Chapter 26: Registering for the Magic Power Competition and the Coming Monthly Exam
Songyang High School.
In the blink of an eye, four days had passed since the day Zhang Yu rented the Qi sea Spiritual Root.
This was the day that Songyang High School’s first-year students would be selected to register for the city-wide Magic Power Competition.
In magic power class.
As the bell rang to signal the end of the period, Zhang Yu took a rare break from his breathing exercises, opening his eyes to look toward the large screen.
After several more days of ascetic training, his magic power had continued to surge, climbing from 9.5 to 10.5. The sheer speed of his progress drew stunned looks from many of his classmates.
Zhang Yu’s Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method had also risen from level 6 all the way to level 8 (3/160), but he was the only one who knew of this achievement. If his classmates and teachers were to find out, their reaction would be far more than mere surprise.
After all, while Zhang Yu’s magic power growth was rapid, it was not without precedent. Many of the wealthy could achieve even faster results, provided they threw enough money at the problem.
But to raise a breathing exercise to level 8 in such a short time… at his current level, Zhang Yu knew of no one else who had accomplished such a feat.
He looked at the large screen, where the magic power rankings for the entire grade had appeared.
First Place, Bai Zhenzhen, 12.1
Second Place, Qian Shen, 11.9
Zhang Yu continued to scan down the list, soon finding his own name in eighth place.
Eighth Place, Zhang Yu, 10.5
Eighth place, huh? Zhang Yu nodded slightly, knowing that registering for the Magic Power Competition would now be no problem at all.
But the chill in his heart quickly returned. Hearing the countdown in his mind, Zhang Yu had no choice but to close his eyes once more and seize every available second to practice his breathing exercises.
On the dais, Teacher Yan swept her hair back, glanced at the rankings, and spoke with satisfaction.
“Over the past week, everyone’s rate of distraction has dropped by another eight percent, and your magic power growth efficiency is twelve percent higher than last month. I’m very pleased.”
She saw Zhang Yu immediately resume his breathing exercises and nodded, gratified, before continuing, “I’d also like to give special praise to one student in particular: Zhang Yu.”
“Not only has he maintained a zero percent distraction rate for two consecutive weeks, but over the last week, his magic power has taken a qualitative leap forward, jumping from sixteenth place to eighth. It’s truly remarkable. Let’s give him a round of applause.”
A smattering of applause broke out, after which Teacher Yan announced that the top ten students would be participating in the Magic Power Competition.
“The Magic Power Competition begins next month. I will send you the specific schedule and rules as soon as I receive them.”
“Alright, class dismissed.”
“Oh, and any students who want to buy Spirit-Gathering Pills, remember to find me in the office. There’s a discount running right now…”
Down below, Bai Zhenzhen looked a little thinner, her cheeks slightly sunken.
Seeing Teacher Yan’s beaming expression, she thought to herself, This whole rat race has been so intense lately, and isn’t it because of…
At that thought, she instinctively glanced over at Zhang Yu’s seat, only to see that he had already started his breathing exercises again.
You beast! Zhang Yu, you absolute beast! Stop it! Stop dragging everyone into this damn grind!
After fuming internally for a moment, Bai Zhenzhen ultimately couldn’t bear to watch her good friend advance all by himself. She squeezed her eyes shut in anguish and began her own breathing exercises.
Not far from her, Qian Shen had been staring intently at both Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu. Seeing them both use the break and the teacher’s announcements to practice their breathing exercises, his heart sank.
As a student in Songyang High School’s model class, Qian Shen had always believed he would never shy away from competition.
But after the last eight days of this relentless grind with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, his perspective had changed.
“They barely even go to the bathroom, they don’t even scratch an itch… I really can’t keep up with them!”
“Compared to them, am I the one who’s not fully evolved?!”
Staring daggers at the two of them, still lost in their breathing exercises, Qian Shen finally closed his eyes in unwilling resignation.
Grind! Then he would just have to grind harder!
During physical education class.
Students were scattered about, some performing acupuncture, others doing body tempering. Beast-like roars echoed through the hall, and the floor was slick with the pungent stench of sweat.
Bai Zhenzhen wiped the sweat from her brow and subconsciously glanced toward a small, dark room in the corner.
Because he had been singled out and isolated by the P.E. teacher, Wang Hai, Zhang Yu had been training on his own in that little room for the past few classes.
At this moment, however, Zhang Yu was not practicing his spiritual energy breathing exercises as he had the past few days, but was instead practicing the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
With a series of sharp cracks, the muscles on Zhang Yu’s body bulged, erupting with ferocious power as he violently lifted the training equipment before him, lowered it, then lifted it again, and lowered it again…
Simultaneously, he had switched the specialization on his Feather Book from the level 8 Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method to the level 3 Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
Zhang Yu had his reasons for doing this.
First, because he lacked a matching spiritual root, the amount of spiritual energy he could absorb was limited, and the benefits of leveling up his Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method were diminishing.
Second, he had already qualified for the Magic Power Competition, which meant his next objective was the monthly exam in nine days.
