Of the more than two hundred examinees, a significant portion arrived in their respective school uniforms. The others, though dressed in casual attire, still carried an unmistakable air of high school students. That blend of youthful innocence and occasional naiveté, after all, was impossible to conceal. Yet, beyond these typical students, there were some individuals Huang Xiu found rather inscrutable. They were not numerous, but they appeared to know each other, lining up together and engaging in constant, cheerful conversation. They clearly formed a distinct clique. Bai Baibai and Liu Lu were among them. It was, in fact, through observing these two that Huang Xiu first became aware of this small group within the re-examination pool.
‘Were they… acquaintances formed after the preliminary exam, or had they been friends even before taking the test?’
Huang Xiu thoughtfully stroked her smooth, soft chin. The implications of these two possibilities were vastly different. The first suggested they had simply come together by chance, but the second held a far more intriguing, even unsettling, implication…
‘And Fang Miaoging, had she not arrived? Why couldn’t I find her?’
Huang Xiu had already meticulously scanned every individual in the plaza, but the familiar figure she sought remained elusive.
The two hundred-plus individuals had formed two neat lines. The queues were not particularly long, and given that the task was merely to submit a form, they progressed swiftly. In short order, Huang Xiu found herself at the very front, the only person remaining before the young man in the white coat, who regarded her with an impassive, almost lifeless gaze.
“Hand it over,” he stated flatly.
“Ah, of course!” Huang Xiu quickly presented the form with both hands. Just as she turned to depart, she suddenly heard the young man’s voice. “You handled the incident from the night before last quite well,” he remarked.
‘The incident from the night before last… that was the Void Realm invasion. Could he be from the Void Realm Jurisdiction Bureau?’
Huang Xiu nodded, acknowledging his words, then her steps faltered. “Mr. Examiner,” she ventured, “I wanted to ask, are the ‘normal’ candidates who passed the preliminary exam also taking their re-examination here?”
She had deliberately stressed the word “normal,” her intent unmistakable.
“Oh, them? No, they’re not here,” he replied. “This is the exclusive examination hall for Awakened individuals. They’re taking their re-examination in a separate hall reserved for general studies students.”
****
Yanghai, First Vocational Middle School.
It was April, and those students who had opted for the independent enrollment examinations had already concluded their tests and departed the campus. Their classrooms, now vacant, were repurposed as temporary examination venues for Tiandu University’s re-examination.
On the first floor of the teaching building, four connected classrooms served as exam halls.
The windows of these examination rooms were presently draped in black cloth, and teachers patrolled the corridors, strictly forbidding anyone from approaching.
Consequently, the examinees had congregated in the open area outside the teaching building. A glance around revealed their numbers were no less than those at the other examination site—this was the re-examination venue for general studies students.
Grouped in small clusters of three to five, organized by their respective schools or regions, they chatted amongst themselves, all the while casting surreptitious glances towards the examination halls.
“What kind of re-examination is this, anyway? Why the need for such secrecy?” grumbled a male student, easily identifiable as a top scholar by his glasses and buzz cut, who wore the uniform of Yanghai No.1 Middle School.
“Indeed!” Scholar Number Two, also from the same institution, nodded in fervent agreement.
As the “twin stars” of their school, they had participated in countless independent enrollment examinations, ranging from minor to major. Yet, this was their inaugural encounter with a re-examination orchestrated with such an air of mystery. Not only were the specifics of the re-examination withheld beforehand, but all individuals were strictly forbidden from approaching the examination halls prior to the test. Even the classroom windows had been completely obscured by black cloth. Were it not for the explicit declaration that this was an examination, he would have readily assumed it was a selection process for secret agents.
Fang Miaoging, too, was present in the throng, yet she stood solitary, sequestered in a corner.
‘Brother Xiu… why can’t I see him?’
Her gaze, light as a dragonfly skimming water, swept over the lines of students, but the young man with vibrant lips and bright teeth remained nowhere to be found.
