Chapter 82

The seating for the final exam was scattered across the entire grade and assigned at random.

After the exam ended, news that a ruthless person in one exam room had achieved enlightenment mid-test spread like wildfire.

The students in Song Yi’s exam room envied the ones sitting closest to her. Students in the other exam rooms envied everyone who had been in the same room as her.

Those farther away had been affected less, but it was definitely still better than not being affected at all. After receiving the news, everyone swarmed into that exam room to “find the feeling.”

By then, that mysterious and profound fluctuation of spiritual energy was already gone, but a trace of its charm still lingered, and that did nothing to dampen everyone’s enthusiasm for freeloading some karmic luck.

The teachers had no choice but to stay behind and maintain order. There was no ruling out the possibility that the teachers also wanted to freeload a little. Enlightenment was a state everyone wanted. Otherwise, why would Enlightenment Peak be so important at school?

Song Yi alone had achieved enlightenment, and the charm she left behind could not compare to Enlightenment Peak, but this charm fluctuation was fresh!

Someone even said to the teacher, “Teacher, I want to learn this too!”

Teacher: I want to learn it myself, but is this something you can learn?

Fortunately, Song Yi had left early. If people found out she was the one who had achieved enlightenment, forget the little cub appearance she had now—even in her adult form, she would have been plucked bald.

However, she could avoid the whole school, but she could not avoid Li Wenwen and the others.

They had been assigned to different exam rooms. Being well-informed, they naturally knew about the “miracle” in a certain exam room, but none of them went to join the crowd. Instead, they blocked Song Yi directly.

Amid Song Yi’s protests, they held her two little hands, touched her little face a couple of times, and carried their petty advantage-taking through to the end.

Then Song Yi’s stationery was divided up by Lin Ze and Wang Yisheng, while Song Yi’s school uniform and hair ribbon were stripped away by Li Wenwen.

Song Yi stood disheveled in the wind, wearing a loose, baggy school uniform because it was Li Wenwen’s, but it still was not over. She sensed a faint, lingering gaze.

From the side, Lu Shan suddenly darted out, hoisted Song Yi’s broad sword, and ran. “Lend it to me for two days. I’ll return it later.”

No one had expected that their competitor would turn out to be Lu Shan, who was usually excellent in both character and academics and never participated in troublemaking.

Li Wenwen reacted first. Song Yi had refined the broad sword as her lifebound sword. She had painstakingly stripped away the school uniform, but the effect might not even be as good as Lu Shan’s, despite Lu Shan coming in later.

“Lu Shan, let’s trade!” Li Wenwen charged toward her.

“No, no, no. I got this with my own ability.” Naturally, Lu Shan would not let her succeed.

Li Wenwen looked at Song Yi. She could not rely on ability, but she could rely on connections!

However, Lu Shan also looked at Song Yi. Someone had tricked her more than once, oh, and had promised more than once to carry her to victory, oh.

Song Yi became the sandwich cookie between the two girls. She felt that she had borne a weight she should not have had to bear at this age.

She asked helplessly, “Lu Shan, why are you joining in this kind of excitement just like them?”

Blazing flames burst from Lu Shan’s eyes. “This isn’t joining the excitement! This is the self-cultivation of a top student!”

Although Song Yi had said she would protect her in the future, a child like Lu Shan, who did not stir up trouble, basically had nothing that required Song Yi’s protection. Only this time did Lu Shan’s eyes blaze with determination to win. Nothing else mattered, but she also needed to replenish herself with a little of enlightenment’s charm!

It was not that Lu Shan lacked confidence in her grades. It was just that grades were the kind of thing where good could always become better. As long as you had ambition, the road ahead had no end.

Damn it, she also wanted to be blessed by enlightenment’s flash of insight!

Song Yi could only spread her hands helplessly at Li Wenwen. When a top student became stubborn, it was terrifying.

Lu Shan had aimed at the right opportunity and struck decisively only after they had finished dividing everything up. Now, asking for it back would not be morally justified.

