Chapter 24: Spiritual Roots

Leaving Su Haifeng's office, Zhang Yu walked back toward his classroom.

Next week, he had to break into the top ten in mana for the entire grade to earn the qualification to represent Songyang High School in the Magic Competition.

The week after that, the monthly exams would begin. Only with sufficiently excellent exam results could he negotiate a better contract with the school.

Zhang Yu was fully confident in breaking into the top ten in mana within the coming week. After all, his *Circulation Qi-Gathering Method* was already at Level 4; from here on, the level would only continue to rise, and the increase in mana would become increasingly rapid.

However, the monthly exams covered more than just mana; there were also physical education, Daoist heart, martial arts, and Daoist arts. Having to aggressively improve these four subjects over the next two weeks made Zhang Yu feel an immediate sense of immense pressure.

As for the general education exam?

Setting aside the fact that general education only accounted for 50 points, almost everyone in the demonstration class scored near-perfect marks, making it impossible to create any real gap.

One could say that Zhang Yu wasn't entirely sure how far he could actually go in the monthly exams two weeks from now.

"In short... I just have to grind."

Zhang Yu felt himself getting fired up.

Who says a manual transmission failure isn't a failure?

*Yushu! For the next two weeks, show me where your limits lie!*

As soon as he returned to the classroom, Zhang Yu began breathing in spiritual energy, running his *Circulation Qi-Gathering Method* at full capacity.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the end of the first period.

"Sigh, I'm so tired."

Just as Zhang Yu's mental guard lowered slightly and he wanted to take a rest, that countdown accompanied by a bone-chilling cold rose up again, forcing him to keep working hard.

"Fuck!"

"Stupid ritual... one day, I'll kill you!"

Meanwhile, in another corner of the classroom, Zhao Tianxing looked at the message on his phone and breathed a sigh of relief.

Previously, the PE teacher, Wang Hai, had sent him to inquire about Zhang Yu's supply channels. Today, after the other party asked for the results, Zhao Tianxing had told him about yesterday's art exhibition.

Wang Hai's reply was: *Understood. You don't need to follow up with Zhang Yu for now; just continue to maintain a good relationship with him. Come to the training grounds after school tomorrow, and I'll take you through a body-tempering class.*

Not having to continue prying for information from Zhang Yu relieved Zhao Tianxing significantly.

Furthermore, the reward of an extra training session from Wang Hai made Zhao Tianxing secretly delighted.

After all, as an ace teacher, the quality of Wang Hai's private lessons went without saying; they were not only expensive but often impossible to book.

As for continuing to maintain a relationship with Zhang Yu...

Zhao Tianxing looked up at Zhang Yu's seat and saw him practicing breathing exercises.

"After yesterday's incident, I must have become a clown in his eyes."

Thinking that the other boy might already be mocking his clumsy performance from last night made Zhao Tianxing's cheeks burn again.

However, thinking of the reward of Wang Hai's private lesson, he made up his mind to find Zhang Yu for a chat once class was over.

But as the morning classes passed one by one, Zhao Tianxing simply could not find an opportunity to say a few words to Zhang Yu.

"Is he still breathing?"

"He's breathing during class."

"He's breathing after class."

"He hasn't even gone to the bathroom... what incredible stamina."

Zhang Yu's current look of intense effort even made Zhao Tianxing feel anxious on his behalf.

When lunchtime finally arrived, Zhao Tianxing had just finished getting his food and intended to walk over to sit next to Zhang Yu.

Instead, he saw the boy gulp down his meal like a ghost in two bites, then sprint out of the cafeteria at lightning speed.

Watching this, Bai Zhenzhen cursed inwardly: "Even lunch has to be a grind? Are you going to let people eat in peace?"

Lunchtime was the only time at Songyang High School that was free from grades, free from the supervision of people like Su Haifeng, and free from the interference of eccentrics like Wang Hai.

It was the rare time during the school day when top students could relax, take a nap, or even gossip.

It was Songyang High School's own spiritual SPA time.

Bai Zhenzhen was extremely dissatisfied with Zhang Yu's "study demon" attitude, where he even squeezed out his lunch break to cultivate.

*Brother, if you grind this hard, how are we supposed to eat in peace?*

*What if you out-grind us?*

*Are you trying to turn this into a competition?*

When Zhao Tianxing returned to the classroom and saw that Zhang Yu had already started breathing again, he thought to himself, *As expected.*

For the entire afternoon, Zhao Tianxing could not find a single chance to speak to him, simply because whenever he turned to look, the boy was either focusing intently on class or absorbing spiritual energy.

Watching him like this, Zhao Tianxing's own anxiety began to rise.

"He's already apprenticed to a Golden Core practitioner and he's still working this hard? Is he trying to block the path for us ordinary students?"

It wasn't until school ended that Zhao Tianxing finally found an opportunity to catch up to him. He had thought Zhang Yu would go looking for temporary work today.

Instead, he heard the boy say: "Looking for temporary work?"

"Xiao Zhao, as high school students, we should put studying first. How can you go out to work every day?"

"Don't think earning 800 an hour makes you amazing; those are just temporary jobs, you can't find them every day."

Zhang Yu glanced at his balance of 8,300 yuan, which gave him the confidence to temporarily stop working and focus on cultivation.

