Chapter 7: The Difference Between People
On the bus.
After acquiring the Feather Book, Zhang Yu had thought his future would be: Feather Book! Let me see where your limits are!
Who knew that in a blink of an eye it had become… Ritual: Zhang Yu! Let me see where your limits are!
But things had already come to this. If Zhang Yu wanted to break free from the ritual’s power, the only path he could think of was to become stronger.
So, he could only dedicate himself to cultivation at this moment.
With every breath Zhang Yu took, wisps of spiritual energy from the world around him flowed into his body, gathering in the sea of qi in his dantian to be refined, drop by drop, into magic power, strengthening the foundation of his Immortal Dao.
However, thinking back to his practice of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms last night, Zhang Yu wanted to try the same trick and see if he could also rapidly level up the Basic Breathing Technique.
At his mental command, the Feather Book unfurled. Zhang Yu focused his attention slightly on the ‘Basic Breathing Technique Lvl 1’ on the page, and immediately, he was able to drag it.
But just as he dragged ‘Basic Breathing Technique Lvl 1’ toward his own character portrait, a sliver of understanding flowed from the Feather Book.
“You can only focus on improving one skill at a time.”
“Once you switch, you must wait one day before you can switch again.”
Zhang Yu mentally named this function of the Feather Book ‘Specialization.’
In that instant, he understood that a specialized skill could be improved rapidly, but he could only specialize in one skill at a time. After switching skills, he had to wait a day before switching again.
“So if I switch my specialization from the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms to the Basic Breathing Technique right now, then the breathing technique will improve quickly through practice, but the body-strengthening forms will return to their normal practice efficiency.”
“Unless I switch it back after a day…”
Thinking about the situation in PE class, Zhang Yu decided not to switch for the time being and to continue focusing on improving the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
Time flew by in an instant, and Zhang Yu maintained his Basic Breathing Technique right up until the moment he got off the bus.
Inside the school cafeteria.
Bai Zhenzhen, carrying her tray, sat down in front of a zombie-like Zhang Yu, gave him a curious look, and said flatly, “Did you jerk off all night yesterday?”
Zhang Yu swallowed the large meat bun in his hand in one gulp and retorted, “I was working my ass off training until midnight.”
Bai Zhenzhen’s face remained expressionless, but her words were merciless.
“Sigh, you’re the only one in the whole school who hasn’t had the sterilization surgery. I told you not to be cheap about those twenty thousand yuan. Look how much time, energy, and protein you’ve wasted.”
Zhang Yu swallowed an egg in another bite and smiled confidently.
“Bai Zhenzhen, let me tell you something. My current self-discipline and potential scare even me. It won’t be long before I snatch that number one spot in the grade from you.”
Hearing this, Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes and her delicate little mouth spoke without a trace of mercy, “Yu-boy, it’s fine if you say such overconfident things to me, but if anyone else heard, I’m afraid they’d piss themselves laughing.”
“You’re fighting to be first place in total grade score, not first place in grade masturbation. Your unsterilized advantage won’t help you there.”
Zhang Yu shook his head, speechless
This girl, Zhen, she usually acts so cold and distant, but in private, she dares to say anything, doesn’t she.
Speaking of being the only student in school who hadn’t been sterilized, Zhang Yu wasn’t that surprised anymore. He was gradually getting used to the insanity of this messed-up world and messed-up school.
But the fact that he wasn’t sterilized was still a small secret of his, one he had only shared with Bai Zhenzhen among his classmates.
At this thought, however, a question suddenly surfaced in Zhang Yu’s mind.
“Why was I able to enroll without having the sterilization surgery?”
Just then, Zhou Tianyi also came over with his tray and sat down, looking at Zhang Yu with the same curiosity.
“You look exhausted. Did you pull an all-nighter studying?”
Zhang Yu shook his head and said, “I just practiced the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms for a bit and had a small breakthrough.”
As they ate and chatted, Zhang Yu suddenly noticed that ever since Zhou Tianyi arrived, Bai Zhenzhen had become much quieter, as if she had reverted to that cold, taciturn top student.
