fairy family

Chapter 54: Running out of energy, getting the first place in the martial arts exam (4k subscription required)
Yu Que stood on the blast furnace, imitating Fang Mulian's method, but made some changes of his own.

The other party repeatedly threw the human head and ghost chestnut into the molten iron to fry it, and when it flew out, they caught it and soaked it in kerosene to cool it down.

Yu Que has the assistance of spiritual consciousness, and he will not be so stupid as not to make use of it.

With the help of his spiritual sense, his sensitivity was greatly increased. Although he could not cover the iron furnace that was nearly ten feet wide, he could react immediately when the human-headed ghost flew up.

Although he was not as proficient as Fang Mulian in making fried dough sticks, he had also mastered the art. Now that he had been enlightened, he naturally had many feasible ideas in his mind.

呲呲!

Yu Que held the gourd ladle, and when the ghost chestnut was still in the air, he poured oil on it and knocked it into the molten iron with the oil.

Wrapped in kerosene, the temperature of the human head ghost chestnut dropped, and it burned fiercely on the molten iron, turning into a fireball, rolling along the molten iron, which was quite magical.

His action was seen by the candidate sitting on the same iron furnace, who widened his eyes and looked at him fiercely.

Perhaps he felt that Yu Que's method was better than Fang Mulian's and less troublesome.

The other party also picked up the gourd ladle and poured oil directly into the stove.

As a result, there was a puff and flames shot up into the sky.

The opponent's timing and method of attack were wrong. Not only did he fail to knock the human head ghost chestnut into the molten iron again, but the object, carrying kerosene, rushed to his face.

The man screamed and started grabbing his hands and feet. He bumped into the iron stove and the kerosene on his body ignited. He turned into a fire man and rolled out of the stove, rolling on the ground.

Unlike Fang Mulian who turned into a fire man, this guy was caught off guard and was immediately burned to pieces. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even call for the family gods.

Yu Que just looked at the other person coldly for a few seconds, then withdrew his gaze indifferently.

On the iron stove.

When the others saw what happened to Yu Que because he blindly imitated him, they all looked stern and dared not think about it anymore. They obediently followed Fang Mulian's method and began to imitate him.

But even with Fang Mulian's method, not every candidate present was clever and dexterous, and there were still only a few successful ones.

So some people started to have evil thoughts.

They either wanted to snatch the human head ghost chestnuts that were being roasted by others, or, seeing their own ghost chestnuts burnt, they angrily poured kerosene in front of the other party, intending to destroy the other party's human head ghost chestnuts.

Bang!

There was such a person beside Yu Que. After he failed, he first wanted to discuss with Yu Que and asked Yu Que to prepare more ghost chestnuts for him.

When Yu Que ignored him, the man smashed the stove in anger, then became more and more vicious and kicked the oil barrel next to Yu Que.

There was just a click and a scream.

Before the opponent's legs landed on the bucket, his body flew up and fell heavily to the ground. One of his legs was twisted and bent backwards, which looked painful.

Yu Que didn't even look at that person, and he didn't bother to be on guard against this group of examinees. He smiled and looked at the person standing on the iron stove with him:

"Everyone, I am performing a ritual and do not like people watching. Can you please leave first?"

As he spoke, he tapped lightly on the iron stove with his bare hands.

With a humming sound, the entire furnace body clanged.

When the candidates saw this, their faces changed drastically and they dared not say a word. They immediately bowed to Yu Que and hurriedly got off the blast furnace, forgetting to take down the ghost chestnut they had brought up with them.

Yu Que then monopolized an iron furnace, and he fished chestnuts from the fire and scooped gold from the molten iron with ease.

Soon, he achieved results.

I saw that his arms were covered with a layer of oil. With his bare hands, he used his spiritual sense to easily touch the molten iron a few times and pulled out a golden ghost chestnut!
This thing was in the shape of a gold ingot and was very heavy. The moment it appeared, he felt the cat-faced spirit in his body suddenly move, and it showed a sense of hunger and thirst.

