Chapter 159: Participating in the First Round of Foundation Establishment Exams (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 159: Taking the First Round of Foundation‑Building Exams (Seeking Monthly Ticket)

Under Fu Ji’s guidance, Zhang Yu placed a half‑burned candle in the middle of a stool, set a mobile phone behind it, flanked the phone with two lit flashlights, and then wound a length of cord around the stool to form a circle.

After the ritual was arranged, Zhang Yu asked with a hint of disbelief, “Is this ceremony really reliable?”

Fu Ji snorted coldly, “On the entire first floor of Kunxu, no one knows rituals better than I do. What trouble could arise?”

“Even if there is a problem, it could only be that the materials you prepared are of poor quality.”

“Enough. Follow my instructions now and launch the ceremony directly!”

At Fu Ji’s command, Zhang Yu paced along the corded ring, while the mysterious incantation she recited drifted into his ears.

In the next instant, as the half‑burnt incense on the altar turned to ash, a filament of exceedingly fine divine energy shimmered above the ritual.

Fu Ji barked low, “Insect, insect, seize the shadow, heavens and earth’s power, swift as the law!”

That faint divine force suddenly exuded a sinister aura, which Fu Ji temporarily harnessed.

Listening to Fu Ji’s voice, Zhang Yu sensed that she seemed on the brink of exhaustion.

Clearly, the frail evil deity she had described was in a pitiful state, causing the very ceremony before them to tremble.

In the next heartbeat, that divine power slipped into Zhang Yu’s shadow.

A guttural roar echoed from within the shadow.

Immediately, a black little worm struggled its way out.

After a long stalemate between Fu Ji’s controlled power and the black worm, she let out a light snort and strained to shout, “Hmph, disperse for me!”

In the following moment, the black worm thrashed once more before gradually disintegrating.

From its body erupted countless black sigils, billowing like dense smoke before Zhang Yu’s eyes.

Zhang Yu asked, “What is this?”

“This is a Shadow‑Worm,” Fu Ji replied wearily. “A Shadow‑Worm, in essence, is a tool forged from condensed evil deity power.”

Fu Ji inhaled deeply, and the sky‑filled sigils surged into her body, where she absorbed them completely.

She continued, “The one who initiates the ritual uses the Shadow‑Worm to gather intelligence and to transmit it.”

“Thus, commands must be inscribed within the Shadow‑Worm itself.”

“Those commands not only detail how to collect information, but also how to convey it.”

“A careful analysis will reveal exactly who is watching you.”

After a while, Fu Ji smiled faintly, “The analysis is nearly done; I now know how the opponent transmits messages.”

“The next time you step into the spirit realm, I can disguise a Shadow‑Worm to feed them false intel and, in the process, uncover who they truly are.”

Another thing that pleased Fu Ji was that, after absorbing the evil deity power contained in that Shadow‑Worm, she finally regained a sliver of strength.

Fu Ji thought to herself, “With this, the next time I accompany Zhang Yu to the exam, my safety will be greatly enhanced.”

Zhang Yu said, “Among you evil deities, are there any unspoken rules? For instance, what do you do when you discover each other? Do you launch an endless war, or can you sit down and talk?”

Fu Ji replied, “We evil deities are quite reasonable; we do distinguish right from wrong.”

“When we encounter the weak, we devour them in a single bite.”

“When we meet the strong, we turn and flee.”

“When we face an equal, we locate their address and send them a take‑out order as a warning.”

Zhang Yu curled his lip and said, “Indeed, you are reasonable.”

Zhang Yu continued, “Then, after you breach the spirit realm next time, try not to alarm them; feed them false intel while you ascertain their strength, position, manpower…”

Fu Ji answered, “Do I need to spell that out? Once your power grows and the moment is ripe, we’ll have our colleague ripped apart alive.”

……

In the basement.

Song Xu slowly removed his spirit‑realm mask, thinking, “The Shadow‑Worm has been successfully planted.”

“Now we wait for Zhang Yu and his companions to log into the spirit realm again.”

“Then we’ll learn exactly what secrets you hide.”

“If we can seize those secrets, capture the evil deity behind you, and rekindle your potential…”

A glimmer of anticipation shone in Song Xu’s eyes, “Then I have over ninety percent confidence of making the top ten.”

……

Early August.

In the days that followed, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen threw themselves into frenzied cultivation, making final preparations for the first‑round exams in mid‑August.

That day the two entered a livestream studio, acting as spokespeople alongside Yu Xinghan to promote Xianyun Group’s new body‑refining surgery.

The sales host slapped a sound and hurled two pieces of muscle into the camera’s view.

“Two pectoral muscles!”

Then several larger muscle chunks were tossed up.

“Now eight abdominal muscles!”

“Now the lumbar, trapezius, deltoid, latissimus…”

As the muscle piles rose like tiny mountains, the host shouted, “All together this many faux‑demon muscles—how much can we sell in today’s stream?”

“All 299,000, taken!”

“All of it uses Xianyun Group’s latest technology, no hospitalization required—again, no hospitalization needed. Everyone go to a clinic, have the muscle excised, send it to us; we’ll culture it and ship it back. Once you implant it, you’ll wield the potential of a competition champion!”

