Chapter 245: Professional Intelligence

The Zhou family mansion.

Zhou Chechen flung off his coat and hurried inside. He had come straight home after school today to ask the family elders about the Foundation Establishment exam in the Immortal Capital—what exactly was it about? Why had he known nothing about it before?

But as Zhou Chechen passed the main hall, he gradually slowed to a stop. Staring at the people in the reception room, shock appeared on his face.

"Chechen, you came just in time."

Zhou Yang in the reception room also noticed Zhou Chechen's arrival and waved him over, saying, "This is your Uncle Zhang and Aunt Bai."

"These two are exceptionally talented, with limitless future achievements. I treat them as my peers, so from now on, just call them Uncle Zhang and Aunt Bai when you see them."

Zhou Chechen stood rooted to the spot, as if he hadn't reacted at all.

Zhou Yang shot him a glare and said, "This kid, why doesn't he know how to greet people?"

Zhang Yu laughed heartily and said, "Look, you've scared the kid."

He waved a hand and said, "It's fine. We're all classmates. From now on, just call me Brother Yu and call her Sister Zhenzhen. We'll call you Xiao Zhou."

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhou Chechen and said, "Now that the kid has met us, why isn't he showing any respect?"

Zhou Yang smiled helplessly and said, "He's been spoiled rotten by his father. Doesn't understand a bit of etiquette."

With that, he looked at Zhou Chechen and said, "When you see your Uncle Zhang and Aunt Bai, why don't you know to send a red envelope?"

"Hurry up and transfer your meeting gift to the elders. Transfer ten thousand. You hear me?"

Under Zhou Yang's intimidating gaze, Zhou Chechen reluctantly transferred ten thousand each to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

Bai Zhenzhen smiled faintly and said, "Good boy, Xiao Zhou. Go play by yourself. We still have things to discuss with Uncle Zhou."

Then, under Zhou Yang's coercive stare, Zhou Chechen gritted his teeth and said, "Brother... Brother Yu, Sister Zhenzhen."

On the way out, Zhou Chechen felt something shatter inside him. At that moment, he keenly realized that due to the absolute gap in achievement between him and Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, they were no longer in the same dimension.

He thought to himself, "I'm still just a chess piece, while they are already jumping out of the chessboard, toward a larger board."

After Zhou Chechen left, Zhou Yang said, "There will be more people at home tonight. Let's go to my study to continue the discussion."

Shortly after, when Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen left, Zhou Yang recalled the day's events.

After learning that news of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen obtaining the Foundation Establishment qualification had spread across the city—especially with the Oasis Group being involved—Zhou Yang knew... he had lost his best chance to make a move against Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

Without wasting time agonizing over how Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had managed to surpass the Young Master of the Immortal Capital and obtain the Foundation Establishment certificate, Zhou Yang's first thought was how to handle the aftermath.

"Then... let's try to ease the relationship first."

Compared to continuing the fight or waiting for possible retaliation in the future, spending money to avoid trouble and further smoothing the relationship now seemed like the best course of action.

So Zhou Yang also wanted to donate a sum of money to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, and at the same time test their attitude.

Zhou Yang recalled his conversation with them that day. After accepting his three hundred thousand, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had acted very friendly, as if they bore no grudge at all.

"Last time, Zhou Chechen already brought people to apologize and offer reparations."

"This time, with me personally stepping in, at best... they should no longer be hostile to the Zhou family."

"Unless... they are especially vengeful, or they know about the evil god behind me."

"If after today they still come after me, then don't blame me for going down with them."

"But..." Thinking about the current situation of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, Zhou Yang sneered inwardly. "They've attracted so much attention now. They might crash and burn on their own any moment. I don't need to worry."

On the other side, after Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen left the Zhou residence, the smiles on their faces gradually faded.

Zhang Yu slowly said, "Looks like he wants to ease things with us. What do you think—how sincere is he? Is he buying time, or does he really not want to fight anymore?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Rationally speaking, he probably really doesn't want to fight anymore. But we can't rule out surprises."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Yeah."

"If the Zhou family isn't eliminated—if everyone who knows about Fuji's existence isn't cleaned out—I won't be at ease."

Fuji said, "At least he's willing to ease relations for now. So pretend to agree to a truce with him."

"Time is ultimately on your side."

As soon as Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen finished their discussion with Zhou Yang, they were immediately called over by Yun Ni, the captain of the patrol team.

She said that to reward them for their hard work in the patrol team over the past year, the team was going to promote them to top-level outsourced personnel.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were both slightly stunned. Heaven knows what hard work they had actually done in the patrol team over the past year while drawing a salary for doing nothing. They only felt that ever since they arrived at the patrol team's office building, everyone had been so polite and friendly.

Zhang Yu couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Ever since I became the top student in my grade, I've felt that there are more and more good people in Songyang High School. Everyone is so kind."

"And after I passed the Foundation Establishment exam, it's like good people started multiplying all over Songyang City."

At this moment, Zhang Yu understood more and more why all Kunxu people worked so hard to study and take exams. In this crappy Kunxu, the better your grades, the more hell could gradually turn into heaven.

