Night.

Beside the river.

Zhang Yu’s muscles pulsed rhythmically as he channeled the Scarlet Marrow Primordial Qi with the aid of his True Spiritual Root.

Since joining the sports competition team and securing a competition slot, Zhang Yu had ceased visiting the team’s training facility. Instead, he continued his solitary cultivation as before.

After all, the Primordial Pills, costing 30,000 each, had devoured the majority of his income. He couldn’t afford the Nine Dragon Needling technique and related elixirs offered by the team.

Bai Zhenzhen, however, didn’t need to spend her money on such expensive items as Primordial Pills. She learned the Nine Dragon Needling and purchased the associated drugs from the team to experiment.

Bai Zhenzhen’s assessment of the team’s training regimen was, “After the needling, I’m never full, can’t sleep, and can’t stop! The body tempering effect is explosive! Yu, injecting elixirs really works better than natural cultivation. You should try it!”

Of course, Zhang Yu knew that A-Zhen’s ability to withstand the needling was due to her superior drug resistance, aided by the True Spiritual Root. Furthermore, the True Spiritual Root had recently amplified his Scarlet Marrow Primordial Qi cultivation, strengthening his internal organs.

Just then, his phone vibrated. Zhang Yu opened it to find a message from Zhao Tianxing.

“Hey”

It was about the rampant rumors circulating in the various Songyang High School groups, about the complete defeat of Songyang High School’s second-year students in the sports competition. The Oasis Group was sharing some immortal cultivation technologies, and the three major high schools had achieved comprehensive breakthroughs in body tempering techniques, causing the physical strength of top students in all grades to skyrocket.

Zhao Tianxing knew that Zhang Yu seized every moment to cultivate and never bothered with groups. Even if he had joined some Songyang High School groups, he’d muted all notifications. That was why he had sent Zhang Yu the message, wanting to remind his good friend.

After reading it, Zhang Yu was quite surprised. “Those second-year students from Blue Ridge actually lost?”

“I wonder how much Song Hailong and the others have improved with the new technology… Maybe I can ask my sister.”

Zhang Yu knew Blue Ridge’s standards were definitely not low, and for them not even to make the top ten in the sports competition meant the students’ physical bodies must have improved significantly after the three major schools’ breakthroughs in body tempering techniques.

Sensing a pressure, Zhang Yu could only calm himself and focus his attention on cultivating the Scarlet Marrow Primordial Qi.

Moments later, Bai Zhenzhen, now wearing a golden wig, fake tattoos, pads, and a mask, ran over.

She lightly leaped onto Zhang Yu’s back and expertly hopped on, wrapping her arms around him from behind. “Time’s up, Yu. Time to go to class.”

At the same time, the True Spiritual Root flickered slightly and returned to Bai Zhenzhen’s abdomen, bringing her a surge of comfort.

As the True Spiritual Root switched between their bodies during this period, Bai Zhenzhen didn’t know if she had adapted to the True Spiritual Root’s enlarged form due to Zhang Yu or if the True Spiritual Root had adapted to both of their shapes. Nowadays, the switch was almost devoid of the discomfort she felt before. Only a feeling of spiritual energy infusing her flesh.

Zhang Yu activated his Racing Car Legs and sped toward the campus. As his physical strength advanced by leaps and bounds, the speed of his Racing Car Legs also increased.

Feeling Bai Zhenzhen’s head resting on his back, Zhang Yu said, “A-Zhen, your speed isn’t slow either now. Have you considered learning a set of Racing Car Legs to travel? This technique is really useful.”

Bai Zhenzhen: “No.”

Leaning on Zhang Yu’s back, Bai Zhenzhen closed her eyes and comfortably practiced her breathing technique to seize the time to refine her spiritual power.

Seeing that A-Zhen didn’t seem to understand his meaning, Zhang Yu decided to be more explicit. “Sigh, running this far every day, I feel like my shoes are going to wear out.”

Bai Zhenzhen kept her eyes tightly shut, as if she hadn’t heard anything, and continued to breathe in the spiritual energy.

She thought to herself, “Yu is hinting at me? This guy wants to reverse the heavens and have me practice Racing Car Legs to carry him on my back so he can cultivate on the way? Silly child, who would want to get off once they’re on?”

Feeling that Bai Zhenzhen seemed to be hugging him even tighter, determined not to get off, Zhang Yu cursed inwardly.

“A-Zhen, this girl! I was originally hoping that she could carry me on the road after she became stronger, so good brothers could ride each other, and I could have more time to cultivate. But now she doesn’t even want to be a running partner, purely treating me as a driver, cultivating while I drive her every day.”

So Zhang Yu thought for a while and said, “I always feel like it’s not good to run alone. If both of us can run, it’s like having dual engines. If one gets sick or injured, the other can still run. What do you think, A-Zhen?”

But Bai Zhenzhen seemed not to hear, only clamping her powerful thighs around Zhang Yu even tighter, with only the deafening sound of her breathing technique.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “This guy… pretending not to hear me again, is she?”

Bai Zhenzhen thought to herself, “Good son, you want me to get down just like that? Then you have absolutely no idea how thick my mother’s face is!”

“I can ride you for a year without getting off!”

In the days that followed, as the day of the sports competition drew closer, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen gradually felt a sense of urgency amidst their constant hard work.

Afraid of not getting good results in the competition, they always seized every opportunity to become stronger.

And time passed day by day in the two’s hard work…

One day, inside the Purple Cloud High School’s training room.

Bai Zhenzhen walked in with some curiosity, looking at Le Mulan, who was breathing slightly faster in front of her, and asked curiously, “You asked me to train with you?”

