I Was Such a Fool, Truly

Douluo: I Biologist, and I have awakened Tool Spirit? Chapter 306

"If you can study during an exam, is it still an exam?" some people questioned.

Some people thought about it more deeply, "Is it possible that even if we read the book, we still wouldn't be able to do it?"

Others gradually figured out the underlying implications. "We know what the other subjects are, but this is clearly a new subject, and there might not be any related books. We probably wouldn't even know where to look for books."

These words sparked a discussion.

"Mathematics, Mathematics, it must be related to calculation, why don't we just find some books on that?"

Where can we find the accountant?

"It's not impossible, there's no harm in giving it a try."

"Then why isn't this subject called Computational Studies, but Mathematics?"

"It's just a name, why worry about it so much? Maybe the Sage just likes this name."

In the crowd, a simple-looking man asked the thin young man beside him, "Gauss, which subject do you want to study?"

"Mathematics," the thin young man named Gauss answered without hesitation.

"I knew you'd choose this. You've been a child prodigy in our area since you were little. You can solve any problem, no matter how small. If it were you, you'd definitely pass the exam," the simple, honest man said with a smile.

Gauss shook his head. "No, I think it's a bit risky. I might not be able to get all the Mathematics right this time, but I still want to see what the Sage is all about. I think what I've been pursuing might be right there. What about you?"

The simple, honest man scratched his head. "I don't quite understand what you're saying, but I hope you succeed. As for me, I'd choose Agricultural Science; I think I have some experience in farming."

"Great, then I wish us all the best."

"Um."

Before we knew it, the exam time arrived, and the first day was the written exam.

Candidates were divided into different venues according to their chosen subjects. In each written examination venue, after submitting their original exam papers, candidates could choose to take a Mathematics exam paper to relax.

Of course, you can also skip the other subjects and go straight to the Mathematics exam.

As for the non-written exam subjects, they were scheduled for the next day. The assessment method for the Martial Soul subject is self-explanatory, and the other subjects also only consider ability, not personality.

The scores given by the examiners should be averaged to ensure fairness as much as possible.

This certainly can't compare to the electronic multi-person marking system used in the college entrance examination of the previous era, but it's already the best that can be done in the current era.

The candidates were naturally convinced by these exam Rules. Whether it was the anonymous system for the written exam or the average score system for other subjects, they could clearly see the fairness involved.

Everyone should speak based on their abilities, without resorting to any unnecessary gimmicks.

As for invigilation, there are naturally two invigilators for each session, and Chen Feng also sent all the existing high-level Soul Master in the school to patrol.

The school still has very strong resources. Its high-end combat power includes the Golden Iron Triangle, a group of Sword Soul Masters, Cang Xiao, and Dugu Bo, which can basically guarantee that no one can cause trouble.

Driven by a desire to watch the spectacle, Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin also came over, and Chen Feng even recruited his master as well.

As the exam began, the entire university quickly quieted down. The candidates were all sitting in their seats, answering the questions seriously. Chen Feng, having nothing else to do, wandered around between the various exam rooms, hoping to catch a few audacious individuals to use as examples.

Unfortunately, after looking around, even with his years of experience as a test-taker, he couldn't find anyone causing trouble.

He hadn't considered what level of deterrence Titled Douluo would hold for people today.

It's one thing if Cang Xiao is unknown to outsiders, but Dugu Bo is infamous, and Chen Xin is even more notorious. Who would dare to risk their life under the noses of these three for a few points?

From the moment these three revealed their Soul Ring in front of the numerous examinees and were announced as the inspectors for the exam, even those with ulterior motives dared not harbor any further thoughts.

It's really not worth getting targeted by Titled Douluo just for an exam.

Disappointed at not finding a "typical" candidate, Chen Feng could only return to the Mathematics exam room to see if there were any promising students.

Very few people choose to take Mathematics directly; the vast majority choose a subject they are good at and then take Mathematics as a side project, hoping for the best.

