Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 218 - 217 The Domain of the Gods?

January 28th, 7:55 a.m.

In every classroom at Lake Ying Middle School, there was an itch in the air.

Whether it be sorrow or joy, it was coming, a mix of fear and anticipation.

On this matter, there are many sayings to be found.

For example:

"Grades are like a box of chocolates, you never know what ranking you’re going to get next."

Or:

"The brave vie for rankings, their blades drawn against the stronger."

"The cowardly vie for rankings, but their blades target the weaker."

And in this classroom.

Li Zheng was undoubtedly the most reckless one.

His gaze had already set its sights on Lin Yujing in advance.

He would not miss any detail or expression, wanting to see every single hair that stood on end clearly.

As for Zhang Xiaoke, she was unquestionably one of the timid ones.

One moment she went to Chen Jinyu, the next to Liu Yuexuan.

Even after the warning bell and returning to her seat, she didn’t forget to share with Jiang Qinghua how she’d botched the exam.

Jiang Qinghua himself just responded perfunctorily.

Neither pleased nor sad.

He knew this point was no longer important.

The college entrance exam was the only altar that mattered.

Being with Du Shitong was certainly wonderful.

But a real man must understand delaying gratification, shouldering all the hardships, then enjoying the candy at the very end.

Regarding this attitude of Jiang Qinghua’s, Li Zheng was very pleased.

Even a bit respectful.

Temporarily giving up school battles, giving up love.

Focusing on studying with an undistracted heart.

That’s right, Jiang Qinghua could do it.

Take him as an outer sect disciple then.

As for Lin Yujing’s deskmate, Liu Xin.

He too had a poker face.

But one of utter despair.

There’s no helping it, after the high’s passed, one’s bound to die.

Finally, there was Lin Yujing, who was using colored pens to draw, but it was unclear what she was sketching.

It was probably because she knew when she lost, she would become speechless, so she was pleading for mercy in advance in the King’s Game.

Speaking of the King’s Game.

Over the weekend, everyone had thought of their own ruling policies.

One could only say this winter vacation would inevitably become heaven for some and hell for others,

All because of one term-end exam ranking, staking the entire holiday experience on it.

That was the consequence of keeping company with gamblers.

At 8 o’clock sharp, Teacher Tang stepped into the classroom.

Her mood was slightly different from when she announced the midterm grades, her entire being seemed to float, as if she wished to twist in.

"I’ll just say it this time, you did well," Teacher Tang said with a grin, laying the grade sheet on the desk. "Our whole grade did well, last year during the college entrance exams, our science average was 13th in the district, this term we’ve jumped to 11th, Principal Liu praised our entire grade~"

While this was good news, no one was in a hurry to be happy about it.

Li Zheng and Lin Yujing’s attitude was pretty much "What does the whole grade’s average have to do with me?"

Liu Xin and the others had the same sentiment, "What does the whole grade’s average have to do with me?"

Though their paths were different, the endpoint was strangely the same.

Others were just waiting for their own grades to be announced, while some picked up on the scent of gossip from Teacher Tang’s words.

"Teacher Tang, what about the other grades? How did the first and third graders do?" Zhang Yue asked with anticipation.

"Ah, that..." Teacher Tang guffawed and waved her hands, "I’m probably not supposed to say..."

Standing here, if it had been Hu Chunmei, most students probably wouldn’t dare to ask further and would have let it go.

But if it’s Teacher Tang...

"Come on, tell us!"

"Don’t be a tease, Teacher Tang."

"Let us have a little joy too."

Amid a chorus of coaxing, Teacher Tang had to rap the blackboard several times to calm things down.

"Alright, alright..." Teacher Tang said helplessly, "First grade held their position, still 13th, and the third grade ranked 15th."

Though it wasn’t exactly good news, everyone felt a sense of inexplicable glee upon hearing it.

"This batch of third graders isn’t up to snuff."

"Hey, even their top class isn’t anything special."

"I heard that only the top ten students can aim for a 985 university."

Even Liu Xin momentarily forgot about his impending "death," leaning back in his chair and chuckling while rubbing his stomach, "No way around it, the future of Lake Ying relies on our batch now."

In the midst of these shifts in atmosphere, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing showed no change in expression.

Both tense, neither giving an inch.

That was the aura of masters.

Unmoved by minor disturbances in the Jianghu.

Seeing the two of them, Teacher Tang naturally knew they were in their Nth round of battle at the Summit of The Forbidden.

