As the simulated depth decreased, Ye Lingxiao activated various protective martial arts simultaneously, causing Zhang Yu, who was watching from the side, to repeatedly twitch his brow. He recognized the Titanium Body Refining Technique among them, a skill he had seen during the previous Foundation Establishment exam.

At this point, Ye Lingxiao had reached a depth of 2581 meters. His entire body shimmered with golden light, emitting a metallic sheen, like a divine statue standing in the deep sea.

Clearly, this depth of 2581 meters was still not Ye Lingxiao’s limit.

Just as everyone was astonished by Ye Lingxiao’s terrifying strength and thought he would continue standing, Huang Zichou announced, “All right, No. 23, your total score is already first. You don’t need to continue.”

Ye Lingxiao nodded then and chose to stop the exam.

By this point, the top two contestants in the physical track of the second round of the Foundation Establishment exam had been decided: Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao.

Both of them would participate in the final round of this year’s Foundation Establishment exam in January next year, competing for the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate.

“What a monster,” Yu Xinghan muttered to himself as he watched Ye Lingxiao emerge from the Sea Calming Pillar. “This year’s Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate is definitely going to him.”

“But if that’s the case,” he continued, “it means I’ll have to take the same Foundation Establishment exam as Zhang Yu next year.”

While Zhang Yu’s strength currently seemed far inferior to Ye Lingxiao’s, his rate of progress still made Yu Xinghan incredibly envious, even jealous.

“In the last Foundation Establishment exam, he only surpassed me by a little.”

“But in this second round of the Foundation Establishment exam, he has already completely surpassed me.”

Yu Xinghan’s expression turned somewhat grim as he thought about this. “Why is Zhang Yu improving so fast? It’s simply unbelievable.”

“Especially since this kid is clearly so poor, I can’t just let this go…”

Yu Xinghan was aware of Zhang Yu’s poverty. Especially when they worked overtime together at the Red Tower every week, he could sense the “poor person’s scent” on him, which was exactly like his own past self.

“If this kid were rich, I might not have any options.”

“But since this kid is so poor anyway…”

Yu Xinghan had already made up his mind: he would talk to his senior sister, Li Xuelian, when he got back.

He thought to himself, “I’ll ask my senior sister for money when I get back.”

“And then, extra lessons!”

“I must push Zhang Yu hard for extra lessons, ideally practicing with him every day. I need to figure out what immortal cultivation secrets he possesses.”

“Also… next year, I must reach an understanding with him to be assigned to different tracks in the Foundation Establishment exam. That way, I’ll have a chance to secure the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate.”

“Speaking of which…” Yu Xinghan thought to himself. “If both Zhang Yu and I pass the Foundation Establishment exam next year, we could both enter the Top Ten.”

Recalling what True Master Xinghuo had said about the Top Ten, Yu Xinghan thought, “Once we reach the second level, our competitors will be those ‘masters’ up there.”

“At that time, if I have a familiar friend like Zhang Yu, we might be able to look out for each other.”

Yu Xinghan also remembered True Master Xinghuo telling him that when True Master Xinghuo first enrolled in Myriad Laws University, one of the Top Ten, he was once taught a lesson by those “masters” from the upper echelons.

Later, True Master Xinghuo, unconvinced, challenged those “masters” again, and was taught another lesson.

Repeating this pattern of repeated defeats and repeated challenges, he challenged those “masters” for ten years throughout his university life. Finally… True Master Xinghuo conceded.

Through this story, True Master Xinghuo wanted to tell Yu Xinghan that there are some people you can’t catch up to at birth, and you’ll never catch up to them in this lifetime.

He also emphasized the importance of having friends who can lend money and share burdens.

Yu Xinghan deeply agreed with this.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu felt Yu Xinghan’s gaze and wondered, “Why is this guy staring at me?”

Remembering how the other party had sought him out for sparring after the last physical competition, Zhang Yu thought, “Is this guy going to ask for extra lessons and practice with me when he gets back?”

“If so, I could earn a good sum.”

But thinking of Yu Xinghan’s current job, and that he sold seeds then came to him for sparring, Zhang Yu felt it was always a bit strange.

“What’s so strange about it?” Zhang Yu suppressed the odd feeling. “Isn’t money earned from selling seeds still money?”

As the exam results were announced, the examinees began to leave under the arrangements of the True God.

However, before leaving, Zhang Yu had a thought, remembering Zhou Chechen and the Zhou family.

So he spoke up, “Examiner, I have something I’d like to report.”

Under the curious gaze of the other examinees, Zhang Yu stayed behind alone.

Huang Zichou looked at Zhang Yu with a smile and kindly asked, “What is it?”

Although the gap in strength between Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao was significant, meaning Zhang Yu probably wouldn’t get the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate this year, Huang Zichou believed Zhang Yu’s value might be greater than Ye Lingxiao’s. He could trace Ye Lingxiao back to the Ye clan, but he couldn’t find out who the influential figure behind Zhang Yu was.

The more he couldn’t find out, the more extraordinary Huang Zichou felt it was.

