Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 110 - 109 The master’s smile is indescribably wonderful

Li Zheng, caught up in his emotions, was suddenly startled by two loud thumps on the table—one on the left and one on the right—as two notebooks were slapped down.

The quiet nerdy guy and the cool, aloof big sister both lugged their chairs and sat down on either side of the table.

"I stored the first problem in my calculator," the nerdy guy said as he started scribbling on the paper at a rapid pace, "I’ll handle problems two and three."

"I’ll take four, five, and six," the big sister spoke while tearing off two pieces of paper and sliding them to Li Zheng, "Don’t just sit there, tackle problems seven to ten, write down as much as you can remember."

Li Zheng suddenly realized, they were cross-checking the answers.

This task, without the support of scratch paper or the original exam, was extremely difficult.

It had to be done purely from memory.

And in the half hour just after the exam, when memories were most intact, indeed, there was no time to waste.

Li Zheng had no time to think further and began reconstructing the major problems.

Bystanders looking over at the three of them were also anxious.

While they were still fretting over possibly bombing the exam,

The pros had already started discussing the answers.

No, couldn’t let them finish going over the answers.

Run, run now!

After twenty-some minutes, the trio finally pieced together the entire test paper.

Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.

The preliminary round, at last, came to an end.

The three of them looked at each other and spontaneously broke into sinister and puzzled smiles.

Those were the legendary smiles of the masters.

Only among peers of equal mastery, in the heat of the moment, could such a smile involuntarily emerge.

An indescribable smile of delight and ineffability.

"Your pacing is way too thrilling," Li Zheng said, clutching his forehead as if he had just indulged in a full-body spa which left his mind reeling, his expression inscrutable, "Anyway… I’m totally exhilarated."

"My friend, you’ve got what it takes," the nerdy guy slapped Li Zheng’s arm, "You even spotted the mistake in problem five before I did. I declare you’ve topped our province."

"You flatter me," Li Zheng waved his hand and laughed, "Speaking of problem five, in the end, there wasn’t an official statement, so we just had to make a wild guess."

"If you went with 176, you won’t be at a loss," the girl blew a breath at her parted bangs, looking around the empty classroom, "It was easier than last year; I don’t know what they’re crying about."

"Losers eat dust, nothing more," the boy sneered, then pulled out his phone for a quick glance, and asked, "There’s a meet-up to discuss the answers in the group chat, are you coming?"

"Where?"

"McDonald’s at the subway station."

"Let’s go."

The two got up quickly and then, simultaneously, turned their gaze to Li Zheng.

"Are you coming?"

Li Zheng felt unexpectedly honored.

Fuck me.

Meeting up to discuss the problems!

What is this?

This is an organization!

I, Li Zheng, have finally found an organization.

I’m not strange at all, you all just lack experience.

...

On the way to McDonald’s, Li Zheng finally made proper acquaintances with the two pros, even exchanging WeChat contacts.

After all, among top-tier masters, only after seeing your strength will they present their calling card.

These two were seniors at Ren University Affiliated High School, and among the cream of the crop.

The nerdy guy with glasses was named Ou Xingzhuo. Li Zheng initially thought it was "Ou Xingzhuo," and only after adding him on WeChat did he realize it was "Xing Zhuo," wondering what kind of expectations his parents had for him...

The cool big sister was named Wu Shu. Li Zheng had also gotten it wrong, thinking it was "Wu Shu" or "Wu Su" until he realized it meant ’math,’ and found it brilliant.

Of course, more brilliant than their names were their academic achievements.

Ou Xingzhuo was from the Ren Da Fu mathematics and physics class, while Wu Shu was from the experimental class; both the perennial occupiers of the top ten spots in their grade and had already secured slots at Ji University a few months prior.

After that, they truly had no more targets and were genuinely idle, only then coming to join the chemistry competition for fun.

Not to mention, Ren Da Fu’s class division was extremely meticulous.

Out of the more than twenty classes, only seven were standard classes; the rest all had various focuses.

There were comprehensive experimental classes, mathematics and physics classes, biochemistry classes, artificial intelligence classes, and so on, each with a different educational focus.

Take Ou Xingzhuo’s math and physics class for example, which specifically primes students for mathematics and physics competitions.

