“You pig-headed… Forget it, just call him Old Nick!” Finger waved his hand dismissively. “Old Nick lived in Paris and was a scribe, as well as an alchemist. He’s the only historically documented person who managed to create the Philosopher’s Stone!”
“The Philosopher’s Stone? That sounds awesome,” Lu Mingfei said.
“Super awesome! It’s a bit complicated to explain, but put simply, the Philosopher’s Stone is a fifth element beyond earth, water, wind, and fire—a pure spiritual element. You’ll learn more about it in ‘Introduction to Alchemy.’ Alchemy and Word Spirit are the two pillars of dragon technology, creating many wonders in an era without modern science. Old Nick learned alchemy by discovering a rare manuscript that recorded the grammar of the dragon language. He learned it but didn’t pass it on, instead summarizing seventy-six obscure dragon sentences, which he passed down. That’s the entirety of the dragon language we have today. So, do you get it now? There are, at most, seventy-six questions in the exam.”
“Senior, are you saying there’s a question bank?” Lu Mingfei’s eyes lit up with realization.
“You guessed it! Let me explain how the exam works. When you enter the exam hall, they’ll give you a blank sheet of paper and a pencil, with no instructions. They’ll play a recording of someone chanting in dragon language. For dragon hybrids, the language will resonate mentally, producing a ‘spiritual vision’ effect. Dragon language is pictographic, and you’ll ‘see’ something extraordinary.”
“What will I see?”
“It varies from person to person. Usually chaotic lines, writhing snakes, or overgrown plants. You just have to record what you see.”
“Isn’t this an art exam?” Lu Mingfei was at a loss. “I’m not great at drawing.”
“If you can draw a turtle, you’re good enough. It’s not about how well you draw but about your ‘spiritual vision.’ The purer the hybrid’s bloodline, the more they see, and the clearer it is.” Finger took out a blank sheet of paper and quickly sketched with his pencil. Surprisingly, Finger was good at drawing. Lu Mingfei watched as the pencil lines formed a picture. It was highly abstract, with overlapping wavy lines that resembled a sea from a distance.
“This picture has a lot of curves. If you extract certain parts of the curves,” Finger darkened some lines, “you get the ‘characters’ of dragon language. The examiner is Norma, who will analyze what you’ve drawn, looking for dragon characters. It’s very precise, so scribbling won’t work. This drawing is one I did back then—one of the questions.”
“So there are… seventy-six drawings? Seventy-six drawings with variations? This question bank… can’t be memorized!” Lu Mingfei’s hope was quickly fading.
“Don’t worry, now let me reveal the ultimate secret!” Finger grinned, showing his teeth. “The biggest flaw in Cassell College’s 3E exam system is that they recycle old exam papers!”
“Recycle?” Lu Mingfei was puzzled.
“There are only eight sets of exams, one cycle every eight years, never changing!”
“Are the professors out of their minds?” Lu Mingfei couldn’t believe it.
Back in his school days, teachers and students in China had countless experiences of trying to outsmart each other. The Chinese college entrance exam may only cover a few books, but which high school teacher couldn’t come up with hundreds of mock exam questions? The Chinese teachers’ approach was like Huang Yaoshi’s Jade Flute Swordplay—ever-changing, with a hundred moves. But it seemed the professors at Cassell College were practicing something more like the ‘18 Dragon-Subduing Palms’—powerful and forceful, but once the sequence was finished, they’d have to start from the beginning.
Finger shrugged. “Only dozens or about a hundred students take the 3E exam each year, and they’re all geniuses. After four years of study, they all graduate and join the Execution Bureau, traveling the world to explore dragon ruins. How could they possibly remember the questions and leak them to the freshmen? So, the eight-year cycle is generally safe. But, as with everything, there are exceptions.” He raised his eyebrows, giving a smug, sly grin. “Remember? I’ve been at this college for eight years already!”
“Aaah!” Lu Mingfei was suddenly enlightened, filled with overwhelming excitement. “This year’s exam is exactly the same as the year you entered!”
“Three thousand bucks, non-negotiable, payable later. Deducting the 497 bucks you’ve already spent on treating me, plus the 2 bucks for the cola I had at the Chicago train station, you still owe me 2501 bucks. I’ll round it down—2500 bucks for the exam questions. Accept or decline—your choice. I’m counting down from ten!” Finger’s words shot out like bullets, his tone as firm as steel. “10! 9! 8!…”
“Wait, wait… hey! What’s going on?” Lu Mingfei panicked.
“7! 6!”
“At least let me see what I’m buying, senior? You can’t just force me to buy!”
“5! 4!”
“What if it doesn’t match what you said? Do you have any warranty? Do you provide receipts?”
“3! 2!”
“Hey, jerk! Are you even listening to me? Damn it… fine!” Lu Mingfei felt as if he was about to pass out, slumping down into his seat, gasping for breath.
“I’m the only one who can help you now; you have no choice, so why resist?” Finger drained his glass of sparkling wine and let out a long sigh of carbon dioxide. “I always knew my eight years here weren’t in vain. Today, I finally traded knowledge for money for the first time!”
“Ugh! Shame on you, you swindler!” Lu Mingfei was very frustrated. “To think I used to consider you a stereotypical nerd—glasses-wearing, knowledgeable but single, and clueless!”
“Ridiculous! I used to be just as dashing as Caesar, an A-Rank student admired by many!” Finger thumped his chest, showing a proud smile like a Jewish merchant delighted with a successful deal.
“A lonely old man always boasts about how charming he was in his youth!” Lu Mingfei lamented the 2500 dollars that had just flown away, taking a vicious jab in return.
Finger’s expression turned somewhat dejected. “Back then, I focused on earning enough credits to graduate in three years and become the youngest officer in the Execution Bureau, so I didn’t pay attention to them… And by the time I wanted to, they had already flown away as little birds to different corners of the world as members of the Execution Bureau.”
“Don’t start talking like that, you dropout. Even if they hadn’t flown away, they’d probably say, ‘I can’t believe I liked Finger back then.’”
“Junior,” Finger patted Lu Mingfei’s head, “let me teach you your first lesson in university: girls always fall for guys because of stupidity, and they tend to be even stupider when they’re young. So, immature girls are better than mature women!”