Chapter 234: Congratulations to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen on Successfully Obtaining the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate

After leaving the examination hall, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen directly boarded the train for their return trip.

Upon being awakened, Fu Ji learned that both of them had successfully obtained their Foundation Establishment certificates and laughed heartily.

“Excellent, excellent! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you two. All that’s left is to complete your Foundation Establishment before you enter university.”

“That way, you can enroll in the Foundation Establishment class as soon as you arrive, which puts you halfway on the path to a guaranteed postgraduate placement.”

The thought of this excited Fu Ji. What was the point of just attending university? How could one find a good job without a postgraduate degree?

Zhang Yu, however, frowned at her words and muttered, “Foundation Establishment before university? Why do you make it sound as easy as buying an alchemical enhancer at the school gate?”

Zhang Yu knew that Foundation Establishment required one to have their own spiritual root, which needed to be planted in the dantian and become a complete part of their body. This meant he had to purchase a spiritual root.

And for someone of his standing—the strongest high school student on Kunxu’s first layer—he would need to perform his Foundation Establishment with a Heavenly Spiritual Root at the very least, wouldn’t he?

But the price of a Heavenly Spiritual Root was in the tens of millions. How many lessons would he have to teach for the Dark Learning Gang, how many overtime shifts would he have to pull at the Red Pagoda, just to save up enough money to buy one before university?

As for Zhen…

As Zhang Yu’s gaze shifted to her, Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes and said, “Not possible. I need to save up money too.”

Zhang Yu understood what she meant. Although she had her own spiritual root to use for Foundation Establishment, she was unwilling to let anyone know she was born with one.

Therefore, if Bai Zhenzhen wanted to conceal the fact that she had a natural spiritual root, she too would have to save up and buy a Heavenly Spiritual Root to cover it up.

Fu Ji, however, just smiled and continued speaking in their minds, “Indeed, the higher the grade of the spiritual root used during Foundation Establishment, the better the result. Zhang Yu, you’ll need to use a Heavenly Spiritual Root at a minimum.”

“But the price of a Heavenly Spiritual Root is currently beyond your means.”

“But when did I ever say you had to pay for it yourselves?”

“Weren’t there many university representatives watching your Foundation Establishment exam this time?”

“Universities have to consider their recruitment performance, after all. Good universities need to recruit good students to maintain their competitive edge and ratings, while lesser universities need to recruit good students to strive for higher ratings.”

“With your performance in this exam, those university representatives will certainly not remain idle. They will definitely arrange for people to contact you.”

“Although they can’t easily come down to the first layer themselves, they will likely approach you through various companies.”

“In any case, as long as you secure their support and take advantage of the generous terms they offer, combined with your own efforts to earn more money, achieving Foundation Establishment before university is definitely not out of reach.”

Zhang Yu nodded slightly at her words, recalling that Deng Bingding had said something similar about them receiving early recruitment offers from universities.

Just then, Fu Ji added a reminder, “The first thing you need to do right now is get off the train in any small city and take some time to digest the gains from this exam to boost your own strength.”

Bai Zhenzhen asked, “We’re not going directly back to Songyang? Is this to make those representatives wait a bit? To make them aware of each other’s presence and drive up the price?”

Fu Ji smiled faintly. “That’s only one reason.”

Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened. “Is it because of the Zhou family?”

The realization dawned on Bai Zhenzhen as well. “The higher-ups in the Zhou family… since someone guessed we were participating in the Foundation Establishment exam, if they find out that representatives from many universities are trying to contact us, they might deduce that we passed the exam.”

“They could react in one of two ways. Either they try to further mend their relationship with us.”

“Or… they make a direct move.”

Having been through numerous gang conflicts in the dark world of tutoring, Bai Zhenzhen was all too aware of how brutal the struggles for survival and profit could be. Even if the chance of encountering a fight or a full-blown clash was low, it demanded the utmost caution.

Zhang Yu added, “Especially since they might know our identities.”

Although Zhang Yu didn’t say the words “evil god,” Bai Zhenzhen understood what he was implying.

Just as Fu Ji had analyzed before, the Zhou family’s leadership likely knew their identities as believers of an evil god.

If that was taken into account, they might resort to even more drastic measures.

After all, in a conflict between believers of evil gods, neither side would dare to attract the attention of the righteous gods.

Zhang Yu said, “So you’re worried they’ll get desperate and do something reckless?”

Fu Ji replied, “I can’t say for certain, but we have to be prepared. Taking precautions won’t cost you anything, anyway.”

