Study Monster Cultivation System

Before they knew it, the sky had already darkened.

The school went from quiet to noisy, then from noisy back to silence.

Only the sound of three people holding pens, writing relentlessly.

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In the office, Tao Feifei let out a long yawn, placed down the mouse, and rubbed her eyes, glancing at the bottom right corner of the computer screen.

December 24th, 7:10 PM.

"Ah..." she couldn’t help but sigh.

Spending Christmas Eve at the age of 27 like this.

But hearing the incessant scratch of pens nearby, she smiled faintly, as if finding some solace.

She looked around.

Jiang Qinghua wore a look of utter despondence, lying sideways on the desk, mechanically writing on the draft paper. It didn’t look like he was calculating, but merely venting.

Lin Yujing was still focused intently, no different from the start.

As for Li Zheng, before Tao Feifei saw him, she noticed the seven or eight densely packed sheets of draft paper next to him, looking like some cult scripture.

"Fuck..." Tao Feifei cursed silently in her mind.

What is this guy doing? Working out nuclear bomb equations?

Looking at Li Zheng himself, he appeared more wild than when he started answering questions, seemingly disheveled despite only three hours passing, his eyes already lost in madness, occasionally letting out a foolish laugh.

What is this after all? No need for so many just to work out the mass-energy equivalence, right?

Could it be that doing problems could really lead to "Entering Demonization"?

"Cough..." Tao Feifei hurriedly coughed, "Okay, time’s up."

Snap!

Lin Yujing instantly dropped her pen.

Calm and composed, she looked up ahead.

She had the air of a peerless master.

Afterwards, Jiang Qinghua also let out a sigh and let his pen slip from his fingers.

Li Zheng’s eyes widened, and he slammed his pen down, picking up his own papers to admire them, his mouth seemingly shouting "Brilliant!", but his dry throat could not make much noise.

For him, this exam had, even without considering the time spent in the restroom, reached a full 12 hours of acceleration.

And he had improved every hour.

Putting down his papers, Li Zheng’s first reaction was to check his status.

[Mathematics: 136→168↑↑↑]

[Physics: 207→215↑]

Ha!

What’s this?

Growing stronger through battle!

Sparring with masters sure is invigorating.

"Alright, I’m collecting the test papers now, I’ll grade them." Tao Feifei shook her head, rubbing her neck, "The scoring for the competition papers is very detailed, and it will take a while to grade, so don’t be impatient."

"Mhm," Lin Yujing was the first to bring her answers to Tao Feifei.

Tao Feifei wiped her glasses and, after a brief scan, smiled, "You’ve attempted every question, very good. Actually, when designing these papers, we really didn’t expect many to finish them."

Then, she received Jiang Qinghua’s paper.

She soon discovered that Jiang Qinghua had attempted every question too.

But hadn’t completed a single one.

And most likely hadn’t gotten any right.

He simply pasted any formula he knew onto the paper.

Then randomly filled in an answer.

Although Jiang Qinghua lacked a deep understanding of concepts and was poor at calculation,

when it came to dirty tricks for exams, he did have his tactics.

Last was Li Zheng’s paper.

It was simply a Plus version of Jiang Qinghua’s.

The test was chaotic to the point of anarchy, with dense scribbles and corrections, making it look like a draft.

It required a considerable effort to make sense of it.

Tao Feifei could only rub her arms and smile bitterly, "This will keep me busy. How many points do you guys think you got?"

"Around 60 points maybe~~" Lin Yujing moved her chair closer to Tao Feifei, warmed her hands, and mockingly said, "Grade Li Zheng’s first."

"Suit yourself," Li Zheng snorted, "I’ve let you win not just once or twice."

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!" Lin Yujing turned her head and made a face.

"Cackle cackle cackle cackle!" Li Zheng returned a simpleton’s face.

"..." Jiang Qinghua was caught in the middle and, feeling wronged, lowered his head and stepped back.

How come you guys... always come up with new tricks...

At the table, Tao Feifei picked up a red pen and unfolded Li Zheng’s answer sheet, "By the way, Teacher Yu is also waiting for the results, go call her over."

Li Zheng and Lin Yujing remained motionless, both fixated on the test paper.

Jiang Qinghua paused momentarily, then silently turned and walked out, so quietly that no one noticed him leave.

Soon, Jiang Qinghua returned, carrying an electric grill, and Yu Hong followed with two large bags of takeout barbecue.

However, the others in the room didn’t pay attention to them, only concentrating on the papers.

The two newcomers also quickly set down the items and gathered behind Tao Feifei.

By now, Tao Feifei had finished grading Li Zheng’s paper, but her ballpoint pen was still intermittently dotting the paper, analyzing the steps to calculate the score.

A moment later, she made a grand gesture and wrote down a number at the top of the paper—

67!

