Sitting in the college entrance examination hall, Bai Pu felt unusually calm.
The spacious classroom held four rows of desks arranged in the order of 7887, thirty desks in total.
A classical tune, "The Sun Always Comes After the Storm," played over the broadcast, followed by the usual disciplinary announcement.
"As Awakened, you must not rely on special talents or abilities to cheat during the college entrance examination... Every examination hall has spirit energy monitoring equipment. The moment anyone activates a skill, an alarm will sound...
"Let me reiterate: the fairness of the college entrance examination is of vital importance. It concerns the world event rewards granted by the Spirit Realm Will! If a cheater obtains a rank of Silver Rank or above, the Spirit Realm Will will not recognize it. Should we lose the world event rewards because of this, you will be a sinner of Huaxia..."
The two proctors bustled about like wound-up robots, conducting security checks, unsealing packets, and handing out exam papers. Only after everything had settled and all the candidates began writing furiously did the two proctors finally relax. They took positions at the front and rear of the room and entered the dull phase of counting tiles.
The cultural section of the Awakened Exam had four papers: history, philosophy, biology, and geography.
All four papers were distributed at once. The examination ran from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon, for a total of six hours.
Lunch? The restroom?
There was no need. As an Awakened, if one did not even have that much endurance, it would be embarrassing to admit it.
Unlike the subjects from before the Spirit Energy Era, these four subjects all served spirit energy civilization.
Bai Pu opened the history paper and unexpectedly found a short-answer question.
"Briefly describe the life of the famous seventeenth-century Northern European historical figure, Frederick William."
The Elector of Brandenburg, the founder of the Kingdom of Prussia, ancestor of the German Emperor, Duke William... I never expected us to meet this way.
Bai Pu felt a slight pang of emotion, then began writing swiftly.
"Frederick William, also translated as Frederick William. Born in Cölln's Berlin City Palace... During his reign, he continually expanded his territory and forced Poland to abandon its suzerainty over Prussia... He valued the development of commerce and industry, dug canals, encouraged culture, and accepted immigrants... He reformed the military, suppressed local powers, and strengthened central authority..."
What Bai Pu wrote about was Duke William from European history in the real world.
As for Duke William of Blood Plague: Origin Plane, he was a powerful figure born from the evolution of the Spirit Realm Will's rules.
The more illustrious Duke William's reputation was in real history, and the more legendary he became, the stronger Duke William's strength or influence in the Spirit Realm Plane would be.
This was the relationship between the real world and the Origin Plane—the Origin Plane was a Plane World formed when the Spirit Realm Will took a certain historical period and region from the real world as its backdrop, added certain supernatural elements, and evolved it.
Therefore, learning history well was somewhat helpful for Spirit Realm exploration. Although historical figures might have become utterly unrecognizable in the evolved Spirit Realm, they could at least provide some reference.
After finishing the easiest history paper, Bai Pu opened the philosophy paper.
It was a situational essay question.
"Plane World: Dragon Soul: Revival of Ancient Martial Arts."
"Time: late nineteenth to early twentieth century; location: Asia—Huaxia."
"Background: Foreign powers ran rampant across Huaxia. The Qing Dynasty Court was corrupt and incompetent, the people ignorant and numb, and ancient martial arts, unable to withstand foreign guns and cannons, had gradually declined. The Qinling Mountains shook as the earth dragon turned over, Huaxia's Dragon Qi revived, and ancient martial arts, on the verge of its final curtain, burst forth with new vitality..."
"Scenario: Zhu Hongdeng, leader of the Boxer Rebellion, infiltrates the Qing Dynasty Court and kidnaps Empress Dowager Cixi, intending to change her policy toward the Boxer Rebellion from 'appeasement to suppression,' allowing the Boxer Rebellion to return to the path of supporting the Qing and destroying the foreign powers."
"From the perspective of primary and secondary contradictions, persuade Empress Dowager Cixi."
This major philosophy question tested an Awakened's eloquence.