As someone with a monopoly on information, she had plenty of room to maneuver.

If it weren’t for these two in the class, she would probably have already distributed the grades.

But as the game was set, she didn’t mind lending a hand to the atmosphere.

After all, she had long given up on treating early romance.

When the classroom had quieted down, Teacher Tang rubbed her hands and began to speak.

"The usual rules, let’s start with the class ranking."

"First, congratulations to everyone, we’ve kept second place."

"Average score of 531.2, we’ve closed the gap with Class One to within 20 points."

"But as always, don’t be complacent, this is largely thanks to certain individuals."

On hearing this, Liu Xin laughed, a laugh full of poised assurance, like one who hides his talents and achievements.

Teacher Tang wasn’t typically the kind of teacher who berated people, but some just went too far, and even she couldn’t help "Hu Chunmei-izing" herself.

"Liu Xin, what are you proudly grinning about over there? Do you miss being taught a lesson by Lin Yujing that much?"

"Ah ah..." Liu Xin hastily reined in his smile, "I contributed too, right, Teacher Tang?"

Teacher Tang just shook her head, "I can’t be bothered with you, you’ll see for yourself in a bit..."

Finally regaining control after much effort and leaving Liu Xin’s gloom behind, Teacher Tang looked down at the grade sheet and spoke again.

"Following the usual practice, let’s praise the top five."

"Fifth place, Jiang Qinghua..."

As Teacher Tang spoke, she unconsciously glanced up.

