Chapter 278: Heading to Kunxu Layer Two

A few days later.

Inside the hospital.

Zhang Yu sat up abruptly from the hospital bed, then looked somewhat blankly at the spotless ward before him.

By the bed, Xinghuo Zhenren's voice came over: "I figured you'd be waking up around today, but you're even a bit earlier than I expected."

Zhang Yu turned his head sharply, looked at Xinghuo Zhenren beside him, and murmured, "I..."

The next moment, he rubbed his head, feeling a sharp pain in his brain.

"Sss..." Countless images surfaced in Zhang Yu's mind, and he gradually remembered what had happened.

"Explosion... and then the building suddenly collapsed."

"I wanted to jump from the window to the adjacent building, but someone knocked me back..."

Then a torrent of building materials came crashing down.

Zhang Yu remembered that he had desperately resisted with the Wuxiang Cloud Aegis and the Nine Sky Cloud Void Force, and after being buried, he had voluntarily entered the Samsara Boundless Zen's suspended animation state, while striving to maintain the Crippled Bull Body Sacrifice Art.

He didn't think about anything, didn't contemplate anything, only sensed himself in a dark world of consciousness, maintaining the regeneration of his flesh and blood.

The next moment, Zhang Yu suddenly reacted: "A'Zhen? How is A'Zhen?"

Xinghuo Zhenren looked at Zhang Yu with a somewhat complex gaze and said, "Don't worry, she's fine."

Only then did Zhang Yu heave a sigh of relief, and said, "Did the Zhengshen arrive? Did they catch the people who attacked me?"

He said with murderous intent, "Who exactly attacked me? I'll make them pay until they die!"

Xinghuo Zhenren said, "Two Foundation Establishment cultivators who were nearly dead of old age. They blocked the network near the apartment building and used fake data to make the Zhengshen temporarily think everything was normal there."

Zhang Yu asked, "Were they caught?"

Xinghuo Zhenren said calmly, "They killed themselves before they could be caught, and their assets were all laundered clean before the suicide. Clearly they were prepared for failure."

"As for the person behind them, based on the clues Deng Bingding has uncovered so far... it might be Wang Yin of the Oasis Group."

Zhang Yu's gaze sharpened: "Him again."

Xinghuo Zhenren said calmly, "But this time, his actions crossed the line. Especially since you already have an agreement with Wanfa University and are a designated talent. Such an attack before the college entrance exam is too outrageous."

"The physical bodies and souls of over a hundred related personnel have been dealt with, and the higher-ups at Oasis Group have paid a hefty fine. In the future, Wang Yin probably won't dare to use such methods against you again."

Zhang Yu said coldly, "He'll use other methods?"

Xinghuo Zhenren said, "Normal academic competition or business competition—naturally, no one will interfere."

In his heart, however, Xinghuo Zhenren thought: "But... is it really just Wang Yin? Would he pay such a high price just to deal with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen?"

"Did Wang Yin also sense their potential? To eliminate a threat to his heart in advance?"

"Or is it the Youming University, or even the Youming Palace... Is someone else like me aware of Zhang Yu's extraordinariness? And thus wants to nip this future genius student of Wanfa University in the bud?"

Xinghuo Zhenren couldn't be sure, so he could only keep this speculation to himself for now.

Anyway, in the coming month, Zhang Yu would be heading to Wanfa University. Once inside Wanfa University, he wouldn't have to worry about pressure from Youming University.

As for the remaining month, he decided to spend more time with Zhang Yu—both to protect him and to take the opportunity to further guide him during this final period.

Just then, Zhang Yu looked at his phone and said, "Why can't I get through to A'Zhen?"

Xinghuo Zhenren was silent for a moment, then finally said, "While fighting those two Foundation Establishment cultivators, A'Zhen awakened her Divine Spirit Root."

"And it was precisely because of the appearance of the Divine Spirit Root that the Zhengshen were attracted to arrive early."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu's expression drastically changed. He thought to himself, "Damn it! A'Zhen had been suppressing her True Spirit Root all along, not letting it evolve. Those two bastards must have forced her to unleash her True Spirit Root."

