Chapter 46
Chapter 46: First Stage of the National College Examination!
Meng Chao lived a relaxed life for the next few days and trained as usual.
His contribution points started shooting up like crazy, just like a man wetting himself.
Aside from Yan Zhennan, he got another “elite monster”. He was the master of the Yan family, the elite citizen, Yan Hengbo.
“Elite monsters” were divided into major and minor “elite monsters”. The grandmaster of martial arts had personally created Ripple Force, so every time he gave Meng Chao contribution points, he did so in the three digits!
There were also plenty of powerful martial artists working in Yan Organization. They brought in close to one thousand contribution points every day, which felt great.
However, Meng Chao noticed something. His highest amount of contribution points earned every day was renewed daily, but as the Demonically Modified Ripple Force was generalized, he reached the peak of his daily high score for contribution points, and the numbers started falling.
But that was understandable. The future had been changed, and his contribution in this matter ended. He could not be supplied with an endless amount of contribution points just because of one basic force execution method.
If he marked the contribution points he gained daily into a graph, based on the declining curve, he would have gotten thousands of contribution points from the Demonically Modified Ripple Force alone. He also managed to form a connection with Yan Organization, so he was very satisfied with this matter.
Finally, it was the day for the school test—the first stage of the three stages of the national college examination!
Banners were hung all over the entrance of the school gate.
Colorful flags flew everywhere in the school.
There were nearly five hundred people from the eight third year classes, and they would all compete for the one hundred and fifty slots that would send them to the next stage.
Their youthful passion nearly turned into boiling magma that could overturn all the ceilings in the fifteen levels of the cultivation center.
In the meeting room at the top floor of the cultivation center were dozens of screens. Each monitored a different examination area.
One of the screens also showed a continuously changing ranking board, which ranked students based on their results.
The leaders of the school and the homeroom teachers of the third year classes sat under the monitors. Whenever the ranking changed, their expressions also changed slightly. While they chatted with each other, their words were laced with hostility.
The resources in Dragon City were limited, and competitions were everywhere. Humans and monsters competed for resources, and humans also competed against each other. The students fussed over everything for the sake of their rankings. The teachers and school leaders, too, competed against other classes or other key high schools, especially the high-and-mighty city-level key high schools.
The results of the third year students were pretty good. They were almost reaching the lowest possible score of those studying at city-level key high schools.
Principal Sun was nearly seventy. When he was young, he had fought against zombies and monsters and suffered permanent injuries. Gradually, he became hunchbacked, and he was now a shrivelled up old man who dozed every day. He was prepared to work for another two years before he retired. He did not care much about administrative affairs on usual days either, so he just grinned and remained calm.
The teaching director Ma Qingyun was still young and full of energy. He managed most of the daily tasks in the school, and he longed to be able to take a step further in his life once Principal Sun retired.
He was incredibly excited when the students scored well. His horse-like face was red, and he looked like a huge horse monkey jumping around, which, coincidentally, was the nickname his students gave him.
Demon Yan remained expressionless. He tapped against the table lightly while he continued examining Reckless Bull Technique in his mind.
The homeroom teachers of the eight graduating classes all acted as humble as ace students.
“Ah, this is bad. Class 1 this year is really horrible. There are only more than thirty students who are able to outrun Usain Bolt.”
“Class 2 is even worse. These lazy bums are all so weak. They can’t even win against the Olympic weightlifting champions on Earth. Ah, this is so distressing!”
“If all of you in the rocket classes say these things, then doesn’t it mean that the strolling classes are done for?”
“What do you mean by done for? Everyone knows that you’ve all been working hard to compete against the rocket classes. Let’s just talk about Old Wang from Class 6. He might seem harmless, but he has been organizing study groups in secret.
“No one knows what sort of amazing martial art his students are practicing. Old Wang, don’t even think about hiding. Just tell us, what are you practicing?”
“No, I’m definitely not teaching them anything.” Wang Longjun shook his head with a serious look. “What do you mean by amazing martial art? I know nothing about it.”
Before his voice could fade, the ranking of maximum punching strength started changing rapidly on the big monitor screen.
Someone managed to shoot up the ranks.
Since every class was marked with a different color, everyone could tell who it was from a single glance.
“Class 6’s Chu Feixiong. His maximum punching strength is 249.5kg, and he’s ranked 21st for punching strength!”
“What?!”
“He’s just a student in a strolling class, and his maximum punching strength is greater than of most people in the rocket classes?”
“Old Wang, that’s so dishonest of you. You’re still insisting that you don’t have an amazing martial art up your sleeves?”
The other seven homeroom teachers struck their tables and rebuked him in a semi-serious fashion.
But before they could recover from the shock brought by Chu Feixing’s punching strength, another student from Class 6 shot up the ranking board.
“It’s Class 6’s Meng Chao! His maximum punching strength is 240.9kg, and his one hundred meter dash is 9.55 seconds. He’s faster than Usain Bolt by 0.03 seconds, and his overall score is temporarily listed at the nineteenth place in the whole school!”
“Meng Chao?!”
“I remember that he was a really talented student during the first year and second year of high school. He was heavily injured later on. So, he has recovered?”
At that moment, the homeroom teachers from the two rocket classes could no longer hide the envy and jealousy in their eyes.
They had been paying attention to Meng Chao for a long time. After all, he had great talent. If he weren’t injured, he would have definitely been slotted into a rocket class.