Of course, the most important point was this: Song Yi really owed her a favor. Otherwise, was her lifebound sword something others could just snatch away because they said so?

After the final exam ended, before school vacation began, there was still a closing ceremony, which was also a parent-teacher meeting in disguise. Each student’s situation that semester would be organized and reported to the parents, including homework, major and minor exams, club activities, and so on.

Every parent would receive a jade slip called a Time Letter. It might record highlight moments, or it might contain embarrassing black history. Once these children grew up, they would understand that black history was also a part worth remembering.

Some children might feel nervous. This was also a public execution segment. It felt like their butts were in danger.

Although the cultivation world strictly prohibited child abuse, some hot-tempered parents still inherited the “fine tradition” and used “ancient methods” for an education of love, commonly known as spanking.

This could make the child feel pain without harming the child’s cultivation foundation or brain. Therefore, it was not within the scope of “abuse” as defined by the cultivation world.

Of course, there were still relatively few nervous children. After all, real bratty children generally already had this awareness. There were even brat-child guides on the Spirit Net, such as how to prepare before being beaten so it hurt the least, and how to behave afterward to make the parents feel guiltier…

Do not underestimate bratty children. Once they became professional, there was nothing left for anyone else to do.

In short, for most students, once the exam ended, it was basically equivalent to vacation.

The whole school became noisy. All the energy that had been suppressed while preparing for finals burst free. Even people who usually followed discipline would let themselves go a little at times like this.

Sword-riding was not allowed outside the sports field, but at times like this, someone might suddenly fall into the corridor with a splat.

The school had a special beast-taming garden to facilitate the study of managing demon beasts for students on the beast-taming track, but in the end, all the demon beasts were released. Anyone who did not know better would have thought they were holding a Ten Thousand Beasts Race event…

The scene could be called extremely chaotic.

In previous years, the school teachers and security guards handled these accidents, but now there was a Discipline Department, so the pressure had been passed to the Discipline Department’s side.

The Discipline Department stood ready for battle and simply began conscripting helpers on the spot, catching the students who were causing trouble and making them work too.

Was it everyone’s imagination, or did this year’s situation seem a little more chaotic?

Meeting everyone’s gazes, Song Yi immediately cleared herself of blame. “I didn’t do anything. Ah, no, I did work!”

Although there were indeed times when she was active on the front lines of troublemaking, this time she was conscientiously fulfilling her duties as the Discipline Department minister.

These people actually suspected her. Where was the trust between people?

Everyone turned their faces away as if nothing had happened, laughing perfunctorily. “Mm-hm, it’s absolutely not your fault. We all believe you. It must be that this year’s new students have gotten naughtier.”

Song Yi lifted her head and puffed out her chest, firmly refusing to take this blame.

However, while she was at it, she also caught Li Wenwen, who was trying to fish in troubled waters.

Because Li Wenwen had failed to hold back and had joined the ranks of the little kids running wild, only to be grabbed back by Song Yi with a dark expression. “Hurry up and work!”

Li Wenwen decisively used the skill of selling out a teammate. “Little Yi, you caught the wrong good person. It was Tie Yuan who released the demon beasts from the beast-taming garden.”

Tie Yuan was not foolish enough to stand there and let her frame him. He activated his cuteness skill. “Little Yi, I didn’t do it on purpose, but Li Wenwen used a lightning-drawing talisman in the beast-taming garden and startled the demon beasts, so this happened.”

Li Wenwen said again, “That was because that profiteer asked me to help test something. I accidentally used the wrong talisman. That guy made quite a lot of money while this was happening, you know.”

Lin Ze also defended himself. “A lot of those prank talismans were made by our club. This year, more students are interested in sword Dao, so that’s why so many people are riding swords and doing tricks.”

What bad thing could he have done? He was just making a bit of money from this market trend. Besides, the bulk of it still went to the club.

Song Yi’s head hurt. She suddenly could no longer be as righteous and confident as before.

