Top Twenty in the Grade

Tianhai No. 2 Middle School, Virtual Room

"Lin Qi is the only one who hasn't come out yet, right? He's been in there way too long."

"What examiner did he reach? Examiner No. 5, or Examiner No. 6?"

A group of people gathered around a Virtual Cabin, discussing it curiously.

"Bzz~"

"It's open. Lin Qi is out."

The Virtual Cabin door opened. Lin Qi opened his eyes and saw several pairs of astonished eyes staring at him.

He calmly stood up and looked around. Chen Zichuan, Yang Lei, and the others had already come out.

"Qi Ge, you stayed in the First Round for so long. What examiner did you reach?"

Jiang Tao asked impatiently.

"You'll know when the results come out."

Lin Qi smiled and refused to say.

"Qi Ge, you've changed. You actually know how to keep people in suspense now." Jiang Tao shook his head.

Lin Qi was still recalling the battle in his mind. After defeating Examiner No. 7 with the Mountain Shattering Spear Technique, he had faced Examiner No. 8.

But less than thirty seconds into the fight, he had been killed. Even after using his Killing Move, he had still been no match for the opponent.

The gap had been too great. His opponent's Spear Technique had already broken through to the Second Order, and he could use a Killing Move as well.

Though he had lost, he had gained a great deal. Seeing a stronger Mountain Shattering Spear Technique had also shown him room for improvement.

As he was thinking, Chen Zichuan walked over and handed him a bottle of drink.

"Thank you for earlier. It was my first time using a Virtual Cabin!" Chen Zichuan said gratefully.

"No need to be so polite. We both come from ordinary families, and we're classmates. Of course we should help each other when needed." Lin Qi accepted the drink and shook his head.

"That's right, Chen Zichuan. It's only proper to help each other." Jiang Tao patted Chen Zichuan on the shoulder in agreement.

Chen Zichuan silently nodded and smiled.

The relationship between the three of them had quietly grown closer.

Not far away, Zhang Cheng looked at Lin Qi before lowering his gaze to his tablet.

"Lin Qi has finished his assessment. Let me see how many examiners he defeated."

Zhang Cheng operated his tablet and logged into the Tianhai Education Bureau Official Website backend. As an examiner, he had the authority to view the assessment results ahead of time.

"Examiner No. 6 shouldn't be a problem. Examiner No. 7 will be a little difficult. Getting around 700 points would already be quite good."

Zhang Cheng thought to himself as the page on his tablet rapidly refreshed, strings of data appearing before his eyes.

The next second, his pupils contracted.

"Examiner No. 8?"

Zhang Cheng was truly shocked. He knew very well that Examiner No. 8 was already at the Second Order level.

When Lin Qi had first entered the Elite Class, he had only been around forty-fifth in the grade. Even the Mountain Shattering Spear Technique had been learned from him.

Zhang Cheng knew better than anyone what Lin Qi's level had been back then.

"Good kid. I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

After the shock came immense gratification. As Lin Qi's Martial Arts teacher, Zhang Cheng understood his progress better than anyone.

"I'm starting to look forward to his ranking this time." Zhang Cheng smiled.

Yu Jing exited the Virtual Room and quickly looked toward the nearby Virtual Cabins.

When he saw that Li Zhou had yet to come out, his expression turned grim. They had entered the Virtual Cabins at the same time, yet Li Zhou was still inside. That meant he was still undergoing the Martial Arts assessment.

Compared to that, Yu Jing coming out earlier clearly meant he was weaker.

Not long after, Li Zhou also exited the assessment and shook his head, looking somewhat dissatisfied.

"Li Zhou, did you defeat Examiner No. 8?" Yu Jing asked.

"You guess!" Li Zhou grinned.

"I'm not a child. What's there to guess?" Yu Jing's face darkened.

Li Zhou grinned and turned to leave.

"Quiet!"

Zhang Cheng stood up. He checked the time, looked around at everyone, and slowly spoke:

"After a full day of assessments, all test results have been completed."

"Everyone, return to your classrooms now and wait for your homeroom teachers to announce the results and rankings."

Silence!

After hearing this, everyone fell silent for a moment. Many had already begun to look nervous, their hearts racing.

Every ranking was a tremendous test for them all, and the pressure weighing on them was immense.

After nine o'clock that night, every major middle school in Tianhai City was brightly lit, with countless gifted students steeped in tension.