"This thing is indeed delicious ghost food!" Yu Que thought to himself.

Not to mention the gods of the house, even he himself had consumed a lot of energy and was hungry because he had used his brain and then his body.

At this moment, he smelled the tempting chestnut aroma coming from the "Golden Ingot Chestnut" and he really wanted to swallow it in one gulp.

But he held back.

The way ghosts and gods enjoy offerings is different from that of living people. The way to eat ghost chestnuts is mostly not to chew them. If you swallow them carelessly, you will most likely be poisoned, or even "die by swallowing gold" and die.

Holding a gold ingot chestnut, Yu Que was full of energy. He picked up the human head ghost chestnuts left on the stove by other candidates and continued to cook them.

Having had a successful experience once, he performed it again with ease.

During this time, he had some free time, so he raised his eyes and looked towards where Fang Mulian was, wanting to see if the other party had finished refining the gold ingot chestnut.

If this person finishes refining first, the other person will be the first in this martial arts exam.

Although the first place in the martial arts exam is not as famous as the first place in the literary exam for various reasons, it is also the first place in a subject!

If Fang Mulian could get the first place, not to mention that she would basically be admitted to the county school, she would become a county student based on her performance in the martial arts exam. She could then directly abandon Zheng Laohei, join the Alchemist Guild as an exception, and find a better master again.

Yu Que planned that if Fang Mulian had finished the exam and still didn't understand this, he would team up with Qian Huazhen to find her and pull her out of Zheng Lao's black ghost shop to establish a good relationship with her.

But when he looked carefully at Fang Mulian, the scene made him somewhat suspicious.

The examiner Lu Tiehua suddenly jumped onto the iron stove, grabbed Fang Mulian, and stopped her from continuing to prepare the last ghost chestnut.

He let the peeled chestnut tumble in the molten iron until it turned into a puff of burnt smoke.

At this moment, Fang Mulian already had two gold ingot chestnuts in his hand. He only needed to get this last one, and he would be able to pass the level successfully!

Not only was Fang Mulian shocked by the examiner's behavior, but the other candidates around her, especially those who were watching the training, were whispering:

"My goodness, has this brother offended someone? Even the examiner came down to stop him."

"Hey, it's not necessarily that he offended anyone. It could simply be that the guy surnamed Lu has been bribed and has been given the top spot in the martial arts exam, and he doesn't want the top spot to be taken away by someone else."

Fang Mulian stood on the iron stove in a daze. When he saw that the last ghost chestnut was completely hopeless, he became extremely anxious and almost cried.

Facing Lu Tiehua, Fang Mulian did not dare to resist. With tears on his face, he lowered his eyebrows and begged, "Examiner, please let me go. I still have to take the exam."

As examiner Lu Tiehua listened to Fang Mulian's crying and begging, his expression of indifference and ridicule changed. His brows furrowed, and he showed some hesitation and reluctance.

But this person suddenly spoke:
"You, too, are eliminated."

"What?!" Fang Mulian opened her eyes wide, suspecting that she had heard it wrong.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out all around, and everyone thought they had heard it wrong: "What's going on!"

Including the remaining noise from another blast furnace not far away, he heard it from afar and frowned, starting to wonder if Fang Mulian had really offended someone.

"quiet!"

But the next moment, the examiner Lu Tiehua suddenly shouted, and the other party let go of Fang Mulian, and said to Fang Mulian in a kind tone:
"Boy, who is your master and where did you learn this skill of refining?"

Fang Mulian stammered, but his eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly brought up Zheng Laohei, hoping to curry favor with the examiner and change his mind about eliminating him:
"It's Master Zheng Laohei from the county!"

When the examiner Lu Tiehua heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized something. His expression became more regretful and complicated.

This person sneered and said, "I am not afraid of offending anyone. I am here today to have a good talk and remind you, a bunch of cucumbers."

