Chapter 76: Chapter 75: The Privilege of First Place, First Pick of a Five-star Divine Domain Card

"We don’t want to."

The entire class replied in unison.

"Very good!" their homeroom teacher, Guo Aiqing, said with a nod. "Teacher Xiong, the homeroom teacher of the other key class, and I are planning to hold a three-day mock exam in a real Divine Realm at the end of this month."

"Although the duration of this test won’t be as long as the final exam, as a mock exam, it will be enough for you to get acclimated."

Hearing Guo Aiqing’s words, a wave of excitement swept through the students. A chance to take a mock exam before the real Divine Realm assessment at the end of the term—this was a benefit that previous classes never had!

"Zhang Yi, Hong Tianyi, had you two heard about this?" Sima Yuan asked quietly from his seat, a puzzled look on his face.

"No." Zhang Yi and Hong Tianyi both shook their heads, surprised. They hadn’t heard a thing about it.

On the other side of the classroom, two girls were whispering.

"Lin Aoxue, did you hear what the teacher said? We’re actually getting a mock exam before the finals this time! Even if the content isn’t exactly the same, it’s still great to get even a small preview!" Her best friend, Bai Tutu, hugged Lin Aoxue’s arm and said excitedly.

Lin Aoxue nodded at her friend, but inwardly she wondered, Could this change have something to do with the University Alliance Training Camp spots being offered after the finals?

Seeing the excited atmosphere among the students, Guo Aiqing nodded and continued, "Some of you may know this, and some may not, but every year after the final exams at the end of the first semester of our second year, the school offers a few spots for training in a special location!

"If you secure one of these training spots and go to the training site, a good performance could earn you direct admission to the best universities in the entire Blue Star Federation!

"Whether it’s Longteng University, Jinghua University, or Modu University in the Yanhuang Federation, or any school in the Ivy League within the White Eagle Federation, you’ll have a chance at direct admission!

"Furthermore, once you sign the agreement, even after you enroll in these universities, you will have access to the best resources for all four years!"

This news, revealed by Guo Aiqing, caused many of the uninformed students to break into expressions of excitement and exhilaration! To spark the students’ interest in studying, you need rewards in addition to the whip! Clearly, this announcement was far more thrilling than what Guo Aiqing had said when she first entered the classroom.

But while the majority of the class was unaware, a small minority was in the know. They remained indifferent to the teacher’s announcement. After all, no matter how early you found out, the spots still had to be earned through strength.

Guo Aiqing deliberately let the class descend into a clamor, waiting a full five minutes before rapping on her desk to quiet them down.

"Other than knowing each other’s names from the exam, I believe most of you in this class are still strangers. Many of you have been transferred from other second-year classes. So, let’s go in order of the placement exam results. Everyone will come up to the podium, give a self-introduction, and let the rest of the class get to know you. At the same time, you can collect your rewards from the exam."

The moment their teacher finished speaking, many students who had been holding their heads high now lowered them. Even in this age of global Divine Beings, many students still loathed public self-introductions.

Seeing the lack of enthusiasm, the teacher directly called out Zhang Yi’s name.

"Zhang Yi, you can start!"

"Okay." Hearing Guo Aiqing call him out by name, Zhang Yi could only stand up helplessly.

Standing at the podium, Zhang Yi began to speak. "Hello everyone, I’m Zhang Yi, from..."

As Zhang Yi spoke on stage, nearly every student looked up at the boy who had taken first place in the recent placement exam.

Some students looked at Zhang Yi, the first to go on stage, their hearts filled with jealousy.

If he can do it, why can’t I? So what if he was a little faster than us in the exam? If I hadn’t wasted so much time, my name should be the one in first place!

Other students were filled with admiration.

I took that placement exam too, and I experienced firsthand how difficult it was. For him to be stronger than me proves his raw strength is definitely superior to mine! This guy’s a big shot. I have to latch onto him!

And some of the female students felt a flutter of excitement.

He’s so handsome and gets such good grades. I really want to be his girlfriend! He’s a blue-chip stock! If I don’t make a move now, I won’t stand a chance later!

...

Standing at the podium, Zhang Yi had no idea about the whirlwind of thoughts going through his classmates’ minds. After a rather unremarkable introduction, a round of applause followed.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

Regardless of what they were thinking, the students all played along and applauded politely.

"Zhang Yi, as the reward for first place, from among all these Divine Domain Cards, you may choose any one card as your prize!"

As soon as Guo Aiqing said this, the entire class was stunned! They had originally thought everyone would simply receive a Five-star Divine Domain Card, with no other distinction. But the teacher’s words now made it clear that top-performing students still received preferential treatment. Even if they were all Five-star Divine Domain Cards, the first-place winner had the right to choose first, while the others could only pick from what he left behind.

"That’s right!" she affirmed. "After the first-place student is done, the second-place student will come up. After the second-place student is done, the third will come up, and so on down the line!

"Don’t think that just because you’ve entered the key class and everyone’s reward is a Five-star Divine Domain Card, you no longer need to try. Don’t think you can just manage your score to maintain your rank!

"The fact is, the school will always give preferential treatment to students with better grades. If you have a problem with that, then win your rank back in the next exam!"

Hearing this speech from Guo Aiqing, some students who felt they hadn’t given it their all were overcome with regret. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

At that moment, Wan Hua, who was ranked second, couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy as he watched Zhang Yi on stage. However, that trace of jealousy was quickly suppressed.

In contrast, Lin Aoxue, who had ranked third, now looked at Zhang Yi with a gaze of appreciation. As for what she was thinking, no one could know.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yi, standing at the podium and gazing at the forty Five-star Divine Domain Cards before him, was faced with a dilemma. It wasn’t that the rewards were bad, but that they were too good! There were so many amazing rewards, and he wanted all of them. But he could only choose one, leaving him at a complete loss as to which one to pick.

Before Zhang Yi were cards like the Five-star Divine Domain Card [Earth Crystal], which could increase a Divine Realm’s area by one-fifth; the Five-star Divine Domain Card [Time Acceleration], which could be used to accelerate time within a thousand-square-kilometer area of a Divine Realm; and even Five-star Divine Domain Cards like [Well of Life], [Guidance of Destiny], and [Earth Monarch Tyrannosaurus Cub x10]...