They did not expect that even though he stayed in Class 6, he would recover fully and even improve. Just how lucky was Wang Longjun?
Even Demon Yan let out a gasp of astonishment. He deliberately switched to Meng Chao’s testing footage.
Teaching Director Ma Qingyun let out a soft huff. There was no expression on his face.
“It’s pretty good.” Principal Sun grinned. He looked like a mascot.
It was written in destiny’s books that today was the day of harvest for Class 6, because the shock they delivered was not over just yet.
Soon after Meng Chao obtained the great result of ranking among the top twenty, another shocking news was delivered.
“One hundred meter dash completed in 9.49 seconds… He managed to break 9.5-second wall. His maximum punching strength is 250.1kg, and he also broke the 250kg wall, which is known as the legendary high-school iron wall. Zuo Haoran’s total score is temporarily ranked at the ninth place in the entire school!”
“That’s impossible!”
“The students in a strolling class have charged into the top ten even though there are nearly one hundred students in the rocket classes blocking their path!
“Zuo Haoran… So, it’s hard. Well… that’s not much of a surprise.”
Once they read the name of the student who broke the record, the shocked expressions of the other seven homeroom teachers faded away. They put on obsequious expressions for Teaching Director Ma Qingyun as if they were flattering him by using their expressions to say “Teaching Director Ma, you’re amazing! You managed to teach your nephew really well!”
The students from Class 6 were also shocked as they stood in the testing room underneath.
They had been immersed in the triumphant feeling of Meng Chao returning with a dominating might and thought that he had a slight chance in winning over the class rep, even if it was in just one single aspect.
But half a minute later, Zuo Haoran’s domineering scores shattered their hopes.
Regardless of whether it was his maximum punching strength or one-hundred meter dash, the class rep’s impeccable performance told them what it meant to be so strong that nothing could stand in the way.
“What should we do? Zuo Haoran is too strong. He’s already above Meng Chao by twenty points after the first two competitions.”
“I thought that Meng Chao could surpass him a little in the first two parts. Let’s hope that he won’t lose too miserably during the shooting test later.”
“That guy never put a lot of effort in the past, but over the past week, he went all out. I think he must have taken in some sort of secret medicine and spent a lot of money to use top-grade cultivation machines to stimulate the potential in his cells. Damn it, it’s seriously so good to be rich.”
The class was so anxious that they ground their teeth.
Meng Chao exchanged a glance with Zuo Haoran.
Meng Chao quickly looked away with a calm gaze, while Zuo Haoran quirked his lips. On his face was a domineering look he did not bother to hide.
“All examinees in Class 6, your test for maximum punching strength and the one-hundred meter dash is over. Now, queue up based on your results and head to the indoor shooting range!”
The invigilator came from another school, which was a customary rule. All schools would exchange teachers to serve as invigilators so that they could prevent cheating.
The teacher from the other school was as grave as a judge. He did not care about the strange atmosphere between the students and just waved his hand urging them forward.
The tenth to the twelfth floor of the cultivation center were indoor shooting ranges. At that moment, the rhythmical sounds of gunfire rang nonstop.
The rocket classes had long since begun their tests. All sorts of ridiculous marks and the smell of gunpowder stimulated the students’ nerves, and they were instantly in test mode.
Zuo Haoran took the lead and walked into the sixth shooting range.
Meng Chao followed closely behind him.
Unexpectedly, aside from the invigilator, Principal Sun, the teaching director, Demon Yan, and their homeroom teacher were in the shooting range as well.
“Good morning, Principal Sun, Teaching Director Ma, Mr. Yan, Mr. Wang.”
The students quickly bowed, and they were especially respectful to the principal.
Principal Sun might be a small, shriveled-up old man right now, but he was a hero who managed to turn the tides of battles in the past. He was known as Heavy Cannon.
If Demon Yan killed monsters as if he was just making fillings for dumplings, Principal Sun was a huge meat grinder in food processing factories.
The students who saw the videos of him training and fighting when he was young were unable to link the shriveled-up old man with the moving human fortress.
“You’re all pretty good, hmm?”
Principal Sun shut his eyes. He looked as if he was asleep, but it was not the truth.
The teaching director stepped forward and explained their purpose for being here. “This year, Class 6’s results are very good. For the time being, you’re taking the lead above the other six strolling classes. Students, continue to do your best!”
The students were shocked and delighted. They cheered.
The teaching director slapped Zuo Haoran’s shoulder and said with a smile, “The homeroom teacher definitely has credit in helping Class 6 achieve good results, and you also did well by setting an example for the others, Class Rep. Good luck!”
“Thank you for your motivating words, Teaching Director Ma. I will.” Zuo Haoran puffed out his chest, and his righteous demeanor returned to him.
The students rolled their eyes. ‘Everyone here knows you’re uncle and nephew. Why are you putting up an act?’
“The shooting test is about to start! Compose yourself and focus!” Demon Yan suddenly glared at them. “You only have one chance. It’s the easiest for others to pull ahead of you when it comes to shooting. Forget about the marks you scored just now and focus on the target in front of you! If you’re the slightest bit careless, you’ll end up having no place to even shed your tears!”
The students were startled. They quickly got rid of all other thoughts and focused on calming down their breathing.
“First test group. Zuo Haoran, Meng Chao!”
The invigilator had the top two scorers based on the ranking of the results from the two previous tests come forward.