Chapter 55: Zhang Yu's Choice

6:00 a.m.

When the sky was just beginning to lighten, Zhao Tianxing was already almost at school.

This was much earlier than his usual time for class, all because the school was going to announce the monthly exam results this morning.

Starting last night, Zhao Tianxing had been unable to settle down to study or cultivate, so today he simply came to school early, wanting to see his scores as soon as possible.

"The Dao arts exam was a bit tough this time; I wonder if I can get 60 points."

"Sigh, the Daoxin exam was really hard too—I pressed the Joy Powder twenty-three times—I wonder how many points I'll get..."

Unlike Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, who couldn't be bothered to compare scores after the exams, Zhao Tianxing was the kind of student who would go around asking others for their scores after a test.

If someone else's answer matched his, he would feel secretly pleased; if the answers differed, he would often ask a few more people.

And for exams like the Daoxin exam this time, he would ask others how many times they had pressed the button and how many times they had injected the Joy Powder.

Hearing that others had pressed it more times than he did, he would console them verbally, but inside he would feel delighted.

If he heard that others had pressed it fewer times, his face would show nonchalance, but his heart would sink, feeling only anguish.

At this moment, when he was still more than two hundred meters from the school gate, he saw that many students had already gathered there, clearly all people like him who had come early to wait for their results.

There were students who felt they had improved and were eager to know their rankings.

There were students who sensed their grades were slipping and worried about being reassigned to a different class.

And naturally, there were pure score slaves who just wanted to know how many points they had gotten this time ahead of schedule.

Zhao Tianxing looked at Qian Shen, who was standing at the very front, practicing his skills while waiting, and knew that the other was always the first to arrive when monthly exam results were announced.

Glancing at the still-closed school gate, Zhao Tianxing simply found a corner, sat down, opened a book, and started reviewing.

After waiting a few minutes, accompanied by a soft creak, the gate of Songyang High School opened.

The students waiting at the gate immediately crowded toward it, surging into the school like sardines in a fishing net.

By the time Zhao Tianxing reached the classroom door, he saw that Qian Shen was already standing in front of the classroom.

At that moment, Qian Shen was staring at the score sheet posted on the door, and suddenly he breathed a sigh of relief.

Although his total score had dropped quite a bit this time because his practical exam score was lower, at least...

"Phew... at least Zhang Yu's score now matches his strength, so the monthly exam evaluation system at Songyang High School is temporarily bug-free."

On the other side, Zhao Tianxing glanced at the surrounding students and thought to himself, "Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen haven't come yet?"

"Oh well, given their strength, they'd know their results even without looking."

Thinking this, Zhao Tianxing felt a pang of envy—when would he ever have the confidence and composure not to rush in looking at results?

Zhao Tianxing quickly walked over and began scanning the list from top to bottom for his own name.

First place: Zhang Yu, 653 points

Second place: Bai Zhenzhen, 652 points

Seeing their rankings, Zhao Tianxing sighed inwardly: "Apart from Dao arts, they should be close to perfect scores in all other subjects."

Of course, Zhao Tianxing knew this didn't mean they could relax from then on, because as time went on, the difficulty of the monthly exam questions and the grading standards would become increasingly high, requiring students to keep improving in order to maintain their scores.

For many students in second and third year, their grades declined precisely because their personal growth couldn't keep up with the rising standards.

But Zhao Tianxing felt that with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's talent, maintaining their scores should be no problem.

Thinking this, he felt envious again: "If only I had their talent."

Continuing downward, he finally found his own name, and his heart immediately leaped with joy.

Eighth place: Zhao Tianxing, 594 points

Not long after, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen entered the classroom one after the other.

Zhao Tianxing noticed that the two of them only gave the monthly exam rankings a cursory glance, as if they didn't care about them at all.

Watching this scene, Zhao Tianxing thought Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu looked really cool this way.

In contrast, he himself had been anxious and uncertain since last night, and then rushed over early this morning just to see the results.

"Alas, I'm so pathetic."

But in the following time, Zhao Tianxing noticed that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen seemed to have something on their minds.

He couldn't figure it out—these two, one ranked first in the grade, the other second... what could they possibly have to worry about?

Just then, accompanied by a dark shadow that flashed past the window,

a loud bang came from the first floor.

Another student had jumped off the building.

After school that day.

When Zhang Yu came to the school's meditation room again, intending to use his weekly free spiritual root rental privilege,

he saw Wei Xin swipe Zhang Yu's student card, then said in surprise, "Eh? Why isn't it working?"

"Classmate Zhang Yu, please wait a moment, I'll go ask..."

Zhang Yu casually took back the student card: "Don't bother asking, I must have made a mistake."

Zhang Yu knew without asking that this must be the student council's doing again.

Then, on the way home, when Zhang Yu saw the message on his phone, he felt both angry and amused.

It was a message from Lei Jun, his martial arts class teacher who guided him in practical combat.

"Zhang Yu, the school feels that your physical strength still needs honing. They plan to let you settle for a year and participate in the martial arts competition next year."

Zhang Yu silently let out a breath.

Mana competition, sports competition, martial arts competition... obviously the student council intended to eliminate all his chances to compete and cut off this path.

And benefits like the free spiritual root rental, they would cut them one by one.

At this rate, Zhang Yu seemed to have no choice but to go back to doing part-time jobs after class. "I'm still too weak..."

While waiting for the bus in front of the station, he seized the time to practice the martial art of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Forge Technique, but the more he practiced, the more awkward it felt.