Wu Shu’s experimental class, on the other hand, is an exceptionally strong class that stands above competition classes.

Also worth mentioning is that despite their frightening abilities, they had never actually experienced any selection process like the middle or high school entrance exams.

Because from elementary school onwards, they’d been promoted through various preparatory tracks.

This meant they were idle during fifth and sixth grade of elementary school, all three years of middle school, and the high school years, idle enough to prepare for the next level of competition in advance.

Li Zheng had thought that attempting to compete in multiple subjects was crazy enough.

But he never expected there were people like them.

What’s more terrifying is that Ou Xingzhuo had already secured five provincial firsts, two national seconds, and one national first (a biological national first, which only counts as a provincial first in other competitions).

In essence, this guy was probably about to summon the dragon.

As for Wu Shu, although she hadn’t participated in informatics or biology competitions, she’s got a national second in mathematics and a national first in physics, and even snagged a gold medal at last year’s IPhO (International Physics Olympiad).

Yes, this big sister is the kind of figure who appears in the news.

These two are indeed true big shots, megabosses, universe-level bosses.

Compared to them, Lin Yujing is merely a clean slate.

However, speaking of Lin Yujing, if she had taken things a bit more seriously and, like them, enrolled at Ren Da Fu and fully prepared for competitions,

It’s possible she too could have summoned the dragon.

Speaking of Lin Yujing, though she was in a different exam location, Li Zheng still secretly shared the meeting location with her, hoping to pull her into the organization as well.

Unfortunately, she went straight home to sleep after the exam, as if she never wanted to deal with chemistry again in her life.

Li Zheng was quite frustrated about it.

If it were the other way around and he had been told about the opportunity to join a club of academic gods, he would go even if it was in Africa, even if he had to bike there.

This club for academic gods was actually a QQ group, and the name of the group alone was awe-inspiring—

[Jijing Dragon Ball Group]

Clearly, it was an organization of monsters aiming to dominate multiple disciplines.

The criteria for joining were strict.

To join the group, one must meet one of the following three conditions:

A: Achieve at least two provincial second places or above in different subjects.

Except for biology, where only a national first counts as an award.

B: Achieve a national first in any subject.

Except for biology, where only making the national team counts as a big shot.

C: Be friends with an admin or a megaboss and have participated in competitions.

Except for biology.

Yes, it’s blatantly discriminating against biology nerds.

Such stringent criteria meant that there were very few people in the group, just over a hundred.

Among them, Ren University Affiliated High School and No. 1 Middle School in the City each accounted for one third, while the rest were dominantly from elite schools like No. 4 Middle School, Experimental School, and 101. It was highly unlikely for any strange middle school names to appear.

...

When the three arrived at the McDonald’s next to the subway station, four guys and a girl from the group had already gotten there. All wore glasses, two in school uniforms, scoring full marks on their appearances.

By then, they were already arguing nonstop.

"This has got to be trans-polyisoprene."

"Nonsense, aren’t you looking at the conditions? It can only be polyisobutylene."

"Let’s not worry about that for now. Does anyone remember questions seven, eight, and nine?"

"All I remember is having to draw a [V2(edt)4]2- structure."

"Didn’t it also ask about vanadium’s valence electron configuration?"

They were deeply engrossed in their debate.

Almost scaring away all the normal people nearby.

Especially a man and a woman who were on a blind date.

They called it quits on the spot.

The five big shots had been arguing fiercely, but when Ou Xingzhuo and Wu Shu arrived, they almost simultaneously ceased their dispute and looked with reverence.

That look, it was a respect from the soul.

If one were to use the Martial World as a metaphor.

It was like a group of martial artists engaged in fierce combat.

Suddenly, two sword-immortals floated by.

Upon seeing such figures, the martial artists ceased their fights instantly, looking up drooling with admiration.

That was how much they revered them.

Li Zheng, sandwiched between the two, also got a taste of basking in reflected glory.

As for Ou Xingzhuo and Wu Shu, they behaved very calmly and amicably, as if they were back in their own classes, without any airs of being academic gods.

"Here are our finished papers," Ou Xingzhuo said, taking off his backpack, pulling out three sheets of paper, lifting his glasses and smiling. "Clear the table, and let’s check them one by one."

