Zhang Yu felt a chill at his lower back, and then something seemed to burrow into his dantian, the energy sea within him, and began to "take root and sprout."
Zhang Yu wasn't unfamiliar with renting spirit roots.
Almost immediately after sensing the change in his dantian, he thought of a spirit root.
"How did a spirit root suddenly appear in my dantian?"
Soon after, he felt that the spirit root, after rapidly "taking root and sprouting," spread throughout his entire body, like nerves covering every inch of his flesh and blood, as if it had always been a part of him.
Even as he passively circulated his Zhou Tian Qi Gathering Technique, the "spirit root" that had spread throughout his body began to breathe in sync with him, quickly drawing in the spiritual energy from the air, which surged toward him.
"Hiss!"
It was like a long drought meeting sweet rain.
As streams of spiritual energy poured into his body, Zhang Yu felt every fiber of his flesh and blood craving the incoming energy.
After all, for Zhang Yu, who had no spirit root but still wanted to cultivate immortality, his body had been in a state of spiritual energy deficiency most of the time.
Now, with spiritual energy suddenly flooding in from all over, Zhang Yu immediately felt a sense of comfort throughout his body.
The operation of his Level 10 Zhou Tian Qi Gathering Technique became even more vigorous, stirring up the surrounding spiritual energy to rush toward him.
This state of Zhang Yu's immediately caught Bai Zhenzhen's attention.
Especially since she could vaguely sense that her spirit root was now inside Zhang Yu's body.
"My spirit root has gone into Yu Zi's belly?"
Bai Zhenzhen felt a bit surprised: "What's going on? I wanted to lend it to Yu Zi for fun, but only after he kneels down and calls me 'mom' to beg me. How did this spirit root just run over on its own?"
Thinking this, Bai Zhenzhen felt a bit annoyed.
She reached out and started groping Zhang Yu's belly, trying to retrieve her spirit root.
Feeling Bai Zhenzhen's hand moving around his lower abdomen, Zhang Yu quickly said, "What are you doing, A'Zhen! Stop messing around! We're going to cause an accident! We can't afford to kill someone!"
Zhang Yu's body jerked, and he slowed down the sports car, eventually pulling over to the side of the road and letting Bai Zhenzhen off.
Bai Zhenzhen, having failed to retrieve her spirit root, reluctantly said, "Did my spirit root go into your belly?"
Zhang Yu instinctively touched his belly and said, "This is your spirit root?"
Zhang Yu thought to himself: "Didn't that evil god say... this is A'Zhen's own spirit root, not a rented one? How did it end up in my belly?"
The doll disguised as a prayer bead was also surprised: "Can this woman's spirit root really transfer?"
Bai Zhenzhen, of course, didn't know what Zhang Yu was thinking.
In her view, Zhang Yu shouldn't know the secret of her spirit root.
But now that her spirit root had already entered his body, Bai Zhenzhen decided not to hide it anymore.
She nodded straightforwardly and then gritted her teeth, saying, "This is the spirit root I've been nurturing for over a decade. Does it feel good to use?"
Zhang Yu wanted to say it felt really good, but seeing Bai Zhenzhen's annoyed expression, he held back.
He just touched his belly and asked curiously, "Why did your spirit root come to me?"
"Actually, I've had a spirit root in my belly since I was a child," Bai Zhenzhen sighed and continued, "It's not like ordinary spirit roots. It seems to grow with me."
"Especially in the past two years, it can adapt and grow according to my thoughts, gradually adjusting to different directions."
"Like when you said you wanted to borrow a spirit root last time, I was wondering if it could be done."
"And today, this darn thing just jumped into your belly on its own!"
Hearing Bai Zhenzhen's words, Zhang Yu couldn't help but show a look of shock: "What... there's such an outrageous spirit root?"
Bai Zhenzhen, getting more annoyed as she talked about her spirit root jumping into Zhang Yu's belly, reached out and started groping his belly again.
Then she showed a look of disdain and clicked her tongue: "Not having it removed is such a hassle. How come just a few touches and you're reacting? Do you need some time to deal with it?"
Do you even know how much energy I have every day? Zhang Yu suddenly felt like a friend had barged into his room and caught him with one hand holding tissues and the other in his pants.
At that moment, Zhang Yu suddenly deeply understood the sterilization policy of Songyang High School.
If they didn't sterilize, with a bunch of energetic, fame and money-obsessed teenagers mixing together every day, after three years of high school... wouldn't their grades drop?
Under Bai Zhenzhen's disdainful gaze, Zhang Yu stepped back repeatedly and said, "Don't rush. Think carefully about how the spirit root got into my belly just now?"
After some discussion and research, Bai Zhenzhen had Zhang Yu carry her again.
As Bai Zhenzhen hugged Zhang Yu from behind, constantly thinking about her spirit root returning, she suddenly felt a warmth in her belly, and her precious spirit root was back.
As the spirit root returned, a surge of spiritual energy rushed into Bai Zhenzhen's body, filling her limbs and bones.
