On the bus.

Since the magic competitions for different grades (senior, junior, and sophomore) were held at separate times, only the participants from Zhang Yu’s grade were on the bus rented by Songyang High School.

He Dayou looked in Zhang Yu’s direction, his eyes thoughtful as he considered Zhang Yu’s recent efforts.

Recently, Zhang Yu’s magic power had surged to 15.4, making him the top-ranked student in their grade.

However, thinking that Zhang Yu had likely dedicated all his time to increasing his magic power, He Dayou felt somewhat dismissive.

“Is it for the magic competition?”

“The magic competition isn’t just about who has the most magic power.”

He Dayou felt that if he hadn’t focused on building a strong foundation for precise magic control, and if his family were willing to invest a little more, he would have been the top-ranked student in terms of magic power much earlier.

This was also why, at Songyang High School, the gap in magic power between wealthy students and less affluent ones only truly widened in their second year.

Their family experience taught them that the first year of high school should primarily be dedicated to building a foundation.

Conversely, an excessive pursuit of high magic power values could result in inadequate control, potentially becoming an irrecoverable issue for a long time.

He Dayou then thought to himself, “In a magic competition, the level of magic power is just a basic threshold; what truly determines the ranking is the control over that magic power…”

At this thought, he sighed inwardly, “Ultimately, unless it’s a sports competition, which is Songyang’s strong suit, our participation in the magic competition is just a formality. We’re just there to be part of the atmosphere for the prodigies from the three major prestigious schools.”

In another seat.

Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen, who was resting with her eyes closed, and asked, “How’s it going? Can you tell me who we’re meeting now?”

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at him, then took out her phone and pointed it at Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu saw a line of text typed on the phone: “Eavesdroppers nearby, let’s chat on our phones.”

Zhang Yu quickly typed back, “So, who exactly are you taking me to meet at this magic competition?”

Bai Zhenzhen: “Poor kids from other schools.”

Zhang Yu’s eyes widened. “Are you saying… other schools also have poor students with similar ideas to ours?”

Bai Zhenzhen: “Yes.”

Zhang Yu asked curiously, “Which school?”

Bai Zhenzhen sent a female symbol ☥, then a smiling face ☻.

Zhang Yu’s eyes flickered, and he replied in surprise, “Black women?”

He felt surprised. Could it be that even in Kunxu there were… no, no, were there black people?

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes, not understanding what Zhang Yu meant by ‘black women.’ She typed back directly on her phone: “I meant girls from girls’ schools, and soul cultivators.”

Hearing those two answers, Zhang Yu immediately understood.

Right, how many wealthy individuals would undergo gender reassignment surgery or even abandon their physical bodies just to enroll in high school?

Mangshan High School and Holy Girls’ Academy were natural strongholds for less affluent students.

The top-ranked academic achievers there were undoubtedly from poor backgrounds.

After putting in immense effort to graduate high school with excellent grades, it was natural that they would want to break through limitations and get into top universities.

“Wait a minute.”

Zhang Yu suddenly asked curiously, “Can soul cultivators also participate in the competition?”

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head. “They probably aren’t here to compete. It seems they’re assisting with judging, helping to report on the event, and acting as spectators.”

The bus slowly drove into a high school campus.

This was the venue for the magic competition: Red Tower High School, one of Songyang City’s three prestigious schools.

The students from Songyang High School followed their team leader, Teacher Yan, to an indoor stadium, where they saw many students already waiting.

Various colorful school uniforms of different designs indicated that they were from various high schools across Songyang City.

As the Songyang High School group entered the stadium, countless eyes immediately swept over them.

Some inwardly exclaimed, “Songyang is here too? Another strong school.”

Others carefully observed them, thinking, “What a strong presence. Are these the top students from a key high school?”

Still others gloated, “So what if they’re a key high school? They’re still here to be our backdrop.”

Upon reaching Songyang High School’s designated preparation area, Teacher Yan began to remind everyone of points to pay attention to later.

“Today’s competition has three events. Pay attention to your magic power distribution, and don’t be nervous. Just treat it as a normal practice…”

After Teacher Yan told everyone to rest or use the restroom, Qian Shen hurriedly went to check the list of participants.

He took out his phone and started checking scores against the names on the list.

“Bailong High School, Song Hailong, 682 points on the last monthly exam.”

“Ziyun High School, Le Mulan, 678 points on the last monthly exam.”

“Hiss…”

The more scores he checked, the more Qian Shen gasped, “They’re all monsters.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu was pulling Bai Zhenzhen along to the restroom when he suddenly felt a heavy pressure in the air.

Spiritual energy… was stirring!

It was as if they had suddenly jumped from shallow waters into the deep end.

Both instantly turned their heads, looking in the direction from which the pressure emanated.

They saw a group of people, dressed in white school uniforms, slowly walking into the stadium.

Each of their white school uniforms bore a different number, from 1 to 10.

Zhang Yu was puzzled. “What’s going on? Are the Espada here?”

What he didn’t know was that this was a unique feature of Bailong High School’s uniforms: the numbers displayed on each student’s clothing.

After each monthly exam, the numbers on their chests and backs would update, showing their monthly exam rankings.

