Chapter 13: Dharma Competition

In that day's magic class, the students of the demonstration class sat cross-legged in the meditation room, cycling through their breathing technique.

The camera in front monitored every move of the students, recording any slight anomaly—whether a student opened their eyes, scratched an itch, moved their hands or feet, or wiggled their buttocks—all noted one by one.

All this data was uniformly recorded as the distraction rate.

Every week, the class with the highest distraction rate was publicly criticized school-wide.

The demonstration class students didn’t take it seriously; no matter how they were assessed, their class was bound to be first.

And the student with the lowest weekly distraction rate was not only publicly praised but also rewarded with 500 yuan and a one-hour free rental of a Heavenly Spirit Root.

This made the demonstration class students perk up one by one.

The first time Zhang Yu learned of the existence of the distraction rate in his mind, he sighed that if this had existed in his past life, students would definitely have called the school a complete idiot.

But this world was different; the demonstration class students were like rutting bulls staring at the daily distraction rate, the entire class filled with an intense competitive spirit.

At that moment, following a bell, everyone in the meditation room who had been silently practicing stopped and looked at the large screen ahead, eagerly awaiting the distraction rate data for that lesson.

1st Place: Zhang Yu, Distraction Rate 0%, Magic Power 8.3

2nd Place: Bai Zhenzhen, Distraction Rate 0.03%, Magic Power 11.2

3rd Place: Qian Shen, Distraction Rate 0.12%, Magic Power 11.1

Looking at the ranking of distraction rates, although the students in the classroom made no sound, from the subtle changes in their eyes and expressions, a trace of surprise could be felt spreading.

The instructor for the magic class was a female teacher named Yan, who wore her hair in a bun and had black-rimmed glasses.

At this moment, Teacher Yan looked at the scores on the large screen and said, "For the few students with a distraction rate over 0.3%, I won't call you out today."

"It's been three months since school started. How many times have I told you to focus your mind on one thing and blend your breath with tranquility?"

"With such high distraction rates, how can your breathing efficiency possibly match others?"

"Everyone cultivates 24 hours a day; you won't have extra time. With lower breathing efficiency, you fall behind a little each day. After three years of high school, your gap in magic power could be 10, 20, or even 30 points."

"And how many times have I said that students who can't lower their distraction rate can come to my office to buy a calmness potion? Yesterday afternoon I sat in my office for three hours, and not a single person came to ask me about it... Do you all think you have no problems at all?!"

After the criticism, Teacher Yan gave a slight smile and looked at the top students on the screen, saying, "Of course, there are also students who performed well."

"Let me specifically praise the three students with the lowest distraction rates, especially Zhang Yu, who has had a 0% distraction rate for four consecutive days now. Compared to before, this is a qualitative leap."

"And his magic power has increased by a full 0.5 points in the last three days, showing that he must have put in hard work outside of class, either renting a spiritual root or a high-spirit machine cultivation room, right, Zhang Yu?"

All the students' eyes immediately turned to him.

Yet Zhang Yu still had his eyes tightly shut, appearing half-asleep, and continued to silently cycle through his breath-gathering technique.

Teacher Yan praised, "Look, this is the attitude of a true top student. Even after class, they don't stop, seizing every minute and second to cultivate and grow stronger."

Zhao Tianxing watched Zhang Yu, who was still earnestly breathing, and felt he was increasingly unable to understand his classmate: "Such a diligent person, why does he slack off and refuse to apply the medicinal herbs during physical education class?"

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu, who still had his eyes shut, and thought to herself, "Yu has been doing nothing but eat and use the bathroom lately; he's almost even breathing while walking. To be this dedicated... could it be driven by the 700,000 yuan debt collection calls?"

Up on the platform, Teacher Yan continued, "Of course, as they say, you get what you pay for. On the path of immortal cultivation, nothing is free. You can't go far without spending money. Recently, there have been vacancies for renting the Heavenly Spirit Root at school. Interested students can come find me."

However, before Teacher Yan left, one thing she said caught Zhang Yu's attention.

"Oh, right, the city's magic competition starts next month. For the first-year high school group, basically all high schools in the city will participate. The first prize is 100,000 yuan..."

"Because registration for the competition is next Friday, the school plans to select the top ten students in magic power from the first-year high school grade to participate..."

That evening, in the cafeteria.

Zhou Tianyi had to leave early for a tutoring class, so only Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen remained at the table.

Unable to bear being stared at left and right by Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu spoke, "Ah Zhen, I know my face is outstanding, standing out like a crane among chickens in this study-obsessed Songyang High School, but you don't have to stare so intensely."

Bai Zhenzhen asked, "Are you saying you want to participate in the magic competition too?"

"Too bad, Ah Zhen." Zhang Yu shook his head. "If you, the number one genius in our grade, weren't my friend, you'd next provoke me, then get repeatedly slapped in the face by my astonishing performance in the arena, culminating in a ten-level earthquake in your pupils."

