Chapter 280: Baseline Test, Microscopic Array

"Nephew, the question you asked..." Uncle Pang looked at the test paper Zheng Fa had prepared, his face twisted a little, "Isn't it too difficult?"

"Is it difficult?"

Zheng Fa was stunned and looked at Senior Sister Zhang beside him.

He and Senior Sister Zhang had made this math paper together, and they hadn't intentionally made it more difficult.

Senior Sister Zhang shook her head and looked at Senior Uncle Pang and said, "I asked more difficult questions before... but Junior Brother Zheng deleted some of the complicated questions, and Zheng Fa's sister was able to solve them."

Uncle Pang twitched his lips, and after a moment of silence, he said, "For me...it's really not that difficult."

"But not all of the Nine Mountains Sect's disciples are as good at math as I am, right..."

He looked around, first at Zheng Fa, then at Senior Sister Zhang, and finally pointed at Senior Sister Yuan and said, "Take Senior Nymph Yuan for example..."

Senior Sister Yuan: “???”

Zheng Fa glanced at Senior Sister Yuan and said softly, "Uncle Master, Senior Sister Yuan will not participate in the Nine Mountains Sect's disciples' examination this time..."

"Hmm? Isn't she considered a disciple of Jiushan Sect?"

Uncle Pang was a little puzzled, and then he heard Zheng Fa say in a slightly speechless voice: "Aren't we going to give the mortals in the Heavenly Palace a big test as well? It's just simple math and grammar."

"so……"

Uncle Pang pointed at Senior Sister Yuan, and Zheng Fa said, "Senior Sister Yuan asked for it herself."

"As I recall, your sister is also going to take this exam?"

Uncle Pang seemed to remember something and asked.

"Um."

"So they both...take the exam together?"

Zheng Fa nodded slightly.

Looking at the complacent and shameless Yuan Xiaoniao, Uncle Pang endured it again and again, and finally did not say a word.

…

The test papers are out and the exam day is coming soon.

For Tiangong Jiudao, this is a national exam.

Not to mention the disciples of Jiushan Sect, the secret methods written in the educational syllabus are enough to attract them.

For the 300,000 ordinary people on Paradise Island, this exam is of extraordinary significance.

Zheng Fa actually has a lot of ideas about testing ordinary people.

The first thing, of course, is to see what good seedlings there are.

But the most important thing for these mortals is another thing: Zheng Fa wants to pass this exam and set up a corresponding management agency in the Jiushan Realm.

Simply put, it is the civil service examination, or a revised version of the imperial examination - in his view, having a certain level of mathematical ability and being able to read are necessary qualities for grassroots managers.

Of course, this does not mean that you can become an official if you have good grades. Zheng Fa still needs to conduct corresponding interviews.

Only by selecting some managers who are relatively flexible in thinking and who meet Zheng Fa's expectations, can the various systems of the Jiushan Realm be more smooth.

…

Sun Daoyu and Zhou Qianyuan walked towards the main hall of University Island.

Neither of them spoke, and seemed to be thinking about their own things.

"Senior Brother..." After walking for a while, Zhou Qianyuan seemed to be unable to help himself and spoke in a low voice.

"Um?"

"I went to see Master two days ago and found that he was in a very bad mood."

Sun Daoyu turned around and looked at Zhou Qianyuan. He knew that Zhou Qianyuan had always been respected by his master and knew some gossip.

Zhou Qianyuan whispered: "It seems like he is working on our test questions this time... but he didn't finish it..."

“…”

After hearing this, Sun Daoyu looked towards the hall in front of him.

Because there were quite a few people taking part in this exam and the exam papers were different, Zheng Fa also made a distinction: the exam for mortals would be held in various side halls.

They, the disciples of Jiushan, answered the questions in this main hall in the center.

They had been to this hall many times in the past. Zheng Fa had given a lecture on "Introduction to Thunder Method" here before.

But today... Sun Daoyu felt that the hall was so solemn and scary that it made him a little breathless.

The two walked into the hall silently.

I found that the furnishings in the temple had changed.

Each candidate has a single table, which is empty and has just enough space for one person to pass between them.

There was a small light curtain at the entrance of the hall, on which was drawn their seating chart.

The exam time, subjects, and even exam room rules are also written on the side.

Not to mention Zhou Qianyuan and others who knew some inside information, even the other disciples were suddenly silent when they saw the examination room was arranged so formally.

The exam that day was mathematics. In addition to Zheng Fa, there were also Master Pang and Master Huang invigilating in the examination room.

Uncle Pang stood at the end of the examination room, his eyes flashing with silver light. Sun Daoyu felt as if needles were pricking his back.

Uncle Huang was in front, and when Sun Daoyu looked up, he could see her cold face.

