Chapter 10: Fierce Competition and Level Three Body-Strengthening
Finding a random spot to sit, Zhang Yu gazed at the crowd of people also waiting for work in the plaza and felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
“This damn place is impossible to get by in; is there nowhere that isn’t a rat race?”
Just as he sat down on the ground to rest for a moment, a vicious chill surged from within Zhang Yu’s heart.
“Please abide by the ritual’s agreement. Strive to complete the wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 10.”
“Damn it.”
Zhang Yu cursed inwardly but could only force himself back into the grind under the pressure of the ritual’s power.
However, considering his body had not yet fully recovered and the upcoming work might also have physical demands, Zhang Yu did not choose to practice the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms at this moment, instead opting to refine magic power with the Basic Breathing Technique.
With each breath he took, wisps of spiritual energy from the world soon began to surge toward him, gradually gathering in the sea of qi within his dantian to be refined, drop by drop, into a part of his magic power.
Time trickled by as Zhang Yu performed his breathing exercises, and an hour soon passed.
Within that hour, three different groups had come to recruit workers: one was hiring temporary security guards, another was a construction site in urgent need of cultivators for heavy labor, and a third was a delivery company hiring cultivators for sorting packages.
Zhang Yu gradually came to understand that most temporary jobs hiring novice cultivators were almost all related to manual labor.
After all, cultivators in the early stages of their practice had not yet achieved a qualitative leap in intelligence or knowledge compared to mortals. On the contrary, their physical fitness was exceptional, each a match for a hundred, allowing them to shine in construction, factories, security, and other jobs with production efficiency that far surpassed ordinary people.
Thus, many places in urgent need of extra manpower would come here to hire cultivators.
Although the wages demanded by cultivators were far higher than those of ordinary people, it was still cost-effective when all was said and done.
After all, if one cultivator could do the work of thirty ordinary people, they often only needed to be paid ten times the salary.
The people waiting in this plaza were each and every one a superhuman workhorse, capable of enduring a relentless work schedule.
In front of them, Zhang Yu, who still needed four or five hours of sleep each day, was nothing more than an ordinary first-year student who could still afford to sleep.
Thus, after glancing at the mob of people who swarmed forward to fight for jobs each time, Zhang Yu simply maintained his breathing exercise and did not join the fray.
He knew that in his current state as a first-year high school student, he could not possibly out-compete those who had already graduated.
He was waiting, waiting for the job Old Wang had mentioned that specifically sought currently enrolled high school students.
A few other high school students were in the same boat as Zhang Yu. Some were reading, some were performing breathing exercises, and some were practicing their boxing, but none of them went up to compete for the job opportunities, instead waiting in silence.
In the blink of an eye, another hour passed.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
A series of soft popping sounds echoed in the air.
Feeling that his physical body had rested enough, Zhang Yu began to practice the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
The people around him glanced over but paid him no mind. There were too many who cultivated while waiting for work, and a basic cultivation technique like the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms was hardly enough to attract their attention.
Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 2 (18/20)
Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 2 (19/20)
Although Zhang Yu felt his muscles begin to ache and go limp after practicing the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms twice, his spirit grew ever more invigorated, simply because one more repetition would raise it to level three.
This was something that not even Bai Zhenzhen, the top-ranked student in their grade, had managed to achieve.
And yet, he was about to do it in just two days.
Just as Zhang Yu was practicing his third repetition of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, a temporary job that required high school students finally appeared.
A small car drove to the front of the plaza, the window rolled down, and the driver shouted from inside, “Any first or second-years? I’m hiring two martial arts sparring partners.”
A martial arts sparring partner was someone hired to assist a cultivator with practical combat training according to a specific set of requirements.
Hearing the driver’s words, the high school students who had been waiting quietly in the plaza all moved at once, transforming into streaks of afterimages as they rushed toward the car with the sound of wind and thunder.
“I’m a second-year!”
“My physical strength is at level 2.15!”
The second-year students were a great deal ahead of the first-years in terms of physical strength. By the time Zhang Yu rushed over, he found that the spots in front of the driver were almost completely occupied by hulking figures, leaving him no room to squeeze in.
So many people are rushing to get beaten up, Zhang Yu thought. Have high school students no self-respect left?
The driver glanced at the numerous students with their hands raised and asked, “Are any of you from a key high school?”
The number of raised hands instantly dropped by more than half.
Zhang Yu quickly raised his hand, “I’m from Songyang High School!”
The driver asked again, “Anyone with practical combat arts at level three or above?”
Looking at the remaining three, the driver asked again, “Three hundred an hour, you in?”
A student with a buzz cut said with dissatisfaction, “Isn’t three hundred a bit too low?”
But another student beside him anxiously said, “I’ll do it for three hundred!”
Watching the car speed away after the other student got in, the buzz-cut student cursed, “Three hundred an hour, who the hell does he think he is.”
“Trying to hire a sparring partner for only three hundred? If you can’t afford it, don’t hire one.”
Someone else chimed in with a curse, “He took it for 300? Scab! Once that kid gets beaten up, he’ll find out that three hundred isn’t even enough to cover his medical bills.”
With the employer’s departure, the surrounding students also dispersed after a round of grumbling, each returning to their own cultivation or studies.
