Chapter 283

Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan had already heard Zhang Pianpian's introduction while eating, gaining a deeper understanding of the Foundation Establishment class at Wanfa University.

Among the various majors at Wanfa University, a new Foundation Establishment class is opened every year.

This Foundation Establishment class includes not only students who had already established their foundation in high school but also university students who passed the foundation establishment certification at the school and completed it within the year.

Fuji explained, "For instance, if a Qi Refining student in civil engineering at Wanfa University successfully establishes their foundation this past year, they’ll join the civil engineering Foundation Establishment class for your cohort."

"And these foundation-establishing students who originated from the school usually make up the majority of the Foundation Establishment class."

"You and Yu Xinghan, who established your foundations in high school and joined the Foundation Establishment class right after entering university, will definitely be a minority in the class."

"But don’t worry. Those school-origin students... after all, they’re all people who established their foundation within a year. They’ve been stuck at Qi Refining for a few more years than you, but they won’t become stronger. It only shows that their talent and immortal cultivation potential are insufficient."

At that moment, when Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan arrived at the classroom, three students had already arrived ahead of them.

One of them was tall, maintaining a height of three meters, with surging muscles that showed no intention of restraint.

His eyes were particularly striking—within completely black eyeballs floated white markings that clearly read "Heavenly Eye."

Besides this, a bare spinal column was visible on his back, covered in flowing golden spells that moved continuously.

Zhang Yu asked inwardly, "Is that an eye relic? And a spinal column dharma relic? But why does it feel... a bit ostentatious?"

Fuji chuckled and said, "You're not wrong. The white markings in the eyes and the golden spells on the spine are all brand logos."

"One is the high-end eye relic 'Heavenly Eye' from the Heavenly Eye Company, and the other is the top-tier spinal dharma relic from the brand Vajra Mystic Forge. Both are top-notch goods, not even at the first layer."

"But compared to your Time-Destroyer Demonic Eye, they still fall short. After all, that's a good item Wang Yin bought—a top-tier eye relic at the Foundation Establishment stage, low-key, luxurious, and classy."

Fuji spoke eloquently, listing off details like counting treasures: "As for showing off brand names and high-end goods, that's very common in elite universities above. If you have strength, you have to show it off fiercely; otherwise, how will others know you have money? How will they respect you?"

"Besides, branded dharma relics inherently offer stronger performance and higher power."

"When I used to do business at university, I tricked plenty of students who wanted to borrow money to buy brand-name items."

Just as Fuji was explaining, Zhang Yu's mind stirred, and the information from the three previously ignored Foundation Establishment domains surfaced.

Foundation Establishment cultivator Gongshu Jin from Kunxu Layer 4 has entered within 10 meters of you, stranger, don't add as friend.

Layer 2 Foundation Establishment cultivator Ying Xin has entered within 10 meters of you, sixth-generation civil engineering person reporting for duty!

Foundation Establishment cultivator Li Xiao has entered within 10 meters of you, everyone, please give me your guidance.

All three Foundation Establishment domains only maintained a range of 10 meters. Zhang Yu knew this was because of the limited space in the university city, and many people had deliberately shrunk their range.

"Hm? A layer-four senior?"

Zhang Yu looked at the three-meter-tall man showing off his dharma relic brands and thought, "He must be this Gongshu Jin."

At the same time, Gongshu Jin and the other two also saw Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan.

A sturdy woman among them spoke up, "You two, show us your gaokao scores and base stats. We're doing a class ranking to see where you'll place in this class."

The sturdy woman added, "By the way, I'm Ying Xin. We're all first-year freshmen. You two look like first-year freshmen this year too, right?"

Yu Xinghan knew this was an unspoken rule of university and wasn't opposed to it. She immediately said, "Yes, we're first-year freshmen this year. My name is Yu Xinghan. Gaokao score: 692. Dao Heart: level 10. Mana: 220.21. Physical Strength: level 10.25."

Seeing the three looking at him, Zhang Yu knew there was nothing to hide, so he directly said, "Zhang Yu. Gaokao: 670. Dao Heart: level 11. Mana: 276.9. Physical Strength: level 10.94."

Although he had nearly perfect scores in other gaokao subjects, his Dao Arts score was only 71.

After all, that subject was too expensive; with his Foundation Establishment certificate, he only needed a gaokao score above 600 to apply for the Top 10 universities, so he hadn't bothered much with Dao Arts and never considered raising his score.

When Ying Xin heard Zhang Yu's gaokao score, she frowned slightly, seemingly not expecting to encounter a 670-point candidate at Wanfa University.

It was only after hearing Zhang Yu's Dao Heart, mana, and physical strength that she nodded slightly, acknowledging his level.

Ying Xin then asked, "By the way, which layer are you two from?"

Upon hearing that Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan were from Kunxu Layer 1, a trace of barely perceptible contempt flickered in Ying Xin's eyes, and Gongshu Jin beside her immediately shifted his gaze away from the two.

Then Ying Xin reported her own stats and introduced Gongshu Jin.

Zhang Yu silently compared in his mind: Ying Xin from Layer 2 had a gaokao score of 695, with base stats slightly higher than his.

Meanwhile, Gongshu Jin from Layer 4 not only scored 700 on the gaokao but also had a Dao Heart at level 12, with mana and physical strength over 20% higher than his.

