Study Demon Cultivation System

Early autumn—the summer heat had not yet faded, and the winter chill had yet to arrive.

Yinghu High School—within the serenity, a storm was brewing.

Ding-ling-ling-ling-ling——

The final class of the day ended.

Classroom doors swung open one by one, and the noise gradually rose.

Moments later, the entire campus was flooded with a lively atmosphere.

Basketball, mobile games, clubs, underground couples.

Chasing, bickering, hand-holding, flirting glances.

The real part of the day had begun.

But Class 4, Grade 11, still had its door tightly shut.

Because their last class was with the homeroom teacher.

Kang! Kang! Kang!

At the front podium, Hu Chunmei—a woman in her forties—slammed the chalk against the blackboard with force.

“Still daydreaming! Still daydreaming!”

“The math test was out of 150 points. The grade average was 94.3. How much did our class get? 89.8! Not even passing!”

“I nearly got so angry I had to be hospitalized!”

“And this is with Lin Yujing scoring 148 points, earning back two points for the whole class!”

“Students, this isn’t just a small gap!”

“I’m still your homeroom teacher and the grade group leader. If you’re not embarrassed, I am!”

“I must apologize to the classes I’ve taught before—I was wrong.”

“You are the worst cohort I’ve ever had!”

“Except for Lin Yujing—you study quietly on your own, no need to listen to this lecture.”

“I feel bad even saying this to you, polluting your ears.”

All the students lowered their heads, used to it by now, staying silent.

Only Li Zheng, in the second-to-last row, clenched his fists secretly.

He truly felt motivated.

‘I'm still not working hard enough, only scored 117.’

‘Even though I’m second in the class, there’s still a fundamental gap between me and Lin Yujing’s 148.’

At that thought, Li Zheng glanced toward the window-side row in the middle of the classroom.

That girl—her long hair half-covered her face, white shirt loosely hanging, legs slanted as she leaned against the wall.

A white mechanical pencil twirled between her fingers, as if everything happening before her had nothing to do with her.

Unintentionally, she tucked her long hair behind her ear, revealing a serene, even slightly fragile-looking side profile.

As well as—white rubber earplugs.

Several students, even Hu Chunmei herself, noticed this scene.

Amidst the awkward silence, Li Zheng’s deskmate—a boy whose beard far outnumbered the hair on his head, whose weight nearly matched his height, and looked like he’d been repeating grades for years—suddenly raised his hand.

“Teacher, I know why Lin Yujing is so good at studying,”

He said, pointing to her ear.

“Because she never listens in class.”

“Liu Xin, GET OUT!!”

Hu Chunmei’s voice cracked.

“Yes!”

The boy’s eyes lit up, grabbing his bag and getting ready to leave.

“Sit your butt down!!”

Hu Chunmei shouted again.

“Say one more word and I’ll send you to the PE department.”

“……”

Liu Xin shrank his head back in fear and slumped into his seat.

Hu Chunmei clutched her chest, taking a long time to catch her breath.

“Lin Yujing is not like the rest of you—her talent is obvious, and her self-study is even more efficient.”

Hu took off her glasses, pinched her nose bridge, and sighed.

“Ordinary people, don’t imitate her. Learn from Li Zheng—use diligence to make up for lack of talent. Through effort, reach the highest level you can. That’s all your teacher asks of you.”

Several students turned their heads to glance at Li Zheng.

Indeed, Li Zheng was the textbook definition of a hard-working student.

Studying in class, studying after class, studying while eating, even memorizing vocabulary in the bathroom.

In over a year of high school, he’d achieved decent scores through extraordinary effort.

And yet, he remained just average.

That was probably the limit of an ordinary person.

At this moment, although Hu Chunmei was praising Li Zheng, it somehow hurt more than a scolding.

Li Zheng himself didn’t mind much, but Liu Xin beside him started grinding his teeth in discomfort.

He glared at Hu Chunmei like an old husky trying very hard to look fierce.

Hu Chunmei snorted and said,

“Alright, I get it. No one’s convinced. Everyone thinks they’re smart, and just a little effort would boost their scores, right?

Let me give you an elementary school problem to show you the difference between ordinary and extraordinary.”

As she spoke, Teacher Hu wrote a number on the blackboard—64.

“Ping pong elimination tournament, 64 participants. Winners advance, losers are eliminated, until a champion is determined. Question: how many matches are needed in total?”

Unlike the usual dry lectures, this elementary problem actually sparked the students’ enthusiasm—they all lowered their heads to scribble formulas.

Li Zheng started writing immediately, finishing in seven or eight seconds.

“Li Zheng has an answer already,”

Teacher Hu raised her hand.

“Explain your method.”

Li Zheng said,

“First round, 32 matches. Second round, 16 matches. Third round…”

“That’s enough. I get it,”

Teacher Hu said, scanning the room.

“Anyone with a different method?”

No one responded.

“Alright, that’s what ordinary looks like.”

Teacher Hu then looked at Lin Yujing.

“Someone help take out her earplugs.”

“No need. I can hear.”

Lin Yujing didn’t even lift her head.

“64 participants, one champion means 63 get eliminated. One person per match, 63 matches.”

The class was stunned.

“That’s what extraordinary looks like.”

Teacher Hu smiled in satisfaction.

“Now, who still thinks they’re smart enough to skip lectures like Lin Yujing?”

Silence.

Suddenly, Lin Yujing looked up and glanced at Li Zheng with a soft smile.

“Our elementary Olympiad math teacher taught us this. I just had better educational resources than Li Zheng. I’m not smarter than him.”

The room instantly filled with low whimpering sounds.

Was this humility?

No, this was showing off.

And getting away with it while showing off.

