The next day, early in the morning, Su Hao left the Silkworm Baby spirit to watch over the luggage and headed alone to the Spirit Tamer Association, less than five hundred meters from the hotel. After all, spirits couldn’t be brought into the exam venue for the second round.
The exam room was inside the association building, a place resembling a large lecture hall. Though spacious enough to accommodate five or six hundred students for a lecture, it felt somewhat cramped as an exam venue for over three hundred candidates. The seats to Su Hao’s left and right were all filled.
He understood the reason, though. From the uncle yesterday, he’d learned that the second round used a real-time elimination system. The examiners would randomly present questions, and answers would be graded immediately. Then, each round would eliminate a portion of the candidates. It seemed crowded now, but soon enough, the exam room would hold far fewer test-takers.
“But with everyone sitting so close, aren’t they worried about cheating or peeking?” Su Hao quickly found out.
The panel of examiners arrived—a chief examiner and several associate examiners. He didn’t recognize any of them, but he did recognize the spirit accompanying them. The Eye of Spirit! A light-type spirit! It looked like a giant eye, resembling a balloon painted with an eyeball. Bulging. Beneath the eye, ribbons of red, blue, green, and purple fluttered without wind, keeping the Eye of Spirit suspended midair, towering a head above the examiners.
“So that’s the so-called Celestial Eye. No wonder they’re not worried about cheating.” This spirit was not only rare but also a state-controlled spirit in Dragon Country. Su Hao observed that this Eye of Spirit had elite-level strength. Though there were over three hundred candidates, any sneaky moves would be crystal clear under its scrutiny.
With the exam yet to start, Su Hao boldly sized up the other candidates. The entire exam room was semicircular, with all seats surrounding the central area where the examiners sat. He was seated in the third row on the left, relatively close to the front. In the fourth row on the opposite side, Su Hao spotted the uncle. The uncle saw him too and flashed a smile.
“Is that… Ai Zishi?” In the first row, near the center, there was a particularly conspicuous candidate. Small in stature, with a youthful face, he stood out among the predominantly weary young men and greasy middle-aged candidates. Su Hao was also noticeable. He frequently felt others’ gazes on him. But he wasn’t the only high school candidate, as Su Hao spotted one wearing a school uniform.
“Silence. The Spirit Tamer qualification second round begins now. All candidates sit upright and remain quiet. Everything you do will be watched by the Eye of Spirit. Cheaters will be expelled and barred from applying for the next three years.” “Alright, now for the first question.”
The imposing chief examiner sat back down. An associate examiner walked behind the examiners’ table to a large door against the wall. The associate opened the door, and three spirits entered the exam room one by one. The first was a very common spirit—the Prairie Wolf. The second was also common—the Little Earth Wolf. The third spirit was a canine-type spirit mixed among the two wolves, with glossy black fur and faint, unremarkable fiery red patterns. The Flame Pattern Hound! A rare spirit.
The associate examiner announced, “First question: write down the spiritual power of these three spirits. Anyone with a total error exceeding 15 will be eliminated. You have one minute. Begin… now!”
That meant the error for each spirit’s spiritual power had to be within 5. Was it… that simple? If the error had to be within 0.5, Su Hao wouldn’t be confident, but with 5 being so large, couldn’t anyone just write anything? Well, it was only the first question, after all.
Su Hao observed. All three spirits were clearly at the uninitiated level. The strongest was undoubtedly the Flame Pattern Hound, with glossy fur and fiery red patterns nearly forming a complete ring. Even its gaze at the two wolves carried a hint of disdain. Spiritual power: 99. Su Hao input the number on the answer board provided in the exam room. Prairie Wolf: 78, Little Earth Wolf: 45. He glanced twice and quickly wrote down the numbers. At this point, less than ten seconds of the minute had passed.
A heavy atmosphere hung over the exam room. Candidates widened their eyes, straining to observe the three spirits, trying to deduce their current levels from subtle differences in their features. But it was too hard! Observing from afar, unable to touch, and only one minute! Tick, tock… Some candidates broke out in cold sweat, their eyes aching, but they dared not blink or rub them. Then an examiner spoke: “Ten seconds left.” “Five seconds.” “Alright, stop answering.”
Many candidates, in the final moment, tremblingly typed in random numbers. After inputting, they finally let out a heavy breath, having been holding it while focusing.
“Now, announcing the answers.” The images of the three spirits and their corresponding numbers appeared on the large screen behind the examiners’ table. Many candidates turned pale at the sight. At the same time, their answer boards flashed with harsh red light.
“Eliminated candidates, please leave quietly and in an orderly manner.” In the deathly silent exam room, faint sobbing could be heard. Su Hao sighed softly. This was the cruelty of the Spirit Tamer exam. One minute of testing, and half were eliminated.
Candidates—dejected, disbelieving, or ashen-faced—stood up from their seats and shuffled out of the exam room like lost souls. The candidates to Su Hao’s left, right, and directly in front were all eliminated, suddenly making the area around him much more spacious.
Suddenly, Bang! A candidate slammed his hand on the table, craning his neck. “My error was only 6! Why eliminate me too! Your exam is rigged, rigged!” His face was red with anger, but Su Hao noticed his eyes were shifty. An associate examiner sneered, “At the 23rd second of the exam, you turned your head left. At the 42nd second, you peeked at the person on your right. Whether the answer was really yours, don’t you know in your heart?!” “I didn’t! No!” The young man looked at the other candidates, trying to find someone like him. But aside from his voice, the exam room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Experienced older candidates shook their heads slightly, showing pity.
The associate examiner said, “Remove him. Disrupting exam order, permanently banned from taking the exam.” “Wait, no, I…” The young man panicked. But two security guards immediately rushed in, flanked him, covered his mouth, and dragged him out efficiently. Several candidates who were about to “support” the young man immediately shut up, lowered their heads, and quickened their pace out of the exam room.
Only after all eliminated candidates had left did the chief examiner speak. “Begin the second question.” The three spirits left, and new ones entered. Different questions, different requirements came from the examiners’ mouths. Increasingly difficult, increasingly tricky, increasingly obscure. And the time was just as short!
After five rounds of questions, only a handful of candidates remained in the room. Su Hao glanced during the gap as candidates left—only 29. “The uncle held on too…” For the candidates, the second round was about endurance. Whoever lasted to the end was the winner.
As a small white-headed turtle strutted to the front with model-like steps, the imposing chief examiner stood up and announced: “Sixth question: design a cultivation plan suitable for this White-headed Turtle. You have ten minutes.”