Outside the training ground gates.

“Let me give you another warning. Competition rankings aren’t something you and Bai Zhenzhen can hold onto indefinitely.”
“You two shouldn’t participate in the upcoming first-year Dao Heart competition.”
With that, Zhou Chechen walked into the training ground, seemingly not intending to give Zhang Yu a chance to retort. Or perhaps he was implying: if you want to resist, then come inside and tell me, assuming you have the confidence and courage.

Zhou Chechen’s arrival brought a winter-like chill to the entire training ground. It wasn’t just the literal cold he exuded that dropped the temperature; it was also the accumulated authority of the student council vice-president, which hung over everyone like a dark cloud, making both first-year and second-year students present feel unable to breathe freely. All the first-year students bowed in unison, saying, “Hello, senior.” On the other side, the second-year students also bowed, greeting, “Hello, president.” Even Lan Ling, who had been quite agitated moments before, calmed down under the impact of Zhou Chechen’s cold presence and stopped arguing with Bai Zhenzhen. With a slight flex of his chest muscles, he then smoothed his hand over the area, closing the torn skin and muscle, completely erasing the words “vocational student.”

Zhou Chechen scanned the crowd, his gaze finally settling on Bai Zhenzhen. He said coolly, “Bai Zhenzhen, Senior Lan Ling kindly offered you advice on combat techniques, yet you used tricks to humiliate him. This truly goes against the spirit of Songyang High School…”

Watching this, Zhao Tianxing felt a familiar sensation well up inside him. “Here we go again. It was just like this a few months ago. Once Zhou Chechen arrives, no one can stop him. If Zhang Pianpian hadn’t ultimately put him in his place, Yu Zi and Ah Zhen would probably have been bullied to death back then.” A thought flashed through Zhao Tianxing’s mind: “It’s the same now. With just a few gestures and words, Zhou Chechen completely changed the atmosphere of the entire scene. I can feel that with Zhou Chechen’s next move… the ‘clown’ position here is about to shift again.” Zhao Tianxing looked anxiously at Bai Zhenzhen, then at himself, thinking that no matter how he looked at it, the ‘clown’ position would likely fall on one of them.

Just then, Zhang Yu also walked into the training ground. He looked at Zhou Chechen and chuckled, “Since when did the spirit of Songyang High School forbid humiliating other students? Students with high scores can insult those with low scores. Good grades are everything. Isn’t that truly the spirit of Songyang High School?” Many students present, both first-years and second-years, secretly nodded, strongly agreeing with Zhang Yu’s point. Zhou Chechen also looked at Zhang Yu with a scrutinizing gaze, thinking to himself, “You dare to come in? Let’s see what confidence you truly have.”

Zhang Yu continued, “Considering Lan Ling’s level, how many competition rankings did he achieve in his first year? Has he ever sparred with students from the top three high schools? Bai Zhenzhen, on the other hand, ranked fourth in the Martial Arts Competition and fifth in the Sports Competition. Why shouldn’t she be able to insult Lan Ling?” Bai Zhenzhen added coolly, “When Zhang Yu and I went to Bailong High School to exchange martial arts with Yu Xinghan and Song Hailong, the top students there, those who hadn’t achieved any competition rankings had to kneel outside the door and listen.” Qian Shen couldn’t help but interject, “That’s right, for us high school students, grades are king. Given Bai Zhenzhen’s competition results, her level of evolution is far beyond Lan Ling’s. What’s wrong with insulting Lan Ling a little?” Indeed, is it really an issue for a high-achieving student to insult a low-achieving one? Isn’t that just a casual daily occurrence at Songyang High School? The students present, whether they had experience insulting others, being insulted, or both, all secretly nodded in agreement upon hearing this. Even among the second-year students, many now looked at Lan Ling with subtle changes in their expressions. As he listened to their back-and-forth remarks, Lan Ling felt his qi and blood surge, his breathing grew heavier, his face became ruddier, and veins bulged on his forehead as if they might burst. Yet, he couldn’t utter a single word. This was because every one of their statements centered on the supremacy of scores and the kingship of grades, making Lan Ling want to lash out but also feel that he couldn’t. In the end, he could only glare fixedly at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. In that moment, Lan Ling even had the feeling that he was actually being bullied by students with better grades.

Zhao Tianxing watched the scene, his eyes gleaming. “Just now, when Zhou Chechen spoke, I thought the ‘clown’ position was about to shift. But who knew, the moment Ah Yu came in, he instantly turned the tables again, firmly pinning the ‘clown’ role onto Lan Ling.”