The numbers 1 to 10 on these 10 individuals at that moment represented their status as the top ten in their grade.

But what Zhang Yu did know was that the source of the spiritual energy disturbance came from the leader of this group.

A giant of a man, two and a half meters tall, like a Titan, had long hair that seemed to shoot straight up from his head.

Seeing everyone’s gaze on him, the giant grinned, awkwardly rubbing his towering hair, and said, “My apologies, everyone. It’s a newly awakened Heavenly Spirit Root, still getting used to it. I’ll try to control it…”

With his soft utterance, the pressure in the air slowly receded, returning to normal.

Bai Zhenzhen watched this scene and muttered, “Flaunting their wealth right away. What a terrible, arrogant rich person.”

But thinking that she would likely lose to these people in the upcoming competition, Bai Zhenzhen felt another wave of helplessness.

After days of tutoring and practice, Bai Zhenzhen had confirmed one thing: her talent for pure magic control was far inferior to Zhang Yu’s. This competition was destined to be a mere walk-through for her.

On the other side, Qian Shen looked at the Bailong High School group’s uniforms, and the scores he had just checked immediately appeared in his mind.

After matching the numbers on their uniforms one by one, he looked at the giant man and thought, “He must be Song Hailong, right? The leading figure of this class at Bailong High School, an ultimate monster with 682 points. He might as well be a super species, reproductively isolated from us.”

He Dayou looked in Song Hailong’s direction, raising an eyebrow. “What a show-off. But participating with a Heavenly Spirit Root? His magic power tends to surge, so it should be difficult to control, shouldn’t it?”

Soon after Bailong High School arrived, a series of whistling sounds suddenly echoed outside the stadium, and then a massive flying ship halted in the air above the venue.

Seeing this, countless less affluent students from ordinary high schools in the stadium gasped, feeling an aura of wealth instantly sweep over them.

Then, a group of students in purple school uniforms descended from the flying ship. Zhang Yu recognized one of them: Lian Tianji, who had also attended the art exhibition with him.

Afterward, Zhang Yu had even added him as a contact and often saw him among the top three on the daily step count leaderboard.

Lian Tianji seemed to have spotted Zhang Yu too, smiling and waving at him. He then appeared to say something to the girl beside him, pointing toward Zhang Yu’s location.

The girl had an icy expression. Following Lian Tianji’s gaze, she nodded distantly towards Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “She looks like a true ice queen, not a fake like Ah Zhen.”

Qian Shen also looked at the Ziyun High School team, simultaneously searching for Le Mulan’s photos online and comparing them. His gaze finally settled on the aloof girl beside Lian Tianji.

“This must be Le Mulan from Ziyun High School, a high-caste being with 678 points. To her, anyone below 650 points is probably no different from dirt!”

Soon after the teams from Bailong High School and Ziyun High School arrived, Red Tower High School’s own competition team, as the host, finally made their belated appearance.

But when Zhang Yu saw the most conspicuous individual among them, he exclaimed in surprise, “A monster?”

Bai Zhenzhen immediately jumped aside, pointing at Zhang Yu and saying, “Hey, hey! Watch your language! They’re a demon-descended Songyang native.”

Although the student was wearing a school uniform, their reddish-brown glossy fur, thick tail, and round face made them look exactly like a red panda.

Zhang Yu looked at the student, who resembled a red panda, and immediately felt a sense of weakness emanating from them.

He asked curiously, “No, but how did this red panda get into Red Tower High School? It couldn’t have been just with an innocent smile, could it?”

Although he felt that the red panda’s smile did seem quite innocent, Zhang Yu believed that the student must have some special talent to get into a key high school and participate in the competition.

Bai Zhenzhen shrugged beside him. “Demon-descended Songyang natives usually have a good talent for physical strength, but looking at this one… I feel like I could punch three of them to death.”

“So, it must be a special talent in magic power then?”

Chatting, the two entered separate restrooms.

Afterward, Bai Zhenzhen pulled Zhang Yu along, following a message on her phone, until they reached a viewing stand on the second floor of the venue.

Two girls were already waiting there. Zhang Yu recognized one of them: Wu Qingqing, the girl from Holy Girls’ Academy who had also attended the art exhibition last time.

Zhang Yu’s gaze shifted slightly to the other girl, and he thought to himself, “So, this must be another big shot from Holy Girls’ Academy?”

“Heh heh, long time no see.” Wu Qingqing walked over and greeted Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. The girl following behind her, however, seemed oblivious to everything around her, holding a book in one hand and looking down, while the other hand clutched Wu Qingqing’s sleeve, following closely.

It felt as if even if Wu Qingqing were to lead her onto a road to be hit by a truck, she would still quietly follow, head down, immersed in her book.

“These two are Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu, the impoverished geniuses from Songyang High School.”

After an introduction, Wu Qingqing nudged the reading girl forward and said, “This is Ye Xianyun, our top first-year student at Holy Girls’ Academy.”

She proudly added, “And she’s the only girl in our elite class who hasn’t had surgery.”

Zhang Yu: “No, what are you even proud of?”

Ye Xianyun looked up, silently nodded to both of them, and then resumed reading her book.