Chapter 234: Celebrating Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's Successful Acquisition of the Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate

After leaving the examination hall, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen boarded the return train.

Upon learning that both of them had successfully passed the Foundation Establishment certification, Fú Jī, who had been awakened, laughed heartily, "Excellent, excellent! I knew I hadn't misjudged you two. Now, all you need to do is complete your Foundation Establishment before entering university."

"That way, as soon as you enter university, you can enroll in a Foundation Establishment class, which is like having one foot already in the door for postgraduate studies."

Fú Jī felt a surge of excitement at this thought. What good was just attending university? Could one find a good job without pursuing postgraduate studies?

Hearing this, Zhang Yu frowned and whispered, "Foundation Establishment before university? You make it sound as easy as buying a medicine at the school gate."

Zhang Yu knew that Foundation Establishment required a spirit root to be integrated into one's dantian, making it a complete part of one's body. This meant he would need to acquire a spirit root.

Given his status as the strongest high school student in Kunxu's first layer, he would at least need a Heavenly Spirit Root for Foundation Establishment, right?

However, Heavenly Spirit Roots cost tens of millions. How many lessons would he have to teach for the Dark School Gang, or how many extra shifts at the Red Tower, to earn enough money to buy one before getting into university?

"But what about Ah Zhen..."

Seeing Zhang Yu's gaze, Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes and said, "No chance. I'll have to save up money too."

Zhang Yu understood her meaning. Although she possessed her own spirit root for Foundation Establishment, she was unwilling to let anyone know she was born with one.

Therefore, to conceal her innate spirit root, Bai Zhenzhen would have to save up money to buy a Heavenly Spirit Root to mask her true nature.

Fú Jī, however, smiled and continued in their minds, "Indeed, the higher the grade of the spirit root, the better the effect during Foundation Establishment. Zhang Yu, you'll definitely need a Heavenly Spirit Root."

"But the price of a Heavenly Spirit Root is something you currently can't afford."

"However, when did I say you had to bear the cost yourselves?"

"Didn't many university representatives come to observe your Foundation Establishment examination this time?"

"Universities also focus on enrollment performance. Good universities need to attract excellent students to maintain their competitiveness and rankings, while lesser universities also need good students to strive for higher ratings."

"Given your performance in this Foundation Establishment examination, those university representatives will certainly not be indifferent; they will definitely send people to contact you."

"Although they can't easily come down themselves, they should reach out to you through various companies."

"In any case, as long as you get their support, leverage their generous offers, and work harder to earn money yourselves, there's truly a chance you can complete Foundation Establishment before university."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly upon hearing this, recalling that Deng Bingding had also mentioned something similar before—that they would encounter early recruitment from universities.

Just then, Fú Jī reminded them, "The first thing you need to do right now is find any small city, disembark, and spend some time there to digest the gains from this Foundation Establishment examination and enhance your strength."

Bai Zhenzhen asked, "Aren't we going straight back to Songyang? Is this to make those representatives wait? To let them become aware of each other and drive up the price?"

Fú Jī smiled faintly, "That's only one aspect."

Zhang Yu's gaze sharpened, "Is it related to the Zhou family?"

Bai Zhenzhen also realized, "If someone among the high-ranking members of the Zhou family suspected we participated in the Foundation Establishment examination, then once they see many university representatives sending people to contact us, they might guess that we passed."

"They might have two reactions: either try to further mend their relationship with us,"

"Or... take direct action."

Having experienced numerous gang conflicts in the dark world of remedial classes, Bai Zhenzhen was acutely aware of how brutal struggles for survival and profit could be. Even if there was only a low chance of encountering a fight or a clash, extreme caution was necessary.

Zhang Yu added, "Especially since they might know our identities."

Although Zhang Yu didn't say the words "evil gods," Bai Zhenzhen understood what he meant.

As Fú Jī had analyzed before, the high-ranking members of the Zhou family likely knew of their identities as followers of evil gods.

Considering this, the other side might resort to more drastic measures.

After all, in conflicts between followers of evil gods, neither side dared to alert the righteous gods.

Zhang Yu said, "So you're worried they'll become desperate?"

Fú Jī replied, "I can't say for certain, but we must be prepared. There's no harm in being cautious."

"This is a good opportunity for you to use these days away to digest your gains and further improve your strength."

