Free Web NovelChapter 179: Chapter 168: Returning to School, The Center of Attention
"Disconnecting from Divine Domain Connection Pod..."
HISS!
As a plume of white mist dissipated, Zhang Yi emerged from the Divine Domain Connection Pod. Even after leaving the pod, a smile remained on his face. The haul this time was simply incredible!
He had obtained the corpse of an Elf God, the body of a Moon God, the remnants of their Divine Positions still inside them, and a Sun Divine Position. Besides these gains, Zhang Yi’s Clan had also been greatly replenished, not to mention all the Magic Resources, big and small, that he had found in the Moonlight Forest.
On top of all that, Zhang Yi had also won first place in the final exam. In addition to securing a spot at the University Alliance Training Camp, he could also choose any Upper Class Divine Artifact and three Five-star Divine Domain Cards from the school’s treasury. It was safe to say this final exam had resulted in the biggest boost to his power yet.
Not long after Zhang Yi stepped out, he saw Sima Yuan emerging from a pod as well. The moment they saw each other, it felt as if a lifetime had passed.
"Zhang Yi! It’s been forever!" For a brief moment upon seeing Zhang Yi, a hint of confusion flickered across Sima Yuan’s face, but he quickly recovered.
He had to admit, this final exam had lasted a really long time. Even though their physical bodies were in the Divine Domain Connection Pods with nutrients delivered on schedule, mentally, it felt as if they’d been away for an eternity.
However, Sima Yuan’s next words yanked Zhang Yi from his reverie and back to reality.
"You’re a freaking beast, Zhang Yi! I never would’ve thought you’d take first place again in this final exam!" Sima Yuan’s face beamed with happiness for Zhang Yi. "At first, I thought you were underperforming, but then I realized, with your kind of power, how could you possibly mess up? And sure enough, once the exam entered its Late Stage, your mission Points started soaring past everyone else. You even overtook Hong Tianyi, who’d been holding the top spot on the leaderboard the whole time!"
As he said this, Sima Yuan clearly hadn’t noticed that someone else had just woken up in a Divine Domain Connection Pod behind him. This person took a few seconds to clear their head, and upon hearing Sima Yuan’s words, quietly crept up behind him.
Sima Yuan, oblivious, continued, "What amazed me the most was that you actually managed to kill the Elf God in the final week! That was the third-ranked mission! The third most difficult mission of them all! In my eyes, you were already a badass before, but after this exam, you’ve become an even bigger badass!"
Growing more excited, Sima Yuan even reached out and grabbed Zhang Yi’s shoulders. Zhang Yi, however, forcefully pried his friend’s hands off his shoulders. Then, he patted Sima Yuan’s shoulder and gestured for him to look back.
"What’s up? Is there something behind me?" Sima Yuan asked, confused, as he turned around.
And then he saw Hong Tianyi’s face, so close it was almost touching his own.
"Ah! Holy crap! Why are you behind me?" Sima Yuan jumped in fright at the sight of Hong Tianyi. Seeing his face, Sima Yuan remembered that he had just been talking about him behind his back.
But Hong Tianyi didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he turned to look at Zhang Yi. "You’re very strong. I lost this time. We didn’t make a bet, but I consider myself to be in your debt for this. If you need anything in the future, you can come to me," Hong Tianyi said to Zhang Yi with a serious expression.
Zhang Yi recalled the conversation he’d had with Hong Tianyi before the final exam.
"Alright," Zhang Yi nodded.
Since he’s offering me a favor, I might as well accept it. It’s all about give and take. That’s how you build a closer relationship.
Watching this scene, Sima Yuan felt a sense of defeat.
But I was here first!
"By the way, congratulations on taking first place in the final exam!" After saying his piece, Hong Tianyi prepared to head back to the classroom, offering one last congratulation to Zhang Yi before he left.
"You weren’t bad either." Hearing Hong Tianyi’s words, the corners of Zhang Yi’s mouth lifted slightly.
The same congratulations felt different coming from people of different statuses.
And Hong Tianyi’s words made Zhang Yi quite happy. Although Hong Tianyi hadn’t won against Zhang Yi, when compared to the entire school, he was second place. This time, two of the top three students in the school were from Priority Class One, with only one spot going to Priority Class Two. Huang Yingtian from Class Two had relied on his Clan to conquer a vast territory in the ocean, a different approach from Zhang Yi and Hong Tianyi, who had both developed on the continent.
After Hong Tianyi left, Zhang Yi slowed his pace, waited for Sima Yuan to recover, and the two of them started walking out together.
"Thanks for waiting for me just now."
"It’s nothing." Zhang Yi shook his head. "How did you do this time?" he asked.
To Zhang Yi’s surprise, he realized he didn’t know how his friend had fared. After the Elf Alliance took over all the territories previously controlled by the Moon Elves, he had become even busier during the remaining half a year of the exam. Even with the help of Elf Queen An Nobel and Naver, it was still quite difficult to make the Moon Elves, who were unaccustomed to rules, suddenly accept their new reality. After Zhang Yi sent all these self-important Moon Elves to be disciplined under Lin Aoxue, it was only with the help of his previously obtained achievement, [Fanatical Faith], that he managed to subdue them bit by bit. As a result, for the last half-year, he was so busy he barely had time to check the mission Points leaderboard.