"Hiss!"
She gasped in surprise: "Why does it feel like this thing is absorbing spiritual energy more powerfully than before? And it's even reaching places where I don't usually circulate my energy?" But soon, the spirit root seemed to readjust to Bai Zhenzhen's body and returned to its normal state.
Bai Zhenzhen suddenly had a thought: "Could it be that after entering Yu Zi's body, it adapted to his physique, took on his shape... and then changed?"
"But it quickly returned to my shape... was it because it didn't stay in Yu Zi's body long enough?"
Bai Zhenzhen suddenly became curious: "If it stayed longer and adapted more to Yu Zi's body... what would happen?"
On the other hand, as the spirit root in Zhang Yu's dantian disappeared and the spiritual energy filling him receded, he felt a sense of loss.
Just then, Bai Zhenzhen said, "Yu Zi, let me try transferring the spirit root to you again. Be ready."
The next moment, Zhang Yu felt the spirit root return to his body, taking root and sprouting in his dantian once more.
The spiritual energy in the air rushed into his body, making Zhang Yu feel full of energy.
"Indeed, a cultivator needs a spirit root to truly feel right."
Although he felt great, Zhang Yu knew that this spirit root in his belly was the key to Bai Zhenzhen becoming stronger and getting into the top ten.
So, suppressing his reluctance, Zhang Yu said, "Alright, A'Zhen, take your spirit root back quickly. Don't keep moving it in and out, you might damage it."
Bai Zhenzhen, however, replied, "It's fine. Let it stay in you for a few hours. I have an idea I want to test."
"Ah?" Zhang Yu said happily, "Then... then I'll lend you my talisman book to play with."
"Give it here!" Bai Zhenzhen reached into Zhang Yu's chest and pulled out the talisman book: "My spirit root is worth at least a few hundred million. This talisman book will be collateral for now."
Then she patted Zhang Yu's shoulder and said, "Hurry to school. Don't be late, or Su Haifeng will give you trouble."
So, Zhang Yu carried Bai Zhenzhen all the way to school.
On the way, Bai Zhenzhen hugged Zhang Yu, leaning on his back, playing with the talisman book, and occasionally telling Zhang Yu about the current functions of the spirit root.
Zhang Yu suddenly said, "Always talking about the spirit root, it's easy to get confused with other spirit roots when chatting. Shouldn't we give it a name?"
Bai Zhenzhen was slightly stunned.
Since childhood, she had only thought about hiding her spirit root, and after entering high school, she never mentioned the spirit root in her belly to anyone.
So, she had always simply called it the spirit root, as she naturally knew which one she was referring to.
Hearing Zhang Yu's words, Bai Zhenzhen couldn't help but nod slightly: "Hmm... what should we call it?"
Zhang Yu said, "Since it's your spirit root, let's call it Zhenzhen Spirit Root."
"Too corny," Bai Zhenzhen pouted, "Let's just call it True Spirit Root. By the way, when we get back, tell everyone I lent you my rented spirit root."
Bai Zhenzhen laughed: "Hehe, this will further solidify that my spirit root is rented."
So, for the rest of the journey, Bai Zhenzhen continued to tell Zhang Yu about the various wonderful uses of the True Spirit Root.
Hiding the spirit root, hiding herself, accelerating martial arts cultivation, spotting weaknesses in combat, speeding up energy refinement, and her recently used body refining assistance function.
Zhang Yu listened with shining eyes, eager to start cultivating immediately.
Throughout this entire process, including the conversation between Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, the evil god doll disguised as a prayer bead naturally watched and listened.
Her evaluation was naturally only... foolish.
"Idiot! Idiot! Zhang Yu, you idiot! With such a heaven-defying spirit root, kill and take it immediately! I have a hundred ways to help you deal with Bai Zhenzhen's body, ensuring you won't be discovered."
"With the help of this heaven-defying spirit root, not only could you get into the top ten, but you could even go further, to graduate school... no, to a Ph. D.!"
"If you don't act now, this woman might backstab you later! How could she tolerate such a huge secret being in someone else's hands?"
But seeing Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen trusting each other so much, the evil god knew that even if she spoke, they wouldn't listen, and it would only increase Zhang Yu's dislike for her.
"Damn it, this is the flaw of the poor, always believing in friends, emotions, trust... these intangible things are useless, they only hinder you from making money!"
"Money! Only money matters!"
After returning to school, apart from subjects like Chinese and Math, which he had already mastered in high school, Zhang Yu even skipped Energy Class and Combat Class.
The strict Energy Class teacher and the Combat Class teacher, both familiar with Zhang Yu's level in energy control and martial arts combat, agreed that the first-year curriculum was no longer helpful to him and allowed his absence.
Thus, along with the already skipped Physical Education class, Zhang Yu could spend most of his day at school freely cultivating.
Another chapter of monthly ticket debt repaid, still asking for some monthly tickets.
(End of Chapter)