On this night, as Zhang Yu swallowed the Hunyuan Pill in one gulp, the potent medicinal energy surged through his limbs and bones once again.
He immediately activated his Chi Marrow Hunyuan Qi, channeling it through his muscles, organs, and bones, absorbing the overwhelming medicinal power.
Every time this happened, Zhang Yu could clearly feel that the 30,000 he spent on the pill wasn't wasted—it had become a part of his flesh and blood.
In the blink of an eye, the night passed.
Zhang Yu looked at the physical strength level of 2.08 on his Yu Book and smiled faintly.
It had been two weeks since the martial arts competition.
There were still two weeks left before the confirmation of whether Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen would qualify for the top five in the sports competition team.
The sports competition itself was six weeks away.
During this time, although Zhang Yu had focused most of his energy on improving his physical strength, his Dao Heart and mana had also improved thanks to his cultivation techniques and passive breathing exercises.
His Yu Book now showed a Dao Heart level of 3 (93%) and a mana level of 25.5.
"The improvement in Dao Heart and mana seems to have slowed down a bit, but it's not a big deal for now. I don't need to consider switching to a more powerful technique yet. For now, I'll keep focusing on physical strength."
"With my current income, I can keep buying Hunyuan Pills. If my income increases in the future, I might even be able to afford more supplements."
"If I keep improving my physical strength with the level 10 Chi Marrow Hunyuan Qi, I should have no problem making it into the top five in two weeks. And reaching a physical strength level of 4.0 or higher in six weeks for the sports competition doesn't seem impossible."
Thinking this, Zhang Yu glanced at his savings.
Despite tutoring Song Hailong and working at the industrial park, after deducting 15,000 for loan interest, less than 2,000 for rent and utilities, and expenses for Hunyuan Pills and food, he only had a little over 5,000 left in his account.
"Sigh, I'm still poor. I hope I can get more tutoring jobs soon."
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Zhang Yu hurried to school.
When he arrived at the school gate, he saw the results of the monthly exam displayed.
On this day of exam results, the teachers and students of Songyang High School were in high spirits, celebrating the new rankings.
Remembering the exam two days ago, Zhang Yu sighed slightly, "What a pity. If the exam had been a few days later, after I took the second Hunyuan Pill, my score might have been higher."
"But it's not a big deal. My physical score should be higher in the next exam."
After casually glancing at the exam rankings, Zhang Yu headed to the classroom.
For him, the monthly exam was something he only paid slight attention to.
The competitions were what he truly cared about.
He clearly remembered what Zhang Pianpian had told him: "If you want to get into one of the top ten schools, win all the remaining competitions in your first year and become the strongest first-year student in Songyang City."
But just as Zhang Yu was about to enter the school building, a loud bang echoed, and a figure fell from the sky, plummeting toward the ground.
Instinctively, Zhang Yu moved swiftly, reaching out to catch the falling figure.
A surge of white Wuxiang Cloud Qi emanated from him, creating a gentle force that cushioned the fall and dissipated the impact.
Looking at the person he had saved, Zhang Yu was slightly stunned.
"You're... Shuang Youpeng?"
He remembered this former top-scoring first-year student, now a second-year, who had been thoroughly disciplined by the student council vice-president, Zhou Chechen, during a practical combat class.
"Jumping off buildings at school will get you fined. Good thing I caught you."
"Besides, with your level, this height wouldn't kill you, right? Getting seriously injured and needing treatment would be worse, wouldn't it?"
But then Zhang Yu noticed something was off.
Although Shuang Youpeng's face hadn't changed much, he felt... light, incredibly light.
It was as if most of the flesh beneath his clothes had disappeared, unlike the robust physique a second-year student should have.
Facing Zhang Yu's puzzled gaze, Shuang Youpeng said nothing.
He neither thanked Zhang Yu for saving him nor blamed him for it.
He simply stood up silently and walked toward the school building.
Zhang Yu opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
He could sense a deep, numb despair emanating from Shuang Youpeng.
Finally, Zhang Yu said, "Are you okay?"
Shuang Youpeng paused for a moment, then replied indifferently, "I'm fine. I just had a moment of weakness. I still have debts to pay, so I won't jump again. Please don't tell anyone about today, or the school will fine me."
After a brief silence, Shuang Youpeng added, "That sports competition... you should give up. It won't end well."
...
In Classroom 1 of the first-year section, several students were gathered around He Dayou, congratulating him.
"Dayou, you've improved so much recently. You actually got first place in the monthly exam this time."
"662 points! With that score, you can visit Bailong High School for free, right?"
"General knowledge 49 points, Dao Heart 130 points, mana 143 points, physical 150 points, martial arts 95 points, Dao techniques 95 points... You're on par with the top students from the three major high schools, aren't you?"
He Dayou glanced at these sycophants who only flocked to those with good grades and smirked slightly.
