Chapter 80: Am I Already in First Place?

After breakfast, Chen Meng went straight to school. He was busy absorbing the effects of the potion, and with only a few cultural classes left in the curriculum, he had already mastered all the rune, alchemy, and artifact courses through page-flipping learning. Staying at school any longer would simply be a waste of time. Thus, he planned to request leave.

Although he had taken the Divine Body Advancement Potion ahead of schedule and gained an early advantage, he knew he needed to work even harder—every second counted now.

On the way, Ma Yi Qun glanced at Chen Meng, sensing a change in him.

"Chen Meng, I feel like you’re different," Ma Yi Qun scratched his head. "You used to be just like me, but now it’s as if you’ve soared into the sky. I feel like I have to look up to you."

Chen Meng noticed the slight grievance in Ma Yi Qun’s expression; it was as if they had agreed to struggle together, but he had secretly risen above the rest.

He suspected Ma Yi Qun’s need to look up to him was due to the Divine Body Potion’s effect.

"What’s different? I’m still me, still Chen Meng, your childhood friend," Chen Meng laughed, patting Ma Yi Qun's shoulder. "Don’t overthink it. When I make it big, I won’t forget you."

But he'd only just advanced and hadn’t fully mastered his strength. His pat sent Ma Yi Qun tumbling to the ground.

Both were stunned, staring at each other in silence.

"Alright, I’ve actually become a Divine Body being, but my control over my strength isn’t perfect yet," Chen Meng admitted helplessly.

"You—a Divine Body being?" Ma Yi Qun thought he must have misheard.

"You heard right. I ascended to Divine Body status last Saturday, on my birthday," Chen Meng repeated. "What can I say? Some people are just gifted. And what I said earlier still stands."

Ma Yi Qun took a moment to accept this, then solemnly replied, "Fine, I’ll remember that."

For some reason, Ma Yi Qun felt Chen Meng’s promise might actually help him someday.

Chen Meng helped Ma Yi Qun up, and together they headed to school.

Suddenly, Ma Yi Qun remembered something. "By the way, you didn’t come yesterday, and the mock exam papers for alchemy and artifact crafting were handed out. But I didn’t see yours."

"Mine wasn’t there?"

Chen Meng was puzzled.

Ma Yi Qun guessed, "Maybe because you were absent—your paper’s still with the teacher."

Chen Meng sighed. Looks like he’d have to ask about it.

There were four periods that morning; the first two were rune classes. As soon as class began, the rune teacher, Yang Shu, entered carrying the exam papers.

"Alright, class leader, hand out the papers. Today we’ll go over the mock exam," Yang Shu instructed. Ni Hu went to collect the papers, recruited three others to help, and it took about five minutes to distribute them all.

Chen Meng received his paper, noting the odd look the distributing student gave him—he wondered if he had something on his face.

He glanced at his paper and was dumbfounded.

150!

Chen Meng could hardly believe it—he’d scored full marks!

Beside him, Ma Yi Qun was even more shocked, blurting out, "Holy crap, Chen Meng, you got a perfect score!"

Boom!

Ma Yi Qun’s exclamation set the whole class abuzz. Though Chen Meng had scored 133 points on the last test, no one expected him to get a perfect score this time. Rune studies were the hardest subject, and rarely did anyone in the school score above 140, let alone full marks.

Tang Wenjing looked at Chen Meng in awe, her face full of admiration.

"How is this possible?" murmured class leader Ni Hu, comparing his own paper—he’d scored 136, which he considered impressive.

Other students whispered among themselves.

"Is he even human?"

"This guy must be cheating!"

"Damn, that’s inhuman. I only got seventy-two, not even half his score."

"Uh-oh, Ni Hu lost his top spot. Maybe even his overall lead is gone."

...

Chen Meng glanced at the gazes around him, sighing, "Too bad the paper’s only worth 150 points—I could have scored even higher."

That remark made many grit their teeth in irritation.

Ma Yi Qun flushed with anger. "Chen Meng, I want to beat you up. What do you think?"

Chen Meng chuckled. Would you ask me if you could actually win?

Truth was, Ma Yi Qun couldn’t beat him now even if all the others joined in.

Yang Shu shook his papers and spoke gravely, "Enough chatter. Chen Meng’s rune score is the highest in our class and the entire senior year. The second-highest is a student in Class Three, with 146. Last test, I noticed Chen Meng left two easy questions blank but solved the harder ones instead. I realized then he was hiding his true strength. This mock exam confirmed my suspicion—his rune skills are at the highest level a high school student can achieve, enough to teach you all."

The students were stunned, and so was Chen Meng.

Was this official praise?

He hadn’t left those questions blank on purpose last time—he just hadn’t flipped to those pages!

But truth be told, the page-flipping system was astonishing, embedding knowledge deeply.

Everyone stared at Chen Meng, who could only shrug helplessly. "I’m not that extraordinary—I just work a little harder than you."

Ma Yi Qun stared at him in disbelief. Could Chen Meng be any more shameless?

Work harder? He knew exactly how Chen Meng used to be—he might as well claim to be a genius.

"How could he be this good?" Ni Hu gripped his paper, feeling as if his most treasured possession had been snatched away.

Yang Shu said nothing more, but his admiration for Chen Meng grew.

He began reviewing the papers, but after two periods, he hadn’t finished; he postponed the rest for next time.

After a twenty-minute break, the homeroom teacher began the Ancient Language class.

"Hand out the cultural exam papers," he told Ni Hu, then turned to Chen Meng. "Chen Meng, come collect your alchemy and artifact papers. You were absent yesterday, so I held onto them. You did well this time—keep improving your cultural scores. Let’s see if you can vie for the top spot in Jiangzhou City, or even in Yangzhou Province."

Chen Meng was startled.

He had no such ambition. He just wanted to get into Jiangdu University; city or provincial top scorer titles were meaningless unless they came with a hefty reward.

The other students gasped. Chen Meng was aiming for the city and provincial top spots—his scores must be incredible.

The homeroom teacher explained, "Chen Meng scored 146 in alchemy—second in the year—and 149 in artifact crafting—first in the year. His cultural score was odd; he left many questions blank and scored only 175. His total was 620, but according to exam rules, if you get a perfect score in one subject, you get an extra 30 points. So Chen Meng’s total is 650—the highest in our class, one point above class leader Ni Hu."

Everyone gasped.

"Is he even human? He didn’t pass the cultural exam but still placed first?" someone exclaimed. "He must be a monster, hiding his strength for three years just to show off now."

"My top spot is gone..." Ni Hu murmured. Since joining the class, his overall grade ranking fluctuated, but he’d always held the top spot in class. Today, he lost it.

He trembled, his mind blank.

How could this happen?

How could he lose his top spot? It was his only, most precious thing.

Chen Meng was equally stunned. Was he really number one now?

It was as if he hadn’t exerted himself, yet everyone else had already fallen.