048: Metamorphosis (Bonus Chapter)

"You monster! Are you human or demon? Or even a hermaphrodite? How could you get first place in the assessment? It just doesn't make sense!"

After the assessment, Yang Mao kept wailing, even wanting to cut open Tang Jian's head to see what was inside.

He felt incredibly unbalanced. He'd always thought his best friend was someone he could easily dominate, but now that the serf had overthrown the landlord and was singing his praises, it left him feeling utterly gutted. The mix of jealousy, envy, joy, and depression was indescribable.

"Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger, you've really been Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger all along. I'm not surprised at all." The chubby boy, Jia Ling, said this to Tang Jian, but deep in his eyes, there was a surge of frustration, envy, and a hint of pride.

Students from other classes frequently looked over. When they saw Tang Jian, they pointed and whispered. Some admired him, some were wary, some were jealous, and some were openly hostile.

I can't believe that guy is Tang Jian. I never knew his name before. If only I'd known he was so powerful…

Hu Lingli from Class Four watched Tang Jian, who was standing next to Yang Mao, from afar. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with a mix of surprise and frustration.

Beside her, Gu Du's gaze toward Tang Jian seemed to spit fire—hostile and wary. Losing to a student from Class Twelve, he felt utterly humiliated.

Not just him, but Wu Chun and Wang Ba, students from the Rocket Class, felt even more infuriated and embarrassed, their faces burning. But at that moment, they were all being lectured by their respective mentors. They could only glimpse the radiant Tang Jian from afar, grinding their teeth in frustration.

"You all performed well this time, Tang Jian, you were excellent!"

Mentor Sun Yiying walked up to Tang Jian and the others, offering words of encouragement, and giving Tang Jian a smiling thumbs-up.

Tang Jian smiled, seemingly bashful. "Teacher, it's all thanks to your excellent guidance. Under your diligent care, I'm growing robustly like a young sapling."

"Can you be any more nauseating?" Yang Mao shivered, speechless.

Liu Kun, who had been feeling somewhat frustrated and conflicted, couldn't help but laugh out loud at this.

Sun Yiying rolled her eyes at Tang Jian. How could she not know this kid was sly? He was probably hinting at a reward.

She shook her head. "Tang Jian, the points you earned in this first assessment can not only be exchanged for school resources and rewards, but you can also transfer some of them to He Chong, Wang Lele, and Jia Ling, who were eliminated this time, so they can also qualify to join the Rocket Class sprint."

Afterward, Sun Yiying explained further, and also mentioned that Vice Principal Zhou Dongbo had rewarded him with a box of Nutritional Express.

"Wow, a box of Nutritional Express? Is it the eight-bottle pack or the twelve-bottle pack?" Tang Jian was excited.

The Nutritional Express produced by Yang Energy Group could provide the body with a great deal of nutrients. He had recently expended too much potential due to increased Life Force, so he needed to supplement his nutrition.

Although the value of this Nutritional Express was not as high as Advanced Nutrient Solution or Solar Energy Potion, it still retailed for 800 Federal Currency a bottle. A box with at least eight bottles would be over six thousand Federal Currency, which Tang Jian felt was a great deal.

Yang Mao and the others nearby listened, even more envious and jealous, howling like wolf cubs.

However, they quickly got back to the main topic. Only then did Tang Jian realize that the points from the first level of assessment could actually be transferred.

The mysterious reward Zhou Dongbo had mentioned earlier was that the points could be used to exchange for school resources: one point could be exchanged for a bottle of low-level nutrient solution, or a common Solar Energy Pill (its effect was roughly one-twentieth of a Solar Energy Potion); ten points could be exchanged for a whole bottle of Solar Energy Potion.

The price of Solar Energy Potion through school channels was estimated to be only around 20,000 Federal Currency, but the market price was undoubtedly much higher.

Throughout the entire assessment, only Tang Jian's points exceeded 10, reaching 11 points.

"Tang Jian, your overall assessment score this time is definitely already in the top five. The school will reward you with a bottle of Solar Energy Potion and 10,000 cash.

As for your points, as your mentor, I certainly hope you can contribute to the class, but I definitely won't let you suffer a loss. You currently have 11 points. You only need to transfer 9 points to Gao Yang and the other two."