Zhang Yu could only go back and continue practicing the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
If things continued at this rate, he felt he probably wouldn’t find a job today.
More than ten minutes later, someone else drove up to recruit high school students, this time with a specific request for first-years.
But the job this time was drug testing; it was said to be for a new medicine developed in a laboratory for Immortal Dao beginners.
Zhang Yu considered his physical condition and didn’t even bother going forward to apply, instead continuing his twentieth repetition of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
A moment later, with a final crackle, Zhang Yu threw the last punch of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, successfully raising the martial art to its third level.
Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 3 (0/30)
At that moment, countless memories of practicing the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms seemed to flood Zhang Yu’s mind, making him feel as if he had practiced it thousands upon thousands of times.
And among these practice sessions were not just memories of flesh and blood, but also the memory of magic power circulating on its own within his body.
“Once the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms reaches the third level, practicing this martial art can simultaneously stimulate the circulation of magic power for a full cycle, accelerating the repair and enhancement of the physical body.”
If the first and second levels of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms merely damaged the flesh and blood during practice to forcibly squeeze out magic power to participate in the training.
Then stepping into the third level meant the movements themselves guided the magic power to roam throughout the entire body, nourishing the flesh and blood during practice and greatly enhancing the training’s effect.
At this very moment, as Zhang Yu began a new repetition of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, streams of warmth flowed through his limbs and bones with his movements, silently increasing his physical strength and propelling him on the path from an ordinary person to a superhuman one.
Under the nourishment of the warm current, the flesh and blood that had begun to ache and protest seemed to lighten considerably, allowing Zhang Yu to persist in his training with greater ease.
Suddenly, Zhang Yu felt his muscles and flesh contract and expand all over.
Physical Strength Level 0.84 → 0.85
Glancing at the change in his physical strength displayed on the Feather Book, a flash of joy crossed Zhang Yu’s mind.
At this moment, even without the urging of the ritual’s power, his spirits were lifted as he continued to train.
While Zhang Yu was cultivating the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, the recruitment for the drug trial on the other side continued.
However, not many first-year students were willing to try a job like drug testing.
Although the recruiter wanted to hire five students, they ultimately only managed to find two after shouting for a long time before leaving.
As the night gradually deepened, fewer and fewer employers came to hire, and Zhang Yu still had not found a job, leaving him to continue practicing the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 3 (6/30)
By the time Zhang Yu had practiced the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms for the sixth time, he felt he couldn’t just wait around like this any longer.
Zhang Yu walked back into the human resources company and saw Old Wang still sitting behind the same desk, looking as if he hadn’t moved for the past few hours.
He took out a pack of cigarettes he had bought, handed one to the man, and then asked, “Brother Wang, are there any jobs I can do?”
Old Wang glanced at the cigarette Zhang Yu offered and said nonchalantly, “Didn’t I tell you? They’ll call out when there’s work outside.”
But Zhang Yu persisted, “I mean, besides the ones outside.”
“Surely not all the temporary jobs in Songyang City drive over here to recruit people, right? Are there any others?”
After being pestered by Zhang Yu for a while, Old Wang said impatiently, “If you don’t believe me, look for yourself. It’s not that I won’t let you do them, but are those other temp jobs really so easy?”
Zhang Yu looked at the screenshot sent to the man’s phone, which listed rows upon rows of long-term recruitment positions.
There were positions for participating in long-term drug trials after signing a contract.
There were positions as test subjects for long-term cultivation technique research.
There were even positions for delving deep into the Kunxu underground as a handyman for an exploration team.
There were also positions for assisting patrol teams in fighting criminals.
Zhang Yu looked through the list, but every single job was either too dangerous, or both dangerous and beyond his capabilities.
“These long-term jobs that can’t even get enough people… they really are all traps.”
Suddenly, Zhang Yu looked at one of the listings and asked, “Brother Wang, this one about participating in cultivation technique research, what are the dangers?”
Old Wang said casually, “It’s to be a technique tester, trying out the newest cultivation techniques developed by the big corporations. As you practice, they record what side effects you experience, what injuries you sustain, which parts of you become disabled, and finally, how you die…”
Zhang Yu swallowed hard, then his gaze suddenly shifted as he looked at another temporary job and asked, “What about this introductory technique trial? Ten thousand yuan for one time? Why does it only recruit first-year students?”
Old Wang thought for a moment, then let out a sound of recognition.
“Oh, that one. I think it’s because the Immortal Resonance Group developed a new technique. It’s already gone through cultivation testing, has no side effects, and won’t kill you.”
“But the introductory process is too difficult, and failing to learn it can easily lead to internal injuries, so they’re always looking for people to test it.”
“Since it’s a cultivation technique intended to be sold to Immortal Dao beginners, they are specifically looking for first-year students to test it…”
At this point, he looked at Zhang Yu, who was listening intently, and frowned.
“You’re not thinking of doing this, are you? The last student who went ended up losing control of his magic power during practice and suffered internal injuries. He took two weeks off from school and still hasn’t recovered.”
“That ten thousand yuan won’t be easy to earn.”
Zhang Yu shrugged helplessly, “I have no choice. I need the money urgently, so I have to give it a try.”