After finishing breakfast, the three of them walked across the sports field toward the academic building.
Zhang Yu would occasionally open his palm, watching the Feather Book appear and disappear from its center.
So it’s true that no one else can see the Feather Book?
Just then, a loud bang came from the direction of the main school building, followed by waves of shouts and screams.
A crowd had already formed in front of the main entrance to the academic building.
The people all around were muttering amongst themselves.
Someone in the know was sharing the relevant gossip.
“That’s Lu Chao from Class 3 of the third years. He used to be in a model class. I think his grades have been slipping, so he’s about to get moved down again, right?”
“Lu Chao? He was in the top ten of the grade back in his second year.”
Someone with a prejudice against the poor started a broad attack.
“So what if his grades were good in the second year? The poor are still poor. By the third year, how many poor students can stay in the model classes? Poor people just aren’t suited for immortal cultivation.”
Someone with a severe bias for grades began their own commentary.
“Hmph, can’t even handle a jump from the sixth floor. A bad student, indeed. If one of the top students from a third-year model class jumped, I’d expect them to start from at least the tenth floor.”
Passing by, Bai Zhenzhen looked at the scene and sighed, “Another third-year?”
Zhou Tianyi said, “This is the third one this year, isn’t it? It seems the pressure on this year’s third-years is immense.”
But Zhang Yu suddenly asked, “Was he very poor?”
“He probably took out a lot of loans. Anyone who has to borrow money to study isn’t rich, that’s for sure, “ Bai Zhenzhen glanced at him, her tone ambiguous—was it a warning or a lament?
“When students like that first enter Songyang High School, their grades are often quite good.”
“But usually, by the third year, they gradually fall behind their wealthy classmates and can only get into some second or third-rate universities in the end.”
“As for the Ten Greats, it seems like it’s been over a decade since a commoner from Songyang High School managed to test into one.”
Zhang Yu was slightly stunned by her words. He knew the so-called Ten Greats referred to the universities directly affiliated with the Ten Great Sects—they were the top ten universities, the dream schools for countless students.
But what he didn’t know was that no commoner from Songyang High School had gotten into the Ten Greats for over a decade.
Is it because of a lack of resources, not enough money?
Zhang Yu then recalled some of the legends about those wealthy students. It was said that many ace tutors, secret supplementary texts, high-end cultivation techniques, and laboratory drugs… all circulated only within the circles of the rich, never to be revealed to the poor.
Zhang Yu thought grimly, If my potential hadn’t been unlocked, I might have ended up on the same path in the future.
Although the incident caused a stir, for students busy with their studies and cultivation every day, it was just a bit of gossip for their break time.
Soon, no one paid it any mind, and the students threw themselves back into their daily studies of the Immortal Dao, fighting for their futures.
Although they had only recently become adults, every one of them already understood a cruel fact.
Different scores led to different universities.
Different universities determined one’s future sect.
Different sects determined one’s entire life.
The classmates around them, whether their relationships were good or bad, would all go their separate ways if their grades were different.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for the three-period block of PE class.
After once again refusing the sales pitch from the PE teacher, Wang Hai, Zhang Yu wondered if it was his imagination, but he felt the way the man looked at him seemed to have changed.
But he really had no choice; whether it was because of money or his health, he couldn’t take those shots anymore.
So, Zhang Yu could only pretend not to notice and continue with his practice.
Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Lvl 2 (1/20)
Counting the one practice session before he got to the station, Zhang Yu now only needed to practice the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms 19 more times to level up.
This filled him with motivation for his subsequent training, and he pushed his muscles time and again, draining every last inch of his magic power.
Even when he sometimes wanted to slow down and take a rest, the ritual’s power would remind him, and he would quickly rally and continue his diligent practice.
Accompanied by the tearing pain throughout his body, he broke his limits again and again, facing life-and-death threats time after time. It could be described as both painful and joyful.
After two class periods, Zhang Yu finally collapsed completely on the ground, not wanting to move another inch.
Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Lvl 2 (17/20)
I’m at my limit.
The ritual’s power didn’t continue to force him, apparently agreeing that he had reached his absolute limit.
But Zhang Yu wasn’t the least bit discouraged. To bring a basic martial art from level 1 to nearly level 3 in just two days was something the old Zhang Yu would never have dared to imagine.
If I hadn’t done that extra training last night, I probably could have lasted the full three PE periods, right?
But with this damn ritual forcing me to seize every single second to train, I’m afraid that extra practice at night, leading to being too tired to train during PE class and having to rest… will become the new normal.
Zhang Yu felt it was like in his previous life, when some people crammed and studied frantically at night only to sleep through their classes during the day—clearly not a healthy routine.
It’s all this moronic ritual’s fault, it can’t tell the time or place at all.
Just then, as he lay on the ground, Zhang Yu suddenly felt his body covered by a shadow, as if a mountain were blocking the space above his head.
Wang Hai looked down at Zhang Yu on the ground and said coldly, “It’s PE class. What are you doing?”
Zhang Yu quickly said, “Sir, I did some extra training last night, so I’m a bit worn out now.”
Sensing Wang Hai’s displeased expression, Zhang Yu added an explanation, “My Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms broke through last night. It’s already level 2.”
The reason for this explanation was that Zhang Yu knew that in this results-oriented school, most teachers wouldn’t give students with good grades a hard time.
He thought that if Wang Hai knew he had made significant progress, he probably wouldn’t trouble him.
This was something Zhang Yu had been pondering ever since he vaguely sensed the change in Wang Hai’s attitude toward him.
But Zhang Yu was wrong.
There are many kinds of teachers in this world.
For example, most of the main subject teachers at Songyang High School liked students with good grades—students who were effortless to teach and gave them a sense of accomplishment, and they were more tolerant when these students made mistakes.
Other teachers poured more energy into students with poor grades, focusing on improving their scores because it was easier to see improvement in underachievers.
Then there were many elective teachers who didn’t care how their students did. They just showed up for class on time, left on time, and would consider spending an extra second on work a loss.
But there was another type of teacher, one who, more than their students’ grades, cared about whether their students were obedient and whether they challenged their authority.
In such a teacher’s classroom, he was the absolute authority, accepting no defiance from any student. Even if you simply used a learning method he hadn’t taught, you would be openly mocked and singled out as a negative example to be belittled.
And it was obvious that Wang Hai, who liked to sell drugs and dish out corporal punishment, was exactly this type of teacher.
PE class at Songyang High School was his little kingdom, and the students were his distribution channel for performance-enhancing drugs.
The fact that Zhang Yu consistently refused to buy his drugs had already earned his displeasure.
Seeing Zhang Yu lying down to ‘slack off’ just now had made him even more dissatisfied, and he wanted to use this opportunity to teach him a lesson and make an example of him, to make the other students ashamed of this person who didn’t take shots and discourage them from following Zhang Yu’s example of natural body tempering.
But his intended lecture was cut off by Zhang Yu’s “My Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms broke through last night.”
In Wang Hai’s eyes, this was a challenge to his authority in PE class.
“So what if you’ve reached level 2 of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms? Is that so impressive?”
Wang Hai pointed at Bai Zhenzhen and said, “Look at her. Did she stop taking shots after she reached level 2? Has she been slacking off in class?”
Zhang Yu said helplessly, “Sir, that’s not what I meant…”
Wang Hai said coldly, “Zhang Yu, I’ve seen plenty of students like you. You think you can ignore your teacher’s guidance and the school’s curriculum just because you have a little talent.”
“You need to understand that the only reason you were able to break through is because you’ve been diligently attending class and taking shots for the past three months. It was my guidance that built you such a solid foundation.”
“As for any self-study or tutoring you do outside of class, that’s nothing more than dessert at best.”
“Only the classes here at school are the most important main course.”
“I will be reporting your attitude to your class advisor. You’d better watch yourself.”