She saw Jiang Qinghua’s emotions wavered briefly but then returned to tranquility.

```

He maturely and calmly accepted this reality.

This made Tang Zhifei even more distressed for his class leader.

Although it was praise, for Jiang Qinghua, this ranking was something she could hardly bear.

She had watched with wide eyes as Jiang Qinghua fell from third to fourth, and then from fourth to fifth.

While her overall grade ranking remained stable, being surpassed bit by bit in class was...

This child had it tough.

Tang Zhifei cleared his throat and continued.

"This unified examination used a college entrance exam standard comprehensive science test, but there are still individual rankings for physics, chemistry, and biology, which I’ll also mention. Among them, physics has a full score of 110, chemistry 100, and biology 90."

"Although Qinghua is fifth in class, her overall ranking has actually improved. Don’t let it affect your mindset."

"Now I’ll begin announcing the scores."

"Chinese: 119, grade ranking 46, class 5."

"Math: 124, grade 31, class 4."

"English: 118, grade 30, class 5."

"Physics: 97, grade 9, class 3,"

"Hmm, significant improvement in physics."

"Chemistry: 72, grade 32, class 5."

"Biology: 74, grade 38, class 4."

"Science comprehensive 243, grade 17, class 4."

"Total score: 604, grade 26, class 5."

"Lastly, the district-wide ranking."

"This time in the entire Xishi District, there were 4421 valid examinees."

"Qinghua’s district-wide ranking—"

"1221."

"This is a very good result, after all, the top 1000 are basically from no. 4 Middle School, No. 8 Middle School, and Normal University Affiliated School, so this score is very competitive outside the traditional top three."

"Let’s give her a round of applause," Tang Zhifei said, and started clapping first.

The others looked toward Jiang Qinghua and joined in the applause.

Although the number seemed large, the Xishi District was far from the Haidian District, which is a wild cacophony of demons and lined with famous schools—nearly a monopoly by the traditional powerhouses on the best students. As a disciple of the Lake Ying Fishery Gang, such a performance was indeed praiseworthy.

"Not bad at all, Qinghua."

"Being fifth in the class really isn’t about you... it’s mainly because some people are just too dogged."

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

Amidst the rising and falling of congratulations, Jiang Qinghua seemed as if he heard nothing.

He felt like he was on a tiny island that could only fit one person, looking around at nothing but the boundless sea.

He was working hard, making progress.

But the gap... was much wider than he imagined...

And the top 500...

In the silent contemplation, his head suddenly felt a sharp pain.

When he came to his senses, he realized it was Li Zheng, who had plucked a hair from his head.

"Qinghua, trust me, don’t panic," Li Zheng said with a resolute nod, "The reason your effort has only had a minimal effect is mainly because too much of your energy has been taken away by nature’s competition. Stick with me during the winter break, and I guarantee you’ll make rapid progress."

"But... I..." Jiang Qinghua stared at Li Zheng and said, "But I’m working hard, and so is everyone else... I... I might just be at this level..."

Li Zheng, hearing this, got so angry he plucked another hair from Jiang Qinghua’s head.

"I told you to trust me," Li Zheng said firmly, nodding decisively, "I am a question bank, I am a famous teacher, I know how to learn knowledge, and I know how to improve scores. In my book, there are only students who don’t want to learn, no disciples who can’t be taught."

"But... even if it’s really possible..." Jiang Qinghua said through gritted teeth, "With my situation... how can I let you put in so much effort..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Xiaoke turned around.

"Alright, stop dilly-dallying, you’re just too hesitant," Zhang Xiaoke said with a laugh, "Don’t always be afraid of troubling your friends. If you really need help, just accept it quickly. Do you think Teacher would be willing to tutor just anyone? Hurry up, man up, all this beating around the bush is making me sick."

"..." Jiang Qinghua, spurred on by this, glared and nodded vigorously at Li Zheng, "I really appreciate it, brother."

"That’s more like it," Li Zheng said comfortably, nodding and then turned to Liu Xin, "Do you need a winter break study boot camp?"

"No need, Brother Li, no need... What about basketball training?"

"Not anymore, Xin, not anymore, just live happily," Li Zheng replied.

After sorting things out with Jiang Qinghua, the others decided to get back to the matter at hand, except Liu Xin.

They all immediately opened their notebooks and started calculating game scores, except Liu Xin.

At that time, their guesses for Jiang Qinghua’s district-wide ranking were as follows:

[Li Zheng: 871]

[Lin Yujing: 2333]

[Zhang Xiaoke: 1000]

[Liu Xin: 888]

[Jiang Qinghua: 500]

Now, the announced ranking was 1221.

"YES..." Zhang Xiaoke silently clenched his fist and licked his lips.

He had scored a point right off the bat, taking the lead!

This time he was serious, determined to make a comeback.

While they were doing this, Tang Zhifei had finished announcing Liu Yuexuan’s score, with a total of 609, just slightly higher than Jiang Qinghua’s, and a district-wide ranking of 1202.

Unlike Jiang Qinghua, Liu Yuexuan never had so much drama; he was very steady and had a deep foundation in Chinese, allowing him to rank first or second in the whole school without any effort.

His highest ranking this time was also in Chinese, second in the entire school.

After applauding for Liu Yuexuan, Tang Zhifei began selling the suspense with a smile.

"Now then, who is the third place...?"

The whole class collectively answered, "Zhang Xiaoke!"

Although most voices were correct, amid them were several "doggie" sounds. Some said Doggie Xiaoke, some said Zhang Doggie, and a few extremists shouted "doggie, doggie, doggie."

Zhang Xiaoke wasn’t offended; in fact, he reveled in it.

You see, this "doggie" wasn’t your ordinary "doggie."

Here, "doggie" described a person’s cunning character; to her, it was a compliment for being deeply thoughtful and strategic.

Seeing there was no more suspense to keep, Tang Zhifei could only helplessly shake his head.

No help for it... The top two spots were just too secure, even without studying, they’d still be the top two in a year’s time.

And so, looking at the scorecard, Tang Zhifei spoke.

"Third place, Zhang Xiaoke."

"Chinese: 116, grade ranking 48, class 6."

"Math: 131, grade 3, class 3."

"English: 137, grade 4, class 3."

"Physics: 96, grade 10, class 4."

"Chemistry: 92, grade 15, class 3."

"Biology: 78, grade 14, class 3."

"Science comprehensive total, 266, grade 3."

"Total score: 650, grade 4, class 3."

"District-wide ranking—"

"591."

"An extremely, extremely significant improvement."