Now that Zhang Yu voluntarily had something to say, Huang Zichou decided to use the opportunity to befriend him, viewing it as building good karma.

However, despite Huang Zichou’s thoughts, reality didn’t give him the chance.

Before Zhang Yu could speak, Deng Bingding appeared beside them and calmly said, “Zichou, go write today’s report. I’ll handle things here.”

Glancing at the expressionless Deng Bingding, Huang Zichou thought, “No way… you’re even going to snatch this? Is the person behind Zhang Yu even more influential than I previously thought?”

Huang Zichou left helplessly, muttering to himself, “My money was practically fed to dogs.”

Deng Bingding looked at Zhang Yu and calmly asked, “What is it?”

Zhang Yu then recounted how he had been followed by the Zhou family in Songyang City, concluding, “…I’m worried they’re investigating my participation in the Foundation Establishment exam, so I wanted to report it to you, Examiner.”

Listening to Zhang Yu’s words, Deng Bingding had a half-smile on her face.

A family in Songyang City daring to investigate the Foundation Establishment exam? Deng Bingding didn’t quite believe it.

Instead, the possibility of Zhang Yu trying to use her influence to deal with the Zhou family was quite high.

However, Deng Bingding naturally didn’t expose him. Instead, she pondered whether Zhang Yu was doing this of his own accord, or if the person behind him wanted it.

Deng Bingding wasn’t sure. So she followed up by saying, “I’m aware of this matter. I will have someone investigate the Zhou family to see if they have indeed been probing into the Foundation Establishment exam.”

“Add me as a friend. If there are any other developments, you can tell me anytime.”

Zhang Yu, somewhat flattered, said, “Add as a friend?”

Deng Bingding calmly said, “Protecting the information security of every Foundation Establishment exam student is our duty as examiners; it’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Zhang Yu, somewhat surprised, added Deng Bingding as a friend. He thought, “So True Gods can be added as friends? Why haven’t I seen this feature on the talismans? Is it because my faith level is too low?”

Watching Zhang Yu’s departing back, Deng Bingding’s thoughts shifted slightly. She thought, “Have the results from the other side also come out?”

In the martial arts examination hall on the other side.

Bai Zhenzhen ultimately stepped onto the ring, choosing to fight Yun Jing.

“At the very least, I need to see what the gap between us is.”

Of course, another reason, besides that, was to take advantage of the medical insurance.

With this in mind, Bai Zhenzhen walked onto the ring. A medical insurance limit of 1 million appeared above her head once more.

However, the moment the medical insurance limit appeared, the number on it began to rapidly decrease, only stopping after it had dropped by more than 200,000.

As the treatment concluded, Bai Zhenzhen felt a complete sense of comfort throughout her body. All the lingering injuries from her previous match had healed.

On the other side of the ring, Yun Jing calmly asked, “Healed?”

“Wait, let me warm up first.” Bai Zhenzhen twisted her body. The next moment, she suddenly flickered, rushing towards Yun Jing with a streak of electric light.

From her fingertips, invisible sword qi surged forth. As a sky-filling sword momentum unfolded, it surged towards Yun Jing, aiming to crush him.

The technique Bai Zhenzhen was currently using was the Myriad Swords without End Art, which she had already cultivated to level 8.

The sword moves of this technique were almost endless. When Bai Zhenzhen unleashed them at high speed, augmented by lightning magic, it resembled a vast thundercloud storm, sweeping towards Yun Jing.

Bai Zhenzhen naturally didn’t think she could defeat Yun Jing with this single move. She merely wanted to use her high speed and the numerous moves of the Myriad Swords without End Art to attack Yun Jing from as many different angles as possible, to probe his reactions, and gather more information, which would be useful for their competition in the next Foundation Establishment exam.

In Yun Jing’s eyes, which had already been refined into a Dharma Skeleton, not only could he clearly see every one of Bai Zhenzhen’s moves, he could even see the numbers appearing within each move.

These numbers represented the amount of medical insurance that would be consumed if each move hit him.

Through these numbers, Yun Jing seemed able to find the flaws in Bai Zhenzhen’s moves and distinguish between their real and illusory variations.

But Yun Jing did not do this.

He merely raised his palm and struck out towards Bai Zhenzhen.

As his dual Dantians erupted, streams of fiery True Qi gushed forth like a volcanic eruption, continuously pumping out from within him. It stood like a crimson city wall upon the ring, dividing the ring in two, and then pressed towards Bai Zhenzhen.

Watching the overwhelming True Qi pressing down, and feeling the astonishing heat wave rushing towards her, Bai Zhenzhen’s sword moves changed. Streaks of lightning-infused sword qi slashed at Yun Jing’s True Qi.

Amidst loud popping sounds, the sword qi shattered. The True Qi surged, then was swiftly replenished. Bai Zhenzhen was forced to retreat repeatedly, ultimately being pushed off the ring by this wall-like True Qi.

“He actually forced me off the ring with brute True Qi. That’s an utterly unreasonable fighting style…”

“No skill whatsoever, just sheer power bought with money.”

Looking at Yun Jing on the stage and recalling his recent fighting method, Bai Zhenzhen felt a headache coming on.