Because she discovered that although she did not seem to have participated in the troublemaking ranks, she seemed to bear a great deal of responsibility for the school atmosphere turning into this.

Sword Dao was something she had wanted to promote. A lot of prank talismans were produced by her club. Tie Yuan had come to Cloud Elementary because of her. Li Wenwen and Lin Ze were her friends…

Song Yi thought of a saying: one rat dropping ruins a whole pot of porridge.

But she quickly shook her head and solemnly changed to another way of thinking: this was called injecting a different vitality into the school.

This was a good thing!

Song Yi lifted her head and faced the world again.

Literature and History really was important. If she had not studied properly, how could she have thought of so many names for things?

Homeroom teacher: I did not teach Literature and History so you could use it to find excuses!

In any case, when the parents arrived, the scene was still relatively well-controlled. There were small accidents but no major trouble. Cloud Elementary displayed the proper flourishing appearance of an elementary school on the rise.

Song Yi was not worried about the parent-teacher meeting at all, because she did not have any parents.

Looking at the little children who were either upset or excited because of their end-of-term rewards, Song Yi’s mindset was steady as could be. O little cubs fretting over gains and losses, you should learn a little of this old ancestor’s bearing.

“Student Song Yi has won this year’s Star of Progress,” the homeroom teacher announced her name from the stage.

In fact, when it came to Song Yi’s end-of-term award, the teachers had hesitated for a long time between Merit Student and Star of Progress.

Without question, Song Yi was outstanding. She had won a lot of glory for the school, and she had even charged into the top ten of the entire grade on the final exam. Was this not absolutely deserving of a Merit Student award?

If this matter had involved anyone else, there would not have been so much hesitation. But Song Yi was also very special. A Merit Student was undoubtedly a representative of excellence in both character and academics, but when they thought about her Moral Education, then thought about her true academic level… the teachers fell into silence.

Yes, even though she had charged into the top ten of the grade, the teachers still knew her true academic level.

Using a cheat was a kind of ability, but it was not an ability one could count on every time, right?

So in the end, Song Yi’s award still became Star of Progress.

It was not to reward her for her rapid improvement on the final exam, but because compared to when she first enrolled, even without the support of enlightenment, she had already improved a lot.

Song Yi strode onto the stage to receive the award with a carefree gait that disowned all her relatives. The homeroom teacher pinned a bright red flower to her chest and said with a smile, “Song Yi, I hope I can give you a Merit Student award next semester.”

What she meant was to encourage Song Yi to study hard next semester and make progress in both academics and Moral Education.

However, Song Yi waved her hand and said very sincerely, “It’s fine. I don’t need to rely on Merit Student to save face, and there’s no extra prize money. It’s about the same as Star of Progress. Leave that award for other classmates who need it.”

After staying here for one semester, this old ancestor had also learned to take care of these cubs.

A burst of laughter immediately rose from below the stage.

The classmates and the students’ parents all laughed.

The homeroom teacher helplessly rubbed Song Yi’s little head. Forget it. Today was a good day, so she would not argue with her.

One student’s parent happened to be a reporter. He had long heard of Song Yi’s famous name.

A genius like this was often excellent material. Out of professional habit, he could not resist asking, “Student Song Yi, can you talk about your experience with improving so much? Let everyone learn from it too.”

People who did not know the inside story would all think this Star of Progress award was for her final exam results.

The homeroom teacher closed her eyes. She had a bad feeling.

Song Yi had never had stage fright. Since someone had asked, she said openly, “Sure.”

“Actually, it was extremely difficult for me to improve my grades this much.”

The student’s parent secretly took notes: Song Yi is a hardworking-type genius.

“First, everyone must have confidence and the courage to burn your boats. Second, in the exam room, you must calm your mind and steady your qi. Do not be influenced by others, and work hard to search for that one flash of insight…”

The parents nodded repeatedly. This should be Song Yi’s exam-taking experience. Although it was a little cliché, it also showed the universality of this kind of mindset and method.

