This humble Taoist priest wants to take the college entrance exam.

Chapter 26 Honor Roll

The students in Class 5 may be abstract, but they are not stupid at all, otherwise they wouldn't be classmates with Chen Shi'an.

Uh...you've got it backwards! Who came first, who came last?

At first, the classmates thought Chen Shi'an was transferred to Class 5 because of his outstanding grades. Well, now it's clear: Dao Ye is a complete novice, and even has to start learning from the basics of junior high school.

As students at Yunqi No.1 Middle School, they all know how difficult it is to get into Yunqi No.1 Middle School, let alone someone who joins midway through the semester. They either have outstanding academic performance, exceptional talents, or a wealthy family background.

Dao Ye's grades are gone, but as for his special skills... can cultivating Taoism really be considered a special skill recognized by the school?

As for his family background... it's hard to tell whether Dao Ye is rich or poor, but based on past experience, students who simply pay money to buy a place to study will never be able to transfer into the top classes.

After quickly eliminating all possibilities, only one thing remained—the Taoist priest had a powerful background!
Where is the sky at Yunqi No.1 High School? Besides the one sitting in the principal's office, where else could it be?
Not to mention he's the only one in the class who sits next to Lin Mengqiu. What kind of status does Mengqiu have? If it weren't for the principal's arrangement, who would be sitting next to her? No wonder Old Liang is so enthusiastic towards Dao Ye!
In a class that's neither too big nor too small, having two such figures makes everyone feel like they can't breathe...

Fortunately, Dao Ye was much easier to get along with than the class monitor, so everyone seemed to have found an outlet and transferred all the enthusiasm that originally belonged to Lin Mengqiu to Chen Shi'an.

"Master Dao! Our class is over here!"

Chen Shi'an had already arrived at the playground with his classmates to prepare for morning exercises. It was still the assembly phase, and everyone was standing scattered. From left to right, they were the various classes from Grade 1 to Grade 12, with Grade 12 Class 5 nestled in the middle.

"Do we need to queue?"

"Yes, boys in one line and girls in another. Daoist Master, just find a place to stand."

After quickly organizing the class, sports committee member Xu Zihan ran to the front of the class to prepare to lead the exercises.

Chen Shi'an was one of the tallest in the class, so he stood at the back of the boys' line.

In science classes, there are fewer girls than boys. The lines are supposed to be neat and orderly, so the extra boys join the girls' lines at the back until both lines are neat.

This was Chen Shi'an's first time doing morning exercises, and he found it quite novel.

He glanced around; the crowd was bustling, but he couldn't see Wen Zhixia. He guessed that because she was short, she had been placed in front of Class 11.

He easily spotted Lin Mengqiu; after all, they were in the same class, and she was tall, standing a few steps ahead of Chen Shi'an in the girls' line.

Unlike her classmates who were still chatting and talking, Lin Mengqiu was also quiet and serious during morning exercises. She stood there like a green bamboo by the water, her shoulders and back straight, yet with a lightness that seemed effortless. Her shoulder blades were faintly visible under her plain school uniform, like the outline of a butterfly's wings when they were folded.

Despite her elegant and ladylike demeanor, she always exudes a sense of aloofness. Even the sound of the wind brushing through her hair seems to be less pronounced than that of others.

Chen Shi'an noticed that, besides some boys in his own class, quite a few boys from other classes would also look at Lin Mengqiu with admiration. Unfortunately, the girl was staring into the distance, so it seemed that all those glances would be in vain...

As Chen Shi'an was looking at her, Lin Mengqiu turned her head, her gaze sweeping from the boys in the front row until it lingered on Chen Shi'an's face for a moment. She didn't look back and turned her head away again.

What does this mean? Are they checking if I came to do the exercises?

Chen Shi'an found it amusing. Even though he was very good at judging people, sometimes he couldn't understand what she was thinking. Sure enough, his master was right. Women's minds are the hardest to guess, and it's best not to tell fortunes for women.

It's time to do exercises.

Once assembled, the various classes began to spread out. From the school building, the scene was quite spectacular. The three or four thousand students gathered on the playground were like a square formation being moved by an invisible hand, radiating outwards from the center. The originally impenetrable human wall gradually cracked, and the morning sunlight took the opportunity to pour down from above, cutting out light and shadow spots between the moving figures.

In no time, the loose crowd had been stretched into a neat grid.

The air became fresher, and the obstruction of vision was relieved.

Chen Shi'an glanced in the direction of Class 11 again and finally spotted Wen Zhixia's figure through the gaps in the crowd.

She was talking to the girl behind her in line.

As a liberal arts class, Class 11 has the opposite male-to-female ratio to Class 5. In Class 5, boys help supplement the girls, while in Class 11, girls help supplement the boys.

Chen Shi'an thought for a moment and then asked Zou Xiaokun, who was in front of him in line.

"Xiaokun, what kind of class is Class 11?"

"The top liberal arts class, just like our class, is among the very best!"

Chen Shi'an took the initiative to ask him questions, which pleased Zou Xiaokun greatly. He chuckled and said, "Master Dao, there's nothing in our school that I don't know! If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me!"

Oh, it's a top class too. Looks like the chatterbox is doing well academically.

"How are classes divided in our school?"

"It's based on subject selection and grades. You start choosing subjects and being divided into classes in the second semester of your first year of high school. Then there are elite classes, key classes, and regular classes. After the major exams at the end of each semester, there will be a promotion and elimination system... Don't worry, Dao Ye, even if that idiot Zihan is eliminated, it won't eliminate you, Dao Ye."