At this question, Sima Yuan’s face fell. "I can’t compare to you two. One is first in the school, and the other is second! Sigh, this time I gave it my all and even used my family’s resources, but I still only managed to get twenty-third place in the school! In the end, the school’s reward was just two Five-star Divine Domain Cards! It’s nothing compared to your rewards!" Sima Yuan shook his head as he spoke.
Suddenly, he seemed to think of something. "Oh, right, Zhang Yi, did you know? Our class’s school belle, Lin Aoxue, didn’t do so great this time. She only ranked thirty-fifth in the school! That’s a lot worse than her previous scores! I have no idea what happened!"
Hearing this, Zhang Yi had a few thoughts.
I basically took all the missions in the Moonlight Forest; I forgot to leave some for Lin Aoxue. But I did leave all the missions outside the Moonlight Forest—the ones for fighting the Beastman Legion—to her.
Lin Aoxue, who used to rank somewhere in the top twenty, had dropped all the way to the thirties this time.
Her ranking really did take a hit!
However, with Zhang Yi’s tacit approval, Lin Aoxue had taken command of the entire Elf Corps stationed on the border. One had to understand that the Elf Corps on the border frequently clashed with the Beastman Legion; every single one of them was a battle-hardened veteran. Therefore, although Lin Aoxue’s ranking might have been a bit low, in terms of actual power growth, she had definitely gained far more than if she had fought alone.
I just wonder if what Lin Aoxue said back in the Small Magic Plane still counts now that the final exam is over.
After leaving the area where the school provided the Divine Domain Connection Pods, Zhang Yi and Sima Yuan headed for their classroom. Inside, Zhang Yi chatted for a while with Shen Mengting, Hong Tianyi, and others who were already there, discussing their respective experiences in the Small Magic Plane.
In the middle of their conversation, Zhang Yi saw Lin Aoxue enter the class. Their eyes met for a moment, and Lin Aoxue even gave him a nod, but no one else saw the exchange.
After another twenty minutes or so of chatting, Zhang Yi suddenly remembered he needed to go find their homeroom teacher. But just then, the class vice president, Wan Hua, walked in with their homeroom teacher, Guo Aiqing.
The moment the teacher entered, the voices of all the students, no matter how happily they had been chatting, dropped to a hush. Such was the authority of a homeroom teacher.
Seeing the class quiet down, Teacher Guo Aiqing, standing at the podium, glanced at Zhang Yi.
The final exam, such an important event, is over, and you didn’t even think to come see me. Instead, the vice president, Wan Hua, was much more diligent about visiting! she thought to herself, seeing Zhang Yi sitting as still as a mountain.
However, when she remembered that Zhang Yi had once again taken first place in the entire school on this semester’s final exam, a smile bloomed on Teacher Guo Aiqing’s face that she could no longer hold back. Riding this wave of emotion, she took the opportunity to announce the exam results to the class.
"Our class did very well this time! Of the top three in the whole school, our class has two! And of the top four, our class has three!"
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"Woohoo!"
The students in the class played along, cheering in response to their teacher’s words. As she spoke, a wide smile spread across Teacher Guo Aiqing’s face. Even the students below could sense how happy she was at that moment. However, they didn’t think much of it. After all, a teacher’s performance review was tied to their students’ final exam scores.
But in Teacher Guo Aiqing’s heart, things were different. Although she had previously managed to become the homeroom teacher of Priority Class One thanks to her students’ results on the placement exam, Principal Tang Weihua’s influence had also been at play behind the scenes. The previous few exams had proven she had the ability, but without the final, decisive results of the final exam, she still felt a little nervous.
But now, Teacher Guo Aiqing’s burden was completely lifted. She could prove to anyone that her teaching abilities were top-notch. Class President Zhang Yi had taken first place in three consecutive exams! Vice President Wan Hua’s results were not bad either; although he didn’t make the top three, he still secured fourth place. And then there was Hong Tianyi, who had emerged as a dark horse in this final exam.
Just as Teacher Guo Aiqing was praising the three of them, a knock came from the classroom door. She turned to look.
"Excuse me, Teacher Guo," said the person at the door. "Could Zhang Yi, who placed first, Hong Tianyi, who placed second, and Wan Hua, who placed fourth, please come out? Principal Tang Weihua is waiting for them in his office!"
The person who had come to the door and knocked was Gaoxin Bridge, the grade director for the second years.
Teacher Guo Aiqing waved her hand, immediately dismissing Zhang Yi, Wan Hua, and Hong Tianyi from the class. At a time like this, however, everyone knew why the grade director had come for the three of them. It was obviously to receive the principal’s rewards for the top four.
Seeing this, everyone’s eyes filled with envy when they saw the principal had personally sent the grade director to summon them. This included Shen Mengting, Zhang Yi’s friend Sima Yuan, and even Li Boyang—his former enemy who had later apologized.
A spot in the University Alliance Training Camp, Five-star Divine Domain Cards from the school treasury, and their choice of a Semi-Divine Artifact—these were all things they could only dream of obtaining.
As Zhang Yi walked out of the classroom, he also noticed that Lin Aoxue, who had been sitting there, was now looking at him with a smile.
The choice I made back in the Small Magic Plane was not wrong at all! Only someone like him—talented, backed by resources, and hardworking—is worthy of me, worthy of becoming my Main God and commanding me!
