Chapter 123: Great Sun Qi Sea
Zhang Pianpian continued, “Hearing this, you should understand that your time is very tight.”
“Of course, even if you fail this time, you can try again next year.”
According to Zhang Pianpian, the high school Foundation Establishment qualification exam started in mid-June each year, with the results announced in early January of the following year.
This meant that for every cohort of high school students, they had a total of two chances in their three years.
The first chance was to register at the end of their first year and obtain the Foundation Establishment certificate in their second year.
The second chance was to register at the end of their second year and obtain the certificate in their third year.
In Zhang Yu’s mind, the evil god’s voice rang out, “Although it’s the same certificate, there’s a clear difference in prestige between getting it in your second year versus your third. When you write that on your resume, you’ll definitely receive different treatment at university…”
Even without the evil god saying it, Zhang Yu could naturally guess as much.
“With Kunxu’s twisted logic, the difference between getting the certificate in your third year versus your second year, once you get to university… is probably the difference between being a person from White Dragon and a person from Songyang.”
White Dragon or Songyang?
If he had a choice, even the Son of the School Director, He Dayou, would probably have fled to White Dragon.
Faced with an opportunity to change his life on the second layer by putting in some hard work, how could Zhang Yu let it pass?
He nodded at Zhang Pianpian. “Two chances. We’ll definitely try for both. For something like the Foundation Establishment certificate, the sooner you get it, the better.”
Zhang Pianpian continued, “It’s good that you understand. Beyond that, there’s the choice of exam specialization, and some arrangements I’ll make for you before I leave…”
Because the exam only had four spots in total—one each for Dao heart, magic power, athletics, and martial arts—Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen naturally had to choose different paths.
With the help of her spiritual root, Bai Zhenzhen’s progress in magic power, athletics, and martial arts was not slow.
But considering that her aptitude for martial arts had always been the strongest under the enhancement of the True Spiritual Root, she ultimately chose the martial arts track.
As for Zhang Yu, with the aid of the Feather Book and the True Spiritual Root, he was also very confident in magic power, athletics, and martial arts. However, since Bai Zhenzhen had already chosen martial arts, his remaining choices were magic power and athletics.
“Then it’s athletics, of course. After all, my recent preparations for the athletics meet have pushed my physical strength far beyond my magic power. If I continue to push forward relentlessly in physical strength, becoming the strongest in athletics among all high school students on Kunxu’s first layer… is not impossible.”
After Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had selected their respective exam tracks, Zhang Pianpian added, “Your time is short, your task is heavy, and your funds are limited. So, when the prize money and endorsement fees come in, remember not to spend it recklessly.”
“For example, don’t even think about paying off your loan in one go. Not only should you not pay it off, but if possible, you should even consider borrowing more.”
“For the next eight months, spend every last coin on improving your own strength.”
“Before I leave, I will also find a way to provide some cover for you, to buy you a little more time to get stronger.”
“I will be waiting for you at Myriad Laws University.”
…
Early morning.
Songyang High School.
Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen dragged their weary bodies toward the campus gate.
The athletics meet last night had already exhausted them physically. After the competition, they discussed the Foundation Establishment certificate with Zhang Pianpian, and after she left, they didn’t rest either, instead starting to map out their cultivation plan for the coming months.
After all, to successfully pass the Foundation Establishment exam and defeat the other competitors, relying on the first-year curriculum at Songyang High School was definitely not enough.
They needed a more suitable, more aggressive, and more effective training plan.
They meticulously calculated and planned everything, from how to spend their money, which cultivation techniques to practice, and what alchemical enhancers to use, to various exam-related expenses.
Just then, Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes widened as she stared at the large screen at the school entrance.
“Congratulations to student Zhang Yu for winning first prize in the Songyang City athletics competition! With his outstanding talent and exceptional aptitude, student Zhang Yu overcame material hardships. With such world-class talent, he is sure to achieve even greater success in the future…”
Bai Zhenzhen read the short essay scrolling across the screen; almost the entire text was lavishing praise on Zhang Yu’s peerless genius.
After reading it, she was stunned. “What about me? Why am I not mentioned?”
She had placed fifth in the athletics meet, for crying out loud. Didn’t she even deserve a mention?
But Zhang Yu, standing beside her, looked at the essay on the screen and only felt a cold shiver of anger. He wasn’t happy at all.
If he were a few months younger, he would have loved this kind of fawning article.
But now, seeing the screen filled with words like “talent” and “aptitude”… he only felt that his commercial value was being suppressed again.
Does anyone get it? I win first place and they say it’s all because of talent. How much more malice can this world have for geniuses?
“Who the hell wrote this article? Can someone get it taken down?”
Later, Zhang Yu learned that it was an article arranged by the Student Council.
He immediately understood. “That guy, Zhou Chechen, he wants to sabotage my commercial value too?”
“Could he be in cahoots with that Le Jingchen from Purple Cloud?”
Recalling how Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling had specifically come to warn him during the competition, Zhang Yu grew even more suspicious that the two of them were working with Purple Cloud High School or Purple Cloud Supplements.
