章節 2: The Power of Soul... Ah, Feh
編輯: Atlas Studios
As a seasoned bookworm with years of reading experience, Su Hao was very experienced. Just the types of cheating devices he knew of alone numbered dozens and hundreds.
But when it was his own turn, he didn't dare to harbor too high of an expectation—in case the disappointment was greater.
He spent a few seconds confirming that the voice that had rung out abruptly didn't come from his cell phone but his mind instead.
My God! How exciting!
When Su Hao's mind focused, it was as if he could see a screen.
There was something on the screen. It was a 3D human model that was about as handsome as him. At the character's feet were intersecting paths and routes.
It looked like a map.
That's probably an AR mobile game interface?
There was an eye-catching line of text, Intelligence Points: 1, at the upper right corner of the interface. However, when Su Hao focused his attention there and jabbed at it, there was no response.
At the bottom of the interface were two round icons.
They were labeled Sprites and Index, respectively.
He tapped and opened Sprites, which returned a None.
Then, he tapped and opened Index, which showed various unique black silhouettes.
Su Hao had a look of bewilderment on his face. He didn't understand anything from these at all.
Maybe this interface is related to sprites… Intelligence Points are likely the key currency.
Su Hao tried various ways, but he still couldn't find any way of utilizing the Intelligence Points. Neither were there related explanatory prompts labeled with question marks.
It was only after several trial-and-error attempts that he was able to generally determine that reading textbooks and magazines related to sprites for a period would earn him Intelligence Points.
The next day…
Early in the morning, Su Hao got up, rinsed his face, and brushed his teeth. After finishing the meat bun and milk tea that his mother had prepared, he left the house on his bicycle.
Su Hao visualized the mobile game interface in his mind, and the Intelligence Points listed at an eye-catching area at the upper right corner were 3.
It wasn't a hallucination. His cheating device was still there, just that its function was still unknown.
Su Hao shifted his attention away from it. He yawned and made his way over to the People's Hospital of An City.
The People's Hospital was located at Feng Rong Street in the city district. Not very far from his home, it was only five to six minutes away by bicycle.
It was already rather late by the time Su Hao arrived. From afar, he could already see a familiar big pancake face—Liu Ren.
He had a bowl cut and looked white and chubby… In terms of weight, he wasn't fat. It was just that his face was round and that he also had a roly-poly belly.
Currently, Liu Ren was rather excited and also somewhat nervous.
"Hey, Su Hao, do you think I'll be able to pass the evaluation test for soul power? What if it doesn't hit 1?"
"During the previous tests organized for the third-year students, wasn't the majority able to pass?"
"Like you said, that's the majority. But out of 100 people, there's bound to be seven to eight people who fare a little poorer. It may not matter much to other people, but I'm someone who has already resolved to be a Sprite Master! So, what if…"
Liu Ren began to fret again.
Su Hao patted his shoulder. To sum it up, this was pre-evaluation anxiety, much like pre-examination anxiety. It was just that whether or not one could pass the soul power evaluation test was entirely up to fate. Alternatively, one could also wait a few more years. After all, he had never heard of any kind of tonic that could boost a person's soul power.
At this point, Su Hao spied more and more students streaming in. Even though he didn't know most of them, he at least recognized the school uniforms.
He was wearing his school uniform too. What was he to do when this was a school regulation after all!
"Aren't there too many people here!?"
Su Hao found it strange. There must be at least several hundred students in their school uniforms. He asked, "Weren't there only three classes, with 100 students in total tops, in the Sprite stream during the last round?"
"This is normal," replied Liu Ren. "If we were to go to the hospital or any other authorized organization ourselves to do an evaluation test for soul power, it would cost at least 2,000 yuan, whereas the joint evaluation test organized by the schools costs only 500 yuan.
"Even if most people don't intend to apply for the Sprite stream, they don't lose out by paying 500 yuan for the evaluation test. After they are tested, they will receive the organization's certification and be able to use it if they wish to contract sprites in the future. Who wouldn't come?
"Not just that, the ones getting tested today are just Class 1 to our Class 8. If the entire level comes, then, hehe.
"By the way, isn't this common knowledge?" Liu Ren's eyes widened suspiciously. When he saw Su Hao's dark eye circles, he said, "Stroking yourself a little is stress-relieving, but major stroking is harmful to your body. And if you stroke any further, it'll damage your brain. Young lad, have some self-control."
"Get lost!"
