Chapter 52: Undercurrents

Zhang Yu looked at the vest, shorts, wristbands, ankle weights, and the two large canisters in front of him.

This was the weighted training suit and beast meat powder he had purchased.

The weighted training suit was a durable body-tempering piece of equipment. It was cheap and ready to use whenever he wanted, allowing him to work hard in secret without being easily noticed by his classmates. Furthermore, it had the added effect of looking "cool" when taken off during combat. It was a classic piece of equipment on the path to immortality—a must-try.

The weighted suit Zhang Yu purchased this time had a total weight of 150 kilograms, allowing him to train his physical body during his daily activities.

On the other side, the beast meat powder was a nutritional supplement. It could better replenish the daily loss of flesh and blood and provide the nutrients required for growth, helping a child grow taller, faster, and stronger.

The two items cost him a total of over 4,000 yuan, bringing his savings down to just over 59,000 yuan.

"Sigh, I'm still too poor. I can only afford this pauper's gear."

When Zhang Yu was browsing the shopping website, what he actually wanted most was an external spiritual root called the Gluttony Spiritual Root.

That thing was said to stimulate human metabolism and physical strengthening frantically once inserted into the body, absorbing every absorbable nutrient to supply flesh and blood. According to the advertising slogan, one could become stronger even by eating excrement every day.

Unfortunately, it was too expensive; one cost forty million.

Spending forty million to experience the feeling of getting stronger by eating shit was not something the current Zhang Yu could afford.

"Sigh, I'll just try the school's muscle-building spiritual root during the next free rental period."

As he put on the weighted suit piece by piece, Zhang Yu felt his body becoming increasingly heavy. Simple actions like bending over, walking, or raising a hand were now met with layers of resistance, making movement much more difficult.

"Phew..."

Before he could take more than a few steps, a shout came from downstairs: "Are you tearing the building down in the middle of the night!"

Knowing that the commotion caused by wearing the weighted suit was too loud, Zhang Yu headed toward the abandoned building while wearing it.

Along the way, it felt as if he were carrying multiple heavy shackles. Zhang Yu could feel various discomforts emanating from different parts of his body.

However, after activating the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Method, and thinking about his anticipation of improving his physical strength day and night, these discomforts were temporarily suppressed. Instead, a sense of satisfaction arose, as if his body were being constantly exercised.

"As expected, the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Method works on this too."

Zhang Yu's next goal was to maintain the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Method as much as possible at all times. While constantly resisting the discomfort of the weighted suit, he would use the mental cultivation method to continuously raise his Dao Heart level.

"In every 24 hours, I will train both my Dao Heart and my physical body."

If he could achieve this, he could further improve the efficiency of raising his Dao Heart level while simultaneously training his physical strength.

Thinking about how he had voluntarily imposed such a massive burden on himself without anyone forcing him, Zhang Yu couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

He lamented in his heart, "There's no choice. The rich kids from those three famous schools are more and more outrageous."

"If I want to survive, if I want to get into one of the top ten universities and enter a great sect... I have no choice but to grind..."

Returning to the abandoned building, Zhang Yu sat cross-legged on the ground in his weighted suit. He worked hard to maintain the state of the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Method, continuously visualizing the mental image of the old ox tilling the wasteland in his mind, while letting his body rest.

Theoretically, as long as a practitioner could persist, a mental cultivation method could be maintained indefinitely.

It was like playing a game while listening to a novel—an expression of multitasking.

However, mental weakness, fatigue, and various external stimuli could all interrupt the maintenance of the mental method.

And if one had to use their brain for complex tasks, such as solving exam problems or thinking during combat, it became even harder to maintain the mental method.

Therefore, although the Dao Heart instructors had said that a mental method could theoretically be maintained at all times—that powerful cultivators could maintain it as long as their consciousness remained clear—the old Zhang Yu had never been able to do it.

However, since Zhang Yu had recently raised the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Method to Level 10 and his Dao Heart level to Level 2, he felt that maintaining the mental method was becoming easier and easier.

If maintaining the mental method before was like constantly solving math problems in his head, it now felt like he was simply counting from 1 to 1,000; it had become much simpler.

"With my current state, I should be able to perform various more complex exercises while maintaining the mental method."

That was why Zhang Yu was making this attempt; he wanted to practice maintaining the operation of the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Method under more circumstances.

