Chapter 248: Come out, my backup potential! Help me build the foundation!

Mr. Wang's words were filled with kindness, but Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen felt a chilling cold seep into their bones.

"This guy..." Zhang Yu thought to himself, "From start to finish, he never intended for us to spend this money as we pleased."

"Even if we had gathered the money to purchase a Heavenly Spiritual Root several months in advance, we would still need his approval."

"Therefore... in reality, from nine months ago, from the moment he transferred the money to us, we would need his consent and be under his watchful eye to establish our foundation."

"This guy has been playing us all along."

"No wonder he didn't seek a righteous deity as a witness when signing the contract... he simply had no intention of fully honoring it."

"We thought this would grant us more freedom, but it actually imposed the fewest restrictions on him."

Zhang Yu instantly understood. For the powerful families in Songyang City, having a righteous deity witness a contract was meant to ensure its enforcement.

However, for a high-ranking individual like Wang Yin, his wealth and influence alone were sufficient to ensure the contract's execution in this realm. Having a righteous deity witness it would only serve to constrain him.

Furthermore, actions like monitoring and freezing others' accounts undoubtedly involved illicit operations, but Wang Yin clearly had the backing of righteous deities to accomplish this.

At this moment, Zhang Yu felt that all the cultivation resources he had amassed over the past nine months to pursue Heavenly Spiritual Root foundation establishment were now firmly under Wang Yin's control.

Zhang Yu suppressed his anger and explained, "Zhenzhen wants me to hold onto the money for her before she changes her physical body."

Mr. Wang advised, "It's just a change of physical body, not death. There's no need for such complications."

"I'm keeping an eye on your account's security; there's no need to worry."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen felt an overwhelming pressure surge over them.

Over the past nine months, Wang Yin had continuously influenced and guided them, as if subtly binding them with chains.

Now, those chains began to tighten one by one, like suffocating layers of pressure, aiming to tightly suppress him and Bai Zhenzhen, keeping them firmly within his grasp.

However, the greater the pressure, the more Zhang Yu felt the visualized crippled ox in his mind stir to life.

Everything they experienced today was like a thunderclap, completely jolting the crippled ox awake, causing it to struggle, thrash, and roar.

And in this familiar sensation, Zhang Yu felt his brain, muscles, and blood flow becoming increasingly active.

Oasis Tower, 1111th Floor.

Wang Yin hung up the phone and mused, "That kid, Zhang Yu... what exactly is he trying to pull?"

"I thought he had learned his lesson."

"Now it seems he's learned to put on an act for me?"

"A sudden large transfer like that... is he trying to establish his foundation early? Planning something behind my back?"

After a moment of thought, Wang Yin remained uneasy about Bai Zhenzhen.

After all, Bai Zhenzhen was the 'asset' he had promised to the higher-ups, so there could be no mishaps.

He then instructed Chi He, who was outside, "Go to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's apartment and bring Bai Zhenzhen here."

Chi He nodded in assent and respectfully departed.

A moment later, he arrived at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's luxurious apartment with a team of personnel.

He casually swiped his phone, and the apartment door automatically opened, allowing them to enter without any obstruction.

However, after a thorough search, Chi He's brows immediately furrowed. He called Wang Yin: "Mr. Wang, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are gone."

Wang Yin's gaze sharpened as he commanded, "Dispatch personnel to guard all major entry and exit points in Songyang City."

"Go after them yourself, and inform me of any support you require."

On the street.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen watched the surveillance footage on their phone, recorded by the cameras they had placed in their apartment.

Watching Chi He leading the team on the screen, Bai Zhenzhen frowned and said, "Wang Yin has indeed grown suspicious."

"They can't find us now, so next they'll likely mobilize their forces for a city-wide search."

Zhang Yu pulled Bai Zhenzhen and ran towards the outskirts, saying, "Let's go! With righteous deities assisting them, they must already be tracking us."

Bai Zhenzhen fumed, "Wang Yin... not only does he monitor and freeze accounts, but he also sends people to apprehend us at the slightest hint of trouble?"

Fuji analyzed, "This guy is different from Zhou Chechen, Zhou Yang, or Song Xu, whom you've encountered previously."

"Your previous adversaries, to varying degrees, had to adhere to the rules of this realm."

"As for Wang Yin, once he descends to this realm, his aim is to completely disregard its rules."

"Many of this realm's rules are mere paper to him."

"Damn it... I swear, even evil deities are more law-abiding than he is."

At this moment, Zhang Yu profoundly understood why Kunxu strictly controlled the descent of upper-level individuals to the lower realm.

