When the progress bar was halfway full, the English teacher came over to arrange morning reading, and Zhu Xiaoying turned back to face the front.
After the first period ended, Zhang Wuyong used the short break to have her continue tutoring him.
[The host has successfully forced Zhu Xiaoying, an inner disciple of the Second Peak of Rongyang Immortal Sect, to assist you in cultivation. Points +10!]
Zhang Wuyong quietly counted the time.
It had taken a total of fifteen minutes for the progress bar to fill.
This was going to be troublesome.
Originally, he had thought that finding twenty "female disciples of the Immortal Sect" to tutor him would not be difficult. But if each one required fifteen minutes, it was not as easy as it sounded.
He tried to get Zhu Xiaoying to teach him again.
As expected, nothing changed on the task bar.
Any "female disciple" who had already helped him cultivate no longer counted toward the mission.
Was this what it meant to use someone once and then discard them?
His gaze fell on the four words "expand your harem" in the system description.
There was no helping it; he had to continue.
He picked up a chemistry test paper, turned around, and asked the girl behind him, "Has the teacher explained this question before? I've been out for a few days, and I still don't understand the solution. Could you teach me?"
"I know how to do it!" Qian Shu immediately turned around. "Let me teach you!"
Get lost.
First, the mission clearly specified "female disciples."
Second, he did not want the system to misunderstand his preferences and one day assign a mission like "force male disciples to help you cultivate."
"What good are you?" Zhang Wuyong gave him a sideways look. "She's much better at this than you."
"No way, she didn't score that much higher than me on the last chemistry exam," Qian Shu protested.
The girl, however, clearly enjoyed the comparison and began explaining the question to him.
The break between classes was only ten minutes, plus the bits of free time during lessons. After asking her four separate times, this "female disciple" finally completed her progress bar.
Points +10.
As seniors, they were exempt from morning exercises, so the mid‑morning break was relatively long.
Switching to a Chinese test paper, he asked another girl to teach him.
Before Qian Shu could say anything, Zhu Xiaoying turned around from the row in front and glared at him.
He understood her meaning at a glance.
I'm sitting right here, and you skip past me to ask someone else?
But there was nothing he could do. In the system's eyes, a woman who had already "helped him cultivate" was like a rag tossed aside after use.
That was why it was called a Demonic Monk System.
Because of the extended break, he still had time left. Leaning on his crutch, he changed papers again and limped over to a classmate sitting in front of Zhu Xiaoying.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Zhu Xiaoying stabbed her black pen repeatedly against the desk.
"Poke him, poke him to death," Qian Shu egged her on. "He just thinks you're not good enough to teach him. He'd rather limp around you to find someone else."
"I'm just pooling wisdom, pooling wisdom," Zhang Wuyong said with a grin. "If I ask more people and get more perspectives, I might improve faster."
Just then, the class monitor, Chen Ming, happened to walk by. "Is there something you don't understand? Come over, I'll teach you."
"No need, no need," Zhang Wuyong said quickly.
First, the class monitor was male. Second, the progress bar for his current "fourth female disciple" still was not full.
"It's fine, I've got time anyway," the monitor said, trying to drag him over.
"Really, it's fine," Zhang Wuyong insisted, still focused on the girl in front of him.
"Don't block the aisle with your crutch," the monitor complained. "You're just asking to be picked on."
"It's alright, go do your own thing," Zhang Wuyong replied. "I just want to ask her to teach me."
By the start of the third period, that girl's progress bar was only one‑third full.
After class, he had no choice but to hobble over on his crutch again to ask her more questions.
By now, the girl had started to suspect that he was interested in her and was using questions as an excuse to talk.
During the fourth period, the teacher gave them self‑study time in the second half of class.
Zhang Wuyong scanned the room, thinking.
After a moment's hesitation, he picked up his workbook and, leaning on his crutch, made his way to an empty seat in the back‑left corner.
"What are you doing back here?" the boy at that desk chuckled. "Can't stay awake, so you came to sleep?"
"Do I look like you?" Zhang Wuyong replied. "I'm a diligent, hard‑working student."
He nudged the girl beside him with his pen. When she turned around, he held up his workbook. "I don't know how to do this question. Could you teach me?"
Thanks to his usual helpfulness and decent relationships, the girl did not refuse.
Back at their original seats, Qian Shu and Zhu Xiaoying both turned to watch him, seeing him enlist yet another girl as his tutor.
"What is this guy doing?" Zhu Xiaoying asked.
"Who knows," Qian Shu said, just as confused.
When the progress bar for this fifth "female disciple" finally filled, the class was almost over.
Leaning on his crutch, Zhang Wuyong slowly made his way back to his seat.
The boy in that back corner watched his retreating figure, thoroughly puzzled. He had thought Zhang had come to keep him company.
"You little rascal, you're deliberately getting girls to teach you, aren't you?" Qian Shu said when he came back. "One isn't enough—you need several?"
"Do I look like you?" Zhang Wuyong said solemnly. "I'm completely focused on my studies. I don't think about anything except studying."
"Study, my ass," Qian Shu snorted. "I'm embarrassed for you when you say that."
"Then what do you think I'm doing?"
"Stamp collecting," Qian Shu sneered. "You want to find a chance to hold every girl's hand in the class before graduation, get close to as many as you can, and see if you can date a bunch of them at the same time so you can brag about it later, right?"
"You boys are disgusting," Zhu Xiaoying said, turning to glare at him.
"Come on," Zhang Wuyong protested, "can you stop ruining my image as a diligent, hard‑working student? In your eyes, am I really that kind of person?"
The lunch bell rang.
"Are you eating in the cafeteria?" he asked Qian Shu.
"No," Qian Shu said, standing up. "I'm riding my scooter home. Why?"
"I was going to ask you to grab some bread for me from the convenience store on your way," Zhang Wuyong said. "It's not easy for me to get to the cafeteria like this."
"I'll go," Zhu Xiaoying said at once, turning around. "I'm not going home at noon."
"Thanks," he replied. "I'll give you the money first."
"No need," she said, waving him off. "I'll eat in the cafeteria and bring it back for you."
"It's fine if it's a bit late, I'm not in a rush," he said.
After she left, he hobbled off to the restroom and, when he came back, studied on his own for a while.
About twenty minutes later, Zhu Xiaoying returned with bread and cola.
He tried to hand her money, but she refused to take it.
"Forget it, I'll treat you this time," she said.
"Alright, I'll treat you next time," he answered without pretence.
Just then, Li Qingyue, the English class representative, returned to the classroom and walked past on the other side.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Wuyong quickly pulled out his English homework. "Li Qingyue, I don't understand this reading comprehension question. Could you explain it to me?"
At the desk in front of him, Zhu Xiaoying turned around again, looking straight at him.