Early in the morning the next day, Su Hao left Silkworm Baby by itself to look after the luggage and headed to the Association of Sprite Cultivators less than 500 meters away from the hotel.
Sprites were forbidden in the examination hall of the second round, after all.
The examination hall was in a lecture hall-like room in the main building of the Association.
Even though it was very spacious and could accommodate 500 to 600 students for a lecture, as an examination hall for 300-odd students, it was still rather packed.
All the seats to both Su Hao's left and right were filled with people.
He was aware of the reason, however.
The day before, he had gotten to know from the middle-aged man that the second round of the examination employed a real-time elimination system.
The examiner would set the test questions randomly. After the candidates answered, they would give out the assessment grade on the spot.
A number of people would be eliminated per round.
It might look crowded now, but before long, the examination hall wouldn't be left with many candidates.
"But aren't they concerned about people cheating and peeking at others when everyone is seated so closely?"
Su Hao got his answer very quickly.
The big shots from the examiner squad, a head examiner and a few deputy examiners, made their way in.
He didn't know any of the examiners, but he did know the sprite that was following by the side of one of the examiners—a Spiritual Eye!
This was a Light-Element Sprite!
It looked like a gigantic eye, as though a balloon with an eyeball drawn on it.
It was all puffed up.
Below the eye, red, blue, green, and purple ribbons drifted and danced about despite the lack of wind. This allowed the Spiritual Eye to float in mid-air, its size a whole notch taller than the examiners.
"So it's the Spiritual Eye that's known as the Eye of Heaven. No wonder they aren't concerned about candidates cheating."
This sprite species was rare, and it was also one under the Dragon Nation's control.
Su Hao observed that this particular Spiritual Eye possessed elite-level strength. Don't be fooled by how big of a number 300-odd candidates seemed to be—under the watch of Spiritual Eye, not a single tiny action could get past it.
As the examination hadn't started, Su Hao observed the other candidates boldly with peace of mind.
The examination hall was in the shape of a semicircle. All the seats surrounded the region in the absolute center where the examiners were.
His seat was in the third row on the left. It was relatively nearer to the front.
Su Hao spotted the middle-aged man in the fourth row opposite him.
The man noticed him as well and gave him a smile.
"That's… Ai Zishi?"
There was an especially eye-catching candidate in the middle of the first row.
He was of small stature and had a child-like face. Amidst candidates mainly made up of weary-looking young adults and greasy middle-aged adults. He was especially eye-catching.
Su Hao was eye-catching as well, of course.
He sensed other people's attention on him all the time.
However, he wasn't the only high school student there. Su Hao also spotted a candidate who was wearing a school uniform.
"Quieten down, we're commencing the second round of the Sprite Cultivator assessment now. All candidates, straighten your posture and remain silent. Everything you do will be under the watch of Spiritual Eye. Anyone found cheating will be thrown out of the examination hall and their application eligibility disqualified for the next three years.
"Alright, you may begin with the first question now."
The imposing head examiner sat back onto his seat.
A deputy examiner walked to the back of the examiners' seats where the wall was. There was a large door there.
He opened the door. Three sprites filed into the examination hall.
The one in the lead was a sprite that was very commonly seen—a Grassland Wolf.
The second was also a common sprite—a Little Ground Wolf.
The third was a canine-type sprite mixed in with the two wolves. Its fur coat was black and shiny, and there was even a somewhat indistinct fiery red pattern on it.
It was a Flame-Patterned Hound!
This was a rare sprite.
The deputy examiner announced, "Question 1: State the spiritual force values of the three sprites. Those whose error margin exceeds 15 in total will be eliminated. You have a minute, starting… Now!"
In other words, the error margin in spiritual force value evaluation per sprite must be five points or less.
Was it supposed to be this easy?
If the error margin was 0.5, Su Hao wouldn't have any confidence either. But an error margin of 5 was so generous, didn't that mean that any random answer would do?
Oh well, this was just the first question, after all.
Su Hao observed the sprites.
All three sprites were obviously pre-entry level.