Just then, Zhao Tianxing, who was on the road, saw Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, and his eyes lit up as he approached them.
Seeing the pensive Zhang Yu, Zhao Tianxing asked curiously, “A’Yu, what are you thinking about?”
Zhang Yu sighed. “I’m thinking about how to prove I’m not a genius, just an ordinary person who relies on money to improve my grades.”
Zhao Tianxing was taken aback for a moment. Is Yu-boy taking a jab at me?
Zhang Yu continued, “And then I realized that for me, proving I’m an ordinary person is far, far more difficult than proving I’m a genius.”
“My talent is like the sun; I can’t hide it even if I want to… It’s hard, truly so hard.”
Zhao Tianxing couldn’t help but recall the Zhang Yu from six months ago and thought to himself, A’Yu, I still prefer the way you were six months ago.
You weren’t like this back then. Back then, you were just like me. Standing in front of Zhen, Qian Shen, and He Dayou, we all looked like clowns.
Looking at the new face Zhang Yu was now wearing, Zhao Tianxing had to admit that achievement corrupts students. Then, suddenly, he gained a deeper understanding of his own theory of the poor, weak clown.
“Clowns can also be interchangeable. Six months ago, Zhang Yu was a clown in front of He Dayou. Now, He Dayou is the clown in front of Zhang Yu.”
“This is… the theory of clown relativity.”
“In the end, it all comes down to power, like scores and wealth.”
Zhao Tianxing thought that if, at the moment Zhang Yu finished his speech, he were to grab Zhang Yu by the neck, pin him to the ground, and say coolly, “Oh? Is it really that hard to prove?”
Zhao Tianxing thought to himself, If that happened, the roles of the clown would be reversed again.
“Sigh, if you want to stand tall in school and have your voice heard, you really do need strength.”
With this thought, Zhao Tianxing became even more determined to purchase the demonic muscle modification.
And throughout Songyang High School, there were many students who thought like Zhao Tianxing. It was just that some favored the demonic muscle, some wanted super metabolism, and a small minority decided to purchase Red Pagoda’s True Dragon Bloodline…
The three of them walked into the classroom, and as soon as Zhang Yu sat down, he continued to browse information on various cultivation techniques on his phone.
He thought to himself, “Although I plan to take the athletics track and continue to improve my physical strength, I must ensure that my Dao heart and magic power don’t fall behind.”
“Especially my Dao heart and magic power. I need to find replacements for the Heavenly Martial Heart-Tempering Art and the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method to ensure that while I temper my body every day, my Dao heart and magic power can also grow steadily.”
But on the cultivation technique website, the sheer number of techniques was as vast as a sea. Even looking through the top-ranked ones left Zhang Yu dazzled and unsure of what to choose.
Just then, the evil god, which had been disguised as a prayer bead, suddenly spoke, “Try searching for Great Sun Qi Sea.”
Zhang Yu was slightly surprised, but he searched for the breathing exercise ‘Great Sun Qi Sea’ anyway. He found that it was an expert-level technique with extremely low sales, suitable for the mid-stage of Qi Refinement.
The first reason for its low sales was its hefty price tag: the usage rights alone cost a full 120,000.
And the second reason for its low sales was that the technique was too difficult to practice.
Notably, the difficulty of the Great Sun Qi Sea wasn’t in its comprehension, practice, or high requirements.
The difficulty of the Great Sun Qi Sea lay in time.
It was a cultivation technique that allowed one to condense the essence of the sun and moon and gather the spiritual energy from the radiance of heaven and earth simply by being exposed to light, using it to refine magic power.
Zhang Yu read the description and thought to himself, “Just like the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method, it allows for passive breathing. As long as there is light, the Great Sun Qi Sea can perform continuous passive breathing, and the stronger the light, the stronger the effect.”
“However, this technique emphasizes gradual progress. If the first level takes a month of light exposure to master, then the second level will take two months to break through. The third level doubles again, requiring four months of light to achieve a breakthrough. It increases exponentially like this, with each subsequent level taking longer and longer.”
“By the time you reach the eighth level, breaking through to the next one would require ten years of effort.”
“And breaking through from the ninth to the tenth level would take more than twenty years.”
Reading this, Zhang Yu sighed. Even if someone bought this technique, they would probably just use it as a transitional breathing exercise, relying on the light-based breathing to gain a little extra magic power.
“No wonder so few people buy it.”
“But for me, it’s just perfect.”
Zhang Yu began to wonder what effect this technique, which took decades to master, would have once he pushed it to level 10.
Suddenly, Zhang Yu remembered the evil god who had told him to search for the Great Sun Qi Sea. He thought to himself that this thing had been sticking to him 24/7 lately and seemed to know which cultivation techniques suited him best.
At this thought, Zhang Yu asked softly, “After all this time, I still don’t know what to call you.”
The evil god chuckled, a clear, feminine voice echoing in Zhang Yu’s mind, “You can just call me Fu Ji.”
“Zhang Yu, I’ve said it before. With my help, your climb up the ladder of Kunxu will be much smoother.”