The next second, Song Yi said, “Then you’ll be able to reach the state of enlightenment. By that point, you basically won’t do too badly on the exam.”

The nodding parents turned to stone. Immediately after, coughs rang out one after another in the classroom. Those who happened to be drinking water choked on it, while those who were not drinking water choked on their own saliva.

What the heck was that?

If my child could achieve enlightenment, would I still need to worry about a mere final exam?

Song Yi and the parents looked at one another. For a moment, the scene became a little awkward.

The student’s parent who had asked the question silently crossed out the note from earlier.

The homeroom teacher gave a dry cough and had no choice but to step forward to smooth things over. She laughed stiffly. “Haha, every child’s situation is different, so the methods that suit them are different too. We’ll stop the experience sharing here for now.”

This experience was completely useless for anyone else to reference!

“Student Song Yi, come take a photo with your parents.”

Song Yi felt that she did not need this process and was about to walk down when she saw two people hurry in through the back door of the classroom. “Sorry, we’re late.”

The ones who had come were Zhang Xuan and Li Xiu.

They did not have children, so whose parents they had come as went without saying.

“Little Song Yi, this big red flower really suits you.”

They took Song Yi’s little hand. “Come, come, come. Help us take a prettier photo.”

Song Yi muttered, “Didn’t you have to be on duty today?”

“Today is your closing ceremony. Of course we had to come. We just swapped shifts with our coworkers.”

Song Yi pursed her lips. “You’re not my parents. There was no need to come.”

Zhang Xuan ruffled her soft hair. “It’s fine. We’ll use you to practice first. When we have children, we’ll be much more skilled.”

Song Yi puffed out her cheeks. She had only been being polite!

Li Xiu smiled and poked her tender little face. “He’s joking with you.”

They already knew she was a very formidable child, but they also knew that this child was still a little awkward when it came to expressing feelings.

They were just about to take a commemorative photo when someone else hurried over. “Wait a moment. I’m Student Song Yi’s parent. Sorry I’m late.”

The entire classroom burst into an uproar.

Because the person who had come was none other than Qin Ye. There were almost no people in the classroom who did not know him.

Qin Ye smiled and nodded to everyone, then strode over beside Zhang Xuan and Li Xiu and extended a hand toward them. “Hello.”

Zhang Xuan and Li Xiu were both stunned, then flattered beyond measure as they shook his hand. “Hello, hello.”

Did this count as freeloading something again?

It was decided. They would not wash their hands for the next few days!

Song Yi truly had not expected Qin Ye to make a special trip here. This was only a first-grade closing ceremony. It was not important. She had expected even less that he would come while directly showing his true face.

Fortunately, the closing ceremony was held separately by each class, and the other classes still did not know about the situation. Otherwise, there would probably have been even more people coming to watch the excitement.

“A primary school closing ceremony isn’t important to me, but it’s very important to you,” Qin Ye said. “Besides, who keeps a fake face on when taking a commemorative photo? I can’t look after you every day, but at the very least, I can back you up.”

Song Yi felt her eyes sting a little. Was a first-grade closing ceremony important?

To her in her previous life, it definitely was not.

But now, she suddenly felt that it was quite important.

The little child still stubbornly said, “If you really want to back me up, you should promote reducing our workload! Right now, all you’re doing is putting on a show. There’s no actual action at all.”

“All right, all right. We’re taking the photo!”

Song Yi looked at the adults standing behind her, then looked at the subject teachers standing in the front row, smiling as they watched her. She touched the big red flower on her chest and worked hard to strike the most dignified pose.

She suddenly thought: It would have been better if I had worked harder and gotten Merit Student.

A child’s honor was something she, an old ancestor, seemed to have no need to fight over. But still, she hoped this moment could be a little more perfect.

In the image that remained, Song Yi still had a serious little face just like usual. Then, the corners of her mouth quietly lifted, revealing a tiny glimpse of little tiger teeth.

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