Chapter 2: School

The continuous tick-tock of the clock echoed as Zhang Yu earnestly worked on the test paper in front of him. But the test paper seemed endless; no matter how he tried to complete it or fill in the answers, there was never a moment when it was finished. The further he wrote, the further his seat drifted from his classmates, until the figures in front became indistinct, as if he was slowly being swallowed by the darkness behind him.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, panic surged in his heart, and his continuously writing hand grew weak, losing strength. It wasn't until he plunged into the bottomless darkness along with countless books and test papers that Zhang Yu suddenly woke up from his bed.

"Was that a dream?"

"It seems like a collection of Zhang Yu's past memories."

He rubbed his head, feeling countless fragmented memories belonging to his original body surge and shift unpredictably in his mind. Although Zhang Yu now controlled this body, its original memories had not fully merged with his own, requiring him to focus intensely to recall many details. Especially the memories related to yesterday's strange ritual; just a slight attempt to recall them made Zhang Yu feel dizzy, unable to remember what had happened at all.

He checked his phone and saw it was only five in the morning. He wanted to lie back down and continue sleeping, but found that this body simply couldn't fall back asleep. It was as if waking up at five every morning for school had become an instinct for this body.

"Why do I feel guilty if I just lie here?"

Zhang Yu sat up, thinking this was probably an influence from the original body's memories. He touched his slightly empty stomach, then simply stood up, thinking, "Fine, I'll go to school. At least I can get a decent meal there." He remembered that Songyang High School provided three meals a day, and this month's meal expenses had already been loaded onto the card. Now, burdened with a massive debt of 700,000 yuan and only about fifty yuan to his name, he couldn't afford to eat out.

So, leaving his stuffy apartment and walking through a sewage-filled alley, Zhang Yu joined a crowd and squeezed onto a bus. Squeezed inside the bus, where the air was a mix of sweat and food odors, the air conditioning seemed useless. Zhang Yu felt like a deformed takeout order, being jostled and delivered towards the city center.

After an hour and a half and two bus transfers, a sweaty Zhang Yu finally pushed his way off the bus. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Zhang Yu thought, "Come to think of it, why am I a day student?"

"Oh, I remember. It's because I couldn't afford the dorm fees."

Unlike where Zhang Yu lived, the area where he got off was in the city center. All he saw were tall buildings, clean, wide roads, and even the air felt much fresher. Most of the men and women walking on the street were well-dressed, looking like urban elites.

After walking, stopping, and walking again, he finally reached the school gate. From a distance, Zhang Yu saw the large characters for "Songyang Advanced Immortal Path High School" at the entrance. On the electronic screen at the school gate, there was even a list of rankings, showing the top ten students from each of the three high school grades for the previous month. From this, it was clear that Songyang High School was a school that placed great importance on student performance.

If Zhang Yu were to summarize it while recalling his memories, it would be this: at Songyang High School, academic achievement reigned supreme. It was a world where everyone judged others solely by their grades. Studying and taking exams were as natural as breathing here, and almost everyone held extreme grade discrimination. Phrases like "Your score is so low, no wonder you have to wait so long in the cafeteria line," or "Your score is so low, you don't even deserve to sit at the same table as us," or "Top students should thoroughly humiliate low-achievers"—all were considered "positive campus energy."

"This is truly a world where scores are everything, a hell for low-achievers." Zhang Yu looked at "Zhang Yu, 10th in Total Score, First Year High School" on the electronic screen and sighed inwardly, "Good thing I'm one of the high-scorers."

"Although this ranking might not truly reflect my ability right now, at least it hasn't been exposed yet. So, I should still be able to live a decent life at school, right?"

Songyang High School's cafeteria offered breakfast, so Zhang Yu followed his memories and went there. As he walked, he noticed that while many students were queuing for food in the cafeteria, they were all incredibly quiet. Almost everyone silently waited in line, quietly collected their meals, and quietly found a place to eat, moving with precision like interlocked gears. Some students even held books and studied while eating, seizing every minute for learning.

Zhang Yu found an empty seat and sat down. Just as he took a bite of his steamed bun, he saw someone sit in the vacant spot across from him. It was a girl with long black hair and a fair complexion. Her name surfaced in Zhang Yu's mind.

"Bai Zhenzhen."

"More precisely, Bai Zhenzhen, the top student in the first year, a woman at the very top of the first-year social hierarchy."

Watching the girl across from him drink her porridge, Zhang Yu wondered, "Is she my friend?"

"Because I'm in the top ten of the grade? Is this what they call the 'elite student' circle?"

Bai Zhenzhen was the kind of person who, even when not smiling, seemed to be sulking. Even her ordinary words carried a sense of distant aloofness, as if pushing people a thousand miles away. Just by sitting in front of Zhang Yu without saying a word, she made him feel like she might have an issue with him.

As Zhang Yu focused on recalling memories related to Bai Zhenzhen, trying to figure out their relationship, he heard the girl say, "After you finish eating, meet me at the small garden. I'll wait for you there." Watching her walk away, a thoughtful glint appeared in Zhang Yu's eyes.