"During your absence, those looking for you at Songyang High School will wait there. The more people waiting for you, the more hesitant the Zhou family will be to act against you."

"You and Ah Zhen should even turn off your phones; there's no need to rush to contact them."

However, Zhang Yu's mind was still preoccupied with the Zhou family.

The existence of someone who might know his identity as an evil god follower always felt like a thorn in Zhang Yu's side.

Fú Jī stated, "To completely resolve the Zhou family's problem, you will ultimately have to rely on your own strength."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. He could use this time to cultivate one of the cultivation methods awarded from the Foundation Establishment examination. With the interest-free three million loan, he could also acquire another cultivation method.

This way, he would be able to complete the final layer of the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo.

While Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were cultivating in hiding outside,

At Ziyun High School,

Yue Mulan looked at the test report in her hand and exclaimed, "Is this Zhang Yu's sweat?"

Yue Jingchen corrected her, "It's a mix of your sweat and Zhang Yu's. Unfortunately, his sweat was contaminated by yours, otherwise its purity would likely be even higher."

Yue Mulan said with some surprise, "He's that impressive?"

Yue Jingchen sighed, "It must be a new technology from some company; this kid is clearly being used as a test subject."

"After all, he's someone who can sell his competition qualification. He probably doesn't plan on attending a good university, does he?"

Recalling the previous incident involving the Zhou family, especially the intervention of a Sixth-Rank God, Yue Jingchen speculated, "Perhaps he's taking the divine path? Maybe he'll become a vessel for some great deity."

Yue Mulan's gaze lowered slightly. For some reason, thinking of Zhang Yu's talent and how, due to his background, he wouldn't have the chance to get into the top ten universities, ultimately having to pursue the divine path and become material for a great deity's descent, she felt a sense of pity.

"Before I graduate from high school, I should ask him to train a few more times."

Just then, Yue Jingchen's phone rang. He answered it, slightly surprised, "Hmm... yes, I entered it into the database."

"Yes, that test subject from another company is named Zhang Yu."

"Contact him?"

After hanging up, Yue Jingchen looked up, puzzled. "Ziyun Pharmaceuticals... The call was from the Immortal Capital headquarters. They want me to contact Zhang Yu, saying someone from the head office wants to speak with him."

A flicker of doubt crossed Yue Mulan's eyes upon hearing it was a call from headquarters.

She knew the Immortal Capital headquarters wouldn't casually contact them unless it was something significant, especially not by directly calling Yue Jingchen at Ziyun High School.

Yue Mulan wondered, "Could Zhang Yu's condition really be an experiment by a competitor of Ziyun Pharmaceuticals? Do the higher-ups at Ziyun want to do something to Zhang Yu?"

At Yue Jingchen's signal, Yue Mulan called Zhang Yu, but the call didn't go through.

"No wonder they came to me," Yue Jingchen mused. "Is it because they couldn't get through to him either?"

After a moment of thought, Yue Jingchen said, "Go to Songyang High School. Contact me once you find him."

Inside Songyang High School.

Zhou Chechen, exuding a chilling aura, was cultivating his family's inherited martial art.

Recalling the events of the past few months, he felt his powerlessness time and again.

"I'm still too weak, just like Zhang Yu, merely a pawn swept up in the grand scheme, manipulated by others, unable to make my own choices."

A chilling glint flickered in Zhou Chechen's eyes at this thought. "But I'm different from Zhang Yu."

"Judging by his abandonment of the competition qualification, did he give up the chance to get into the top ten universities because the righteous god behind him forbade it?"

"He's destined to be a pawn his whole life, but I still have a chance."

"For the rest of my senior year, I will fight harder. I must get into one of the top ten universities."

"I refuse to be such a pawn anymore."

On the other side of the training ground, Lan Ling was also cultivating strenuously. It was unclear if he, like Zhou Chechen, had been stimulated, but he too was making a final sprint, hoping to secure a good ranking in the remaining senior year competitions to gain more opportunities to enter the top ten universities.

Just then, a roaring sound echoed through the sky.

Zhou Chechen looked out the window, puzzled, and saw a flying boat hovering above Songyang High School, from which several people disembarked.

But this seemed to be just the beginning. Shortly after the flying boat appeared, a streak of sword light pierced the sky and landed within the campus.

Some time later, luxury cars pulled up to the school gate.

