Lu Xun once said, "The joys and sorrows of one person are not shared by another."

This was certainly the case in the classroom before their homeroom teacher, Guo Aiqing, walked in. While some students had excelled, successfully passing all six rounds, others had been miserably eliminated as early as the third. To some, the joy of others was nothing but noise.

This was exactly how Li Boyang felt at that moment.

In this exam, he had only passed the third round, failing to clear the fourth. In other words, he could now only watch the back of Zhang Yi, the very person he’d competed against, as he pulled further away.

After the last Divine Battle, his homeroom teacher, Guo Aiqing, had informed his parents of his failure. Li Boyang had thought he could go crying to his parents, then to his grandfather over the weekend, and they would surely help him get revenge on Zhang Yi.

But who could have guessed that before he even had a chance to see his grandfather, his grandfather sought him out on the third day he was home, told him not to provoke Zhang Yi anymore, and gave him a harsh scolding!

Li Boyang, of course, had no idea why his grandfather would say such a thing. He thought his grandfather was just kidding and kept asking about it until Li Boyi grew impatient. Only then did he tell Li Boyang what had happened two days prior, warning him to be careful when he saw his parents that evening and to prepare himself for a "grand feast."

It turned out that two days ago, Tang Weihua, the principal of Golden City No.1 Middle School, had invited him to dinner with the parents of some other students, ostensibly to get to know them better. The principal was also a Weak Divine Being, equal in power to Li Boyang’s grandfather, Li Boyi. Therefore, Li Boyi naturally accepted the invitation and attended the banquet.

But once he got to the dinner table and saw Zhang Yi’s father, he finally understood what was really going on. Before the banquet, he had assumed the principal had summoned him because his grandson, Li Boyang, had performed exceptionally well at school. But who could have imagined that instead of excelling, his grandson had provoked someone even he couldn’t afford to offend!

It’s safe to say he was thoroughly miserable throughout the entire meal, with little appetite for food.

When Li Boyi returned home, he was still seething. The very next day, he summoned Li Boyang’s parents and gave them a tongue-lashing that lasted the entire day. He didn’t let them leave until the following afternoon.

This explained why Li Boyang hadn’t seen his parents and why his grandfather hadn’t come looking for him. Following the old saying, "If the son is not taught, it is the father’s fault," Li Boyi had to discipline his own son first before his son could discipline his grandson.

That night, when his parents returned home, Li Boyang was indeed served a "grand feast." It was so grand that the next day, he felt a phantom pain just from sitting on his stool.

At first, Li Boyang didn’t understand. But after the harsh beating from his parents, he was jolted from his obsessive delusion. He finally understood: Zhang Yi not only had backing, but it was far more powerful than his own.

Li Boyang no longer dared to spread rumors about Zhang Yi behind his back. So, he changed his approach. He decided he would compete with Zhang Yi head-on in the placement exam at the end of the month. He didn’t dare pull any more dirty tricks; a direct comparison of scores had to be fair game, right?

And that resolve lasted until the end-of-month placement exams were over and his homeroom teacher, Guo Aiqing, stepped into the classroom.

"Alright, everyone, the rankings for this month’s placement assessment are out!"

"Students ranked in the top 80 will be placed in the honors classes."

"Students ranked 81st to 240th will be placed in the intermediate classes."

"Students ranked below 240th will be placed in the regular classes."

"I have the printed report cards here, and I will be handing them out to each of you shortly. You will each be able to see your own rank and how it compares to the entire grade!"

"This way, you can all understand that there’s always someone better out there. You should learn from your higher-ranking classmates!"

"Zhang Yi, Hu Xia, you two come up here. Distribute these report cards according to the names on them."

Hearing his name, Zhang Yi immediately stood up. The class academic officer, Hu Xia, also rose at the teacher’s words. The two of them took the two sorted stacks of ranked report cards from Guo Aiqing.

As Hu Xia took her stack, her eyes flicked downward. A moment later, she was stunned.

At the very top of the entire school’s rankings, clear as day, was the name: Zhang Yi!

While Hu Xia was still reeling, Zhang Yi had already started handing out the report cards. As he placed a card in each student’s hand, a ripple of astonished gasps spread through the classroom.

Upon receiving their cards, no one looked for their own rank. Instead, every eye shot straight to first place.

"Zhang Yi!"

"First in the entire grade?!"

"Cleared all six rounds?!"

"The fastest clear time!"

"How is that possible...?"

Li Boyang stared, eyes burning, at the glaring name in the number one spot. His fingernails dug into the paper, leaving white scratches on its surface.

With trembling hands, he found his own rank: 250th. Regular class.

The enormous gap in their abilities was so staggering it nearly sent Li Boyang spiraling again.

As Li Boyang reeled in disbelief at both Zhang Yi’s score and his own, more and more students received their report cards and saw their school-wide rankings.

After all the cards were distributed, Zhang Yi and Hu Xia returned to their seats. Only then did Zhang Yi look down at the report card on his own desk. The first line, clear as day, bore his own name.

First place!

Zhang Yi’s heart swelled with excitement. He wanted to share the news with Sima Yuan, who sat beside him, but just then, Guo Aiqing tapped the podium. "Quiet," she said.

"In this assessment, several students in our class performed exceptionally well."

"For example, we have Zhang Yi, who ranked first in the entire school, followed by Hong Tianyi at twenty-seventh, Sima Yuan at twenty-ninth, and Shen Mengting at thirty-eighth!"

"We also have a few students who seemed to be holding back during the last preliminary test, but who have now leaped straight into the honors classes!"

"These students, eight in total, will all be moving to the honors classes!"

"The rest of you should learn from their example!"

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

Thunderous applause erupted from the students.

"On top of that, I have another piece of good news for all of you!"

"After this exam, I will also be transferring to the honors division to serve as a homeroom teacher!"

"Any students from this class who are moving up, if you don’t want to be placed in Honors Class Two, you can come see me. Just let me know, and I’ll have you all transferred into Honors Class One!"

As she said this, Guo Aiqing gave Zhang Yi a long, meaningful look.

"Additionally, your break starts this afternoon and will last until the end of the weekend. That’s two and a half days for everyone to go home and get some rest!"

"As for the rewards for your new class placements, those will be distributed by your new homeroom teachers on Monday morning."

"So please be patient."

"Over the past half-year or so, I’ve had a relatively pleasant time with all of you in this class."

"I wish all of you continued success and a bright future in your new classes!"

As she spoke these words, Guo Aiqing’s sincerity was palpable, and the students below could feel it, too.

And so, applause rang out once more.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

"Alright, class is dismissed!"

"Zhang Yi, come to my office. The rest of you may leave school!"