Dog?

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in."

Zhang Aidao, who was reading in his room, looked up and saw that the visitor was the boy he had rescued yesterday.

"Oh? Zhou Bai?" Zhang Aidao scratched his head helplessly. "Looks like someone told you that I'm a failed applicant."

Zhou Bai smiled and said sincerely, "Old Zhang, I want to ask you about Donghua Dao School's entrance test."

"No time. Helping you yesterday was part of my duty." Zhang Aidao said, "Today is my only day off this month, and I already have plans."

An awkward smile appeared on Zhou Bai's face as he cursed inwardly, Shouldn't a chosen son of destiny like me, someone destined to save all mankind, have beauties and handsome men lining up to offer themselves to me? Shouldn't I be able to open any random door and find some old grandpa inside?

Christina said, "Me, me! I'm pretty and adorable, and I've even got the old-grandpa trait! I'll guide you through the entrance test!"

Zhou Bai did not trust this somewhat scatterbrained cat at all. Looking at Zhang Aidao's rather messy room, he probed, "Old Zhang, do you need someone to clean your room?"

"Hm?" Zhang Aidao looked up at Zhou Bai. "Will you wash my underwear?"

"Ah?" Zhou Bai asked, "You people have flying Bronze Horses... Don't you have some kind of machine for washing underwear?"

Zhang Aidao nodded. "There's a war on. The Heavenly Court sent all the Immortal Dao Technology experts off to research all kinds of weapons, so there hasn't been much development in daily life. Are you washing them or not?"

Zhou Bai sighed. "I'll wash them."

And so, Zhou Bai cleaned Zhang Aidao's room, did his laundry, and mopped the floor while listening to him explain Donghua Dao School's entrance test.

"As one of the Four Great Dao Schools, Donghua Dao School recruits elites—cultivation geniuses, powerful people who can carry the banner in the future war."

"So there are two hard requirements for admission: bone age below twenty, and a Primordial Spirit Value above thirty." Zhang Aidao looked at Zhou Bai. "When I tested you yesterday, you were eighteen, so you meet the age requirement. As for a Primordial Spirit Value of thirty, you should have that too, right?"

Zhou Bai nodded, too embarrassed to mention that his Primordial Spirit Value had already reached seventy this morning. By the time he took the entrance exam, it would probably be even higher.

Zhou Bai could not help thinking smugly, Hehe, will I shock everyone then? Will I become the number one genius among the new students?

Thinking of this, Zhou Bai could not help looking at Zhang Aidao. "What kind of level is a Primordial Spirit Value of thirty?"

"The Heavenly Court divides cultivators from the Return to Origin Realm to the Ten Directions Realm into eleven levels in total." Zhang Aidao spoke at length. "Put simply, a Daoization Degree from 0% to 9% is Level Zero—the 'Return to Origin Realm.'

10% to 19% is Level One, the 'One Qi Realm.'

20% to 29% is Level Two, and 30% to 39% is Level Three.

The rest are calculated the same way. Every 10% increase in Daoization Degree counts as one level, while 100% forms a level of its own.

That makes eleven levels in all, from Level Zero to Level Ten—eleven realms."

"Before you formally raise your Daoization Degree, your Daoization Degree is 0%, and your Primordial Spirit Value can only reach a maximum of ninety-nine."

At this point, Zhang Aidao suddenly pointed at Zhou Bai. "Why are you always mopping the same spot? Move somewhere else. Over here... over there... mop everything clean."

"Oh, oh, oh." Zhou Bai released his Primordial Spirit Power and controlled the mop as it swept around the room.

Zhang Aidao continued, "I remember that when I took the entrance test, there were around twenty thousand people who met the age and Primordial Spirit Value requirements. Most were between thirty and sixty. There were probably more than ten people with a maximum of ninety-nine."

"Oh." Zhou Bai thought to himself, I wonder if my Auxiliary System will also stop increasing my Primordial Spirit Value once it reaches ninety-nine.

"The Auxiliary System can definitely do it," Christina said. "It directly increases your Primordial Spirit Value. As long as you can withstand it yourself, it should be able to keep adding more."

