Inside the cafeteria.
Zhang Yu looked at Qian Shen and Zhao Tianxing with curiosity, puzzled by their expressions—like they’d both just failed an exam.
“What’s with you two?”
But neither Qian Shen nor Zhao Tianxing could respond. Both had signed confidentiality agreements barring them from revealing anything about the Special Cultivation Program.
Zhao Tianxing forced a bitter smile and shook his head. “It’s nothing… just a lot of pressure from the competition team.”
At the same time, his eyes flashed with a trace of regret as he looked at Zhang Yu.
Zhao Tianxing thought to himself, “He Dayou and the others already started their transplant surgeries yesterday. Their physical strength is going to skyrocket soon.”
“Even if Yuzi and Ah-Zhen are talented, there’s no beating the school’s Immortal Dao tech.”
“So in the end… money really is the most important thing on the Immortal Path, huh?”
…During P.E. that day—
He Dayou: Physical Strength Level 1.56
Li Xianglu: Physical Strength Level 1.55
Wang Wenjie: Physical Strength Level 1.53
Overnight, the trio had undergone significant improvement thanks to their transplant surgeries.
As they effortlessly handled the equipment and their strength readings climbed, the students around them couldn’t help showing looks of envy.
“The athletic team really is our ace program. Look how fast He Dayou and the others improved.”
“They were gone just one day and came back this strong? Teacher Wang Hai really knows his stuff.”
But He Dayou wasn’t listening for praise. He turned to search for Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen but didn’t spot them—not even in the side room.
“Hmph, doesn’t matter. There’ll be plenty of chances,” He Dayou muttered, already picturing his physical strength climbing by leaps and bounds in the next month—until he had both Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen crushed beneath his feet.
“I’ll keep improving until I reach the level of a second-year.”
“My scores will be above yours in the end.”
…
So where were Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen?
Both had filed requests with Wang Hai to skip P.E. class.
Zhang Yu’s reasoning: His Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy was about to advance rapidly, and it’d be better to train in secret—so no one would catch on.
Bai Zhenzhen’s reasoning: With so many Spirit Root functions and a public label as someone renting a Spirit Root, there was no need to attract attention. Might as well train solo and avoid nosy eyes that might spot something unusual.
So, up on the school’s rooftop—
Zhang Yu saw Bai Zhenzhen and smiled. “Ah-Zhen, what a coincidence. You’re skipping P.E. too?”
Bai Zhenzhen looked back and smiled as well. “Yuzi, what a coincidence. You came to the rooftop to train too?”
Zhang Yu thought, “Ah-Zhen must’ve activated something. She doesn’t want anyone to find out, so she came to the rooftop alone.”
Bai Zhenzhen thought, “Yuzi probably didn’t activate it yet. He’s trying to secretly train and hide his power, then show off big time next month?”
Zhang Yu laughed. “Then let’s train together up here.”
Bai Zhenzhen laughed too. “Sure, let’s train together.”
Zhang Yu thought, “Ah-Zhen can be trusted. This time, I’ll show her my talent and leave her totally convinced.”
Bai Zhenzhen thought, “After holding back for over a decade, I finally get to show someone my full potential. Hahaha, I can already picture Yuzi’s jealous, stunned face!”
The two shared a smile, then moved to opposite ends of the rooftop and started cultivating.
Zhang Yu began his hard training with Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy.
He stood rooted in place. With each internal vibration, his body began to emit a deep rumbling, like waves pounding relentlessly against the shore.
Bai Zhenzhen turned to look. As Zhang Yu’s blood and Qi surged, his cheeks and hands reddened, and she was taken aback.
Then jealousy washed over her.
“Is that… Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy? Yuzi already mastered it and started body refining?”
Suddenly, her own internal Spirit Roots didn’t feel so exciting anymore.
She felt like a student being woken at midnight by a roommate’s breathing technique.
Like spotting someone hiding the wrapper from an extra dose of elixir at breakfast.
Like seeing new needle marks on a classmate’s arms during P.E.
Bai Zhenzhen quickly unsealed her Spirit Root, preparing to start her own body-refining session.
“If it’s about showing off, how can a lone wolf beat a duo?”
“I’ll surpass him—I must stay ahead of Yuzi next month in physical strength!”
With that, she released the restriction on her Spirit Root and started refining her body.
Meanwhile, after about ten rounds of practice, Zhang Yu felt drained. He sat down to rest and took a few sips from the energy drink he’d brought.
“No wonder this stuff from White Dragon High School tastes so good. Free drinks hit different.”
Just then, he sensed something strange in the surrounding spiritual energy. Turning toward Bai Zhenzhen, he saw her cultivating a body-refining technique too. He couldn’t tell which technique it was, but he could faintly sense tendrils of spiritual essence flowing into her, nourishing her entire body.
“That’s the effect of a Spirit Root, right? Something like a Muscle-Boosting Root that enhances the body?”