Le Mulan nodded: “I want to train close combat.”

“But I’ll say it in advance, you’re not allowed to use tricks like spitting blood or saliva.”

In fact, Le Mulan originally wanted to hire Zhang Yu as her training partner.

But she felt that the upgrade from clothes to the real person was a bit too big, and if she was sat on by the other party again… she was afraid of leaving a deeper shadow in her heart.

“It just so happens that this Bai Zhenzhen is also a poor person, and she’s with Zhang Yu every day, and her bottom line is also very low, so I’ll try her out first.”

After fighting for a while, Le Mulan thought to herself, “The scent of another person on Zhang Yu’s clothes is Bai Zhenzhen’s.”

“Bai Zhenzhen also has Zhang Yu’s scent on her body.”

“These two people really… have been doing actual combat training together every day, that’s why they left each other’s scent on each other.”

“Then I’m now indirectly doing actual combat training with Zhang Yu.”

Thinking of this, Le Mulan felt her breathing speed up a little, and her spirit also became slightly nervous.

“Sure enough, I still have to practice.”

One hour later, the training ended. Bai Zhenzhen looked at the 5,000 dollars that had arrived in her account, and felt a burst of complexity in her heart: “These guys from the three major high schools… really have money to burn.”

On this day, inside the Dark Study Gang’s campus.

As soon as Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen entered the underground classroom, they found that many people, including passing security guards, teachers, and salesmen, were injured.

After asking, they learned that the Dark Study Gang and the Gold Class Gang had had a firefight yesterday because of the competition for students.

Zhang Yu asked again, “Where’s Cai Tou? Why haven’t I seen him?”

Che Nu sighed, a trace of sadness in her eyes: “Oh, Cai Tou is gone.”

Zhang Yu said in surprise, “He… something happened during the firefight?”

Che Nu smiled upon hearing this and said, “How is that possible? Cai Tou is very strong. A small firefight like yesterday wouldn’t kill him. He was… fired.”

Zhang Yu said, “Fired? Why fire him if he’s very strong?”

Che Nu shook her head helplessly: “What’s the use of being able to fight? Can a Qi Refining cultivator block a flying sword? It’s better to be able to teach a few more classes and make more money.”

“But Cai Tou is old. He’s been taking Dao Heart Buffer for so many years, and his memory has been getting worse and worse in the past few months. Fewer and fewer students are signing up for his classes. His performance didn’t meet the standards, so he naturally had to leave.”

Speaking, Che Nu smiled bitterly and said, “In the end, whether in the company or in the gang, if you don’t get into college and have a Foundation Establishment Certificate, who won’t end up like this? It’s just a matter of time whether you leave sooner or later.”

Watching Che Nu’s departing, lost figure, Bai Zhenzhen slowly pressed against him from behind Zhang Yu and sent over her Spiritual Root.

She said with a firm face: “Yu, we must get into the top ten universities and complete Foundation Establishment.”

Zhang Yu nodded firmly as well: “Yeah, I’m going to cultivate first. You have a good class.”

In the cafeteria during lunch.

Zhao Tianxing looked enviously at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, who were constantly pouring synthetic food into their stomachs.

Zhao Tianxing thought to himself: “I never thought that A-Zhen and Yu would really enter the competition team.”

“But the three major high schools are too strong after getting the Oasis Group’s technology sharing.”

Zhao Tianxing thought of some recent rumors and looked at Zhang Yu and asked: “Did you know that Li Yong and Ye Haitao on the competition team are making a scene about getting a refund on the competition team?”

“Ah?” Zhang Yu shook his head: “I don’t know. I haven’t participated in the competition team’s training for the past two weeks.”

Bai Zhenzhen said from the side: “Yeah, when I went, I heard them arguing. It seems like they wanted to get a refund.”

Zhao Tianxing sighed: “Alas, a layout of the behemoth that is the Oasis Group unknowingly affects the future of many families.”

Qian Shen also nodded and said gravely: “From now on, the three major high schools will monopolize all competitions.”

“But this is not the scariest thing. In the past, they already monopolized competitions other than the sports competition.”

“The scariest thing is that after their body training technology is enhanced, the top students’ sports scores will inevitably rise, and the average score will also increase again.”

“I calculated yesterday that if this goes on, with the dual gap in competition and scores, maybe only 1 or 2 people from Songyang High School each year will be able to get into the top ten universities in the future.”

The doll, which had been disguised as a rosary and hung around Zhang Yu’s neck, chuckled and said in Zhang Yu’s mind: “The wealthy families in Songyang City have begun to fight internally.”

“Hehe, these are the wealthy families behind the three major high schools who want to completely monopolize the spots for getting into the top ten universities and squeeze out all the other high schools.”

Zhang Yu was shocked: “Rich people are fighting internally?”

Seeming to sense Zhang Yu’s surprise, the doll chuckled and continued, “Wealth will continue to accumulate. The three major high schools get the most top ten university admissions spots in Songyang City every year. The strength of the families behind them is getting stronger and stronger, and the growth rate of wealth naturally far exceeds that of other high schools.”

“Otherwise, why do you think the competitions have been slowly monopolized by them year after year?”

“The situation in Songyang City is considered good.”

“I know some cities in the first layer of Kunxu that have tens of millions of people, but only one key high school.”

Zhang Yu thought to himself: “In other words, we just happened to encounter the era when the three major high schools are further monopolizing the top ten spots?”

Zhang Yu sighed. The longer he stayed in this Kunxu, the more tired he felt. The whole world seemed to have an invisible pressure, constantly urging him, pushing him, and making him hurry forward.

As the days passed, the day of the sports competition finally arrived.