Just one young master descending caused such lawlessness; if several more were to arrive... who knows what chaos this realm would descend into.

When the rules of this realm have limited effect on such individuals, achieving their objectives through the simplest and most direct means often becomes their preferred approach.

At that instant, Zhang Yu felt... Wang Yin was like a colossal beast, relentlessly pressing him from behind, clearly not intending to give him any opportunity.

However, the greater the pressure, the faster Zhang Yu felt his cultivation technique operate, and the visualized crippled ox in his mind seemed to grow more agitated.

"We can't just sit here and wait to be caught. If we keep running like this, they'll eventually catch up."

Running, Zhang Yu dialed Deng Bingding's contact. "About what we discussed earlier... I agree to it."

"Act immediately; send all your personnel to Songyang City."

Deng Bingding replied, "Righteous deities can only provide support at the network level; they cannot directly descend and participate in this battle."

"Outsourced personnel capable of combat are currently working overtime across this realm. It will take approximately six hours for them to gather in Songyang City and form an effective fighting force."

Although he knew that gathering forces from over 20 million square kilometers within six hours in this realm was not slow, given his current predicament, Zhang Yu couldn't help but inwardly lament how slow it was.

Zhang Yu couldn't help but blurt out, "I've run into trouble here; I'm currently being pursued by people from Oasis Group."

Deng Bingding frowned, wondering, "Did Wang Yin discover our plan? Did Zhang Yu give something away? Or did someone on our side secretly relay information?"

Deng Bingding was momentarily unsure but knew this was not the time for such thoughts.

She then said, "I'll dispatch members of the patrol team to cover you and buy us some time."

"You must hold out until our personnel are fully assembled before making your move."

Zhang Yu responded, "Then I have a few additional requests."

"I need what we agreed upon earlier, immediately."

"I also require a secret account, along with an interest-free loan of 60 million."

"And I need you to help me conceal my tracks..."

Listening to Zhang Yu's exorbitant demands, Deng Bingding calmly replied, "I can open a secret account for you right away, and I will also arrange for its protection."

"As for the funds... our budget has been significantly depleted recently."

At this point, Deng Bingding thought of True Man Spark, who had been earning substantial overtime pay recently, as well as numerous other outsourced employees.

She continued, "I can approve an interest-free loan of up to 25 million. Anything more would require approval, which would take approximately five to ten business days."

Zhang Yu frowned slightly, inwardly deeming it too slow.

"I can't just wait for the righteous deities' support; that's akin to waiting for death."

"I need to find a way to establish my foundation quickly and gain stronger combat capabilities."

"It seems that at this point, the only way is to fully unleash both my and Zhenzhen's immortal potential to aid me in establishing a Heavenly Spiritual Root foundation."

Meanwhile, Chi He was leading over a dozen peak Qi Refinement realm experts, tracking Zhang Yu's movements.

A constant stream of surveillance screenshots, mobile signal data, and network data flowed to him, bringing Chi He progressively closer to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

Within the team, Ye Mantian's face was alight with excitement. Although he didn't know how Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had offended Mr. Wang, the thought of the impending capture made him feel his chance to redeem himself had finally arrived.

Following the tracking data, their group moved to surround the area from all sides, but they soon discovered that the location marked on their phones was completely empty.

Chi He frowned, asking, "What's happening?"

A righteous deity's voice came through his phone: "Other righteous deities are providing cover for them."

"It doesn't matter, though; the entire Songyang City is my eyes and ears. They can generate some false data, but not all of it."

"They won't be able to hide."

Within the divine power network, as righteous deities from both sides made their moves, data related to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen flickered in and out of existence.

While this data was a mixture of truth and falsehood, constantly shifting, through cross-referencing a large volume of surveillance data within Songyang City, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's escape route was eventually pinpointed, bit by bit.

But just then, a group of Songyang Patrol Team members intercepted them.

"Routine inspection. Please cooperate."

Chi He stated, "I'm quite familiar with your captain..."

The other party coldly replied, "Please cooperate."

Chi He said, "Then, if I make a call, that's acceptable, isn't it?"

"To Mr. Wang."

Without waiting for their consent, he had already dialed Wang Yin's number.

Upon hearing the name 'Mr. Wang,' the patrol team members present instinctively ceased their actions, silently waiting for Chi He to finish his call.

Inside the sewers.

With the interest-free loan approved by Deng Bingding now in their secret account, the funds reached 25 million. However, this sum was still far from the 58 million required for a Heavenly Spiritual Root.