Moreover, the question had already indicated the "perspective of primary and secondary contradictions," making it quite simple. There was no room for some unconventional answer.
Bai Pu had memorized his philosophical theories thoroughly. Although he usually disliked talking with people, if it came to a debate, his eloquence was unquestionably first-rate.
Before long, he had written a florid passage of "remonstration."
There were also the biology paper, which tested an Awakened's ability to gather precious materials from mutated demonic plants and mutant beasts, and the geography paper, which tested an Awakened's eye for surveying terrain and excavating spirit energy mineral deposits...
Education served the needs of the nation. That was absolutely true. The nation now needed Awakened capable of gathering and excavating spirit energy materials, and that need was reflected in the college entrance examination papers.
The papers that required six hours to finish took Bai Pu only two hours. He even checked them once.
He had originally wanted to hand them in, but the proctor waved him off. Handing in papers early was not permitted after the examination began.
Bai Pu did not dare violate examination rules, so he could only lie on his desk and sleep to replenish his energy.
Seeing this, the proctor shook his head helplessly, thinking that this was another poor student. Although cultural subjects accounted for only twenty percent of the Awakened Exam score, they still had to be taken seriously. Sleeping during an exam probably meant he had no chance with the Eight Famous Schools.
Still, sleeping was not against the rules, so the proctor naturally did not interfere.
The long six hours finally passed.
"Hey, hey, Candidate, wake up!"
The proctor woke Bai Pu with a speechless call and collected his answer sheets.
Bai Pu stretched his sore arms and loosened his stiff body. He quickly became energetic again, then followed the crowd out of the examination area.
Outside, parents who had come to see off their children packed the area, each craning their necks in eager anticipation.
No one had come to see Bai Pu off. He wandered over to Seventeen Middle School's sign, where the white-haired Old Principal was laboriously holding Xi City Seventeenth Middle School's sign above his head. Several senior-year teachers stood behind him.
This was one of the customs of the college entrance examination: hold the school sign high, and the students would perform well. It also carried the meaning of "scores clearing the line," much like how parents had once worn cheongsams and high heels to see students off before the Spirit Energy Era.
A group of students had already gathered around the school sign. Some were jubilant, while others were dejected.
"Candidates from the cultural classes, do not compare answers. You still have other subjects to take later!" Teacher Ren shouted through a loudspeaker. "Candidates from the Combat Classes, do not compare answers either. Although your cultural subjects are over, you still have simulated combat tomorrow. Do not let this affect your performance..."
As for the Awakened Exam candidates, Seventeen Middle School had only Bai Pu, so Teacher Ren did not need to shout through a loudspeaker.
Even with that announcement, students from the Combat Classes still quietly came over, hoping to compare answers with Bai Pu.
Bai Pu had taken the Awakened Exam, and its written section contained the same questions as the written section for the Combat Classes.
The difference was that tomorrow's virtual combat for the Awakened Exam would be far more difficult.
Of course, aside from the virtual combat subject, the Awakened Exam also included a Spirit Realm Exploration Subject. Combat Class students who had not yet awakened did not need to take it.
The students in the cultural classes would be able to choose majors in logistics and research in the future.
The cultural class exam contained only a written section, and its content did not lean toward Spirit Realm exploration. They were tested on spirit energy technology and social humanities, with more in-depth and specialized knowledge in those two areas.
Cultural class students did not take a single six-hour exam and complete all the written content at once. Their written subjects were divided into six sessions, each lasting one to two hours. They had taken only two sessions today, with two more tomorrow and the day after.
A girl who had come to compare answers with Bai Pu gathered her courage but had not even opened her mouth before Bai Pu's unfocused, indifferent gaze frightened her away.
A boy came over and asked Bai Pu for the answer to a certain question.
"Don't ask him. Bai Pu didn't do anything. He probably handed in a blank paper!" a student whispered. "After our examination hall was dismissed, I passed by Bai Pu's room... The proctor was waking him up at the time."
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