One after another, people continued to enter Songyang High School.

Soon after, Zhou Chechen heard news that all the arrivals were reportedly from major corporations.

Xianyun Group, Tianwu Group, Xin Chuang Medical, Wanshou Livestock, Wanli Group... not only were they all from major companies, but they were also from their Immortal Capital headquarters.

Zhou Chechen was filled with surprise and uncertainty upon hearing this. "What are so many people from major corporations doing at Songyang High School?"

He truly couldn't fathom how a small school like Songyang High School could attract so much attention from major companies based in the Immortal Capital.

"Could someone have awakened a spirit root?"

"It can't be that someone owes debts to all these major corporations, can it?"

Zhou Chechen quickly sent more students to inquire and learned that the representatives from these major companies had been escorted to the conference room, where the principal and several school leaders were currently hosting them.

While Zhou Chechen was utterly perplexed, the principal actually sent someone to fetch him, asking him to join in hosting the company representatives as the student council president.

Entering the conference room, facing over a dozen company representatives, and considering the more than ten major corporations they represented, Zhou Chechen felt he instantly shrunk by a third in their presence.

He could especially sense that these company representatives were by no means ordinary employees. The aura of wealth emanating from them was overwhelming, and their condescending attitudes were identical to those of the legendary Immortal Capital gentlemen.

One woman, smiling, looked at him and said, "You must be the student council president, right? Hello, I'm Zhang Bi from Tianwu Group. Do you happen to know where Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen went?"

"Zhang Yu? Bai Zhenzhen?" Zhou Chechen was slightly taken aback. "You're here for Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen?"

Zhang Bi smiled and said, "That's right. There are some things we wanted to discuss with them, but we just can't reach them."

At this, she glared at someone in the crowd. "Some people couldn't hold back and came directly to the school, making us all come here, only to find that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are absent on leave."

"You're the student council president. Do you know where he went? Or do you know any students who are close to him and could contact him?"

Upon hearing her question, even with Zhou Chechen's extensive life experience, he was momentarily stunned, unsure what to say.

The principal next to them asked, "Distinguished guests, what exactly is it you need from Zhang Yu? Perhaps we can assist you."

The company representatives smiled silently, none of them speaking.

They couldn't possibly tell the principal that they had all been rushed here by an order from their higher-ups.

Nor could they reveal that their companies had been assigned by the universities above them.

They remained completely silent about the Foundation Establishment examination, which was a long-standing unspoken agreement among the top powers in Kunxu's first layer.

Although these representatives were company employees, they all came from influential Immortal Capital families, and no one would rashly break this unwritten rule.

In their minds, they were supposed to discreetly meet with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, have a discussion, and reach an agreement.

They had no idea which company's rash individual had prematurely stormed into Songyang High School.

The head of academic affairs, from the other side, interjected, "I know Zhang Yu is excellent, but if you're looking for outstanding students, our school has other excellent students besides Zhang Yu, such as our student council president, Zhou Chechen..."

Just as the head of academic affairs was trying to promote his own students, a chuckle could be heard from among the company representatives.

It was unclear who had started it, but it caused all the other company representatives to burst into laughter.

The faculty and staff of Songyang High School watched the representatives laughing, utterly bewildered, unsure what they had said wrong, and could only offer awkward smiles in return.

Zhou Chechen felt like a clown at that moment, being freely scrutinized and mocked under the gaze of powerful corporate representatives, yet utterly powerless.

The woman who had spoken earlier reiterated, "We are only looking for Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, no one else. If you don't know where they are, please call in a few students who are close to them."

Just then, another commotion erupted, and a strange sound seemed to come from the sky.

Those familiar with the sound of flying swords recognized it as at least hundreds of flying swords streaking through the sky.

"Is this a damn war?" someone exclaimed in shock. "Is this also a battlefield for corporate warfare?"

Some leaped out the window, while others flashed out into the corridor. For a moment, it was like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each demonstrating their unique abilities.

Then, the company representatives, along with Zhou Chechen and other students, saw hundreds of flying swords slice through the sky, their sword lights gleaming, forming a line of text in the air.

"Oasis Group CEO Wang Congratulates Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen on successfully passing their Foundation Establishment Qualification Exam! May your future be vast, and your ascent sky-high!"

Looking at the words, the company representatives knew that some long-standing unwritten rules were about to be completely shattered.