When Zhang Yu came to his senses again, he found himself in an underground passage.

“Has the teleportation been completed?”

He walked forward along the underground passage and soon saw a figure.

Zhang Yu quickly approached, wanting to see if Bai Zhenzhen had come down with him, but instead found a boy in a school uniform.

The boy heard footsteps, turned his head, and looked at Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu nodded at him and greeted, “Hello, are you also here for the exam?”

The boy, Dai Xingzhi, did not immediately respond to Zhang Yu’s greeting. Instead, he scrutinized Zhang Yu from head to toe, confirming one thing.

The other person was not a student from Xiandu City.

Dai Xingzhi was able to confirm this for two main reasons.

On one hand, he was unfamiliar with the other person’s appearance, and he clearly remembered all the high-achieving, wealthy high school students in Xiandu City; this person was definitely not among them.

On the other hand, judging by the person’s accent, demeanor, clothing, and other aspects… this was an outsider.

As an old Xiandu native whose ancestors had lived in Xiandu for ten generations, in Dai Xingzhi’s eyes… Xiandu people and outsiders were completely different, almost like two distinct species.

And he, Dai Xingzhi, could generally spot the difference at a glance.

“Outsiders are just outsiders; they don’t have the temperament of us Xiandu people.”

After realizing that Zhang Yu was very likely an outsider, Dai Xingzhi’s back unconsciously straightened.

This was because Dai Xingzhi was a supporter of Xiandu supremacy.

Xiandu was the center of Kunxu Layer 1, a gathering place for the strongest, smartest, and wealthiest people in Kunxu Layer 1. Xiandu’s Upper City could even be called Kunxu Layer 1.5.

“Theoretically speaking, I’m not even from Kunxu Layer 1; I should be considered from Kunxu Layer 1.5.”

As for the other cities in Layer 1? In Dai Xingzhi’s mind, weren’t they all just rural areas?

Looking at Zhang Yu, Dai Xingzhi thought to himself, “You stinking outsider, trying to come to Xiandu to snatch our Foundation Establishment Certificates?”

After glancing at Zhang Yu twice, Dai Xingzhi said nothing and turned to leave. He hurried forward for a while and soon saw the back of another person.

“Ye Lingxiao…”

Dai Xingzhi was very familiar with this top student who had recently become obsessed with “red packet talismans,” as the person was from within the second ring of the Upper City.

In Dai Xingzhi’s understanding, Xiandu was the center of Kunxu Layer 1.

The floating city above Xiandu, always referred to as the Upper City, was the center of the center.

Within this Upper City, there were ten rings from the outside to the inside, with the area inside the second ring being the center of the center of the center.

Ye Lingxiao, born in the second ring, came from one of Xiandu City’s wealthiest families.

According to Dai Xingzhi, people from the second ring only befriended, married, and procreated with other people from the second ring; some even never came down from there their entire lives.

Upon seeing Ye Lingxiao, Dai Xingzhi’s recently straightened back immediately bent again as he said ingratiatingly, “Hello, Lingxiao.”

“Do you remember me? I’m Dai Xingzhi, from your school. My family lives in the North Sixth Ring.”

After speaking, he added, “It’s inside the sixth ring, not outside.”

Ye Lingxiao nodded without lifting his head, continuing to focus on practicing his red packet talismans.

After the last Dao Heart test, his curiosity about the red packet talismans and favorability talismans grew deeper, and he was ninety percent sure they contained extraordinary benefits.

Unfortunately, because the secret involved was so significant, he dared not tell anyone and only dared to research it slowly himself.

Just then, a shout came: “Hey! Why are you littering with red packet talismans again?”

Zhang Yu, dodging the red packet talismans on the ground, caught up and said displeasedly, “If you just casually litter with these dirty things, aren’t you endangering public safety?”

Ye Lingxiao glanced at Zhang Yu with some surprise, seemingly not expecting this student from out of town to have avoided elimination in the previous test.

Ye Lingxiao said indifferently, “If no one picks up the red packet talismans, they’ll disappear after a while. Besides, if you don’t want the money inside, just return it immediately…”

As the two spoke, Zhang Yu had followed the other person into an underground hall.

From a distance, Examiner Deng Bingding and others could be seen standing in the center of the hall, surrounded by more than ten contestants who had arrived earlier.

However, these contestants seemed to be discussing something with the examiners at the moment.

One student was heard saying, “Examiner, please announce the rankings from the last test.”

Another student said, “Exactly, what kind of test doesn’t announce rankings?”

Someone loudly supported, “If there are no rankings, is it even a test? Can it be considered a normal exam?”

Zhang Yu understood after hearing a few sentences: this was a group of “Xiandu elites” demanding the rankings from the previous test be announced.

Moreover, judging by their demeanor and the information they revealed, it seemed that if local Xiandu schools didn’t announce rankings after an exam, it would be considered utterly disgraceful, and both teachers and the school would be reported.

“Damn, another group of ranking obsessives…” Zhang Yu thought to himself. “Wherever Kunxu is, there are always these people who love to create rankings, completely disregarding the examinees’ privacy.”