‘Could… something have happened that day?’
She gnawed gently on her lip, her eyes openly betraying a profound anxiety.
****
The nearly three hundred forms, collectively as thick as one or two books, were cradled in the white-coated young man’s hands as he yawned, before retreating back through the doorway. This time, though, the door remained ajar.
A few curious onlookers peered inside, only to discover another long, winding corridor stretching into the distance.
Disappointment swiftly registered on their faces as they recoiled.
At that moment, the broadcast system crackled to life once more: “Examinees number 24, 50, 123, and 212, please proceed to the examination hall. Examinees number 2, 32, 184, and 190, please prepare yourselves.”
Her examination number was printed on the re-examination admission ticket, but Huang Xiu struggled to recall her specific digit, only vaguely remembering a sense that she might have been number 123.
‘Oh no, I hope I’m not in the first batch of examinees!’
Her heart gave an immediate lurch. She swiftly pulled her admission ticket from her pocket, glanced down, and a wave of profound relief washed over her. Thankfully, she was number 122—just one digit away.
In truth, she would have accepted any batch except for the very first or the very last, as those two groups undeniably bore the brunt of the pressure.
While Huang Xiu continued to revel in her good fortune, the examinees whose numbers had been called seemed utterly bewildered.
They were instructed to proceed to the examination hall, but its location remained a mystery.
A sweeping glance across the plaza revealed only one possible route: the corridor through which the white-coated young man had vanished.
Could that truly be it?
“Honestly, they couldn’t even bother with a signpost,” someone muttered under their breath, their voice laced with palpable dissatisfaction.
At that very moment, a long, vibrant green fluorescent line suddenly materialized on the plaza’s silver-white ground. This luminous line originated from the center of the plaza. It extended relentlessly forward, leading into the doorway through which the white-coated young man had disappeared, and continuing all the way to the end of that protracted corridor. Arrows ceaselessly emerged from the starting point, propelling themselves along the solid green line. The location of the examination hall was now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, unequivocally clear.
The first batch of examinees exchanged knowing glances, then immediately set forth, following the verdant line into the corridor. The rhythmic tapping of their footsteps gradually receded, and the four figures vanished around the corridor’s distant bend.
‘Who knows how long they’ll be?’ she mused, glancing towards the table.
With over two hundred people awaiting their turn, any significant delay could mean the examinations wouldn’t conclude even by nightfall.
“Gulu.”
A small, round, green head poked out from her pocket, its eyes turning upwards to regard Huang Xiu. “Master,” it chirped, “I’m hungry.”
Huang Xiu paused, momentarily speechless.
While its hunger was understandable, she found herself rather curious about the dietary needs of this mutated cactus.
“What would you like to eat?” she inquired.
“Hmm,” Huang Xiaoxian hummed, tilting its head. “I can eat anything, but Master’s Void energy is truly the best…”
Huang Xiu, however, was not at all surprised. With a hint of resignation, she gently poked its face with her index finger. “Alright,” she conceded, “here you go.”
As she spoke, Void energy surged forth from the mercury-like ocean within her, cascading down her index finger and flowing directly into Huang Xiaoxian’s diminutive body.
It comfortably squinted its eyes, emitting a soft, contented purr. Its numerous spikes visibly hardened and increased in density. The verdant hue across its entire body simultaneously deepened, becoming richer and more profound.
‘Is this… evolution?’
Huang Xiu curiously manipulated Huang Xiaoxian’s body, scrutinizing it for any other discernible differences.
Beyond the initial changes, however, no further transformations manifested.
‘Perhaps the evolution isn’t complete yet,’ she mused.
Huang Xiu wasn’t entirely certain if what she witnessed was indeed evolution, especially considering Huang Xiaoxian’s inherently peculiar nature. It was not only the very first plant to undergo mutation when she awakened her ability, but it also possessed its own independent consciousness and could temporarily exist autonomously from her.