Zhou Bai nodded, controlling his Primordial Spirit Power to scrub underwear. Suddenly, even scrubbing felt far more promising.

Zhang Aidao continued, "After passing the first round of hard requirements, the remaining test content is willpower and learning ability." He explained, "Ever since the Heavenly Dao became distorted, cultivation has become much more efficient than before, but also much more dangerous. Even with Protection Arrays and Runic Vaccines, cultivation can still cause mutation and madness.

That's why cultivators need powerful willpower to endure it all."

Zhou Bai asked, "But how do they test willpower?"

Zhang Aidao said, "Back then, I had to hold a horse stance inside an Illusion Array. The requirement was to last until only five thousand people remained."

Zhou Bai said, "...That's too brutal, isn't it?"

Zhang Aidao nodded deeply in agreement. "I held it for seven hours. I nearly thought my legs no longer belonged to me."

Zhou Bai asked again, "What about learning ability?"

"Learning ability is one's talent for cultivating the Dao," Zhang Aidao said. "Resources are limited, after all. It may be cruel, but the best resources naturally have to be supplied to those with the greatest talent, so they can grow stronger and protect us afterward."

"When I was tested for learning ability, I remember it was writing." Zhang Aidao said, "They showed us an Ancient Dao Scripture and then had us write a sentence based on its contents."

"That Ancient Dao Scripture should have been something from before the Heavenly Dao became distorted—a thing that described the Heavenly Dao from the side, in metaphysical terms. The deeper your understanding, the greater your talent for cultivating the Dao, I suppose. That was the test that eliminated me."

Zhou Bai nodded. "Then how should I prepare?"

Zhang Aidao shrugged. "Primordial Spirit Value isn't something you can raise in a few days, so there's no preparing for that. As for willpower, I don't even know how to improve it.

And learning ability is half talent, half accumulation. If you'd read more Daoist books and Ancient Dao Scriptures since childhood, that might have helped. It's too late now."

"Ah?" Zhou Bai said, "Then can I only wait to take the test? Was asking you completely pointless?"

Zhang Aidao said, "What do you mean pointless? At least you've confirmed that preparing would be pointless, so you can go into the test lighthearted."

Zhou Bai said, "..."

Zhang Aidao changed into a plain white outfit and checked himself in the mirror. As he opened the door, he said, "That's all there is to the test. I have a date with a beauty..." With an excited expression, he waved at Zhou Bai. "Finish the rest of the work, then go back and rest."

After watching Zhang Aidao leave, Zhou Bai snorted, immediately stopped all his work, and flopped onto the sofa to rest.

Zhou Bai said, "The entrance test can't even be prepared for in advance. Doesn't that mean I'm relying entirely on luck?"

Just then, his eyes lit up as he saw the Laziness Qi Value on his Auxiliary System begin to increase.

He checked the time. It was not even the next day yet.

"So that's how it is. Slacking off instead of cleaning can also raise my Laziness Qi Value?!" Zhou Bai was instantly delighted. Lying on the sofa, he watched the Laziness Qi on the Auxiliary System increase at nearly one point per minute. After waiting ten minutes, it had risen to ten points, then stopped increasing.

Delighted, he converted the ten points of Laziness Qi into Primordial Spirit Value. Looking at his Primordial Spirit Value, which had reached seventy-one, Zhou Bai wore a thoughtful expression.

But after slacking off, Zhou Bai still had to finish the remaining chores. When he returned to his room, however, he found that someone seemed to be waiting for him.

An old man was standing at his door, holding a yellow Shiba Inu on a leash.

"Hello, are you Zhou Bai?"

Zhou Bai nodded. "What is it?"

"It's like this. Your companion has been cured, and you can see her now."

"Really?" Zhou Bai brightened up. "Then let's go. Take me to see Elsa. How is she doing now?"

The old man awkwardly rubbed his chin. "Not bad, I suppose. She eats quite a lot." He pointed at the Shiba Inu on the ground. "That's her. Take a look and see if there's any problem."

The Shiba Inu grinned, looking at Zhou Bai with a cheerful smile.

Zhou Bai said, "???"