Chapter 45

Weekend, the absolute-spirit pocket realm.

The children of the Work-Study Club were all huffing and puffing as they picked happy fruit.

There was no spiritual energy here. To protect the plants, spiritual power was also forbidden, so they could only use the most primitive manual labor.

Picking one or two fruits was simple, but repeating the picking motion without stopping was labor in every sense of the word. It was many times harder than sweeping the sports field, and all the children’s faces had gone numb.

With their physiques, picking fruit was definitely no problem. It was just that they had almost never done such exhausting work before, so they were extremely unused to it.

Then they thought about the daily wage of twenty yuan…

This really was blood-and-sweat money.

If this had been before, Li Wenwen would have started acting shamelessly and refusing to work long ago.

But this time, everyone was gritting their teeth and holding on.

After all, they represented not only themselves, but also their club.

The Hundred Clubs War event had not ended yet. Right now was club activity time, and the event was still being livestreamed.

It would have been one thing if no one was paying attention to their club, but the problem was that their club was a star club in the Hundred Clubs War. Even for an activity as boring as picking happy fruit, the number of spectators remained high.

And this pocket realm belonged to the Ministry of Education. Quite a few students from various schools had come to help. If they slacked off even a little, the comparison would be even more obvious.

Or rather, even without slacking off, the contrast was already obvious enough.

There were relatively few people from the Work-Study Club, and they were also on the younger side. The same happy-fruit picking task, and by the time others had finished one row, they had only just passed the halfway mark.

“I really am too bored. I’m actually watching this kind of activity with great interest.”

“The little cubs are working so hard… but I’m laughing so happily. I’m guilty.”

“Same here. When I watched them sweep through everyone before, I felt the misery of being smacked dead by the younger generation’s wave. Now I finally have a sense of adult superiority!”

The unscrupulous thought barrage flew by rapidly.

Song Yi glanced at the many thought comments and said with deep grief, “How are all of you this idle? Did you cultivate today? Has your cultivation advanced? Have your studies improved? Has your salary gone up?”

They had none of those, yet they still had the nerve to watch them and laugh?

The old ancestor expressed deep sorrow. The old ancestor was worried about the future of this cultivation world.

The old ancestor was also an old ancestor who kept up with the times. She knew that cultivation alone would not hit these people where it hurt, but schoolwork and jobs could.

This series of rapid-fire questions directly emptied the bustling thought barrage and struck everyone silent.

Song Yi was extremely satisfied with the effect.

How could this be called dragging everyone down? This was urging the younger generation to work hard.

After a while, the thought barrage finally floated back.

“Are kids nowadays all this sharp-tongued?”

“May I ask who can contact this club? I want to donate a hundred sets of practice questions to help them study hard!”

“Count me in!”

Song Yi did not notice their “generous donations,” because she discovered that the inner demon was living far too comfortably in her sea of consciousness right now.

She thought about it. Wasn’t the whole point of keeping this inner demon around to make her work?

Before long, a cursing and grumbling “Song Yi” appeared.

“Damn it, I’m not doing this anymore! I’ll just destroy this pocket realm!”

“I am a mighty inner demon. I’ve always been the one controlling cultivators. Since when does a cultivator get to restrain me? I’m turning on her!”

As she forcefully yanked down the happy fruit to show her dissatisfaction, she muttered, “Heh, stupid Song Yi. Reduced to this sorry state, and you really think you’re an elementary school student? I’ll let you see how an old ancestor should dominate this world.”

Just then, a big palm landed on her forehead. “What’s going on with you, little friend? If you pull it that hard and damage it, what then?”

Aside from the students who had come to help, the pocket realm itself had management staff. Her fruit-picking method happened to be spotted, so naturally it drew a staff member’s attention.

The inner demon turned back aggressively. “Do you know who I am?”

“Student Song Yi from Cloud City Cultivation Elementary School, right?” Of course the administrator remembered every student’s name. “And then?”

And then? Then of course the inner demon drooped her head and answered, “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’ll be more careful.”

Because she had seen the administrator’s burly build and cultivation, then considered the special environment inside the pocket realm. She could not even use secret arts here. Could not win, could not win. Naturally, she could only bow before her act of showing off had succeeded.

Under the administrator’s watchful glare, her movements became gentle, and she even squeezed out a fawning smile.

