Chapter 38: Level 10 Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Method

Turning to look at Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen said in surprise, "Are you sure?"

"Yu-zi, don't make decisions too lightly."

"If you want to aim for the Top Ten Prestigious Universities, it means you'll be going against countless people in Songyang City."

"You're not just saying this to act cool, are you?"

Zhang Yu snapped, "You motherf—... I'm talking to you seriously, you think I'm joking?"

Seeing Zhang Yu's serious expression, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly laughed. "Fine, let's just say you're aiming for the Top Ten."

"They gave you a month to think, right?"

"My final deadline is also one month."

"For the next two weeks, you should still find ways to work on improving yourself. When the Law Competition comes, I'll take you to meet some people."

"Law Competition?" Zhang Yu's heart stirred. He remembered that the Law Competition he had signed up for was starting this month, in two weeks.

"Meet people at the competition? What kind of people?"

Bai Zhenzhen said mysteriously, "Maybe people who can help us."

*Go die, you riddle-maker!*

Zhang Yu pressed further, "Who exactly are they?"

Bai Zhenzhen replied, "I'm not sure yet either. You'll know when the time comes."

Helpless, Zhang Yu could only focus all his remaining energy on self-improvement in the coming days.

Whatever the case, the only thing he could truly grasp right now was his own strength.

...

During Martial Arts class.

"Taoist arts are useless."

"Martial arts are what truly matter."

"When you meet an opponent head-on in a narrow pass, exquisite martial skill is the most reliable thing in your hands."

"At that moment, there are only two outcomes: either you kill your opponent, or you lie down and get killed by them..."

Listening to the words of the martial arts instructor, Lei Jun, He Dayou secretly rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by this rhetoric.

Just then, Lei Jun said, "Alright, now split into groups for practical combat practice."

"He Dayou, you're in a group with Zhang Yu."

"Huh?" He Dayou was stunned, instinctively looking at Lei Jun and pointing at himself.

Lei Jun snorted coldly and said, "What are you looking at? You lost so miserably in the monthly exam and got such poor grades; did you reflect on it properly when you went home?"

"Now I'm giving you another chance to learn from Zhang Yu. Do you refuse?"

With the heavy weight of his poor combat performance in the monthly exam hanging over him, even a son of a school board member like He Dayou had nothing to say in rebuttal.

After all, under the politically correct regime where even a failing student was wrong for breathing, He Dayou could not defy this in class.

*Damn this old martial arts geezer, picking on a top Taoist arts student, is he?*

He silently walked up to Zhang Yu, thinking to himself, *But I might not necessarily lose to him this time.*

Having lost three consecutive times to Zhang Yu, although He Dayou didn't intend to hold a grudge, it didn't mean he wouldn't engage in self-reflection and self-examination.

He had not only rewatched the recordings of those three battles many times but had also specifically shown them to his private combat tutor.

The analysis concluded: Zhang Yu's Unarmed Combat had reached Level 3 proficiency; once a flaw was spotted, he could be heavily wounded.

However, Zhang Yu's weakness was also obvious. As seen in the third battle, Zhang Yu was extremely lacking in combat experience.

Thus, He Dayou had tried practicing some countermeasures.

For instance, on the ring right now, he would no longer take the initiative to attack, but would instead focus entirely on defense. Once the opponent became impatient, he would look for an opportunity to strike them off-guard with the Little Heavenly Star Palm...

With a strategy in place, He Dayou believed that even if he lost, he certainly wouldn't lose disgracefully, and there was even a possibility of winning.

*Bang!*

*Bang!*

*Bang!*

After blocking several of Zhang Yu's moves in succession, He Dayou felt fine at first.

But soon, he felt the opponent's fists becoming heavier and heavier. His hands began to ache from blocking, and the mana within his body started to surge slightly.

*Boom!*

After Zhang Yu's punch blasted through his defensive stance, He Dayou was sent flying by a subsequent kick.

With a loud thud, He Dayou hit the ground. He felt his mana surging repeatedly, and for a moment, he couldn't even scramble back up.

"Is Zhang Yu's Unarmed Combat more powerful than last time?"

"Could it be..."

He Dayou looked at Zhang Yu in disbelief.

On the other side, Lei Jun's figure flashed, and he appeared beside Zhang Yu, exclaiming in surprise, "Your Unarmed Combat is Level 4?"

