After the two examiners left, the atmosphere at the scene was very strange. Now no one dared to question Yi Tian's results.
However, someone could still be heard faintly saying sourly, "So what if he got full marks in the first round? Looking at the result, what's the difference between him and us who scored 60-something?"
Yi Tian looked really too young, with a face full of student vibes. He was so out of place with everyone present. Yet, he happened to be the first place in the first round of assessment. Under the huge contrast, many people couldn't help but look at Yi Tian a few more times.
Zhou Qiong stood next to Yi Tian, suddenly remembering what she had said to Yi Tian before. Like reading the notes she summarized, and having hope to pass within two years? Like asking her, the "great senior," anytime if he had questions?
She felt incredibly awkward. She actually told a top scholar that if he had problems, he could ask her anytime!? Zhou Qiong, oh Zhou Qiong, if this isn't teaching fish to swim, what is it?
Zhou Tiangang, on the other hand, had a face full of joy. Patting Yi Tian on the shoulder, he said "Good" three times in a row. Yi Tian was his student, and he only knew about the existence of the Research Institute because of him. No matter what, he had the merit of recommendation! The better Yi Tian performed, the more face he had.
Passed the first round, could the second round be far behind? Even if he didn't pass this time, Yi Tian was a Beast Tamer with special talents; he would definitely pass after taking it a few more times.
"Xiao Tian, how on earth did you do it?" After the joy, Zhou Tiangang couldn't help but ask in confusion. No matter how he thought about it, it felt a bit incredible. It was just ten days! To score full marks, even with luck involved, even if he didn't memorize both books completely, he must have memorized at least fifty percent.
Yi Tian pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe it was good luck. The content on the exam paper happened to be the stuff I memorized."
Zhou Tiangang rolled his eyes; saying that was like saying nothing. But he didn't ask further. Everyone has their own secrets. Since Yi Tian didn't want to say, he couldn't force Yi Tian.
After the end of the first round of assessment, candidates were left with two hours to eat lunch and take a nap. The second round of assessment would officially begin at 1 PM.
In the cafeteria, the three were gorging themselves. Zhou Tiangang enjoyed free meals because he was a member of the institute, and the other two did as well because they were candidates.
"Hello, Teacher Zhou."
While eating, suddenly a slightly chubby man shouted at Zhou Tiangang from afar. He looked up, somewhat puzzled.
Immediately after, that person introduced himself. "Teacher Zhou, it's me, Liu Bo. Your student from five years ago. You weren't the principal back then; you taught my class."
Zhou Tiangang searched his memory; there indeed was such a person. "It's Little Bo! Long time no see."
A few years ago, Liu Bo's physique was very thin and weak, very different from now, which was why Zhou Tiangang didn't react immediately. No wonder when he saw the results earlier, he felt the name was familiar.
Putting down his chopsticks, he patted Liu Bo on the shoulder. "Ranking third in the first round, Little Bo performed very well."
Liu Bo beamed with joy. Being recognized by a former teacher was a happy thing for him. He still said modestly, "Luck, just good luck."
After speaking, he glanced at Yi Tian and asked, "This is my junior, right?"
Zhou Tiangang nodded and laughed. "Yes, he's only in his third year of high school now."
Liu Bo nodded; as expected. He came to greet Zhou Tiangang, acknowledging the teacher was secondary; the main thing was to get to know Yi Tian. A ruthless person who could score full marks in the first round, presumably the second round wouldn't be too difficult for him either. The two would likely be colleagues in the Research Institute in the future. Building a relationship early wouldn't be wrong.
Liu Bo sat familiarly next to Yi Tian, looking at the Great Sage on his shoulder with some curiosity. "Junior Yi Tian, is this a pet you raise?"
Not every beast is contracted by a Beast Tamer; many Beast Tamers have a hobby of raising extra pets.
Yi Tian shook his head. "This is the Beast I contracted."
"Uh..." Liu Bo was stunned for a long time before reacting, speaking intermittently, "Haha, Junior... Yi Tian, really is somewhat unique."
After knowing Yi Tian's Beast was a Stone Monkey, Liu Bo's attitude was obviously not as enthusiastic as before, but still polite. Yi Tian expressed understanding of this. In the adult world, treating people based on their status is normal.
After lunch, led by Zhou Tiangang, Yi Tian took a good tour of the Research Institute.
The time approached one o'clock.
The location of the second round of assessment was different from the first. After saying goodbye to Zhou Tiangang, Yi Tian entered the room with Zhou Qiong.
Rows of experiment tables were visible, neatly distributed in the room, each table having various instruments and vessels. At the very front of the room was a huge bookshelf, but there were no books on it, rather many materials Yi Tian had never seen before. Solids, liquids, even gases, etc.
Five minutes before the assessment started, the two chief examiners finally entered the room.
Zhang Sheng introduced the rules of this assessment.
"Hello candidates, let me introduce myself first. I am one of the chief examiners for this assessment, Zhang Sheng, and also the Deputy Minister of the Research Institute's Nurturing Department. Next, I will introduce the assessment rules to everyone."
"..."
Everyone listened with extreme focus because the content of each assessment was different, so they had no previous cases as references. The more they listened, the uglier many people's faces became.
"The rules of this assessment... seem to have changed even more than what I experienced before," a candidate who had taken the exam several times muttered to himself.
According to convention, the second round of assessment would still present two topics respectively, corresponding to the two departments.
This time, the Nurturing topic was: Candidates would receive a Silver-tier skill, required to let the Beast reach "Entry Level" within 5 hours, and must provide a material ratio that can increase the cultivation speed of said skill by more than 10%.
Discussion was allowed for the first two hours of the exam; discussing after two hours would be considered a violation. The materials on the bookshelf could be used arbitrarily by the candidates present for experimental testing.
For fairness, the Silver-tier skill selected for the topic was a brand-new skill just discovered in a secret realm, not yet in market circulation. Also, the skill had very few restrictions, suitable for the vast majority of Beasts to learn.
The Evolution topic was: Candidates needed to receive a skill for exploring evolution factors, required to explore at least one evolution factor within 5 hours. Evolution factors were the key things hidden inside a Beast's body that could find new evolutionary paths.
The candidates buzzed with discussion.
"Holy crap, no matter which topic is chosen, the Beast must learn the skill within 5 hours. Isn't this too hard?"
"Yeah, we are researchers, not Beast Taming geniuses."
"My intention has always been to enter the Nurturing Department. I've practically done the topic of finding material ratios before, but that time only required increasing cultivation speed by 8%, and the result was only 2 people passed the assessment."
"Adding the condition of Beast skill entry, and increasing the required ratio, the difficulty this time is at least five or six times that of last time. Is there really anyone who can pass the assessment???"
"Are we sure the Research Institute isn't already full and doesn't need to recruit, but has to go through the motions, so they're playing us?"
"Yeah, this is really too outrageous. I experienced the Evolution assessment before; we only needed to use instruments to simulate finding evolution factors. This time we actually have to find them directly from the Beast's body."