Chapter 318: Rankings Taught Everyone to Respect Each Other

Chapter 318: Rankings Taught Everyone to Respect Each Other

Watching Zhang Yu, who still didn’t know his own ranking, Li Xiao sighed inwardly, "Is this what they call 'remaining calm in the face of major events'?"

"On the very night the exams ended, he didn’t even rush to refresh the rankings… to check…"

"Steady, truly steady."

"After finishing the exams, knowing full well that his abilities had improved dramatically and his results were about to soar."

"Yet he could resist looking—such a spirit, unaffected by external distractions, is truly remarkable…"

Putting himself in Zhang Yu’s shoes, Li Xiao was certain he could never achieve this. If he knew his results would be good, the moment the time came, he wouldn’t be able to resist refreshing the leaderboard.

Meanwhile, in the Foundation Class group chat, the homeroom teacher Jiao Lei was still speaking.

Jiao Lei Zhenren: I want to especially commend classmate Zhang Yu.

Jiao Lei Zhenren: I still remember not long after classes began in June, Zhang Yu’s performance gradually slipped to the middle and lower ranks.

Jiao Lei Zhenren: But in just eight months, he climbed step by step to second place in the class, achieving a transformative improvement. This is something all classmates should learn from.

Jiao Lei Zhenren: Of course, aside from him, the top three students in the class are all outstanding. I have already applied for scholarship loans for them this semester.

At the construction site, Zhang Yu’s hands, pouring concrete, unconsciously slowed down.

"University teachers indeed have their unique insights, evaluating students with penetrating clarity."

First, he saved screenshots of the class ranking and the teacher’s comments, then Zhang Yu turned to the messages from others.

…

As a colleague who had worked alongside him for three months, Che Yufei was actually quite curious about Zhang Yu’s final exam results.

After all, in his eyes, Zhang Yu looked like he could collapse at any moment, yet he persisted with his medication, completely obsessed with university life.

"Taking finals in that state… the results must be dismal, right?"

Driven by curiosity, since returning, every day at the leaderboard update time, while refreshing his own ranking, he would also check Zhang Yu’s ranking.

And today, with one glance, his eyes widened in shock, thinking inwardly, "Second place?"

"Higher than that rich kid Gongshu Jin in his class, who’s at the fourth layer?!"

"This guy… if he can survive through university graduation, I can’t even imagine how high his salary will be."

At that moment, Che Yufei felt as though he were witnessing the rise of a new star in the civil engineering department.

After taking a screenshot of the leaderboard, Che Yufei sent it to Shi Yunxiang: Xiang, look at Zhang Yu’s ranking.

Then, after a moment’s thought, he sent a message to Zhang Yu: Impressive, shooting up to second in the class.

…

In the Spirit Realm.

As a soul cultivation student at Fengdu Information Vocational Technical College, Zhao Tianxing scanned through the stream of comments on the platform before him.

"F*ck you! Garbage review! Taking bribes to whitewash, hope you go bankrupt tomorrow and spend your whole life as a soul cultivator!"

Zhao Tianxing’s eyes flickered, selecting to delete the comment for reasons of insult and abuse, then muting the user for a month.

"Divine Transformation True Monarch-recommended courses, latest cultivation resources, Dual Cultivation practitioners offering personal training services, click my profile."

Zhao Tianxing silently chose to delete it, selecting violation of marketing rules as the reason, then permanently muted the user.

As a flood of platform comments cascaded before his eyes, Zhao Tianxing continuously processed them.

Suddenly, a notification sound rang out.

Zhao Tianxing’s heart stirred slightly, and he immediately looked over.

Since reaching the second layer, as his soul cultivation skills steadily improved, Zhao Tianxing gradually integrated them into his daily life.

For instance, the notification sound at this moment was part of the automated operations he had set up himself.

There were many specific trigger conditions: reminders for expiring coupons, reminders for soon-to-renew Spirit Realm services, reminders for scraping benefits from various platforms… and also reminders for changes among classmates.

Such as notifications for changes in the displayed rankings of friends.

"Zhang Yu is second in his class?"

"Truly strong, he’s this formidable even at the second layer."

Zhao Tianxing was about to send a message over, but after a moment’s thought, he first opened a document and began writing.

After reviewing the version he had written, he hesitated again, finally selecting what he felt was the most natural one and sending it.

Zhao Tianxing: Impressive.

Just as Zhao Tianxing was about to send a second sentence…

The next moment, a warning message appeared before him.

Warning: During work hours, use of chat functions unrelated to business is prohibited.

…

Seeing the message from Zhao Tianxing, Zhang Yu replied: Just a small achievement, not worth mentioning.

Noticing that the other party didn’t reply further, Zhang Yu didn’t mind—after all, soul cultivation students were busy.

Zhang Yu then casually opened messages from others, mostly a few classmates, some hometown friends who had added him and noticed the ranking change.

And, of course, his good roommates.

In the dorm group chat, Yu Xinghan said: Bro, not going to send a red envelope?

Zhang Yu replied: You’re ninth, made it into the top ten, and you didn’t send a red envelope either.

Zhang Yu still remembered his first day back in the dorm, when Yu Xinghan insisted on pulling him over, asking Zhang Yu to see what was different about him, then repeatedly flaunted his class ranking of seventh at the time. And Yu Xinghan also remembered his first sight of the white-haired Zhang Yu, feeling relieved he hadn’t been selected for that field project.