After writing down this number, Tao Feifei tossed away her ballpoint pen and turned to glare at Li Zheng.

"Crap... so this is really at the provincial team level?!" Tao Feifei spluttered, hurriedly wiping her mouth before lifting the paper, "Although the test is a mess... I can feel that you are continuously improving, overturning your previous understanding. Am I right in this feeling?"

"Teacher Tao has good insight." Li Zheng nodded with a smile, "I am indeed nurturing through battle, supplementing my brain with problems. This is probably the most satisfying test I’ve ever taken to date."

"Really, with the way you’re going..." Tao Feifei put down the paper and sighed, "Lock you in a room with theory books and scrap paper, and you might even work out the equation for an atomic bomb reaction."

"Um..." Lin Yujing unwillingly tugged at Tao Feifei’s arm.

Tao Feifei chuckled sneakily, "Ah, right, right, I may have praised you too much."

Yu Hong immediately asked, "Is this out of a hundred? What’s the score for provincial first place, roughly?"

It was only then that Tao Feifei realized Yu Hong had arrived, and she busily stood up to answer, "Yes, I’m grading out of a hundred. Provincial first place is probably... less than 50, and the top scorer in the entire city only got around 70 points."

"Ah..." Yu Hong sighed, not sure whether to cry or laugh.

Now it’s been proven that Li Zheng is also fully capable of joining the ranks of the geniuses.

But why can’t these geniuses... just like chemistry?

Tao Feifei suddenly thought of something and turned to ask Li Zheng, "When did you learn advanced math?"

Li Zheng opened his mouth, then closed it again.

While taking a dump?

That doesn’t seem quite appropriate to say...

After all, that could get him beaten up by the numerous students who fail advanced math.

And it might be a little too provocative for Jiang Qinghua.

Li Zheng could only struggle to respond, "Learned it during the chemistry training camp, when I had nothing better to do."

Anyway, blame everything on those miserable days, and that would be right.

"Right, that makes sense. Even though you still look inexperienced in solving problems, the fact that you can work them out shows your level." Only after saying this did Tao Feifei return the paper to Li Zheng, with a smirk and an uplift of her glasses, "I’m glad my prediction was wrong. From now on, the goal changes, if you don’t make it into the national team, don’t say you were taught by me!"

Li Zheng’s expression brightened upon hearing this.

Great, this goal is perfect.

"Thank you, Teacher Tao!" Li Zheng took the paper with both hands, filled with both gratitude and admiration.

Teacher Tao, actually, your prediction wasn’t wrong.

Before I took a dump, I really was only at the level of 35 points.

Who would have known there would be such an adventure?

Could it be that Shi Yang had absorbed too much Academic Fortune, and the essence of the vital land came along with it?

Now is not the time to think about this.

So what’s next...

Li Zheng narrowed his eyes, glancing at Lin Yujing.

The latter was lightly biting her lip, hands clutching the hem of her clothes, watching Tao Feifei grade the test with nervous eyes.

Li Zheng smiled.

If he remembered correctly, her self-estimated score was only in the 60s as well.

If it were over 65, then the description should have been "around 70."

Therefore, it’s very likely that her score is within 65.

And I, the mighty Li Zheng, scored a full 67!

I’ve definitely got it this time, right?

Here it comes, it’s coming.

"Are you ready?" Li Zheng couldn’t suppress his excitement, his cheeks lifting slightly, "Losing chemistry, you lose a lot; losing physics, you lose everything."

"Um..." Lin Yujing didn’t dare to look at Li Zheng or the paper.

Li Zheng became even more excited.

This is it, only by defeating Lin Yujing in physics can he claim total victory.

Li Zheng was already picturing what Lin Yujing’s defeat would look like.

It would definitely be an exceptionally enjoyable high-level freak-out.

There’d be stamping of feet, biting of fingers, and the continuous quivering "um."

To welcome this moment, Li Zheng was already reaching for his phone.

Such a rare freak-out had to be fully recorded.

Keep it for a lifetime!

"Hehe... hehehe..." Li Zheng, looking up, couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

While he was laughing, Tao Feifei suddenly slapped the desk and screamed—

"Crazy! Absolutely crazy! 82! And there are two problems that even the answer key doesn’t cover!"

Wham!

Li Zheng stiffened, and in the ringing in his ears, his heart seemed to stop beating.

His whole body shook slightly.

It was Jiang Qinghua who steadied him.

"It’s not... it’s not..." After Li Zheng shook his head in a daze, he looked helplessly toward Lin Yujing, "Didn’t you say it was just over 60..."

And that’s when he saw it.

Lin Yujing was secretly filming with her phone.

"Squeak squeak squeak~~~"

And laughing behind her hand.

This smile shattered Li Zheng’s guts and courage.

"Ah!"

He staggered back a step, his head went blank, and his vision blacked out.

Thud...

He slumped into the chair.