Zhang Yu looked anxiously at Xinghuo Zhenren and asked, "Then what happened to A'Zhen afterward?"

Observing Zhang Yu's change in expression, Xinghuo Zhenren surmised that Zhang Yu probably already knew the secret of Bai Zhenzhen's spirit root.

Every time he thought of this, Xinghuo Zhenren felt a bit emotional: "I never expected that these two disciples I've been guiding would each surprise me more than the last."

"I thought Zhang Yu's constitution, suspected to be a Martial Saint Body, was already a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy."

"But I never expected Bai Zhenzhen to be even more terrifying—naturally having an evolving spirit root that has evolved into a Divine Spirit Root... Her talent surpasses even Zhang Yu's."

However, Elder Spark knew this was not the time to discuss that. Hearing Zhang Yu's question, he replied, "She was taken away by the Righteous God."

"But don't worry. According to Deng Bingding... Bai Zhenzhen is safe for now. Instead, she has been taken under the protection of the Seven Emotions Divine Lord of Heavenly Sword University, and will likely enter that university as his disciple in the future."

Elder Spark explained, "The Seven Emotions Divine Lord is a Nascent Soul Sword Immortal who has long sought a successor for the Ultimate Emotion Sword Dao. It is said that during the Foundation Establishment exam, he already held Bai Zhenzhen in high regard."

Zhang Yu was slightly stunned upon hearing this and thought to himself, "Deng Bingding did mention that during the initial Dao Heart test, some high figure was quite satisfied with A Zhen's performance in the illusion, which was why she—who was not ranked first at the time—received an interest-free loan."

"Could that person be this Seven Emotions Divine Lord? Can a Nascent Soul Sword Immortal... actually view the Foundation Establishment exam?"

Zhang Yu also recalled that when the Top Ten universities gave their offers earlier, Heavenly Sword University had provided A Zhen with the best recruitment terms.

Elder Spark continued to console him, "Even with a Divine Spiritual Root, A Zhen has already established her foundation. Forcibly extracting the root would ruin it anyway. Now that she is being nurtured by a Nascent Soul Divine Lord from Heavenly Sword University, this is actually a good thing."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. Though still uneasy, he knew there was nothing he could change at this moment.

"She's still on the first level, right? Can I go see her?"

Elder Spark shook his head. "Once the college entrance exam is over, she will ascend to the second level. But her current security level is extremely high; no one can meet her."

"But rest assured, once you both enter the second level and attend university, there will always be opportunities to meet."

Seeing Zhang Yu's expression relax a little, Elder Spark sighed inwardly, "Though it's said that once the Foundation Establishment is complete and the Divine Spiritual Root is removed, it becomes useless, that doesn't mean there aren't ways to refine both the person and the root into a Corpse Artifact."

But whether the Seven Emotions Divine Lord would do such a thing, Elder Spark was not certain, so he chose not to mention it and add to Zhang Yu's worries.

Besides that, he also thought of another problem.

"Ah, I never expected to misjudge her. Bai Zhenzhen's talent far surpasses Zhang Yu's."

"Now that she has a Divine Spiritual Root and has become a disciple of a Nascent Soul Divine Lord, if the Seven Emotions Divine Lord truly intends to cultivate her... then after entering university, the gap in cultivation between Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu will rapidly widen, and their disparities in ranking, wealth, and status will grow ever larger."

Looking at Zhang Yu before him, Elder Spark thought, "Even close friends from high school will eventually see their relationship change."

Elder Spark had witnessed similar situations too many times before, but he knew that saying anything to Zhang Yu now would be futile. In the end, this was something only the person involved could slowly come to terms with.

Just then, Zhang Yu climbed up from the hospital bed, twisting his body as he performed the Endless Spring-Autumn Zen movements, and said, "Master, I think I'm just about recovered now. Can I start training directly?"

At this moment, Zhang Yu's eyes were full of fighting spirit, seemingly burning with an endless thirst for power and cultivation.

Elder Spark nodded. "You are indeed almost recovered. Let's go—don't exercise here, you'll disturb the other patients."

