Chapter 22: Contract

Li Xuelian finished explaining Zhang Yu's situation, only to hear a light chuckle from the other end of the phone.

"He's certainly good, but there's no need to take him on."

Li Xuelian asked, puzzled, "Why not?"

True Immortal Xinghuo burst into laughter, his voice brimming with delight. "I've found a true genius! He's also a first-year high school student, only 15, and he mastered the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art in just half an hour. What's more, he's not bound by any contracts."

At this, True Immortal Xinghuo couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

Li Xuelian exclaimed in surprise, "There's really such a prodigy?"

True Immortal Xinghuo chuckled, "I've always told you, the first layer of Kunlun never lacks geniuses; it just lacks people willing to invest in them. Think of the top scorers in each subject, and the overall top scorer in every college entrance exam—you know how exceptionally brilliant those individuals are. Yet, there are many such talents emerging in the first layer of Kunxu every year, along with a group not far behind them, appearing year after year like an endless supply of leeks. There are too many geniuses; it's just that I hadn't found them before and was always preempted by others. But now, I've finally gotten ahead and found one."

Li Xuelian cast a slightly regretful glance in Zhang Yu's direction and asked, "Shouldn't we sign Zhang Yu while we're at it?"

True Immortal Xinghuo replied, "No, let's not. All our family's resources will be focused on the true genius from now on; we shouldn't spread ourselves thin."

Meanwhile, in a meeting room beside the art exhibition.

Li Xuelian looked at Zhang Yu across from her and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, student. My father has pressing matters to attend to, so he won't be able to take you on as a disciple for the time being." She continued sincerely, "However, you can rest assured that you may use the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art from now on. I will personally grant you the specific usage rights."

With admiration in her eyes, Li Xuelian added, "Finally, I'd like to personally give you ten thousand yuan. There's no need to refuse it quickly; this gift is purely an expression of my admiration for your talent. I hope that by the time we meet again, you will have been accepted into a prestigious university. Oh, and regarding the videos you recorded: they involve the dissemination rights for the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, so you'll need to delete them..."

A moment later, as Zhang Yu walked away, the smile on Li Xuelian's face slowly faded. Even though True Immortal Xinghuo had no intention of taking Zhang Yu as a disciple, Li Xuelian wasn't about to antagonize a young man with such impressive talent. After all, granting the usage rights for the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art or giving ten thousand yuan was merely a trivial gesture for her. She herself had lost count of how many times she had made similar small gestures to promising young talents. Most of them, however, eventually faded into obscurity and were long forgotten by her.

After settling this matter, Li Xuelian attended to several important guests, then couldn't wait to find her father. She was immensely curious about the peerless genius True Immortal Xinghuo had spoken of.

Meanwhile, at the art exhibition, which had not yet officially concluded.

Bai Zhenzhen watched Zhang Yu emerge from the meeting room and asked, "How did it go? Did you reject True Immortal Xinghuo? Li Xuelian didn't give you a hard time, did she?"

Recalling Li Xuelian's admiring expression, Zhang Yu shook his head. "She didn't give me any trouble. Before I could even speak, she rejected me, saying that True Immortal Xinghuo had other pressing matters... She did, however, give me an extra 10,000 yuan at the end."

Hearing Zhang Yu's account, Bai Zhenzhen pursed her lips. "That's a standard excuse. Perhaps she checked your background and realized you weren't *that* exceptional. Like your poor monthly exam scores, no sterilization record, underdeveloped muscles, and a mountain of debt..."

Listening to Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu pouted. "Ah Zhen, you're not a good loser, are you? Resorting to personal attacks now."

Seeing Zhang Yu's smug expression, Bai Zhenzhen couldn't resist grabbing his shoulder and pressing him. "Why the hell aren't you telling me what kind of cheat you used? Tell me, quick! Did you borrow money to bribe the staff and comprehend the Martial Arts Diagram ahead of time?"

Zhang Yu chuckled at Bai Zhenzhen's visibly jealous, contorted face. "Keep going, Ah Zhen. Watching the unsightly defeat of you weaklings is my current pleasure."

As the two were talking, Qian Shen walked over from nearby. He looked at Zhang Yu with a solemn expression and asked, "Do you intentionally perform poorly on your exams?"

The trial of the Heavenly Martial Arts Diagram had made Qian Shen more resilient to high scorers. But the fact that a low scorer could outperform him utterly astonished him. Seeing Zhang Yu shake his head in denial, Qian Shen retorted unwillingly, "Impossible! If you're not intentionally doing poorly, why are your talent and scores so mismatched?"

"Hmm?" Zhang Yu pondered for a moment before saying, "Exams can't truly reveal a person's full potential, can they...?"

Qian Shen, however, interrupted Zhang Yu immediately, exclaiming, "Impossible! The college entrance exam and the six major high school courses were tailored by the Ten Great Sects specifically to evaluate high school students. This system has been verified and refined by countless experts and powerful individuals; it is already the optimal, most scientific, and most enlightened method for assessing a person! Every subject, every single point, perfectly reflects the comprehensive disparities between people, including bloodline superiority and inferiority, regional disadvantages, and even incomplete evolution..."