Perhaps this was how Zhou Yu in the story had been infuriated to death.

It was all fake, all of it.

Every performance was for this very moment.

Defeated.

Utterly defeated.

The most brutal kind of defeat is when you think you can win but still lose.

Just like a mouse being toyed with in the paws of a cat.

It never stood a chance from the very beginning.

Li Zheng couldn’t help but remember the time when he first met Ou Xing Zhuo and Wu Shu at McDonald’s, estimating scores. After calculating the scores, Wu Shu had also used a similar tactic, pretending to be outmatched by Ou Xing Zhuo. But Ou Xing Zhuo was very seasoned and didn’t rush into celebration; he waited for the final scores to be announced.

That’s what a real veteran of the Jianghu is like...

In his moment of sorrow, it was still Jiang Qinghua standing behind Li Zheng.

He gently patted Li Zheng’s back, helping him catch his breath.

"It’s nothing big; you’ll get used to it, you’ll get used to it."

Jiang Qinghua’s words carried a sense of desolation, as if he too were a veteran of the Jianghu.

"Thank you, I feel much better now..." Li Zheng gently pushed Jiang Qinghua’s hand away, rose with the help of his chair, and without looking at Lin Yujing, staggered to the desk to examine Lin Yujing’s exam paper. He muttered, "When did you even learn calculus?"

This was Li Zheng’s final struggle.

I, Xu Zhu, the novice monk, have stealthily practiced the Mount Hua Sword Technique, but that’s all.

You, the Heavenly Mountain Child Granny.

Since when have you been able to wield a sword?

"I didn’t learn it~~~ Squeak, squeak~~" Lin Yujing continued to mock while recording every bit of Li Zheng’s behavior, "It’s all high school math~~"

Li Zheng glared fiercely: "That’s impossible..."

"It’s possible." Tao Feifei revealed Lin Yujing’s paper. "Feel the brilliance of Lin Yujing’s thinking."

Li Zheng looked down at it skeptically.

The first impression that came to mind was — simplicity.

Every problem was solved with the utmost simplicity.

Coupled with her elegant handwriting, she already overwhelmed all the other contestants in aesthetic appeal.

Then, look at her approach.

It was all just taking shortcuts!

Whenever she could avoid the main road, she took a detour.

Take the sixth major problem, for example, a mix of electrics and mechanics, discussing a square wire frame hanging in the air, which starts to rotate after a nearby vertical wire is electrified.

The question was already complex, with an even more twisted problem.

You had to provide the induced electromotive force E in the wire frame and the external torque M at any given time t.

Since it involved a lot of geometrical knowledge, even Li Zheng, who had a grasp of basic calculus, spent a solid ninety minutes on this problem.

The process was as follows —

Calculate the two forces F1 and F2 acting on the wire frame based on the current I. (10 minutes)

→ Set up a massive equation with Ohm’s law. (5 minutes)

→ Solve a geometry problem to calculate the resultant torque. (30 minutes —∞)

→ Plug the resultant torque back into the massive equation to solve (which he didn’t manage to do).

Even after such hardships, Li Zheng only scored half the points.

In contrast, Lin Yujing.

Because of XX and XX, to maintain XX, XX must equal XX. (1 minute)

→ Through XX=XX, she set up a miraculous equation. (3 minutes)

→ Solve it. (10 minutes)

There were countless examples like this.

Even though the complexity of these physics problems was infuriating,

Li Zheng felt like he was back to the table tennis knockout match a few months ago.

[Eliminate 63 players, one per match, 63 matches in total.]

Back then, Lin Yujing bypassed step-by-step calculation and division.

This time, she circumvented both geometry and calculus.

What does this mean?

What does this tell us?

"Lazy!" Li Zheng’s eyes bulged, "You’re still so lazy."

"???" Lin Yujing bulged her eyes as well, "It’s smartness!"

"That’s smartness in the service of being lazy."

"!!!" Lin Yujing, out of frustration, immediately stopped the recording and started fiddling with her phone, "I’ll send it to the class group, and let it stink... send to Teacher Tang!"

"Okay, you two." Tao Feifei raised her hand and gave each of them a smack on the back of the head.