After being promoted to the outsourced position, Yun Ni also brought him good news. "You are now top-level outsourced personnel and can attend one cross-layer meeting per month."

"It just so happens that Pianpian also landed a position on the second layer, so you'll be able to communicate across layers…"

Zhang Yu quickly caught on: this was giving them an opportunity to communicate with Zhang Pianpian under the pretext of a cross-layer meeting.

So next, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen entered a private meeting room. As the dedicated network connected, a line of text appeared before their expectant eyes.

"Zhang Pianpian, Foundation Establishment cultivator, Talisman Department, Wanfa University, is currently in a call with you."

Zhang Yu was startled, but then felt a slight sense of relief.

He thought to himself, with Zhang Pianpian's talent and strength, after being on the second layer for so long, it wasn't really surprising that she had passed the Foundation Establishment exam and then completed Foundation Establishment.

"But isn't this being a bit too flashy?"

Then the screen flickered, and Zhang Pianpian appeared before them.

Seeing Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen on the screen, Zhang Pianpian was momentarily stunned, as if she hadn't expected the people on the other end to be them.

!

But Zhang Pianpian quickly recovered. She smiled slightly and said with satisfaction, "It looks like you two have passed the Foundation Establishment exam, and the patrol team is starting to treat you well?"

Amidst the back-and-forth conversation, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen told Zhang Pianpian about their experience passing the Foundation Establishment exam and the current situation in Songyang City.

Although Fuji knew a lot, both Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen trusted Zhang Pianpian more and wanted to ask her for advice on the upcoming university applications.

Zhang Pianpian nodded at this and said, "Although I said before that I would wait for you at Wanfa University,"

"given your current situation, you might also consider other options based on the conditions those admissions representatives offer…"

During the chat with Zhang Pianpian, Zhang Yu asked about the long string of titles displayed on the communication interface.

Zhang Pianpian explained, "You'll understand when you come to the second layer. Starting from the second layer, throughout layers two, three, four, and even five and six, everything serves the universities."

"Every university is a city, and all the companies and administrative agencies in the city are under the university's jurisdiction."

"And here, academic qualifications, universities, departments, and cultivation levels divide people into different ranks."

"Even with the same academic qualification and the same university, just being in different departments can rank people into high, middle, and low classes. For a good major… even the toilet paper in the dedicated teaching building is of better quality than the paper in the textbooks of a poor major."

"Here, everyone judges people first by cultivation level, then by academic qualification, then by university, and then by major."

"University students can insult junior college students without a second thought, and students from the top ten universities can trample on students from other schools."

"Everyone wishes they could tattoo their cultivation level, academic qualification, university, and major right on their forehead, displaying them one by one."

"And even within the same university, only good majors get better class resources—you can even sit in the front rows when attending lectures."

"For poor majors, you might not even get to register for classes; I hear even using the restroom means you have to wait in the back."

"So on the second layer, it's only natural to display your situation in detail, receiving different treatment according to your rank."

Zhang Yu nodded. He wasn't surprised at all—in his view, Kunxu was exactly this kind of place that divided people by rank.

This situation above didn't catch him off guard; it was just that the distinctions between people seemed even finer here than on the first layer.

Zhang Pianpian continued, "Hearing this, you should understand how important choosing a major is. Even if you get into a good university, if you don't pick a good major, you'll only end up with a relatively failed life."

"Not to mention that income might differ by ten or even a hundred times—some majors even have trouble finding jobs."

"But luckily, you have your Foundation Establishment certificates, so your range of major choices should be broad. I can tell you what I've learned."

"Take Wanfa University for example: Finance, Artifact Refining, and Dao Arts are the three top departments."

"However, the paths of Finance and Dao Arts require too much background and wealth. I wouldn't recommend you two choose them."

"As for refining tools, that's a very late-stage choice for you. Although it's also tough in the early stages, you should have a chance..."

"Civil engineering and woodworking aren't bad either—they're good for building a foundation."

"After all, with civil engineering you can start working and earning money as soon as you enter. Earn money for two years first, then after you've built a foundation, switching majors is also a good option."

"But whatever you do, don't graduate from civil engineering. If you get a civil engineering diploma, it'll be hard to escape that deep pit for the rest of your life..."

"Also, don't apply for the archaeology department. The better you study that major, the deeper you'll have to go into the eighteenth layer of Kunxu, excavating the relics of sects buried in the past and researching those sects that have been eliminated by history..."

"Other majors like security, weaponry, and military are also good early-stage choices. They offer fast early progress and quick money, but once you get older, you're likely to be 'optimized'..."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and asked, "Is that the situation with Starfire True Person?"

Zhang Pianpian said with some emotion, "That's right. If he had switched to a different major back then, he might have had a different life today."

"Oh, and don't apply for the medical department either. This major is currently occupied by family powers from the second layer—all local hereditary families. An outsider can't make a name for themselves going in..."

Through Zhang Pianpian's introduction, various pieces of information about the majors and universities of the second layer emerged before Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, gradually giving them a rough outline of their future choices.