"You shouldn’t have come out. If you’d stayed in the sixth level a bit longer, you could have gotten a few more points." Li Xiaoshuang walked over and patted his shoulder. "It doesn’t matter for normal school tests, but during the university entrance exams, you absolutely can’t be so impulsive!"

"Thank you for the reminder, Teacher Li."

Chen Che nodded.

"But your results today were truly unexpected. Even I didn’t think you’d actually make it past the fifth level."

Li Xiaoshuang nodded, satisfied, and didn’t hold back his praise:

"And your performance in this level was nearly flawless. By my estimation, you’ll definitely be featured in the Six Continents Campus Monthly as a prime example of the weak defeating the strong! If you make it into the provincial paper, that would be even more incredible."

"Do they pay for it?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Chen Che’s eyes lit up.

The Six Continents Campus Monthly was a local publication for Xianmen High School students:

It usually featured cultivation insights from top students known as Cultivator Dominators, interesting campus news, inspirational stories about underachievers turning things around, and short stories written by students. Of course, it also covered particularly exciting combat encounters.

As for the provincial paper, its prestige was a level higher.

"No," Li Xiaoshuang shook his head. "But it’s a great honor for a student!"

"Do you get extra points on the university entrance exams?"

"No!"

"A commemorative banner?"

"No!"

Chen Che immediately lost interest. In his opinion, a Micro Crystal Brain would be a much more practical reward.

School honors are basically useless once you enter the workforce.

Unless he failed to get into a Xianmen University in the future and had to open his own combat test prep class, then he could use these experiences for advertising.

Li Xiaoshuang was so annoyed he was speechless.

Just then, the other students had already gathered around the Jade screen, searching for Chen Che’s grade ranking.

"First in the grade?"

"That high?"

"Old Chen is awesome! He’s basically the number one second-year in our school now, right?"

"Definitely! Look, what other second-year can pass the fifth level of the Void Illusion Realm? Qi Fengzhu, get out your calculator and start punching in the numbers!"

"If I had Chen Che’s combat score..."

"God, the jealousy is killing me! Someone needs to knock him down a peg or two!"

The classmates’ eyes were red with envy.

Most of them had stumbled and fumbled their way through the third level, but here he was, having already cleared the fifth. They were all in the same class, yet the gap was just too big.

"Class monitor, you lost again!"

Someone looked toward Huang Zhongfei. Everyone remembered that before the exam, he had challenged Chen Che to another "father-son match."

Huang Zhongfei didn’t make a sound. In the span of a single class period, he had dropped another generation.

Chen Che ignored all this and walked toward the Jade screen, spotting his ranking at a glance:

Name: Chen Che

Class: Second Year, Class 1

Score: 150 (out of 300)

Rank: 1st in Grade, 582nd in School.

"This score is only temporary."

Li Xiaoshuang also saw the ranking and reminded him:

"Because most classes haven’t had their combat tests yet. Once their scores are in, your rank will definitely drop a bit."

"Several students in other classes have reached the Mid-stage Fifth Layer, and they have a good chance of passing the fifth level too. From now on, the monthly exams will determine the true grade rankings."

...

After the combat test, everyone had expended a lot of Heart Power.

「Back in the classroom.」

Lin Yi took the novel from inside his desk and handed it to Chen Che. "It’s yours!"

"You’re not going to read it anymore?"

Chen Che was a little surprised.

"I’m never reading novels again."

Lin Yi glanced at Chen Che and said dejectedly, "I only got a 94 on the combat exam. I slacked off for all of my first year. I’ve had my awakening now; I’m going to study hard in my second year."

He had been feeling smug about passing the third level, but then Chen Che had to go and pass the fifth.

’We were supposed to be fellow slackers, so why are you suddenly so amazing?’

So, he decided to get serious about his cultivation.

And so, Chen Che watched as Lin Yi took out a brand-new notebook during Array class and started taking notes. The first line was neat and proper, but by the second line, his handwriting started to drift, and before he could even finish the third line, he was asleep.

Besides him, quite a few other students were also asleep.