Even their homeroom teacher Hu Chunmei got played.

“Ahem…”

After restoring order, Hu Chunmei said,

“No problem. I’ll give you another one——

A bell chimes three times in six seconds. How many seconds will it take to chime six times?”

Li Zheng immediately began writing.

Almost simultaneously, Lin Yujing answered.

“10.”

Hu Chunmei’s expression changed.

“Don’t… don’t be so hasty… Think it over carefully…”

Before she finished, Li Zheng put down his pen.

“15.”

“……”

Hu Chunmei fell silent.

Moments later——

Lin Yujing suddenly let out a startled “Ah!”, hurriedly covered her mouth, then turned sharply to glare at Li Zheng.

Embarrassment, frustration, furrowed brows, and a death stare—all in one breath.

Not someone to mess with.

But Li Zheng showed no reaction at all.

Beside him, Liu Xin scratched what little hair he had left and muttered,

“If it takes 6 seconds to chime 3 times, shouldn’t 6 chimes take 12 seconds? Isn’t this an elementary school question?”

The rest of the class also came up with a variety of answers.

In the end, Teacher Hu made the final call.

“The correct answer is 15. Li Zheng got it right...”

Though her chest felt tight, she still began drawing diagrams on the blackboard.

“When a bell chimes three times—*dong—dong—dong*—there are only two intervals. That means it chimes once every 3 seconds. To chime 6 times, there are 5 intervals, so it takes 15 seconds.”

Liu Xin, though completely confused, slammed the desk and shouted,

“So you’re saying——our Li Zheng is smarter than Lin Yujing!”

*Snap!*

The pencil in Lin Yujing’s hand broke in two.

Her hair still veiled her face, hiding her expression, but her trembling made it clear she was not taking it well.

“One question… proves nothing…”

Hu Chunmei suddenly slammed the desk and widened her eyes.

“How did we even get here?! Average score! Focus on the average score!”

With that, she pulled out an entire stack of papers from beneath the podium.

She was always like this—like a real-life Doraemon.

Ignoring the students’ pleading eyes, Hu Chunmei snorted and began handing out test papers.

“These are freshly made this afternoon, still warm.”

“Start now. Whoever finishes can leave.”

“I’ll grade them on the spot. Anyone who fails doesn’t leave—parents get called!”

Detention. Exam. Call the parents.

The deadly trio.

Instantly, the classroom was filled with wails and moans.

Except for Li Zheng.

He rubbed his hands together, eyes shining with anticipation.

Perfect—he’d just been wondering where to find more practice problems.

And these were Teacher Hu’s original questions, ones he’d never seen before.

Curious. Excited.

Come on, classmates in the front—hurry up and pass them back.

*Rustle rustle rustle...*

When the test paper reached Li Zheng’s hands, it still carried the warmth of the copier.

As usual, he unfolded it, smoothed it out, and closed his eyes for a deep inhale.

*Mmm—*

That familiar scent of ink.

Refreshing, energizing.

In this comforting aroma of books and paper, the fatigue of the whole day seemed to vanish.

“I gotta ask…”

Liu Xin swallowed hard.

“Do you actually like studying, or are you just addicted to test papers?”

“Don’t exaggerate,”

Li Zheng replied calmly as he picked up his pen.

“Teacher Hu was right—ordinary people should do what ordinary people do. And just now, we’ve already proven that with steady effort, even someone like me has a chance to surpass a genius like Lin Yujing.”

*Scritch!…*

A scraping sound on the desk.

Looking over, he saw Lin Yujing glaring at him, jabbing her pen violently at her test paper, making muffled “Mm! Mm!” noises.

Li Zheng shook his head with a smile.

Studying wasn’t about competing. It was about self-improvement—about building a better future for the nation.

But then, Lin Yujing suddenly gritted her teeth, raised her arm to reveal a cartoon astronaut watch, and held up her index finger—a “1”.

Next, she pulled out a black hair tie from her pencil pouch and, with a solemn expression, tied her long hair into a ponytail——

*Ponytail mode: activated.*

Li Zheng gasped.

Not for a pop quiz, not for a monthly exam, not even for midterms—she never tied her hair up.

Only for finals, the ones that go on the official record, would she tie it up.

Lin Yujing was serious now.

Under the pressure of her aura, Li Zheng’s own expression gradually turned grave.

He realized—Lin Yujing wasn’t doing this out of rivalry.

It was about dignity. The dignity of a study goddess.

Li Zheng immediately closed his eyes and raised his hands.

He began doing eye exercises.

Liu Xin glanced left and right at the two of them, totally lost.

“What are you two even doing?”

“She said the competition starts in one minute,”

Li Zheng replied solemnly.

“Fine then. Challenging an unbeatable opponent once in a while and answering under pressure—it’s a good way to train.”

“Y’all are nuts. I’m out…”

Liu Xin slumped over his desk.

“Wake me up when my mom gets here.”

Li Zheng said no more.

Second set of eye exercises…

Just as he was pressing the Sibai acupoints, words suddenly began to appear in his field of vision.

【Have you become more knowledgeable today?】

【Study Demon Cultivation System, binding in progress…】

Li Zheng snapped his eyes open—the words were still there, and more were appearing.

【Based on your brain load, your learning efficiency has increased by 28 times.】

【Remaining study vitality for today: 26 hours.】

【Once vitality is depleted, knowledge can no longer be acquired.】

【Please use the system’s built-in functions to relax and recover.】

【You may also complete tasks to increase study efficiency and raise your vitality cap.】

【Binding complete. The following tutorial will help you understand the system.】

An experience bar-like element floated into view, labeled 0/26, with a multiplier notation: 28.

【Tutorial start——Please enjoy the learning process and use up today’s vitality.】