"Hmph."
Christina, who had originally been floating and spinning in midair, landed.
With her tail proudly raised, she spoke slowly, "Primordial Spirit value around 180, Daoization degree 3%, and still only 4 spots on the Sword Diagram."
Zhou Bai silently nodded; Christina’s cultivation speed was indeed fast, especially her ability to comprehend the Daoist scriptures—it was as if she had cheated. If Zhou Bai hadn’t actually cheated, he might not have been able to keep up with her.
And now that Christina was channeling her Sword Qi, it was naturally much fiercer than before. Wherever the Sword Qi passed, it could slice through metal and shatter jade with ease. Zhou Bai only dared to resist it when he was lying down.
But he still had no idea about the others’ progress.
"Should I scout around to check others’ strength? Might as well inquire about the content of the examination. Has Teacher Lv already told everyone what will be on it during class?"
The next day, while Zhou Bai was eating, he waited in the cafeteria. As soon as he saw Jing Xiu arrive, he hurried over and sat next to her.
"Brother Zhou?" Jing Xiu looked at Zhou Bai with a smile. "Are you doing well?"
"Yep, not bad." Zhou Bai asked, "Jing Xiu, has Teacher Lv mentioned what the exam in two weeks will cover?"
"Yes, he has."
Just as Jing Xiu got halfway through her sentence, Xia Li, who was just shy of one and a half meters tall, popped her head out from behind and snorted, "The first round is a written test, you know!"
"Cultivating the Dao is filled with danger. Without sufficient theoretical knowledge, the higher your cultivation, the more tragic your death. It puts not only yourself at risk but also your companions."
"Moreover, without enough theoretical knowledge, one can’t cultivate the God Diagram well, the Breathing Technique won’t be refined, and the Primordial Spirit value can’t be increased. Even the Dao School scriptures can’t be read properly."
"How can one’s cultivation rise?"
Seeing Zhou Bai’s shocked expression, Xia Li took pleasure in his misfortune, saying, "How about that? People who don’t attend class feel like they can’t even pass the first round, right? Hahaha, just wait to pack up and go home."
Zhou Bai sneered, "Little sprout, so you were behind Jing Xiu. If your head hadn’t popped up, I wouldn’t have been able to see you at all."
Xia Li stared at Zhou Bai dumbfounded; no one had ever insulted her like that before. She angrily retorted, "Enjoy talking tough while you can, slacker! Just thinking about you getting kicked out of Dao School makes me so happy I can’t sleep at night."
"Huh? I can’t hear you clearly. Xia Li, why are you speaking to me with your back turned?"
Xia Li was momentarily stunned before realizing Zhou Bai was staring at her chest.
Her face turned beet red, and she let out a shriek, mobilizing her Primordial Spirit power, but thankfully Jing Xiu stopped her.
"Jing Xiu, don’t stop me! I’m going to kill him!"
"Jing Xiu, why stop her? This kind of small fry, I can take on ten of them by myself."
Watching the two continue to quarrel, Jing Xiu’s face suddenly turned stern, and she angrily said, "Enough! Both of you, shut up! Xia Li, private fighting is not allowed in the school. Take back your Primordial Spirit power!"
"Brother Zhou! Why are you personally attacking Xia Li? Apologize to her."
As Jing Xiu suddenly turned fierce, both of them stopped. Zhou Bai helplessly glanced at Xia Li, curled his lip, and said distractedly, "Sorry~"
Xia Li snorted and turned away, examining her own chest.
Zhou Bai awkwardly looked at Jing Xiu and asked, "What about the second and third rounds?"
With the two no longer arguing, Jing Xiu’s demeanor became peaceful again. "The second round is a skill assessment for cultivation, to verify if one’s cultivation level has improved. The third round is actual combat; all cultivators of the same class will have to fight. The final scores will be a combined result of all three rounds."
"Oh." Hearing about these two rounds, Zhou Bai felt relieved. Whether it was verifying his cultivation or actual combat, he was much more confident than in a written test.
He then asked about the other students’ progress in cultivation. Unfortunately, Jing Xiu didn’t know much either, as cultivation level is quite a private matter and not something many would openly discuss.