Especially when everyone else lowered their heads and he was the only one who raised his head, Sun Daoyu would have a terrifying eye contact with this uncle...

Who could bear this? Sun Daoyu was trembling with fear, not daring to look up, trying hard to calm down and concentrate on doing the questions.

But... what kind of question is this! Who the hell made this test paper!

Looking at the three-quarters of the test paper being blank, Sun Daoyu's heart sank to the bottom.

The next moment, there was a sound of light footsteps behind him.

A familiar shadow stood behind him and wouldn't leave!

Without even turning around, Sun Daoyu knew that his master was staring at his test paper.

At this moment, he only felt that time was passing extremely slowly, so slowly that every breath seemed as long as an epoch...

He just felt that he would rather leave the Nine Mountains Realm and fight to the death with the Great Freedom Demon Sect than endure this kind of torture...

I don’t know how long it took before the master’s shadow disappeared beside his desk.

…

“…How much did you write?”

After leaving the hall, Sun Daoyu asked Zhou Qianyuan who was standing beside him.

Zhou Qianyuan replied dejectedly, "I haven't even finished half of it."

Hmm? Thinking about the fact that he had left more than 80% of the test paper blank, Sun Daoyu felt desperate.

At this moment, a familiar voice came from behind: "How many questions did you write?"

"I wrote one of the ten questions."

"I'm almost there too." Another person sighed, "This test paper is too difficult!"

Alas? When Sun Daoyu heard this, he became concerned.

After listening to other people's comments, he understood even more clearly in his mind - he did not do badly in the exam!

Most people can probably only write about 10% to 20% of the questions.

He glanced at Zhou Qianyuan standing beside him.

"Brother... there are some things that I heard Brother Zheng and Sister Zhang talk about..."

Zhou Qianyuan also understood his look and said, touching his head.

Sun Daoyu thought it made sense. Zhou Qianyuan had always been close to those two, so he must have gained more than others.

…

"Junior Brother Zhou did well in the exam!"

The papers were corrected quickly, and Zheng Fa looked at the first place winner with a little surprise.

Uncle Pang standing by was smiling quite proudly, and seemed to feel proud as well.

"That's right. Mathematics ranks third among the disciples, while talismans are ranked first." Senior Sister Zhang also praised.

In terms of mathematics alone, Zhou Qianyuan does have some rivals. After all, there were some disciples in the market who were good at mathematics.

But Zhou Qianyuan, who specializes in talismans, stands out among this group of disciples - he is not only the favorite student of Uncle Pang, but he has also listened to many ideas from Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang, so his foundation is indeed very solid.

"My disciple..." Uncle Pang heard the two people praising his disciple so much, and smiled and waved his hand, saying, "He still needs to be tempered."

…

"The first place in the Nine Mountains Disciple Examination this time is Junior Brother Zhou Qianyuan."

Hearing Zheng Fa say this, Zhou Qianyuan looked up suddenly and felt a little dizzy.

He heard Zheng Fachao say to him with a smile: "From today on, there will be a monthly exam every month. The top ten in each monthly exam will receive a certain amount of reward to encourage all the brothers to work hard."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

As he spoke, Zheng Fa took out a jade plate, on which were placed several relatively valuable spiritual materials.

"Come, Junior Brother Zhou, this is yours."

Zhou Qianyuan walked forward dazed and took the jade plate from Zheng Fa's hand.

The fellow disciples below looked at him, their eyes flickering with envy and even a little jealousy.

Especially when they saw the spiritual materials on the jade plate, they seemed to suddenly understand the value of knowledge.

"Now, please allow Junior Brother Zhou to share with everyone some of his thoughts and experiences on learning."

"I……"

"I just... I have to thank my teachers for my achievements..."

Uncle Pang nodded with a smile, as if he thought the boy was teachable and was only thinking about him.

"Following Junior Brother Zheng, I learned how to parse the Yuan Fu..."

"Following Senior Sister Zhang, I learned a lot about mathematical thinking..."

The smile on Uncle Pang’s face slowly faded - this disciple is no good!

Fortunately, Zheng Fa’s sister also did well in the exam this time!

…

"Junior Brother Zheng, since you started this exam, the atmosphere in our Nine Mountains has changed..."

In the laboratory, Uncle Pang said to Zheng Fa.

"Um?"

Zheng Fa was studying the talisman in front of him. He felt a little confused when he heard what Uncle Pang said.

"Your ranking... is too harsh..."

Uncle Pang said softly.

Zheng Fa smiled. He did it on purpose.

Although he would only read out the names of those disciples who had done well in the exams in the hall, Zheng Fa did not hide anything when posting the ranking list - this was much more ruthless than in modern times.

Therefore, students who did not perform well in the exams... naturally felt a lot of pressure.

