Just as Zhang Yu was contacting the three major high schools…

Inside the office of Songyang High School.

Lan Ling said with resentment, “…If this matter is just dropped like this, the student council will lose all credibility. How will we do student council work in the future?”

Zhou Chechen remained silent, pondering the events of the day, especially the performances of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

“What are they relying on to be so fearless?”

“Is it just simple audacity, or is there someone else behind them besides Zhang Pianpian?”

He listened to Lan Ling’s words, thinking that perhaps he could revoke some of their benefits, such as canceling their competition qualifications, to test them further.

Just as Zhou Chechen was thinking this, his phone suddenly vibrated slightly.

Zhou Chechen opened it and found it was a message from Le Jingchen.

Lan Ling, noticing Zhou Chechen’s strange expression, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Chechen frowned and said, “Le Jingchen said he’s taken care of the matter we asked him to handle. He says Zhang Yu personally talked to him, took Le Jingchen’s money, and won’t participate in the upcoming Dao Heart Competition for the first years.”

Lan Ling was astonished. “What? He personally went to talk to Le Jingchen?”

“How did he get involved with Le Jingchen?”

Just then, Zhou Chechen’s phone vibrated again. Upon seeing the new message, his expression changed even more drastically.

He said in disbelief, “My bank account has been frozen!”

“For a tax audit!”

Zhou Chechen was supremely confident that his taxes were absolutely in order. So why was he suddenly being audited?

Connecting this to the fact that they had just targeted Zhang Yu, then Le Jingchen and Zhang Yu’s private deal, and now this bank account freeze…

Lan Ling said, “President, could it be a problem with some company procedure? Maybe you just need to pay some back taxes…”

“Pay taxes? What are you talking about?” Zhou Chechen said grimly. “This is clearly someone warning us. I knew there was more to Zhang Yu than met the eye.”

Lan Ling said, “Could it be the tax bureau…”

Zhou Chechen analyzed, “Someone acting this covertly wouldn’t be from the tax bureau.”

“Furthermore, immediately after we took action, they contacted Le Jingchen on one hand and froze my bank account on the other… I’m afraid we were being watched all along.”

Lan Ling’s eyes narrowed. “Is this a threat? I’m going to find Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen right now…”

“Did you cultivate your brain into muscle? Why are you rushing?” Zhou Chechen said irritably. “Zhang Yu is just a pawn. Even if you pin him down, what good will it do? Besides, they are hidden while we are exposed. The fact that they dare to warn us like this means they aren’t afraid of us.”

“The priority is to investigate who is behind Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. Once we figure that out, we can decide whether to endure or retaliate.”

“I’ll talk to my father about this and have someone from the family handle the investigation personally.”

“Until then, don’t act rashly. Pretend nothing happened.”

Inside Songyang High School.

Zhang Yu looked at the message he received on his phone and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was from the head of the Songyang City Patrol Team, a contact Zhang Pianpian had given him: “The talisman has been sent, and the account has been successfully frozen.”

Zhang Yu: “Thank you.”

The reply: “It’s a small matter. Feel free to visit me sometime.”

In the following days, the student council, the second-year students, and Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling were all unusually silent, as if nothing had happened on the training ground.

Zhang Yu also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he shouldn’t have to worry about them for the time being.

“The next thing to do is simple.”

“Continue cultivating with all my strength and convert all these floating assets into real strength.”

And so, in the days that followed, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen continued to advance rapidly on the path of immortal cultivation, consuming the balance in their accounts at an unprecedented rate.

Inside the protected area.

In the incubator room.

Zhang Yu was breathing in spiritual energy.

Streams of Great Sun Dharma Power circulated through his body.

In the next moment, lava-like Dharma Power suddenly burst through the tiny meridians in his body. Zhang Yu had broken through another bottleneck in his Dharma Power cultivation.

Dharma Power broke through 70 units!

Feeling the surging Dharma Power after the breakthrough, Zhang Yu showed a satisfied smile.

Xiong Wenwu in front of him was also circulating his breathing technique.

Zhang Yu said, “Thank you for what happened a few days ago.”

Xiong Wenwu said calmly, “It’s just a small matter. You’ve spent so much money here. It’s nothing for me to help out.”

“Besides, I was just being honest. If you and Bai Zhenzhen don’t participate in the competition, my brothers will have a better chance of getting into the Ten Greats.”

Zhang Yu asked curiously, “Why haven’t I seen An’an today?”

Xiong Wenwu shook his head and sighed, “An’an is comforting the others.”

“Because she got a pay cut.”

Zhang Yu asked in confusion, “She got a pay cut? Why is she comforting the others?”

Xiong Wenwu said slowly, “Because she’s the best employee in the protected area, she was asked to take the lead in accepting a pay cut, which means that everyone else will gradually have their salaries reduced.”