Over the next month, aside from breathing exercises in the spirit vein, Elder Spark guided Zhang Yu in intense cultivation day and night with hardly any rest.

Especially sensing the immense hunger for immortality and cultivation burning within Zhang Yu, Elder Spark redoubled his efforts in guidance.

Yu Xinghan also occasionally joined in, enduring Elder Spark's hellish training together with them.

Meanwhile.

In a certain spirit vein on the first level.

Bai Zhenzhen, who was practicing breathing exercises, suddenly opened her eyes and said to the Deng Bingding before her, "Wandering God Deng, could you please bring a message to Zhang Yu?"

Deng Bingding smiled slightly. "No problem. What message would you like to send?"

Looking at Bai Zhenzhen, Deng Bingding sighed inwardly, "It's an evolving spiritual root. It's already a Divine Spiritual Root now. In the future, could it evolve into a Celestial Spiritual Root? That would make her a true sect seedling."

"Seen this way, Zhang Yu was probably just a decoy."

"This Bai Zhenzhen is the real talent that the higher-ups intend to cultivate, isn't she?"

Thinking this, Deng Bingding grew even more impressed with the foresight of those above. "This move was hidden too deeply. If not for the Netherworld University's accidental attack this time... Hmm? Wait—could it be that Netherworld University was also using the incident with Wang Yin as a pretext, and their actual target wasn't Zhang Yu but rather Bai Zhenzhen? Did they want to eliminate her early?"

Deng Bingding could not be certain, but felt that the Bai Zhenzhen before him was becoming increasingly important and enigmatic.

"Compared to her, Zhang Yu seems just like an ordinary student."

"But their relationship seems quite good for now. I should cultivate good ties with both sides."

Inside the training ground.

Zhang Yu lay sprawled on the floor, his limbs twisted. Enduring the pain, he straightened each broken limb one by one.

At that moment, a message came through on his phone—it was from Deng Bingding.

"Ah Zhen asked her to bring me a message?"

Bai Zhenzhen: Yuzi, I'm fine. Do well on the college entrance exam. Once I'm up there, I'll find a way to come to you.

Zhang Yu felt reassured as he looked at his phone.

The voice of Starfire Elder came: "Have you rested enough? How much longer are you going to lie around?"

Zhang Yu gritted his teeth fiercely and stood up: "Let's continue."

…

A month passed by in a flash.

With the end of the college entrance exam, Zhang Yu and the others also finished their three years of high school.

On this day, aboard the flying boat heading to the Ascension Platform.

Zhang Yu looked at the increasingly smaller city of Songyang below; the past three years seemed to flash through his mind.

Just then, Yu Xinghan’s hand slapped his shoulder, and he said, "Bro, what do you think about going to Heavenly Sword University after we ascend? With Sister Zhen looking out for us, wouldn’t it be easier to get by?"

Zhang Yu had also thought about this question, but now he shook his head and said, "Forget it. Neither of us is good at what Heavenly Sword University teaches. Going there would just hold Ah Zhen back."

Zhang Yu knew that his current savings were all preparing for the path of the All-Methods University.

Going to Heavenly Sword would definitely slow down the efficiency of his strength improvement.

He thought to himself: "In this world, strength is ultimately the most important. Without enough strength, what use is it even if I meet Ah Zhen?"

"Without enough strength, you can't even protect yourself."

Le Mulan walked over and asked, "Zhang Yu, are you also choosing All-Methods University? Which department are you planning to enter?"

Zhang Yu answered casually, "Civil Engineering Department."

Le Mulan was slightly startled: "Civil... Civil Engineering Department?"

Just then, a series of screams came. Zhang Yu turned his head sharply and saw Xiong Wenwu being pinned to the ground, with several people kneeling on top of the black bear.

"Kid, what did you hide in your butt! Are you smuggling contraband?"

"Stop squeezing!" Xiong Wenwu's face flushed red. "The thing you're squeezing is the hemorrhoid that flared up again two days ago."

At the same time, a groaning sound arose in Zhang Yu's mind.

"How long have I been asleep?"