Chapter 227: A Foundation Establishment Exam Full of Spectators?

The 333rd floor of Songyang's Central Tower.

Zhou Yang's lower body was completely empty, and he was lying on the hospital bed, looking out the window.

He stared at the Oasis Tower under construction not far away, which was gradually surpassing the Central Tower in height, and felt as if he was watching the booming Oasis Group overtaking all the old aristocratic powers in Songyang.

Zhou Yang thought to himself: "Ever since synthesized food appeared, even synthetic meat has been commercialized. At this rate, the entire food market on the first layer of Kunxu will likely be flooded with such products."

But Zhou Yang knew that relying solely on technology to monopolize the market was impossible.

Just like back then, even though the Oasis Group also possessed more advanced synthesized food technology, they still had to form partnerships with local companies and families to enter the Songyang market.

Zhou Yang recalled that half a year ago, the Oasis Group had launched a collaboration with three major high schools and their parent companies to develop three new body-refining techniques.

"The next step might be the synthesis of human organs."

"I've heard that some prestigious families in Xiandu are already combining bloodline technology with the human-body technology mastered by the Oasis Group."

"If this continues, then in the future, not only food, but even the cultivation of heirs and body-refining training for every major family will be inseparable from the Oasis Group."

But Zhou Yang understood that this didn't mean the Oasis Group would dominate the first layer of Kunxu alone; instead, local aristocratic families and companies would inevitably seek cooperation with the Oasis Group.

Zhou Yang thought to himself: "The open and covert struggles among the companies and families in Songyang right now are all just efforts to secure more shares and more power in the future cooperation."

"Some companies and families will gradually weaken in this process and eventually vanish into the river of history."

"But the remaining families and companies, together with the Oasis Group, will become a behemoth that spans the entire first layer of Kunxu, further monopolizing the first layer in areas like food, cultivation, bloodlines, and so on..."

"Facing this tidal wave of the era, if the Zhou Family wants to survive this upheaval, and if I want to advance further and secure a better position, the best way is to increase the power of the Evil God..."

Zhou Yang could already imagine that the upcoming struggle in Songyang would become increasingly fierce, and both the Zhou Family and he himself would face an even more dangerous situation.

Thinking of this, he felt a growing sense of urgency.

Yet the Zhou Family ranked low among the sixteen great families of Songyang and found it hard to compete head-on with powerful clans like the Song Family or the Yue Family.

Especially after the recent blockade of the Wanxing Group, when both the Zhou Family and he had suffered a series of blows.

In comparison...

"Instead of trying to compete with other great families, it's better to target the two weak individuals, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, after the Foundation Establishment exam, and seize the Evil God behind them."

Zhou Yang picked up his phone, looked at the message that had come in, slowly exhaled, and thought to himself: "Have they already set off?"

"Once the Foundation Establishment exam ends, the Righteous Gods won't be protecting you like that anymore."

"With the wealth gap and information gap between us..."

Whether he acted personally or sent someone else, or used the leverage of a Crazed God follower's weakness to control them, in Zhou Yang's view, as long as the protection of the Foundation Establishment exam was gone, the matter would be simple.

"The situation is changing unpredictably now. Once the Foundation Establishment exam is over, I need to take care of these two as soon as possible."

Thinking of how the situation was progressing, Zhou Yang grew more and more impatient, almost as if he could already see Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen falling into his hands, completely at his mercy.

On the train heading to Xiandu City.

As his phone vibrated, Zhang Yu was about to tap to see who was messaging him, but his hand slipped... and the screen jumped to a video.

He tried to close the video, but when he tapped the close button, it instead opened a shopping platform.

Seeing the "Recommended for You: Kidney-tonifying Capsules" displayed on the shopping platform, Zhang Yu frowned and clicked the close button, finally managing to close it this time.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: "Damn... as the corporate war gets fiercer, the ads and big data are getting more and more outrageous."

"Was that vibration just now a message from Yu Xinghan?"

Looking at the message Yu Xinghan had sent—just the two words "Go for it"—Zhang Yu smiled slightly, knowing that Yu Xinghan was aware he was heading to take the Foundation Establishment exam and had sent the message for that reason.

At the same time, in a classroom at White Dragon High School.

Yu Xinghan looked at the smiling emoji Zhang Yu had sent him and thought to himself: "Zhang Yu is very strong, but after all, he's one grade behind that young master from Xiandu. Judging from the last Foundation Establishment exam, the gap between them is considerable."

"Still, even though he won't pass this exam, his chances in the next Foundation Establishment exam will be very high."

"By then, he'll still be in my grade, so I must build a good relationship with this kid and make sure we're on different tracks..."

Just as Yu Xinghan was thinking about these things, Zhang Yu on the train mused: "Judging from what Yu Xinghan has been hinting at intentionally or unintentionally lately..."

"He doesn't think I'll be able to snag a Foundation Establishment Certificate on this trip, so he wants to get on good terms with me, and during next year's Foundation Establishment exam, he and I, along with A'Zhen, can reach an unspoken understanding and secure the certificates together."

As for whether he could definitely beat his opponent Ye Lingxiao in this Foundation Establishment exam, Zhang Yu naturally couldn't guarantee it with absolute certainty.