In the martial arts practical exam of this monthly exam, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had been paired together, allowing He Dayou to finally achieve a score that reflected his true level.
"I finally got the martial arts score I deserved."
As for Dao techniques, they had always been his strong suit, and his physical score had become the best in his grade after his training in the competition team.
At that moment, his phone vibrated.
The information he had asked another student to find out about Zhang Yu's current physical strength had arrived.
"That Zhang Yu, always skipping physical education classes. Finally, we can see his physical strength from yesterday's exam... 2.05 level?"
"No wonder he's Zhang Pianpian's lackey. He must have been fed a lot of resources to reach this level."
"But... compared to my 2.3 level physical strength, he's still far behind. And the gap between us will only grow wider."
Seeing Zhang Yu's physical strength, He Dayou finally let out a sigh of relief, feeling that all the effort and money he had poured into the competition team hadn't been wasted.
"Zhang Yu, you'll soon experience the feeling of giving it your all but still being unable to catch up to me."
While He Dayou was excited, Zhao Tianxing was feeling miserable.
"Even Yu and A Zhen have been completely surpassed by He Dayou?"
Although he envied He Dayou and the others, Zhao Tianxing, like Qian Shen, had withdrawn from the sports competition team.
He watched helplessly as another student was added to the team and saw their physical strength skyrocket, surpassing his own in this monthly exam.
Zhao Tianxing thought to himself, "Qian Shen refused to buy physical strength with money or buy scores, which is why he left the competition team."
After Zhao Tianxing also withdrew, he could feel Qian Shen looking at him with a bit more respect.
But he knew that his situation was completely different from Qian Shen's.
He didn't have Qian Shen's confidence or decisiveness.
He knew that the reason he had chosen to leave the competition team was simply because of his own weakness.
He lacked the confidence to achieve outstanding results after his parents had spent half their life savings on him.
"The sponsorship fee to join the competition team would require my parents to sell their house."
"It's only the first year of high school. What if I need to spend even more money in the future?"
"With my talent, after spending so much money, will I really be able to earn it back in the future?"
Zhao Tianxing had no confidence at all.
He was afraid of wasting his parents' savings, afraid of being burdened with huge debts and achieving nothing, so he chose to give up.
"I'm such a failure. I even told Qian Shen that I didn't want to buy scores like him, but the truth is, I wanted to, but I was just too scared of failing."
...
In the cafeteria, Zhao Tianxing put down his tray with a gloomy expression.
He saw Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen devouring their synthetic food as if they were in a competition.
"Sigh, Yu and A Zhen are always so optimistic. Even though their rankings dropped in this monthly exam, they don't seem discouraged at all. I wish I could be like them."
Bai Zhenzhen glanced at the protein milk in Zhang Yu's hand while eating, thinking to herself, "Yu has been eating better recently. Did he find some money? Or did he sell something he shouldn't have?"
Zhang Yu, while eating, looked at the mush on Bai Zhenzhen's tray, thinking, "A Zhen also needs to improve her physical strength. She must be struggling with money lately. I wonder if she's interested in the underground tutoring world."
The doll hanging on Zhang Yu's chest was also observing Bai Zhenzhen.
After a few days of observation, she had come to a conclusion.
The doll transmitted a message to Zhang Yu, "Hey, Zhang Yu, do you know there's something in this woman's stomach?"
"Pfft!"
Zhang Yu felt like he was choking and couldn't help but spit out what was in his mouth.
He turned away, lowering his voice to a whisper only he could hear, and said to the doll, "A Zhen is pregnant?"
On the other side, Bai Zhenzhen looked at the mush Zhang Yu had spat into her bowl and was genuinely angry.
"Are you trying to die, Zhang Yu? If you want to steal food, use a better trick than this! I'm going to pee in your bowl!"
The doll said in Zhang Yu's mind, "What I meant was a spirit root. This woman has a spirit root in her stomach."
Zhang Yu rolled his eyes, "Duh, A Zhen rented a spirit root."
The doll chuckled, "Really? From what I've observed, the spirit root in her stomach seems to be her own."
"It's just that this spirit root is extremely good at hiding. If you weren't with her every day and she didn't use it freely in front of you, I wouldn't have noticed it either."
Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen in shock, thinking, "A Zhen has a spirit root growing in her stomach?"
Bai Zhenzhen snapped, "What are you muttering about? Go buy me another lunch!"
Still thinking about the spirit root, Zhang Yu grabbed his student card and ran off to buy Bai Zhenzhen another meal.
Bai Zhenzhen saw Zhang Yu's phone on the table vibrate.
A message had come through.
Lian Tianji: Sell me one of the clothes you've worn.
When she saw this message, Bai Zhenzhen fell silent.
She quietly turned off Zhang Yu's phone screen.
"No wonder Yu seems to have more money lately."
"Without realizing it, he's already come this far, hasn't he?"
Yu! Have you gone this far for money and the path of immortality?
(End of Chapter)