Finally, there was Li Xiao, who seemed the most low-key among the three.

On Zhang Yu's eye prosthesis appeared a message from Yu Xinghan: "Do you still remember this Li Xiao? He's from Xiandu, got his Foundation Establishment qualification certificate in the same class as me."

Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback. At the time, he had been focused on his own cultivation and hadn't paid attention to the other Foundation Establishment qualification certificate recipients in Yu Xinghan's final class.

Meanwhile, after Li Xiao mentioned his college entrance exam score of 693, and his basic stats being slightly lower than Zhang Yu's, he stopped talking.

He seemed to have no intention of ingratiating himself with his two fellow townsmen from Layer 1; instead, he kept warmly hovering around Gongshu Jin and Ying Xin.

After scanning Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, Gongshu Jin said flatly, "Among the five of us currently, Zhang Yu is third, Yu Xinghan is fifth."

As for first and second, naturally they were Gongshu Jin and Ying Xin, while Li Xiao from Xiandu was placed fourth.

Just then, more people entered the classroom one after another. Under Gongshu Jin and Ying Xin's questioning, they voluntarily reported their stats.

Although those who came later were all this year's newly Foundation Establishment university students, none of their stats could surpass Gongshu Jin's.

Clearly, just as Fuji had said, being stuck at the Qi Refining stage for a few extra years didn't make one stronger after breaking through to Foundation Establishment; instead, it indicated insufficient talent and potential in the immortal path.

Zhang Yu watched this 'Layer 4 master' scrutinizing each classmate like an interviewer, firmly holding the position of top of the class.

And before anyone noticed, a circle of students had already gathered around Gongshu Jin, standing by his side like stars surrounding the moon.

Gongshu Jin thought to himself, "True prodigies usually go to the three ace departments: Finance, Artifact Refining, and Dao Arts. In the Civil Engineering department, I should have a chance to vie for top of the class."

As for Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, they silently stood in a corner, unnoticed by anyone.

As more and more Foundation Establishment students arrived, the two's rankings kept dropping.

Zhang Yu had already been ranked 12th, while Yu Xinghan had fallen to 18th.

However, neither of them cared, since they had extensive experience climbing from weak to strong, step by step.

Yu Xinghan seized the time, silently circulating his mental method, breathing in spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, besides cultivating, Zhang Yu was also trying something else.

Right after hearing Zhang Pianpian mention mixing cement with medicine, an idea had occurred to him.

"After I circulate the Residual Ox Body Sacrifice Technique, my control over bodily activation increases—can I suppress my digestive system's capabilities? Then I wouldn't have to eat cement, right?"

At this moment, Zhang Yu was trying to slow down the peristalsis of his stomach and intestines and reduce the secretion of digestive fluids.

This was actually the first time he had made such an attempt since raising the Residual Ox Body Sacrifice Technique to level 20, which greatly increased his bodily activation.

After all, back when he was on Layer 1, he only thought about wildly increasing his digestive power—who would have thought there would come a day when he had excessive digestive power?

And now, with a slight attempt, Zhang Yu felt his consciousness sinking into his digestive system. The peristalsis of his stomach and intestines gradually slowed, and the secretion of digestive fluids also began to decrease.

"It actually works!" Zhang Yu perceived the changes in his body and was delighted. "Looks like I won't need to eat cement after all."

Fuji was also somewhat surprised and said, "Your Residual Ox Body Sacrifice Technique is quite impressive—its range of applications is too broad."

Meanwhile, Li Xiao from Xiandu on the other side glanced at Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan silently cultivating, and thought to himself, "Hmph, now that you're on Layer 2, do you still think mere hard work and effort will be enough?"

"Months or years of bitter cultivation can't compare to a little handout from the rich upper layers."

Li Xiao had been squeezing in next to Gongshu Jin. Now, seeing them discuss prosthetic bodies, he looked into Gongshu Jin's eyes and said with a smile, "Gongshu Jin, what brand of eye prosthesis do you use? It looks very special."

Gongshu Jin said flatly, "This is the Celestial Eye's eye prosthesis."

Li Xiao's heart stirred, and he quickly said, "From Celestial Eye Corporation? I also use a Celestial Eye Corporation eye prosthesis."

Gongshu Jin smiled disdainfully. He looked at Li Xiao, who was eager to fit in, but said nothing, as if too lazy to reply.

But Ying Xin beside him laughed and said, "Gongshu Jin, the Celestial Eye you're using is a high-end model, right? I think the cheapest one costs at least 10 spirit coins."

Gongshu Jin said flatly, "Something like that. This one is fully loaded, cost about 12 spirit coins."

The surrounding students let out a collective gasp of surprise and admiration.

Hearing this, Li Xiao also swallowed hard. Looking at Gongshu Jin's eyes, he was filled with envy, and at the same time felt that his own eye prosthesis seemed beneath notice.

Just then, a flash appeared before everyone's eyes, and a new Foundation Establishment domain had enveloped them.

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator from Kunxu Layer 6, Ji Yuanshu, has entered within 100 meters of you. Please remain quiet."

The classroom, which had been full of lively discussion moments before, instantly fell silent. Even Gongshu Jin, who had maintained an indifferent expression, narrowed his eyes slightly and, like the others, looked toward the classroom door.