Chapter 207: Continental Simulation

The Eastern Yuan Holy Monarch personally appeared as the proctor at the venue. Although this caused many, especially the candidates participating in the retest, to feel excited and eager to try their skills, it undoubtedly added more fuel to the already tense competitive atmosphere.

While the Holy Monarch wasn’t truly an emperor in the strictest sense, he was indeed the highest authority of the land. His presence as the main examiner indicated a particular interest in the “Earth Pulse Spirit Veins” subject. Performing well in front of him could be as beneficial as gaining entry to a celestial island.

It’s essential to understand that given Dongyuanzhi Kingdom’s environment, most participants in the literary competition lacked the talent for cultivation and could only pursue this path to advance their careers, hoping to make a name for themselves. Therefore, rather than seeking immortality or holiness, they generally valued practical power and status much more.

Now was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to strive for that.

Before the competition officially started, Vilyric glanced away and tugged at the sleeve of the silver-haired girl beside her, whispering.

“Why do I feel like the Eastern Yuan Holy Monarch’s appearance is a bit strange? Can you calculate why he’s here?”

Hen thought for a moment but inexplicably declined the priestess’s suggestion once again, offering an explanation instead.

“…Vilyric, the secrets of heaven aren’t omnipotent. It’s not possible to calculate every individual’s intentions at all times. Furthermore, as the sovereign of a nation, the Eastern Yuan Holy Monarch possesses immense fortune, making him the hardest person to predict, and this setting isn’t suitable for such…”

“Alright, alright… so you’re saying you can’t figure it out. Why does it feel like you’ve been… never mind.”

Suppressing her lingering surprise and discomfort, the priestess smiled.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter. Regardless of what he wants to do, he certainly isn’t here specifically targeting us… we just need to adapt as things come.”

“Okay, the competition is about to begin! Quickly find your spot.”

“Mm.”

With a final exchange of “do your best” glances, the silver-haired girl turned to leave.

Like exam seating assignments, these Earth Pulse compasses were all labeled with different numbers corresponding to nearly a thousand candidates’ IDs, completely jumbled up, clearly intended to prevent any collaborative cheating.

Vilyric was assigned number 271, situated neither too far nor too close, just right in the vicinity of the competition’s center, making her part of the most noticeable group. In contrast, Hen was assigned far away, almost at the edge of the venue, whether by mere coincidence, one could not tell.

While finding her position, the priestess coincidentally spotted Fish Dan’er, whom she had met during registration. However, Dan’er’s entry into the retest was no surprise to Vilyric, so they only exchanged simple greetings before going their separate ways.

As the contestants gradually settled into their spots, the assistant examiner responsible for explaining the rules stepped forward beside the Eastern Yuan Holy Monarch and began his formal announcement.

“Everyone! Welcome to this retest for the ‘Earth Pulse Spirit Veins’ category! This event consists of three questions, which you must answer using the Earth Pulse compasses in front of you.”

“Perhaps some of you have never encountered such specialized instruments before, but fret not! Each contestant will be assigned two assistants and one reporter who will collaborate fairly and justly to help you complete the questions. All you need to do is showcase your skills and issue correct instructions!”

“Now then, let the relevant personnel take their positions!”

The inner door slowly opened, and the assistants who had been waiting inside, clad in standard work uniforms, lined up orderly at their assigned places. Without engaging with the contestants, they stood quietly at the compass podiums, patiently awaiting orders.

The reporter assigned to Vilyric was a polite short-haired man in his thirties, while the two assistants were younger girls, no older than twenty, each sporting light makeup, with one having long hair and the other short. They both exuded an air of reliability and looked quite pleasing to the eye.

—Well-trained, the priestess thought to herself.

These three were undoubtedly standard locals from Qiguo, displaying no particularly strange behavior. However…

Sensing the aura radiating from all three, which they were trying to suppress, but still couldn’t hide from her keen perception, Vilyric raised an eyebrow slightly.

Oh, Xingyuan City truly lives up to its reputation as a capital, filled with talented individuals! Just three staff members assigned to assist a contestant, and yet one turns out to be a “Seeker of Immortality” and the other two “Pinnacle” experts… that’s absurd!

If these three were ordinary passersby, I’d be willing to write my name, Vilyric, backward!

Casting an inconspicuous glance at a certain Holy Monarch above, the priestess immediately understood where this was all leading.

So, it turns out I’ve been targeted after all. Very well, let’s see what this guy is really up to.

As the girl pondered this, the assistant examiner finally raised his voice again.

“The sand table will soon present a specific environmental climate! Please find the key nodes of the Earth Pulse anomalies and communicate them to your respective reporters.”

“The competition consists of three questions. Each contestant has three independent chances to answer for each question, with a time limit of a quarter of an hour for each. Those who exhaust their chances or run out of time without providing correct answers will be directly eliminated! Now, let the first question begin!”

As soon as the words were out, the two assistant girls with “Pinnacle” strength moved closer, silently beginning to insert signs representing climatic and natural disaster indicators on the continental model-like compass in front of Vilyric.

This three-dimensional compass was presumably modeled on the entire Ancient Spirit Realm, not dividing by country but directly segmenting it into hundreds of different zones, intricately interwoven with varying thicknesses of threads below, simulating the complex flow of spirit veins.

Vilyric couldn’t quite differentiate this from an ordinary sand table, but just watching was no issue.

Spirit veins and Earth veins are fundamentally similar, with the properties of the flowing energy varying slightly due to differences between worlds, but the rules of change are almost analogous.

The denser the population and the more prosperous the area, the stronger the spirit veins flowing beneath it, manifesting on the compass as thicker ropes. Of course, this isn’t influenced by human activities but is a result of natural selection.

With abundant spirit veins comes fertile land, pleasant environments, healthy residents, and practitioners who can advance their cultivation with ease, naturally leading to the development of larger cities.

Conversely, the same logic applies in reverse.

Naturally, in the real world, spirit veins are invisible; they merely represent the flow of energy deep underground.

People infer the condition of the Earth veins through various environmental changes and attempt adjustments or disaster avoidance upon discovering issues. The collective knowledge and experiences that develop become specialized knowledge, known as “Earth Pulse Spirit Veins.”

There are many forms of anomalous weather; it’s not just the occurrence of disasters that indicates issues with the spirit veins. The professionals in the Earth Measurement Bureau need to monitor regional environments in real-time, looking for unreasonable discrepancies hidden within seemingly normal climates, preventing potential problems and predicting disasters in advance.

This is the primary job of such researchers.

After all the indicators were placed, the two assistant girls silently stepped back, their eyes vaguely drifting along with the reporter towards the black-haired girl standing before the sand table, seemingly observing something.

Not minding their subtly scrutinizing gazes, Vilyric solely focused her attention on the continent’s model in front of her.

Although only a few dozen climatic regions were marked, as the array shifted, the unadjusted areas naturally displayed certain conditions, appearing to simulate the overall climatic changes across the continent in some manner.

After just a couple of glances, the priestess had already identified the principle points of anomaly.

To be honest, this question was relatively standard. While it was elevated from the preliminary round, it wasn’t overly challenging for her.

There were indeed several locations exhibiting abnormal changes contradictory to climatic norms. Although no real disasters were present on the map, anyone with reasonable knowledge of seasonal changes should quickly spot the issues.

However…

Vilyric covertly glanced around at the other contestants, suddenly recalling a matter that seemed pertinent.

That assistant examiner never mentioned… all participants must have the same questions, right?

   

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