Super Strong Little Divine Farmer

The entire stone chamber was deathly silent, gray mist surging around Lin Chen.

On the meditation mat inside the room, Lin Chen and the old Yan sat quietly in meditation like two old monks deep in contemplation.

At this moment, Lin Chen's body was utterly still, not even a hint of breathing was perceptible.

If it weren't for old Yan sensing Lin Chen's soul fluctuations, he might have thought Lin Chen was already dead.

It's been a day, and Lin Chen remains motionless; old Yan looked at Lin Chen and felt somewhat worried.

"This guy, could something have gone wrong?"

Old Yan had attempted multiple times to pull Lin Chen out from the illusionary realm, but restrained himself each time; yet Lin Chen's current condition was far too concerning.

At that moment, Lin Chen's body suddenly shook slightly, and the gray mist around him became agitated.

Under the erosion of the gray mist, his body inexplicably developed cracks, from which fresh blood slowly oozed out.

Even more shocking to old Yan was the sight of blood flowing from Lin Chen's eyes, nose, and mouth.

Watching this, old Yan was greatly alarmed, deciding not to wait any longer, golden light began to twinkle from his fingertips as he intended to pull Lin Chen out from the illusionary realm.

However, as his finger was about to touch Lin Chen, it was repelled by a force.

"This is!" old Yan frowned.

"This force comes from Lin Chen himself", could this kid still want to persist?

From Lin Chen's physical condition, old Yan could imagine that Lin Chen was undergoing an extremely harrowing trial, his body nearing the brink of collapse.

"This kid really has remarkable resilience!" old Yan shook his head helplessly.

Since Lin Chen didn't want to come out, old Yan had no choice but to quietly observe Lin Chen's situation from the side.

Though to his relief, the situation didn't continue to deteriorate; Lin Chen's body rather gradually started to recover, and the gray mist slowly receded.

Time ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, three days had passed; yet Lin Chen still showed no signs of movement.

However, miraculously, his injuries were already healed, and that black mist had vanished without a trace.

This was good news for Lin Chen, indicating he could now freely control the energy of the withered bone.

At this moment, a loud ringing bell resounded from outside.

Old Yan opened his eyes; today was the day of the monthly contest, after all.

Old Yan was aware of the bet between Lin Chen and Fang Zhantang, but Lin Chen was currently in a meditative state, indicating that compared to the contest, cultivation was evidently more crucial.

Yet, just then, Lin Chen's ears twitched slightly, and soon his eyes leisurely opened.

Lin Chen's eyes displayed a cold light, deep like an abyss, chilling to the bone; faintly visible at the abyss's end was a grey-black intertwined light sphere.

This chilling aura caused old Yan to shiver in his spirit.

"You're finally awake." Old Yan smiled faintly.

Lin Chen looked at old Yan, who had been guarding his side the whole time, feeling warmth in his heart, and bowed urgently: "Thank you, senior, for protecting me."

"No need for formality between us, we are like family. I didn't expect you to accomplish yet another miracle, practicing this never-before-learned withering technique." Old Yan sighed somewhat in awe.

"It was mere luck, really, and without old Yan's protection, achieving success would have been much harder." Lin Chen laughed cheerfully.

After all, during Lin Chen's cultivation, no one could disturb him, or he could easily suffer Deviation, thus old Yan had closed Bai Cao Tang these days to ensure Lin Chen had an absolutely safe environment for his training.

Old Yan nodded, "Alright, the bell for the monthly contest just rang, you still have a match with Fang Zhantang, right?"

"Yes, I shall go meet the renowned first alchemist of Ren Hall." Lin Chen chuckled softly.

"Wait a moment, you've been training the withering technique these past three days without studying any medicinal texts; are you truly confident of winning? You could continue cultivating here for another day, even if you don't participate in the monthly contest, no one will say anything." Old Yan spoke lightly.

Though Lin Chen had mastered the withering technique, his medical skills showed no progress these past few days; today's competition with Fang Zhantang was about medical skills, not martial arts, hence old Yan was somewhat worried for Lin Chen.

If Lin Chen were to continue cultivating, it would be different.

Missing today's match would give Lin Chen another month to study medicine; given Lin Chen's talent, defeating Fang Zhantang within a month wasn't impossible.

After all, old Yan already considered Lin Chen the future heir of the Medicine Sect, and failure could affect Lin Chen's mental fortitude.

"Don't worry, old Yan, there's no need to avoid Fang Zhantang; my victory is assured." Lin Chen smiled casually, bowed deeply to old Yan once more, and turned to leave.

"This kid, he's becoming harder and harder to figure out, but I like his character." Old Yan couldn't help but sigh as he watched Lin Chen's departing figure.

The Ren Hall martial arena lay amidst surrounded mountains, split into two sections: one was the martial arts arena, and the other was the alchemical trial grounds.

Every month, Ren Hall held a monthly contest to provide disciples opportunities to spar and interact, aiming to discover more talents who could become Direct Disciples.

Thus, the monthly examination carried significant weight in the minds of the disciples.

At Ren Hall square, all of Ren Hall's disciples gathered, seated according to outer sect, inner sect, and Direct Disciples.

At the forefront, Fang Zhantang stood out strikingly in white clothes.

As Ren Hall's only Closed-door Disciple, he was placed at the front of the queue, naturally without anyone's objection.

Wang Chen's gaze scanned through the disciples: "Has Lin Chen not come from Bai Cao Tang yet?"

Xu Kai smiled wryly, "He went with old Yan to choose a Cultivation Technique, and hasn't emerged from the stone chamber since."

"Ah, I see, if it's a special circumstance, then let's postpone this duel for now." Wang Chen smiled blandly.

This was the result he most hoped for; with Lin Chen's talent, he might have a chance in a month's time, but if he were to compete now, given his current grasp of medicine, defeating Fang Zhantang was rather unlikely.

Meanwhile, within the arena, Lin Chen's absence stirred waves of discussion.

"I heard Lin Chen has been hiding in the White Grass Hall for three days, I think he's purposefully avoiding Senior Fang!"

"Yes, it's embarrassing, if you're no good, just admit it; resorting to such tactics is laughable."

Listening to these discussions, Fang Zhantang looked even more smug: "Forget it, I suggest everyone disperse; I thought Lin Chen was a courageous man, but turns out he's a coward, quite disappointing. I hope he remembers this lesson, others excel too; when it comes to martial arts I acknowledge Lin Chen's strength, but in alchemy, he's just a novice."

As more time passed, Wang Chen glanced towards Bai Cao Tang and finally sighed: "Forget it, this month's contest has ended, as for Lin Chen and Fang Zhantang's duel, let's set it for next month."

Upon hearing Wang Chen's words, an uproar of murmurs and even boos erupted within the arena.

Fang Zhantang's face turned cold: "Lin Chen, are you truly too scared to come? Well, you're going to lose the support you've been building up."

Just as he was about to speak further, a figure swiftly dashed in from the distance.

"It's him, Lin Chen is here!" someone cried out excitedly.