Chapter 12: Bold Progress (Thanks to Shuilan)

Moments later, Zhang Yu, walking out of the Xianyun Group office building, looked pale, hunched over, and appeared weak.

However, after he left the skyscraper a few kilometers and got on the subway, his complexion gradually began to return to normal.

As he activated the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method to circulate, the mana inside his body instantly surged forward like countless streams, quickly penetrating all his flesh and blood.

The mana that had originally lost control and scattered also fell back into order with the rolling forward currents, merging into the complex mana circulation within his body, naturally running ceaselessly through Zhang Yu's channels.

Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method Level 1 (0/20)

Looking at the technique displayed on the Feather Scroll, a smile crept onto the corner of Zhang Yu's mouth.

"So it really can be mastered."

"If I hadn't mastered this Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method, it would probably take one or two weeks for this runaway mana to dissipate."

The reason he dared to take on the job of testing techniques was that the Feather Scroll was his confidence.

But while he was at Xianyun Group, he didn't reveal his ability to master the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method.

"Although this technique is just a breathing method for beginners, once mastered, it can run automatically around the clock without pause."

"Even without actively practicing, it has 30% of the breathing efficiency of active practice. Once mastered… even if you do nothing all day, it's equivalent to others breathing for over seven hours."

"And this is just the effect at Level 1."

"If this technique is truly successfully developed, I'm afraid it will immediately become one of the best-selling breathing methods on the market."

Zhang Yu knew that apart from the various techniques taught at school, all the techniques from big companies and major sects were copyrighted and had to be purchased with money, containing enormous profits.

It was precisely because this Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method was so formidable that, in Zhang Yu's view, it was definitely a development project highly valued by Xianyun Group, and he didn't want to reveal that he had mastered it, to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Especially since the difficulty of cultivating this technique was so high. In Zhang Yu's opinion, if a first-year high school student didn't have the auxiliary equipment for guidance, it would be impossible to even complete one full circulation, let alone master it.

This made him even more reluctant to expose his mastery of the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method.

And to master the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method, Zhang Yu had switched the Feather Scroll's specialization from the Body Strengthening Thirty-Six Forms to this breathing method.

Although this meant that the Body Strengthening Thirty-Six Forms couldn't be rapidly improved for the time being, the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method had entered the fast track.

"Level 3 of the Body Strengthening Thirty-Six Forms is enough for now."

"In the coming days, I'll focus on improving this Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method."

Besides the gain from mastering the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method, the biggest harvest from this technique-testing job was the payment from Xianyun Group.

Ten thousand yuan plus an additional three thousand, a total of thirteen thousand in compensation.

At this moment, Zhang Yu's savings instantly increased to thirteen thousand seven hundred yuan.

Unfortunately, after Zhang Yu took out ten thousand to repay loans on multiple platforms, his savings immediately dropped to three thousand seven hundred.

But luckily, after paying back this ten thousand, the frequency of collection calls decreased significantly, and it shouldn't escalate to more severe measures for a short while.

Then the countdown ringing in his mind quickly cut off his daydreams, making him focus again and run the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method.

…

In the blink of an eye, one night passed.

At the entrance of Songyang High School, Zhang Yu was walking while checking the changes on the Feather Scroll.

Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method Level 1 (0/20) → Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method Level 1 (11/20)

And his mana, relying on his previous hard training and this effort with the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method, had also increased.

Mana 7.7 → 7.8

"It really is running passively. Last night before I slept, I had only circulated it five times, counted as five repetitions."

"Then when I woke up this morning, it had risen to eight repetitions. After actively practicing on the way to school, it increased to the eleventh repetition."

Calculating this, Zhang Yu felt secretly pleased. Compared to the thirteen thousand yuan, this Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method was the biggest gain from yesterday.

He was now determined to push the level of this Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method higher.

As for the Feather Scroll's specialization, he naturally decided to keep it on the Zhou Tian Cai Qi Method.

Unfortunately, this morning there were two consecutive periods of physical education again.

Walking on the path to the training ground, Zhang Yu felt a little regretful.

"Sigh, I have to practice the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening again."

"I'm currently specialized in the Zhoutian Qi Absorption Method—this breathing technique is clearly the most suitable one for me to cultivate."

As soon as Zhang Yu entered the training ground, he saw a group of little giants with muscles bulging like marble, each one pricking themselves with needles.

Then, accompanied by bursts of crackling sounds, bestial roars, and the clashing of equipment, the students in the demonstration class had already begun their vigorous training.

Just then, a student stared at Wang Hai in shock: "No... it's impossible, my cousin sold this to me..."

Wang Hai shook his head, crushed the syringe in his hand with a snap, and scattered the powder into the trash bin.

"Look at your weight changes over the past two weeks. Whether muscle or internal organs, there's no sign of growth. In two weeks, your physical strength has only increased by 0.03—that's the classic sign of natural body tempering. You've clearly bought fake medicine."

Having said that, he no longer looked at the crestfallen student before him, but raised his voice: "How many times have I told you? You must buy medicine through proper channels. The safest is definitely the supply from the school teachers."

"If you try to save a bit of money and end up with fake or expired medicine, you'll be penny wise and pound foolish—wasting your own time."

After reprimanding the students, Wang Hai's gaze swept over Zhang Yu, who was tempering his body in the corner.

Looking at Zhang Yu, Wang Hai recalled the physical strength data from today's test: "0.85? In three days, he increased his physical strength by 0.02?"

