Chapter 43: The Alliance and the First Stage of the French Tournament

After exchanging greetings, Wu Qingqing picked up her phone again and aimed the screen toward Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

A faint light flickered on the screen, revealing a cartoonish teenage boy. She introduced him: "This is Mo Tianyi from Mangshan High School."

Zhang Yu was startled. *Holy crap, a VTuber?*

The boy nodded toward Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, introducing himself: "Hello, both of you. I am Mo Tianyi."

"I have already checked the surrounding environment; we can speak here without concern."

Zhang Yu looked at the phone screen curiously and asked, "Where are you right now?"

Mo Tianyi smiled slightly. "I am currently within the Spirit Realm. However, the Spirit Realm is connected to the internet, so I can contact you."

Then, his expression turned solemn as he asked seriously, "Student Zhang Yu, I must ask you something: Have you been taken in as a disciple by Master Xinghuo?"

Just as Zhang Yu was about to speak, Bai Zhenzhen stepped forward ahead of him, blocking Zhang Yu and saying, "He hasn't."

"I told him about the pitfalls of being a Golden Core disciple and told him to reject Master Xinghuo."

Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen in surprise, wondering why she had said that. However, out of trust in Ah Zhen, he didn't say much and simply listened quietly to the conversation.

Upon hearing Bai Zhenzhen's words, both Wu Qingqing and Mo Tianyi on the screen showed a flash of disappointment on their faces.

Wu Qingqing couldn't help but say, "How could you let Zhang Yu reject this opportunity? If he wants to get into the Top Ten, Master Xinghuo is definitely a powerful supporter."

Bai Zhenzhen said disdainfully, "An old geezer who was kicked out of a major sect, whose cultivation has already been halved—if he gets divorced and his daughter bleeds him dry, he might end up looking for apprentices under a bridge. How much would be left for us to exploit? Joining him as a beast of burden might be worse than me working part-time jobs every day."

"You..." Mo Tianyi sighed. He thought to himself that if he had known, he wouldn't have encouraged Bai Zhenzhen to try the art exhibition. Otherwise, Zhang Yu might have actually become a Golden Core disciple, and the chance for a student from the poor to enter the Top Ten would have increased significantly.

Bai Zhenzhen continued, "The reason I came to talk to you today is to introduce Zhang Yu to your people."

"Although he is a tiny bit behind me, he is a rare, heaven-sent genius, and he is currently being targeted by the Student Union as well."

Mo Tianyi's image refreshed as he composed himself, smiling. "I have long heard of Student Zhang Yu's reputation."

"It just so happens that I can witness it during this Dharma Competition."

"That's it?" Bai Zhenzhen said unhappily. "Give us some real investment."

Mo Tianyi said helplessly, "We are all poor, and resources are limited. You know our focus has always been on the Boss; there isn't much we can pull out."

"This is just a small token of my personal appreciation, please don't think it's too little..."

As he spoke, he transferred 2,000 yuan to Bai Zhenzhen.

Watching this, Zhang Yu thought to himself, *Good grief, so Ah Zhen brought me here today to ask for money.*

But it seemed this "League of the Resentful Rich" was quite broke; they couldn't give much.

Seeing the transfer notification on her phone, Bai Zhenzhen frowned. "Only 2,000?"

She knew who "the one" referred to was—the one among these poor geniuses who currently had the best grades, the best talent, and the greatest opportunities; the one believed by everyone to be most likely to break through the shackles and step through the gates of the Top Ten schools.

This poor genius had earned the trust of these poor students, leading them to live frugally and invest many resources into him.

They all hoped that this poor genius would enter a top university and, after joining a major sect, could pull everyone up with him, slowly carving a path through the web of control over Songyang City.

Even inviting Bai Zhenzhen to the art exhibition last time was, in her view, an attempt to hope she could become a Golden Core disciple and use that status to help "the one."

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Didn't we agree to watch over each other and stand together? Are you just all talk and no action? Do you think my membership fees are for nothing?"

Mo Tianyi shook his head with a bitter smile. Compared to the 2,000 yuan membership fee Bai Zhenzhen paid, the money he had "extorted" from her every time she came around was already tens of thousands.

If it weren't for the fact that Bai Zhenzhen truly possessed extraordinary talent and they felt she could draw a large portion of attention away from the Boss in the future, they certainly wouldn't have invested so much money.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Wu Qingqing said with a smile, "Don't be anxious, Zhenzhen. The Boss is at a critical moment, and there isn't much money everyone can scrape together. Although Mo Tianyi manages the funds, he still needs the consent of several seniors to release them."

"How about this: Student Zhang Yu is so capable. As long as he achieves a good ranking in this Dharma Competition, Mo Tianyi can talk to the seniors, and then asking you for money will be perfectly legitimate."

After a period of tug-of-war, Bai Zhenzhen finally grabbed Zhang Yu and left the stands.

Watching their retreating backs, Wu Qingqing said helplessly, "Every time Zhenzhen looks for us, it's for money. She treats us like an ATM."

Mo Tianyi said, "Regarding the matter of entering the Top Ten, her conviction is indeed the strongest among us, which is why she fights so hard for money."

Mo Tianyi could clearly feel that Bai Zhenzhen was never thinking about relying on the Boss to protect them after he entered the Top Ten; what she wanted was to enter the Top Ten herself.

Mo Tianyi: "I just didn't expect her to bring Zhang Yu along to ask for money this time."