After understanding the reasons for the crowd, Su Hao pushed Big Face Liu away mercilessly, earning him an eye roll from Liu Ren.
Hur, men.
…
Under the coordination of each class' teachers, the First High students were brought to the consultation rooms for soul power evaluation.
There were a total of five evaluation rooms, so the speed wasn't too slow.
However, as someone from Class 8, the last class, Su Hao waited outside for a very long time.
Test results were released in real-time.
During the process, once in a while, students in the queue entered the rooms before coming out again. There wasn't much change in their facial expressions, however.
This wasn't a test to evaluate one's aptitude for cultivation anyway. How strong or weak one's soul power was wasn't that important. Furthermore, many people there didn't have the intention to contract sprites either. If it turned out to be strong, then that was great. If it turned out to be weak, it didn't matter much either.
Perhaps there was the occasional student whose soul sturdiness didn't meet the requirements forcing a smile and pretending to be alright, as test results weren't publicly announced. Unless the person himself chose to reveal it, everyone would have to wait for the school authorities to give out the result slips with concrete details instead.
Chatterbox Liu knew quite a lot of people there. Unable to sit still, he ran about here and there to ask around about how the other classes were faring.
"Did you hear? There's a crazy guy in Class 5. His soul sturdiness actually reached 2.1!"
The soul sturdiness levels of the few hundred people before Su Hao were mostly between 1.0 to 1.1. There was also a small number of people who achieved 1.2 or 1.3. These numbers were relatively common.
However, there were only a few people whose soul sturdiness levels exceeded 1.3. At the moment, the only ones known to exceed this number was someone with a level of 1.6 from Class 1 and someone with a level of 1.8 from Class 3.
Liu Ren said agitatedly, "That person with a level of 1.8 from Class 3 actually isn't that big of a deal. But exceeding 2.0 is something different altogether…"
Su Hao honestly didn't really understand. One night was only enough for him to get a general understanding of things. Fortunately, even without any prompting from him, Chatterbox Liu was already spilling all the details without even a moment's pause. The only thing Su Hao could do was to be forced to be his audience.
"Contracting a sprite in its infancy stage requires a soul sturdiness level of 1.0. Having a level of 2.0 and above means that one can contract two sprites at the same time, thereby achieving a higher starting point. The soul power provided by two sprites can also allow the Sprite Trainer to grow faster. To put it simply, the elite will become even more elite!"
But this would only work on the condition that the Sprite Trainer could afford to provide for two sprites.
Su Hao wasn't the least bit envious!
Seriously, as if someone like him from the Cheating Devices Gang would need to be afraid of someone with amazing luck? Even if his cheating device hadn't been topped up with any credit yet at the moment.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was now their, the soon-to-be Third Year Class 8's, turn.
Liu Ren went in first. The room that he entered was Room No. 3.
After waiting for a moment, Su Hao was called into Room No. 5.
The moment he entered the room, he saw two doctors dressed in white lab coats. One of them was middle-aged and looked about the same age as Mom Su. The other one was younger and likely a fresh graduate.
A huge pure white device occupied a good half of the room.
Following the instructions, Su Hao sat at the specified spot and put on a silver-gray headband. Pads connected to cables were stuck to areas such as his temples and arms. Mildly resembling an ECG, it probably also contained some kind of super-advanced technology related to sprites.
Su Hao felt a little creeped out staring at it.
"Don't worry, it's rare for problems to occur during soul power evaluation tests," said the middle-aged doctor as he comforted him.
That means problems occasionally do occur, right?
Su Hao felt even more uneasy.
There wasn't any special sensation during the evaluation process. Neither was he required to do anything. He was only instructed to relax his mind and slow down his breathing.
About a few dozen seconds later, as the middle-aged doctor said, "We're done."
Then, the young assistant removed the headband sitting on top of his head.
"1.38. Lad, your soul power is pretty good."
"Huh? Thanks, Doctor."
Su Hao was dazed for a moment before he reacted.
To say that he wasn't nervous would be a lie.
The world had changed. With an occupation filled with a mysterious air around it like the Sprite Trainer existing, and his family also supporting his decision to enroll into Sprite Universities, should he fall right at the starting point before he even started to work hard, Su Hao would be crestfallen.
Fortunately, not only did his soul power exceed 1, it even reached 1.38. This also happened to be the first three digits of his cell phone number, though the ring of it didn't sound that great anyway.
Now that he had passed the soul power evaluation test, he would be able to contract sprites, right?
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