On one side, winds rose and clouds surged; on the other, time passed in tranquil peace.
The clamor of the midday break hadn’t fully faded, and the air still carried a lingering heat and drowsiness.
The moment Lin Mo stepped into the classroom, a figure strode straight toward him.
Xue Zigui had one hand in his pocket, the other holding a phone whose screen was lit. Without ceremony, he tapped Lin Mo’s shoulder with the corner of the device—not too lightly, not too heavily.
"Provincial first prize. Congrats." His tone was flat, but his gaze remained fixed on the list of winners displayed on his phone.
Lin Mo raised an eyebrow. "Results are out? What about you?"
"Provincial second."
Xue Zigui finally looked up, the corner of his mouth quirking in something like self-mockery. "Made calculation errors in both the first and second rounds. Lucky to even keep the second prize."
He said it lightly, but Lin Mo remembered all too well the sheer frustration radiating off him when he realized he’d messed up.
Then came the red pen, copying every single mistake into his error-correction notebook, tearing through half a draft pad just to master five different solutions to one problem.
Ninety-nine percent perspiration, indeed.
"Anyone else from our school got provincial first prize?"
"Tong Di did, but the scores aren’t out yet—just the winners’ list. Teacher Xu might have more details."
Xue Zigui pocketed his phone, his gaze lingering on Lin Mo. A hint of envy, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, seeped through.
"If you’ve got provincial first, you’ll be heading to national training."
Lin Mo thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Probably during G2. Might not be able to come back for classes then."
National training usually lasted three to six months. You either got eliminated or dropped out.
Of course, it wasn’t a closed-off program—Lin Mo could still return for classes.
But the national competition was non-negotiable. The system had assigned the task, and completing it would likely push him to the next stage of cultivation—Core Formation.
Just as he sat back down, Ma Ruixiang’s head popped into the classroom doorway, his voice booming like a megaphone.
"Lin Mo, Xue Zigui! The homeroom teacher wants you in the office. Something about competition results."
The shout jolted the drowsy class awake.
Dozens of eyes snapped toward Lin Mo and Xue Zigui, a mix of curiosity and the usual numb resignation.
"Is this about that competition where Xue Zigui got tied up? Took forever for results to come out."
"Idiot, that was just the first round. The second got postponed. Scores are based on both combined."
"The world of geniuses… wouldn’t miss one more mortal like me."
Amid the murmurs, Lin Mo calmly stood and shot Xue Zigui a look.
Under the class’s collective gaze, the two filed out one after the other.
The office was packed.
A crowd of class representatives had come to submit assignments, and Lin Mo spotted Tong Dong among them.
From a distance, Tong Dong noticed him too, giving a slight nod.
Lin Mo returned the gesture.
When they reached Chen Xiaoya’s desk, her smile was harder to suppress than an AK’s recoil.
After all, Lin Mo and Xue Zigui were only G1. Provincial awards usually went to G2 students at the earliest.
"Congratulations. Not many G1 students make the provincial list." Chen Xiaoya’s eyes settled on Lin Mo.
"Especially provincial first prize. Barring surprises, after the class reshuffle, you’ll join the provincial team’s training and represent us at nationals."
The math competition process was lengthy. After provincial first prize came nationals, then—for top performers—national team selection, followed by internationals.
The whole ordeal stretched until July or August of the following year.
If a G2 student competed, they’d have no time left for G3 exam prep.
That was why national competitors earned direct admission to Huaqing University.
As everyone knew, only about half of Huaqing’s freshmen came through the standard entrance exam.
Top schools actively recruited students with exceptional talent in specific areas—like the author of the perfect-score essay The Death of Red Hare, who got a special admission to a 211 university.
The guaranteed admission rule existed as a safety net. Even if you bombed the entrance exam, Huaqing remained an option.
It was 2013, before the Strong Foundation Program, so only the top sixty at nationals got direct admission.
Lin Mo wasn’t fussed. The system doled out rewards in stages anyway.
System: [Forgot to give the city-round rewards, dammit! Ah well, I’ll bundle them this time.]
Casually, Lin Mo asked, "Teacher, can we see our scores yet?"
"Only the first round’s out. The second’ll take longer, but here’s what we have so far."
Chen Xiaoya pulled up the Guangdong Provincial Math Competition results.
The first-round rankings leapt off the screen.
An Yuesheng: 120
Lin Mo: 120
Tong Dong: 120
Behind Chen Xiaoya, Xue Zigui—silent until now—felt his eyelid twitch.
Three perfect scores?
Gu Muyu: 118
Zhu Ningyan: 116
......
Xue Zigui: 109
Xue Zigui took a deep breath. So this was how he landed provincial second.
But this was just the first round. The second was even harder.
Right then, Chen Xiaoya’s QQ group pinged with a new message.
The second-round scores and combined averages were out.
She clicked open the Word document.
Lin Mo: 120
Tong Dong: 118
An Yuesheng: 117
......
First in the province: Lin Mo.
No need to calculate averages. The title was his.
The first round alone only granted provincial second prize. To earn provincial first, you needed both rounds with an average in the top sixty-four.
The number of provincial first prizes varied by region, matching each province’s national quota.
But Lin Mo was the real deal.
Lin Mo gave a satisfied nod. His divine sense truly was unmatched.
Other math teachers had received the file too, their heads swiveling toward Lin Mo in the office.
Even Tong Dong.
Tong Dong walked right over.
"Congratulations. A true provincial first."
"You’re provincial second, aren’t you? The principal’s probably grinning ear to ear."
Xu Haoming nearly sprinted into the office.
His eyes darted around before locking onto Lin Mo.
"Lin Mo! There you are."
Lin Mo nodded casually. "Already know. Provincial first, right?"
"Exactly! First and second in the province, both from our school. The principal’s definitely grinning ear to ear."
Tong Dong glanced at Xu Haoming, then back at Lin Mo, and nodded emphatically.
"Seems the principal’s face really is about to split from smiling."
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