```

```

"Who would have thought Zhang Xiaoke could improve so much."

"Applause!"

Tang Zhifei truly applauded this time.

While the rest clapped, there were various strange noises mixed in.

"Heh heh! Didn’t you do terribly on the exams?"

"Dog! Just be a dog then!"

"If I believe another word from you, then I am a dog."

Zhang Xiaoke, brimming with pride, rubbed her head and said, "Heh heh, heh heh, I still flunked ah~~ I originally aimed for the 450th rank~~"

"Go die!"

"Woof woof woof!!"

In the midst of various dog barks, Jiang Qinghua began to feel a flicker of confidence.

Zhang Xiaoke had followed Li Zheng from the first day after transferring.

From the midterms to the finals, over this half a semester, she climbed directly from being ranked around 20th in the grade to 4th...

The extent of this progress was indeed terrifying.

No time to waste, as soon as class is out, I must...

It’s not necessary to formally become a disciple, if not, then let’s form a brotherhood, pledging loyalty with a lock of hair!

In the front row, Zhang Xiaoke nudged Li Zheng, "Thanks ah, Master~~ I’ll make soup for you over winter break~"

"Can’t you be a bit more competitive?" Li Zheng was so irritated he slammed the desk, "I guessed wrong again..."

"Aiyah~ Didn’t I say I flunked~~ I didn’t write the essay well~~"

Zhang Xiaoke’s score was already frightening, and the score for the King’s Game was once again refreshed.

First, let’s look at the predictions at the time.

[Li Zheng: 350]

[Lin Yujing: 600]

[Zhang Xiaoke: 450]

[Liu Xin: 444]

[Jiang Qinghua: 488]

It seems everyone’s estimation of Zhang Xiaoke was a bit too optimistic, all just bubbles.

This time, the closest to the truth was Lin Yujing.

That is to say, after this round, Lin Yujing and Zhang Xiaoke each earned a point, tied for first place.

For them, who had already formed an alliance in secret, this was a very good outcome.

With Zhang Xiaoke’s grades announced, the main event arrived.

Tang Zhifei fully knew what everyone was thinking, rounded his mouth, and used the language advantage of a Chinese teacher.

"So this time, can Li Zheng finally overtake Lin Yujing and raise his head for the first time?"

The classmates collectively answered, "No!!"

"Heh heh." Li Zheng just waved his hand and laughed, "Okay ok, you guys are cool, are you ready, the slap in the face is about to come."

"Eeeh~~" The class collectively booed.

Even Zhang Xiaoke secretly booed.

Although she had improved dramatically, still no one had confidence in Li Zheng.

Li Zheng, on the other hand, was full of fighting spirit.

That’s right, no one thinks highly of me.

But I won.

That is the most perfect victory.

He glared fiercely at Tang Zhifei, Bring it on!!!

"Good!" Tang Zhifei’s eyes widened in response, "Lin Yujing!"

There was silence, the entire class sunk into a brief lull.

Only one person took off on the spot.

"YEEEEEEEESS!!" Li Zheng wished he could bounce up from his desk with the reaction force of pounding it.

For how many years, how many years have I been suppressed???

Dawn has broken! It’s light!

"It’s first place! Lin Yujing is still in first place!" Tang Zhifei suddenly said, "And she is also the first in the district!"

In an instant.

Li Zheng collapsed.

The sky fell.

Barely managing to steady himself on the desk, he glared deathly at Tang Zhifei.

"Tang... Tang..."

"Master..." Zhang Xiaoke tried her best to support Li Zheng, looking at him with pity, "You didn’t see Teacher Tang’s trick coming..."

Tang Zhifei, however, had a triumphant grin.

There was a personal vendetta brewing here.

It was unknown exactly when.

The whole school started to pay attention to her feet.

Even some parents kindly sent links for anti-odor insoles.

At that moment, Tang Zhifei utterly lost it.

Only two people knew about it, Li Zheng and Jiang Qinghua.

Who else could have spread it?

Yes, this was private revenge made public.

Li Zheng was also fuming, just having settled in his seat when he turned back and said, "Teacher Tang has stinky feet."

"I know." Liu Xin nodded blankly.

"???" Li Zheng turned to look at Jiang Qinghua, "Tang Zhifei has stinky feet."

Jiang Qinghua also silently nodded, "I know that."

"??? Who told you?"

Both looked towards Zhang Xiaoke.

"Hee hee..." Zhang Xiaoke licked her lips, "Don’t worry, they promised me they wouldn’t tell anyone else~"

Liu Xin laughed heartily, "That’s not it, the whole school knows now, even my middle school classmates from other schools are asking me if there’s a beautiful teacher at Lake Ying Middle School with goddamn stinky feet."

"Aiyah aiyah." Zhang Xiaoke indignantly said, "Why doesn’t anyone listen, I told you all not to tell anyone else."

Li Zheng could only sigh deeply.

Given this... Tang Zhifei acting this way, there was a starting point after all.

However you think about it...

She’s the one who lost a bit more.

On stage, after Tang Zhifei got her revenge and was full of satisfaction, she began reading from the score sheet.

"It has to be said, our Lin Yujing, actually improved again."

"Chinese: 145, ranked 1st in grade, 1st in class."

"Math: 150, 1st in grade, 1st in class."

"Note, this is the only perfect score in math in the district."

"English: 144, 2nd in grade, 2nd in class."

"Physics: 109, 2nd in grade, 2nd in class."