“When I get out…” she could not help muttering again.

“What will you do when you get out?” The administrator had not left. His hearing was too good, and he did not miss her mumbling.

“I’ll invite you to eat! To thank you for taking care of me!” the inner demon responded loudly.

The administrator burst into laughter, then reached out and ruffled her head. “No need for you to treat me. I’ll treat you.”

He handed her a happy fruit. “Eat it. I’m giving it to you, so it doesn’t count as stealing.”

The inner demon hesitated for a moment, then accepted it, while still whining, “It’s not like I care whether it counts as stealing. As long as I want to…”

“Hm?”

She quickly made a sharp turn. “I’ll definitely pick all the happy fruit here.”

After saying that, her face filled with dejection and regret again.

Unlike Song Yi herself, who was relatively silent in daily life, she was a chatterbox inner demon. Starting from Song Yi’s previous life, she had constantly chattered away in Song Yi’s sea of consciousness, interfering with and tempting her.

She had already gotten used to it. As a result, even after entering Song Yi’s body, she had not changed this habit. Even though she clearly knew this administrator was not easy to provoke, she would still subconsciously make harsh threats, then admit defeat.

The administrator found it extremely funny.

He knew the work here was hard, and many students had not actually come to help of their own free will. Complaining verbally was very normal. But someone like Student Song Yi, who spoke arrogantly while sounding increasingly weak, was truly one of a kind.

He had thought this little friend might be stubborn to the end, but it turned out even her mouth was not stubborn.

“I was joking with you. You don’t have to be so afraid of me.” After saying that, the administrator went to inspect other places.

While the inner demon let out a breath of relief, she did not forget to communicate with Song Yi. “Can this be called me admitting defeat? Isn’t it because you don’t cultivate properly? Otherwise I’d have gone head-on against him.”

Congratulations to her for becoming the first inner demon to urge her host to cultivate properly.

Song Yi casually brushed her off. As long as she worked properly, she could say whatever she wanted.

After realizing that she was now just a small weakling, the inner demon finally obediently started working.

Half an hour later, she crouched on the ground, poking the black fertile soil as she began to think with bitter hatred about how to escape this job.

She was a terrifying inner demon who intended to destroy the entire cultivation world. How could she let this kind of work fetter her steps?

As she was thinking, someone behind her was collecting roots and stems with his back to her. That person backed up two steps and accidentally pushed her.

The little cub fell face-first into the black soil with a splat.

The inner demon, who had never experienced such a situation, lay on the ground without moving.

Li Wenwen and Lin Ze saw it from nearby and hurriedly ran over to rescue her. “Little Yi, are you okay?”

That person also turned back. Seeing Song Yi lying motionless on the ground, he was immediately startled. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you. Do little friends this tiny come here too?”

When Song Yi crouched down, she was a bit shorter than the low happy-fruit plants. She had not made any movement either, so it was normal for others not to notice her.

He was just about to reach out and help her up when the child sprang up, howled, and drew her sword. “Duel me! I’m not enduring this anymore!”

Of course that fall did not hurt physically. But how could wounds to the heart be described with something as simple as whether it hurt or not?

An extraordinary humiliation!

And what had he even said? He had not noticed her. Was he saying she had no presence? Or was he saying her legs were short?

Language that could offend Song Yi could naturally offend the inner demon as well.

Although the other party had no ill intent, he had already stepped precisely on a minefield.

The inner demon had spent half the day being ordered around by Song Yi to work, and she could only swallow her anger in front of the administrator. Now she had suffered such humiliation too. How could she not explode?

The reason she had just stayed lying on the ground was partly because she could not believe what had happened to her, and partly because she had sensed the cultivation of the person behind her: Foundation Establishment. Easy to bully. So she would endure no more.

The sword intent directly made the nearest leaves fall down.

Fortunately, Li Wenwen and Lin Ze grabbed her from the left and right. “Little Yi, calm down. The administrator uncle is looking over here.”

“There’s no need to bring out knives and swords. It’s just a tiny matter. Let’s solve it peacefully. When he turns around, we can just pull down his pants.”

“Or when we leave the pocket realm, we can stick an unlucky talisman on him and make him trip over his own feet, choke whenever he drinks water…”

The two of them knew quite a few underhanded tricks for messing with people.

