Chapter 123: Great Sun Qi Sea

Zhang Pianpian continued, "By now, you should understand that your time is very limited."

"Of course, even if you fail this time, you'll have another chance next year."

According to Zhang Pianpian, the high school Foundation Establishment Qualification Exam starts in mid-June each year, with results announced in early January of the following year.

This means that each batch of high school students has two opportunities during their three years of high school.

The first is to register at the end of their first year and obtain the qualification certificate in their second year.

The second opportunity is to register at the end of their second year and obtain the certificate in their third year.

In Zhang Yu's mind, the voice of the Evil God rang out: "Although both involve getting the Foundation Establishment Certificate, obtaining it in your second year versus your third year clearly makes a difference. It will appear differently on your resume, and there will inevitably be a disparity in treatment once you reach university..."

Zhang Yu could naturally guess this without the Evil God needing to explain.

"Given Kunxu's typical nature, getting the Foundation Establishment Certificate in your third year versus your second year... at university, it might be the difference between a White Dragon person and a Songyang person."

How would one choose between a White Dragon person and a Songyang person?

If given a choice, even He Dayou, the school board director's son, would probably have directly "run off" to White Dragon.

Faced with an opportunity to work hard and transform into a White Dragon person on the second level, how could Zhang Yu let it slip away?

He nodded towards Zhang Pianpian, "We'll definitely try for both opportunities. For something like the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate, the sooner we get it, the better."

Zhang Pianpian then said, "It's good that you understand. Besides that, there's the choice of examination specialty, and some arrangements I'll make for you before I leave..."

Since there are only four slots for the Foundation Establishment Certificate exam—one each for Dao Heart, Mana, Athletics, and Martial Arts—Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen naturally had to choose different paths.

With the aid of her Spirit Root, Bai Zhenzhen was quick in improving her Mana, Athletics, and Martial Arts.

However, considering her strongest talent in martial arts, consistently boosted by her True Spirit Root, she ultimately chose the Martial Arts path.

As for Zhang Yu, with the assistance of his Feather Scroll and True Spirit Root, he was confident in Mana, Athletics, and Martial Arts. But since Bai Zhenzhen had already chosen Martial Arts, his remaining options were Mana and Athletics.

"Naturally, I'll choose Athletics. After all, my progress in physical strength has completely surpassed my mana development recently, due to preparing for the athletic competition. Continuing to rapidly advance in physical strength and eventually becoming the strongest athlete among high school students in Kunxu's first level... it's not impossible."

After Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen each selected their exam directions, Zhang Pianpian continued, "Your time will be tight, your tasks heavy, and your funds not abundant. So, once the prize money and endorsement fees come in, remember not to spend it recklessly."

"For example, don't pay off all your loans at once. In fact, don't pay them off at all. If possible, you might even consider borrowing a bit more."

"For the next eight months, spend every penny on improving your strength."

"Before I leave, I'll also try to cover for you again, buying you more time to get stronger."

"I'll be waiting for you at Ten Thousand Dharma University."

Early morning.

Songyang High School.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen slowly walked towards the campus gate, dragging their tired bodies.

Last night's athletic competition had already significantly depleted their physical strength. After the match, they discussed the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate with Zhang Pianpian, and they didn't rest even after Zhang Pianpian left, instead beginning to plan their upcoming training regimen.

After all, relying solely on the first-year courses at Songyang High School would certainly not be enough to successfully pass the Foundation Establishment Qualification Exam and defeat other competitors.

They needed a training plan that was more suited to them, more aggressive, and more effective.

Things like how to spend money, which cultivation techniques to practice, what medicines to use, and various exam-related expenses... all were meticulously calculated and planned.

Just then, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly widened her eyes as she looked at the large screen at the school entrance.

"Congratulations to student Zhang Yu for bravely winning first prize in the Songyang City Athletic Competition! With his exceptional talent and outstanding aptitude, student Zhang Yu overcame material difficulties. Possessing such world-class talent, he is sure to achieve even greater success in the future..."

Bai Zhenzhen looked at the short essay scrolling across the screen, which was almost entirely filled with praise for Zhang Yu's unparalleled natural endowments.

After reading it, she was surprised: "What about me? Why wasn't I mentioned?"

She was, after all, fifth in the athletic competition. Was she not even worthy of a mention?

But Zhang Yu, standing beside her, looked at the short essay on the screen and felt nothing but annoyance and chills; he couldn't be happy at all.

If he had been a few months younger, he would have loved such an article praising him.

But now, seeing the screen full of mentions of "talent" and "aptitude," he only felt his commercial value being suppressed again.

Who understands this, my friends? Winning first place and being told it's purely due to talent – how much more malice does this world have for geniuses?

"Who the hell wrote this article? Can someone get it taken down?"

Later, Zhang Yu learned that the student council had arranged the article.

He immediately understood: "This Zhou Chechen, he also wants to undermine my commercial value?"

"Could he and that Le Jingchen from Ziyun be working together?"

Recalling how Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling had specifically warned him during a competition, Zhang Yu grew more suspicious that these two were associated with Ziyun High School or Ziyun Pharmaceutical.