Zhang Yu, whose Unarmed Combat was already Level 5, gave an awkward smile. "Yeah, I just broke through yesterday."

Originally, Zhang Yu hadn't intended to reveal his progress and had been deliberately suppressing his power while fighting He Dayou.

But in the end, he lacked combat experience. After He Dayou switched to full defense, Zhang Yu's continuous onslaught caused him to accidentally lose control of his power, pushing his flesh and mana circulation to Level 4.

Hearing this, Lei Jun laughed heartily. "It seems you have quite a talent for martial arts."

"So, how about it? Do you want to participate in next month's Songyang City Martial Arts Combat Competition?"

Zhang Yu's eyes flickered. "Is there prize money?"

Lei Jun said, "Of course. First place in the city gets 50,000, plus the right to use an Expert-level martial art."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, *The Law Competition I signed up for has prize money, and now this martial arts competition has prize money too...*

He suddenly realized that if he could secure more competition rankings and prize money, even without funding from the Student Union, he should have enough money to cover his daily expenses and even accelerate his cultivation.

Seeing Zhang Yu's interest, Lei Jun continued, "I told you long ago that martial arts are very useful. As long as you fight well, you won't have to worry about making money."

"Then I'll sign you up. I'll take you and Bai Zhenzhen together when the time comes."

After Lei Jun left, Zhang Yu looked at the still-prone He Dayou and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, what could be wrong with me?" He Dayou scrambled to his feet, gave Zhang Yu a deep look, and suddenly asked, "I heard the Student Union called you in yesterday?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, He Dayou slowly smoothed out the anger in his heart.

"No need to be angry with him. They're just school assets; it won't affect my college entrance exams."

While rubbing his chest, he comforted himself mentally: *Being a bit strong or weak in combat during freshman year doesn't matter much. Once I build a solid foundation and start practicing Expert-level techniques, I'll be able to crush people like Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen in no time.*

On the other side of the training ground, Bai Zhenzhen said impatiently, "Are you done watching? Let's continue."

Qian Shen withdrew his gaze from Zhang Yu and looked at Bai Zhenzhen, feeling waves of pressure hitting him.

If his opponent were a 550-point Sub-human, he would be confident in crushing them.

But facing a 651-point prodigy, Qian Shen felt as if his every move was being seen through. The moment he engaged with Bai Zhenzhen, he felt restricted, and his combat effectiveness plummeted.

*My score is so much lower than hers, how could I be her match? Old Lei is really something; he should have arranged for Zhang Yu, who is 6 points lower than me, to fight me.*

Zhang Yu glanced at the wealthy students like He Dayou and Qian Shen, and a thought suddenly crossed his mind: what would these seemingly friendly, rich students become once they knew that he and Bai Zhenzhen wanted to apply to the Top Ten prestigious universities?

Would they join forces to deal with him and A-Zhen?

Looking at Qian Shen being completely suppressed by Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu thought to himself, *Speaking of which, does Qian Shen's extreme obsession with scores—acting as if he doesn't know poor people have no way to get into the Top Ten—happen to be an act?*

Zhang Yu didn't think so; Qian Shen's "purity" in this regard didn't seem like an act.

It couldn't be some drama like "Let the young master focus on his studies; don't let him know about the filth of society," could it?

Zhang Yu shook his head, unable to be certain.

...

In Taoist Arts class.

The instructor looked at He Dayou with an appreciative expression. "This Health Talisman is well-written. It seems your understanding of the talismans of the Great God of Spring and Vitality has become quite profound."

He Dayou said modestly, "Teacher, you flatter me. I still have much to strive for."

The instructor waved his hand and said, "Excessive modesty is pride."

"To achieve this much in your first year... He Dayou, I don't think you even need to attend the school's freshman courses anymore."

"It's fine if you don't attend this class in the future; I'll mark you as having perfect attendance."

Feeling the envious gazes of the surrounding classmates, He Dayou went through another round of modesty and deflection.

The instructor suddenly turned and said, "Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, you two need to work hard as well."

"There's no benefit to being so heavily skewed in your subjects."

"If you have time, come to me for extra tutoring. I'll give you both a twenty percent discount..."

Both Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu could only lower their heads and take the lecture. Their hearts remained unmoved; the cost-performance ratio of tutoring for talismans was simply too low. They intended to spend their money on more worthwhile things.

