Chapter 83

Songyang High School.

Inside the classroom.

Campus life was as calm as ever, and the students' enthusiasm for learning was as high as usual.

The Chinese teacher was explaining the text on the podium with no sense of presence, while below, some students were practicing boxing, some meditating, some taking pills, and some had already started fighting... that was combat training.

The classroom atmosphere of a key high school was just like this.

At the beginning of the semester, first-year students would still hold back a bit due to their middle school habits, but now half a year had passed, and everyone had torn off their masks to reveal their true identities as cultivation prodigies.

The Chinese teacher didn't mind this either, after all, whether it was boxing, meditating, fighting, taking medicine, popping pills, injecting drugs, or any other cultivation practice, it was far more important than her insignificant Chinese class — as long as the students didn't come to beat her up.

As far as she knew, the general education teachers at Songyang High School already had a bit of status; for instance, her classmate who became a teacher at White Dragon High School was always used by the school administration to teach students a lesson: "If you don't get into a good college in the future, you'll be as useless as a high school Chinese teacher."

Thinking of this, the Chinese teacher sighed inwardly: "Sigh, if it weren't for the demands of the sects and the city government, key high schools would probably have already shortened general education classes to nothing."

Just then, the Chinese teacher heard someone's phone ring below.

She finally couldn't help it and wanted to remind him: "Classmate, please set your phone to vibrate during Chinese class and don't disturb other students who are studying."

But when the Chinese teacher looked up, she saw that the owner of the phone was actually Zhang Yu.

Although she was just a lowly general education teacher, she had long heard of this campus celebrity.

"Freshman Demon," "Songyang Traitor," "Impure Root," "Sponger"... she had heard all sorts of nicknames for Zhang Yu.

She heard that he had won first place in the martial arts competition last night, and today he was two minutes late to school without anyone daring to discipline him.

Thinking that he had the backing of a rich woman from White Dragon and could even go against the student council, how could she, a mere general education teacher, dare to care whether he set his phone to vibrate or not.

So the Chinese teacher quickly lowered her head and pretended she hadn't heard anything.

Zhang Yu had originally been cultivating his mental technique to improve his Dao heart, and when he picked up his phone, he found that the martial arts competition prize money had already been credited.

"Although the money is a bit little, it arrived quite quickly."

Although 50,000 had arrived, after repaying Zhang Pianpian 40,000 and also paying back the meal money borrowed from Qian Shen and Zhao Tianxing, Zhang Yu's account was left with less than 10,000 yuan.

Zhang Yu knew that Bai Zhenzhen's fourth-place prize was 10,000, so her account balance was probably about the same as his now.

But thinking that two weeks later it would be next month, and he would have to pay loan interest, rent, utilities, and so on, Zhang Yu felt a bit annoyed.

"Oh, and I also need to buy a new weighted suit. If I'm going to be body tempering for the next two months, my daily food expenses will probably go up too…"

The more Zhang Yu thought about it, the more he felt there were places to spend money.

"Luckily, there's some income from Song Hailong."

At the same time, on the other side of the classroom, Bai Zhenzhen also received the news that the prize money had been credited.

In addition, she also received a message from Zhang Pianpian.

Zhang Pianpian: "You usually use your spirit root too little, so you're not very skilled, right? Otherwise, you should have been able to go further in the martial arts competition."

Zhang Pianpian: "From now on, just rent the spirit root every day. Say that I invested money for you to rent it."

Zhang Pianpian: "The evolution-type spirit root only gets stronger the more you use it."

Upon seeing the message from Zhang Pianpian, Bai Zhenzhen was first startled, then immediately reacted: "She saw that I have a spirit root?"

"She wants to cover for me using the spirit root?"

Bai Zhenzhen was very familiar with the state of her own spirit root; she would secretly use it to cultivate every day after returning home.

But because she had always been worried about being discovered possessing this "precious treasure," she had never dared to use this spirit root to assist her cultivation every day in public places like school.

After all, if this were to be known, just the various bank mortgages, casino sales, and scammers would annoy her to death, not to mention the thoughts of those rich people.

So after Zhang Pianpian called her out, Bai Zhenzhen's first feeling was an instinctive panic — the deepest fear accumulated in her heart from childhood, like being caught after ten years of constipation.

But thinking of Zhang Pianpian's care over this period, the sibling relationship between Yu Zi and Zhang Pianpian, the fact that the other party had frankly revealed her own fake-rich identity, and her score of 699 points, Bai Zhenzhen gradually calmed down.

"Zhang Pianpian should be trustworthy, right?"

Then she thought... if she could use Zhang Pianpian's name to create a reason for renting the spirit root every day, she would be able to openly use the spirit root to cultivate in school every day.

"That way, the time I spend cultivating with the spirit root every day will increase by at least ten-plus hours."

[]

"The next competition won't be so stifling."

Recalling the process of this Martial Arts Competition, although Bai Zhenzhen took fourth place, she always felt a sense of suffocation, a kind of discomfort like showing off halfway only to have it cut short.

Because her stats in various aspects were inferior to those of her opponents from the three major high schools, and because the numbers in her bank account were lower than theirs, she found herself holding back in every move, eventually even having to concede defeat.

Now that she could make more use of her Spiritual Root for cultivation, she immediately gained greater confidence in her ability to catch up with those top students from elite schools.

"Yu stole the spotlight in this competition, but next time, it'll be my turn."

"It's not bad for my son to take first place, but after all, what would feel best is stepping on my son too and winning the championship myself."

…

During physical education class. The smell of sweat and medicinal herbs mixed together, forming a unique scent of Songyang Immortal Path.