"First you, Li Zheng, Yujing is just smart. No matter how complex the problems, she can spot the key points at a glance, and many are hidden key points that not even the creators of the problems would think of. If that’s not smartness, what is?"

```

"And you, Yu Jing, I’ve been telling you to study those advanced math topics, but you’re lazy and won’t do it. You must realize that not every problem has such a clever trick; there are always difficult hurdles to tackle step by step. Today’s set of problems is easy and has many tricks; the math requirement isn’t that high. If it were a harder set, you wouldn’t even score over 50 points."

After Tao Feifei punished everyone equally.

The situation didn’t improve much.

"Fine, call it her being clever," Li Zheng reluctantly nodded, "but laziness is an objective reality."

"Pfft... Laziness is still better than you," Lin Yujing decided to go for broke and reached out her hand, "Teacher Tao, I want to try a test that I can’t score over 50 points on."

"Ha!" Now it was Tao Feifei’s turn to be wide-eyed, "Really think there’s no test that can stump you? You’re underestimating my ability to dig up questions!"

"Exactly, bring it out and test her!" Seeing this, Li Zheng rolled up his sleeves, pointing at Lin Yujing to fan the flames, "Give her some real heavy calculation problems, and beat the crap out of her in another round."

"Right, nobody’s going home today!" Tao Feifei immediately grabbed the mouse and began a frantic search, "Christmas Eve, who cares about meeting up or dating? Do problems, all of you, do problems!"

"Calm down, Teacher Tao..." Yu Hong got scared and intervened, "I have experience with these two, they’re not worth getting upset over, treat yourself better..."

Jiang Qinghua also stepped in front of Li Zheng, her eyes reddening, "Aren’t you hungry?... I’m already hungry... That kind of problem... another set might kill someone..."

It took a lot of persuading to finally get the perhaps challenging test for Lin Yujing pushed back.

It was only then that Yu Hong got a chance to ask, "I forgot to ask just now, what level is Lin Yujing’s 82 points roughly at?"

"I don’t know," Tao Feifei turned her face away from Lin Yujing, "Whatever level she loves, that’s the level."

"Mmm..." Lin Yujing grudgingly tugged at Tao Feifei’s sleeve, "don’t be mad, don’t be mad... okay, Teacher Tao can stump me."

"Hmph..."

"Let’s make up..." Lin Yujing leaned in for another nuzzle.

"..." This time Tao Feifei couldn’t hold back and raised her hand to vigorously rub Lin Yujing’s head, "Go and learn advanced math right away..."

"Hehe~"

After that, Tao Feifei leaned in close to Yu Hong and whispered, "Lin Yujing’s level now is solid for the national team, she has a chance at the IPhO..."

"Figures..." Yu Hong sighed dejectedly, his face full of sourness.

If only Lin Yujing were willing to put in even a fraction more effort in the chemistry competition...

Maybe it would have been her, not Shi Yang, going to Prague.

Alas!

It’s unknown whether chemistry just isn’t in her fate.

Or if in the fate of chemistry, there’s just no place for her.

On the other side, Lin Yujing, who had temporarily ceased battling, sat with her back to everyone else in her chair, hunched over her phone, repeatedly watching something with a sneaky smile now and then.

Li Zheng couldn’t help but feel both annoyed and frustrated.

This person has no aura of a master at all.

Is she really recording this?

I’m so damn good at chemistry competitions, yet I’m all harmonious and loving with students across the country?

She definitely has the skills, yet her conduct is so despicable.

She deserves punishment!

But the thing is, Li Zheng couldn’t do anything about it anymore.

67 to 82.

A full 15 points behind.

In an actual competition, this would put him hundreds of places behind, approximately the difference between the champion and a second-tier prize.

And that’s after giving it his all, working furiously for over ten hours, including taking a shit.

Moreover, Lin Yujing is from the Qi Sect; she uses high school-level sword techniques and has already reached this level in the semifinal problems just with her inner strength.

It’s that evil, lazy kind of inner strength.

Either the Nine Yin Manual or the Sunflower Manual.

This time, although I’ve lost, I must hold steady and not get impatient or fall into her wicked school of thought.

Steadily practicing my Shaolin Muscle Transforming Classic, remaining strong and steady, that’s the right path to defeating villains.

For now, I’m afraid there’s no way to punish her.

No, there is a way.

Tell the teacher!

Li Zheng immediately went to Tao Feifei and whispered indignantly, "Teacher Tao, you’ve got to deal with this, Lin Yujing’s filming is academic bullying."

"?"

Li Zheng added, "Not only is she academically bullying, but she’ll also threaten me with this video, forcing me into doing shameful deeds."

"Dismissed." Tao Feifei didn’t even pay attention to Li Zheng and turned to link arms with Lin Yujing, "Yu Jing has all privileges in my eyes, you deserve it."

Li Zheng gritted his teeth in resentment.

It made him so angry that he punched Jiang Qinghua’s shoulder hard.

That’s how teachers are.

Ungrateful!

As long as you have high scores, you can do anything.

This world is too realistic.

After Tao Feifei watched the video of Li Zheng being badly defeated, she turned and said, "Is it about time to eat?"

"Let’s start," Yu Hong, who was already wearing an apron, said.

"I’ll set the plates," Li Zheng also rolled up his sleeves.

"This... "Only Jiang Qinghua stood still, raised her hand hesitantly, "My test... hasn’t been graded yet, right?"

"..."

"..."

Being completely forgotten, that is the truly chilly reality.

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