However, there were quite a few people in the Mathematics exam room because people taking the second round of exams were also there, so several large classrooms were temporarily cleared out to accommodate them.

The patrols will also focus on this area because many of the people here have cultivation levels, making them more likely to cheat than those without cultivation, although they simply wouldn't dare to.

However, these people quickly regretted their decision after arriving. What was written on this scroll? Was this still Douluo script? They could understand each character individually, but how could they not understand it when they were put together?

However, after the exam begins, students are not allowed to hand in their papers within a certain timeframe. This leaves many students staring blankly at their papers, unable to do any questions, let alone understand them.

Chen Feng had anticipated this situation. He quietly entered the examination room, wandered around behind a few people who were writing, and observed their work.

In fact, he went easy on this Mathematics test, because in his opinion, the first three questions were easy points, and the third question was slightly more difficult but not that difficult, because they were very basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and the number of digits was not high. The first question was even a very basic addition between two-digit numbers.

Only the third question involves multiplication of four-digit numbers. If you have a good foundation in calculation, you should be able to solve the first three questions.

The essence of question four is the same as question three: knowing the length and width of a piece of land, you need to calculate its area. As long as you know the algorithm, it's no different from question three.

The last four questions were a bit different; they were designed by Chen Feng to provoke the test takers. What's most attractive in Mathematics? Of course, it's the difficult questions.

Many people will dedicate themselves to solving a difficult problem, and if a topic can generate buzz, even more people will participate, and geniuses will emerge from it.

Therefore, Chen Feng increased the difficulty of the last four questions, which were the Chickens and Rabbits in a Cage, the Vehicle Pursuit Problem, and the Water Tank Inflow and Outflow Problem.

And how to find the area of a circle given its radius.

These are all problem-solving questions that require showing the solution process; simply providing the answer is useless.

Chen Feng walked around the examination room. Many people had only solved the first question, while others hadn't even touched the first one. A few were working on the third question, sweating profusely as they worked.

Only one person had finished the first four questions, and not only were they all correct, but his scratch paper was still blank. He was now looking at the solution questions with a serious expression.

Mental arithmetic ability? Chen Feng glanced at his name, Gauss.

The name sounded powerful, but Chen Feng didn't look at it much and turned to go to another examination room.

While strong mental arithmetic skills are certainly an advantage, the last four questions will keep him busy figuring out the methods.

As the moment arrived, the first round of exams ended, and the students gradually left the school.

The parents waiting outside were startled. Why did these people who came out all look so strange? What had happened?

A sharp-eyed butler saw his young master come out and quickly beckoned him over. When the young master came over, he asked him curiously.

The young master sighed and said, "I'm so stupid, really! I only knew that the Sage's Mathematics test might be related to calculations, but I didn't expect it to be this difficult! What kind of crazy questions are these!"

The surrounding area was filled with groans and lamentations; clearly, everyone harbored considerable resentment towards this so-called Mathematics exam.

The butler comforted him, "It's alright, young master. This is a new subject, so it's normal for it to be difficult. Just do your best in tomorrow's Martial Soul exam."

Similar conversations have occurred in many places, with many people complaining that the Mathematics test is too difficult, but after complaining, a competitive spirit naturally arises.

The candidates are all young people under thirty, in the prime of their youth, and admitting defeat is a difficult thing for many of them; even if they admit it verbally, they are not convinced in their hearts.

So many people continued to ponder those questions after returning to their residences. Now is the time when talents from all sides gather. If they could solve all those difficult problems at this time, what a great reputation they would have!

Even if it wasn't solved during an exam, it might still win the favor of the Sage.

This is exactly what Chen Feng wanted; that's the allure of a difficult problem—it draws people in and attracts one challenger after another.

Back in the dormitory, Chen Feng saw Tang San sitting at his desk, writing and drawing. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that Tang San was also working on the Mathematics test.

"Not bad, Xiao San, you actually managed to solve the sixth question."

"It's alright, once I figured out the approach, it wasn't difficult," Tang San said, wiping the fine sweat from his forehead.

