Inside the training hall.
The students of the first-year demonstration class were engaged in one-on-one combat training.
The martial arts teacher, Lei Jun, shouted loudly at the group, “In Daoist techniques, it’s all about money, but in martial arts, it’s about life-or-death struggle. If you want to spend less money, you’ll have to risk more of your lives.”
“Every minute you spend practicing now means you’ll spend less money on supplementary classes later.”
“In two months, you’ll officially become second-year students. Do you think your current level is worthy of advancing to the second year?”
As Lei Jun urged the students to practice hard, he couldn't help but look at the purple-skinned, beast-men, and black-skinned students in his class, thinking to himself, “This year’s high school entrance interviews—whether or not students are willing to undergo new body-refinement surgeries will be a major factor in gaining points.”
“In five or ten years, I’m afraid it’ll become as standard as sterilization surgeries before admission.”
Lei Jun could already imagine the situation back then: “What? You still look human, and you want to cultivate immortality? You’ll need to complete a modification surgery first.”
But Lei Jun was also somewhat relieved: “At least I’m not a PE teacher. It doesn’t concern me that much.”
With the advancement of the new body-refinement techniques, Lei Jun knew that the PE teachers were having meetings almost every day, always researching new teaching plans.“That’s why martial arts teachers have it easy. The workload is light.”
“Of course, it’s only easier for first-year martial arts teachers.”
Lei Jun knew that martial arts teachers in the third year had a much harder time.
After all, they were dealing with students who had already reached the late stages of Qi Refining and were in their prime. What they needed were real combat experiences.
“A teacher like me, who only has basic combat experience in ambushes, insults, and provocations, is only good for teaching sparring.”
But relying only on being able to fight to become a third-year teacher?
Lei Jun knew that was a dream.
“A third-year teacher must have researched insurance contracts, injury evaluations, medical compensations, and organ valuations for years. How could they be qualified otherwise? Otherwise, they’d never understand how the students were killed or injured during class.”
But high risk brought high income, and sometimes, Lei Jun envied the earnings of third-year martial arts teachers as insurance and medical intermediaries.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps approached from outside. When Lei Jun saw a group of second-year students walking in, especially the one leading them, Lan Ling, his brows furrowed.
Meanwhile, the first-year students who had been practicing stopped and bowed to the second-year students.
“Hello, senior!”
Seeing the respectful actions of the first-year students, Lan Ling gave a slight nod. “Go ahead with your practice.”
He then walked toward Lei Jun with a slight smile. “Teacher, today we’ve arranged for a practical exchange between the first and second years. Did you get the message?”
Lei Jun glanced at him and realized that indeed, this had just been arranged. His dislike for the situation grew.
He recalled the scene a few months ago when Lan Ling had guided Bai Zhenzhen.
But he knew there was nothing he could do about it.
Lei Jun sighed inwardly. “So it’s finally here.”
Lei Jun knew that the Songyang High Student Council, as well as the entire Songyang City’s sixteen major families, wouldn’t just stand by and watch Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen—two poor students—continuously snatch competition rankings.
For the wealthy in Songyang City, every competition ranking was a crucial achievement for the top ten interviews. How could they allow these two poor students, who were destined not to make the top ten, to take them?
Even with his peak Qi Refining cultivation, Lei Jun didn’t dare defy this momentum. He could only say begrudgingly, “Don’t hurt anyone.”
Lan Ling reassured him, “Don’t worry, teacher. I’ve told everyone to be careful during the sparring and not to hurt the first-year students.”
“By the way…” Lan Ling glanced around, not seeing Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, and casually said, “Are all the students here? If anyone is missing, you should call them over.”
In a corner of the training hall, Zhao Tianxing, who was purple all over like a human-shaped eggplant, secretly pulled out his phone and messaged Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, “The Doorframe Guy is going to cause trouble for you. Don’t come over.”
But just as he finished sending the message, a hand gently patted him on the shoulder, scaring him so much that he almost dropped his phone.
“Junior, let me give you some guidance,” a voice said.
Zhao Tianxing turned around and saw a senior who was much broader than him, smiling at him.
Lan Ling said faintly, “Zhou Ke, remember, don’t hurt the junior.”
“Don’t worry.” Zhou Ke pulled Zhao Tianxing out and said gently, “I guarantee I won’t hurt a single hair on him.”
…
In the school’s small grove.
Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were quietly cultivating here.
Zhang Yu was practicing his Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy, and as his muscles, organs, and bones moved violently, his whole body was radiating heat like a heater, constantly emitting warmth into the surroundings.
Since returning from Xian Du, Zhang Yu had been charging forward on the Immortal Path with a steady stream of money, and his strength had been progressing rapidly.
Now, his magical power had reached 69.4, and his physical strength had reached level 6.81, bringing him closer to the average level of a third-year student who had just entered the high school.
The only area where his progress had slowed was in his Dao Heart, which had only reached level 5 (37%).
“Yu Xinghan promised me that after this year’s college entrance exam, he’d introduce me to a channel for cultivating Dao Hearts in the Spirit Realm. How come nothing has happened yet?”