“You can use these few days away to digest your gains and improve your strength.”

“In the days you’re gone, the people who come to Songyang High School looking for you will be waiting there. The more people waiting for you, the more the Zhou family will be forced to hesitate, and they definitely won’t dare to move against you.”

“You and Zhen should even turn off your phones. There’s no rush to get in touch with them.”

Zhang Yu’s thoughts, however, were still on the Zhou family.

The existence of this group that might know his identity as an evil god believer felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Fu Ji said, “To completely resolve the problem with the Zhou family, you will ultimately have to rely on your own strength.”

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. He could use this time to first cultivate one of the cultivation techniques he received as a reward from the exam. With the three-million interest-free loan, he could buy another technique to cultivate as well.

By doing so, he would be able to unlock the final layer’s effect of the Martial Dao Holy Embryo.

---

While Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were hiding out and cultivating.

Inside Purple Cloud High School.

Le Mulan stared at the test report in her hands, astonished. “This is Zhang Yu’s sweat?”

Le Jingchen corrected her, “It’s a mixture of your and Zhang Yu’s sweat. It’s a pity his sweat was contaminated by yours; otherwise, the purity level would likely be even higher.”

Le Mulan was taken aback. “He’s that incredible?”

Le Jingchen mused, “It must be some corporation’s new technology. That kid is being used as a test subject.”

“After all, he’s the type of person to sell his competition qualification for cash. I doubt he’s planning to get into any decent university.”

Recalling the recent incident involving the Zhou family, especially the intervention of a sixth-rank god, Le Jingchen speculated, “Perhaps he’s pursuing the Divine Dao? Maybe he’s set to become the vessel for some great god.”

Le Mulan’s gaze dropped. For some reason, the thought of someone with Zhang Yu’s talent being denied a chance at the Ten Greats due to his background, ultimately forced onto the Divine Dao to become material for a god’s descent, felt like such a pity to her.

“I should book him for a few more training sessions before I graduate.”

Just then, Le Jingchen’s phone rang. He answered it, and after a moment, his expression shifted. “Yes… I was the one who entered it into the database.”

“That’s right, the test subject from the other company is named Zhang Yu.”

“Contact him?”

Hanging up the phone, Le Jingchen looked up with a puzzled expression. “That was Purple Cloud Supplements… a call from the Immortal Capital headquarters. They want me to contact Zhang Yu, said someone from the main office wants to speak with him.”

Hearing that the call was from headquarters, a hint of confusion also flickered in Le Mulan’s eyes.

She knew that the Immortal Capital head office wouldn’t contact their branch for anything trivial, especially not by reaching out directly to Le Jingchen at Purple Cloud High.

Le Mulan thought, Could it be that Zhang Yu’s situation is really part of an experiment by a competitor of Purple Cloud Supplements? Does Purple Cloud’s upper management have plans for Zhang Yu?

At a nod from Le Jingchen, Le Mulan tried calling Zhang Yu, but the call wouldn’t connect.

“No wonder they contacted me. Is it because they couldn’t get through to him either?”

Le Jingchen thought for a moment and said, “Take a trip to Songyang High School. Get in touch with me once you find him.”

---

Within Songyang High School.

Zhou Chechen, radiating a frosty aura, was practicing his family’s inherited cultivation technique.

As he replayed the events of the past few months in his mind, he was struck again and again by his own powerlessness.

I’m still too weak. Just like Zhang Yu, I’m nothing but a pawn swept along by the currents of power, manipulated by others, unable to make my own choices.

At this thought, a cold glint flashed in Zhou Chechen’s eyes. But I am not the same as Zhang Yu.

Judging by how he gave up his competition qualification, he has abandoned his chance to enter the Ten Greats. Was it because the righteous god backing him forbade him from doing so?

He is destined to remain a pawn for his entire life, but I still have a chance.

In the time I have left in my third year, I must fight harder. I must get into one of the Ten Greats.

I refuse to be a pawn like this any longer.

On the other side of the training grounds, Lan Ling was also training with all his might. It was unclear if he had been similarly spurred on, but he too was making a final push, hoping to secure a good ranking in the remaining third-year competitions to improve his chances of getting into the Ten Greats.

Just then, a roar echoed from the sky.

Zhou Chechen looked out the window, puzzled, only to see a flying ship hovering above Songyang High School, from which several figures leaped down.