...

Inside the quiet room.

The voice of the administrator, Wei Xin, drifted in.

"Student Zhang Yu, time is almost up. Would you like to extend your session?"

Having once again achieved the lowest distraction rate of the week, Zhang Yu hesitated before saying, "Add one hour."

Thinking about how the Law Competition was drawing closer, Zhang Yu decided to appropriately increase his mana cultivation speed.

He took a deep breath, feeling the spiritual root in his dantian tremble. Spiritual energy surged from all directions, being refined bit by bit into mana by him.

An hour later, watching Zhang Yu's departing figure, Wei Xin sighed. "As expected of a Golden Core disciple, the rate of improvement in his breathing efficiency is so fast."

"I just wonder when I can upgrade to a Platinum membership."

...

After school.

On the school rooftop.

Amidst the sounds of *bang, bang, bang, bang*,

Two figures collided at high speeds, erupting with bursts of wind and thunder.

It was Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen engaged in practical sparring.

Compared to the combat classes, their private sparring allowed them to go all out without worrying about revealing their trump cards, making it much more effective for improving combat experience.

In the exchange of blows, Zhang Yu's Unarmed Combat was more powerful, but his physical strength was a notch below Bai Zhenzhen's.

While Bai Zhenzhen's Unarmed Combat level was lower than Zhang Yu's, she had mastered a basic high school sword technique, occasionally weaving sword-finger strikes into her movements, forcing the inexperienced Zhang Yu into a frantic scramble.

"Yu-zi, don't watch my hands. You need to watch my waist, hips, and shoulders to predict my movements."

"Don't just rely on your familiarity with Unarmed Combat to make judgments..."

...

In the stationery store at the school gate.

The owner pointed at this year's freshman ranking and said, "Zhang Yu, ranked third in the freshman class, improved by 70 points in one month. It was all thanks to buying my tranquilizers, painkillers, fillers, and muscle supplements..."

As he spoke, he pulled out a bag of medicine bottles and recommended them to the Songyang students in front of him. "The 'Zhang Yu Original Cultivation Package' is now on sale at 10% off."

Standing at the door, Zhang Yu, who had come to restock, watched the adult behind the counter using his silver tongue to make money, once again feeling the ugliness of the adult world.

After the students left, Zhang Yu walked up and said, "How's that? I told you last time I'm a campus celebrity; my endorsement effect is great."

"Isn't it time for a raise?"

The owner said dissatisfiedly, "I haven't even broken even on that batch of nerve fillers I gave you."

He pointed toward the gift bags. "Look, I've only sold one today."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, *You're just selling common goods that aren't even cheaper than online; people can buy them anywhere.*

The owner added, "And about the body-tempering medicine—many students say you have natural body tempering and don't use injections."

Zhang Yu quickly changed the subject. "It must be that I haven't eaten enough of your medicine at school. Give me two more bottles of nerve fillers. If I take them every day at school, the promotional effect will be better."

...

Studying, attending class, cultivating, breathing, sparring...

Over the course of five days, Zhang Yu poured all his mental energy into cultivation.

One evening, while breathing in his bed, a smile involuntarily crept onto the corners of his mouth.

After completing his final cycle of breathing, his *Cycle Qi Gathering Method* had finally reached Level 10.

In an instant, the mana circulation within Zhang Yu's body surged like a mighty river, making him feel as if he could hear a roaring phantom sound in his ears.

A long time later, as the turbulence of the mana circulation gradually subsided, Zhang Yu felt that his passive breathing had become more powerful and more agile.

"After the Cycle Qi Gathering Method reaches Level 10, passive breathing has reached 100% of the efficiency of active breathing."

The smile on Zhang Yu's face grew wider. This meant that even if he no longer actively practiced breathing, it would be equivalent to running the Cycle Qi Gathering Method at all times, with his internal mana constantly improving.

And after this period of bitter cultivation, the mana in his body had also made great strides, rising to 13.3, making him second in the entire grade.

Thinking of this, a strange look appeared on Zhang Yu's face. "My potential is amazing and my self-discipline is peerless; it's not surprising I have this rate of progress."

"Why does it feel like A-Zhen's progress has also been getting faster lately?"

"Could it be that she's 'opened up' too?"

(End of Chapter)