In the hall.
The waiting process was somewhat torturous. Many candidates couldn't help but pace back and forth to relieve their inner tension.
By this time, Zhou Qiong actually somewhat envied Yi Tian. Look how calm he is. Because he never thought he could pass, naturally he wouldn't have expectations, and naturally, he would be indifferent to the results.
"In the previous few assessments, grading didn't take this long. Logically speaking, the results should be out, right?" Zhou Qiong clenched her fingers in front of her, muttering to herself. She didn't want to be eliminated without even getting a chance at the practicals.
Just then, she heard someone shout, "It's out, it's out."
Directly in front of the hall, there was a huge screen. A data table appeared. Each line was a candidate's score. Only candidates with 60 points or above were displayed, scrolling from low to high.
[121st Place, Zhou Qiong, 60 points]
"Yeah!!!" Zhou Qiong jumped up abruptly. "That's great!!!"
Her score just cleared 60 points. Although she was ranked last, as long as she passed, it was fine.
Scores continued to come out. Some candidates who had self-awareness had already begun to leave in an orderly manner. There were also some people who, like Zhou Qiong, had answered many questions but weren't confident. They were the main force of anticipation.
But when the scores reached 70 points, these people also recognized the fact that they hadn't passed. For a moment, sighs filled the air.
[9th Place, Ma Hang, 70 points] [7th Place, Gao Xu, 71 points] [7th Place, Meng Jie, 71 points] [...] [3rd Place, Liu Bo, 75 points]
A candidate named Liu Bo was ecstatic! "Haha, I passed!"
As the scores were gradually announced, more and more people gathered around Zhang Qisheng.
"Regarding Brother Sheng, aside from 'awesome', I have nothing to say."
"I don't know who second place is. Third place is only 75 points, a full 15 points away from the 90 points Brother Sheng predicted."
"Getting 70 points this time is already quite an impressive achievement. Second place will probably struggle to exceed 80 points."
They had already assumed by default that Zhang Qisheng was absolutely first place.
Zhang Qisheng said modestly, "The results aren't finished yet. It's not certain who is first."
Just then, the screen jumped again, and the information for second place appeared.
[2nd Place, Zhang Qisheng, 94 points]
"I guessed rig—" The person who was speaking just now saw the score and froze directly.
Zhang Qisheng himself was also obviously stunned for a moment. He said he didn't care, but in his heart, he had long reserved the first-place position. 94 points was even higher than he expected.
But... how could he be second place?
The whole venue was stunned.
What? Zhang Qisheng got 94 points and is only second?
Everyone stared dead at the screen, waiting for the next update. They were incredibly curious about who exactly suppressed Zhang Qisheng to take first place.
Finally, the first place appeared.
[1st Place, Yi Tian, 100 points]
Whoa~~~
The whole venue was in an uproar.
100 points!? What kind of outrageous score is this?
Some candidates who had participated in many assessments went straight crazy. They didn't dare to dream of scoring such high points even in their dreams. The higher the score, the harder it is to improve. In every exam, although most questions come from the key content in the books, about 20% are truly randomly selected from the books.
It could be said that in the entire assessment history of the Mist Mountain City Research Institute, such an absurd score had never appeared. This exam relies entirely on memorization. With two books that huge, you can score 100 points? Are you the reincarnation of a computer spirit?
Immediately after, everyone had a common question.
Who is Yi Tian?
Their circle wasn't particularly large. Anyone with some achievements had more or less some fame. That was why when Zhang Qisheng first entered the door, so many people recognized him and greeted him.
But the name Yi Tian... never heard of it?
Zhang Qisheng frowned tightly, frantically searching for this name in his brain. Nothing.
"Who is it?"
Looking around, excluding those he had seen, he guessed one by one who might be Yi Tian. He knew Zhou Qiong; she was his junior. Beside Zhou Qiong, there was a strange man. Too young, it couldn't be him. Memorizing knowledge requires a lot of time. A ruthless person who could score 100 points wouldn't be under 30 no matter what.
Scanning them one by one, they all looked ordinary. Focus was placed on those few strangers who looked older. Could it be one of you?
Meanwhile, Zhou Qiong and Zhou Tiangang looked fiercely at Yi Tian simultaneously. Their four eyes were about to pop out.
Zhou Tiangang's mouth twitched. "Xiao Tian, Yi Tian couldn't be... you, right?"