The clanking of equipment and the groans of human bodies rang out continuously—the sounds of students striving fiercely on the path of immortality.

But some people cast sidelong glances at Bai Zhenzhen not far away, sensing the surging spiritual energy in the air, their minds churning with different thoughts.

Some felt envious: "She actually rents a Spiritual Root for Bai Zhenzhen to use every day. Is that Zhang Pianpian really that good to her?"

Some began to scheme: "I could love Bailong too. I also want to be Zhang Pianpian's dog."

Others let their imaginations run wild: "Bai Zhenzhen became Zhang Pianpian's dog and can rent a Spiritual Root every day. If I become Bai Zhenzhen's dog, I wonder if she'd lend me her Spiritual Root for an hour each day?"

On the other side, Zhang Yu, unlike the classmates around him who were furiously training their physiques, went to a side room to study the Back-Dragon Mountain-Turning Hand he had just learned yesterday.

After all, since he had switched Yushu's specialization to this grappling and throwing technique yesterday, the twenty-four-hour cooldown had not yet passed; the only combat skill he could quickly improve now was this one.

"Might as well train it for now. After the cooldown period passes tonight, I'll switch back to Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi."

Zhang Yu's hands began to move, leaving behind a series of afterimages as he started practicing the Back-Dragon Mountain-Turning Hand.

Back-Dragon Mountain-Turning Hand Level 2 (4/20)

!

This martial art, which could be driven purely by physical brute force, consisted of eighteen moves. Although the moves were not few, each one was very short—all methods of breaking bones, throwing opponents to the ground, and locking them in restraints in an instant.

The art of grappling and throwing inherently demanded swiftness and fierceness; on average, each move took less than a second. In a flash, Zhang Yu had completed one full cycle of the Back-Dragon Mountain-Turning Hand.

Recalling the several combat martial arts he had practiced before, Zhang Yu sighed with emotion: "In combat martial arts, the moves are often required to be concise and fast, so completing a full set is very quick."

Zhang Yu understood that if it weren't so, he wouldn't have been able to learn, or even surpass, Song Hailong's Back-Dragon Mountain-Turning Hand on the competition platform.

After a few minutes, Zhang Yu felt a jolt in his mind as countless experiences related to the Back-Dragon Mountain-Turning Hand surfaced; the martial art had risen from Level 2 to Level 3.

"If I keep training at this pace, I should be able to raise the Back-Dragon Mountain-Turning Hand to Level 10 today."

While Zhang Yu was diligently training in the side room, the physical education teacher Wang Hai called over five students, including Qian Shen, He Dayou, and Zhao Tianxing.

"The school plans to select some promising students from the first-year cohort to join the sports competition team for training."

"Are the five of you willing to go?"

Before the others could react, Qian Shen directly asked, "Just the five of us? Aren't Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen going?"

Wang Hai said, "The school administration feels that they still need to settle down a bit more."

Qian Shen said in confusion, "Their monthly exam scores are first and second in the grade. They still need to settle? Instead, we get selected?"

Of course, Wang Hai couldn't say that it was all because of the student council, so he had to come up with another reason.

"Because they're too poor."

Seeing the five of them slightly stunned, Wang Hai continued, "They can't even afford the competition team's tutoring and nutrition fees. How can they join the competition team?"

Not only did the other four find this perfectly reasonable, but even Qian Shen found himself at a loss for words.

Especially when he recalled how Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had to borrow money from him just to buy dinner, he understood that their financial situation must be terrible.

After recruiting the five into the sports competition team, Wang Hai then called over Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

"Your applications for the sports competition have been rejected again."

Wang Hai looked at the two with some regret. "You should both understand the specifics yourselves."

Previously, Wang Hai thought Zhang Yu was a Golden Core disciple, but after Zhang Pianpian came to Songyang High School to support Zhang Yu and clashed with the student council, he became uncertain again.

But regardless of whose disciple he was, Wang Hai could sense that Zhang Yu was an extraordinary talent with the potential to compete for rankings in sports competitions.

He thought to himself, "What a pity—the student council simply won't give them a chance."

Hearing Wang Hai's words, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen naturally understood that the student council must be behind this obstruction.

Wang Hai continued, "But you're not completely out of options. If your sports scores can stay in the top five of your grade after one month, you can represent the school in the sports competition."

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen exchanged a puzzled glance, confusion rising in their hearts.

As if understanding their confusion, Wang Hai went on, "The school selected five students from the first-year class to join the sports competition team."

"If, one month from now, you can stay in the top five in sports scores when competing against them, you can represent the school in the sports competition."

Now Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen understood—clearly the student council believed that after these five students joined the competition team and received training, they would completely surpass the two of them in sports performance.

Seeing the blazing fighting spirit in Zhang Yu's and Bai Zhenzhen's eyes, Wang Hai sighed secretly.

As the ace physical education teacher at Songyang High School, he knew all too well the training methods of the competition team.

"This so-called chance to compete after a month is just an excuse cooked up by the student council, so they can legitimately squeeze Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen out of the competition without leaving Zhang Pianpian any room to argue."

"Given the rate of improvement Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are showing, in one month their physical strength might at best reach 2.1 or even 2.2."

"But for the competition team, with their special training program, one month is enough to boost He Dayou and the others' physical strength to over 3.0."

"This has nothing to do with talent—it's purely a huge gap in immortal arts technology. If Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had joined the special training program, their improvement in a month would probably be even higher..."

Precisely because he understood all this, Wang Hai knew... once Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen failed to be selected for the special training program, they actually had no way left to catch up to the competition team members in physical strength, and even less chance to participate in the sports competition.

——

Fellow cultivators, another chapter's monthly ticket loan has been repaid. Continue borrowing monthly tickets!