Inside the training grounds of Songyang High School.

As Zhou Chechen took a deep breath, the surrounding chill quickly receded, his Frost Sky Freezing Aura having slowly withdrawn.

In front of Zhou Chechen, Lan Ling, whose face was blue and purple from the cold, shivered. As his blood and qi circulated continuously, surges of heat emerged, and only then did he feel slightly better.

But Lan Ling didn’t pay attention to the frostbite on his body. Instead, he said with some satisfaction, “President, you’ve finally gotten serious, and you’ve even mobilized the Zhou family’s resources, haven’t you?”

In Lan Ling’s view, Zhou Chechen’s ability to mobilize the Zhou family’s resources to retaliate against Zhang Yu indicated that his standing within the Zhou family was much higher than Lan Ling had previously estimated.

Lan Ling continued, “Let’s just do it in one go and find a way to get Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen expelled…”

Watching Lan Ling’s excited expression, Zhou Chechen thought to himself, “Oh, Lan Ling, if only you were my opponent… how good that would be.”

Of course, he couldn’t agree to Lan Ling’s suggestion. After all, according to Zhou Yang’s instructions, he needed to gradually put pressure on Zhang Yu, making him increasingly breathless without crushing him all at once.

Zhou Chechen mused, “The difficulty of this operation lies in trampling on the opponent without crushing them completely.”

“Now, lead him down a dead end in martial arts class with basic cultivation methods.”

“Through physical education, gradually get him addicted to illicit substances.”

“Taoist remedial classes will cut into his time for earning money and cultivation after school…”

Zhou Chechen could imagine that as Zhang Yu continuously lacked time for cultivation and earning money, his strength and academic performance would inevitably decline.

After all, even immortal cultivation, in this regard, is like most skills in the world: if practice time is insufficient, one not only can’t maintain their original level but may even begin to regress.

Muscles and bones throughout the body will degenerate with reduced exercise, leading to a decrease in physical strength.

Spiritual power will gradually decline with reduced breathing exercises, even affecting control over it.

And the Dao heart will generate self-doubt, self-examination, and gradually lose control due to insufficient cultivation time.

“Not to mention, if he has no money, he won’t be able to afford the drugs.”

“If he’s been taking drugs long-term and suddenly stops… the regression in his cultivation will be even more pronounced.”

Although Zhou Chechen knew Zhang Yu couldn’t get into the top 10 universities, even among non-top 10 universities, there were significant differences.

“The 36 elite colleges, the 72 second-tier colleges, and then a whole host of vocational schools and obscure universities—the differences between them are considerable.”

“What would it feel like to watch your academic performance slowly drop from aiming for the 36 elite colleges to the level of a vocational school?”

Zhou Chechen couldn’t imagine it, but he could guess it would be an unpleasant feeling.

After all, he had seen many similar cases; Songyang High School had no shortage of poor prodigies whose grades regressed due to bullying every year.

Declining academic performance… for students in key high schools, this is often the most shattering experience.

Shuang Youpeng, the top student in his year, also broke down after watching his grades continuously decline.

In Zhou Chechen’s eyes, Zhang Yu was more talented and had better grades, but if the people behind him weren’t considered, dealing with him would only require a bit more effort and money than dealing with Shuang Youpeng.

Furthermore, as the opponent gradually became accustomed to and addicted to the Dragon Rage Potion, Zhou Chechen could well imagine his despair if the supply of this addictive drug were to cease.

“If that still doesn’t work, I’ll lure this guy into gambling, or set up another pig butchering scam…”

“And Bai Zhenzhen, even if she’s unwilling to betray Zhang Yu now, as the differential treatment between them gradually emerges, friction will inevitably arise between them…”

Zhou Chechen had witnessed many cases of poor people being tormented until they were physically and mentally broken, eventually becoming docile servants.

Although those poor people might not have had Zhang Yu’s academic achievements, Zhou Chechen believed human nature was the same.

“When Zhang Yu’s grades continuously decline, yet he sees Bai Zhenzhen not being targeted like him… what will he think?”

“When poor people are in despair, discovering that even their good friends are unreliable often delivers another fatal blow.”

Zhou Chechen mused that with the power of the Zhou family, leading a poor student like this step by step into the abyss seemed far too simple to him.

Now, his biggest concern, ironically, was the retaliation from those behind Zhang Yu, and the backlash he himself might suffer.

After all, according to Zhou Yang, the plan was precisely to force Zhang Yu to seek help step by step.

Zhou Chechen thought to himself, “I need to figure out how to protect myself.”

Just then, Lan Ling’s call interrupted Zhou Chechen’s contemplation.

“President? President?”

Lan Ling looked at Zhou Chechen and said, “President, did you hear me? Let’s find an opportunity to just expel them.”

Although he had quickly re-evaluated the situation in his mind, Zhou Chechen knew he couldn’t tell Lan Ling any of this, especially since Zhou Yang had instructed him to force Zhang Yu to seek help using his own name; how could he disclose such things to an outsider?