After all, he had no idea what progress Ye Lingxiao had made in these three months.

But he believed that as long as he gave it his all, his chances of success were far from small. Thinking this, Zhang Yu subconsciously looked at his Yushu.

The Chain Method Diagram could hold up to ten techniques. After Zhang Yu swapped out eight of them, his former High School Sacred Body had transformed into a Martial Sacred Fetus.

Since only ten techniques could be hung at once, and a set like High School Sacred Body or Martial Sacred Fetus required six techniques to take effect, only one of the two could be active at a time.

[Basic] Martial Sacred Fetus (6/6): Sacred Fetus initially formed; strike resistance and external injury self-healing ability skyrocket.

[Advanced] Martial Sacred Fetus (8/8): Sacred Fetus slightly matured; body load capacity and internal injury self-healing ability skyrocket; the body gains overload capability.

The second layer effect of Martial Sacred Fetus caused Zhang Yu's body load capacity and internal injury self-healing ability to skyrocket.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: "The surge in load capacity lets me unleash my physical strength beyond limits without worrying about muscle and bone damage or collapse, raising my burst ceiling and endurance."

"And with this overload ability added... when I burst, it'll be even more terrifying."

"The skyrocketing internal injury self-healing, combined with the earlier skyrocketing external injury self-healing, gives my health insurance an extra layer of protection."

"Wait, I don't even have money for health insurance right now?"

!

Apart from spending all his money on buying techniques, another important reason Zhang Yu had no money for health insurance was that his current insurance premium had become too high.

After all, as his cultivation level increased and his body tempering grew stronger, the cost of treating his injuries also rose. This led insurance companies to keep raising his premium after evaluation, making it even harder for him to afford insurance.

Zhang Yu had once heard Fuji say that some strong experts, even Foundation Establishment or Golden Core cultivators, had to cower and dare not speak loudly to anyone because they couldn't afford health insurance.

After all, once a conflict broke out, they couldn't afford to compensate either the other party's or their own medical expenses.

Such immortal-path experts were jokingly called "brittle strongmen" up there, meaning they'd go bankrupt at the slightest touch, with an unstable and extremely fragile immortal foundation.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: "But now with the Martial Sacred Fetus backing me up, even without insurance, I'm not afraid of most injuries."

"If I have to say my biggest weakness now..."

Zhang Yu looked at the data on his Yushu.

Dao Heart: Level 8 (89.5%)

Although it had made a leap compared to before, his Dao Heart was clearly still lacking compared to his magical power and physical strength, which had already reached the limit of Qi Refining.

But that couldn't be helped. The several million he had earned recently through tutoring, most of it had gone into buying techniques, and that had only let him gather the eight techniques for Martial Sacred Fetus.

The only extra ways to improve his Dao Heart were through the Resentment Spirit Root and the school's Spirit Realm slots, reaching Level 8 (89.5%) was already a limit.

However, Zhang Yu knew he didn't need to fret over this. He had done all the preparation he could; the only thing left... was to give it his all in the exam arena.

Speaking of Dao Heart levels, Bai Zhenzhen on the other hand had already raised her Dao Heart to Level 10, becoming someone whose Dao Heart, magical power, and physical strength had all reached the Qi Refining limit.

Zhang Yu thought: "After all, A'Zhen doesn't have to buy as many techniques as I do to complete a set on the Chain Method Diagram, so she can invest more money into her Dao Heart."

But Zhang Yu knew that although Bai Zhenzhen hadn't mastered as many techniques as him—having only learned two new techniques in these three months—her True Spirit Root's deduction capabilities had given her techniques even more powerful Level 10 effects.

For example, the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Technique she had learned during the Foundation Establishment exam, after deduction its Level 10 effect allowed her to accelerate with lightning mana, making each sword faster than the last, breaking the sound barrier at the twelfth sword, unleashing supersonic sword strikes.

Additionally, the two new techniques she had learned, after deduction, were extremely suited to arena battles—preparations Bai Zhenzhen had made to compete for the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate.

Looking at the floating city gradually appearing in his field of vision, Zhang Yu thought: "Finally, we're almost there."

"The final round of the Foundation Establishment exam."

Thinking about the past year's struggles and all the hard work, about to meet its ultimate result, Zhang Yu felt his blood and qi surging faster, an unprecedented mix of excitement and nervousness.

……

After getting off at the Celestial Capital station,

neither Zhang Yu nor Bai Zhenzhen dared go to any restaurant or drink shop.

As for the massage chairs that would blare an annoying alarm if you didn't pay, they couldn't use those either.

They could only find an empty spot in the station to rest for a while, waiting for the Foundation Establishment exam to begin.

It was still the familiar restroom, the familiar website. When Zhang Yu clicked to participate, he felt his body drop, and when he came to his senses again, he was standing in a vast plaza.

What surprised him greatly, however, was that besides the five proper god examiners around the plaza, there were actually stands full of spectators, and the figures in those stands were now looking at him.

"Spectators?!"

Zhang Yu stared in shock at the stands around him, thinking to himself: "The final round of the Foundation Establishment exam... actually has spectators? And this many spectators?!"

"What's going on?"