"Here it comes, the key question!"
Many examinees' hearts tightened.
The core duty of a spirit cultivator is to design training plans for spirits.
Thus,
The retest was bound to include a question on training plans.
It was also the only question in the entire retest where one could "circle the key points."
But even so,
This question was far from simple—on the contrary, it was extremely difficult.
—If merely reviewing materials and highlighting key points could design a spirit's training plan, what need would there be for spirit cultivators?
The key lay in the plan's alignment with the spirit!
Su Hao focused his gaze, the image of the White-headed Turtle gradually enlarging in his pupils.
[Spirit: White-headed Turtle]
[Basic Info: Water type, Growth stage]
[Description: This is a "over-nourished" White-headed Turtle. Due to consuming too much灵力-rich food without fully digesting it, the turtle is bursting with energy, and its limbs show slight incoordination.]
[Detailed Info: (Unlock with 1 intelligence point)]
"Just as I judged, right on the mark with the panel."
"The crux of the question is this turtle's 'over-nourishment.' Even if someone reviewed other White-headed Turtle training plans, blindly applying them here would lead to a disastrous failure."
Su Hao rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and then began tapping away on the answer board—he could also choose to write by hand with a stylus.
Even a brief training plan required at least a few hundred words, and whether typing or writing, it took time.
Ten minutes,
Seemingly the longest round of questions, was in fact still very short.
There was no time to waste!
The entire exam hall fell silent again, with only the faint sound of fingers touching the answer boards.
Ten minutes flew by in an instant.
One by one, the answers were transmitted directly to the examiners.
This round,
Required time for evaluation.
That's why the training plan question was placed in the sixth round.
Reviewing over three hundred examinees' answers was too cumbersome; reviewing twenty-nine was much easier.
The examiners on the panel were all experienced spirit cultivators with high ranks.
They came from the Spirit Cultivator Associations of Yunhua and surrounding cities.
The deputy examiners cross-reviewed in pairs, and finally, the chief examiner reviewed them.
"This batch of examinees isn't bad..."
The chief examiner went through the answers one by one.
"Ke Xu... 83 points."
"Yang Donghai... 82 points."
"Zhang Linqi... 79 points."
"Ai Zishi... 97 points."
The examiner panel, all seasoned spirit cultivators, largely agreed on the scores. The chief examiner only occasionally adjusted a point up or down for a particular examinee.
Suddenly,
The chief examiner paused.
He saw an examinee's answer sheet with a "?" in the score column, and both deputy examiners had marked it with a question mark!
Were they asking to be fired?
The chief examiner frowned, sensing something unusual, and patiently read on.
This answer was rich in content, even breaking down into a basic plan, a moderate plan, and an advanced plan—based on the abundance of training resources.
"Is it genuine substance or just a gimmick?"
The chief examiner took one look and confirmed it was a solid answer.
But...
His eyes landed on a line of text.
"Grind hollow tree stumps into powder, mix with Primordial Water Spirit Liquid for the White-headed Turtle to ingest, and use vortex methods to train the turtle in water, which can accelerate its absorption of spiritual energy..."
Beside it was a deputy examiner's comment.
A "?" was placed next to the hollow tree stump + Primordial Water Spirit Liquid, questioning the feasibility of the formula.
If not for the clear and well-reasoned factual arguments preceding it, the chief examiner would have dismissed this method as nonsense.
But now,
He continuously simulated the effects of these two auxiliary items in his mind and felt it might not be entirely impossible.
For a moment, he couldn't decide.
...
As the examiners reviewed, the seated examinees could only wait anxiously.
At this stage, they were almost at the final step to obtaining the qualification certificate.
But being eliminated here was no different from those who left in the first round or failed the written exam.
All were failures.
They waited, fidgeted, scratched their heads, checked their watches...
Experienced veteran examinees fell into deep thought.
Today,
Why were the examiners taking so long to review?
In previous sessions, it was done in less than ten minutes at most.
Now, twenty minutes had passed, and the examiners were still whispering among themselves...
Wait,
Whispering?
Some examinees caught a clue. Could it be...
That Ai Zishi's plan was so outstanding that the examiners couldn't decide whether to give him full marks or deduct one point to 99 so he wouldn't get too cocky?
Just then,
The examiners finally returned to their seats.
But no scores were announced.
Instead, the chief examiner asked, "Who is Su Hao?"
Su Hao reflexively stood up.
Completely baffled.
Was there an on-the-spot Q&A session in the retest?
Why didn't the old man mention it?
Oh, maybe the old man never made it to this round before.
The chief examiner skipped pleasantries and got straight to the point, "What is your basis for using hollow tree stumps?"
Su Hao didn't overthink it.
All the examiners were intermediate or senior spirit cultivators, top-tier experts. How could they not understand a novice's plan like his?
They must have thought his explanation was insufficient. Thank the examiners for giving him another chance to elaborate.
"Esteemed teachers, here's my reasoning..."
"Hollow tree stumps are typically used on wood-type spirits. Water-type spirits absorb them inefficiently, but they can dissolve in Primordial Water Spirit Liquid. As an auxiliary potion combined with vortex training, it can help the White-headed Turtle accelerate the absorption of excess nutrients and 'expel' impurities. This precisely leverages the turtle's resistance to hollow tree stumps."
"Additionally, this White-headed Turtle's 'over-nourishment' stems from a one-time intake of too many spiritual items, not from prolonged consumption of jade powder without adequate training. That's why this plan is viable."
"If it were long-term over-nourishment, the solution would be more troublesome. A cost-effective plan would take a month, with the main method being..."
"For the moderate plan, I think..."
"If budget isn't an issue, the long-term over-nourishment problem could be resolved within three days, simply by..."
Su Hao had a bit of a "professional quirk" again.
He always liked to design plans in three tiers: for the wealthy, the moderately well-off, and the average person.
After this lengthy explanation, the other examinees were dumbfounded.
They were completely lost, but the examiners didn't interrupt, wearing expressions of serious contemplation.
Who was this prodigy?
The young man in the front row, Ai Zishi, frowned in thought, his small face scrunched up.
"...So, in summary, this is the basis for my training plan."
Su Hao finished speaking and awaited the examiners' decision.
Several deputy examiners nodded slightly.
They exchanged glances, seeing both amazement and hesitation in each other's eyes.
"This plan seems plausible, but only in theory. How should we score it?"
They couldn't help but look at the chief examiner.
An Yushan, Vice President of the Yunhua Association and a senior spirit cultivator.
"President An, what do you think?"