The strongest among them was undoubtedly the Flame-Patterned Hound. The luster of its fur coat was bright and shiny, and the fiery red patterns on its fur were already close to linking into a ring. Even its eyes contained a sense of haughtiness when it looked at the two wolves.
Su Hao wrote a few numbers on the answer board provided in the examination hall—Spiritual Force: 99.
The values he wrote for the Grassland Wolf and Little Ground Wolf were 78 and 45, respectively.
He wrote the numbers down swiftly after taking a couple of looks.
At this point, less than ten seconds had even passed.
A solemn atmosphere filled the examination hall.
The candidates widened their eyes and observed the three sprites as best as possible, hoping to assess their current standard from the small and subtle characteristics and differences.
But this was simply too difficult!
They were allowed to only observe from a distance and couldn't even touch them. Also, they only had a minute to boot!
Tick-tock, tick-tock…
Some of the candidates broke into a cold sweat. Their eyes were tired and weary, but they didn't dare to blink, much less rub their eyes.
At this point, an examiner spoke.
"Ten seconds left."
"Five seconds."
"Alright, pens down."
Several candidates filled in a random numerical value with their trembling hands at the very last moment.
After that, they, who were in high concentration mode and holding their breaths during the observation process, finally took a harsh breath of air.
"Announcing the answers now."
Pictures of the three sprites and their corresponding numerical values were displayed on the big screen behind the examiners' seats.
Several candidates turned ghastly pale the moment they looked at it.
At the same time, a piercing red light lit up the answer boards in front of them.
"Candidates who have been eliminated, please leave the hall quietly and orderly."
Soft sobbing could be heard in the silent examination hall.
Su Hao sighed lightly.
This was the brutality of the Sprite Cultivator assessment.
One minute into the examination and half the candidates were eliminated.
Candidates, who were dejected, in disbelief, or in grief, got up from their seats and walked out of the examination hall, as though they were soulless.
All the candidates to Su Hao's left, right, and center-front were eliminated. His surroundings became a lot more spacious right away.
All of a sudden…
Bang!
A candidate slammed his palm on the desk. With his head raised defiantly, he said, "I clearly have an error margin of only 6. Why have I been eliminated too!? This exam is rigged! Rigged!"
He was so furious that his eyes were red and his neck thick. However, Su Hao discovered that his eyes were a little shifty.
A deputy examiner let out a cold chuckle. "At the 23rd second of the examination, you turned your head to the left. At the 42nd second, you peeked at the person to your right. Don't you have any idea whether or not your answer truly belongs to you?!"
"I'm not! I didn't!"
The young adult turned toward the other candidates, attempting to find people in the same situation as him.
However, apart from his own voice, there was only pin-drop silence in the examination hall.
Experienced candidates shook their heads slightly, with looks of pity on their faces.
The deputy examiner said, "Throw him out. For disturbing the order of the examination hall, your assessment eligibility is disqualified for life."
"Wait, no, I…"
The young man was scared now.
But right away, two security officers had charged in. With one on the left and one on the right, they held him and even covered his mouth. Then, they dragged him out in a clean and smooth motion.
A few candidates who were intending to voice their support shut their mouths immediately. With their heads lowered, they quickened their pace and walked out of the examination hall.
When all the eliminated candidates had left, the head examiner said, "Begin with the second question."
The three sprites left. New sprites entered.
Different questions and different requests came from the examiners.
They became trickier, more and more difficult, and more and more uncommon.
Yet the amount of time given remained just as short!
Five rounds of questions later, only a small number of candidates were left in the examination hall. Su Hao took advantage of the brief moment when candidates were leaving the hall to take a quick look around. There were only 29 people left.
"The middle-aged uncle has also managed to hang in there…"
To the candidates, the second round was no different from a test of perseverance.
Whoever was able to persevere till the end would be the winner.
As a white-headed little tortoise sashayed to the front of the stage, the imposing head examiner stood and announced something.
"Round 6: Please draw up a cultivation plan suitable for this White-Headed Tortoise. You have ten minutes."