Free Web NovelChapter 147: Chapter 132: Keep Going, and Go Even Further
Before they knew it, June had arrived, and Xia Tian was just around the corner.
Of course, many students were worried they would fail before Xia Tian even arrived.
In the school’s Battle Hall, Yan Shouzheng pressed the entry button with a stern expression. "61 points."
The student on the testing grounds let out a sigh of relief. He probably thought he was going to fail, but it turned out his performance was decent. After bowing to thank the examiners, the student bounced out of the exam area.
Yan Shouzheng’s expression remained unchanged as he pressed the button to call the next student.
Unlike the final exams at regular high schools, which involved just a few written tests, the finals at a Beast Taming High School were divided into modules: Pet Beast Cultivation, Beast Taming Theory, and Practical Beast Taming Combat.
Pet Beast Cultivation was graded based on attendance and training completion during the semester. Beast Taming Theory, much like in a regular high school, was a written exam.
This part accounted for 40% of the grade—the largest portion of the final—and was intended to encourage everyone to train diligently.
Beast Taming Theory was similar to final exams in a regular high school, consisting of a written test.
Practical Beast Taming Combat consisted of a two-round battle test. For the first round, students had to defeat a randomly selected local Pet Beast equivalent to the grade’s average skill level, with no one commanding it. For the second round, they had to last ten minutes against a Pet Beast equivalent to the Elite class level, which was personally commanded by a teacher. A committee composed of the principal and six examiners would supervise and score the entire process.
The assessment Yan Shouzheng was currently presiding over was precisely for the Practical Beast Taming Combat module.
——Not long after Fang Lihua was arrested by the Holy Order Alliance on charges of corruption and bribery, Yan Shouzheng had received instructions from the Alliance committee to take over as principal.
After taking office, Yan Shouzheng did away with Huai City First Middle School’s prior tradition of excessive red tape, instituting sweeping reforms.
All sorts of meaningless check-ins—abolished.
All sorts of approval and reporting procedures—abolished.
All sorts of pointless, formalistic meetings—abolished.
All the rigid, so-called ’standardization’ measures that mindlessly imitated the ’Pet Beast Factory’ model, but in reality did nothing to help with actual teaching, were halted by Yan Shouzheng after a thorough review. The decision earned him unanimous praise from both faculty and students.
While the First Middle School wasn’t completely transformed, it had regained a great deal of its former vitality.
Freed from the burden of non-academic activities, the students actually had more energy to focus on Beast Taming, and their grades improved significantly.
Of course, when it came to educational philosophy, Yan Shouzheng still adhered to his usual traditional views and assessment methods.
’The test-oriented curriculum must be maintained.’
Some students had even submitted letters outlining the various drawbacks of a test-oriented education. They cited a certain new city league champion as an example, pleading with the new principal to implement more profound reforms.
Yan Shouzheng’s reply was concise: "Then go win a city league championship first."
The student had no further comment.
"Su Zhi is up next!" one of the examiners remarked.
Yan Shouzheng’s mouth twitched. He expressionlessly flipped through the student’s file.
’Finally, it’s this character’s turn.’
After everything that had happened, Yan Shouzheng had developed a love-hate relationship with Su Zhi.
He had defeated three seeded contestants in a row at the city league to seize the championship. His fighting style was inspired and unpredictable, the very picture of genius.
’But this brat... when he says he won’t study, he really means it...’
When he saw Su Zhi had gotten a perfect score on the Beast Taming Theory section, Yan Shouzheng was pleasantly surprised. For a moment, he thought Su Zhi had finally turned over a new leaf.
But when he saw the solid column of 0%s on the attendance record, a vein throbbed on Yan Shouzheng’s forehead.
’Su Zhi couldn’t even be bothered to put in a token effort. How was he supposed to help the kid pass?’
’Even with a perfect score in Beast Taming Theory, he’d thrown away the forty points from Pet Beast Cultivation. Unless he also got a perfect score in Practical Combat, he would just barely pass...’
’Good grief, the kid is practically taunting me!’
"Hello, teachers."
Su Zhi walked onto the examination platform and bowed to the examiners.
Yu Bao, with great poise and refinement, also flashed a smile at the teachers: ⌓‿⌓
Yan Shouzheng fought the urge to give him a beating and nodded, his gaze chillingly pleasant. "Student Su Zhi, good morning. Let us now begin the Practical Beast Taming Combat portion of the exam!"
The Attribute icon on the light screen began to flash rapidly, finally settling on a small sun icon—the Light Element.
At the same time, the numbers in the Energy Value column also flashed rapidly before stopping: 800–1000
"SQUEAK!"
A faint white Light Array flickered, and a small hedgehog glowing with a silver light appeared on the other side of the platform.
[Pet Beast: Shiny Silver Hedgehog
Attribute: Light Element
Race: Low Level Elite Race
Real-time Energy Value: 935]
’This round should be simple enough; it won’t be a problem for Su Zhi.’ Yan Shouzheng propped his chin on his hand to watch Yu Bao’s performance.
Sure enough, the moment the battle started, Yu Bao opened with a Sandstorm that sent the Shiny Silver Hedgehog flying. His opponent didn’t even have a chance to use a Skill.
Seeing the little hedgehog knocked out of the ring and lying dazed on the ground, Yu Bao whipped out a pair of sunglasses and shook his head smugly.
"...The candidate will please manage his Pet Beast properly."
"Oh, my bad."
"..." As he watched Su Zhi take the sunglasses off Yu Bao, Yan Shouzheng’s eyelid twitched furiously. He gritted his teeth and gave Su Zhi a perfect score for the first round.
The other teachers were in much the same state.
’God, I’d love to see this brat Su Zhi stumble just once...’
’Don’t panic! There’s still the second round!’
