The second round of the Sprite Cultivator assessment was held the next day.
The examination venue for candidates of An City and its other three sister cities was set in the Association of Sprite Cultivators in Yunhua City.
Su Hao packed his luggage, intending to set off for Yunhua City on Friday evening.
Both his parents needed to work on Saturday. They could only let Su Hao head there by himself despite their worry.
"Hao'er, remember to take good care of Silkworm Baby."
"It's alright if you starve, but you can't let Little Baby starve, understand?"
Su Hao was bewildered. He could only stretch his evil hand out toward Silkworm Baby and leave with a Silkworm Piggy in his grasp.
"Gurgle!"
Silkworm Baby was reluctant to leave.
Why? Shouldn't it stay home while Su Hao went for the assessment?
Why did it have to go with him?
It didn't need Su Hao to take care of it at all, alright!
Unfortunately, it couldn't win Su Hao in an argument, much less his parents. Thus, while hanging its head, it was brought onto the bus by Su Hao.
…
From the bus stop, he took the bus to Yunhua City. After he alighted, he headed to the hotel near the Association of Sprite Cultivators in Yunhua City.
By the time Su Hao reached, it was already eight to nine o'clock at night.
The Association was very generous. They provided hotel accommodation, and single rooms at that, for all the candidates.
"Good thing it's a single room. Otherwise, I'd rather find another place to stay at than share a room with a stranger."
The hotel was putting up only examination candidates for today.
After providing his candidate information, Su Hao checked in.
In the grand lobby, he saw a lot of examination candidates.
Like the other time at the written test, there were both men and women, young and old.
"The number of candidates that made it for the second round this time exceeds 300! I feel like it's hard to tell what will happen again this year!"
"It can't be, there were only 286 people during the March session. Why is this session harder? This is already my third attempt!"
A middle-aged man, who was originally silent, sneered. "Third attempt? You're already at your limit during the third attempt? I'll tell you, I've been trying to get my Sprite Cultivator license for eight years!
"I'd already passed the written test during the second year, but even all the way until the March session, I was still eliminated during the second round."
"S-surely not?"
The candidate who looked to be a college student was a little scared now. "Is the passing rate that low?"
The middle-aged man replied, "I'll put it this way—in the last few years, only four to five people received their licenses per session. During the last couple of years, there were a few more people; 11 to 12 people managed to pass. But the number of people participating in the second round…"
He laughed self-mockingly. "If I still can't pass this time, I'm not going to bother anymore.
"Although applying to become a Sprite Cultivator isn't as expensive as rearing sprites, if one doesn't put in their full effort into exam preparation, there's no chance of passing at all. All these years, in order to help me get my Sprite Cultivator license, my family has tightened their purse strings a lot.
"I've also thought it through. Perhaps this isn't meant to be. Even if I can't become a Sprite Cultivator, I can still work and earn a living. I can't hold my family back like that anymore."
He spoke as though he had already accepted it, but his smile was rather forced. There was unconcealable dejection at the bottom of his eyes.
Reality was brutal.
People saw only the glory of Sprite Trainers and Sprite Cultivators, but they tended to overlook the hardships and diligence behind the scenes.
Fighting so hard for so many years, only to end up with nothing at all in the end.
There were quite a lot of people like the middle-aged man among the examination candidates.
The few younger ones, and those whose families were a bit more well-off, couldn't help but become somewhat melancholic.
Many years down the road, would they also be like this middle-aged man hiding their sorrow in their heart?
Influenced by the atmosphere, Silkworm Baby also became a lot more dejected.
Su Hao was so stupid. What if the assessment made him cry?
"Gurgle~"
It patted Su Hao's head and comforted him softly.
Su Hao didn't know whether to laugh or to cry… He hadn't even sat for the examination yet!
The middle-aged man noticed Su Hao. "Young man, are you also here for the Sprite Cultivator assessment? You're a high school student, aren't you? How impressive."
The college student said, "I also applied for the Sprite Cultivator assessment when I was in high school, but I couldn't even score half the total marks in the written test and ended up being completely traumatized. I only dared to apply again after taking a break for quite a few years."
The middle-aged man seemed to have let go a lot more after he accepted his fate. He wasn't as cold and distant as he was in the beginning anymore.
He said in persuasion, "Third-year high school students like you should still focus on nurturing your sprites. You can apply for a Sprite Cultivator license anytime you want in the future, but once you miss out on the Sprite University, the price you have to pay would be too high."
Su Hao understood that the middle-aged man had kind intentions.
Although he didn't have high hopes for himself, to a third-year high school student who was charging full force toward a Sprite University, it was indeed not worth applying for a Sprite Cultivator license.
The risk was too great, while the benefits were average.
It was only because he didn't spend much time on revision and was only applying for the license casually, as well as the fact that Silkworm Baby could finish its training tasks on time even without supervision, that Su Hao could go for the assessment without worry.
"But this only applies to ordinary people like us. Geniuses are in a different league." The middle-aged man went on. "Do you know? Among the candidates of the second round this time, the youngest is only 14-years-old. And not just that, he even scored full marks for the written test. He's practically already reserved a passing slot.
"You don't believe me?" The middle-aged man shook his head. "Ask around even a little, and you'll know. His name is Ai Zishi. Not only is he incredibly talented, but his teacher is also Master Chen Ping. He's from a different world altogether right from the start."
"That Master Chen, who's honored as 'the pioneer of evolution' because he discovered 18 new sprite evolution pathways in his research, Master Chen Ping?!"
"Yes, that exact Master Chen."
"No wonder. If it's Master Chen's disciple, it's not surprising that he could score full marks for his written test… Are there any other candidates who are difficult to handle other than Ai Zishi?"
The middle-aged man burst into laughter. "Don't you think that's enough? Ai Zishi alone has already reserved a slot. If there are any others, we won't need to take the assessment anymore.
"But…" He said, "There aren't any other famous ones, but from what I understand, other than Ai Zishi who scored full marks, there are also a few other candidates who scored more than 190 marks in the written test this time. There are seriously too many strong opponents."
The college student asked feebly, "I scored 173 marks for my written test. That's 23 marks higher than the passing mark. That should be enough, right?"
Another person sneered. "I got 178 marks in the written test."
"So sorry, but I got 179."
The middle-aged man smiled self-mockingly. "I got 183 marks, but that's only because I've taken the test too many times, so I have a lot of experience. The test questions for the second round are completely randomly given by the examiner squad. In fact, every session's test questions are different."
Despite his self-mockery, the way everyone looked at the middle-aged man had changed nevertheless.
He was a strong opponent. Perhaps he was merely a hair's breadth away from getting the license.
"Young man, how many marks did you get?" asked the middle-aged man. It was only after the question left his mouth that he changed his tone and said, "The written test score isn't important. You're still young, just take it as familiarizing yourself with the procedures. Taking your time to get the Sprite Cultivator license after you've enrolled in a Sprite University and become an official Sprite Trainer isn't bad either."
Su Hao was rather hesitant.
The middle-aged man had given him a lot of examination hall-related information. It seemed rather disrespectful if he kept his score a secret.
After thinking about it, he still said it in the end. "Just 192 marks…"
The middle-aged man was rendered speechless.
The college student was rendered speechless.
The male candidate was rendered speechless.
The female candidate was rendered speechless.
They'd originally thought that all of them here were low-level players. They didn't expect that a king like him was hidden among them!
The atmosphere turned awkward at once.