20 Future Choice

After the bearded man sent Zhou Bai to his room, he stood outside the door. 

He said to Zhou Bai, "Your primordial spirit power has already awakened, so you'll have many more options from now on. You can join the military and fight against the demons. You can also join some small sects. They pay well and have practice-related knowledge for you to study. Or you can wait for Paradise to assign a job to you." 

"But if you want to hear what I think, compared to all of those, I would recommend you to study at a Tao academy," the bearded man said, "If you study at a Tao academy, you'll have the opportunity to pursue advanced studies. The practice resources you'll obtain can't be paralleled by other venues. You can participate in the Tao academy's entrance exam and try your luck."

"I'll consider it," said Zhou Bai, "Thank you. By the way, I still don't know your name..."

"Zhang Aidao…" The bearded man's lips twitched, "But I don't really like this name. I don't like the Heavenly Tao. You can just call me Old Zhang. Tomorrow, an official will come to speak to you and decide where you'll go next. Don't rush it. Think it over thoroughly." 

After Zhang Aidao left, Zhou Bai lay on the bed, looking at the Laziness value that didn't increase. He knew this was because it wasn't past midnight yet. 

Zhou Bai thought, "Christina, why haven't you been talking?"

"I'm organizing my memories," Christina said with a rare seriousness, "After arriving here today, I've recovered a lot of my memories about humans. Meow, I know so much, could it be I used to be a leader of humankind?"

Christina: "Right, Zhou Bai, tomorrow, you must choose to pursue your studies at a Tao academy." 

Zhou Bai: "Why?"

Christina: "How can you laze around in the military or sects? Aren't you afraid of being beaten to death? School is the only place for you to shine. Given how lazy you are, you'll soar into the sky at school." 

Zhou Bai: "Why do I feel like you're insulting me?"

"Not at all." Christina thought to herself: 'Hmph, Tao academy is probably not very strict, they won't discover me. Watch me slowly take control over you, guide you, and finally steal your auxiliary system. I'll definitely be much stronger than this stupid kid if I had the auxiliary system.'

Zhou Bai thought, 'Hmph, this d*mn cat, she's probably not thinking of anything good. Watch me make you tell me everything you know. I'll wring you dry.'

...

After a good night's sleep, when Zhou Bai got up the next day, he felt his injuries got much better again. It seemed to no longer affect ordinary walking and tossing. 

Then he impatiently looked at the auxiliary system board again. He exerted 100 Laziness points to increase his Primordial Spirit Value by 10 points. His primordial spirit power reached 60 points. 

Perhaps because he already had the foundation of 50 points from before, when Zhou Bai abruptly added 10 points of primordial spirit power, he only felt a quick bout of dizziness. He recovered after only half a minute. 

"Looks like I'm getting stronger and stronger. Let's try adding a little more." 

Excited, Zhou Bai added all the remaining Laziness onto Primordial Spirit Value. Primordial Spirit Value instantly reached 70 points. This time, his dizziness was even more trivial. He was only dizzy for a dozen seconds before Zhou Bai felt himself return to normal. 

With a force of his will, a nearby chair was suddenly lifted up. Then, in the sound of crackling, the steel chair was squeezed into a ball and dropped on the ground like a piece of trash.

"Phew...70 points of primordial spirit power. If this were in the original world, I would be rich." 

After raising his primordial spirit power in the morning, Zhou Bai looked at Christina, who was in his mind. He saw her lying on her back, fast asleep with her feet in the air in a twisted position. 

Bang! 

With a move of his will, he pulled the dumb cat out and tossed her onto the ground. She jumped from shock. 

"What are you doing? I was sleeping!"

"Stop sleeping. It's not like you have a system, why are you sleeping so much every day?" Zhou Bai yanked her over, looking at the gem hanging on her neck, then frowned. 

Ever since it either turned back time or foresaw the future that time, this gem has turned grey. It hasn't changed a bit since then. 

Zhou Bai: "Can this gem not recover?"

"It should be able to recover," Christina thought for a while in silence, "I think if you let me use your auxiliary system, I might be able to use Laziness to restore the gem's power!" 

Zhou Bai controlled his will, and his primordial spirit power grabbed Christina, stroking her in his chest. 

Christina thought to herself, angrily, "This b*stard, just wait and see. I'm going to strike you dead in the future!" 

Zhou Bai tried for a while but couldn't find any way to restore the gem or use the gem, so he just gave up trying. 

"If the gem can't be used for now, then my biggest advantage is the system," Zhou Bai thought as he rubbed his chin, "I have to find other ways to increase Laziness." 

As Zhou Bai thought about this, he went out to look for some food, then returned to the room to await the officer's arrival. 

The officer came very quickly. Just like the examination and treatment Zhou Bai went through yesterday, there was no unnecessary small talk or probing. After asking about Zhou Bai's plans, he recommended Zhou Bai participate in the entrance exam taking place in a week. If he can pass the exam, he would be qualified to enter the Tao academy. 

What's worth mentioning is that the conversation with the officer allowed Zhou Bai to understand the basic situation roughly. 

Earth today is still having a global war between humans and Mara. 

Most of the regions on Earth have been occupied by Mara. The Western Continent has fallen completely, and the humans on the Eastern Continent are only defending the last one-third of their territory. 

Where Zhou Bai and the rest were now was the south-east corner of the remaining territory. 

In order to be more efficient and concentrate their resources on resisting against Mara, humans have united all the countries and sects to be governed by Paradise 500 years ago. 

In order to respond to the distortion of the Heavenly Tao, and to foster strong human individuals to resist against the Mara, Paradise gathered the most powerful sects at that time and allowed them to create four Tao academies-- East, West, North, and South. They each exchanged methods of practice and all sorts of resources. 

Although some small sects still exist, the most powerful practitioners generally come from the Tao academies. 

But because resources are limited, they cannot foster students without restriction. So you must pass the entrance exam to enter the four big Tao academies. 

The one closest to Zhou Bai right now was Donghua Tao Academy, located on the eastern coast of human territory. 

"The entrance exam for Donghua Tao Academy is in a week. I'll arrange a flying car for you to ride to Donghua City tomorrow, but the rest is up to you." 

Zhou Bai nodded. He understood this was the most the officer could do. Then he asked, "What does the entrance exam for Donghua Tao Academy test? I want to prepare myself."

The officer smiled and said, "You can go ask Old Zhang, oh...that is, Zhang Aidao, who brought you back yesterday. He took the entrance exam before. Unfortunately, he didn't pass, but he knows what they test."