This time, the Attribute icon settled on a tornado wreathed in lightning—the Wind and Electric Elements.
The Energy Value data settled: 1400–1600.
At the same time, the commander was selected—Yan Shouzheng!
The faint white Light Array materialized again. What flew out was a bird-type Pet Beast with pale gray wings—Leo.
’Yan Shouzheng was inwardly delighted.’
’Truthfully, he’d been so busy with official duties after the city league that he hadn’t paid much attention to Su Zhi and Yu Bao.’
’However, as a Master Level Beast Tamer, he had studied Yu Bao’s Skill System during the city league—the dog wasn’t very good at dealing with evenly matched aerial opponents.’
’This second battle hit Su Zhi right where it hurt. Leo was precisely the type of opponent Yu Bao struggled against. As long as I stick to a kiting strategy, Yu Bao won’t get a single chance to attack!’
’The requirement for the second test is to survive for ten minutes, but there’s a difference between a comfortable defense and a desperate one.’
’If Yu Bao shows the slightest sign of being unable to keep up, then according to the rules, I can’t give him a perfect score.’
Yan Shouzheng placed the device that allowed him to temporarily communicate with Leo in his left ear. His eyes took on the cold, dispassionate look unique to an examiner.
’As much as I admire Su Zhi, I’m not going to bail him out if he fails.’
’Young man, think you can get by with a bare pass?’
’Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson about how the world works!’
The instant the Race Bell turned from blue to green, Yan Shouzheng commanded Leo to ascend rapidly. The examination platform had no flight ceiling for aerial Pet Beasts, which was his advantage.
’As long as Leo gets high enough, everything will be fine.’
’Yu Bao will probably counter with a Furious Sand Blade or a Sandstorm, but that shouldn’t be a problem! I just have to watch him closely...’
’...It’ll be fine...’
Then, Yan Shouzheng’s mouth fell open as he watched, stunned, while Yu Bao rode a ball of Suspended Sand and flew up to the same altitude, even faster than Leo.
Leo’s avian face was a mask of confusion.
Yu Bao’s smile grew increasingly smug.
’Heard you’re pretty tough, huh?’
"SKRAW!!!"
The wind and sand raged as a yellow cloud enveloped the sky. Leo’s tragic wails could be heard faintly from within.
The sandstorm dissipated—
"Skraw..." Leo dropped to the ground like a downed plane, unable to rise again.
SPLAT. Yu Bao made a soft landing right on top of Leo.
’Leo, super lame.’
’Me, super awesome!’
He subconsciously reached for his sunglasses, then remembered it was an exam and looked expectantly at the judges.
’Is it over? Can I put on my sunglasses now?’
"..." The teachers were silent for a moment.
After a moment, Yan Shouzheng composed himself and looked at Su Zhi. "You had him practice the Sand Manipulation Technique?"
"Yes. To overcome the disadvantage ground-type Pet Beasts have against aerial opponents."
Su Zhi nodded and answered readily. When no one said anything, he asked quietly, "So, uh, is the exam over?"
’I actually studied hard for this final exam, and it turns out it was nothing special. It didn’t even feel as hard as the Alliance Youth Team’s entrance assessment.’
"..." Yan Shouzheng gritted his teeth. Despite his reluctance, he had no choice but to mark a perfect score on Su Zhi’s report card.
The other teachers all gave him a perfect score as well.
’That’s right, the guy had completely shown them up. To be honest, they were damn tempted to be petty and dock him a point or two.’
’But what could they do?’
’Su Zhi and Yu Bao had managed to instantly defeat an opponent they were only required to "survive against for ten minutes." If that didn’t deserve a perfect score, they probably couldn’t live with themselves...’
"Yes, it’s over. You may leave the testing area."
"Thank you, teachers! Thanks for your hard work!"
"Woof."
"You worked hard too, Yu Bao. I’ll treat you to something tasty!"
The Envoy’s Pet duo trotted out of the testing area.
Watching their retreating figures, Yan Shouzheng suddenly chuckled and leaned back in his chair.
"I’m getting old. The future belongs to the young," the principal sighed.
"From now on, let’s just default to giving Su Zhi a perfect score. There’s really no point in trying to measure him with the school’s system," a teacher suggested.
"Agreed."
"Agreed!" The other teachers were unanimous.
"Alright. Let’s keep this among ourselves. We’ll just have a quiet understanding when it comes to grading his exams."
Yan Shouzheng gladly accepted the proposal.
’Perhaps this was a battle of philosophies, and he, the old fogey, had lost.’
’A test-based education might work for the majority, but a small few will always choose to carve their own path, even if it means taking on far greater risks.’
’In that case, I should support Su Zhi on his journey!’
’In fact, if it were truly possible, wouldn’t he love to see test-based education fade into history completely?’
"By the way, Principal, the summer camp is starting soon, isn’t it? It usually starts on the second day of summer break."
a teacher asked, then shook his head with a sigh. "Huai City is still too far on the periphery. Our entire city can only produce one league champion.
"I heard that over in the provincial capital, Shanda University Affiliated School alone gets six or seven slots!"
Another teacher sighed. "You said it yourself, that’s Shanda University Affiliated School. They’re the most successful imitators of the ’Pet Beast Factory’ model. How can a small school like ours compare?"
"Sigh."
As the teachers continued to chat, they all sighed in unison.
Compared to a truly powerful school, Huai City First Middle School, tucked away in its small mountain city, was still leagues behind.
Yan Shouzheng didn’t join their sighing. At his age, he had witnessed too many cycles of prosperity and decline, honor and disgrace.
But for a fleeting moment, the image of that figure training his Yu Dian Dog under a starry sky flashed before his eyes.
’Keep going. You have to go further.’
Yan Shouzheng took off his glasses and closed his eyes for a moment.
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