Chapter 42: The Tournament Lineup

On the bus.

Because the competition schedules for seniors, juniors, and sophomores differ, the bus rented by Songyang High School currently carried only the contestants from Zhang Yu's year.

He Dayou looked toward Zhang Yu, his eyes thoughtful as he considered the boy's recent efforts.

Recently, as Zhang Yu's mana surged to the 15.4 level, he had reached the number one ranking in his grade.

However, thinking that the boy had likely spent all his time solely on increasing his mana, He Dayou felt somewhat dismissive.

"Is it all for the competition?"

"The competition isn't just about who has the highest mana."

He Dayou felt that if it weren't for building a solid foundation and mastering mana control, his family could have easily secured the top spot in the grade for raw mana numbers if they were willing to throw more money at it.

This was why, in Songyang High School, the mana of wealthy students only truly began to pull away from the poor during their junior year.

Their family experiences taught them that the freshman year should focus primarily on foundations.

Conversely, an excessive pursuit of raw mana values could lead to insufficient control, a deficit that might be impossible to recover from for a long time.

He Dayou continued to think to himself: "In the mana competition, the items being tested—mana level is merely a basic threshold. What truly determines the ranking is the control over that mana..."

Thinking of this, he sighed inwardly: "In the end, unless it's a sports competition—which is Songyang's strength—we're basically just going through the motions in the mana competition, acting as the 'atmosphere group' for those freaks from the three prestigious academies."

On a seat on the other side.

Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen, who was resting with her eyes closed, and asked, "So? Can you tell me who you're meeting now?"

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at him and held her phone up, aiming it at Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu saw a line of text on the screen: *Walls have ears, let's chat on the phone.*

Zhang Yu quickly typed back: "So who exactly are you bringing me to meet this time?"

Bai Zhenzhen: "Poor kids from other schools."

Zhang Yu's eyes flickered. "You mean... there are poor students in other schools who have similar thoughts to us?"

Bai Zhenzhen: "Yes."

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "Which school?"

Bai Zhenzhen sent a female symbol, followed by a "~".

Zhang Yu's eyes widened, and he replied in surprise, "A female Black person?"

He felt a sense of shock. Could there actually be... sigh, could there actually be Black people in Kunxu?

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes, not understanding what Zhang Yu meant by "female Black person," and replied directly on her phone: "I meant female students, and Soul Cultivators."

Hearing these two answers, Zhang Yu realized instantly.

Of course. How many wealthy people would undergo gender reassignment surgery or even abandon their physical bodies just to enter high school?

Mangshan High School and the Saintess Academy—these two high schools were natural strongholds for the poor.

The top-ranking scholars within them were bound to be poor.

After pouring their hearts and souls into graduating with excellent grades, how could they not want to break through their shackles and get into top-tier universities?

Wait.

Zhang Yu suddenly asked out of curiosity, "Can Soul Cultivators participate in the competition too?"

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head. "They aren't likely here to compete. It seems they're here to assist with the judging, help with the event reporting, and act as spectators."

...

The bus slowly drove into a high school campus.

This was the venue for this year's competition: Hongta High School, one of the three prestigious schools in Songyang City.

A group of students from Songyang High School followed their leader, Teacher Yan, into an indoor gymnasium, where they saw many students already waiting.

A kaleidoscope of different colored and styled school uniforms revealed that they came from various high schools across Songyang City.

As the Songyang High School group stepped into the gymnasium, countless gazes immediately swept toward them.

Someone thought to themselves, "Songyang is here too? Another powerhouse school."

Someone else observed the group closely, thinking, "Such a strong aura. Are these the scholars from a key high school?"

There were also those who felt schadenfreude: "So what if they're from a key school? They're still just here to be our background characters."

Upon arriving at the designated preparation area for Songyang High School, Teacher Yan began to remind everyone of things to watch out for.

"There are three events in today's competition. Pay attention to your mana distribution. Do not get nervous; treat it like a normal practice session..."

Once Teacher Yan allowed everyone to take breaks or use the restroom, Qian Shen hurried off to check the list of contestants.

He pulled out his phone, cross-referencing the names on the list while searching for their scores.

"Bailong High School, Song Hailong, last monthly exam score: 682."

"Ziyun High School, Le Mulan, last monthly exam score: 678."

"Hiss..."

The more scores Qian Shen checked, the more he gasped: "They're all monsters."

On the other side, Zhang Yu was pulling Bai Zhenzhen toward the restroom when he suddenly felt a heavy pressure rising in the air.

The Spiritual Qi... was in turmoil!

It was as if they had suddenly jumped from shallow water into the deep sea.

The two of them instantly turned their heads toward the direction from which the pressure was emanating.

They saw a group of people walking slowly into the gymnasium, dressed in white school uniforms.

Each of their white uniforms bore a different number, ranging from 1 to 10.

Zhang Yu was puzzled. "What's going on? Are the Ten Blades here?"

What he didn't know was that this was the signature uniform of Bailong High School; every student's clothing could display a number.

After every monthly exam, the numbers on their chests and backs would update to show their ranking for that exam.