Zhang Yu’s face twisted with jealousy. “Having a Spirit Root is just too nice… I need to ask Ah-Zhen to lend hers to me sometime.”
Then, Zhang Yu noticed something else—something unusual.
Thanks to his Expert-Grade Martial Technique mastery across multiple styles, he was sensitive enough to detect subtle changes in other people’s techniques.
At that moment, watching Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu noticed something striking: with every repetition of her body-refining technique, she adjusted her movements—subtle tweaks that made each round more fluid and comfortable, as if her body naturally adapted to the method on its own.
“Does Ah-Zhen refine her technique a little every time she trains?”
It sounded ordinary, but the more Zhang Yu thought about it, the more impressive it seemed.
He was suddenly struck by a realization. “Isn’t that just like my Feathered Tome—where the technique itself evolves rapidly?”
“She wasn’t this good before… she’s definitely been hiding something!”
The thought of her secretly “activating hacks” and training out of sight lit a fire under Zhang Yu. After a short break, he forced himself back up and continued pushing his body to its limits with Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy.
And so, the two of them entered a state of mutual drive—spurring each other on as they trained side by side.
By the time the class bell rang, Zhang Yu had pushed his Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy to Level 7 (15/70). His tendons tugged and strained, his internal organs churned in rhythm with the technique, giving off strange, guttural sounds as they were tempered again and again.
On the other side, Bai Zhenzhen was steaming like a furnace, her face red and dripping with sweat. She felt her muscles swelling with power, growing rapidly under the catalysis of her Spirit Root.
As the dismissal bell echoed, they exchanged a smile.
“Impressive, Ah-Zhen,” said Zhang Yu.
“You too, Yuzi,” Bai Zhenzhen replied with a grin.
Zhang Yu thought, “No more showers tonight—straight to training! I’ve gotta hit Level 10 in Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy.”
Bai Zhenzhen thought, “No more bathroom breaks! Damn it, this body—I'm pushing through till sunrise!”
Over the next few days, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen squeezed every moment they could, slipping into quiet corners around the campus to train. The sweat they left behind marked their shared determination as they ruthlessly pushed their bodies to the limit.
Meanwhile, during P.E., He Dayou was thrilled with the steady climb of his physical strength. But each time he didn’t see Zhang Yu or Bai Zhenzhen, a flicker of disappointment passed over his face.
Still, he bore it silently.
He kept telling himself, “Isn’t this exactly what I expected?”
“Talented poor kids shine at the start, but in the end, they lose to the rich.”
“Now that my transplanted muscle tissue is fusing smoothly with my body, my strength is climbing faster every day.”
“The longer Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen take to return, the more hopeless they’ll feel when they finally see how far ahead I’ve gotten.”
With that bit of anticipation in his heart, He Dayou threw himself into his training.
Not far away during the same class, Zhao Tianxing watched He Dayou out of the corner of his eye, his gaze tinged with envy and hesitation.
“Qian Shen already dropped out of the competition team, and Lan Ling replaced him with someone else.”
“But… should I quit too?”
“I don’t like this score-boosting method, but He Dayou’s strength really is increasing fast. If this keeps up… I’ll never catch up.”
Still, the thought of his parents preparing to sell their home just to support his attempt to boost his scores gave him pause.
…
That evening, in the grove behind the school—
Zhang Yu sat cross-legged, white vapor rising from his body in the chilly air. He was cultivating his Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy, now at Level 10.
At this stage, every fiber of muscle, every organ, and even his bone marrow were drawn into motion, all being tempered simultaneously through intense internal exertion.
Level 10 brought a new effect.
Zhang Yu’s body had restructured itself into a more optimal, refined form. Every muscle now locked together like intricately engineered parts in a machine—perfectly interwoven and balanced.
This physical refinement caused a dramatic leap in his strength. Coupled with days of tireless effort, his physical strength reached Level 1.67.
On top of that, his digestion and metabolism had accelerated.
Zhang Yu felt hungry constantly—like every cell in his body was starving.
“My daily meal costs are over 600 now. Body refining is such a money sink.”
Even so, he could feel that his body still wasn’t satisfied.
“Is it time to start taking pills?”
Crimson Marrow Primordial Energy could be paired with elixirs—specifically, the Hunyuan Pill. Zhang Yu had looked it up online: 30,000 yuan per pill.
“Damn it… Purple Cloud Pharmaceuticals is straight-up robbery!”
Between soaring meal costs and the looming need for expensive pills, Zhang Yu felt the money pressure mount yet again.
Even after tutoring Song Hailong yesterday and pocketing 5,000 yuan, his account still held less than 16,000. Not nearly enough.
Luckily, another opportunity to make money had just arrived.
As the school bell rang to end the day, Bai Zhenzhen finished her training, turned to Zhang Yu, and said:
“Let’s go, Yuzi. Time to shoot that commercial.”