```

"Chemistry: 98, grade 2, class 2."

"Biology: 89, grade 1, class 1."

"Science comprehensive: 296, grade 1, class 1"

"Total score: 735, grade 1, class 1."

"District-wide ranking."

"One."

As soon as the words were out, Tang Zhifei put down the report card, then looked at Lin Yujing, her eyes revealing a hint of divinity.

"I don’t even know how to evaluate this…"

"Without any weak points, almost full marks in every subject."

"I believe you would also be number one in the entire city."

"Be proud, be complacent."

"Do whatever you want."

"If someone like you can’t be proud, who else can use this word?"

This time she didn’t call for applause.

But the entire class still gave a solemn clapping.

Like a pilgrimage.

735, such a score has indeed almost surpassed human cognition.

And to think, she improved by another 10 points from before.

Where on earth is the limit of God…

The classmates were simply worshipping, yet they didn’t know that this was Lin Yujing’s most vigorous effort in an examination ever.

She reviewed each subject wholeheartedly, and she didn’t go to bed until 9:30 every night.

The effort she put into this exam was much greater than when she scored first in the middle school exams.

At this moment, under the gaze of the whole class.

Lin Yujing gently smoothed her hair, then picked up the drawing she had finished on the desk, showing it in Li Zheng’s direction.

It was a graffiti-style Arabic numeral "1".

Like a rainbow, an explosive 1.

Full of three-dimensional effects and colorful patterns.

Meanwhile, there was also a small, shit-yellow "2" beside it.

Perhaps only one-tenth the size of the "1".

Li Zheng’s scalp tingled, and he nearly exploded with rainbows himself.

What is this?

Height of Zheng, towering of Jing?

Beneath literature and science, could it be Jing’s earth, to the ends of this earth, could it be Jing’s subjects?

Zheng supports as Jing?

Due to reading too much, Li Zheng’s mind filled in many idioms.

Terrible experience.

"7, 3, 5..." Li Zheng muttered the number fiercely.

Too terrifying…

This time, it really surpassed human limits, right?

Even with another 1,000 hours, 10,000 hours, 10,000,000 hours...

Could it be done?

Could such scores be achieved…

"Li Zheng, do you know?" Tang Zhifei suddenly spoke softly, "You’re only 3 points behind Lin Yujing."

"!!!!!" Li Zheng suddenly looked up, even heard a creaking sound, and almost sprained his neck.

"This time, it was really a hair’s breadth away." Tang Zhifei sighed in relief, reading from the report card.

"Li Zheng."

"Chinese: 141, grade rank 3, class 3."

"Math: 149, grade 2, class 2."

"English: 147, grade 1, class 1."

"Physics: 110, grade 1, class 1."

"Let me mention here that there were only two perfect scores in physics across the district; the other is from the competition class at No. 4 Middle School."

"Chemistry: 100, grade 1, class 1."

"The only perfect score in Chemistry in the district."

"Yes, Li Zheng got full marks in both physics and chemistry."

"Biology: 85, grade 2, class 2."

"Science comprehensive: 295, grade 2, class 2"

"Total score: 732, grade 2, class 2."

"District-wide ranking."

"Two."

After Tang Zhifei finished speaking, she put down the paper.

"Only 3 points behind."

"All because of Chinese."

"I thought you wouldn’t be able to catch up."

"But you have nearly, nearly done it."

"Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give a round of applause for the runner-up."

Applause erupted.

This time, everyone stood up.

3 points, it’s as if there were no difference.

It wasn’t really losing at all.

If there is a next time.

He will definitely win.

Everyone felt that way.

"Awesome, Li Zheng, 732 is really freaking amazing…"

"Just the top two in the whole district…"

"Congratulations to Li Zheng for entering The Domain of the Gods!"

"Next exam, you can witness the God Battle."

Even Zhang Xiaoke, who knew Li Zheng the best, was deeply shocked at this moment.

"Master… you… must have… really tried very hard and must be very tired…"

"Not really." Li Zheng smiled faintly.

Looking at his score, listening to his classmates’ encouragement.

He had long since recovered from the feeling of defeat.

735.

It’s not The Domain of the Gods.

Mortals can reach it too.

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