This was not a cultivation world where people casually shouted about fighting and killing, but pranks were still an essential skill for every bratty child.

That person looked at the three children loudly conspiring, and his forehead filled with black lines.

He was also a student. It was just that as a sixth grader about to graduate, he looked like he was not in the same age group as them.

Although he was not afraid of these children, he still subconsciously tugged at his pants. After all, that sentence was still very lethal.

To prevent the inner demon from causing trouble, Song Yi returned to her own body.

She was not as impulsive as the inner demon, but her tone was also not easy to provoke. “Watch what you say next time, or even I won’t be able to save you.”

Her presence was on point, but because her face was smeared with black mud, her deterrent power was basically zero.

Seeing that she was fine, the boy instead started lecturing her. “Little friends shouldn’t get in the way here. Our work is very important. If you want to rest, you can go to the side. Which school are you from? Letting children this small come here is just nonsense. You can’t do much work anyway.”

Li Wenwen and Lin Ze both got a little angry hearing this. They felt looked down upon. But they could not find a reason to refute him, because what he said was the truth. Aside from Senior Wang Yisheng, the Work-Study Club really was the least efficient.

The grudge-holding children let go of Song Yi.

“How about you hit him after all?”

Song Yi: “…”

At that moment, her brows moved slightly. She noticed the branches and leaves knocked down by her sword intent.

Then she really raised her sword, the sharp blade going straight toward the boy’s cheek.

That person was stunned. He had not expected her to attack over a disagreement. He did not even have time to block and instinctively closed his eyes.

Li Wenwen and Lin Ze were also equally dumbfounded. They had only been joking.

However, the pain the boy imagined did not come. The blade swept past him and pointed directly at the happy-fruit plants behind him. With several clean cuts, the happy fruit fell in response.

Song Yi had only been scaring him a little. Her true purpose was to pick the fruit.

She had nearly been misled. They could not use spiritual power in here, but that did not mean they could not use swords. They just could not attach spiritual power to the blade.

It was just that under normal circumstances, something like a sword was not very useful. It was too heavy and clumsy. They could not exactly chop down the entire plant, right?

For happy fruit, it was already very convenient for Song Yi and the others to pick them directly by hand. As for the roots and stems, the people collecting them were also holding small tools convenient for cutting, rather than carrying swords.

This was also why Song Yi had not thought at first that she could use a sword.

But after she reacted, her thinking opened up.

In Song Yi’s view, a sword cultivator’s sword had never had anything like “heavy and clumsy” attached to it. It could be used in broad, sweeping movements, and it could also be meticulous down to the finest detail, controlled to the slightest degree, completing the collection without harming the plant in the least.

Using sword arts for picking would naturally make the efficiency much higher.

Of course, Song Yi had never done this kind of work before. In the past, when she picked fruit, she had never had any awareness of protecting the plant.

So at first, Song Yi’s technique was still a little rough. Some leaves were injured and rustled down.

The boy frowned and was just about to say something.

But Lin Ze and Li Wenwen had already reacted and understood Song Yi’s intention.

One hurriedly spread soft satin beneath the plant, so that when the happy fruit fell, they would not smash onto the ground and break. It would also only take one scoop to collect them.

The other took advantage of the boy not having reacted yet and pried the storage box for placing roots and stems out of his hand, handing it to Song Yi. “Little Yi, use this.”

The boy: “…”

Were children nowadays all this fierce?

When he was in the lower grades, he had never been this arrogant in front of upper-grade students.

Before he had time to express an opinion, he saw that Song Yi’s originally somewhat sluggish sword technique was becoming smoother and smoother. The broad sword darted like an agile silver dragon, and no more extra branches or leaves fell.

Then Song Yi neatly cut off the medicinal portions of the stems and packed them into the box Lin Ze had given her to prevent the medicinal properties from leaking away.

The boy hurriedly took the box and discovered that compared with the parts he had carefully collected, hers were actually not off by even the slightest bit.

Song Yi’s actions also attracted the people nearby. They gathered around, watching the sword light flow, and could not help crying out in admiration together.

Previously, no one had ever applied sword arts to this kind of thing before. Even the Divine Lord had no corresponding sword technique, because normally speaking, these two things had nothing to do with each other whatsoever.