“The manager asked her to prepare the other employees mentally, to understand the company’s difficulties, and to weather the storm with the company.”

Zhang Yu could only comfort him, “That’s just how companies are…”

Xiong Wenwu said angrily, “She’s clearly the most dedicated and loyal employee in the entire protected area! Why does she earn the least and eat the worst? And now that the company’s performance is declining, she’s being asked to take the lead in accepting a pay cut?”

“What’s the difference between this and the top student in the class having their benefits cut?”

Zhang Yu was silent, unsure what to say to comfort him.

Xiong Wenwu continued, “All of this shows… the company has problems. It’s failing to reward truly outstanding employees.”

Xiong Wenwu could sense that something was definitely wrong with the company. Not only were various bases and factories being acquired, but there was also some confusion in the upper management.

“But it’ll be soon…” Xiong Wenwu thought to himself, “I’ll soon have enough money to help An’an pay off her reproduction debt.”

“Then she’ll be able to leave this place.”

White Dragon High School.

Song Hailong was battling Bai Zhenzhen.

But against Bai Zhenzhen’s ghost-like movements, he found it increasingly difficult to hit her.

Song Hailong could only respond to all changes with constancy, like a reef resisting Bai Zhenzhen’s stormy onslaught, trying to find her flaws.

But Bai Zhenzhen was like lightning, always darting into his blind spots, forcing him to constantly adjust his position and try to catch her figure.

Just then, Bai Zhenzhen flashed away and stopped more than ten meters away.

Song Hailong frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Bai Zhenzhen glanced at the White Dragon people outside the training hall and said, “I’ve been saying, you guys have been watching us train for a long time, haven’t you?”

Chu Qiuhe and the others quickly knelt on the ground, saying that they would watch on their knees from now on.

Bai Zhenzhen said, “That’s not what I meant.”

“I mean, watching our training… costs money.”

Song Hailong was about to say it was okay when he heard Zhang Yu in the distance say, “That’s right. Can you watch people of our level for free? You should pay.”

Yu Xinghan nodded and said, “Then let’s charge for tickets.”

And so, a moment later, the training room was packed with people.

A large group of White Dragon people stood on the outside, craning their necks to watch the four in battle.

As for the kneeling spots closer to the front, where one could see more clearly, those cost extra.

And before leaving White Dragon High School that day, Yu Xinghan said to Zhang Yu, “There’s news about the Spirit Realm. I’ll arrange something for you in a few days.”

Late July.

The first round of the Foundation Establishment Qualification Exam was less than half a month away.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were constantly and bravely advancing on the path of immortality. As money flowed out quickly and large amounts of resources were consumed, their progress was unprecedented.

Zhang Yu’s Dharma Power broke through to 81.5 units, and his physical strength reached 7.52. These two basics had completely surpassed the average level of White Dragon people who were entering their third year of high school.

Only the progress of his Dao Heart was very slow, currently reaching level 5 (85).

And Zhang Yu’s bank balance had dropped to just over 200,000.

Inside the apartment that night.

Just as Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were continuing to cultivate diligently,

Bai Zhenzhen suddenly said, “Yu Zi, do you feel like my stomach has gotten bigger?”

Zhang Yu looked up and said, “It does seem a little bit.”

Bai Zhenzhen patted her abdomen. “I feel like it’s protruding a bit. Didn’t you notice?”

Zhang Yu looked closely and suddenly his eyes widened, seeing cyan patterns on Bai Zhenzhen’s abdomen.

Bai Zhenzhen also said in surprise, “Why is my spirit root getting smaller?”

In Bai Zhenzhen’s perception, the True Spirit Root that had been steadily standing in her dantian, was still absorbing spiritual energy and nourishing her flesh a moment ago.

But in the next moment, it gradually subsided, gradually turning into a cyan seed in her perception.

When Bai Zhenzhen told Zhang Yu about this change, Fuki said, “It’s evolved.”

Fuki explained, “I said a long time ago that Bai Zhenzhen’s spirit root is an evolutionary spirit root.”

“However… in the past, before Bai Zhenzhen had embarked on the path of immortality, this spirit root was still in its infancy, only changing slightly with Bai Zhenzhen’s choices.”

“But since truly embarking on the path of immortality after entering high school, her spirit root has been frequently stimulated, changing more than all the changes of the past years combined.”

“Especially after exchanging it with you, each of your level 10 cultivation techniques has given this spirit root even stronger stimulation, and today it has finally evolved.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu told Bai Zhenzhen his conjecture about the evolution of the spirit root.

Then Zhang Yu said, “Try to sense what the evolved True Spirit Root can do. Does it have any new abilities?”

Bai Zhenzhen immediately focused all her attention on the True Spirit Root.

With her focus, a ethereal feeling gradually spread throughout her body.