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head. "Yu, you want to participate in the city-wide magic competition?"

"That's all the high schools in Songyang City sending their best, most powerful, and richest students to compete—gathering countless filthy rich kids."

Bai Zhenzhen said with a sigh, "What do you think would happen if an ordinary person like you participated?"

Her eyes seemed to see through to a future scene, and she said sadly, "Insulted repeatedly by countless powerhouses, becoming a stepping stone for the rich, the clown of Songyang High, the school's reputation dragged through the mud!"

"Too tragic! I can already see you being stomped into the ground by those freaks from other high schools, your dao heart shattered, looking like a dead dog." Zhang Yu rolled his eyes. "Don't exaggerate. The mana competition isn't a fight on a stage—losing isn't shameful."

"Besides, first place gets a hundred thousand yuan."

"Even the top ten get ten thousand yuan."

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu's greedy expression and thought, 'Yu Zi must really be driven up the wall by the debt collectors, to the point of delusion—trying to join the competition.'

Zhang Yu really was in financial trouble. Although he had earned thirteen thousand yuan from Xianyun Company just a few days ago, he immediately used ten thousand to pay off a loan, spent another fifteen hundred on rent, and was left with just over two thousand.

"If you want to compete, think about how to raise your mana level to top ten in your grade. You're ranked 16th now, right? How much more do you need to borrow just to break into the top ten?"

Zhang Yu quickly did some mental math.

He currently had 8.3 mana, ranked 16th in his grade.

The 10th-ranked student in his grade had a mana of 9.5.

So, to surpass that person, Zhang Yu would need to raise his mana to 9.5 by next Friday...

"No, I need to account for the fact that everyone else will also improve."

"!"

"To be safe, it's best to raise my mana to 10.0 by next Friday."

"There are eight days until next Friday. In eight days, raising mana from 8.3 to 10.0—a full increase of 1.7?"

"Need to increase by more than 0.2 every day... Is that possible?"

Absolutely possible! Easily possible!

In the eyes of other teachers and students, Zhang Yu's rapid improvement over the past few days must have been achieved by spending a fortune to rent high-quality spirit roots and training grounds.

But Zhang Yu knew that all of this came from his astonishing potential and extreme self-discipline.

The level-4 Zhoutian Caiqi Fa allowed him to increase his mana by as much as 0.5 in just three days. He believed that as the method continued to level up, his mana improvement would become even more rapid.

"After all, in the Qi Refining stage, the maximum skill level is 10."

"A level-4 breathing technique is something most freshmen could never achieve within the first semester."

"And if I keep cultivating, in a short time I might be able to raise the Zhoutian Caiqi Fa to level 8, 9, or even 10—a level that many might not reach even after three years of high school."

Thinking of this, just as Zhang Yu was psyching himself up, he suddenly noticed Bai Zhenzhen reaching her chopsticks toward his bowl.

"How dare you!" Zhang Yu shouted, lifting his chopsticks to block.

Then, amid the clinking sounds, his chopsticks were easily swept aside by Bai Zhenzhen.

Feeling a familiar rhythm in Bai Zhenzhen's movements, Zhang Yu exclaimed in surprise, "Basic high school swordsmanship? You've already learned it? And you've adapted it into chopstick techniques?"

Quickly picking a few pieces of meat from Zhang Yu's bowl, Bai Zhenzhen chuckled, "Is that so hard, Yu Zi? Can't anyone with hands do it?"

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Damn, she's showing off again."

Mixing the meat she'd taken with a few quick mouthfuls of rice, Bai Zhenzhen said in surprise, "Didn't expect the ribs in the five-yuan set meal to be this good. I'll get one next time too."

Patting her slightly bloated stomach, Bai Zhenzhen burped and said, "Ah, if I eat any more, it'll affect my tutoring session."

Saying that, she pushed her tray toward Zhang Yu. "Extra meal for you, Yu Zi."

Seeing the neatly untouched half portion of 'leftovers' that Bai Zhenzhen had left, Zhang Yu understood that she had intentionally left it for him.

It seemed that after learning about Zhang Yu's financial difficulties, Bai Zhenzhen had been regularly feeding him during dinner recently.

Zhang Yu grabbed the tray and said while eating, "Zhen, you don't need to worry about my pride or face. With our relationship, you could just send me money directly and it'd be fine."

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes. "I'm going to my tutoring session. Take your time eating."

Outside the cafeteria.

A tall figure was standing in the corridor not far away, his eyes fixed intently on the direction of the cafeteria entrance.

A moment later, when he saw Zhang Yu walk out of the cafeteria, the tall figure's spirits lifted, and he immediately followed him.

Following Zhang Yu out of the school gate, and seeing him enter a stationery store across the street, Zhao Tianxing's gaze flickered, and he thought to himself, "Could this be where Zhang Yu gets his supplies?"