The numbers 1 through 10 on these ten people represented their status as the top ten in their grade.

But what Zhang Yu knew was that the source of the spiritual turmoil came from the leader of this group.

A giant of a man, two and a half meters tall like a Titan, with long hair that surged upward toward the sky.

Seeing the gazes fixed upon him, the giant grinned and rubbed his skyward-reaching hair sheepishly. "Sorry, everyone. I just got a new Heavenly Spiritual Root and haven't quite adjusted. I'll try to control it..."

With his low shout, the pressure in the air slowly subsided, returning to normal.

Watching this, Bai Zhenzhen said speechlessly, "Flaunting wealth right from the start. What terrible, rich bastards."

But thinking that she would likely lose to these people in the upcoming competition, Bai Zhenzhen felt a wave of helplessness.

Through her recent tutoring and practice, Bai Zhenzhen had confirmed one thing: her talent in pure mana control was far inferior to Zhang Yu's. This competition was destined to be a mere cameo for her.

On the other side, looking at the uniforms of the Bailong High School group, Qian Shen's mind immediately flashed to the scores he had just looked up.

Matching them one by one with the numbers on their uniforms, he looked at the giant and thought, "That must be Song Hailong, right? The leader of this year's Bailong High School class, the ultimate monster with 682 points. He might already be a super-species that has undergone reproductive isolation from us."

He Dayou looked toward Song Hailong, his eyebrows twitching. "Cocky fellow. But coming to the competition with a Heavenly Spiritual Root? His mana should be prone to sudden surges, making it very difficult to control, shouldn't it?"

Shortly after the arrival of Bailong High School, the sound of rushing air suddenly echoed outside the gymnasium, and a massive flying vessel came to a halt in the sky above the venue.

Seeing this, the countless poor students from ordinary high schools inside the gymnasium held their breath, feeling a wave of aura symbolizing immense wealth sweep over them.

Then, a group of students in purple uniforms descended from the flying vessel. Zhang Yu recognized one of them—it was Lian Tianji, who had also attended the art exhibition.

Zhang Yu had exchanged contact information with him afterward and frequently saw him in the top three of the daily step rankings.

Lian Tianji seemed to see Zhang Yu as well, waving at him with a smile. He then seemed to say something to the girl beside him, pointing toward Zhang Yu's position.

The girl appeared as cold as frost. Following Lian Tianji's finger, she looked over and gave Zhang Yu a distant nod.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "She looks like a true ice-beauty, not a fake like A-Zhen."

Qian Shen also looked toward the Ziyun High School team, searching for Le Mulan's photo online to compare, finally locking his gaze onto the indifferent girl beside Lian Tianji.

"That must be Le Mulan from Ziyun High School, a high-caste existence with 678 points. To her, any living being below 650 points is probably no different from dirt!"

Shortly after the arrival of the Bailong and Ziyun High School teams, the host team, Hongta High School, finally arrived.

But when Zhang Yu saw the most conspicuous person among them, he blurted out in surprise, "A monster?"

Bai Zhenzhen immediately jumped aside and pointed at Zhang Yu, saying, "Hey, hey, hey! Watch your terminology. It's a Yao-descendant Songyang citizen."

Although the student was wearing a school uniform, with red, glossy fur, a thick tail, and a round face, he was quite clearly a red panda.

Looking at this student who looked like a red panda, Zhang Yu felt a sense of extreme weakness emanating from him.

He asked curiously, "No, but how did a red panda get into Hongta High School? It couldn't be just because of a pure smile, could it?"

While the red panda's smile did indeed look pure, Zhang Yu believed the student must have some special talent to enter a key high school and participate in the competition.

Bai Zhenzhen shrugged. "Yao-descendants from Songyang are usually quite talented in physical strength, but looking at him... I feel like I could kill three of him with one punch."

"Then he must be exceptionally talented in mana?"

The two chatted as they went into their respective restrooms.

After finishing, Zhang Yu was pulled around by Bai Zhenzhen according to her phone messages until they reached a viewing stand on the second floor of the venue.

Two girls were already waiting there. Zhang Yu recognized one of them—it was the girl who had also attended the art exhibition, Wu Qingqing from the Saintess Academy.

Zhang Yu's gaze shifted slightly toward the other girl, thinking, "Then this one must also be a big shot from the Saintess Academy?"

"Hehe, long time no see." Wu Qingqing walked over to greet Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. However, the girl following behind her seemed completely oblivious to the outside world; one hand held a book as she looked down, while the other gripped the hem of Wu Qingqing's clothes as she followed.

It felt as though even if Wu Qingqing led her onto a road to be hit by a truck, she would simply keep her head down, reading her book, and follow silently.

"These two are Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu, the impoverished geniuses of Songyang High School."

After the introduction, Wu Qingqing pushed the book-reading girl forward and said, "This is Ye Xianyun, the number one freshman at our Saintess Academy."

She said proudly, "She is also the only girl in our honors class who hasn't undergone surgery."

Zhang Yu: *Wait, what exactly are you so proud of?*

Ye Xianyun raised her head, gave them a silent nod, and then immediately returned to her book.