Zhou Qiong's mentality exploded. "Hehe, Xiao Tian, tell me quickly, you share the same name as the first place."
Yi Tian said "Um."
"If nothing unexpected happened, that would be me."
He said earlier he could score 100 points, they didn't believe him, right? Believe it now? For some reason, he felt a sense of vindication.
Zhou Qiong grabbed her own head with both hands, looking crazy. "Impossible, absolutely impossible. I can't accept it!!"
She, Zhou Qiong, studied hard for 6 years and risked her life to barely score 60 points. And Yi Tian used only 10 days to instantly kill her years of hard work. Her worldview collapsed directly. She really couldn't believe it.
And Zhou Tiangang didn't know what to say either. He couldn't understand it at all. Those two huge books, even flipping through them once, 10 days might not be enough, right? Is there really someone who has a photographic memory just by glancing?
Both father and daughter felt their worldviews impacted as never before.
Everyone present was looking around, asking everywhere. "Brother, do you know who Yi Tian is?"
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people had never heard this name at all.
Just then, someone said tremblingly, "I might know."
Everyone looked at him together. That person's face was full of shock. "When I was taking the exam, a young guy sat next to me. He only worked for 20 minutes and started sleeping. I felt it was very strange, so when the exam was over, I specifically glanced at his name. His name is Yi Tian..."
That person accurately found Yi Tian in the crowd, then looked at Yi Tian. Everyone followed his gaze.
"Is it that girl?"
"No, it's the boy next to her."
"That boy, is he even 20?"
"Hiss..."
Everyone fell silent. According to what the person who pointed out Yi Tian said, this lad who looked less than 20 used only 20 minutes to finish the exam. Then scored 100 points. What kind of monster is this?
"Impossible, he definitely cheated!" In the crowd, someone suddenly shouted.
"Cheated?"
"Right, if he didn't get the standard answers beforehand, how could he do it so fast?"
"The exam questions must have been leaked before the exam."
More and more people felt this statement was reasonable. Zhang Qisheng also nodded. That was the only explanation. It seemed he was still first.
"Shady deal!" One person started shouting, and immediately quite a few people shouted together.
But, just as they gathered together, preparing to approach Yi Tian to pressure him, a domineering voice resounded through the entire hall.
"Who is questioning the fairness of our Research Institute?"
A middle-aged man wearing a loose robe walked in from a small door on the right. One person's aura directly suppressed all the candidates.
"I am the chief examiner of this exam, Wang Tingsong. We have verified that candidate Yi Tian showed no signs of cheating."
"Hiss...." Many people deflated directly.
Wang Tingsong was an authority to them. Since the authority had spoken, this matter had a conclusion. Yi Tian didn't cheat; he relied entirely on his own strength.
Wang Tingsong snorted coldly. "The dignity of the Research Institute cannot be provoked. Any more troublemakers will be put on a blacklist and strictly forbidden from taking the exam again for life."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was completely speechless. Those who didn't pass the assessment began to leave one after another.
Actually, the shock in Wang Tingsong's heart was no smaller than anyone present. When they saw Yi Tian's score, the first thing they thought of was also cheating. Immediately after, dozens of them gathered around the screen to replay Yi Tian's exam recording.
During the exam, there were cameras recording the whole process from all directions. It could be clearly seen that Yi Tian kept both hands on the table the whole time, and carried no instruments on him. For those twenty minutes, he had been concentrating on answering the questions. No matter how they looked, they couldn't see any tricks. The exam hall was specially made, possessing an insulating layer against fluctuations. Neither modern instruments nor beast energy could affect the inside.
With all impossibilities ruled out, there was only one possibility. Yi Tian indeed took the exam honestly and got 100 points with his own strength.
Behind Wang Tingsong, Zhang Sheng followed. His face didn't look very good right now. Yi Tian's performance was too far beyond his expectations, making him waver internally. Not giving Yi Tian a chance back then because of his anger toward Zhou Tiangang might have been a wrong choice.
He shook his head, driving this thought out of his mind. Yi Tian was only eighteen this year. If he started studying those two books from a very young age, getting full marks, although outrageous, wasn't impossible.
However, this was only the first round of assessment. Passing the assessment was just getting an admission ticket. The second round was the key. If it were before today, Yi Tian might actually have had hope of passing. But starting from this time, reforms would be implemented. The exam questions would be more closely related to Beasts. With that Stone Monkey Yi Tian contracted, it was absolutely impossible to pass the exam.