As a skilled craftsman, although he had not received systematic Mathematics education, he was still much better than the average person and more sensitive to calculations.

If you don't understand calculations, you probably can't even draw a blueprint.

Even he felt that the questions Xiao Feng had set were somewhat difficult.

Especially the later questions, understanding the question is one hurdle, turning the question into a calculation problem is another hurdle, and finally calculating the correct answer is yet another hurdle. These three hurdles were difficult even for Tang San, who had relevant experience, let alone others.

Tang San even thought that no one could answer all the questions in this exam. Getting 40 or 50 points would be considered excellent, and it was unlikely that anyone would pass the so-called 60-point passing score.

The first four questions are worth 10 points each, and the last four questions are worth 15 points each.

"Speaking of which, I actually think the last question is quite interesting," Tang San said, stroking his chin.

Compared to simple calculations, he was more interested in graphics. What was that word again? Oh right, Geometry.

"I'll be publishing a textbook specifically on Mathematics problems involving geometry later. It would be best if you could thoroughly understand it," Chen Feng said after thinking for a moment.

It's useless for him to know all this alone; it only makes sense to spread the seeds, and this group of students taking the exam are those seeds.

Only when these people grow up and enter the mainland will the era dominated by Chen Feng truly begin.

He looks forward to the moment when talented people from all walks of life explore the truth and drive technological change, which may bring conflict, but it will also bring progress.

As the Soul Guidance Train roars into the distance, all those old and decaying things will be smashed to pieces.

The second round of exams is non-written, and the exam format varies depending on the nature of each subject.

But they all follow one Rules: fairness.

For example, in Music, candidates are required to play a piece of music on any instrument. The instructors then turn their backs to the candidates and give scores simply by listening. The final score is the average of the scores.

In addition, for Painting, the works are randomly shuffled after the candidates finish their paintings before the teachers score them, which is similar to the anonymous scoring system.

What Chen Feng was most interested in was Engineering. He had recently received news that a reclusive soul-guiding family seemed to have been drawn to the exam and wanted to participate in it.

So he came specifically to observe the Engineering exam.

The exam Rules are quite simple: candidates stand apart and each make a tool or model by hand, and then the instructor scores them based on their practicality.

The Engineering professors were mostly highly skilled craftsmen from various countries who came at Chen Feng's invitation. Of course, some declined the invitation, and Chen Feng did not force them.

The only one who seemed somewhat out of place was Tang San.

That's right. Tang San was also one of the Engineering instructors. When they first learned about this, the master craftsmen thought it was a rash decision. How high could a young boy's skills be?

However, after Tang San demonstrated his abilities, the master craftsmen had no objections and even happily discussed technical issues.

Since they were willing to accept Chen Feng's invitation, they were not people who took sectarianism too seriously, so the communication went smoothly and they came up with many good ideas.

Getting back to the main point, Engineering exams are relatively long, and food and water are provided in between to help students replenish their energy, since crafting is physically demanding.

The restrictions on the candidates are not too strict, as long as you don't pull out a ready-made item from your Storage Soul Tool to fill the quota.

Compared to written exams, there's not much room for cheating in Engineering exams; it's difficult to plagiarize without knowing the blueprints.

As the bell rang, the Engineering exam officially entered the grading phase.

The candidates will draw lots, and the number they draw will be the number of their work. Only they will know this number, and they will also have to write a description of their work.

The mentors will also draw lots to determine the order in which the works will be evaluated. They only know the work numbers, not the owners of the works.

After the preparations were completed, the candidates' works were brought to the venue one after another.

Since there were no restrictions on the type of tools, the works were diverse, including some that were truly practical and others that were flashy but impractical. The mentors gave fair evaluations, and the scores were all quite close with no major disagreements.

Chen Feng saw some familiar things among them, such as waterwheels and plows that could be pulled by an ox, which were more advanced tools than those currently in use. He thought to himself that this exam was well organized.

The appearance of a Soul Tool brought the scene to a climax.