But this seemed to be just the beginning. Not long after the flying ship appeared, a streak of sword-light cut across the sky and landed within the school grounds.

A while later, someone pulled up to the school gate in a high-end sedan.

One after another, people continued to arrive at Songyang High School.

Before long, Zhou Chechen heard the news: all the visitors were said to be from major corporations.

Immortal Resonance Group, Heavenly Martial Group, Heart Innovation Medical, Myriad Beast Husbandry, Wanli Group… not only were they all from major corporations, but they were also representatives from the Immortal Capital headquarters.

Hearing this, Zhou Chechen was bewildered. “What are so many people from major corporations doing at Songyang High?”

He simply couldn’t fathom how a small school like Songyang High could possibly warrant so much attention from the Immortal Capital.

Did someone awaken a spiritual root?

Surely it can’t be that someone owes money to this many large corporations?

Zhou Chechen quickly sent more students to find out what was going on. He learned that all the corporate representatives had been escorted to the conference room, where the principal and several school leaders were currently hosting them.

Just as Zhou Chechen was stewing in his confusion, the principal sent someone to summon him, in his capacity as the Student Council president, to help entertain the corporate representatives.

When he arrived at the conference room and faced the dozen or so representatives, the thought of the powerful corporations they represented made Zhou Chechen feel as if he had shrunk by a third.

He could especially sense that these were no ordinary employees. The scent of money practically wafted off them, and their condescending attitude was identical to that of the legendary young masters of the Immortal Capital.

One of the women smiled at him and said, “This must be the Student Council president, yes? Hello, I am Zhang Bi of the Heavenly Martial Group. I was wondering if you know where Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen have gone?”

“Zhang Yu? Bai Zhenzhen?” Zhou Chechen was momentarily stunned. “You are here to see Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen?”

Zhang Bi smiled. “That’s right. There are a few things we’d like to discuss with them, but as it happens, we can’t seem to reach them.”

At this, she shot a glare into the crowd. “Someone couldn’t keep their composure and came directly to the school, forcing all of us to make the trip, only to discover that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen have taken a leave of absence.”

“You’re the student council president. Do you know where they went? Or do you know any students who are close with them and might be able to contact them?”

Hearing her questions, even with his wealth of life experience, Zhou Chechen was frozen on the spot, momentarily at a loss for words.

The principal spoke up from the side. “Esteemed guests, what is it you need from Zhang Yu? Perhaps we can be of assistance.”

The corporate representatives merely smiled and remained silent.

They couldn’t possibly tell him that they had all been dispatched here on orders from their parent companies.

Nor could they reveal that those parent companies had been directed by the universities above them.

They certainly wouldn’t mention the Foundation Establishment exam; that was a long-standing, unspoken agreement among the top powers of Kunxu’s first layer.

Although these representatives were corporate employees, they also hailed from the great families of the Immortal Capital. None of them would be so reckless as to break this unwritten rule.

According to their plans, they were supposed to meet with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen discreetly, have a discussion, and come to an agreement.

But who knew which company’s impetuous fool had been the first to barge into Songyang High School.

The dean of students chimed in, “I know that Zhang Yu is exceptionally talented, but if you are looking for outstanding students, our school has others who are also quite excellent, such as our Student Council president here, Zhou Chechen…”

Just as the dean was attempting to market his own student, a snort of laughter came from among the corporate representatives.

It was impossible to tell who had laughed, but it set off a chain reaction, and soon all the representatives were laughing.

The faculty of Songyang High looked on, bewildered by the laughing representatives, unsure of what they had said wrong. They could only offer awkward, placating smiles.

At that moment, Zhou Chechen felt like a complete clown, being freely scrutinized and mocked under the gazes of these delegates from corporate giants, utterly powerless to do anything.

The woman who had spoken earlier said again, “We are looking for Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, and no one else. If you don’t know where they are, please go and find a few students who are close to them and bring them here.”

Just then, another commotion arose from outside, a strange sound echoing from the sky.

Those familiar with the sound of flying swords could already tell that there were at least several hundred of them slicing through the air.

“What the hell, is this a war?” someone exclaimed. “Is this place also a battlefield for corporate conflicts?”

In an instant, they displayed their various skills as some leapt out the window and others flickered into the hallway.

Then, the corporate representatives, along with Zhou Chechen and the other students, watched as hundreds of flying swords streaked across the sky, their brilliant sword-light coalescing in the air to form a line of text.

Seeing this line of text, the corporate representatives knew that certain unwritten rules of the past were about to be shattered for good.

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