeared in the open space.
A flame appeared at his fingertips as he addressed the crowd: "The rules have been clearly stated. I will be waiting for you here in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."
Having said that, the flame drifted over the incense and candles and lit them.
The bamboo cutters immediately rushed into the bamboo forest and began searching for suitable frost-jointed bamboo.
Run-Knife Rat led a few people away first, and then deliberately chose to go to the side with fewer people.
He has his own secret method for finding frost-jointed bamboo.
Once the knife-wielding rat was sure no one was around, a small, snow-white mouse suddenly darted out from his sleeve.
"Little White, quickly sniff out the scent of the Frosty Bamboo," said the Knife-Wielding Mouse.
Little White nodded and jumped directly to the ground.
It sniffed with its little nose and quickly found its target.
The little white mouse ran wildly, heading straight for the third green bamboo in front of the knife mouse.
On the other side, in the open area below the hanging bamboo slope.
The middle-aged manager was still waiting for everyone to return. Based on his observations over the past few days, this batch of candidates was quite good, and he estimated that the pass rate should be higher than in previous years.
If there were eight or nine of them, not only would the bamboo cutters be able to get promoted, but his position as deputy supervisor would also have a chance to be promoted.
Thinking this, the middle-aged manager couldn't help but smile, feeling great.
Just then, a man in a blue robe slowly emerged from the bamboo forest.
The emerald shadows of bamboo leaves cascaded behind the man in the blue robe, adding a touch of ethereal beauty.
After the middle-aged manager saw the man's face clearly, his pupils contracted slightly, and he was taken aback.
But he immediately bowed respectfully and clasped his hands in greeting: "This humble servant greets Lord Qingshan. May I ask what brings Lord Qingshan to the assessment site?"
But after he finished speaking, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
This was because his master, Lord Aoyama, had not brought his ever-present wine flask with him on this trip.
Moreover, his clothes were so neatly arranged that he almost wouldn't have recognized him if Zhou Qingshan hadn't once helped him.
Zhou Qingshan walked up to the man and nodded slightly as he looked at the newly lit incense and candles.
"It's nothing much. I just remembered the time twenty years ago when I personally tested bamboo cutters, and it made me want to come and see for myself," Zhou Qingshan said with a smile, his tone relaxed and at ease.
The middle-aged manager nodded repeatedly.
"Look, look! It must have been a long time since Lord Aoyama has visited this place."
Zhou Qingshan nodded, his gaze drifting towards the depths of the bamboo forest.
As a top cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining, his five senses were already incredibly sharp.
As long as there is no obstruction to his view, he can see the bamboo cutters within a radius of several miles.
But after a quick glance around, he didn't see the person he was looking for, so he looked away.
Zhou Qingshan then patted the man on the shoulder and laughed, "These past few years, I haven't been handling family affairs, which has been tough on you all. If the evaluation results are good this time, I will also ask the family to help you out."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged manager was moved to tears and remained speechless for a long time.
Watching Zhou Qingshan's departing figure, he murmured, "It's not bitter, absolutely not bitter. Lord Qingshan, as long as you're here, I'll always be here."
……
"OK, I've chopped down two bamboo stalks in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. The situation is really stable now." The running-knife rat put the other frost-jointed bamboo stalk into its storage bag, its face beaming with joy.
This assessment was indeed simple; I didn't expect him to finish it so quickly.
He had the help of the treasure-hunting rat, so he must have thought that way, but the others thought differently.
Some cultivators, having failed to find the Frost-Jointed Bamboo for half a day, are now roaring in frustration and falling into despair.
Some cultivators spent a long time chopping at it, only to find that it was just an ordinary piece of spirit bamboo, and they were so angry that they started cursing loudly.
Even worse, some people, unable to get in themselves, tried to drag others down with them, actively interfering with the normal bamboo cutters who were still cutting bamboo.
Just then, the knife-wielding rat found the last frost-jointed bamboo.
Just as he was about to cut the bamboo, a monk who was cursing loudly rushed towards him.
"Go to hell! I spent ages chopping it down before I realized the frost-jointed bamboo was rotten at the end. Since you can't get in, none of you can get in either." The cultivator said this, and then produced a magical artifact.
The cultivator was also fast at cutting bamboo; he cut two bamboo stalks in just half an incense stick's time.
But to his surprise, after cutting down the second bamboo, he discovered that the base of the bamboo was completely rotten and did not meet the assessment standards.
Simply put, it's useless.
He also knew that his ability to cut down two enemies in half an incense stick's time was due to luck, and it was almost impossible for him to do it again now.
They simply gave up on the assessment and wanted to annoy others.
The mouse ran up and saw the flying sword suddenly coming at it, reacting quickly.
"Damn it, do you think all those demons I killed in the sect were for nothing?" He decisively drew his flying sword to retaliate.
In an instant, the cold blade was fully revealed.
With a flick of his longsword, he knocked the man's flying sword away.
Immediately afterwards, the running-knife rat threw out two talismans, which firmly trapped the desperate cultivator.
He had previously purchased this earthen prison talisman from the sect, originally intended for self-preservation. It was something that even cultivators who were not at the mid-stage of Qi Refining could not break in a short time.
But since the incident happened so suddenly, we had no choice but to use it quickly.
Seeing that he was trapped, the rogue cultivator said angrily, "Haha, more than half of the time has passed. Even if you've trapped me, so what? You've still failed this test."
Seeing this, the knife-wielding rat took out two chopped frost-jointed bamboo stalks and sneered at him: "You're just a piece of trash. I've already chopped two bamboo stalks in the first half of an incense stick's time. Now I have more than enough time to chop one more, right?"
As soon as the knife-wielding rat finished speaking...
The cultivator finally panicked and retorted in a flustered manner, "Hmph, Frost-jointed Bamboo is already rare, and there are other people scrambling to cut it down. I'm afraid there aren't any left around you now, are there?"
As the monk spoke, he seemed to have deceived himself as well, and his tone gradually became more and more resolute.
The running-knife rat found it amusing to see the other party like this.
He silently walked to the green bamboo beside him and pointed it out to the monk.
Although the frost patterns were barely visible in the morning light, the trapped cultivator still noticed them.
"Why...why is he so lucky?!"