The others immediately cleared the table.

One of the guys with glasses looked at Li Zheng and asked, "Who is this?"

Ou Xingzhuo then pulled Li Zheng over and introduced him to everyone, "Li Zheng, met him during the test, he’s got some skills."

Being commented by Ou Xingzhuo as having "some skills" made everyone regard Li Zheng with due respect.

Throughout the process of shaking hands and getting to know them, Li Zheng was overwhelmed with gratitude.

This wasn’t just about organization anymore.

This was holy ground!

My own Jinggang Mountains!

He only regretted that he came to meet his comrades too late in his sophomore year.

Meanwhile, Wu Shu came over with three cups of coffee, urging everyone to get to the main business.

It began, the review session started.

Sexy academic gods, offline question checking.

Ou Xingzhuo and Wu Shu were undoubtedly the authorities in the group, with their validated answers, the speed of checking increased vastly.

Unlike before, this time Li Zheng was deeply involved too; some questions drew differing opinions between the two, yet it was Li Zheng who convincingly provided the correct solutions.

After more than half an hour of collaborative effort, they completed the answers, estimating that the deviation from the answer key wouldn’t exceed 10 points.

Excluding the two questions after the mistake on question five.

Everyone immediately buried their heads, comparing against their own answers and calculating their scores.

Before long, one bespectacled guy sighed, "45, I can’t get any higher… I’m doomed for provincial rank two."

Another bespectacled guy exclaimed excitedly, "I might get 60, there’s hope for provincial rank one."

Yet another bespectacled guy lamented, "It’s not that I doubt your answers… but how come I only got 30 points…"

Ou Xingzhuo and Wu Shu had actually finished calculating a while back, but neither of them spoke first, as if waiting for the other to break the silence.

After a prolonged standstill, Ou Xingzhuo finally lost his patience and pushed up his glasses, boasting modestly, "Not counting that half wrong question, 84."

Wu Shu then drank a sip of his coffee with a blank expression and said, "I got 82."

"Stop bluffing me," Ou Xingzhu said with a cold laugh, "I’ll tell you, I’m not excited at all, this is all imaginary, let’s see when the results come out."

Wu Shu didn’t bother with him and began packing up his bag.

The others, however, looked towards the two big shots with even greater admiration.

"Those scores… You two could almost make the provincial team, right?"

"And that’s not even counting the 5 points for the skipped question."

"Did you really just study casually and take the test on a whim…"

"Bow in advance…"

The two were worshipped as usual by everyone, seemingly accustomed to it from a young age.

On the contrary, they showed rare signs of worry.

Not because they were afraid of not achieving provincial rank one.

But uncertain whether their scores could secure a spot in the provincial team training to then compete in the national finals.

Amidst the adoration, the bespectacled girl who had arrived earlier suddenly asked, "What about you, Big Brother Li? How much did you get?"

"I…" Li Zheng hesitated as well, "I might have miscalculated… or remembered the answers wrong."

"Come on, say it," a bespectacled guy next to him laughed, "I didn’t even get 30 and I still said it. What are you afraid of?"

"Um…" Li Zheng scratched his face, "The score I calculated for myself… is 90…"

Whir!

Everything went silent.

The brigade of academic gods collectively fell silent.

"Did you count the 5 points for the wrong question?" one bespectacled guy asked.

"No, I calculated 95 as full marks," Li Zheng replied, his face flaming red, almost covering his face out of embarrassment.

From memory, the problems he solved were indeed all correct; it felt just like a regular chemistry test.

But that didn’t eliminate the possibility of having a memory bias.

In any case… the score was frighteningly high.

Borderline showing off.

No matter how you put it, it was quite embarrassing.

But the group members opposite didn’t see it that way, only showing frenzied faces.

"Giant among men!"

"Niu bi (awesome)!"

"Which school are you from again?"

"Is this year’s extraordinary miracle from the foreign language school happening again?"

"That guy went straight to rank two nationally last year."

The two genuine giants, undisturbed, were actually very enthusiastic.

"Congratulations." Wu Shu gave a slight smile, toasting from afar, "90 points will definitely get you into the provincial team training camp. Don’t forget to register for Ji University Chemistry Golden Autumn Camp, perform well and you could be signed."