“Moreover, we offer a one‑to‑ten fake‑guarantee—no beast meat masquerading as faux‑demon muscle.”

“If any piece is counterfeit, we’ll pay you ten times its value!”

On the way out of the studio, Zhang Yu asked Yu Xinghan curiously, “That faux‑demon muscle tech seems a bit off today, doesn’t it?”

Yu Xinghan replied, “It’s different, huh? Isn’t that obvious? Under three hundred thousand, how could it be the original tech? It’s just a degraded version of a degraded version, meant for those who can’t afford the real thing. Not everyone can have the best.”

Zhang Yu opened his mouth, thought of the 200,000 endorsement fee already in his account, considered his role as spokesperson, and ultimately said nothing.

……

Inside the apartment.

Zhang Yu was wiping the sweat from the floor.

This was a task he performed after each training session at Le Mu Lan’s insistence, lest any of her sweat be spilled.

In front of him, Le Mu Lan said lightly, “Last month’s electricity bill was eighty thousand yuan.”

“What exactly are you doing in this room? Growing herbs?”

Zhang Yu was taken aback and replied perfunctorily, “Hmm, some training equipment consumes a lot of power.”

“Don’t worry—soon the bill won’t be that high.”

Zhang Yu felt the surging mana within him, aided by his spiritual veins and medicines; his magical power was accelerating at a breakneck pace, already surging toward ninety units.

In his mind, Zhang Yu thought, “It won’t be long before I no longer have to practice those daily light‑breathing exercises.”

In the next instant, a sharp pang seized his chest.

Le Mu Lan, noticing Zhang Yu clutching his chest, furrowed her brow and asked, “Is it a side effect of the medicine?”

“From what I’ve observed, you—lacking super‑metabolism—have been taking a rather excessive dosage of the drug these past two months,” she replied.

“I suggest you pause for a while,” she advised.

“Anyway… you needn’t chase the extreme so relentlessly.”

Le Mu Lan’s thoughts were simple: Zhang Yu would no longer enter competitions nor sit for the top ten exams, so why push his cultivation to such limits?

Zhang Yu nodded slowly, replying, “Rest assured, I know my own body; it’s not yet at any limit.”

In his mind he mused, “It’s not my body that’s nearing its brink, but my wallet; in a few days even the medicine will be beyond my reach.”

……

Mid‑August.

At last, the day before the first foundation‑building exam arrived.

On the train bound for the Celestial City…

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen sat in silent breath, gathering mana, stamina, and spirit.

After a fortnight of relentless sprint, Zhang Yu’s power surged anew—his mana rose to 87.75, and his physical strength to level 8.06.

His Dao‑heart finally breached the sixth tier, reaching 6 % (18 % of the full ascent).

“in just half a month it will be September, and I will officially be a second‑year high school student,” he thought.

In his mind Zhang Yu whispered, “By then, at this level, I should surpass most newcomers to the third year of the White Dragon clan, shouldn’t I?”

Though he had met his self‑set goal, a smile did not grace Zhang Yu’s face; his sights were no longer ordinary White Dragons but the elite super‑students of the Celestial City.

Yet beyond his meteoric strength, Zhang Yu’s purse hemorrhaged, dwindling to a mere fifty thousand yuan.

Clearly, in his quest to pass the upcoming first foundation exam, he gave no thought to earning or saving money.

After all, in his view, if he didn’t seize every moment to boost his power and secure passage through the first exam, any saved coin would be meaningless…

“Regardless of the outcome, we’ll have to find a way to earn more money on the way back,” he declared.

As the train sped onward, the floating metropolis of Celestial City reappeared in Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s view.

Stepping off the train, beneath a brooding sky, Bai Zhenzhen asked, “Yuzi, how much do you have left in your account?”

Zhang Yu replied, “Fifty thousand yuan.”

Bai Zhenzhen nodded, “I have forty thousand. Do you know what that means?”

Zhang Yu asked, puzzled, “What does it mean?”

Bai Zhenzhen said, “It means we’re so broke we’ll barely manage next month’s loan repayment.”

“And the drugs we’ve been pounding lately are beginning to show their side effects,” she added.

“Both health and finances, the pressure and risk, have reached unprecedented heights,” she warned.

Zhang Yu gave a slight nod; under the crushing weight of loans, exams, balances, and drug side effects, and with the Residual Oxen Body‑Mind Technique humming, he felt his blood surge and his body stir with a fierce exhilaration.

Bai Zhenzhen continued, “…but it also shows that our celestial Dao potential has been fully awakened.”

“We are terrifyingly strong now, incomparable to who we were two months ago,” she declared.

“We will certainly pass this first round,” she affirmed.

Amid the colossal risk, the Cold‑Soul Ice‑Heart Technique roared in Bai Zhenzhen’s mind, her muscles, nerves, and brain igniting with heightened vigor.

Having spoken, the two slipped into separate stalls of the men’s and women’s restrooms.

As they opened a webpage and clicked “Enter,” a massive void opened beneath their feet, swallowing them both without a trace.

Seeking a monthly ticket

(End of Chapter)