Thus, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen quickly moved through the sewers, simultaneously operating their phones to download one loan application after another.

Bai Zhenzhen's fingers moved in a blur across her phone as she said, "Yu Zi, I've found another one here that can yield 300,000."

Zhang Yu tapped the link shared by the other party and said, "Hmm, I just got 250,000 approved from 'Anxin Loan'; you should give it a try too."

Last year, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had nearly exhausted their immortal potential, almost maxing out all their borrowing limits.

However, with the acquisition of their Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificates and the publicity from Oasis Group, their immortal potential had dramatically surged! It had exploded! It had vigorously increased!

Now, as they fully exerted themselves, their immensely potent immortal potential was continuously stimulated and channeled into Zhang Yu's body.

Through these operations, the funds in the secret account, representing Zhang Yu's current immortal potential, rapidly surged, quickly rising from 25 million to 28 million... then 30 million... then 40 million... seemingly drawing closer to the requirement for establishing a Heavenly Spiritual Root foundation.

However, the total ultimately stopped at 43 million.

Bai Zhenzhen looked at the 43 million figure and frowned. "We've borrowed from every platform we possibly could. We're still short at least 15 million if we want to buy a Heavenly Spiritual Root for foundation establishment."

Zhang Yu, standing beside her, frowned deeply. A moment later, his eyes suddenly lit up. "No... there's still more."

"You forgot we have a reserve of immortal potential."

Inside Bailong High School.

Yu Xinghan glanced at his vibrating phone, seeing a message from Zhang Yu: "I am Zhang Yu, the strongest high school student in Kunxu's First Realm. I'm currently facing an emergency and need to establish a Heavenly Spiritual Root foundation. I'm short some funds for this urgent situation. Lend me money now, and I will repay 1.3 times the amount later."

"Insane," Yu Xinghan cursed inwardly, turning off his phone screen.

However, a moment later, he still called and asked, "Hello? Has your account been hacked?"

Upon confirming it was indeed Zhang Yu on the other end, and that he genuinely needed to borrow money, Yu Xinghan hung up.

He then thought for a moment before finally picking up his phone. "You damn well better repay 1.3 times the amount."

"This million-plus is my hard-earned money."

Inside Ziyun High School.

Le Mulan looked at the message on her phone, paused for a moment, then made a call to confirm its authenticity.

Then, as she transferred the money, she thought, "If Zhang Yu truly succeeds in establishing his foundation..."

"...then the materials on his person will be those of a Foundation Establishment Grandmaster."

At this thought, Le Mulan felt a slight thrill of excitement.

Qian Shen hung up his phone and looked at his parents. "Dad, Mom, I want to lend some money to Zhang Yu."

"Are you worried he might swindle us?"

"How could that be?"

"Underperforming students scoring below 550 might exaggerate."

"But competition champions scoring above 660 points, winners of the Foundation Establishment exam, are highly unlikely to lie."

"Investing in this strongest high school student from the college entrance exam system, I believe, is a guaranteed profit."

In the Spirit World.

Mo Tianyi sent a group message: "I've confirmed it; Zhang Yu urgently needs funds to achieve Foundation Establishment."

"Everyone's monthly salary has been disbursed, right? Those who have funds should lend some."

"After all, Zhang Yu is a rare genius who has risen from our humble ranks. It's not easy for him to establish his foundation..."

Inside the protected zone.

Xiong Wenwu, currently drawing energy from a spiritual vein, looked at his phone and said, "An An, I'll just transfer it to him. You keep your money safe."

An An retorted, unconvinced, "I just received my 2,500 salary! 1.3 times that is 3,250!"

Inside the temporary rental unit.

Zhao Tianxing's mother looked at the message from Zhang Yu, her initial excitement slowly giving way to calm.

Just then, Zhao Tianxing's voice suddenly came from the nearby computer: "Mom, call to confirm if it's real."

"If it truly is Zhang Yu messaging to borrow money, then lend him the funds you saved to buy my freedom."

"I trust Ah Yu's character."

"He will definitely repay 1.3 times the amount; we need that money."

At the corporate battleground.

True Man Spark looked at the message that appeared in his eye-bound artifact, somewhat surprised. "Borrowing money for Foundation Establishment? Did this guy really have a falling out with Wang Yin from Oasis?"

After confirming the message's authenticity, True Man Spark inwardly mused, "My disciple certainly has some grit."

He was about to transfer the money when he remembered that most of his funds were currently with his daughter.

So he sent a message to Li Xuelian: "Lend some money to Zhang Yu."