Chapter 52: Undercurrents Stirring

Zhang Yu looked at the vest, shorts, wristbands, and ankle cuffs in front of him, along with the two large jars beside them.

These were the weighted suit and beast meat powder he had purchased.

The weighted suit, a durable body-training piece of equipment, was cheap and ready to use, allowing him to secretly work hard without being easily noticed by classmates, and even offered the bonus effect of taking it off during a fight to show off—truly a classic piece of gear on the path of immortality, not to be missed.

The weighted suit Zhang Yu bought this time weighed 150 kilograms in total, letting him train his physical body during everyday movements.

The beast meat powder on the other side was a nutritional supplement that could better replenish the nutrients needed for his daily blood and flesh consumption and growth, helping a child grow taller, faster, and stronger.

The two items together cost him over 4,000 yuan, reducing his savings to just over 59,000.

"Sigh, I'm still too poor. I can only buy these poor man's gear."

While browsing the shopping site, what Zhang Yu really wanted most was an external spirit root called the Gluttony Spirit Root.

That thing, supposedly once inserted into the body, would constantly stimulate metabolism and physical enhancement, absorbing all available nutrients to supply the flesh—according to the ad slogan, you could even get stronger eating crap every day.

But it was too expensive, 40 million for one.

Spending 40 million to experience the feeling of getting stronger by eating crap was not something Zhang Yu could afford for now.

"Sigh, maybe I'll try the school's Muscle-Growth Spirit Root during the next free rental period."

Putting on each piece of the weighted suit, Zhang Yu felt his body grow heavier and heavier. Simple actions like bending over, walking, and raising his arms now had extra resistance, making movements much more difficult.

"Huff..."

Before he could take a few more steps, a shout came from downstairs: "What are you doing, tearing down the building in the middle of the night!"

Knowing it was because of the noise he made while wearing the weighted suit, Zhang Yu headed to the unfinished building while still wearing it.

Walking all the way, it felt like layers of shackles had been added to his body. Zhang Yu could feel various discomforts coming from every part of his body.

But after he activated the Wild Ox Soul-Calming Heart Technique, thinking about his anticipation of improving his physical strength day and night, the discomforts were temporarily suppressed, replaced instead by a sense of satisfaction from the constant training of his body.

"As expected, the Wild Ox Soul-Calming Heart Technique works on this too."

Zhang Yu's next goal was to try his best to maintain the Wild Ox Soul-Calming Heart Technique at all times, continuously resisting the discomfort of the weighted suit while using the heart technique to raise his Dao Heart level.

"Training both the Dao Heart and the physical body for 24 hours a day."

If he could do that, he could further improve his efficiency in raising his Dao Heart level while also training his physical strength.

Thinking that he had voluntarily added such a heavy burden on himself without anyone forcing him, Zhang Yu couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

He sighed inwardly: "No choice, those rich bastards from the three top schools are each more absurd than the last."

"If I want to survive, get into one of the top ten universities, and enter a major sect... I have no choice but to grind..."

Arriving again at the unfinished building, Zhang Yu, still in the weighted suit, sat cross-legged on the ground. He worked hard to maintain the state of the Wild Ox Soul-Calming Heart Technique, continuously tracing the mental image of the old ox plowing the wasteland in his mind, while letting his body rest.

In theory, as long as the cultivator could persist, the heart technique could be maintained indefinitely.

It was like listening to a novel while playing a game—a manifestation of multitasking.

However, mental weakness, fatigue, or various external stimuli could interrupt the maintenance of the heart technique.

And if one needed to use their brain for complex tasks, like taking an exam or thinking during combat, maintaining the heart technique became even harder.

So although the teacher of the Dao Heart class had said that in theory, a heart technique could be maintained constantly—strong cultivators could keep it going as long as their mind was clear—the original Zhang Yu had never managed it.

But ever since Zhang Yu recently raised the Wild Ox Soul-Calming Heart Technique to level 10 and his Dao Heart level to 2, he felt it was becoming easier and easier to maintain the heart technique.

If maintaining the heart technique before was like constantly solving math problems in his mind, now it felt like constantly counting from 1 to 1000—much simpler.

"Now I should be able to engage in more complex practices while maintaining the heart technique."