Lu Tiehua pointed at Fang Mulian and said:
"Although your alchemy skills are somewhat unconventional, when it comes to the art of fire magic alone, most of the serious ninth-grade alchemists in the Alchemist Guild are not as good as you. If you were to take the assessment at the Alchemist Guild with just this skill, the Alchemist Guild would most likely make an exception and admit you."

These words caused an uproar among the already shocked crowd.

Fang Mulian herself was also stunned where she was.

Yu Que, who was standing by, looked at this with a strange look in his eyes.

He muttered to himself, "I can actually get such a high evaluation from the county examiner. No wonder I feel that even with the inheritance and the help of spiritual consciousness, I am still not as good as Brother Fang in terms of fried dough sticks."

It seems that this matter is not due to his incompetence, but Fang Mulian is just too capable and has been immersed in it for too long!
"From the content of your first test to break through this level, it seems that you also have some talent in cultivating your comprehension."

Lu Tiehua laughed and said, "Hey, when I came up with this test question, I also found an old guy from the Refiner Guild to try it out, but he couldn't solve the question as fast as you."

He patted Fang Mulian with his big hands and sighed, "You are truly a talented kid!
You are bold, careful, and tough. If possible, I really want to take you as my disciple."

Fang Mulian's eyes were dazed, his face was dark and red, and he said embarrassedly:
"Thank you, examiner. Actually, Master Zheng has always called me stupid."

When Lu Tiehua heard this, the smile on his face turned cold, and he immediately cursed: "This bastard is misleading our students.

Also, you are too honest, aren't you? If you were really a fool, how could you be a training apprentice?"

These words made Fang Mulian stunned again, and she didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Others in the audience nodded in response.

Someone laughed and shouted, "Young man, don't underestimate yourself. Anyone who can become a training apprentice must be wealthy or have amazing talent."

When Fang Mulian heard this, he became even more uneasy.

Moreover, his heart skipped a beat as he looked at the attitude of the examiner in front of him. The more the other party praised him, the more he felt that the other party had bad news to tell him.

As expected, Lu Tiehua patted Fang Mulian in front of everyone and sighed again:
"What a pity, what a pity. Your essence has been burned dry, your lifespan has been destroyed, your aura is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and you have been almost drained of your energy by that old thing."

The man cursed again: "Fuck it, if I catch Zheng Laohei next time, I will skin him alive."

Fang Mulian froze, and the candidates around her were whispering to each other.

Everyone present had passed the literary examination and could be considered a member of the literary tradition of the school. They all had a solid foundation in immortal studies and naturally understood what Lu Tiehua meant.

"Hiss! His essence is burned dry, and he looks strong but is actually weak? Doesn't that mean he won't live for many years?"

"Is this true? It doesn't look like it."

"Tsk, he's already exhausted at such a young age. Not to mention being a family god, I'm afraid he'll be emaciated in a few years, worse than those gray-haired candidates. No wonder the examiner didn't want him."

Yu Que watched from the sidelines, feeling a sinking feeling in his heart.

Others were still doubting the truthfulness of what Lu Tiehua said, but he believed it subconsciously.

Because he only worked in Zheng Laohei's shop for more than a month, and it took him nearly three months to recover, and he did it with the help of his spiritual consciousness. But Fang Mulian, on the other hand, had been suffering in the paper ghost shop for four or five years!

As for Fang Mulian himself, he was a student of alchemy, and he knew very well about the matter of running out of oil and lamp.

The boy's face turned pale instantly, and he kept saying, "No, it's impossible. Every day my mother would cook milk for me to nourish my body...

Look at me, I'm very strong!"

Fang Mulian forced a smile on his face and patted his strong chest, making a thumping sound, to show that he was not at all exhausted.

Unexpectedly, the look in Lu Tiehua's eyes when she looked at him was filled with more pity and regret.

"You don't believe it, right?" Lu Tiehua sighed, "You don't have spiritual awareness, so it's normal that you can't see clearly. Then I'll let you see it with your own eyes!"