A moment later, after he had eaten his fill, he left the cafeteria and went to the small garden behind the school. This was a quiet spot behind the dormitories. With most students now heading to the academic buildings, there was almost no one around. Bai Zhenzhen was standing in front of a flower bed. The moment she heard Zhang Yu's footsteps, she turned and quickly walked towards him.

"Dad!"

With a thud, Bai Zhenzhen knelt on the ground, hugging Zhang Yu's leg and saying, "There were too many people in the cafeteria just now, I was embarrassed to say it."

"Please lend me some money! My small loan has been overdue for almost a month! I'll kneel for you..."

Zhang Yu, watching the scene before him, cursed inwardly, "What kind of messed-up school is this? The top student and the tenth-ranked student are both just faking it with loans, aren't they?" Zhang Yu now remembered: his acquaintance with Bai Zhenzhen wasn't due to any "elite student" circle. Instead, she was his referrer, the one who had introduced him to small loans.

To reintroduce them: Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu's classmate, was a good buddy with whom he shared information on various lending platforms, and they had a strong friendship built on borrowing money together.

The thought that beneath her cold poker face in the cafeteria, she had been constantly plotting how to borrow money from him, made Zhang Yu shake his head helplessly. "Let go of me first. Where would I get money to lend you?"

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head and said, "You're only tenth in the grade, how much money could you spend? Your loan must be much smaller than mine, right?" Then, somewhat stiffly and shyly, she added, "As long as you help me pay off my debt, you can do anything you want."

Zhang Yu's eyes lit up at her words. Looking at Bai Zhenzhen, who had been so cold but now had a face like a peach blossom, he found a unique charm in her. He looked Bai Zhenzhen up and down and asked, "Truly anything?"

Bai Zhenzhen bit her lip lightly and nodded, "Mm-hm."

Zhang Yu: "Then can I put you up as collateral?"

Bai Zhenzhen released her grip and glared at Zhang Yu. "Yu-zi, are you really out of money?"

Zhang Yu took out his phone and showed her his balance and overdue notices. Bai Zhenzhen stood up, brushed the dust from her trousers, and then looked at Zhang Yu in disbelief. "You owe seven hundred thousand? Even after graduating from university, it would probably take a long time to pay that off."

"You're only in your first year of high school, and you're spending so aggressively?" Bai Zhenzhen shook her head repeatedly at this point. "Zhang Yu, how did you even spend all that money?"

Zhang Yu rubbed his head and said, "I forgot... Give me a moment to think."

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu suspiciously. "You didn't invest in something, did you? Were you scammed?"

As Zhang Yu tried to recall, he also became a little uncertain. "Probably... not?"

Bai Zhenzhen's expression, however, suddenly turned serious. The more she thought about it, the more she felt there was something wrong with how Zhang Yu spent over 700,000 yuan. "Let me see your phone."

Zhang Yu understood she was concerned for him. After all, investment, fraud, gambling, sudden death, and qi deviation were the top five causes of death in Songyang City, with qi deviation ranking fifth. At that moment, doubts about the original body also arose in his mind. He immediately took out his phone: "I also wanted to review how this money was spent. Let's look at the transaction records together."

Their eyes scanned the phone screen, revealing the long list of expenditures made by Zhang Yu's original body. As Zhang Yu saw these, many details of related memories continuously emerged from his mind.

Pill Cauldron Pharmacy 280.00Pill Cauldron Pharmacy 250.00Time Waits For No One Meditation Chamber 120.00

Zhang Yu said as he looked, "This is where I bought elixirs from the school pharmacy, then rented a meditation chamber for breathing exercises..."

Songyang High School's curriculum, besides general education courses like Chinese, mathematics, physics, and history, also included Immortal Path-related subjects. The so-called Immortal Path was the cultivation journey for mortals to gradually become immortals. This was the most crucial and highest-weighted part of the high school curriculum, and a key factor for admission to prestigious universities. Breathing exercises, or 'tuna,' were the most basic skill in the Immortal Path. Through them, cultivators gathered spiritual energy from the atmosphere to accumulate internal magical power. Only with sufficient magical power could one unleash stronger combat abilities and ascend to higher realms. It could be said that magical power was the foundation for all Immortal Path techniques. For instance, to break through from the Qi Refining realm to the Foundation Establishment realm, a cultivator needed at least 60 points of magical power, with the Qi Refining realm's maximum capacity being 100 points. In the system diligently constructed by the Ten Great Sects, everything was standardized and digitized as much as possible, including magical power. For example, all magical power tests at school were precise to one decimal place.

Bai Zhenzhen nodded slightly and continued to scroll.

Shuixiu Catering Services Co., Ltd. 532.00

Zhang Yu said, "This was for supplementary meal-based cultivation at the cafeteria, which was quite expensive." In Immortal Path cultivation, the strength of the physical body was equally crucial. Consuming large amounts of food rich in spiritual energy and immortal elements was a daily routine for cultivators, known as 'food supplementation.'