If not for the special nature of the happy-fruit plant, there were also better collection methods than sword arts. One spell art would be enough to harvest it.

Song Yi’s operation had undoubtedly opened the door to a new world for everyone.

As if she could not hear anyone else’s voices, Song Yi stroked her sword on her own and said thoughtfully, “This new sword technique should be called the New Life Sword Technique.”

She had previously been somewhat doubtful of the saying that this sword was her destiny in this life, but now she was a little certain.

Do not look at how the broad sword seemed a little inconvenient. Compared with her previous sword, because its temperament was more balanced, it was easier to control the sharp sword qi and instead would not injure the plants.

The sword technique she had just created was also somewhat different from her previous style. In terms of destructive power, it was far inferior to before.

But with something like a sword technique, being useful was enough.

Song Yi thought of the current situation faced by many sword cultivators. Having strength alone might not be enough to change the current status of sword cultivators, but a sword technique like this could make sword cultivators more practical.

A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. Sure enough, the sword Dao that would save this world still had to rely on her.

With her in the sword Dao, it would definitely not decline.

Song Yi touched the sword’s edge and said, “Thank you for giving me inspiration.”

In the livestream room, the audience had originally thought they were only casually watching the Work-Study Club “work hard.” They had not expected that after watching for a while, the entire style of the livestream room would change.

“I thought today would be me and Young Friend Song Yi hurting each other, but it turns out I was the only clown.”

“I thought I came to watch children get beaten down by reality, but I didn’t expect to watch how a genius defies heaven and changes fate.”

And the words Song Yi said to the broad sword were naturally also heard by the audience.

That ordinary-looking sword suddenly gained a mysterious charm.

They could not become genius children like Song Yi, but owning the same model of sword was still doable.

At a sword shop in Cloud City.

A shop assistant found the shopkeeper in a panic and said, “Shopkeeper, bad news! The child who bought that unsellable sword yesterday really is a genius.”

The shopkeeper said steadily, “If she’s a genius, then she’s a genius. In any case, we didn’t cheat her. We just didn’t give her a discount. What are you nervous about? It’s already been sold. Can she still come to us for a return?”

“No. Today she just happened to be doing the Hundred Clubs War livestream and made this sword popular! A lot of people have come to ask about it, but we already have no stock left!”

In the current cultivation world, information spread extremely fast, and trends spread even faster.

The shopkeeper: “!”

“I’ll go transfer stock right away!”

But very clearly, anyone who had stock would not casually release it now.

On the Spirit Net, the secondhand sword prices had already been bid up very high.

The shopkeeper clutched his chest. “If I’d known this would happen, I should have given her another unsellable sword that still had inventory… Such a loss, such a loss…”

Then his eyes lit up. “Couldn’t we go find that designer and have him produce this sword again?”

“I contacted him already. He said it’s rare to find someone who understands swords, so this model won’t be produced again.”

The shopkeeper secretly cursed the designer for being a wily old fox. Whether the other party truly felt a meeting of minds with Song Yi was impossible to determine, but riding this wave of popularity was certain. The fewer of these swords existed on the market, the more famous the sword would become, and his fame as the designer would rise along with it.

Naturally, Song Yi did not know there was such a follow-up at the sword shop. She was busy teaching this sword technique to reduce everyone’s workload.

Several teachers from who knew which school came over and warmly shook hands with her. “Student Song Yi, you are a genius in our field. In the future, you must choose our direction! We all think very highly of you!”

Song Yi pursed her lips modestly. “That goes without saying.”

But thinking about it, something seemed a little off. Why would teachers from the sword Dao direction be staying in this pocket realm?

“Huh? We’re here studying and conducting research. Those over there are students we brought.”

The more Song Yi listened, the more she felt something was wrong. “Teachers, you’re from the sword Dao, right?”

“Of course not. We’re in agronomy.”

Song Yi’s expression froze.

The teacher did not think anything was wrong at all. “You comprehended a collection sword technique because you wanted to collect fruit and roots. The root of this is still our agronomy. Very creative. You’re a good seedling!”

Song Yi silently vomited blood. “…No. It’s called the New Life Sword Technique.”

“Haha, Collection Sword Technique is a little easier to understand. This proves even more that you have a destiny with our agronomy!”

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