TL: Etude
"A wager? Alright!"
The young man pondered for a moment before speaking, "Betting money is too uninteresting. How about we bet on points instead? Once you become a junior array master, you can earn 100 points as a reward from the Array Masters Association. These points can't be bought with money; you can only earn them by taking on tasks from the association. Therefore, points are extremely valuable. I am quite confident in becoming an array master, although I'm not sure about you. Shall we settle on this wager?"
"Agreed!"
Ye Tian consented.
He wasn't short on money, but he did lack points. Although he wasn't sure how many points he needed for the Qi Gathering Array design, it was undoubtedly good to earn more points.
Why wouldn't he agree if this young man was willing to give him points?
Name: Chen Dong
Cultivation Talent: High-level
Array Talent: Low-level
Looking at the talent information of the young man, Chen Dong, Ye Tian sneered internally, "A mere low-level array master, even if you have studied array patterns for a longer time, the gap between high-level and low-level array talents is insurmountable with just time alone."
The second round of the examination began.
One by one, array plate embryos were brought over by the staff, one for each person.
Array plate embryos were made of special materials capable of holding array patterns, whereas energy paper could only hold array marks. If one were to connect the array marks into an array, the energy paper would inevitably shatter, unable to withstand the power of the array.
Therefore, to lay out an array, one must use an array plate embryo.
"Begin!"
As the voice of Examiner Chen Yao fell, the examinees began to set up their arrays.
Ye Tian picked up an inscription pen, dipped it in a bit of beast blood, and began to inscribe.
With the support of his high-level array talent, he inscribed the first array mark.
Then, building on that first array mark, he continued to inscribe one mark after another.
Guided by his high-level array talent, he was constructing a soundproofing array in a three-dimensional space.
"Draw a stroke here, and another here…"
Thanks to the amplification of his high-level array talent, Ye Tian had a clear grasp of how to inscribe the array, a level of detail control that low-level array talents couldn't match.
Soon enough.
Ye Tian had inscribed 20 array marks, forming an array space.
"Just one final step left," Ye Tian thought to himself.
Immediately after, he channeled some energy into the three-dimensional array space.
Boom!
The array plate burst into brilliance, forming a simple array!
A soundproofing array had been successfully set up!
Examiner Chen Yao looked at Ye Tian with surprise and admiration, then nodded, signaling Ye Tian to sit to the side and practice, waiting for the examination of the others to finish.
Ye Tian glanced over at Chen Dong and saw that Chen Dong was very anxious at this moment because he realized Ye Tian had already completed his array while he had only inscribed 12 array marks.
"I've lost. I'm doomed. I'm going to lose 100 points," Chen Dong muttered in despair.
His mind was strongly shaken; his hand trembled, and an array mark was messed up.
Crash!
The array plate was ruined; the setup failed.
One failure was not critical; the examination allowed for one mistake, but if he failed again, he would lose his qualification for the exam.
A staff member brought over a second array plate embryo. Chen Dong knew this was his last chance. If he failed again, he would have to come back next time, and the one-time registration fee was not a small amount either!
Moreover, he absolutely couldn't fail the exam; otherwise, he might be ridiculed when he returned.
"Losing is losing; let's first pass the exam," Chen Dong steadied his emotions and started to seriously set up the soundproofing array.
Chen Dong steadied his emotions and began to seriously set up the sound-proofing array. This time, Chen Dong performed with remarkable stability, completing the sound-proofing array in no time. Even though he had failed once, he wasn't the last one to finish; that dubious honor went to Old Man Li Zhong.
Li Zhong's talent in formation array was abysmal, which slowed down his progress considerably. He dared not make a single mistake because his mediocre talents offered no advantages in setting up the array; a small mistake would mean failure.
"Very good, everyone has passed the second round. There are no freeloaders here. Let's move on to the third round!" Chen Yao nodded in satisfaction.
The third round was the most crucial—it required finding the flaws in an array. Chen Yao produced an array disk genuinely engraved with array patterns. Then he activated it, instantly enveloping the entire hall in an array.
At that moment, everyone was enclosed within the array.
"Basic-tier array!" Ye Tian sensed the array's level. It was not too strong and was a trapping array. Although he could easily break such an array, today's examination was not about breaking it but about finding its flaws.
"This is the Xiao Qing Yuan trapping array. Due to a mistake during its construction, it does have several flaws. I can promise you all, find one flaw and you can become a junior array master. For each additional flaw found, you'll get 100 extra points. Conversely, if you identify a wrong flaw, you'll lose 100 points. Don't get too ambitious; if you find one right and one wrong, you'll end up with zero points and fail the examination! The examination time is half an hour," Chen Yao explained.
Upon hearing this, Ye Tian was thrilled. Finding more flaws would earn him 100 extra points each, and he was short on points. As Chen Yao announced the start, Ye Tian immediately activated his high-tier array talent.
The entire array transformed into a field of array patterns in Ye Tian's view, consisting of roughly 50 array markings. He scrutinized each one, searching for flaws.
"This array marking conflicts with this one. It's wrong—take note!"
"This one is also wrong—take note!"
"Hmm, this should have had a different array marking engraved. It's wrong; the two array markings look similar but have slight differences. This mistake reduces the array's power by at least 10%—take note!"
Half an hour passed, and the examination ended.
Ye Tian was beaming. He had found seven flaws and was quite confident he had made no mistakes. On the other side, Old Man Li Zhong looked utterly disheartened; he hadn't found a single flaw.
Ye Tian noticed Li Zhong's expression and knew the old man had failed. But he understood why—simply put, it was a matter of talent. Inferior talents couldn't even see the entire array space, let alone identify the markings and their flaws. Thus, the third round was essentially a talent screening, a fact that Old Man Li Zhong did not understand. No one had bothered to enlighten him. No matter how many times the exam might be taken, Li Zhong would never pass. Talent ruled the age, and without the talent for being an array master, all of Li Zhong's efforts would be futile unless he could find an item that improved his array mastery talent.
"Write down the flaws on paper and hand them to me one by one!" Chen Yao deactivated the array and instructed.
One by one, Ye Tian and the others wrote down the flaws they had discovered. Old Man Li Zhong also jotted down what he thought were flaws, essentially guessing in the dark. After all, who knew? He might get lucky. But the odds were overwhelmingly against him.
Once everyone had handed in their papers, Chen Yao, the intermediate array master, began to announce, "There are a total of seven people who passed the exam: Ye Tian, Chen Dong, Li Dehai…"