I just passed the imperial examination, what the heck is this "Celestial Official System"?

As dusk falls, the setting sun paints half the sky red, creating beautiful rosy clouds.

On the ridge of the field.

After completing their day's harvest, the farm officials returned to their farmhouses in small groups. Some of the more experienced farm officials, who had accumulated some wealth, even discussed going to the city to find a place for a foot massage to relieve their fatigue.

"After the assessment, I'll treat everyone to drinks."

"Brother Song is magnanimous."

"Excellent, excellent."

Song Li made an appointment with four or five familiar peasant officials to go to a restaurant another day, waved goodbye with a smile, and returned to his hut.

He wasn't a loner, and he never believed in the nonsense that strong people always go it alone. As for friends, the more the better, of course.

While not exactly adept at pleasing everyone, he certainly has a good reputation.

Inside this government office.

Who knows, a single piece of news from someone could change one's fate.

These agricultural officials didn't own many spirit stones, but they did have some ordinary gold and silver.

Back in the room.

Song Li used his magic to cleanse himself of the dust and sweat.

I felt instantly refreshed.

My mind has become much clearer.

While one doesn't need to bathe, burn incense, and calm the mind every time one cultivates, if one becomes distracted due to excessive fatigue, it can lead to less effective results at best, and even worse, demonic possession at worst.

Previously, Song Li could only stimulate his nerves by washing his face with cold water.

But now that he has cultivated the Everlasting Spring Technique, his spiritual power is much more abundant than before, so he lavishly used the Sweet Rain Technique to cleanse himself.

It's important to understand that the Sweet Rain Technique isn't a cleaning technique; it's a spell used to bring spiritual rain to the wheat. Ordinary farmers have limited spiritual power and use it sparingly, so they wouldn't dare to do what Song Li did.

Before we knew it, it was already late at night.

One by one, the lights in the farmhouses went out, until finally darkness enveloped everything.

It was autumn, and the sounds of insects chirping and frogs croaking had ceased, leaving only silence.

No money for entertainment.

After finishing his Everlasting Spring Technique, Song Li went to bed early.

He quickly fell asleep.

......

......

Song Li was awakened by a start.

Is there some noise outside?

The night outside the window was as dark as ink, but I could hear clear footsteps.

Since practicing the Everlasting Spring Technique, Song Li's five senses have also been enhanced, and his hearing is much stronger than before. So even though the person outside had made very light footsteps, it still woke him from his dream.

"It's already past 1 AM. Apart from Manager Zheng, everyone else in the farmhouse has work to do. To ensure the efficiency of the daytime harvest, they must all be asleep."

"Moreover, this person is acting so suspiciously."

Song Li pondered for a moment.

He rolled over and got up, took a small cloth bag from the cupboard, grabbed a sickle at the foot of the bed, and nimbly jumped out of the window.

The houses were allocated by the farmhouse authorities.

Unless they were of a high rank like Zheng Zhushi, who could have a detached single-courtyard house, the houses of other agricultural officials were all clustered together.

There is a small courtyard enclosed by a fence outside the house.

The harvested barley was placed in a side room.

Song Li moved quickly through the night and soon determined that the noise was coming from the side room.

His face turned cold.

"Wheat thief!"

Obviously.

With only five days left until the assessment, some people have started to have ulterior motives.

Such situations occur frequently in rural areas, since it's always faster to steal from others than to grow your own crops.

Without the spirit wheat, the assessment will definitely be grade D.

If you leave a bad impression on Chief Zheng, your performance in the following year's assessment will certainly not be good. If you get a third-class grade again, you will be dismissed from your post.

This was an enormous blow to Song Li in the past.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

Having worked within the system for decades in his previous life, he had long understood a principle: one should not be too kind, but should cultivate a bit of malice.

Spiritual energy surged from his dantian.

Through the window.

The Art of Rain!

However, his target was not the black-clad thief, but the mud beneath his feet.

The soil was moistened by the rain, quickly forming mud puddles. The black-clad thief, caught off guard, slipped and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Song Li finished performing the Sweet Rain Technique without the slightest hesitation.

They broke in through the window.

He grabbed the cloth bag from his waist and threw it at the black-clad thief's face.

"lime?"

"grass!"

The thief's vision went completely white.

Upon recognizing it as lime, he couldn't help but curse loudly.

But Song Li had no intention of speaking. He raised his right hand and made a sword-finger gesture, slicing the blade of the sickle he was holding, and a faint golden light shone in the darkness.

The whole set of actions flows smoothly.

The scythe blade slashed towards the thief's body.

Song Li had never practiced martial arts.

It's too difficult to hit a vital spot directly and accurately. It's better to aim for the largest area. With the help of the Sharp Metal Technique, the scythe in my hand is comparable to a divine weapon. Once it hits, it will definitely result in either death or serious injury.

The black-clad thief's eyes were blinded by lime, and when he finally managed to see clearly what was in front of him, a cold sweat broke out on his back.

"This man surnamed Song isn't a scholar, so how can he be so ruthless?"

The man in black was greatly alarmed, but his reaction was quick.

He rolled on the spot, barely avoiding being hit in the back, but was then slashed in the buttocks by a sickle.

He suppressed the urge to scream.

He jumped out of the window in a disheveled state and disappeared into the night.

Everything happened too fast.

And it made very little noise.

Therefore, it remained completely dark outside the house, and the other agricultural officials in the vicinity were not alerted.

"That person actually knows some martial arts techniques for lightness of body."

Song Li withdrew his gaze and said with some surprise.

He glanced at the spirit wheat scattered on the ground.

The thief was in pain during the battle and dropped the spirit wheat, so it was not lost.

He looked at the sickle in his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips.

He was quite satisfied with the enemy's combat strength during their first encounter.

......

......

The next day.

As usual, Song Li went out early to harvest spirit wheat.

Until the end of the workday.

I chatted with a few agricultural officials.

"Why are so many people absent from the spirit field today? Could it be that they've already met the assessment targets?"

Song Li spoke.

Another agricultural official, Zhang Ping, who was on good terms with him, said, "That's right, I really envy him. He completed the assessment target so early."

"It's strange, really."

"Liu Ding was telling me just a few days ago that he was still seven jin short of spirit wheat and wouldn't be able to meet his assessment target. Why haven't I seen him today? Could it be that he's given up on himself?"

At this time.

Another agricultural official chimed in:

"I ran into him at the door this morning. He said he was overworked and hurt his back."

The group discussed it.

Song Li narrowed his eyes slightly.

He did not make a fuss about what happened last night.

The thief was able to find the spirit wheat in the side room so accurately that he must be the farm official in the farmhouse. He was also injured by him yesterday, so it was not difficult for him to find it.

"Liu Ding..."

Song Li pondered silently to himself.

"I heard that Liu Ding's brother-in-law is the deputy head of the martial arts department, so it's only natural that he knows martial arts techniques."

"He must have been bullying newcomers in order to gather enough spirit wheat for the assessment, and it just so happened that he chose me."

Song Li quickly figured out the sequence of events.

Liu Ding had been practicing martial arts and magic under his brother-in-law's guidance for many years. If his strength hadn't been insufficient to meet the requirements of the martial arts room, he wouldn't have come to the farmhouse.

Even so, his strength was much greater than that of an ordinary agricultural official, making him almost a martial arts practitioner.

Song Li was overjoyed.

"Who says peasant officials are bad at fighting?"

"It depends on the person!"