So Zhang Yu made this attempt, practicing keeping the Wild Ox Soul-Calming Heart Technique running under more conditions.

After resting a bit, Zhang Yu, still in the weighted suit, stood up and began walking back and forth while maintaining the heart technique.

He felt as if he had thrown half his brain and lost half his muscles, having to learn various movements from scratch.

The next evening, arriving again at the unfinished building, Zhang Yu tried doing some simple warm-up exercises while maintaining the heart technique.

On the third day, becoming more and more accustomed, Zhang Yu began practicing Boundless Cloud Hands while maintaining the heart technique and wearing the weighted suit.

The level-6 Boundless Cloud Hands, in his mind, felt as if they had been practiced thousands of times—each movement came naturally without the need for excessive thought.

At this moment, while maintaining the mental image of his heart technique in his mind, his physical body continued practicing the moves of the Wuji Cloud Hand under the pressure of the weighted suit.

The mana inside his body surged with a fierce momentum, repeatedly oscillating and transforming into strands of Formless Cloud Gang that poured out.

However, because he had to split his focus to maintain the heart technique, along with the weighted suit and mana consumption, Zhang Yu's efficiency in practicing the Wuji Cloud Hand slowed down considerably.

After three whole days, he finally pushed the Wuji Cloud Hand to level 10.

Listen to that—"finally" pushed it to level 10.

Clearly, Zhang Yu still thought the speed was a bit slow.

"Sigh, the feather book still isn't cutting it; it's limiting my potential and self-discipline."

In the unfinished building, Zhang Yu's mana rose from his dantian, silently completing seven oscillations in a row, then dispersing into his limbs and bones, erupting from every pore of his body.

In an instant, white clouds of mist swirled around Zhang Yu's entire body, giving him an appearance of celestial elegance.

"This is the effect after reaching level 10 with the Wuji Cloud Hand—Formless Cloud Gang is no longer limited to the hands but surges from every part of the body, truly integrating offense and defense."

However, the mana consumption also increased severely. Zhang Yu felt he couldn't sustain it for even a few minutes, so he quickly stopped.

After these days of intense cultivation, Zhang Yu's various abilities had all improved again.

Through day-and-night breath control, his mana had risen to 16.9.

The weighted suit worn constantly and the training from the Wuji Cloud Hand had increased his physical strength to level 1.28.

His Dao heart, honed almost nonstop by the level 10 Barren Bull Soul-Suppressing Heart Technique, still saw the fastest improvement, having reached level 2 (65%).

...One day, soon after Zhang Yu arrived at the classroom, he saw a weary-looking middle-aged woman standing at a desk, packing up some belongings.

Just as Zhang Yu felt puzzled, he heard Zhou Tianyi say, "Liang Qin dropped out. That's his mom coming to pack his things."

"Huh?" Zhang Yu asked, somewhat surprised. "Why?"

Zhou Tianyi sighed. "Seems like he owed over a hundred thousand from gambling. Once his parents found out, they came straight to the school to handle his withdrawal."

"I heard they caused a scene in the teachers' office yesterday. Liang Qin kept kneeling and kowtowing, but his parents still insisted on withdrawing him."

Zhou Tianyi shook his head and sighed. "His parents did the right thing. Once you get addicted to gambling, you can only be a mortal for life—you'll never achieve anything on the path of immortality."

"Not to mention he's just a first-year high schooler; even if you truly became an immortal, you'd fall from grace, lose every bit of your cultivation, go bankrupt, and become a mortal again."

Zhang Yu fell silent. This Liang Qin was somewhat like the original Zhang Yu when it came to borrowing money. He thought to himself that if he hadn't transmigrated, the original Zhang Yu might have ended up the same way.

Just then, Bai Zhenzhen dragged Zhang Yu out of the classroom and said to him, "Those stingy bastards finally got back to us. Sign this electronic agreement they sent over."

Not long after Zhang Yu signed the electronic agreement, a transfer notification rang from his phone.

Seeing the 20,000 yuan that came in, both Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen felt a surge of energy.

!

Bai Zhenzhen: "Those tightwads actually managed to send 20,000 in one go—looks like they really value you."

"Transfer 8,000 to my card; I need it."

Zhang Yu didn't ask why. After transferring the 8,000, he simply asked, "What have you been busy with lately? You disappear as soon as class ends every day?"