"..."

"Master Dao, do you know how to do exercises?"

"What kind of exercise?" "Broadcast exercises, the kind the school does."

"I haven't studied it."

"How do Taoist priests maintain their health in the Taoist temple? Do they run?"

"Sit quietly and meditate, practice breathing exercises, or do exercises like Baduanjin, Wuqinxi, or Daoyin exercises."

Hearing Chen Shi'an's words, the 'awesome' expressions reappeared on the faces of his buddies around him.

"Can breathing be exercised?"

"Natural energy, regulating the breath is an important part of Qi cultivation. Inhaling Qi, eating Qi, swallowing Qi, circulating Qi, gathering Qi, breathing up, breathing down, full breathing, rushing breathing, holding breathing, long breathing, deep breathing... If you focus on the wind phase, your mind will be scattered; if you focus on the panting phase, your mind will be knotted; if you focus on the Qi phase, your mind will be tired; only by focusing on the breath phase can your mind be calm."

"Brother! Please take me as your apprentice! I really need to learn this!"

Chen Shi'an: "..."

The monkeys didn't think Chen Shi'an was showing off. He was so young yet so proficient in Taoist magic and cultivation. It wasn't that he wanted to show off; in fact, he was often the one showing off!

If you could learn even a move or two from this Taoist master, wouldn't you be incredibly cool when you go out?
Chen Shi'an will not accept a disciple who is not sincere.

The morning exercises have begun.

The students on the playground were rhythmically performing the designated movements to the music. The students in the front row were doing well, but the students in the back row were doing it sparsely.

Chen Shi'an didn't know how, so he stood and observed to learn. He found it wasn't difficult, so he practiced while watching, at a pace that was half a beat slower than others.

As for the evaluation... I can only say that the training effect is barely noticeable.

This set of movements mainly just moves the limbs, unlike what Chen Shi'an usually practices, which focuses more on mental training in addition to physical training.

After the morning exercises ended, the students gathered on the playground did not disperse immediately, but instead huddled together again, waiting for the school leaders to speak.

Today is the first day of school, and the person speaking on stage is Principal Lin.

Principal Lin rarely speaks on stage. Compared to other school leaders, students prefer Principal Lin to speak, simply because he is considerate of the students' hardship of standing. He usually just says a few words.

Vice Principal Zhou was a complete idiot; he couldn't get the microphone off his hands for at least half an hour!

As Principal Lin's own daughter, one wonders what Lin Mengqiu felt when she saw her father speaking on stage.

Chen Shi'an observed curiously and noticed that Lin Mengqiu, who was usually expressionless, repeatedly rolled her eyes and didn't even raise her head to glance at the podium...

Principal Lin on the stage, however, would occasionally glance in the direction of Class 5, Grade 11, to look at the little girl...

Fortunately, Vice Principal Zhou didn't bring a microphone today. Principal Lin briefly welcomed the first-year high school students and encouraged the second and third-year students to work hard before having the physical education teacher organize everyone to leave.

The quiet crowd then began to stir again.

With limited stairwells, some students who were at the end of the line and closest to the teaching building quickly ran upstairs, while others who were slower could only wait in line with the crowd at the stairwell entrance to slowly climb the stairs.

Chen Shi'an was among the slower ones to walk. The stairwell was completely blocked, but he didn't try to squeeze in.

He happened to see the honor roll on the bulletin board, so he stopped to take a look.

[science]
[第一名：高二五班、林梦秋——语文136分、数学150分、英语140分、物理95分、化学93分、生物92分，总分706分]
While grades are not the only criterion for evaluating a person, when it comes to learning outcomes, there is nothing more intuitive than academic ranking.

Chen Shi'an didn't have a strong sense of scores, but by comparing the two, he knew that Lin Mengqiu's academic performance was really excellent. She was 15 points higher than the second place. The top ten students were basically all above 670 points. You needed at least 600 points to get into the honor roll, which is the top 100.

Now that his master is gone, only he and Fei Mo are left at Jingchen Temple. Fei Mo does nothing but eat and sleep all day. It's a miracle if he doesn't bring shame to Jingchen Temple. The task of restoring Jingchen Temple's glory depends entirely on him. Of course, Chen Shi'an doesn't want to do too badly on his exams and embarrass Jingchen Temple, but he has just started school and his grades can't be rushed.

However, if the mind is unclear, one cannot see the truth; if the will is uncertain, one cannot achieve anything. One must still have a goal.

Chen Shi'an's goal is certainly not just to be in the top 100.

He stared at Lin Mengqiu's ranking and scores for a long time...

This little classmate is dishonest; she said she could get first place with 700 points, but it turns out she didn't include herself in the count...

Ha, what an arrogant deskmate. Can't he be a little more humble like him?

After looking at the science rankings, Chen Shi'an took a step forward and stood before the honor roll for the humanities.

The first name that caught my eye was so familiar—

[liberal arts]
[第一名：高二十一班、温知夏——语文141分、数学138分、英语146分、政治89分、历史92分、地理88分，总分689分]
Wen Zhixia's chattering personality was completely different from Lin Mengqiu's serious demeanor. Since they met on the bus yesterday, she had complained to Chen Shi'an endlessly about how hard and tiring studying was, and how she envied Taoist priests one minute and cats the next, howling all the while saying she didn't want to study...

Chen Shi'an thought her grades were at most average, but when he looked, he was surprised to find that she had quietly become the top student in the humanities!
You little chatterbox, you're not being honest either!
(End of this chapter)