Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu watched the bill increase with every breath they took, their hearts aching more and more.

On the other side, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen strolled along the shaded path in the conservation area. As they gazed at the endless forest before them, they felt their hearts gradually calm down.

Breathing the oxygen from his oxygen tank, Zhang Yu remarked with a touch of emotion, “The first time I came here, I didn’t bring an oxygen tank. I had to breathe cautiously, afraid of wasting even a moment, and I didn’t get a good look at the scenery.”

Bai Zhenzhen nodded slightly as well. As she slowly walked along the path, gazing at the tranquil, distant forest under the moonlight, she felt her mind finally relax.

Bai Zhenzhen suddenly recalled that it had been a very long time since she had walked so aimlessly, neither cultivating nor studying, just strolling like this.

It was this feeling of walking with Zhang Yu, without having to do anything, that made Bai Zhenzhen feel incredibly relaxed.

“If only there were a day when we wouldn’t have to study or cultivate, when we could just space out whenever we wanted, stroll wherever we wanted, and waste as much time as we pleased… that would be wonderful.”

But at this thought, Bai Zhenzhen sighed softly. She knew deeply how difficult it would be to achieve such a state in Kunxu.

The pressure of the Foundation Establishment exam constantly loomed over her.

Yun Jing’s overwhelming strength pricked at her heart like a needle; the thought that the Immortal Sovereign might still be diligently practicing kept her from ever fully relaxing.

But Bai Zhenzhen truly felt exhausted. She had grown increasingly tired since starting high school, and the foreseeable future only promised more fatigue each year, sometimes giving her the illusion that she couldn’t breathe.

“Sigh, at least I should take this opportunity to relax a little…”

Just then, Bai Zhenzhen heard the whoosh of fists. She turned her head and saw Zhang Yu had resumed his cultivation.

*You’re still grinding, aren’t you…* Bai Zhenzhen opened her mouth, then ultimately sighed helplessly and joined him in practice.

She sighed inwardly, “Ah, this must be the fate of high school students. To avoid being eliminated, dedicating all your time and effort is just the most basic requirement.”

Beside her, Zhang Yu felt the chilling sensation recede from his mind and cursed inwardly, “This idiotic ritual truly doesn’t give me a moment to relax.”

Although both seized the time to cultivate, being in the conservation area meant they dared not absorb any spiritual energy from their surroundings, fearing they would completely bankrupt themselves in their current impoverished state.

Meanwhile, Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu, seeing the two cultivating, frowned deeply.

“Why are they cultivating here?” Yue Jincheng gnashed his teeth. “I’m almost out of money to pay for this!”

Si Zhouyu sighed and said, “Hand over your phone.”

“This is the company’s employee loan channel. You can borrow some money from here first.”

Yue Jincheng asked, surprised, “Our company has an employee loan channel too?”

“What’s so surprising?” Si Zhouyu chuckled. “Which company doesn’t have this? ‘Focus on employee financial services, let employees get promoted and enjoy benefits sooner’ – that’s our company slogan.”

“Haven’t you always wanted a raise?” Si Zhouyu gestured with his chin towards the phone in Yue Jincheng’s hand. “If you apply for a ‘salary advance preview’ here, you’ll automatically borrow a portion of your salary each month.”

Yue Jincheng, of course, had no interest in any ‘advance experience,’ but to continue tracking Zhang Yu now, he had no choice but to borrow money.

Though reluctant, Yue Jincheng ultimately gritted his teeth and borrowed a sum of money to cover the costs for now.

As he continued to watch Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen cultivate in the conservation area, Yue Jincheng began to wonder if the two had come here specifically to train, and if today’s surveillance would turn out to be fruitless.

Just then, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen moved again, and soon after, they entered a breeding base at a red tower.

Inside the breeding base, An An, the red panda, looked at the two arrivals and said in surprise, “Why are you here? And why didn’t you make a reservation? Did you just buy tickets to get in?”

Due to insufficient funds, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen hadn’t come to use the breeding base’s spiritual veins for cultivation in a long time.

Hearing An An’s question, Zhang Yu smiled slightly and said, “We’re not here to cultivate. We just came in to look around.”

Bai Zhenzhen, however, stroked An An’s head and asked, “An An, have you lost weight?”

An An mumbled some answers to them, constantly appearing preoccupied.

Zhang Yu naturally saw that An An had something on his mind, but with his own significant troubles, he had no time to worry about others.

Finally, An An couldn’t help but ask, “Are you not coming here to use the spiritual veins anymore?”

“Please, I beg you, come here to cultivate, okay?”

Seeing An An with his tail drooping, Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu exchanged a helpless glance. Having spent all their reserve funds, where would they get the money to use the spiritual veins now?

