Just then, Dai Xingzhi heard Ye Lingxiao beside him say, “Your evaluation in the last Dao Heart test was actually unknown?”

Dai Xingzhi was slightly stunned. Only then did he look in the direction of the voice and notice Zhang Yu behind him… The number on him was indeed 55.

Hearing Ye Lingxiao’s question, Zhang Yu was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.

Dai Xingzhi, standing nearby, interjected, “Unknown evaluation, could it be that you didn’t give up until the very end, even to the point of overloading the illusion? … So they gave you an unknown evaluation?”

Zhang Yu said helplessly, “Well… something like that.”

Hearing this, Ye Lingxiao’s gaze sharpened, and a hint of importance appeared in his eyes as he looked at Zhang Yu.

Ye Lingxiao thought to himself, “This person can actually overload the illusion?”

“How strong is his will? How wealthy is he? Is he richer than Yun Jing, richer than me?”

On the other side, Dai Xingzhi’s brain was also frantically thinking, “What is his background? Is he the descendant of a company director, or the heir of some local magnate?”

At the same time, more and more people noticed the number 55 on Zhang Yu, realizing that this student from out of town was the top scorer in the last Dao Heart test.

And because of the special nature of this Dao Heart test, they realized that this top scorer must be extremely wealthy, possessing astonishing riches.

And wealth, as the most direct manifestation of Immortal Dao potential, meant that the extremely wealthy number 55 must also be powerful, and definitely a strong contender for the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate.

Ye Lingxiao looked at Zhang Yu, thinking to himself, “Judging by the way he picked up the red envelope talisman and what he said, I thought he was a pauper.”

“Unexpectedly, he’s hiding his true strength… Could it be that he dares to pick up red envelopes on the ground because he’s rich enough?”

“He also seemed very concerned about what poor people should do if they picked up red envelope talismans… Is he the kind of wealthy person who is new to the world?”

As he pondered, Ye Lingxiao turned around and looked at Zhang Yu with an increasingly serious expression: “I look forward to competing with you later.”

At this moment, the mysterious and unfathomably wealthy Zhang Yu had become one of Ye Lingxiao’s main rivals in his eyes.

Dai Xingzhi and the other students, looking at the two facing each other, felt as if they were watching two behemoths, each possessing billions of wealth, colliding fiercely.

Bai Zhenzhen, witnessing this scene, looked at Zhang Yu with increasing anxiety: “Yu Zi! You’re acting so big now, if you show your true colors when the official competition starts, you’ll become the kind of clown Zhao is always talking about!”

Bai Zhenzhen was confident that she and Zhang Yu had made a lot of progress in the past two months, and were definitely at the level of senior high school students.

But she also knew that even with so much progress, she and Zhang Yu still had a gap compared to those top Immortal Capital Young Masters.

Facing the first round of exams, Bai Zhenzhen only hoped to pass.

As for catching up with, and even surpassing, the top Immortal Capital Young Masters, that should be her goal in the next few months, in the second and third rounds of exams.

How could Zhang Yu not know this? But when his number was posted as the top scorer in the Dao Heart test, he understood that he couldn’t explain it.

He couldn’t possibly say that he persevered to the end in the illusion because of the ritual’s influence.

He couldn’t possibly say that he was actually a pauper, and was still trying to figure out how to pay off his loan interest next month.

So, facing Ye Lingxiao’s scrutiny, and feeling the curious, inquisitive, or hostile gazes of all the other competitors, Zhang Yu felt like he was being stared at by a group of people ready to pounce on him, and could only hold on.

“Damn it, shouldn’t I be catching up to the Immortal Capital Young Masters step by step, ultimately winning the Foundation Establishment Certificate under their contempt and even ignorance? Why is everyone staring at me right from the start?”

“I said we shouldn’t have rankings! Why expose the contestants’ privacy like this!”

Thinking that he would have to compete head-on with these people next, Zhang Yu felt like the “clown position” Zhao Tianxing had talked about was beckoning him.

“Is there any way to avoid embarrassing myself too much later?”

“Forget it, I can’t help it if I have to lose some face, who told me I’m not strong enough yet.”

Not far away, Yu Xinghan had just arrived and saw this astonishing scene.

“Zhang Yu this kid…” Yu Xinghan looked at Zhang Yu, feeling both curious and surprised: “How did he do it?”

Thinking that the other party could actually persevere to an unknown evaluation in that illusion as a pauper, he couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he tried.

He even had the urge to ask Zhang Yu, but he also knew that the other party would never reveal this secret.

A moment later, as all the contestants arrived, Deng Bingding, as the chief examiner, began to announce the exam process.

In short, it was to understand the spirit of the Foundation Establishment Exam reform. This time, in addition to Dao Heart, the students’ mana, physical fitness, and martial arts would be tested in turn.

As for why Dao Heart wasn’t being tested, it was said that the last round of Dao Heart tests had already eliminated all those who failed, so there was no need to test it again.

Of course, the little deity Huang Zichou, standing aside, knew that this was done to save budget.

After all, compared to the other three subjects, Dao Heart testing involved the spiritual realm environment, and cost the most money and consumed the most resources.

