Chapter 159: The Clown’s Summons
Just then, Dai Xingzhi heard Ye Lingxiao, who was standing beside him, say, “In the last Dao heart test, your valuation was actually unknown?”
Dai Xingzhi paused for a moment, then followed the direction of his voice to see Zhang Yu standing behind him… the number on his body was indeed 55.
And hearing Ye Lingxiao’s question, Zhang Yu fell silent for a moment, not knowing what to say.
Dai Xingzhi, standing to the side, spoke up, “An unknown valuation, could it be that you held on until the very end, and even broke the illusionary landscape… so they gave you an unknown valuation?”
Zhang Yu said helplessly, “Yeah… something like that.”
Hearing this, Ye Lingxiao’s gaze sharpened, and he looked at Zhang Yu with a newfound sense of gravity.
This person was actually able to break the illusionary landscape? Ye Lingxiao thought to himself.
How strong is his will? Just how rich is he? Could he be even richer than Yun Jing, than me?
On the other side, Dai Xingzhi’s mind was also racing. What is his background? Is he the descendant of some company director? Or the heir of some local tycoon?
At the same time, more and more people noticed the number 55 on Zhang Yu, realizing that this student from out of town was the first place in the last Dao heart test.
Furthermore, due to the special nature of this Dao heart test, they realized that this first-place winner must be incredibly wealthy, possessing astonishing riches.
And with wealth being the most direct manifestation of Immortal Dao potential, the immensely rich No. 55 must also be powerful, a strong contender for a Foundation Establishment certificate.
Ye Lingxiao looked at Zhang Yu and thought, Seeing him pick up the Red Envelope Talismans and hearing what he said, I originally thought he was poor.
I never expected him to be so well-hidden… Is it because he’s rich enough that he dares to pick up random envelopes from the ground?
He also seemed very concerned about what would happen if a poor person picked up a Red Envelope Talisman… Is he one of those rich people who are naive about the world?
As he pondered, Ye Lingxiao turned around, his eyes growing even more serious as he looked at Zhang Yu.
“I look forward to competing with you later.”
At this moment, the mysterious and unfathomably wealthy Zhang Yu had become one of his main future rivals in Ye Lingxiao’s eyes.
Dai Xingzhi and the other students nearby watched the two face off, feeling as if they were witnessing two giant beasts, each breathing out billions in wealth, crashing violently into each other.
Bai Zhenzhen witnessed this scene, and as she looked at Zhang Yu, her heart tightened with anxiety.
Yu-boy! You’re putting on such a big act now. When the official competition starts and you’re exposed, you’ll become the kind of clown old Zhao was talking about!
Bai Zhenzhen was confident that she and Zhang Yu had improved a lot in the past two months, definitely reaching the level of a third-year student.
But she also knew that even with so much improvement, there was still a gap between them and the top-tier Immortal Capital masters.
Facing the first round of the exam, Bai Zhenzhen was only aiming to pass.
As for catching up to or even surpassing the top-tier Immortal Capital masters, that was a goal for the coming months, for the second and third rounds of the exam.
Zhang Yu was well aware of all this, but once his number was posted as first in the Dao heart test, he knew he couldn’t explain it.
He couldn’t very well say it was because of the ritual’s influence that he held on until the end in the illusionary landscape.
He certainly couldn’t say that he was actually a poor wretch, still trying to figure out how to pay next month’s loan interest.
So, facing Ye Lingxiao’s intense gaze and feeling the curious, probing, or hostile looks from everyone in the hall, Zhang Yu felt as if he were being watched by a pack of hungry tigers, but he could only brace himself and endure it.
Damn it, wasn’t I supposed to be the one who, under the contempt or even disregard of the Immortal Capital masters, would catch up to them step by step and eventually seize a Foundation Establishment certificate? Why is everyone staring at me right from the start?
I told you they shouldn’t have done this ranking thing! Why expose the contestants’ privacy like that!
Thinking about having to compete head-on with this group next, Zhang Yu felt that the so-called clown’s position Zhao Tianxing mentioned was beckoning to him.
Is there any way for me not to be too embarrassed later?
Forget it, if I have to lose a bit of face, so be it. It’s my own fault for not being strong enough yet.
Not far away, Yu Xinghan had just arrived and witnessed this surprising scene.
“That kid Zhang Yu…” Yu Xinghan looked at Zhang Yu, feeling both curious and astonished. How on earth did he do it?
To think that he, with his status as a poor person, could hold on in that illusionary landscape to achieve an unknown valuation—Yu Xinghan couldn’t figure it out no matter how he thought about it.
He even felt an impulse to ask Zhang Yu, but he knew that it was a secret the other would never reveal.
A short while later, as all the contestants arrived one by one, Deng Bingding, as the head examiner, began to announce the procedures for this examination.
In short, embodying the spirit of the Foundation Establishment examination reform, this time, besides the Dao heart, the students’ magic power, physical fitness, and martial arts would be tested in sequence.
As for why the Dao heart wasn’t being tested, it was said that after the last test, all who were unqualified had been eliminated, so there was no need for another test.
Of course, Huang Zichou, the minor god standing to the side, knew that this was a budget-saving measure from above.
After all, compared to the other three subjects, testing the Dao heart involved the Spirit Realm environment and was the most expensive and resource-intensive.