Zhou Bai thought to himself, "I’ve been studying the basic knowledge for one and a half months now, and Tina, although unreliable at times, actually teaches quite well.
In this period, I’ve felt my understanding of cultivation theory skyrocketing. I can easily understand even secretive martial scriptures like the Great Dream Arhat Heart Scripture and can even read the Dao School’s scriptures now.
Come to think of it, maybe I’m a genius when it comes to theoretical knowledge of cultivation?"
Thinking this, Zhou Bai couldn’t help but smile. "Plus, with the study time I put in back in the day and having experienced an exam as tough as the college entrance exam, if I cram for the next two weeks, I should be able to scrape together at least 80 points on the test, right?"
So Zhou Bai asked, "What are the rewards for this examination?"
"Rewards, huh." Jing Xiu looked at Zhou Bai and said, "If you get first place, you won’t have to pay for any of the materials needed for the next level of God Diagram training, and there’s a bonus of 2000 points..."
Zhou Bai’s eyes widened in shock, and he stopped listening to the rest of the rewards. ’First place, I must secure first place and earn those 2000 points! Then, I’ll treat myself! I’m going to eat ten bowls of rice.’
Thus, after arranging to borrow notes on the written exam content from Jing Xiu the next day, he went back to his dorm and studied all night.
The next day, he went to Jing Xiu to borrow notes related to the written exam and took a look.
Then, during broad daylight, he found himself unable to sleep.
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"Damn it..."
Zhou Bai looked at the various inexplicable symbols on Jing Xiu’s notes, a look of despair on his face: "Who in the world can make sense of this?"
"I can’t understand a single word, is this really written by a human?"
"Are Jing Xiu and the others gods or what?"
Zhou Bai’s room was instantly filled with the despair of a failing student.
Forget about the two weeks left; Zhou Bai felt that even if he had two more months, he couldn’t possibly learn all this stuff.
"Sigh... anyway, there are still two weeks left..."
"Let’s sleep for a bit, let my brain refresh; maybe I’ll get it?"
With a fear of exams, Zhou Bai went through the last two anxious weeks. During these two weeks, apart from slacking off during the day, he spent most of his time studying and practising diligently.
However, although Zhou Bai tried his best to study, as a modern man, he found it challenging to learn these Daoist teachings.
Finally, after two weeks, the first assessment since the beginning of school arrived.
...
Zhou Bai made sure to adjust his sleeping schedule a few days earlier and had a good night’s sleep that day to prepare for the exam with a full spirit.
Woof~~ Woof~~
Elsa barked a few times at Zhou Bai as he was about to leave and then suddenly opened her mouth wide and made a slightly hoarse, somewhat inaccurate sound: "Go~~ for~~ it~~"
Zhou Bai turned his head to look at Elsa, surprised and delighted: "Elsa? You’ve learned another phrase?"
"Go~~ for~~ it~~"
"Don’t worry, I will definitely be first."
Stepping out of his room, Zhou Bai couldn’t help but shiver: "Please let the written exam questions be easy."
It was rare for him to arrive at the classroom, but Zhou Bai soon discovered all his classmates had already arrived, and as he made his entrance, various curious, schadenfreude, disdainful, and worried gazes all turned towards him.
Zhou Bai ignored those gazes and randomly picked a spot to sit down, feeling his heart racing.
’Sigh, I wasn’t even this nervous for my college entrance exams in my past life.’
’Don’t fail.’
Zhou Bai wasn’t in the mood to bother with other people’s looks, and his mind kept recalling all the knowledge concerning Daoism and the textbooks he had read over the past two weeks.
At this tensely nervous moment, Lv Chongyang walked in from outside, nodded at everyone, and said, "Well, I won’t say anything unnecessary. The sole purpose of today’s assessment is to verify what you’ve all learned.
Just do your best, you’re not competing against others, but against yourselves from two months ago."
Speaking of which, Lv Chongyang just thought and scores of test papers flew out of the void like snowflakes.
"The first part of the assessment will be the written test, with a total score of 1200, to be completed within 2 hours.
Anyone scoring below 720 will indicate that their theoretical knowledge is too poor; continuing Dao cultivation will be extremely unsafe, and they will be dismissed from the school."
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Still the third update, asking for recommendations, favorites, and to be added to book lists.