"If even Zhang Yu was worn down like this, wouldn’t I have never come back if I went? These civil engineering bastards aren’t treating students like cattle—they’re using them like soul cultivation students, right?"

But today, seeing Zhang Yu surge to second place in one go, Yu Xinghan had to admit that the other had indeed gained tremendously over those three months.

Yet, watching Zhang Yu recover day by day over the past week, Yu Xinghan knew he truly couldn’t emulate it.

Yu Xinghan thought to himself, "His constitution is too freakish."

At the same time, Le Mulan also popped up in the dorm group chat: What’s happening?

Zhang Yu quickly posted screenshots of the class ranking and Jiao Lei’s comments, but received no response from Le Mulan.

Zhang Yu: @Le Mulan?

Le Mulan forwarded the screenshots to her brother Le Jingchen, saying, "Zhang Yu has made huge progress. Can we raise the price for Yu Juice?"

Seeing Zhang Yu @ her, Le Mulan hurriedly replied: Zhang Yu, you’re amazing! When are you coming back to the dorm?

Zhang Yu: Working overtime, probably in the morning.

Just then, Zhang Pianpian also appeared, though she didn’t speak in the dorm group chat, instead sending a private message: I secretly watched your exam footage. You acted well, just next time you could bleed a bit more.

Zhang Pianpian: Going all out is good cover, and you controlled the score nicely too. Second place is a good spot—after all, taking first would be too high-profile.

Reading his sister’s message, Zhang Yu thought, "No… I was really giving it my all, damn it."

In the blink of an eye, the night passed. After working through the night, Zhang Yu’s body had mostly recovered.

"This remnant ox heart-mind technique is truly too useful."

"I wonder where one could find the matching chain method diagram set."

As Zhang Yu walked out of the construction site, he felt the ranking above his head grow more vivid and dazzling.

Along the way, he could occasionally see workers drawn to the ranking on his head, looking at him with respectful gazes.

The Qi Refinement students even stepped back one after another, afraid of accidentally blocking his path.

Even some senior Civil Engineering students nodded slightly when their eyes met Zhang Yu's.

Zhang Yu sighed inwardly, "Fu Ji, this university ranking indeed has its merits, making people respect each other more."

Upon hearing this, Fu Ji cursed inwardly, "You damn well didn’t say that before."

But thinking of Zhang Yu’s performance in this final exam, Fu Ji was secretly shocked: "Every time I feel his talent is already astonishing, this kid always manages to show something even more incredible."

As someone who accompanied Zhang Yu 24/7, even witnessing the process of him rewarding himself, Fu Ji deeply understood... Zhang Yu definitely didn’t have this kind of constitution that allowed him to casually take life-shortening pills before.

"I always feel like this guy... seems to have secretly grown stronger somewhere I don’t know about, but I’ve been with him every moment. What’s going on?"

"Could he be a reincarnated immortal?"

"Impossible, what reincarnated immortal is this poor?! And reincarnated into the first floor?"

Just as Zhang Yu was sighing and leaving the construction site, Sheng Jie at the entrance saw him and was slightly taken aback.

Staring at the ranking above Zhang Yu’s head, Sheng Jie murmured inwardly, "Second in the Foundation Establishment class? Zhang Yu is actually second in the Foundation Establishment class?"

"Yesterday... Could it be that he just took the exam yesterday, so the ranking was updated late at night?"

While Sheng Jie was inwardly shocked, feeling Zhang Yu’s gaze upon him, he instinctively nodded toward him in mutual acknowledgment.

At that moment, a security guard classmate beside him said, "Isn’t that your classmate? He..."

The other’s words were only half-spoken before being stifled in his throat.

The ranking of second in the Foundation Establishment class above Zhang Yu’s head seemed to carry a tangible pressure, firmly blocking the security guards’ throats.

They understood that anyone who could achieve second place in the Foundation Establishment class was definitely no ordinary person.

Watching Zhang Yu leave respectfully, the security guards immediately gathered around Sheng Jie, curiously asking, "Is he really from your first floor?"

...

Returning to the dormitory, taking his morning medicine, and changing clothes, Zhang Yu prepared to go to class as usual.

Although the first semester’s final exams had just ended, the second semester was about to begin.

From March onward until the second semester’s final exams in August, the entire freshman year would be completely over.

Today, as Zhang Yu entered the classroom, he could feel many pairs of eyes turning toward him.

At the same time, Li Xiao waved to him and Yu Xinghan, saying, "Brother Yu! There’s a seat here!"

Classes, blood draws, cultivation... In the blink of an eye, the day passed.

That evening, Zhang Yu opened the communication link with Bai Zhenzhen as usual and heard her say, "Not bad, Yu, second in the class."

Zhang Yu smiled proudly and replied, "This result barely does justice to my efforts."

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Mom sent you some more meat. You’re physically depleted now, so you need to nourish yourself more."

"And when are you going to fix that hair of yours? The white hair looks so worn out, making you seem old and poor, easy for people to look down on."

"Got it, got it." Zhang Yu looked at the gown Bai Zhenzhen was wearing and asked curiously, "Ah Zhen, are you attending an event?"

Bai Zhenzhen nodded, "Yes, the opening ceremony of the Ten Great Leagues. This year’s Ten Great Leagues are being held at Tianjian University. I’m just here to take a look."

Seeking monthly votes.

(End of chapter)