While flaunting his own knowledge and manipulating his spells, David Bolton once again looked at Henry Sutton, his eyes full of smug laughter. But in the next moment, his hands slipped, and the two spells he was running collapsed instantly.

Off to the side, Henry Sutton paid no attention to the so-called Light Spell or Temperature Alteration Spell. Instead, he sent streams of green light, brimming with spiritual vitality, into the damaged Moon-Chasing Flower, which began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Wood Deity Art—if it weren’t miraculous, it wouldn’t be the single most important spell for every wood spirit practitioner!

"Pfft, that's impossible! When did you become this strong?" David Bolton's face turned a ghastly green, and he was so devastated he wanted to die. How did he end up, once again, walking right into a face-slapping, getting ground into the dirt by someone else?

Before coming, afraid that Henry Sutton wouldn’t admit defeat, he had even deliberately called friends to watch, just so more people could witness it. Now he looked like a complete fool.

He had gone out of his way to provoke Henry Sutton, called people to watch, and then got humiliated himself? Why did he feel like giving himself a slap?!

David Bolton was starting to question his life. As a model student and future pillar of the Ming Empire, when did he become so cheap and so stupid?

Chapter 010: The Competition Begins

A few days later, the Ming Empire University All-Star League—Jiangzhou Institute of Technology’s on-campus qualification battle—officially arrived.

Because of its natural advantages, the Wood Spirit Department, responsible for cultivating all spiritual plants and precious herbs and providing the main ingredients for elixirs, was one of the most anticipated department competitions at Jiangzhou Tech.

The four undergraduate years, from freshman to senior, were divided into four arenas held simultaneously. The junior and senior competitions were the most intense and eye-catching, and tickets for their venues were already impossible to get.

When Henry Sutton approached the freshman competition arena, feeling the presence of one or two thousand people inside, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. College students in this parallel world were truly nothing like those on Earth in his previous life.

"Old Su, nervous?" Henry Sutton had set out from the dorm with Scott Rowe. The freshman arena was relatively simple—a large auditorium with tiered seating packed with spectators, and a row of computers set up on the stage at the back.

At the deepest part of the stage, a huge LCD screen hung on the wall, ready to display contestants’ scores at any time.

All participants would take part in the theoretical knowledge competition under the watchful eyes of the audience—in other words, it was an exam with over a thousand proctors.

Standing outside the auditorium entrance, Scott Rowe listened to the roaring crowd inside and teased Henry Sutton with a smile. He still couldn’t quite believe his roommate had signed up for the competition. "I heard registration closed just an hour ago. Out of more than 700 students in the department, only 19 signed up. Besides you, the rest are all perennial top-20 students. You’re the only one ranked outside the top 50. The ranking isn’t the main thing—the real issue is you’re seriously unbalanced in your studies, man!"

Eighteen perennial top-20 students, and one ranked outside the top 50, all competing for the title of department number one? No matter how you looked at it, Henry Sutton’s results were a bit "outstanding." Henry Sutton’s cultivation level was also the lowest among the 19; he was only at Spirit Transformation Level 2, while the others were all Level 3 or above. The strongest, Grace Warren, was already at Level 5.

Once you break through Spirit Transformation Level 5, you reach the Transcendent Realm—your lifespan doubles, and you can fly and travel the world by your own power!

Of course, the Wood Spirit Department wasn’t about combat. It trained support and logistics talent. No one would be foolish enough to send Einstein or Professor Yuan, who invented hybrid rice, to the front lines as cannon fodder...

Their competition tested two things: knowledge reserves, and practical ability to heal damaged spiritual plants and precious herbs.

The first was determined by written tests and scores; the second, cultivation level played a role—the higher your cultivation, the stronger the spells you could cast, and the number of spells you’d mastered was also key. But in every respect, Henry Sutton had always been suppressed—seriously suppressed.

Henry Sutton smiled calmly. "What’s there to be nervous about? It’s just another exam. Just treat it with a normal mindset."

At this, he glanced at his own status panel.

Super Scholar System: Host Henry Sutton.

Wood Spirit Department evolution path.

Cultivation: Spirit Transformation Level 2.

Cultivation Method: Wood Deity Technique (Grade 3)

Spells: Wood Deity Art Level 1 (Beginner), Spirit Nurturing Art Level 0 (Basic), Vine Flight Art Level 1 (Beginner), Flower Deity Art Level 1 (Beginner).

Spiritual Plant Cultivation Level 0 (Proficient).

Spiritual Plant Improvement Level 0 (Basic).

Spiritual Botany Level 1 (Proficient).

Soil Science Level 0 (Proficient).

Spirit Assistance Level 1 (Proficient).

……

Comprehensive Evaluation: Theoretical Knowledge Level 1, 45 points; Practical Ability Level 1, 19 points.

……

After crushing David Bolton in the last practical test, he was rewarded with Level 1 in Spiritual Botany.

Recently, he’d been soaking in the library, constantly improving his knowledge reserves. Through half a month of self-study, his Soil Science had also risen from Level 0 (Basic) to Proficient. His theoretical knowledge had already exploded past Grace Warren.

With a calm demeanor, Henry Sutton started walking toward the arena—not through the main entrance for spectators, but via a special passage. He would enter with the other contestants in order.

Backstage at the competition, when Henry Sutton arrived, Grace Warren, Frank Young, Emily Thompson, and others were already there, along with their advisor Patrick Grant. No one was speaking; everyone was gathered respectfully around two middle-aged men, listening intently.