Just then, Zhao Tianxing, who was on the road, saw Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. His eyes lit up, and he eagerly approached them.

Seeing Zhang Yu deep in thought, Zhao Tianxing asked curiously, "A'Yu, what are you thinking about?"

Zhang Yu sighed, "I'm thinking about how to prove that I'm not a genius, but just an ordinary person who can only improve his performance with money."

Zhao Tianxing paused slightly, wondering, "Is Yu-zi making a point about me?"

Zhang Yu continued, "Then I realized that for me, proving I'm an ordinary person is much, much harder than proving I'm a genius."

"My talent is like the sun; it's impossible to hide... It's hard, truly too hard."

Zhao Tianxing couldn't help but recall Zhang Yu from six months ago, secretly thinking, "A'Yu, I still prefer you the way you were half a year ago."

"You weren't like this back then. Back then, you were like me, looking like a clown when standing in front of A'Zhen, Qian Shen, and He Dayou."

Looking at Zhang Yu, whose demeanor had now changed, Zhao Tianxing couldn't help but lament how success corrupted students. Then, he suddenly gained a deeper understanding of his "poor, weak clown" theory.

"Clowns can also transform into each other. Six months ago, Zhang Yu was a clown in front of He Dayou, but now He Dayou has become the clown standing in front of Zhang Yu."

"This is... the Theory of Clown Relativity."

"Ultimately, it's about strength, like scores and wealth."

Zhao Tianxing imagined that if, at the very moment Zhang Yu finished speaking, he were to grab Zhang Yu's neck, pin him to the ground motionless, and then say calmly, "Oh? Is it hard to prove?"

Zhao Tianxing secretly thought, "If something like that happened, the clown roles would switch again."

"Sigh, to stand tall and speak loudly in school, it really does depend on strength."

With this thought, Zhao Tianxing became even more determined to purchase the technology for False Demonic Muscle modification.

Throughout Songyang High School, quite a few students shared Zhao Tianxing's thoughts, though some were drawn to False Demonic Muscles, others desired Super Metabolism, and a small number decided to purchase Hongta's True Dragon Bloodline...

The three of them, Zhang Yu included, entered the classroom. As soon as Zhang Yu sat down, he continued browsing information about various cultivation techniques on his phone.

He thought to himself, "Although I plan to focus on the Athletics path and continue improving my physical strength, I must also ensure that my Dao Heart and Mana don't fall behind."

"Especially for Dao Heart and Mana, I need to find alternatives to the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art and the Cosmic Energy Gathering Method to ensure that while I refine my body daily, my Dao Heart and Mana also steadily grow."

However, the cultivation technique website was a vast ocean of information. Even looking through the rankings, Zhang Yu felt overwhelmed and unsure how to choose.

Just then, the Evil God, who had been disguised as prayer beads, suddenly spoke, "Search for 'Great Sun Qi Sea.'"

Zhang Yu was slightly startled, but still searched for the 'Great Sun Qi Sea' breathing technique. He found it was an expert-level cultivation method with extremely low sales, suitable for cultivators in the mid-Qi Refining stage.

The first reason for its low sales was its hefty price: 120,000 for usage rights alone.

The second reason for its low sales was that the cultivation method was simply too difficult to practice.

Specifically, the difficulty of the Great Sun Qi Sea wasn't in how hard it was to comprehend, practice, or its high requirements.

The difficulty of the Great Sun Qi Sea lay in the time it required.

This was a cultivation method that allowed one to condense the essence of the sun and moon, and absorb the spiritual energy within the light of heaven and earth, thereby refining mana, simply by being exposed to light.

Zhang Yu read the description and thought, "Like the Cosmic Breathing Method, it allows for passive breathing. As long as there's light, the Great Sun Qi Sea can perform continuous passive breathing, and the stronger the light, the better the breathing effect."

"However, this technique emphasizes gradual progress. If the first layer takes one month of light exposure to master, then the second layer requires two months to break through. The third layer doubles that again, needing four months of light to break through. This doubling continues, meaning the later stages take increasingly more time."

"By the eighth layer, breaking through just one more layer would require ten years of effort."

"Breaking through from the ninth to the tenth layer would take over twenty years."

Reading this, Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. Even if someone bought this technique, it would likely be used as a transitional breathing method, aiming to gain a bit more mana through its light-based absorption.

"No wonder so few people buy it."

"But for me, it's just right."

Zhang Yu grew curious about what effects this technique, which typically took decades to reach the tenth layer, would have once he pushed it to that level.

Suddenly, Zhang Yu remembered the Evil God who had told him to search for 'Great Sun Qi Sea.' He thought that since the Evil God had been with him 24/7 recently, it must know which cultivation technique suited him best.

With this thought, Zhang Yu quietly asked, "It's been a while, and I still don't know what to call you."

The Evil God chuckled, and a clear female voice resonated in Zhang Yu's mind: "You can just call me Fukuhime."

"Zhang Yu, I've told you before, with my help, your climb up in Kunxu will be much smoother."