Longxiang Educational Services Co., Ltd. 1500.00Longxiang Educational Services Co., Ltd. 3000.00

Zhang Yu recalled and said, "Hmm... these are the tuition fees from last time, and the cost of renting a spiritual root." A spiritual root was a special talent, possessed by only a tiny fraction of geniuses, which could significantly boost a cultivator's efficiency and combat power. As once the most famous threshold in the Immortal Path, even Zhang Yu and his mother, back when he was in junior high, knew various legends about spiritual roots. This led to the original Zhang Yu using the excuse of renting a spiritual root to get money from his mother when he was taking tutoring classes and repaying loans. However, with the increasing development of Immortal Path technology, ordinary people like Zhang Yu, who lacked a spiritual root, could now pay to rent one to improve their cultivation efficiency.

They continued scrolling. After Zhang Yu's initial brief explanations, the subsequent expenses were almost all recurring similar items, nearly all related to Immortal Path cultivation. After quickly reviewing Zhang Yu's expenses for the past few months, Bai Zhenzhen's eyes, when she looked at Zhang Yu, were filled with pity. "You really spent all this money on your Immortal Path cultivation?"

"And you only reached tenth place after owing over 700,000?"

"It's only been a little over three months since school started, right? What are you going to do now?"

As someone who had only transmigrated to this new world yesterday, Zhang Yu was naturally bewildered about what lay ahead. He shrugged and said, "I'll just get by for now, and figure things out as I go."

Checking the time and seeing that class was about to start, they talked as they walked towards the academic building. "How can you, owing over seven hundred thousand, look more relaxed than me, who owes just over two hundred thousand?" Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu's calm expression and warned, "You won't have any money to continue investing in your studies!"

"Do you know the consequences of not having money to study? Do you know how dangerous our current situation is?"

Zhang Yu: "What consequences?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "The monthly exam is in three weeks. In three weeks, you'll have no money to rent a spiritual root, no money to buy elixirs, no money for tutoring classes, not even money for daily supplements... While others are improving every single second, it'll be perfectly normal for your grade ranking to drop by dozens of places. Then you'll be directly kicked out of the elite class!"

As Bai Zhenzhen spoke, many related memories surged into Zhang Yu's mind. The entire first year of high school had ten classes, from Class One to Class Ten, with students assigned based on their monthly exam results. Given Zhang Yu's ranking, he was naturally placed in Class One, which had the best treatment and was also known as the elite class. While monthly exam results considered regular general education tests, the most important factor was ultimately one's Immortal Path cultivation progress. After all, general education accounted for only 50 points, while the other Immortal Path subjects together were worth a full 650 points. Especially since everyone was a first-year student and had only officially started cultivating after school began, there wasn't much difference in cultivation levels. Although he appeared to be tenth, if he couldn't maintain his previous rate of improvement in the coming weeks, he could easily fall dozens of places behind.

Bai Zhenzhen continued, "If you keep running out of money, your ranking will get worse, your benefits will decrease, and in this vicious cycle, you'll gradually be kicked from Class One all the way to Class Ten!" Her face was solemn as she said, "No money and no grades mean you'll become combustible trash in the teachers' eyes, a joke among the elite class students, and an object for the background students in the regular classes to feel cheaply superior over!" Bai Zhenzhen clutched her head: "In such a situation, not to mention cultivation resources, even maintaining a stable Dao heart would be difficult. Your grades would only get worse, eventually falling below the cutoff line. You'd be left with a body full of injuries and a mountain of debt, kicked out of Songyang High School."

As if she had seen that miserable future in her mind, Bai Zhenzhen looked up at the sky and lamented, "Do you want to live at the bottom of the school's social hierarchy, repeatedly insulted, and eventually become a high school dropout, a societal reject?"

Zhang Yu twitched his lips at her words. "So, what do you suggest I do?"

Bai Zhenzhen was silent for a moment, then turned her head. "Brother, to be honest... if you only reached tenth place after owing seven hundred thousand, you might truly not be suited for the Immortal Path."

"I don't know how you got into Songyang, but my advice is... drop out and get a job. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll sink deeper and deeper."

Zhang Yu didn't respond, but sighed inwardly, "The only good thing about this crappy world is that you can cultivate immortals, and yet I've only been here a day and they're telling me I don't have the talent for it?"

Shortly after returning to the classroom, Zhang Yu picked up his vibrating phone and saw that Bai Zhenzhen had transferred him 500 yuan and sent a message.

Bai Zhenzhen: Pay your utilities first.

Zhang Yu paused slightly, then suddenly sniffed his own clothes, immediately realizing that Bai Zhenzhen had smelled the unwashed scent from his body, likely from days without showering. Although he had gotten used to the smell himself, it must have been quite noticeable to others. Thinking that she had sent him money despite her own dire financial situation, Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. He typed out a long message on his phone, then deleted it all, finally replying: Thank you.

After replying, Zhang Yu looked at his palm and noticed that the symbol on it was now half-filled with black. All the way to school and into the classroom, Zhang Yu had noticed that only he could see the symbol on his palm. He now calculated the time and estimated that the symbol would be completely filled with black by tonight. He just didn't know what would happen once it was full.