Su Hao, embodying the fine tradition of examinees, scanned the entire test from start to finish as soon as he got the paper.
He noticed...
He seemed to have a rough grasp of it, could answer, wasn't hard, felt a bit simple...
Something's off!
First question:
How many colors does the Fire Crow's feathers have, and where are they located?
Answer: The Fire Crow's feathers come in three colors: white, red, and black. The forehead and the ring around the neck are red, the white is located... and the rest is black.
Su Hao answered without hesitation, writing swiftly.
The test pages flipped quickly, not taking much time...
"I actually finished?"
The Spirit Breeder exam had quite a few questions.
A full eight pages, mostly essay questions that took time to answer, but Su Hao barely paused while working.
Only after finishing did he realize his hand was sore, really sore.
He raised his hand, checked the time—only half had passed.
"Am I... this strong?"
"No, that's not right. The Spirit Breeder qualification exam has an extremely high elimination rate every year, with the written test alone weeding out nearly 90% of candidates. How could the questions be this easy!
"There must be hidden traps!
"People who aren't careful enough will easily lose points!"
Su Hao felt he'd uncovered the truth.
He flipped back to the front of the test and started proofreading question by question.
He proofread over and over, not missing a single punctuation mark.
On the stage,
The proctor saw Su Hao frowning as he repeatedly flipped through the test and shook his head with a wry smile.
Taking the Spirit Breeder qualification exam was still too hard for high school students.
Taking the written test was just to get familiar with the process.
Still... the proctor appreciated students who planned their path early like this.
...
"Ding-ling-ling~!"
"Time's up. Students in the first row, please help collect the papers."
"Alright, you can leave now."
Su Hao packed his bag and walked out of the classroom.
The sunlight was bright and glaring.
Around him, there were candidates with worried expressions.
"This year's questions seem harder. I'm only confident about two-thirds of them. Looks like I'm in trouble."
"There were too many questions. I still had three left unanswered when time ran out!"
"How many holes are on a Charcoal Turtle's shell? Damn, I have one at home and never noticed!"
"How do you solve that Poison Hunter Spider question? I still can't figure out under what circumstances a Poison Hunter Spider would poison itself?!"
A jumble of voices filled the air.
Su Hao's movement of carrying his bag stiffened.
A question mark slowly formed above his head.
Wait, did we take the same test?
No, the questions are the same. But how could someone not know that a Charcoal Turtle's shell has three symmetrical holes on each side?
He even knew those holes were a medium for the Charcoal Turtle to absorb and release energy.
Similar to the function of the green stripes on a Silkworm's back.
So simple,
All covered in basic cultivation knowledge.
Su Hao didn't understand.
Don't you guys review?
"Maybe I just ran into a bunch of slackers?"
Every year, there were plenty of such candidates. Without a large pool of test-takers, how could the excellence of the passing ones stand out?
Without comparison,
There's no satisfaction.
Even if they were just slackers, Su Hao's nervousness faded a lot.
"At least I answered all the questions. My chances of passing the written test should be... okay."
...
Back home, Su Hao saw a diligent.jpg Silkworm.
It was practicing spirit orbs.
"Let me check your progress."
Su Hao examined the spirit orb. The highest record showed a hard difficulty score of 75.
Previously, it was only 72.
"Not bad, looks like you haven't been slacking."
"Gu-nuo~~"
The Silkworm glanced at the already-closed computer, fixated on a novel, learning to be a cultured modern-day Silkworm.
Three days passed in a flash.
Friday, at 11 o'clock, was the time for the first round of the Spirit Breeder exam—the written test results announcement.
Su Hao was still at school. Sneaking out during a training break, he immediately opened the official website on his phone.
A bit laggy...
"The written test has a total of 200 points. Passing is 150 or above..."
After comparing with a few slacker candidates, Su Hao's confidence had gone from shaky to moderately certain.
He should be able to get above 150.
Su Hao quickly entered his name and exam number. Seeing the page loading, his heart leaped into his throat.
Suddenly,
The page finished loading.
It had only two very simple lines.
One line: Name: Su Hao.
One line: Score:
192 points!!
"Holy crap!"
Su Hao's eyes widened. He repeatedly checked if he'd logged into the wrong site, entered the wrong exam number, misread the name...
His heart pounded, and all his nervousness and worry eventually condensed into one sentence:
"I'm... this amazing."
...
"Amazing what? Su Hao, you're so full of yourself!"
The sudden voice startled him.
He found Liu Ren's pancake-like face already less than a palm's distance away.
"Holy crap!"
Su Hao immediately executed a series of backward jumps, retreating over ten meters.
Liu Ren had still seen the website.
Spirit Breeder qualification exam, 192 points.
One ninety-two.
One ninety...
"Holy crap! Su Hao, you scored nearly perfect?!"
Liu Ren charged over at sprint speed, snatched the phone from a stunned Su Hao, and took a look.
Let out a roar-like shout.
"Holy crap—"
...
If Liu Big Mouth knew, the whole class knew.
The whole class knew, and soon the entire Spirit Biology department heard that Su Hao had achieved an ultra-high score on the Spirit Breeder exam's written test!
"That Su Hao?"
"Is there another Su big shot here?"
"With Su Hao scoring that high on the written test, doesn't that mean he has a shot at getting the official Spirit Breeder certificate? That thing even adds points to the college entrance exam! Looks like Su Hao can get into a key Spirit University this year."
Everyone knew the certificate added points, but no one took the exam—why?
Because it was too hard, the pass rate too low. Investing limited energy into the Spirit Breeder exam wasn't worth it.
"Key university?" Liu Ren shook his head. "Do you know what an official Spirit Breeder represents? Forget the bonus points, Su Hao has already raised his Silkworm to be that strong. Not just key universities, he even has a chance at elite schools!"
Elite schools!
Ancheng No. 1 High might not produce even one student who gets into an elite Spirit School in a year.
Even Gu Lingyao, hailed as a key seed, only had a chance.
Was Su Hao saying he was stronger than Gu Lingyao?
But wasn't he from an ordinary background?
Many students couldn't help but look at Su Hao nearby.
Gu Lingyao had also heard the news, her eyes shining. "I heard from my uncle that the Spirit Breeder exam is especially hard. Su Hao, you must have studied for a long time, probably since middle school. No wonder you could raise your Silkworm so well."
Many were skeptical of Liu Big Mouth's words.
But with Gu Lingyao saying so, they suddenly believed it.
Su big shot was truly awesome!
They were classmates with an elite school candidate!
As gazes fell on him, Su Hao rubbed his nose.
Seriously, was he the type to show off?
Low-key? You all just don't get it.
But he hadn't mentioned it earlier because he was afraid of scoring too low and losing face.
Now, since his score was high, even if he failed the retest, he'd still be impressive.
Being found out was fine.
After all,
The feeling of those admiring, envious looks Su Hao was getting...
Was pretty nice!