Just then, Bai Zhenzhen also walked up beside Zhang Yu and asked curiously, “What’s all the commotion up ahead?”

Zhang Yu scoffed, “A bunch of score fundamentalists are making a fuss, demanding the rankings from the last test be announced.”

Bai Zhenzhen recalled her performance in the last test: “Hmm, the strongest Xiandu elites took half a second to open the door, and I took less than three seconds, so I’m definitely ranked lower.”

Thinking again that her Dao Heart test probably wasn’t as good as these Xiandu elites, she shook her head and sighed, “It’s just a pre-exam test. These people still value superficial fame too much.”

Zhang Yu agreed, “How can true immortal cultivation be clearly defined by temporary scores and rankings?”

Hearing this, Ye Lingxiao, a supporter of the exam ranking theory, felt he couldn’t pretend not to have heard it.

But just as he was about to speak, Dai Xingzhi, standing nearby, couldn’t help but say, “What nonsense are you two outsiders spouting? Scores are everything! Rankings are the standard for whether someone is qualified to continue on the path of immortal cultivation!”

“If people only talk about scores but don’t look at rankings… what’s the difference between that and birth?”

Although Ye Lingxiao remained silent, his frequent nodding indicated strong support for this statement.

Dai Xingzhi looked at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, but there was still something he didn’t say aloud.

He thought to himself, “Hmph, only those who know their ranking is low are afraid of rankings.”

In his mind, how could these two outsiders possibly compare to the local top students of Xiandu? They must be people with low rankings.

“I’ve seen plenty of outsiders like you who don’t value score-based merit. If you two could rank first or second, I bet you’d be eager for the rankings to be announced.”

Just then, in response to the many students’ demands, Deng Bingding, standing at the forefront of the examiners, said, “I understand your desire to know the rankings. There’s no rule here prohibiting the disclosure of the previous rankings.”

“It’s just that we thought it wasn’t very significant for reference, so we didn’t originally plan to announce it.”

“However, since everyone wants to know, I will now display the rankings for you.”

The previous test consisted of two stages.

These were Stage 1, pushing open the metal door, and Stage 2, the Dao Heart test.

However, most of the students present weren’t particularly concerned about the results of Stage 1, pushing open the metal door; they merely glanced at it and then dismissed it.

After all, the requirements for this stage weren’t high; it was purely to eliminate first-year high school students with insufficient strength, and many contestants hadn’t even exerted their full power.

In contrast, the Dao Heart test in Stage 2, besides demonstrating willpower, was also seen by everyone as indirectly reflecting the contestants’ worth, and it was what the students present cared about most.

Thus, everyone was more concerned about the rankings of the Dao Heart test.

First Place: No. 55, Value Unknown
Second Place: No. 23, Value 5.5 billion
Third Place: No. 11, Value 5 billion

Looking at the rankings, everyone immediately fell silent, quietly searching for their own numbers and determining their positions in the hall, much like finding a seat in a movie theater.

After confirming their own rankings and their general level in this exam, the next step was naturally to check others’ rankings.

Generally, they would first check their friends’ rankings, or the rankings of those they disliked.

For Dai Xingzhi, he first checked the top three.

It was his long-standing habit, and one of his Dai family’s ancestral teachings, to first identify who had the highest scores and was the wealthiest when among a group of people.

At the same time, Dai Xingzhi was recalling the content of the previous Dao Heart test.

“Does this ‘value’ mean how much monetary temptation one can ultimately resist?”

“Therefore, those with higher values on this ranking are not only firm in their Dao Heart but also absolutely wealthy individuals.”

“Is No. 11 Yun Jing, third place, with a value of 5 billion?”

Dai Xingzhi looked at the boy who was surrounded by several students from Xianyun High School.

The most striking feature of the other person was his eyes, bright as stars, which Dai Xingzhi knew were a Dharma Relic.

“Yun Jing… referred to by Ziyun Pharmaceuticals as ‘the strongest high school student in Kunxu Layer 1’.”

Dai Xingzhi heard that a month ago, besides his magical power, Yun Jing’s Dao Heart and physical strength had already reached the Qi Refining limit.

“Sigh, one of the four Foundation Establishment Certificates this time should belong to Yun Jing.”

Ye Lingxiao, standing nearby, also glanced at Yun Jing. He remembered that the other person had been able to pick up his red packet talismans without any ill effects last time.

Dai Xingzhi thought to himself: “Second place, No. 23, is Ye Lingxiao, next to me, with a value of 5.5 billion. Did he hold out for a price of 5.5 billion in the illusion? Truly worthy of a wealthy person from the second ring.”

“His various stats already reached the Qi Refining limit two or three months ago, didn’t they? After all, he was evaluated by Oasis Group as having the most perfect physique and the most perfect bloodline among contemporary high school students.”

“He should also have one of the four Foundation Establishment Certificates.”

But after seeing No. 55 in first place, Dai Xingzhi looked around but couldn’t find the person anywhere. His heart grew even more puzzled: “Is there someone even stronger and wealthier than Yun Jing and Ye Lingxiao in this Foundation Establishment exam?”