After resting for a while, Zhang Yu stood up in his weighted suit and began walking back and forth while maintaining the mental method.

He felt as if half of his brain and half of his muscles had been discarded, and he was learning all sorts of movements from scratch.

The next night, returning to the abandoned building again, Zhang Yu tried performing simple warm-up exercises while maintaining the mental method.

On the third day, becoming increasingly adapted, Zhang Yu began practicing the Wuji Cloud Hands while wearing the weighted suit and maintaining the mental method.

The Level 6 Wuji Cloud Hands felt as if they had been practiced tens of thousands of times in his mind; every movement could be executed naturally without excessive thought.

At this moment, while maintaining the mental image of the cultivation method in his mind, his physical body was continuously practicing the forms of the Wuji Cloud Hands under the pressure of the weighted suit.

The mana within his body surged with a violent momentum, transforming into wisps of Formless Cloud Qi through repeated oscillations.

However, because he had to divide his attention to maintain the mental method, combined with the consumption of the weighted suit and mana, Zhang Yu's efficiency in practicing the Wuji Cloud Hands was much slower.

Three days passed continuously before he finally pushed the Wuji Cloud Hands to Level 10.

Listen to that word—"finally."

Clearly, Zhang Yu felt this speed was a bit too slow.

"Sigh, the Feather Book is still not powerful enough; it's limiting the expression of my potential and self-discipline."

Inside the abandoned building, the mana in Zhang Yu's body rose from his dantian, completing seven silent oscillations before spreading through his limbs and bones, erupting from his entire body.

In an instant, white cloud-like mist surrounded Zhang Yu, giving him an air of immortal elegance.

"This is the effect of the Wuji Cloud Hands reaching Level 10. The Formless Cloud Qi is no longer limited to the hands but erupts from all parts of the body, truly integrating offense and defense."

However, the mana consumption increased drastically as a result. Zhang Yu felt he couldn't sustain it for more than a few minutes, so he quickly stopped.

Through these days of bitter cultivation, all of Zhang Yu's abilities had improved once again.

Through day and night of continuous breathing exercises, his mana had risen to 16.9.

The constant wearing of the weighted suit and the training of the Wuji Cloud Hands had brought his physical strength to Level 1.28.

Under the near-constant training of the Level 10 Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Method, his Dao Heart remained the fastest-growing attribute, reaching Level 2 (65%).

...

One day, shortly after Zhang Yu arrived at the classroom, he saw a middle-aged woman with a weathered face approaching a desk and packing something up.

Just as Zhang Yu was feeling puzzled, he heard Zhou Tianyi say from beside him, "Liang Qin dropped out. His mother is here to pack his things."

"Huh?" Zhang Yu asked, somewhat surprised. "Why?"

Zhou Tianyi sighed. "Apparently, he owed over a million in gambling debts. Once his parents found out, they came straight here to handle his withdrawal."

"I heard his family caused a scene in the teacher's office yesterday. Liang Qin kept kneeling and kowtowing, but his parents insisted on processing his dropout."

Zhou Tianyi shook his head and sighed, "His parents did the right thing. Once you fall into the addiction of gambling, you can only be a mortal for the rest of your life; it's impossible to achieve anything on the path to immortality."

"Never mind a high school freshman; even if he truly became an immortal, he would fall. He would lose his entire cultivation in a gamble and have to start over as a mortal after going bankrupt."

Zhang Yu fell silent. This Liang Qin was somewhat similar to his original self regarding debt. He thought to himself that if he hadn't transmigrated, the original Zhang Yu would likely have ended up with the same result.

Just then, Bai Zhenzhen dragged Zhang Yu out of the classroom and said to him, "Those cheapskates finally sent word. Sign this electronic agreement they sent over."

Shortly after Zhang Yu signed the electronic agreement, a transfer notification rang from his phone.

Seeing the 20,000 yuan transferred, both Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were invigorated.

Bai Zhenzhen: "Those stingy bastards actually sent 20,000 in one go. It seems they really value you."

"Transfer 8,000 to my card. I need it."

Zhang Yu didn't ask why. After transferring the 8,000, he simply cautioned, "What have you been busy with lately? You disappear every day as soon as school is over."

Bai Zhenzhen smiled slightly. "I'm just trying to find a way to get into the top ten universities."