The teacher didn’t bother with them at all. This class was focused on the Alchemy Dao; the Array course was just part of the liberal arts curriculum, all theoretical knowledge. Later, during music theory class, Xia Chen played a piece that instantly made all the students feel agitated enough to want to hit someone.

The day wasn’t over yet, and another six second-year classes had their combat tests.

Sure enough, just as Li Xiaoshuang had said.

Two top students, with their Mid-stage Fifth Layer cultivation, managed to clear the fifth level. However, they didn’t give up on the test. They dragged their heavily injured bodies into the sixth level to run out some time and scrape together a few more points, knocking Chen Che’s ranking down.

"What’s there to be so smug about!"

When Lin Yi was on his way back from the restroom, he passed by Class 6 and saw them celebrating their class monitor getting first in the grade. He returned to his own classroom and fumed:

"If Old Chen hadn’t given up at the last second, how could it be their turn to be number one?"

"They’re all at Qi Refining Fifth Layer, but they don’t seem that impressive!"

"Yeah, exactly! When Chen Che gets to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, he’ll probably be able to clear the sixth level! They’re just coasting on their higher cultivation!"

Hearing this, many classmates felt it was unfair to Chen Che.

...

The school day passed in a flash.

At four in the afternoon, as the dismissal bell rang, Chen Che packed his books, preparing to head to the lock-picking shop. Wu Neng had called him at noon, telling him to come to the shop. Chen Che guessed it must be about the matter of the side hall.

Just then, a voice drifted in from outside the classroom, "Master Chen, Teacher Li is looking for you."

Chen Che looked up and saw it was Huang Zhongfei.

"What is it?" Chen Che asked curiously.

"It’s about analyzing the combat test..."

"Oh~"

The two of them arrived at the office and found that Ye Youwei was inside as well.

"Reporting!"

"Reporting!"

Li Xiaoshuang was at his desk, watching the videos of the students’ combat exams from the morning.

As the head teacher, his duties were naturally quite demanding. Not only did he have to supervise his students’ cultivation, but he even had to create study plans for each of them. Take today’s combat test, for example: he had to analyze each student’s problems and propose suggestions for them to improve.

Of course, whether the students actually followed his advice was another matter entirely.

"Come in!"

Li Xiaoshuang paused the video and stopped grading. "Teacher Wei and I have already finished grading the three of your exams ahead of schedule. The recordings have been sent to your personal data folders. You can study them at home to identify your weaknesses and reinforce your fundamentals."

This was the privilege of being a good student.

Nearly half the class’s exams hadn’t been graded yet, but for these three, they had already devised improvement plans.

"Next, let’s talk about the study plans for the three of you," Li Xiaoshuang said, his voice level. "First, Huang Zhongfei. Your scores are relatively balanced, so there aren’t any major problems. However, you’ve been slacking off a bit in your cultivation. You need to work harder."

"Second, Ye Youwei. Your combat score is a little low. That’s due to a weak mentality, which is something you need to strengthen. Otherwise, even if you raise your Realm in the future, you won’t be able to get a high score in actual combat."

Just as Li Xiaoshuang was speaking, another teacher walked into the office. He greeted Li Xiaoshuang, then turned to look at Chen Che and patted him on the shoulder, saying:

"You’re Chen Che, right? Your head teacher sent me the video of your fight. It was a truly spectacular exam! By the way, could you share how you achieved such a high level of combat skill? I can go back and explain your study methods to my students!"

"Hello, Teacher Yan!"

Chen Che knew this was the head teacher of Class 3: Yan Jun.

He thought for a moment, then forced an explanation:

"Uh... It’s probably from watching a lot of videos, plus I spend a lot of time analyzing them, along with tons of after-school practice."

"That’s it?"

Yan Jun was clearly unconvinced.

"That’s definitely all there is to it..."

Li Xiaoshuang smiled, not doubting Chen Che’s explanation in the slightest. "Everyone knows how hardworking our Chen Che is. It’s only natural that his combat score is high. It’s not like he could have gotten that good by constantly killing people for practice, right?"