Besides the progress in Dao Heart, magical power, and physical strength, Zhang Yu had another gain from the combat training with Yu Xinghan: his Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm had reached level 10.
Since his Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm reached level 10, Zhang Yu felt that his muscles and bones were undergoing subtle changes every day. This was a transformation brought about by his daily diet and training.
Zhang Yu knew that this was the effect of the Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm at level 10, also known as the Dragon Muscle Elephant Bone, which granted his body greater resilience and the ability to withstand and deliver greater bursts of power.
“No wonder Yu Xinghan was so eager to cultivate this martial art. At 200,000, it’s no small price.”
“If I had the 10th level Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm during the physical competition, maybe I could hold up a 13,000-kilogram Sky Pillar? No, maybe even 14,000 kilograms.”
Just then, Bai Zhenzhen spoke, “Yuzi, did you see the message Old Zhao sent us?”
Zhang Yu opened his phone and glanced at Old Zhao’s message before looking at Bai Zhenzhen and asking, “Ah Zhen, what do you think?”
Bai Zhenzhen smiled and said, “If we don’t even dare to fight against someone like Lan Ling from Songyang High, how are we going to compete with the men from Xian Du?”
As she spoke, Bai Zhenzhen dashed toward the training hall with a burst of electric light.
“Yuzi, I’m heading over first. If you’re late, you might miss the chance to fight.”
Seeing Bai Zhenzhen vanish in an instant, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Ah Zhen’s speed is getting faster and faster.”
He knew that he wasn’t the only one progressing rapidly; Bai Zhenzhen was also advancing at an incredible speed.
“Originally, Ah Zhen’s martial arts talent was already impressive with the True Spirit Root’s boost.”
Zhang Yu still remembered Bai Zhenzhen’s earlier training in the basic high school martial arts, her insights into the Celestial Martial Heart Forging Technique, and how she mastered the external moves of the Limitless Cloud Hands. She had succeeded in a short amount of time.
And now…
“The True Spirit Root is not only speeding up my cultivation but also triggering its own evolution.”
Zhang Yu had accumulated too many techniques at level 10, far beyond the level of an average high school student.
The True Spirit Root was constantly adapting to Zhang Yu’s cultivation, absorbing the traces of these techniques and bringing them back into Bai Zhenzhen’s body.
This allowed Bai Zhenzhen to cultivate Zhang Yu’s techniques naturally, progressing quickly.
Especially with external techniques like the Back-Dragon Mountain-Flipping Strike and Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm, Bai Zhenzhen picked them up with ease.
But Zhang Yu knew that Bai Zhenzhen couldn’t afford the rights to these techniques and was secretly practicing them herself. She didn’t intend to use them openly—only as a way to enhance her strength.
…
Inside the training hall.
Zhao Tianxing, now back on his feet, was kicked in the butt again by Zhou Ke, causing him to crash to the ground like a dog eating shit, which made the second-year students burst into laughter.
Zhao Tianxing struggled to get up again, but no matter how much he dodged or fought back, Zhou Ke always seemed to appear behind him, delivering a kick to his rear.
The force wasn’t strong, just enough to knock Zhao Tianxing down.
This showed a complete dominance in strength, speed, and control.
Zhao Tianxing wasn’t hurt.
He wasn’t even discouraged by the huge gap between them.
After all, he was facing a senior from a higher year. Zhao Tianxing knew that any first-year student in his situation would have to lower their head.
“After all, the gap from one year is huge. It’s normal not to be a match for the senior.”
At this moment, most of Zhao Tianxing’s thoughts were no longer on the battle, but on his embarrassing appearance.
“Fortunately, I had the Super-Metabolism Surgery, so my whole body is purple. They probably can’t see how red my face is?”
“Purple is my best camouflage right now.”
Once again, he got up and quickly fastened his pants, afraid they might fall off if he was kicked again.
He knew that at this moment, he must have become the laughingstock of everyone present.
The only thing Zhao Tianxing could think of was pretending he didn’t care. After everyone had laughed enough, they would eventually stop.
This was his experience from being a clown over and over again.
As for fighting back?
“We first-year students are definitely no match for second-year seniors.”
“And the leader is from the Student Council…”
Thinking of Lan Ling and the others’ connections to the noble families, Zhao Tianxing silently reminded himself not to cause trouble for his parents.
At that moment, a voice called out, “Enough! What’s the point of this kind of practical training?”
Zhou Ke stopped, looking at the speaker, Qian Shen, tilting his head and asking, “Junior, do you have any objections to the senior’s guidance?”
Zhao Tianxing, struggling to get up, looked at Qian Shen with some gratitude. “Old Qian…”
Qian Shen frowned and said, “The practical exam for the college entrance exam will simulate a candidate’s qualities for combat.”
“If you want to improve your scores, you should be fighting opponents of similar data, right?”
“What you’re doing now isn’t just wasting everyone’s cultivation time—it’s holding back everyone’s scores.”
“And most of the students here, like Zhao Tianxing, don’t have high scores to begin with. Aren’t you just delaying them further?”