So, after some thought, Zhou Chechen finally said faintly, “Instead of expelling them and letting them freely work and earn money outside, I think it’s better to keep them in school and slowly play with them.”

Lan Ling’s eyes lit up at these words, and he smiled, “Indeed, President, you certainly know how to play. Then we’ll torment him slowly.”

Watching Lan Ling, who was now genuinely convinced and eager to act, Zhou Chechen sighed inwardly, “Ah, if all the senior high school students in Songyang City… were like you, then I could easily get into the top ten universities.”

Meanwhile, at the gate of Songyang High School.

Zhang Yu, having spent four grueling hours on exams, frowned, his mind continuously pondering the current situation.

When he saw Bai Zhenzhen, he noticed her pick up her phone and send him a message.

Bai Zhenzhen: Be careful, someone is watching us.

Zhang Yu’s brow furrowed even more tightly. After activating his detection ritual’s power, he indeed sensed the presence of cameras.

Zhang Yu messaged back: Let’s try to shake them off.

The next moment, the two accelerated, shooting out like lightning, their speed creating whooshing sounds as they sped away.

But soon, they realized that no matter how they sped up, made sharp turns, or changed direction, they couldn’t shake off the hidden pursuers.

Even after they ducked into the subway, they could detect the cameras tracking them again shortly after exiting a station.

Bai Zhenzhen pulled out her phone and messaged: Very strong. The people following us are completely superior to us in strength.

Bai Zhenzhen recounted how she had sought out Zhou Chechen and was repelled by a security guard named Zhou Hao. She messaged again: The guys tracking us now are very likely masters, like Zhou Hao, who have been at the peak of Qi Refinement for many years.

Bai Zhenzhen: And they might specialize in clandestine photography, tracking, and surveillance.

Zhang Yu understood that if they were continuously tracked, it meant they couldn’t go to the underground tutoring world to earn money, nor could they borrow spiritual veins for cultivation from An An in the protected area.

Just as Zhang Yu was pondering a counter-strategy, Fujihime spoke in their minds, “Endure it for now.”

Bai Zhenzhen messaged: Zhou Chechen is gradually cutting down our cultivation and money-making time. Are we just going to sit back and do nothing?

Fujihime looked at Zhang Yu’s phone screen, at the message from Bai Zhenzhen, and continued, “When we dealt with Huoshan and Song Xu, we succeeded so smoothly because we had an information advantage; we possessed intelligence they didn’t.”

“But this time, Zhou Chechen and the Zhou family behind him can continuously monitor and investigate you, constantly gathering your information. The more you act, the more information you expose.”

“Meanwhile, you have very little intelligence on Zhou Chechen or the Zhou family. You don’t even know what Zhou Chechen’s ultimate goal is.”

“Furthermore, the resources and power they possess are unmatched by yours.”

“From my life experience, in this situation, blindly acting or counterattacking often leads to no good outcome.”

Fujihime sighed and said, “So… endure it for now. Many times in life, you’ll encounter opponents who are irresistible at your current stage. At such times, you must learn to lie low.”

“Especially at times like this, you must remain calm. While enduring, focus on your own growth, then quietly look for weaknesses and wait for an opportunity to counterattack.”

“And from the current situation, you have the conditions to endure.”

“After all, the methods they’ve employed haven’t truly harmed you. In fact, some aspects can even be exploited by you.”

“Your own abilities, potential, and the ritual power I’ve given you—these are the information advantages you possess against them. Only by leveraging these advantages can you persevere in your confrontation with them until you find an opportunity to win.”

So, in the following days, Zhang Yu seemed to revert to the life of a typical top high school student, commuting daily between school and his apartment, living a two-point-line existence of going to school and returning home.

During general education classes, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen seized the opportunity to practice their cultivation methods and absorb spiritual energy, gradually enhancing their Dao heart and spiritual power.

In physical education class, under Teacher Lin Hui’s watchful eye, Zhang Yu injected the delivered Dragon Rage Potion into his body in one go. Feeling the potent medicinal power surging wildly within him, he began cultivating the Crimson Marrow Primal Qi.

On the other side, Bai Zhenzhen was enveloped in flashing electricity. After injecting the Dragon-Elephant Potion, she furiously propelled her Thunderstrike True Body using the medicinal power, thunder spiritual power, and her true spiritual root.

Especially the thunder spiritual power she gained after activating her potential allowed her to cultivate the Thunderstrike True Body with remarkable efficacy, advancing by leaps and bounds when combined with her true spiritual root.

Moreover, occasionally sneaking to the restroom to ‘sip’ from a power bank made her body refinement progress even more rapidly.

Fortunately, electricity had already flickered around her when she originally cultivated the Thunderstrike True Body, so even with the added boost from the thunder spiritual power, it didn’t attract too much attention.