"Zhang Yu wasn't this fast even when he was injecting medicine every day before, was he?" Based on Wang Hai's years of teaching experience, such a rapid increase in physical strength meant Zhang Yu absolutely could not have been doing it purely naturally without medicine or injections, as he claimed. He must have secretly taken a shot before class.

"Not only is he not doing natural body tempering, but the medicine he injected must be very strong to achieve this effect—it's probably doing great harm to his body."

As for Zhang Yu achieving level three of the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening and even performing devil-level training at the limit, that never even crossed Wang Hai's mind.

Regardless, at this moment, Zhang Yu, in Wang Hai's eyes, was increasingly challenging his authority in the classroom.

Especially since there was a deeper issue: where did Zhang Yu buy the medicine?

Could other students, seeing Zhang Yu's good results, also seek out that channel to buy medicine?

If so, wouldn't that affect his sales performance?

The moment he thought of the cutthroat medicine market for body tempering, Wang Hai's alert nerves instantly tightened.

"A sophomore teacher? A senior teacher?"

"Or was it a tutoring teacher from outside the school who gave him guidance?"

"Is someone trying to peddle goods on my turf?"

As for Zhang Yu himself, in Wang Hai's view, he was merely a pawn. What he most wanted to figure out now was the person behind Zhang Yu.

!.

However, he still had to erase the influence inside the class.

So, after a moment, Wang Hai gave a few instructions to a student named Zhao Tianxing.

Then Zhao Tianxing came up to Zhang Yu and said, "Zhang Yu, Teacher Wang wants me to ask you—are you sure you won't be buying any more medicine from now on?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, Zhao Tianxing scratched his head and said awkwardly, "Well... the teacher asked me to tell you that, to avoid affecting the others' training, he'd like you to go practice alone in the small room. Do you think that's okay?"

After being instructed by Wang Hai, Zhao Tianxing understood that Wang Hai wanted to further isolate Zhang Yu.

There was a trace of pity in his eyes as he looked at Zhang Yu, but his actions showed no hesitation.

As one of Wang Hai's "good students" and obedient students, Zhao Tianxing had fully accepted Wang Hai's guidance, bought all the medicines Wang Hai recommended, and, combined with his own efforts, had step by step broken through physical strength level 1.00, becoming one of the top ten students in the class in terms of physical strength.

Therefore, he always followed PE teacher Wang Hai's words without question.

However, worried that Zhang Yu might be upset, he spoke very politely. After finishing, he added, "Maybe you should buy some medicine? Teacher Wang's medicine is really good quality. Natural body tempering really doesn’t work..."

But to Zhao Tianxing's surprise, Zhang Yu didn't hesitate at all and directly agreed to go practice outside.

Watching the figure walking away, Zhao Tianxing scratched his head and thought to himself: "Sigh, classmate Zhang Yu is a bit stubborn. Why not just apologize to the teacher and admit your mistake, and keep having class properly? One rash move and you've ruined your own future."

On the other side, Zhang Yu arrived at the small room, chuckled, sat down, and immediately started practicing the Zhoutian Qi Absorption Method.

Wisps of spiritual energy streamed into his dantian qi sea, bit by bit refined by Zhang Yu into mana.

Zhoutian Qi Absorption Method Level 1 (11/20) → Zhoutian Qi Absorption Method Level 1 (16/20)

In the blink of an eye, he had completed five cycles, and two PE classes had already passed.

But in the following Chinese and math classes, Zhang Yu in the classroom was still intently running the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method.

Long-term respiration of spiritual energy and refining magical power is naturally a very boring thing.

The waist, abdomen, and shoulders would ache, the skin would itch, and the mind would feel bored.

Even the previous Zhang Yu, after one to two hours of respiration, would often be unable to resist relaxing, standing up and walking around, or scratching an itch, or rubbing his head.

But now, driven by the power of the ritual and encouraged by the changing numbers on the Feather Book, Zhang Yu gritted his teeth and kept cultivating, and finally completed the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method for the 20th time in one go.

Cyclical Qi Gathering Method Level 2 (0/40)

Countless experiences of performing the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method bloomed in Zhang Yu's mind, and he could feel the magical power circulation in his body becoming more complex, more exquisite, and also more surging.

When Zhang Yu stopped, the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method continued to run, but its speed was slightly faster than before.

"At Level 1 of the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method, passive respiration is only thirty percent of the speed of active respiration."

"But after reaching Level 2, the speed of passive respiration has increased to thirty-five percent of active respiration."

"As for actively running the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method, the respiration efficiency has also improved a lot, far better than my original Level 1 basic respiration method."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly, feeling somewhat satisfied—this was all a continuous, day-and-night improvement.

So after lunch, he continued his efforts, raising the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method further.

In the following time, he spent almost all his available time on the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method.

High school immortal cultivation learning was both boring and hard, especially with Zhang Yu having no time to relax under the compulsion of the ritual power. Only by watching the numbers after the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method slowly increase, imagining the long-term benefits of the passive effect of this technique, could his spirit feel a little more comfortable.

The so-called "if you can't resist, then just enjoy."

So during PE class, he was cultivating the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method.

In Chinese class, he was cultivating the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method.

During the lunch break, he was still cultivating the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method.

In the evening, while waiting for work in the square, he was still cultivating the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method, but unfortunately, he hadn't found any work in these three days.

As for when he went home to sleep, needless to say, the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method was still running on its own.

After just three short days, the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method was raised to Level 4 (5/80).

Magical power also advanced bravely with Zhang Yu's hard work, rising from 7.8 to 8.3.

At this moment, the passive respiration speed of the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method had reached forty-five percent of the active respiration speed.