"Since those stingy bastards value us this much, we should make them ease our pressure a bit."

At this point, as if remembering something, she reminded him, "After next week's monthly exam, Zhou Chechen will probably come to persuade us to sign again."

"If the Student Council is rejected again this time, they will definitely apply even more pressure."

"Especially since you took fourth place in the Law Competition this time; they will definitely find a way to force you to sign. Can you hold out?"

Zhang Yu wasn't entirely sure himself, but looking at Bai Zhenzhen's concerned gaze, he laughed heartily, "I can definitely hold out. You're the one who shouldn't give up halfway."

In his heart, Zhang Yu thought about the pressure of the "Ritual." He mused that he would either be killed by the Ritual or get into a top ten university—there was essentially no choice.

Just as he was thinking this, an incredibly familiar chill rose within his body. Zhang Yu knew this was a sign forcing him to go back to studying and cultivating.

"Sigh, enough talk. My own strength is what matters most. I'm going back to cultivate."

Bai Zhenzhen pressed her hand on his shoulder and reminded him, "Remember, when you refuse, you can shift the blame onto Ziyun High School or Bailong High School. Say they are recruiting you, and use that to negotiate more terms with the Student Council to buy time."

"You must remember: absolutely, under no circumstances, can you let them realize that you want to get into the top ten universities."

Watching Zhang Yu's hurried retreating figure, Bai Zhenzhen seemed to sense his urgency.

"Yu-zi has been working harder and harder lately."

"He must be anxious too."

"But it doesn't matter, I'm almost going to find that guy..."

"As expected of me. Even though Yu-zi was a tiny bit better than me in the Law Competition, if it comes to getting into the top ten, I'll still have to be the one to look out for him."

...

Inside the quiet room.

Having rented the muscle-building spiritual root, Zhang Yu felt that every time he breathed in spiritual energy, a trace of even more vibrant spiritual energy would be fed back from the spiritual root as it was absorbed.

This was the growth spiritual energy brought by the muscle-building spiritual root.

As the growth spiritual energy was naturally absorbed by his flesh and blood, he felt the flesh throughout his body begin to writhe on its own, accelerating the consumption of all nutrients.

With the continuous effect of the muscle-building spiritual root and the constant injection of growth spiritual energy, this state would last for 6 to 12 hours, greatly increasing the effectiveness of Zhang Yu's physical training.

Wei Xin's voice rang out from the broadcast: "Student Zhang, would you like to add more time?"

Zhang Yu slowly exhaled and, after a moment of thought, said, "Add one hour."

...

In the training grounds.

The martial arts instructor, Lei Jun, was giving Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen extra lessons for next month's martial arts competition.

Accompanied by bursts of roaring and cracking sounds, two figures could be seen colliding back and forth, tearing into each other like two giant beasts.

Zhang Yu's Wuji Cloud Hands struck out with surging martial aura.

However, Bai Zhenzhen pointed her fingers like swords, bringing out a flurry of sword shadows that struck the weakest and most critical points of the aura, instantly dispersing the incoming force.

Beside them, Lei Jun shouted, "Zhang Yu! The Wuji Cloud Hands are all about variation. You must follow the momentum; don't always try to overpower others with brute force!"

Zhang Yu didn't want to rely solely on overwhelming strength either; it was just that Bai Zhenzhen's combat experience was far superior to his. If he hadn't instinctively relied on his martial aura to suppress her head-on, he would have been suppressed by her almost the entire time.

"How is Ah Zhen so good at fighting?"

Although Zhang Yu hadn't used his full strength, he had utilized Level 1 Wuji Cloud Hands, yet he was still completely suppressed by Bai Zhenzhen using several basic martial arts. This made Zhang Yu strongly suspect that Bai Zhenzhen was cheating.

Is it freaking wall-hacks or aimbot? Or is she reading my inputs? How does she always hit my weaknesses? How can she see through my moves?

...

Days passed in a cycle of continuous learning, cultivation, and extra lessons for Zhang Yu.

In the blink of an eye, another week had passed.

The big day of Songyang High School's monthly exam had arrived.

And classmates, teachers, the Student Council... and all sorts of people, both known and unknown to Zhang Yu, were gradually turning their gazes toward him and Bai Zhenzhen.

(End of Chapter)