Saying this, Sun Yiying looked at He Chong and the other two. "I imagine you three can all afford to buy some points from Tang Jian, right? 2000 Federal Currency per point. If each of you buys three points, you can join the Rocket Class sprint."

Jia Ling, He Chong, and Wang Lele all nodded eagerly upon hearing this, then their gazes turned to Tang Jian.

This matter also required Tang Jian's agreement.

Tang Jian had no reason not to agree.

This could be considered a form of support from the school for the regular classes. As long as one capable student emerged from their class and accumulated a lot of points, they could use those points to rescue other eliminated classmates and get them into the Rocket Class sprint.

While this might seem unfair to some, there was no absolute fairness in the world.

Was it fair for the school to funnel resources to the Rocket Class, from the perspective of the regular classes?

Since someone from the regular class could accumulate a lot of points, they naturally gained the right to contend with the Rocket Class.

"Teacher, let's just go by the normal price. A Solar Energy Pill is only about 1200 Federal Currency on the market, so 1 point can be 1200."

Tang Jian agreed decisively and even proactively lowered the price to 1200.

Among classmates, there was no need to take advantage of such a small thing.

Even if he didn't sell the points to Jia Ling and the others, the value of the points if Tang Jian exchanged them for Solar Energy Pills would be the same; it wouldn't increase.

Moreover, aside from low-level nutrient solution being useful to him, Solar Energy Pills weren't as effective for him as the Red Card cheat.

Since he was doing a favor, it was best to do it completely and perfectly.

"Good, I knew I hadn't misjudged you." Sun Yiying smiled, her dimples showing, and nodded at Tang Jian.

"Thank you. Thank you."

"Thank you."

Jia Ling, He Chong, and Wang Lele all thanked Tang Jian, their faces filled with excitement and admiration.

"We're all classmates, no need to be so polite. When we get to college, we'll have to help each other out," Tang Jian said, waving his hand and smiling.

He remembered that He Chong had successfully joined the Rocket Class sprint in his previous life, but this time, he was unexpectedly eliminated, while Tang Jian himself had made it in.

Through this incident, it was clear that Liu Kun and the other classmates' impressions of him had changed.

In their eyes, the once unremarkable Tang Jian now seemed increasingly confident, and his demeanor was generous and easygoing, making him pleasant to be around, dispelling any sense of aloofness or dislike.

Even Liu Kun, who had always prided himself as the top student in Class Thirty-Two, was now completely convinced by Tang Jian, highly admiring him and no longer wishing to compete.

In the afternoon, during dinner, Sun Yiying and Director Hu, the school's dean, found Tang Jian and handed him a box of Nutritional Express, the rewarded Solar Energy Potion, and ten thousand Federal Currency in cash.

"Tang Jian, you've done very well. The school is preparing to cultivate you as a key student, and we hope you can get into a prestigious university during the college entrance exam. If you have any academic questions, feel free to speak with your teacher, Ms. Sun."

Director Hu's bald head gleamed, his face covered in a sheen of oil as he smiled and shook Tang Jian's hand, exchanging pleasantries.

Tang Jian could feel the greasy sweat on the director's palm and felt slightly disgusted, but he could only nod and politely smile.

"Oh, by the way, I heard there's a student in Class 11 named Xie Dong. He reportedly involved some troublemakers from outside school to cause you problems. Don't worry about this; the school will deal with it seriously and immediately.

Xie Dong has already been sent home for reflection. If he commits any further disciplinary infractions that harm you, he will immediately face severe legal punishment from the judicial authorities!"

Director Hu said with a serious expression.

Tang Jian was stunned and surprised. He glanced at the faintly smiling Sun Yiying and immediately understood.

This must have been the result of Ms. Sun's efforts with the school.

No wonder he hadn't seen Xie Dong during the Interstellar Tower assessment.

So, that kid was directly disciplined and sent home. He really shot himself in the foot trying to cause trouble.

Tang Jian quickly stopped thinking about the person.

He had originally wanted to find an opportunity to get revenge.

But now that the other party had already been dealt with, and it was clearly Sun Yiying's doing, she probably worried he might seek out Xie Dong privately for revenge and cause trouble without considering the consequences.

PS: Bonus chapter for recommendation votes!!!

Including this bonus chapter, I've updated over seven thousand words today. It's not bad to update this much during the new book period. Please vote more, everyone. If the book performs well on the recommendation list next week, I'll add more bonus chapters.