Regarding auditing classes, Rui Hang was not acting on a whim.
From the very first day he crossed back to Earth, he had prepared himself to attend classes alongside the students.
First, it served as supervision— to prevent these students from doing anything out of line during lessons and also to increase the chances that they would take their studies seriously.
Second, he himself had a strong desire to absorb scientific knowledge.
Compared to buying books to self-study, the school’s teachers were experienced and knew how to explain every concept clearly and understandably.
It would be a huge waste not to make use of such excellent educational resources.
Like the students who belonged to the ruling class, Rui Hang also had his own country.
Among them were the Demon Clan, once absolute villains that struck terror into the hearts of all Parnaki, and the various races that lived as slaves under the Demon Clan’s rule.
Compared to the other students in class, Rui Hang’s only stroke of luck was that his throne was hereditary. As the absolute Lord of Demons, he didn’t have to schemingly fight for his position.
Moreover, due to the Demon Clan’s powerful bloodline, he was born possessing strength comparable to that of an adult dragon.
But power was precisely what the Demon Clan was least lacking.
No matter how strong the Lord of Demons was, he was still just in his juvenile form.
Not having to fight for the throne didn’t mean there weren’t people trying to replace him.
Besides, as a pure-blood human living with a materialist worldview, adapting to a metaphysical world built on magic power took time— not to mention learning a completely new language, which was crucial.
Therefore, the first fifty years after crossing over were entirely consumed by cultivation, learning the new world’s culture, searching for other students who had similarly crossed over to Parnaki, and guarding against possible assassination attempts at any time.
As his strength grew, fewer people dared to challenge him, and the scattered students from the other world gradually found each other.
Just as Rui Hang finally breathed a sigh of relief, he threw himself into reforming the internal structure of the Demon Clan, liberating the other races enslaved by it, and uniting the entire demon realm of Raelsade into one cohesive entity.
Several decades later, thanks to his efforts, civil wars within the Demon Clan ceased to be frequent.
The world’s perception of the Demon Clan shifted from a violent “villain” race that brought war and fed on other races to a bellicose but not overly dangerous faction within Parnaki.
With both internal and external stability, Rui Hang finally had the time to start developing core technology.
It was only then that he realized he knew absolutely nothing in this area.
He was good at economic development, political systems, and factional struggles, but utterly clueless when it came to invention and innovation.
Rui Hang had thought about using some common scientific knowledge and finding talented artisans with creative minds for research.
However, everything in Parnaki revolved around magic power. Scientific achievements, which took countless generations of effort to develop, were mere flicks of the hand to powerful mages.
The people of Parnaki couldn’t understand his idea of starting scientific research from scratch, and Rui Hang lacked the scientific knowledge to systematically explain it to them.
Even if some craftsmen accepted his ideas and were willing to try research, the parameters of the two worlds might not match.
Without scientific instruments to measure systematically, any value he provided could lead the research astray.
He had also thought about seeking help from the students.
He knew some students in the class excelled at invention, but in a world where science had barely begun to bud, even if magic existed, it was a scarce resource.
Scientific knowledge, though a “truth,” was still a vital national asset.
Sharing political science knowledge with students was driven by his sense of responsibility as a teacher, but that didn’t mean the students were required to put in so much effort in return.
Fortunately, the students were not stingy with sharing knowledge among themselves.
In return, they tacitly kept this knowledge reserved until the student who shared it created enough value to justify its use.
Still, relying on others was ultimately unreliable. Having knowledge firmly in one’s own hands was the most reassuring.
Not only Rui Hang, but others in the class who had their own countries— such as Ouwena and Sun Jingshu— understood this truth well.
These past few days, they had been among the most diligent students.
……
As soon as Guo Yingxue entered the classroom, the first thing she saw was the homeroom teacher Rui Hang sitting in the back row, his expression focused.
As an experienced physics teacher, Guo Yingxue wasn’t surprised, only a little puzzled— normally, a homeroom teacher auditing classes happened before major exams to supervise students who might slack off or to assess the teaching quality of subject teachers.
There was still about a month before the monthly exam, so why start auditing now?
But since Rui Hang was always responsible, Guo Yingxue didn’t think much of it, assuming he was preparing diligently for the year-end teacher evaluation.
After exchanging a brief nod when their eyes met, she turned her attention to the lesson.
However, not long after, Guo Yingxue’s gaze was completely drawn to Rui Hang and couldn’t look away.
This young homeroom teacher, already honored as the school’s Excellent Teacher, sat with one leg crossed, a notebook resting on his knee.
His brow furrowed and relaxed intermittently, sometimes creasing into a deep “川” character.
His black eyes were full of thought, occasionally scanning the class, while his right hand scribbled continuously. Clearly, he was taking notes.
‘No wonder he’s the youngest homeroom teacher in our school. He really has ambition.’
Guo Yingxue admired inwardly. Although Rui Hang was younger than her by a year, she felt she was nowhere near as dedicated in her work attitude. ‘I have to shape up and not let him look down on me.’
With this resolve, Guo Yingxue sharpened her focus, her eyes growing ever more keen as she wrote more and more on the blackboard.
For a time, the classroom was filled only with the crisp sound of the female teacher’s lecture and the scratching of pen tips on paper.
Sitting in the back row, Zhou Xun, who was very close to Rui Hang, lifted his head from his notebook, unable to hide his curiosity.
While Rui Hang was focused on recording, Zhou Xun sneakily glanced quickly at Rui Hang’s notebook.