With a click, before everyone could react, Lu Tiehua suddenly stretched out his hand and lightly scratched Fang Mulian's left arm with his fingernails.

Just like a lotus root being broken open, Fang Mulian's left arm was broken in the middle, revealing the tendons and bones, but not a drop of blood was shed during the whole process.

The examiner Lu Tiehua twisted Fang Mulian's arm and looked at it carefully, muttering, "Damn it, the situation is more serious than I thought."

The people in the audience, as well as Yu Que, only heard what the other party said but did not understand what he meant.

But they could see that Fang Mulian's already pale face was now as pale as paper, lifeless, with dull eyes, and even looking at his broken arm in despair.

Finally, examiner Lu Tiehua held the man's arm and signaled to the people on the left and right of the furnace and below: "See clearly, don't let others cheat you in the future."

hiss!
Fang Mulian's arm bones were covered with holes, and the bone marrow inside was empty, as if it had been sucked dry or burnt. It was pitch black without any bone marrow.

Everyone who saw this scene took a deep breath and said, "The bone marrow has been squeezed dry!"

"Fuck, it's not like he only has a few years left to live. I'm afraid he won't survive this year."

Yu Que also stared at Fang Mulian's bone marrow in a daze, and something suddenly came to his mind.

Fang Mulian once said proudly that no one could stay under Zheng Laohei for four or five years, and he was the first!
"I don't believe it." Fang Mulian squeezed out the sound from her throat in a hoarse voice.

Examiner Lu Tiehua sneered, and gently cut open Fang Mulian's other arm, prying open the bones. Surprisingly, the inside was also hollow and black, supported only by a breath of ghost energy.

"Face the facts, kid."

The other party said coldly: "It's not that I want to stop you from completing the martial arts exam, but you have consumed too much energy today. If you dare to take the third ghost chestnut, you will definitely die!"

After he finished speaking, the man quickly closed Fang Mulian's right arm, rubbed off a layer of oil from his body and glued it to Fang Mulian's left arm, and then rubbed off a mud ball from somewhere and threw it into the dazed Fang Mulian's mouth.

Lu Tiehua confessed:
"Go back and quit your job immediately, refine the two gold ingot chestnuts, take a good rest, and never use the family god again from now on. This way, maybe you can live for a few more years."

As soon as he finished speaking, the examiner grabbed Fang Mulian and handed her over to the yamen runners, asking them to take Fang Mulian out of the examination room.

Different from the candidates who were eliminated before, Fang Mulian seemed to be hysterical. He just tightly clenched two gold ingots, his eyes were dazed, his face seemed to be smiling and crying, but he couldn't speak.

He stood there in a daze, with his feet hanging to the ground, as the runners dragged him out of the examination room stiffly, as if he were a corpse. For a moment, his glory disappeared.

After the man left, the examination room fell into silence.

After a few breaths, the crowd burst into unprecedented discussions.

"A sin!"

People kept shaking their heads and sighing, pretending to be regretful and commenting.

Yu Que stood alone on the iron stove, also in a daze.

Suddenly, he came to his senses, flicked his sleeves, took out the contents of the molten iron and held it in his hand.

I saw three things that were bright yellow and golden, and looked very beautiful.

It turned out that his chestnuts were all ripe and all his gold ingots were inside.

At this moment, a loud shout came from not far away:
"Alas, Brother Yu, you are still one step ahead of me. I haven't even finished making the third one yet... It looks like the top spot in the martial arts exam is yours again!"

It was Qian Huazhen's voice. The other party also knew how to practice. After knowing how to solve the problem, it would be a piece of cake for him to make ghost chestnuts. However, this person was still a step behind me.

Hey!
The shouting spread, and the people in the examination room, who had just calmed down, became noisy again, and they all couldn't help but look at Yu Que.

Obviously, the top scorer in the second round of the county examination has appeared, and it is Yu Que!
Yu Que was standing alone on the iron stove, looking at the three gold ingots in his hand, not knowing whether to be happy or sigh...

(End of this chapter)