Speaking of Zhang Yu, Wu Qingqing praised, "Improving by 70 points in a month—Zhang Yu is indeed very impressive. He is worth our investment."

Mo Tianyi, however, shook his head. "If he were a rich person, that performance would indeed be enough to compete for a spot in the Top Ten."

"But unfortunately... he is a poor person."

He sighed, lamenting, "For a poor person to break open the sky above them, having great monthly exam scores is far from enough... far from enough..."

Behind Wu Qingqing, Ye Xianyun had been silently reading her book from beginning to end, as if everything in the outside world had nothing to do with her.

...

On the other side, as they walked, Bai Zhenzhen said to Zhang Yu, "Yu-zi, once the Dharma Competition starts, you have to make Mom proud!"

"At least get into the top ten, so I can be assertive when I ask them for money."

*Wait... I thought you were being pretty assertive just now when you asked for money directly,* Zhang Yu thought.

After a moment of thought, Zhang Yu asked the doubt in his heart, "In the Poor People's Union, besides watching over each other and pooling money, are there any other ways to enter the Top Ten?"

In his view, relying solely on a few poor students living frugally—even if they were all immortal path geniuses from various schools—to break through the blockade of the wealthy and enter the Top Ten... seemed unrealistic.

Bai Zhenzhen explained, "That is exactly what I want to find out from them."

"As far as I know, their 'Boss' should be a sophomore at one of the three famous schools."

"I don't know what methods he used, but he seems to have never signed with any school or Student Union to this day, nor has he been collectively suppressed; he still maintains his eligibility for the College Entrance Examination."

"I want to know how he did it."

"The only way, as it seems now, is to continuously increase our say among them, then find that 'Boss' and find a way to make him reveal his method."

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "Then how do we increase our say?"

Bai Zhenzhen said as if it were obvious, "We are students. The way to increase our say is naturally through exams! Competitions! Results!"

"Whether for the poor or the rich, it's the same: whoever has the best results, they invest in."

"It's just that I'm really not good at this Dharma Competition. We'll have to see how high you can climb."

Shortly after Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen returned to the Songyang High School resting area, Zhang Yu's eyes suddenly moved as he spotted someone in the stands.

"Liang Qin?"

Seeing Liang Qin wave at him with an encouraging expression, Zhang Yu nodded in greeting.

*What the hell? He actually chased me all the way to Hongta High School just to be a spectator for my match?*

*Brother, are you okay? If you act like this, I won't dare turn my back to you in the future.*

As Liang Qin watched Zhang Yu in the resting area, a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He then pulled out his phone, opened a platform, and prepared to start placing bets.

Gambling was, after all, a popular form of regular entertainment for the people of Songyang City.

The platform Liang Qin often played on was a massive one endorsed by the Vice Mayor, covering everything imaginable—almost every kind of bet available in Songyang City.

With a quick search, Liang Qin indeed found various high school competition categories.

He had taken leave to watch the competition, of course, to follow Zhang Yu and collect rewards.

However, after seeing the Dharma Competition, he couldn't resist the itch to start betting.

At the same time, Zhang Yu also saw a promotional flyer drifting down beside him.

"Instead of participating in competitions, why not bet on them? New users get a 100 yuan red envelope..."

Zhang Yu felt speechless. *Damn, gambling advertisements are being promoted directly in the arena now? Everyone bets, but I won't gamble blindly, right?*

Seeing this, Bai Zhenzhen immediately waved her hand to snatch the flyer away, staring at Zhang Yu. "Yu-zi, you shouldn't touch this stuff."

Zhang Yu said, "I think I have a good chance of making the top ten. If I were to place a bet..."

Bai Zhenzhen said seriously, "How much do you plan to bet? What if you lose?"

Zhang Yu said, "The probability of winning is very high..."

Bai Zhenzhen continued, "If you win, the problem becomes even bigger. Your concept of money will change completely, because once you've won, you will always want to win again."

As a native of Songyang City, Bai Zhenzhen had seen too many people fall because of this.

She had even seen news reports of immortals losing everything to gambling.

She continued to persuade him, "I'm afraid you'll get used to relying on this, and eventually, you'll bet even yourself away."

"Yu-zi, you really can't touch it."

With a light vibration of her palm, she crushed the flyer into powder.

Zhang Yu took a deep breath, circulating the *Wild Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra* to suppress the stray thoughts in his mind. "You're right, Ah Zhen. I was being greedy. This is indeed something that shouldn't be touched."

Zhang Yu understood the logic; it was just that the immense economic pressure had caused a momentary flash of greed.

A moment later, accompanied by the sound of music, the Dharma Competition officially began.

Drones controlled by Soul Cultivators flew out, delivering the props required for the competition.

As the crowd watched the various items used for competing being placed on the field, gasps rang out one after another.

"It's a flying sword!"

"Are they going to use sword riding? Is the first round this hard?? Previous competitions never tested flying swords!"

"It's over, it's over, I've never used a flying sword!"

The host walked up to a flying sword floating in mid-air and announced, "The Nine Heavens sword light is cold, a single strike shakes the Kunxu. We would like to thank the 'Nine Heavens Flying Sword' company for sponsoring this Dharma Competition."

*Holy crap!*

Zhang Yu cursed inwardly. *A flying sword manufacturer is sponsoring, so you're going to test flying swords in a Dharma Competition? You've got no shame. If the Hehuan Sect sponsored it, would you test dual cultivation? Go ahead and try it then!*