But just as everyone’s emotions were aligning with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s narrative, Zhou Chechen stepped forward, and a powerful surge of cold energy erupted from him, sending waves of biting wind sweeping across the entire training ground. Zhou Chechen said coldly, “Lan Ling is a student council officer; he represents the student council. He kindly offered guidance to his juniors, only to be humiliated by Bai Zhenzhen. This is disrupting the school’s teaching order, and it has nothing to do with high or low scores.” Along with the cold wind erupting from Zhou Chechen, there was also a psychological pressure. A strong sense of fear welled up in many people’s hearts, making them inexplicably nervous, their hearts pounding faster, and daring not to contradict Zhou Chechen in any way. Zhang Yu, standing not far from Zhou Chechen, bore the brunt of it. Along with the biting wind, a wave of fear was stirred within him. Fu Ji warned, “Be careful, it’s the influence of his mental cultivation technique.” Zhang Yu immediately activated the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, and a martial will to fight against heaven and earth instantly burst forth in his mind, completely suppressing the fear he had just felt. Information about Zhou Chechen also surfaced in Zhang Yu’s mind. Before Zhang Pianpian left, she had told Zhang Yu many things, naturally including a lot of useful information. Since Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling were two individuals highly hostile towards Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Pianpian had naturally explained their backgrounds.

“The freezing aura around Zhou Chechen comes from an expert-level cultivation technique called ‘Frost Sky Freezing Field.’ His mental cultivation technique is the ‘Frost Prison Art,’ which complements the Frost Sky Freezing Field.” “These two techniques form a set, complementing and benefiting each other.” Zhang Yu also knew that unlike most people who bought their cultivation techniques, these two matching techniques, Frost Sky Freezing Field and Frost Prison Art, were not purchased by Zhou Chechen but had been passed down in his family for generations. The Zhou family’s first fortune was made by selling the exclusive agency rights to these two techniques to Wanxing Education Group. However, although the copyright to the techniques was sold, almost only members of the Zhou family in Songyang City had ever truly mastered these two complementary techniques. The reason for this was related to the cultivation method of these techniques.

Cultivating the Frost Sky Freezing Field requires extracting the Yin-cold malevolent qi and death resentment from corpses, which are then suppressed with the complementary Frost Prison Art. Once mastered, every movement can generate a widespread freezing aura, and it can also unleash the residual resentment from countless corpses, forming a fear-inducing attack. And of course, corpses cost money in Songyang City. Not only does buying corpses cost money, but disposing of them costs even more. Whether it’s wall burial, casket burial, cremation, or water burial, all have different fee standards. If families intend to sell corpses directly, they also need to go through professional agencies for processing and appraisal, paying a handling fee and a corpse transaction tax. And thinking of simply dumping a corpse in a ditch or small river would incur a substantial fine. The Zhou family, backing Zhou Chechen, had long been in the corpse disposal business in Songyang City, possessing a large reserve of fresh corpses, allowing them to earn money while practicing their cultivation.

At this moment, Fu Ji warned, “If you’re going to fight Zhou Chechen… it’s going to be very troublesome. The Frost Sky Freezing Field has an extremely large attack range. As soon as you get close to him, you’ll be assaulted by freezing energy, your muscles will stiffen, and your magical energy circulation will slow down. The longer you fight him, the worse your condition will become. This pervasive freezing energy is impossible to dodge. Combined with his Frost Prison Art, he can also weaken an opponent’s mental state. If you can’t finish him off in one go, he’ll keep weakening you until the accumulated freezing energy in your body erupts, causing severe damage. Moreover, as the top student in the second year, all his stats are definitely still superior to yours. It’ll be hard to defeat him quickly. Therefore, to deal with this guy, we must use the method we discussed before.”

Zhang Yu, of course, understood what Fu Ji meant: “Combat in such a public setting isn’t like fighting Yellow Turban Warriors in an exam, where you can just blindly exert brute force. It requires various practical combat techniques, with psychological warfare being paramount…”

Meanwhile, Zhou Chechen, who was operating the Frost Prison Art, looked at Zhang Yu, his eyes radiating an intense aura of fear and intimidation. He said coldly, “Bai Zhenzhen is disrupting the teaching order. Are you going to do the same? Zhang Yu, are you also here to disrupt the teaching order?” Facing Zhou Chechen’s pressure, Zhang Yu activated the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art and said fearlessly, “Senior, you might be able to silence others with your mental cultivation, but you can’t suppress Bai Zhenzhen’s and my achievements. Today, I will stand here and take ten of your moves head-on, without parrying, blocking, or dodging. If you can knock me down within ten moves, Senior, I will gladly accept the student council’s guidance. If not, then I ask Senior to uphold the spirit of Songyang High School and allow excellent students like Bai Zhenzhen to freely insult underachievers like Lan Ling.” “Ridiculous,” Lan Ling snorted angrily. “Boy, are you trying to trick me into paying your medical bills?” Zhou Chechen held back Lan Ling, whose chest was heaving with rage. Zhou Chechen looked at Zhang Yu, the coldness in his eyes intensifying. “Very well, what you said is truly excellent. Don’t worry, it won’t take ten moves, and you won’t need to go to the infirmary. Within three moves, I will pin you to the ground.” As he spoke, Zhou Chechen’s figure moved with a widespread freezing aura, striking out with an open palm towards Zhang Yu from a distance.