Finally, Deng Bingding said: “…This round of exams will only retain the top twenty contestants in total score. All contestants after the twentieth place will be eliminated. To encourage students, each of the top twenty contestants will be rewarded with an expert-level cultivation technique…”

Hearing this, Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up slightly: “Everyone gets an expert-level cultivation technique? That’s so generous!”

Zhang Yu still remembered that the last bonus Deng Bingding approved for him was an interest-free loan.

But thinking about it, he thought to himself: “The Eight Divine Lords are backed by the Heavenly Court and the Ten Great Sects.”

“For us, expert-level cultivation techniques cost tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands.”

“But for them, it’s probably just a permission.”

“After all, they just need to approve our right to use it, and then send us the content of the cultivation technique…”

Soon, the mana exam officially began.

All the students lined up in the hall according to their numbers.

Then, several examiners distributed a set of testing equipment and a box of spirit roots to everyone present.

Dai Xingzhi thought to himself, “This mana exam tests the control, burst, and recovery of mana.”

He picked up a detection patch, thinking, “I need to output mana into it as much as possible within 30 minutes.”

“The faster and more mana you output in 30 minutes, the higher your score will be.”

“This requires both explosive power, precise control of mana, and the ability to recover mana by breathing in spiritual energy while outputting mana.”

Dai Xingzhi knew that this ability to burst mana for a long time was supposed to be an Immortal Dao course taught in senior high school according to the high school curriculum.

But since this was a Foundation Establishment Exam for high school students, it would naturally not be restricted to the curriculum.

Dai Xingzhi also opened the small box containing the external spirit root.

He saw a circular ring constantly emitting wisps of spiritual energy, breathing like a living creature.

Dai Xingzhi thought to himself, “External spirit root, Limitless Qi Sea.”

“A mid-range brand external spirit root?”

Dai Xingzhi recalled what the examiner had just said, knowing that using a unified spirit root like this was one of the reforms of this Foundation Establishment Exam.

Dai Xingzhi didn’t care about this. Wealth was one of the potentials of the Immortal Dao, and it was only right that wealthy people had more advantages. Why use some unified spirit root?

Just then, Deng Bingding reminded, “Before carrying the external spirit root, everyone remember to turn off the spirit root in your body, or you will bear the consequences.”

Dai Xingzhi was about to put on the external spirit root Limitless Qi Sea when he suddenly heard a male voice.

“How do I use this external spirit root?”

Dai Xingzhi turned his head and found that it was number 55 who was speaking.

“They actually distributed unified spirit roots?” Zhang Yu thought to himself, “But this external spirit root doesn’t even come with instructions, who knows how to use it.”

“And if I ask like this, the Immortal Capital Young Masters around me will probably guess that I’m not that rich after all?”

“It can also be considered as laying the groundwork for myself…”

On the other side, Bai Zhenzhen heard this and thought to herself, “Well done, Yu Zi, if you ask like this, I don’t have to ask.”

“And you’re also building a stage for yourself, slowly revealing the fact that you’re not that rich, so that even if the results aren’t as good as everyone expects, you’ll lose a little less face.”

And Dai Xingzhi heard this, thinking to himself, “He’s never even used a Limitless Qi Sea before?”

Thinking of the unknown evaluation of the other party in the Dao Heart test, Dai Xingzhi thought, “Is it because the Limitless Qi Sea is too low-end for him?”

“Damn it, it’s already considered a normal cultivation spirit root for me, what kind of spirit root does this guy usually disdain to use? What kind of spirit root does he usually use?”

Dai Xingzhi thought to himself, “Damn rich people, it’s a good thing we’re using a unified spirit root for this exam!”

On the other side, the strongest high school student Yun Jing’s eyes flashed as he looked at Zhang Yu, thinking to himself, “Is this out-of-towner showing off his wealth here? Actually saying that he’s never used a Limitless Qi Sea?”

Yun Jing snorted coldly in his heart and also said, “I don’t usually use this kind of spirit root either, please teach me, examiner.”

“So even rich people don’t usually use this kind of spirit root?” Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Tsk, troublesome… Why do I feel like more people are looking at me.”

Following the method introduced by the examiners, he injected mana, enlarged the ring, and put it on his hand. Zhang Yu felt that this external spirit root was vibrating with his breathing, as if it had become a part of his body, and the surrounding spiritual energy immediately swarmed over.

Next, he put on the detection equipment and gripped the detection patch.

With a countdown of 3, 2, 1, the contestants all output mana into the detection patch.

There seemed to be a loud noise in the air as everyone’s mana circulated.

At the same time, on the light curtain in front of the hall, the mana output data representing each individual lit up.

It was a row of bar graphs, with the number of each contestant below each bar and the mana number above the bar.

At this moment, as everyone frantically output mana, each bar was constantly increasing and sorted according to the size of the mana output.

But because the growth of two bars was too fierce, they not only squeezed into the first and second places at once, but also made the bars of other contestants seem to be shrinking due to their exaggerated growth.

The contestants represented by these two bars were Yun Jing of number 11 and Ye Lingxiao of number 23.

It could be seen that their mana numbers skyrocketed all the way, and the two bars, like two dragons, entangled back and forth in the first and second positions, chasing each other.

At the same time, Dai Xingzhi looked at the bar of number 55: “Hmm? Why is it ranked so low?”