At the same time, the Martial Arts Education Bureau backend was frantically compiling all results and conducting the overall rankings.

Elite Class classroom

Everyone sat in their seats and chatted, trying to hide their nervousness.

"I'm done for. I might get kicked out of the Elite Class."

"I worked hard for a month. My ranking is definitely going up this time."

"At No. 2 High School, I'm ranked eleventh. In Tianhai City, I should be able to make the top thirty at least, right?"

"Top thirty? Keep dreaming. You should count yourself lucky if you make the top fifty."

Amid the discussions, their homeroom teacher, Yan Hong, arrived late. Her expression was calm, revealing none of her emotions.

She gathered her thoughts and spoke:

"Students, this Tianhai Monthly Exam lasted an entire day, and all results have now been released."

"The annual Tianhai Monthly Exam is extremely important. It helps you determine where you stand and see the goals you need to pursue in the future."

"Teacher, let's just look at the results already."

At that moment, Yu Jing suddenly spoke up, interrupting Yan Hong.

"That Yu Jing..." Jiang Tao showed his displeasure.

Lin Qi frowned. Yu Jing's behavior was going too far.

Yan Hong's expression changed slightly, annoyance rising within her. But facing Yu Jing, she forcefully suppressed her displeasure.

"Then I won't waste any more words. Let's look at the results directly."

With that, she turned on the projector, and a massive screen was quickly projected before everyone.

It was a huge table filled with data. Behind fifty profile pictures were scores for every subject, rankings, and more...

Everyone turned their eyes toward the score sheet, anxiously searching for their own names.

Lin Qi did the same. His eyesight was exceptional, and in just one second, he locked onto his own profile picture and saw his Monthly Exam results.

[Name: Lin Qi]

[Cultural Studies: 922 (1)]

[Blood Vitality: 820 (23)]

[Martial Arts: 800 (16)]

[Total Score: 804.4]

[Grade Ranking: 18]

[City Ranking: 288]

After seeing his results, the corners of Lin Qi's mouth lifted slightly.

He ranked first in the grade in Cultural Studies, twenty-third in Blood Vitality, and sixteenth in Martial Arts.

In a month, his Blood Vitality had surged from 6.2 during the minor test to 8.2, an increase of a full 2.0. His improvement had been enormous.

Then there was his Spear Technique. He had defeated Examiner No. 7, but Examiner No. 8 had killed him instantly.

In the end, the intelligent AI judged his Spear Technique Realm to be worth only 800 points, placing him just short of the Second Order.

The only reason he could score 800 points was that Lin Qi's practical combat ability exceeded his Spear Technique Realm.

As expected, his Grade Ranking had risen dramatically. He had leaped straight from forty-fifth, near the bottom of the Elite Class, into the top twenty of the grade.

Beside him, Jiang Tao suddenly burst into laughter, looking delighted.

"Haha, I knew it."

"Seventh in the grade! I made it into the top ten. Now I can have my own cool nickname too."

Jiang Tao was so excited that he could hardly contain himself, wrapping an arm tightly around Lin Qi.

"Congratulations, Tao Zi!"

Lin Qi congratulated him with a smile.

"By the way, Qi Ge, how did you do?"

After recovering from his joy, Jiang Tao also became concerned about Lin Qi's results.

As he spoke, he raised his head to look at the score sheet. Searching downward from his own ranking, he immediately saw Lin Qi's name, and a premonition arose in his heart.

When he saw the ranking, his pupils contracted, and he cried out:

"Eighteenth in the grade?"

"Qi Ge, are you trying to defy the heavens?!"

His words were like a fuse. Quite a few people in the class noticed it as well.

"Am I seeing this right? Lin Qi actually surpassed me? I'm nineteenth!" someone said in disbelief.

"Seriously? Lin Qi is that fierce? He shot straight from forty-fifth to eighteenth." someone exclaimed.

More and more people in the class noticed what was happening.

"How did Lin Qi become so amazing?"

Not far away, Zhu Yuqi was equally astonished. She looked at Lin Qi with curiosity filling her eyes.

In the corner, Yang Lei's face was pale. This time, he ranked forty-eighth and had nearly been eliminated.

Yet Lin Qi had soared into the sky, entering the top twenty of the class.

One was in the sky, while the other was on the ground.

"I even mocked him. I'm so stupid, truly!"