Bai Zhenzhen gave a slight smile. "I'm still figuring out a way to get into the Top Ten."

"Since those stingy bastards value us so much, we've got to make them help ease our pressure."

Saying this, she seemed to recall something and reminded him, "After next week's monthly exam, Zhou Chechen will probably come again to pressure us into signing the contract."

"If we refuse the student council this time, they'll definitely put even more pressure on us."

"Especially since you got fourth place in the magic competition this time—they'll find ways to force you to sign. Can you hold out?"

Zhang Yu wasn't confident either, but seeing Bai Zhenzhen's worried gaze, he laughed and said, "Of course I can hold out. Just don't you give up halfway."

Zhang Yu thought about the pressure from the ritual and muttered to himself, either he'd die from the ritual or get into the Top Ten—there was no other choice.

Just as he was thinking this, that familiar chill surged within him again. Zhang Yu knew this was forcing him to hurry back to study and cultivate.

"Sigh, enough talk. My own strength is what matters most. I'm going back to cultivate."

Bai Zhenzhen grabbed his shoulder and reminded him, "Remember, when you refuse, you can blame Ziyun High School and Bailong High School—say they're recruiting you. Keep negotiating terms with the student council to buy time."

"You have to remember, absolutely never let them notice that you're aiming for the top ten."

Watching Zhang Yu's hurried retreating figure, Bai Zhenzhen seemed to sense his urgency too.

"Yu Zi has been working harder lately."

"He must be anxious as well."

"But no matter, I'm almost there—I'm about to find that guy…"

"I'm really something, huh. Even though Yu Zi is a tiny bit better than me in the law competition, when it comes to getting into the top ten, he still needs me to have his back."

…

Inside the quiet room.

Having rented the Muscle Growth Spirit Root, Zhang Yu felt that every time he breathed in spiritual energy, as it was drawn into the spirit root, the root would feed back strands of even more lively spiritual energy.

This was the growth spiritual energy brought by the Muscle Growth Spirit Root.

As the growth spiritual energy was naturally absorbed by his flesh and blood, he felt his entire body's muscles and blood seem to writhe on their own, beginning to accelerate the consumption of all nutrients.

With the continuous effect of the Muscle Growth Spirit Root and the steady infusion of growth spiritual energy into his body, this state would last for six to twelve hours, greatly enhancing the effects of Zhang Yu's physical training.

Wei Xin's voice came over the intercom: "Student Zhang, would you like to add more time?"

Zhang Yu slowly exhaled a breath, thought for a moment, and said, "Add one hour."

…

Inside the training ground.

Martial arts teacher Lei Jun was giving Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen remedial lessons for next month's martial arts competition.

Amid a series of booming sounds and crackling explosions, two figures could be seen colliding back and forth, grappling like a pair of giant beasts.

Zhang Yu's Wuji Cloud Hand swept out with surging martial arts Gang Qi.

But Bai Zhenzhen formed her fingers into a sword, sending out a flurry of sword shadows that precisely stabbed into the weakest, most critical points of the Gang Qi, instantly dispersing the incoming Qi.

Lei Jun shouted from the side, "Zhang Yu, the Wuji Cloud Hand emphasizes change most of all—you have to guide it according to the situation, don't always rely on overwhelming force."

Zhang Yu didn't want to rely solely on brute strength either; it was just that Bai Zhenzhen's practical combat experience far surpassed his. If he hadn't instinctively used martial arts Gang Qi to suppress her head-on, he would have been constantly dominated by Bai Zhenzhen.

"How is A Zhen this good at fighting?"

Although Zhang Yu hadn't used his full power either, he had still unleashed a level 1 Wuji Cloud Hand, yet he was still completely suppressed by Bai Zhenzhen relying on a few basic techniques, making him strongly suspect that Bai Zhenzhen was cheating.

What the hell—is it x-ray vision or aimbot? Or reading my inputs? How can she always hit my weaknesses? How can she always see through my moves?

…

And so the days passed amid Zhang Yu's constant studying, cultivation, and remedial lessons.

In the blink of an eye, another week went by.

The big day of Songyang High School's monthly exam had arrived again.

And classmates, teachers, the student council… as well as all kinds of people Zhang Yu knew or didn't know, were gradually turning their attention toward him and Bai Zhenzhen.