Thus, he returned home, took a nerve filler, and continued breathing until the next morning.

Aside from going to the bathroom and switching the *Yushu's* specialization back to the *Circulation Qi-Gathering Method*, Zhang Yu devoted all his time to breathing.

In this manner, four days passed in the blink of an eye.

After these four days of bitter cultivation, Zhang Yu's *Circulation Qi-Gathering Method* reached Level 6 (45/120).

As for his mana, through these days of diligent practice, it had surged from 8.3 to 9.4 in one go, leaving him only two spots away from the top ten in the grade.

...

Outside the first-year hallway that day.

Su Haifeng wandered aimlessly toward the back door of the classroom, looking at the students who were engaged in self-study.

As the head teacher of the demonstration class, even though he had no classes, he had specifically come to wander around. Naturally, he did this to use his cold gaze, ruthless sarcasm, and the authority of a grade director to forcefully boost the students' mental state.

Then, Su Haifeng discovered that the students in the classroom were grinding even harder than usual today.

Fewer people were going to the bathroom.

More people were practicing breathing seriously, and fewer people were nodding off while doing so.

In fact, those who were actually spacing out but pretending to stare at their books just to avoid being caught by him had disappeared.

The rate of distraction in the class had significantly decreased.

In truth, Su Haifeng had vaguely noticed this trend starting two days ago.

And through his observations, he found that the source of this trend was the student named Zhang Yu.

With Zhang Yu's demonic breathing, his continuous 0% distraction rate, and the sudden surge in his mana over the past few days... Bai Zhenzhen, Qian Shen, Zhao Tianxing, and others were the first to be stimulated.

And the subsequent "grind energy" released by Bai Zhenzhen and the others stimulated even more people.

Those with 550 points were grinding, those with 600 were grinding, and those with 650 were also grinding—how could you possibly afford to rest?

Even the average dining time for demonstration class students in the cafeteria had decreased by more than 20%, according to the reports Su Haifeng had reviewed.

Su Haifeng looked at Zhang Yu, who was still breathing, and mused in his heart: *Is it because his self-esteem was wounded by my previous stimulation?*

*Perhaps I can use this tactic more often in the future.*

Unconsciously, he had already thought of the topic for his next teaching research paper: *On the Exploration of Insulting Students in High School Teaching.*

Satisfied with the learning atmosphere in the classroom, Su Haifeng nodded and left.

Shortly after Su Haifeng left, as the bell rang for dismissal, Zhang Yu immediately stood up and headed toward the school's quiet room.

Because he had become the student with the lowest distraction rate in the entire grade last week, Zhang Yu had not only received a 500-yuan bonus and a public commendation, but also a one-hour free rental of a Heaven-grade Spiritual Root.

And today was the day to redeem that one hour of Heaven-grade Spiritual Root.

Since the rental of spiritual roots and the quiet rooms were scheduled by the school, if Zhang Yu missed it, the reward would be forfeited. Therefore, he rushed to the spiritual root rental office without a moment's delay.

Zhao Tianxing seized the opportunity to follow behind Zhang Yu, saying, "Are you going to rent a Heaven-grade Spiritual Root?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, Zhao Tianxing continued, "You don't seem to rent Heaven-grade roots at school very often, do you?"

"Do you want me to introduce you to the different models of Heaven-grade roots our school has?"

Zhang Yu's eyes flickered slightly. Because of the cost, the original Zhang Yu had always sought out various training institutions running promotions to rent spiritual roots, so he was indeed not very familiar with the models available at the school.

After all, with the development of the era, especially after being streamlined and researched by the Ten Great Sects, spiritual roots were no longer as crudely categorized as they were in ancient times.

First, in terms of grade, the Ten Great Sects had divided spiritual roots into five levels.

Among them were the lowest-grade Human Spiritual Roots, the higher-grade Earth Spiritual Roots, and the even higher Heaven Spiritual Roots; as long as you had money, you could buy any of these three.

Moving up, there were the military-grade Divine Spiritual Roots and the Immortal Spiritual Roots, which were exclusive to the Ten Great Sects.

Divine Spiritual Roots could only be used by the military and certain special government departments.

Immortal Spiritual Roots could only be accessed by those who had joined one of the Ten Great Sects.

In terms of classification, things like the ancient Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth spiritual roots... such classifications had long since vanished in Kunxu.

Because the design and manufacturing industries of spiritual roots had become increasingly advanced and prosperous, spiritual roots were gradually categorized by different functions, such as learning-type, combat-type, cultivation-type, and so on.

Zhao Tianxing said, "The most popular roots in our high school are definitely the learning-type and cultivation-type roots."

"For example, the Parasitic Spiritual Root..."

Zhang Yu looked shocked: "A chicken root?"

Zhao Tianxing said, "It's 'parasitic' as in to host. A Parasitic Spiritual Root can be temporarily hosted within a person's body, transferring the mana that person refines through the root onto oneself. It's a favorite for many wealthy people."

"There's also the Muscle-Augmentation Spiritual Root, which is a favorite for many. During breathing, it can refine spiritual energy into a type of growth-energy and inject it directly into the muscles, accelerating muscle growth and providing 24-hour muscle building, greatly improving body-tempering effects..."