Finally, Deng Bingding said, “…This round of the exam will only retain the top twenty contestants in total score. All contestants ranked after twentieth place will be eliminated. To encourage the students, each of the top twenty contestants will be rewarded with an expert-level cultivation technique…”
Hearing this, Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up slightly. An expert-level cultivation technique for each person? That generous?
Zhang Yu still remembered that the last time Deng Bingding had approved a bonus for him, it was an interest-free loan.
But on second thought, he mused, The Eight Ministries of Righteous Gods are backed by the Heavenly Court and the Ten Great Sects.
For us, an expert-level cultivation technique would cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.
But for them, it might just be a matter of granting permission.
After all, they just need to approve our usage rights and then send us the content of the technique…
…
Soon, the magic power examination officially began.
All the students present lined up in the hall according to their numbers.
Then, several examiners distributed a set of detection equipment and a box of spiritual roots to everyone present.
Dai Xingzhi thought to himself, This magic power exam tests control, burst, and recovery of magic power.
He picked up a detector patch and thought, You have to output as much magic power into this as possible within 30 minutes.
The faster and more magic power you output within 30 minutes, the higher your score will be.
This requires both burst power and precise control over magic power, as well as the ability to perform breathing exercises to recover magic power while outputting it.
Dai Xingzhi knew that this kind of long-duration magic power burst capability was an Immortal Dao course that, according to the high school curriculum, should only be taught in the third year.
But since this was the high school Foundation Establishment examination, it naturally wouldn’t be constrained by a mere curriculum.
Dai Xingzhi then opened the small box containing the external spiritual root.
Inside, a circular ring was continuously emitting wisps of spiritual energy, breathing as if it were a living thing.
External spiritual root, Limitless Qi sea.
A mid-tier brand of external spiritual root?
Dai Xingzhi recalled what the examiner had just said, knowing that using a standardized spiritual root like this was one of the reforms of this Foundation Establishment examination.
Dai Xingzhi was indifferent to this; wealth was a part of one’s Immortal Dao potential. It was only right for the wealthy to have more advantages, so why use a standardized spiritual root?
Just then, Deng Bingding reminded them, “Before equipping the external spiritual root, everyone remember to deactivate the spiritual root inside your own body, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences.”
Just as Dai Xingzhi was about to put on the external spiritual root, Limitless Qi sea, he suddenly heard a male voice.
“How do you use this external spiritual root?”
Dai Xingzhi turned his head to look and saw that the speaker was surprisingly No. 55.
They’re actually providing standardized spiritual roots? Zhang Yu thought. But this external spiritual root doesn’t even come with an instruction manual. How the hell am I supposed to know how to use it?
And if I ask like this, the group of Immortal Capital masters around will probably guess that I’m not actually that rich, right?
It can also be considered laying some groundwork for myself…
On the other side, Bai Zhenzhen heard this and thought, Well done, Yu-boy. Now that you’ve asked, I don’t have to.
You’re also starting to build a way out for yourself, slowly revealing the fact that you’re not that rich. That way, even if your results aren’t as good as everyone expects, you’ll lose a little less face.
When Dai Xingzhi heard these words, he thought, He’s never even used a Limitless Qi sea?
Thinking of the other party’s ‘unknown’ valuation from the first-place Dao heart test, Dai Xingzhi mused, Is it because the Limitless Qi sea is too low-end for him?
Damn it, for me, this is already a spiritual root for normal cultivation, but this guy usually doesn’t even deign to use it? What kind of spiritual roots does he normally use?
Damn rich people. It’s a good thing we’re using standardized spiritual roots for the exam this time!
On the other side, the strongest high school student, Yun Jing, his eyes flashing, looked at Zhang Yu and thought, This outsider… is he showing off his wealth here? To say he’s never used a Limitless Qi sea?
Yun Jing snorted coldly in his heart and also spoke up, “I don’t usually use this kind of spiritual root much either. Examiner, could you please teach us?”
So even rich people don’t use this spiritual root much? Zhang Yu thought. Tsk, this is troublesome… Why do I feel like even more eyes are on me now?
Following the method described by the examiners, he injected magic power, stretched the ring larger, and slipped it onto his hand. Zhang Yu could feel the external spiritual root pulsing with his breathing exercises, as if it had become a part of his body. The surrounding spiritual energy immediately swarmed towards him.
Next, he put on the detection equipment and gripped the detector patch tightly.
With a countdown of 3, 2, 1, all the contestants present simultaneously began to output magic power into the detector patches.
Boom!
A great roar seemed to resound through the air as everyone’s magic power began to circulate.
At the same time, on the light screen at the front of the hall, the magic power output data representing each individual lit up.
It was a row of bar graphs, with a contestant’s number at the bottom of each bar and a magic power value at the top.
At this moment, as everyone frantically outputted magic power, every bar was continuously growing and sorting itself according to the magic power output.
However, because two of the bars were growing so ferociously, they not only shot to first and second place at once but also made the other contestants’ bars seem to shrink in comparison due to their exaggerated growth.
These two bars represented contestant No. 11, Yun Jing, and No. 23, Ye Lingxiao.
One could see their magic power values skyrocketing, and the two bars, like two giant dragons, intertwined and chased each other back and forth in the first and second positions.
At the same time, Dai Xingzhi looked at the bar for No. 55.
“Hmm? Why is it ranked so far behind?”