Because he deeply felt that he lacked the mindset to fight against everything before him, which was severely mismatched with the mindset required by this technique.

Zhang Yu felt as if a fire was pressing on his heart, but had nowhere to vent it.

Walking through the alley leading to his apartment, Zhang Yu thought to himself: "What if I go find Li Xuelian? Seeing my current level of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Forge Technique, would Starfire Zhenren consider taking me as a disciple?"

"Could I get Starfire Zhenren involved to create more room for negotiation?"

But thinking that Starfire Zhenren might just be another person who wanted him to sign a slave contract, Zhang Yu sighed again.

He looked up at the sky, feeling that the entire Songyang City was like a huge dining table, and at this moment, he and Bai Zhenzhen were like two dishes placed on the table, being selected by wealthy customers.

"Should I run?"

"Run to another city, work odd jobs while cultivating, develop for ten-plus years and then come out?"

"But what about A-Zhen? Would she be willing to run?"

"!"

"Alas, this idiotic ritual forces me to go to college, it probably wouldn't agree either..."

Opening the door and walking into his apartment, Zhang Yu was slightly stunned and froze in place.

There, sitting on his chair, was a slender girl wearing the uniform of White Dragon High School.

The girl's long hair was tied into a ponytail behind her head, and her fair hands were gently stroking the scabbard of a long sword resting on her lap.

Zhang Yu spoke with difficulty: "Sis... sis?"

This high school student from White Dragon High was none other than Zhang Yu's original body's older sister—Zhang Pianpian.

But what he didn't expect was that she was a student of White Dragon High, something completely absent from Zhang Yu's original memories.

Especially the big number "1" on her chest, which meant that Zhang Pianpian was already the top student of some grade in White Dragon High.

How could Zhang Yu's sister achieve this? How did she do it? Why was the original Zhang Yu completely unaware?

Zhang Pianpian looked at him coldly and said flatly, "Go see Zhou Chechen and sign the contract."

Zhang Yu instinctively frowned. "You came to make me sign?"

Zhang Pianpian said calmly, "I'm doing this for your own good. If you keep holding out, they'll force you to death."

Zhang Yu thought of the ritual on his body and replied just as calmly, "Making me sign is making me die."

Their eyes clashed in the air. Seeing Zhang Yu refuse to budge an inch, Zhang Pianpian seemed to sense in his gaze a determination that treated death as a return home.

She nodded slightly. "I didn't think you'd turn out like this."

"I originally thought you'd be more suited to a peaceful, ordinary life."

"Since you're unwilling to sign with Songyang High School, come with me. I'll take you to White Dragon High School."

Zhang Yu was taken aback. Though his mind was full of doubts, he asked what he felt was the key question: "Can I take the Top Ten exam?"

Zhang Pianpian laughed. "Of course."

"Now you finally have a bit of the spirit to charge into the Immortal Path. Since that's the case, I'm willing to give you a chance to take the Top Ten exam."

Although this was his first time meeting his original body's sister, looking at the Zhang Pianpian before him, Zhang Yu felt she was vastly different from the one in his original body's memories, filled with a sense of strangeness.

Was this really Zhang Yu's sister? Were the two of them the same person?

Had money and scores completely changed Zhang Yu's sister?

But Zhang Yu knew this wasn't the time to talk about such things, so he asked what he considered the second most important question.

Zhang Yu: "Can I bring one more person along?"

Seeing Zhang Pianpian tilt her head and look at him curiously, Zhang Yu continued, "Can I bring Bai Zhenzhen to White Dragon High School?"

Zhang Pianpian looked puzzled. "Why?"

Zhang Yu: "She's my close brother. I want to help her."

He thought to himself, "If I leave and only Ah Zhen is left to hold up the Student Council, those beasts on the council will certainly strike even harder."

Zhang Pianpian said blankly, "Close brother? Is Bai Zhenzhen also our relative?"

At first, Zhang Yu thought Zhang Pianpian was mocking him, but seeing her serious expression, he tentatively explained: "I mean she and I are extremely, extremely close."

"When I was poorest and at the darkest point of my life, she gave me 500 and treated me to a meal."

Zhang Pianpian still looked confused and asked, "Can't you just pay her back 500 now?"

Zhang Yu: "No."

Zhang Pianpian: "What about 5,000?"

Zhang Yu: "It's not about the amount of money."

He felt even more strange. The Zhang Pianpian before him was far too different from the sister in his original body's memories.

Seeing Zhang Yu's insistence, Zhang Pianpian thought for a moment and then said, "White Dragon High School only has a limited number of spots. I can at most take one person there."

Zhang Yu's heart sank.

But then Zhang Pianpian continued, "However, if you can pass a certain assessment..."

"Then both of you can be protected."

Zhang Yu quickly asked, "What assessment?"

"Divine Assistant, or rather divine office outsourcing," Zhang Pianpian said flatly. "As long as you have an identity under a divine office department, then at least until I enter university, even if you stay at Songyang High School, no one will dare to mess with you."

"I can be your recommender for the assessment."

"But you need to understand: if you come with me to White Dragon High School, they can guarantee your safety until you graduate senior year."

"But if you only rely on this Divine Assistant identity, after I enter university, they won't have as many scruples."

"And now it's only half a year until I graduate high school and enter university."

"Are you sure you want to take this risk?"

Thanks to 'Dofu Lang Mingge' for the ten-thousand reward.