Moreover, both Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were reaching the Qi Cultivation limit of 100 units of spiritual power, so they no longer had such a great need for spiritual veins. Even if they had money, they would certainly buy cultivation techniques first.

Seeing Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu remain silent, An An became despondent.

Bai Zhenzhen couldn’t help but ask, “Has Xiong Wenwu encountered some problem?”

An An said softly, “Red Tower High School started a Body Refinement Experimental Class, but besides good grades, you also need to pay a registration fee to join. Wenwu doesn’t have enough money, and his grades have started to fall behind recently.”

“I want to collect some money for him, but my salary is too low.”

“If you’re willing to come and use the spiritual veins, you don’t need to tutor him; just giving some money would be enough.”

Bai Zhenzhen glanced at Zhang Yu and said, “How about we introduce Yu Xinghan here? He should need to use spiritual veins, right?”

“Anyway, he’d have to spend money to cultivate using spiritual veins elsewhere, wouldn’t he? It might be cheaper if he comes here.”

Zhang Yu stroked his chin. He had become increasingly familiar with Yu Xinghan these days and understood many of the young man’s schemes.

“If he comes here to use the spiritual veins, this kid can earn another price difference. He’d definitely be willing and would keep it a secret.”

So Zhang Yu nodded, looked at An An, and asked, “Although we can’t come, we can introduce someone wealthy. Would that work?”

An An’s eyes widened, and his furry head nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Yu said, “It’s settled then. I’ll help you contact him later.”

Having conveniently resolved An An’s problem, Zhang Yu then asked, “Do you have surveillance footage we can view here?”

So Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen went to the surveillance room, and instantly saw every corner of the breeding base.

“Hmm.” Zhang Yu quickly spotted Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu on the screen. “Let’s see when these two entered.”

An An also felt a surge of surprise. This breeding base was old and secluded, rarely seeing visitors for weeks at a time. Yet today, besides Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, two more people had arrived?

Under An An’s operation, the surveillance footage quickly rewound.

Watching the changing scenes on the screen, Zhang Yu thought, “Did they come in shortly after us?”

“In that case, it’s highly likely these two are tracking us.”

Bai Zhenzhen, standing beside him, said, “These two guys don’t look familiar at all. They might have the ability to change their body shape and facial features.”

As someone who could also alter his appearance, Zhang Yu had, of course, anticipated this.

“But while their appearance can change endlessly, their method of paying for tickets cannot.”

“The moment these two bought tickets to enter the breeding base, their accounts were recorded.”

He thought to himself, “According to the plan, I’ll lead them on a bit more later, make them spend more money, and mess with their state of mind.”

“Speaking of which… they’ve probably recorded a lot of our cultivation footage by now. Later, I’ll give them something big, then directly report them for secretly learning martial arts…”

Zhang Yu glanced at the prepared Thunderclap Talisman on his phone.

This talisman, left to him by Zhang Pianpian, could activate a thunderous alarm and summon the armed forces of the patrol team to enforce the law within a minute.

Zhang Yu had already coordinated with Patrol Captain Yun Ni and could activate it at any time.

This was the leverage Zhang Yu, Fu Ji, and Bai Zhenzhen had decided to find for Deng Bingding after their discussion.

“Although Deng Bingding is a Sixth-Rank Four Directions Wandering God, her status is quite high among the influential clans of Songyang City.”

“However, a higher status doesn’t mean she can do whatever she wants. On the contrary, because of her high status, she cannot directly control the influential clans in Songyang City; she has power but no place to use it.”

“But if we can catch these two people tracking me, and if they secretly filmed me learning the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen during the Foundation Establishment exam, then Deng Bingding would have a reason – the confidentiality of examinee information from the Foundation Establishment exam – to intervene in Songyang City…”

However, Zhang Yu also understood that ‘plans change.’ While this was their general direction, they would need to adapt on the fly if unexpected situations arose.

Various pieces of information flashed quickly through his mind. Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen bid farewell to An An and prepared to leave the breeding base.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen walked out of the surveillance room and headed along the path they had taken to enter the breeding base. Soon, they came face-to-face with Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu, who were looking for them.

Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu pretended to be ordinary tourists, observing the demon-descended beings in the study room, but their attention was entirely focused on Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

Following cautiously behind the two, Yue Jincheng glanced at the bill again, a flicker of impatience and agitation in his eyes.

“If I keep following them like this, all the money I borrowed will be gone.”

“And who knows if they’ll actually do anything today? What if these two are just out wandering around…”

As a recent college graduate who had just started his job, Yue Jincheng already had little money, needing to pay off both his upbringing loan and his student loan, as well as purchase medicine to maintain his cultivation.

The thought of potentially spending all his money today for no result brought a surge of irritation to his eyes.

Should he borrow more money? His salary wasn’t increasing, but his debt was skyrocketing.