But looking at Uncle Pang's expression, he didn't think it was a big deal - after all, the current environment in the Xuanwei Realm is like this, and if they really raised the disciples of the Jiushan Sect as modern students, that would be harmful to them.

Zheng Fa wanted to try his best to provide a relatively relaxed environment for the disciples of the Nine Mountains Realm, but on the other hand, he had to admit that people are born in adversity and die in comfort.

If you can't even handle being at the bottom of the ranking, then... there's no point in cultivating immortality.

"You did very well." As expected, Uncle Pang said, "I see that my disciples who did poorly in the exam are now working day and night to avenge their previous humiliation. There are one or two disciples who are actually very lazy by nature, but they seem to have worked hard this time."

Senior Sister Zhang at the side also spoke up: "Besides the embarrassment of doing poorly on the test, Junior Brother Zheng, your reward also made them very excited... Those who did well on the test have tasted the sweetness and are also working hard."

Zheng Fa also laughed.

In addition to allowing Zheng Fa to understand the level of these disciples so that he could teach them according to their aptitude in the future, this kind of examination also seemed to promote the disciples' enthusiasm for various knowledge, especially mathematics.

Zheng Fa himself had discovered, without Uncle Pang and the other two having to tell them, that the trend in the Nine Mountains Realm was changing.

The disciples of the Jiushan Sect learned mathematics, but did not talk about the art of talismans.

Even my younger sister said that the students in the school are now more motivated to study - after all, if you study well, you can not only become an official, but also practice Taoism.

"The most important thing is fairness..."

However, Master Pang came up with a new insight.

"Um?"

"I have to admit that this kind of exam is relatively fair..." Uncle Pang said thoughtfully, "In the past, when we trained disciples, in addition to looking at their aptitude, we also followed our own moods..."

"Now some resources are allocated based on test scores."

"I see that many of the disciples are actually a little more motivated than before."

"If you work hard, you will be rewarded..." Uncle Pang sighed, "This matter sounds simple, but it is actually very difficult."

Zheng Fa was stunned. He really didn't expect this.

To be honest, he is very lucky - because of his so-called talent, he has always been highly valued, and he doesn't feel any personal pain about it.

The modern examination system - although it cannot be said to be completely fair, it is much more equal than its predecessors.

The system before the Xuanwei Realm actually depended very much on the likes and dislikes of those in power.

The Jiushan Sect was actually okay in this regard, but as far as Zheng Fa knew - in many sects, the superiors often treated the lower-level disciples as slaves.

The Demon Sect is even worse.

In particular, the answers to the examination subjects are relatively objective, which further reduces some human factors.

Uncle Pang sighed:

"I don't know where you get all these ideas, and they all have miraculous effects..."

Zheng Fa felt a little embarrassed.

This... is just a little application of modern knowledge.

"For example, this microscopic magic array..."

"The refraction of light... can achieve a subtle effect?"

Seeing that he seemed a little unconvinced, Zheng Fa smiled and said, "Uncle Pang, didn't I already explain the principle once?"

Zheng Fa had previously thought of using magic weapons or magic arrays to realize the observation instruments in the laboratory.

After thinking about it, I realized that other instruments might need some modern help, but the principle of optical microscope is too simple - it's nothing more than the refraction of light.

Therefore, it is relatively simple to implement it using magic array.

Although the accuracy of the optical microscope itself is affected by the wavelength of light, it may not be as good as the "Dongxu Lingyan".

But this thing does not necessarily conflict with the "Dongxu Lingyan". Zheng Fa expects that the two can be combined with each other to achieve higher precision.

Of course, Zheng Fa still couldn't understand the principle of the Dongxu Spirit Eye. In fact, he himself was not sure whether the two could complement each other - but it was an idea after all.

What's more, the thousand-year-old purple bamboo is not adapting well to the climate and environment in the Nine Mountains Realm, so a microscope is also a good supplement.

"The principle..." Uncle Pang sighed, "To practice the 'Dongxu Spirit Eyes', one needs thousand-year-old purple bamboo tears... Now you tell me, all I need is two mirrors?"

Zheng Fa also laughed.

If the research on the magic array doesn't work, he will try to burn glass - there is also colored glaze in the Xuanwei Realm, but it is relatively difficult to find in the Jiushan Realm.

He is now trying out the microscopic magic array. In addition to wanting to observe the spiritual materials, he also wants to further study the talismans and become familiar with the meaning of the talisman array.

Uncle Pang, Sister Zhang and Zheng Fa discussed for a while and finally determined the composition of the talisman of the microscopic magic array.

The Flying Immortal Pen in Senior Sister Zhang's hand danced in the air for a while, several talismans flew out, and a talisman formation appeared in front of them.

Uncle Pang looked at the black thunder stone in front of him that had been magnified hundreds of times, touched his eyes, and suddenly felt like crying...

(End of this chapter)