Teacher, Principal, Student

At this moment, in the Star Lord Class of Xiūshé City No. 2 Middle School.

Teacher Du, the homeroom teacher, was looking at the thirty-four starlight projections displayed before him, which showed the assessment progress of the Star Lord students' retainers in the class.

Beside him, the principal also condensed a figure from starlight, watching the students' retainers' performances in the projections together.

"Little Du, looking at your retainers' performances, your Natal Star should be close to advancing to the fifth tier soon, shouldn't it?"

The principal's figure, formed from starlight, looked at the assessment scenes one by one. Instead of commenting on the students' performances first, he focused on the first-tier Spotted Serpentfolk retainers Teacher Du had sent for the assessment.

Teacher Du nodded and said, "I've already refined a hundred fourth-tier Demon Cores, and my Spirit Vein has reached the fourth tier (100%). Now I just need to refine a fifth-tier Demon Core to advance my Star to the fifth tier."

"I plan to hunt a fifth-tier demon snake in the Demon Grotto after this batch of students finishes their college entrance exams to obtain a fifth-tier Demon Core and advance my Star to the fifth tier."

"Excellent!" the principal praised, nodding. "Once your Natal Star advances to the fifth tier, your own cultivation will soon reach the Fifth-Rank Nascent Soul realm."

"At that time, I will apply to the Municipal Education Bureau to pass the position of principal on to you."

"Principal?" Teacher Du couldn't help but turn to look at the principal's starlight figure beside him, frowning. "You're leaving?"

The principal's starlight figure nodded and then shook his head. "There's no need for you to persuade me."

"My purpose for coming here as principal was to accumulate merit and exchange it for the 'Nine-tailed Serpent Inheritance.' Over the years, I've already accumulated enough merit."

"Furthermore, I'm approaching a breakthrough. I plan to go to the Black Hole Battlefield in the Penglai Star Domain for training to seek an opportunity for a breakthrough."

Teacher Du's brow immediately unfurrowed upon hearing this, and he congratulated him, "Principal, then I'll congratulate you on your further advancement first!"

The principal smiled and shook his head, pointing to the various assessment projections displayed before them. He changed the subject, "Tell your retainers to hold back a bit. If too many students fail, the school won't have enough financial aid for them."

The school receives a certain amount of educational funds and resources from the Municipal Education Bureau each year. A significant portion of this is specifically allocated for the Star Lord Class within the school.

Some of this is specifically used to subsidize students, either as scholarships to reward top students or as financial aid to support students whose Natal Stars and retainers are developing poorly.

Teacher Du's gaze shifted slightly as he also looked at the assessment projections, chuckling, "Principal, you've been the principal of No. 2 Middle School for nearly twenty years. Now that you're preparing to advance, this batch of students is likely the last one you'll be teaching."

"Before you leave, won't you leave them a little gift?"

"Haha..." The principal immediately laughed and shook his head, pointing at Teacher Du. "Little Du, Little Du, you were waiting for me here."

"Very well," he said, then looked at the Star Lord students participating in the assessment in the classroom. "Then I'll contribute one hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. I hope these little guys can perform well in this college entrance exam and provide a brilliant conclusion to my tenure as principal."

"I'll thank you on their behalf," the homeroom teacher, Teacher Du, said with a smile. "Don't worry, Principal. I'll definitely keep an eye on them, help them grow strong, and achieve excellent results in the college entrance exams as a farewell gift for you."

The principal nodded with a smile and looked at the assessment scenes. Suddenly, he said, "Someone's been eliminated. It's only been twenty minutes."

Teacher Du also looked at one of the assessment scenes. It was a flat area with many pits and deep ditches on the ground, as well as a section of broken earth walls.

Clearly, the students' retainers participating in the assessment had made as much preparation as possible.

But the result was that the battlefield was littered with the corpses of the students' retainers, while less than ten of the hundred retainers the teachers were assessing were injured, and not a single one had died.

The students' retainers were also Spotted Serpentfolk, but they were only about 1.4 meters tall and thin. Compared to the teachers' Spotted Serpentfolk, they were like minors. Coupled with their lack of powerful techniques, they were simply crushed.

"It's student Zhou Qiao," Teacher Du, who clearly knew his students well, said with a frown. "His Star cultivation and retainer cultivation are among the weakest in the class. Furthermore, the bloodline inheritance he previously chose for his retainer was the 'Myriad Poison Scripture,' which also follows the path of poison, completely countering mine."

"However, the little fellow is quite diligent and obedient. I'll provide him with some financial aid later so he can buy a cultivation site from the 'Myriad Poison Grotto' and integrate it into his Natal Star. This should greatly enhance his retainer's toxicity and combat power, allowing him to achieve good results in the subsequent second and third mock exams, and even the college entrance exam."

Teacher Du was explaining to the principal and also comforting Zhou Qiao below.

As his retainers participating in the assessment were all killed, and the time was only twenty minutes, far from the passing score, coupled with being the first to be eliminated, Zhou Qiao was already visibly ashamed, self-conscious, and unable to face anyone.

Upon hearing Teacher Du's words, his head, which had been lowered almost to his chest, suddenly lifted, and his eyes lit up as he looked at Teacher Du.

Teacher Du nodded at him.

Then, in less than five minutes, another student was eliminated.

Teacher Du looked at him and commented, "Student Cai Mang, your retainer's cultivation is very good, very warlike, and its combat power is also decent. However, your tactical arrangement was flawed; you shouldn't have engaged the teacher's retainers head-on."

"Remember to visit the school's official website later and study the 'Tactics Research' course thoroughly."

Cai Mang seemed somewhat unwilling upon hearing this, but facing the failing score, he could only lower his head and agree.

Teacher Du shook his head slightly and said no more.

He knew that Cai Mang's situation was different from Zhou Qiao's. Although both came from ordinary families, Cai Mang had directly signed an employment contract with a large company when signing the investment agreement, commonly known as a "contract of servitude." In return, he received considerable investment from that large company.

With this, Cai Mang's usual performance in class was considered average, and his personality and behavior were rather flamboyant.

Although homeroom teacher Teacher Du did not deliberately suppress him, there was no need for him to deliberately take care of him.

Afterward, as time steadily approached the passing line of thirty minutes, students were eliminated one after another in the class.

In just five minutes, five more students were eliminated, basically one per minute.

Adding Zhou Qiao and Cai Mang, who were eliminated earlier, seven out of the thirty-four Star Lord students in the class failed to reach the passing line in this first mock exam, accounting for almost one-fifth of the total class enrollment.

Of course, these students' eliminations and failures each had their reasons. Teacher Du pointed out the problems to them on the spot and explained the directions for improvement and advancement later.

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