Study Monster Cultivation System

Zhang Xiaoke scratched her head in frustration. A desolate figure drifted across like a forlorn ghost. The once lively atmosphere was suddenly enveloped in a layer of frost. Jiang Qinghua floated up to the podium like a wandering soul, picking up the eraser. He listlessly wiped the blackboard. In the midst of despair, chalk dust sprinkled down bit by bit. It was as if it was snowing. And he, was the snowman. This desolation caught someone's eye. Zhang Yue swiftly took a few steps over, snatched the eraser, and earnestly began to wipe the blackboard. "Don't bother with me…" Jiang Qinghua sighed heavily. "It's just wiping the blackboard, what's there to be so down about," Zhang Yue retorted as she turned, "We're all counting on you to perform in the basketball game at noon." Jiang Qinghua's expression jolted. The blows these past few days had been too frequent. He almost forgot about it. The basketball game. It was a battle between men. There wouldn't be any interference from Qiao Bixia, let alone from Lin Yujing. Moreover, this time the opponent was Class 2, their arch nemesis. Last year they had lost to them, stopping at the top eight in the grade. Today was the time to redeem that loss. Thinking about it, Jiang Qinghua couldn't help but glance at Lin Yujing who was blowing her nose. Every time I play basketball with you, I inexplicably underperform. It's time for you to see the real me when I go all out. The sophomore basketball game. It's my turf, Jiang Qinghua. The place for a man to turn the tables. Even if Lin Yujing doesn't come to watch, so what? The girls from all grades will be there. Lose to you. But win the entire world. That's not too shabby either. Jiang Qinghua immediately got his mojo back, grabbed the eraser, and furiously cleaned the board: "Men's business, stay out of it." Zhang Yue instantly became wistful. That Jiang Shuai, he was back. "Hey, they kind of make a good team," Zhang Xiaoke commented while enjoying the drama, and stowing away the 300 selected questions, "I heard the class leader isn't bad at basketball, our class should be able to win, right?" "We lost last year, and it's not certain this year," Li Zheng also subconsciously started stretching his wrists, "Everyone is improving." "Ha," Zhang Xiaoke laughed mockingly, "What are you pretending for, can you even play?" "Full court might be tough, but I can give half court a shot," Li Zheng replied with a nod. "I can't deal with you," Zhang Xiaoke sneered, "Relax, with my cheers, we will definitely win this year. Buy me a drink at lunch, I'll have even more energy when I cheer." "It should be you buying me a Red Bull," Li Zheng pondered, "The school probably won't drug test, might as well risk it." "Ha." "I'm serious." "Fine, fine, I'll buy," Zhang Xiaoke huffed with a laugh, "But let me make it clear beforehand, if you don't get to play, if you don't score ten or twenty points, then what?" Zhang Xiaoke thought about it clearly. Impossible. Sports were Li Zheng's Achilles heel. How could such a person be in the main lineup? It's utterly implausible. Looking at Zhang Xiaoke's provocative expression, Li Zheng felt somewhat suffocated: "Are you starting this again?" "And you, just switched up your style, don't get too cocky," Zhang Xiaoke waved dismissively, "If you don't meet the conditions, from now on you're buying me Nutri-Express every day." "Teacher Tang just said not to do this," Li Zheng defended. "It's okay if it's less than three people." "Alright then, since you put it so nicely," Li Zheng mused, propping his chin, "But honestly, I can't think of what I could use you for right now." "Seriously, I'm well-connected throughout high schools in the city," Zhang Xiaoke gestured, "We'll save it for later then, once I think of something." "That works," Li Zheng motioned, "For the sophomore basketball game, the average points per side is about thirty-five, if I score twelve points, that counts as a win for me, okay?" Zhang Xiaoke felt somewhat panicked looking at him, "Ten... sixteen points..." "Fourteen." "Deal!" Both of them turned away, ignoring each other. "Ah Qiu!!" Lin Yujing's symptoms were still ongoing. ... As the last bell of the morning rang, Tang Zhifei poked his head in from the doorway. ``` "The basketball game starts at 12:40." "The teacher has prepared drinks and snacks." "Everyone's going." "Starters, go have lunch quickly." "Liu Xin, don't eat too much!" Classmates hurriedly dashed out of the classroom in a swarm. Li Zheng was also in a rush. It's best to wait half an hour after eating before getting active. The time was too tight. Like last year, the school basketball game took place during the noon break. This week, the sophomores were scheduled to play. The competition was a knockout format, including two humanities classes, making a total of eight teams; according to Lin Yujing's quick calculations, they needed to play seven games. The matchups were decided by drawing lots. On Monday and Tuesday, two games were played at the same time each noon, determining the final four. On Wednesday, the two semifinals were also played simultaneously, deciding the final two. Thursday, the championship game. Today's opponent was the same as last year, Class 2. Last year, they lost with a close score of 28 to 31. Jiang Qinghua alone scored 22 points in that match. Today, it was time for redemption. Of course, for Li Zheng, what was even more important was the vitality value. He would decide whether to release the "Unparalleled" seal based on the number of spectating girls. Once the seal was released, he would enter a 15-minute state of unlimited recovery. Gaining dozens of hours of vitality value was certain. But reaching 100 would still be quite challenging. ... 12:20 PM. The starters from Class 4 and Class 2 had already arrived at the basketball court one after another. They eyed each other from across the court, each with a fierce look of determination. Unlike the solo brilliance of Class 4's Jiang Qinghua, Class 2 had a relatively even level of skill. The only standout was their captain, a tall power forward. In basketball, he was on par with Jiang Qinghua. And in academics, he was an even match with Liu Xin. He was the boss on the verge of being dismissed from school — Ling Shijie, who had missed exams for two subjects in the monthly test. Unlike Jiang Qinghua's sunny and occasionally brooding handsomeness. His face bore the word "rogue" all over it. His hair was slightly long and even sported a permed curl, though he claimed it was natural. Without a doubt, he was the kind of person Li Zheng would never get within 20 meters of. He was also what Li Zheng imagined someone on a path to corruption would end up like. Ling Shijie squatted at the front of his team, arms dangling over his knees, squinting at the opposite side. His teammates naturally stood behind him, giving off the air of a big brother with his loyal followers. "Hmph." Ling Shijie snorted a laugh as he watched the Class 4 players warming up. "Class 4 is the trashiest except for the liberal arts classes." "These idiots have only one tactic — pass the ball to Jiang Qinghua." "Jiang Qinghua is indeed capable." "I've been itching to deal with him." As he spoke, he spat on the ground and turned his head to nod at a dark-skinned buzz-cut boy: "Jiang Qinghua's yours, Slime Monster, no problem, right?" The buzz-cut boy didn't utter a word, just firmly nodded his head. The guy looked slow and dumb, bearing a resemblance to the TV character "Xu Sanduo." This nickname, of course, wasn't for nothing. His skill was actually terrifying; in less than a year of playing basketball, he'd already become a key player for his class. Unlike the other players, his offensive ability was zero, focusing all his energy on defense. Once he picked a man to guard, No matter whether they touched the ball or where they were on the court, no matter who was on offense or defense, He would stick to them 100%, pressing closely, like an annoyingly sticky snot that couldn't be shaken off. Hence the nickname — Slime Monster. This kind of marking strategy almost always led to an opponent's psychological meltdown, struggling to shake him off while spewing insults or even coming to blows. After all, everyone was there to play basketball. Only he seemed to take strange pleasure in sticking to someone and neutralizing them. Last year, when he was not yet "out of the mountains," Class 2 had already won. Now, the boys from Class 2 felt even more confident of controlling the game. ```