The white pages were filled with neat notes, exactly replicating the blackboard writing in a one-to-one manner, marked up with highlighters and countless tiny question marks.
Obviously, Rui Hang couldn’t distinguish the key points from the blackboard content and didn’t understand the specific meaning of what Guo Yingxue was teaching.
He could only copy down everything in the simplest way first.
Another page, half-covered by his palm, was much emptier. It recorded the pop quiz that Guo Yingxue had just assigned, with questions based on the blackboard notes— not difficult at all.
Even those like them who hadn’t attended classes for centuries could use the remaining knowledge in their minds and apply the lesson content to figure out the answers.
But for Rui Hang, this quiz still drained his strength.
Those scattered and irregular symbols and numbers seemed to reflect the chaos and confusion within his mind.
After great struggle, he still failed to distill the complex into something simple and pure.
Zhou Xun: “……”
So even this seemingly omnipotent Teacher Rui can feel lost sometimes!
Suddenly enlightened, Zhou Xun understood the meaning behind many of Rui Hang’s expressions:
—“Huh, I don’t quite understand this.”
—“Oh, now I finally get it.”
—“Damn it, which country’s Bible is this guy quoting?!”
Rui Hang’s years as a demon king made him highly sensitive to others’ gazes and emotional changes.
He stopped writing and glanced sideways at Zhou Xun, lowering his voice: “What are you looking at?”
Zhou Xun: “…Nothing!”
Faced with Zhou Xun’s curiosity, Rui Hang had nothing to hide.
As a typical arts student who chose political science and public administration in university and hadn’t touched physics since the second year of high school exams, he didn’t feel embarrassed about not understanding the physics lesson.
It was like talking about Hegel with a physics student or analyzing Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory— why torture each other?
Unfortunately, for the uncertain future ahead, no matter how much his head hurt, he had to grit his teeth and keep learning.
Anyway, I’m the homeroom teacher. No matter how poorly I learn, who would dare openly mock me?
Rui Hang thought with some comfort.
Still, constantly not understanding was troublesome. Maybe he should just buy some junior high physics textbooks at noon and start learning from scratch.
Just as Rui Hang was making these plans, the long and restless physics class finally ended with the belated sound of the dismissal bell.
Rui Hang closed his notebook and was about to stretch and loosen his stiff limbs when Guo Yingxue came out of the classroom right behind him and walked straight toward him.
What’s this about? Does she think my auditing is disturbing her class? Or does she want to check what I’ve learned after class?
…What was that knowledge point she mentioned during class? Newton’s Second Law, right? But how does the formula go again?
While Rui Hang was lost in thought, Guo Yingxue reached him with an unexpectedly serious expression. “Teacher Rui, since you’re here, about this lesson…”
“Teacher Guo, your class today was excellent. I gained a lot.” Rui Hang’s heart tightened, fearing she was about to quiz him on the lesson content. A faint embarrassment flashed across his eyes as he hurriedly interrupted her.
Guo Yingxue: “???”
Though puzzled by Rui Hang’s off-topic response, Guo Yingxue didn’t dwell on it and sighed, a cloud of worry passing over her face. “Thank you for your feedback, Teacher Rui. If only all the students in our class could be as focused as you.”
Rui Hang keenly sensed the underlying message in her words. The anxiety about not being able to answer the quiz disappeared, and he quickly returned to his usual calm demeanor.
Concern showed through as he asked, “Is something going on with the students?”
Guo Yingxue pursed her lips and nodded seriously. “I found some problems with their physics homework. When I graded it this morning, I noticed a serious problem of homogeneity— everyone’s homework looked nearly identical. Teacher Rui, it seems that copying homework in our class is a big issue!”
Rui Hang: “……”
How embarrassing!
He thought, How could these grown students be so bad at copying homework that they got caught in a single day?
“Teacher Rui, the mini college entrance exam is in January. That’s only four months left. If they don’t buckle down now, it will be too late!”
“Teacher Guo, you’re right!” Rui Hang quickly swallowed his inner complaint and put on a worried expression. “At this point, the kids really don’t understand what’s important.”
“Exactly!”
At this, Rui Hang suddenly sighed. “Honestly, this is partly my fault.”
“Teacher Rui, what do you mean?” Guo Yingxue asked, confused.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival Gala is coming up soon. Our class has to perform a play. The rehearsal pressure is already heavy. The students know I care about the sports meet, so they’re all working hard preparing for it as well. When time is tight, of course some students will try to cut corners.”
“Really? You’re telling me they’re still performing a play in senior year?” Guo Yingxue disapproved.
“Well, the leadership is coming to inspect soon. Compared to singing and dancing, a play looks more serious,” Rui Hang winked, speaking somewhat indirectly.
Guo Yingxue immediately understood, a trace of helplessness appearing in her eyes.
“Sigh, that’s just how it is. These superficial efforts don’t compare to how important the students’ learning is.”
But when the topic touched on the school’s You-know-who, Guo Yingxue didn’t say more.
She never realized all this was just Rui Hang shifting blame for the students and trying to pass responsibility to the Principal.
“In that case, I won’t push the matter too far. But the situation needs to be properly managed. Teacher Rui, you’ll need to pay extra attention.”
Seeing Guo Yingxue’s softened attitude, Rui Hang quickly nodded and comforted her with a few more words until she left, satisfied.
Watching her retreating figure, Rui Hang was silent for a moment before his gaze drifted back into the classroom, sharpening rapidly.
These little bastards!