Watching Qian Shen's utterly serious demeanor, Zhang Yu realized he had completely misjudged him. *This guy isn't just a simple score-discriminator,* Zhang Yu thought. *He's evolved from discriminating based on scores to discriminating based on bloodline, region, and even race. He's become a proponent of a score-based caste system, hasn't he?* In essence, according to Qian Shen, high scores indicated brilliance, elite status, superiority, and confidence, while low scores signified worthlessness. This was the worldview he had cultivated over many years, the very foundation of his confidence as a high-achieving student, and arguably the unspoken rule of all prestigious high schools.

"Hmph, if you're unwilling to admit it, so be it. But I'll inform the school about what happened here. I hope you show your true capabilities in the next monthly exam and don't get an 'incomplete evolution' score like 550 again."

Watching Qian Shen walk away, Zhang Yu felt as if he had been insulted, and yet not.

Bai Zhenzhen, standing nearby, nodded thoughtfully. "Among all that nonsense he spouted, there's one point you should actually pay attention to. The school will certainly be aware of what happened here, and they'll probably approach you about a contract."

"A contract?" Zhang Yu asked, looking at Ah Zhen curiously. He had vaguely heard about this before, but he never truly understood the details.

Bai Zhenzhen explained, "You know, not everyone in high school is as wealthy as Qian Shen's family. Many students who are poor but have excellent grades and talent need someone to invest in them. And the school itself is one of those investors. Typically, after the start of the second year of high school, a selection of outstanding students will be made based on their first-year performance and grades. Contracts will be signed, and money invested in them. Of course, there are also a very few students who are so exceptionally brilliant and outstanding that, to prevent others from signing them first, the school approaches them about contracts during their first year of high school." At this, Bai Zhenzhen puffed out her chest. "Like me."

Zhang Yu asked, "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at Zhang Yu, as if to say, *Didn't you realize how unimpressive you were back then?* Bai Zhenzhen continued, "Given your performance at the exhibition, the school will definitely approach you about a contract. As for whether to sign it or not..."

Seeing the conflicted expression on Bai Zhenzhen's face, Zhang Yu asked, "Is deciding whether to sign that difficult?"

Bai Zhenzhen sighed. "It's not that it's difficult to choose. In fact, based on individual circumstances, it's quite simple to decide whether or not to sign. The real difficulty lies in whether one's self-perception is accurate or flawed." Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu and asked earnestly, "For example, what kind of 'cheat' did you use when comprehending the Heavenly Martial Arts Diagram this time?" However, mid-sentence, Bai Zhenzhen waved a hand. "Never mind. It's a rule that 'mother and son don't ask about cheats,' so you don't have to tell me. In short, if you are absolutely confident and determined to get into one of the top ten universities, then don't sign this contract now. Conversely, if you're not confident about getting into the top ten and just want to attend an ordinary university, then go ahead and sign the contract, as long as it's not too disadvantageous."

Zhang Yu listened, deep in thought, and then asked a few more questions about the school and contract details.

Moments after their conversation, someone else approached Zhang Yu: a charming and lovely young woman. "Hello there, you were so cool just now. Can I get your contact information?"

Similar incidents had occurred numerous times since Zhang Yu had comprehended the Heavenly Martial Arts Diagram; even Lian Tianji from Ziyun High School had asked for his contact details. Zhang Yu had gradually grown accustomed to this. With a sigh, he added her. "Haha, so even pretty girls are approaching me now?"

Zhang Yu asked, "Which school are you from?"

She replied, "I'm Wu Qingqing from Saintess College, from the advanced class."

Zhang Yu's face suddenly stiffened. In this Kunxu world, someone who *looks* like a man isn't necessarily male, but a student from the advanced class of a *women's* college... that person must have been male before. Wu Qingqing seemed to notice Zhang Yu's change in expression and smiled slightly. "Oh, you're quite old-fashioned in your thinking, aren't you? Do you think everyone in our class just got into a top high school through a loophole and their actual grades are abysmal? Let me tell you, several of the top scholars in my class are certainly no worse than you. You'll see in the next city-wide exam."

Zhang Yu watched her retreating back, speechless. *No, is that really what I was thinking about? Kunxu... this wretched place, even transgender people have to be judged by their scores first, huh?*

"Congratulations." Zhou Tianyi walked over from the side. "Did you sign a contract with True Immortal Jindan?"

Zhang Yu looked at Zhou Tianyi, suddenly realizing that the other boy had seemed completely unnoticed in front of the Heavenly Martial Arts Diagram just moments ago.

For the rest of the event, Zhang Yu continued his security duties while exchanging a few words with guests, both familiar and unfamiliar. As his security duties for the day concluded, his savings increased by 1,600 and 10,000 yuan, soaring to a total of 13,300. After paying off the remaining 5,000 yuan of his loan for the month, Zhang Yu's account balance dropped to 8,300, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about debt collectors for a while.