My magic power has improved significantly recently. Besides, at level 8, the passive effect of the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method constantly provides sixty-five percent of the benefit of active practice, even when I’m not focused on it.
My magic power score on the upcoming monthly exam is already secure. Continuing to invest heavily in it… the return on investment for my overall score would be too low.
Zhang Yu calculated his options.
To improve my exam results from here, I’ll have to focus on my Dao heart, physical education, martial arts, and Daoist arts.
For my Dao heart… while I haven’t mastered the Heavenly Martial Heart-Tempering Art, I have fully grasped its principles. That should be enough to earn a good score on the Dao heart portion of the exam.
For martial arts, apart from the twenty points for theory, the remaining eighty are based on combat. That would require hiring sparring partners to trade blows with me, so improvement won’t come quickly.
Daoist arts are even more difficult; it’s impossible to make any progress in such a short time.
After weighing his options, Zhang Yu decided it was best to spend the next nine days focusing on improving his Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms and his physical strength.
He had even discovered an unexpected side benefit of the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method while practicing the forms.
As he exerted force, his muscles contracting and expanding, the magic power circulation within his body continued to operate, converting wisps of spiritual energy into magic power as it flowed.
In the process, as the magic power circulated through his strained tendons and past his torn muscle fibers, it began to nourish the areas worn down by his training. It replenished his flesh and blood, accelerating repairs and enhancing the effects of his workout.
Originally, the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms could only produce a similar effect by guiding magic power after reaching the third level.
But now, under the influence of the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method, a far more complex and refined circulation of magic power continuously enveloped his entire body, drastically improving his recovery and the effectiveness of his body tempering.
He felt that if he could previously only practice the forms twenty or thirty times a day, with the aid of the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method, he could now manage at least fifty or sixty repetitions daily.
And so, for the foreseeable future, Zhang Yu planned to start grinding the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, a wave of emotion washed over him.
It seems I’m getting more and more used to the grind.
Sigh. This damned Kunxu really turns people into monsters.
But after completing fifteen consecutive repetitions of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, Zhang Yu realized he was mistaken.
He lay on the ground, drenched in so much sweat that a faint human outline was visible on the floorboards.
Even the P.E. teacher, Wang Hai, upon witnessing such a scene of diligent training, would have certainly said: You’ve worked hard, take a rest.
But the one supervising Zhang Yu now was not a person. It would only trigger the ritual: Continue training.
“Please abide by the ritual’s agreement. Strive to complete the wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 10.”
Zhang Yu lamented, “You mindless thing! I’m already at my limit.”
This was agony!
The drudgery of body tempering was so much more grueling than the breathing exercises.
At that moment, Zhang Yu felt his lungs heaving like a bellows, and a tearing soreness radiated from every inch of his flesh and blood.
I was so naive, thinking I had already adapted to this wretched world.
Listening to the incessant countdown in his ear, Zhang Yu remained on the floor like a dead fish. It wasn’t until the final moments ticked away that he suddenly sprang to his feet. Enduring the overwhelming soreness and fatigue, he resumed his training of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms.
Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 3 (22/30)
After forcing his way through another repetition, Zhang Yu collapsed into his own puddle of sweat again, listening to the chilling countdown as he felt the ritual’s power threatening to tear his body to pieces.
Is this a world a person can even adapt to?
Damn it… Before this thing forces me to jump off a building, I have to break this cursed ritual!
That day at noon, Zhang Yu acted completely out of character. Under the astonished gazes of Bai Zhenzhen and Zhou Tianyi, he spent over a hundred yuan at once, ordering a massive bucket of food.
If magic power growth depended on absorbing more spiritual energy, then improving the effects of body tempering depended on eating more nutritious food.
“I’m going to eat ten pounds of this!”
Seeing the size of Zhang Yu’s lunch, Bai Zhenzhen knew exactly how hard he must have pushed himself in P.E. class.
He must feel he’s grinded magic power enough for now, so he’s starting on physical strength?
Just when did this guy start trying so hard?
Could this be some extra competitive drive that comes from being unneutered?
Watching Zhang Yu devour a whole chicken leg in a single bite, then crunch the bones to powder and swallow them, Bai Zhenzhen found herself unconsciously eating faster.
Zhou Tianyi sighed helplessly, “Slow down, you two. Nobody’s grading you on your eating speed.”
Not far away, Su Haifeng, also eating in the cafeteria, watched some of the slower students and thought to himself, The lunch break is still too long.
I’ve been saying the school should install more surveillance cameras in the cafeteria. Publicly reprimand and fine anyone who takes more than ten minutes to eat.
With that, he began to draft a proposal to send to the principal, offering this valuable suggestion for cafeteria reform.
For the following days, outside of his regular lessons, Zhang Yu spent every spare moment practicing the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms. When he reached his physical limit and could train no more, he was forced to practice his spiritual energy breathing exercises.
Tormented day in and day out, the time for the monthly exam, nine days later, finally arrived.