Preparation and a New Job

Stationery shops outside school gates always sold all kinds of things students needed.

The stationery shop outside Songyang High School was no exception.

Besides all kinds of stationery, the enormous display cabinet behind the owner looked like something out of a pharmacy, stocked with everything high school students might need, from tranquilizers and stimulants to focus potions.

Zhang Yu leaned over the counter with both hands and asked, "Boss, do you have any Nerve Filler?"

The owner, who was scrolling through his phone, did not even look up. "Do you want the expensive kind or the cheap kind?"

"I'm a student. Can you sell me the expensive kind for cheaper?"

The owner finally raised his head and gave Zhang Yu a sidelong glance.

Zhang Yu did not care in the slightest. "I'm tenth in the first-year Class One, a big name on campus. If your medicine works well for me, my classmates will definitely come here to buy it too."

The owner twitched his lips, pulled out a box of medicine from the cabinet, and set it before Zhang Yu. "Purple Cloud Company's Nerve Filler. Guaranteed to let you get by on just twenty minutes of sleep a day. Five hundred a box. I'll give it to you for four eighty this time."

Zhang Yu picked up the box and examined it. "No freebies?"

The owner frowned, then pulled out a few painkillers. "These are free."

Zhang Yu chuckled and stuffed the painkillers into his pocket. "Thanks, Boss. Then can I skip buying the Nerve Filler?"

Seeing the owner's face darken, Zhang Yu scanned the payment code beside him. "Just kidding. I'm paying right now."

As he picked up the Nerve Filler from the counter, Zhang Yu felt a stab of pain in his heart.

One box would only last a week, yet it had cost him a full 480. His account balance had instantly dropped to just over 1,700.

But Zhang Yu believed it was all worth it.

Since he had already decided to enter the Magic Competition, he intended to give it everything he had. For the next week, he would not sleep at all and would devote himself completely to cultivating the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method.

"Heh heh, my goal isn't just the top ten in the year."

Meanwhile, Zhao Tianxing followed him into the stationery shop. Watching Zhang Yu buy medicine and leave, he thought to himself, Was that really Nerve Filler?

He followed Zhang Yu out of the shop and along the street. But when they reached a corner, he suddenly discovered that Zhang Yu was already standing there waiting for him.

"H-Hello, Zhang Yu." Zhao Tianxing said awkwardly, "What a coincidence. You take this route too?"

Zhang Yu looked at him and asked, "Why are you following me?"

Zhao Tianxing scratched his scalp and played dumb. "Following you? I take this road after school too."

Zhang Yu said impatiently, "Take a look at yourself."

"You're over two meters tall and more than three hundred pounds. I spotted you the moment I left the cafeteria."

"What exactly do you want?"

Naturally, Zhao Tianxing could not tell him that the Sports Teacher, Wang Hai, had sent him to get close to Zhang Yu and investigate where he got his supplies.

So Zhao Tianxing scratched his scalp again and said somewhat sheepishly, "Zhang Yu, I think you're really outstanding. I wanted to follow you around and learn from you."

Looking at the shy eighteen-year-old boy before him, who weighed over three hundred pounds, Zhang Yu thought, Come on... your social skills are still stuck in elementary school, aren't they?

After thinking it over, Zhang Yu said, "Sure. As long as you buy me fried chicken, you can follow me around as much as you want."

Feeling wave after wave of cold dread rise within him, along with the countdown relentlessly urging him on in his mind, Zhang Yu knew he could not linger any longer.

He walked forward helplessly and waved a hand. "Let's talk while we walk."

Following behind him, Zhao Tianxing said with a troubled expression, "You want fried chicken? That's a huge taboo for Body Tempering. Teacher Wang told us not to eat it. Can't we get chicken breast instead?"

"Relax, I'm not asking you to eat it. Just buy it for me." Thinking of the taste of fried chicken, Zhang Yu could not help wiping the saliva from the corner of his mouth.

Ever since coming to this world, he had eaten the poor man's health meals from the high school cafeteria three times a day. He had not had food like fried chicken in a long time.

And his daily grueling cultivation had kept piling pressure inside him. He had no time to relax, nor did he dare spend even one extra penny.

Now that he thought about getting fried chicken soon, Zhang Yu felt much lighter inside, as if some of the pressure had melted away.

Zhao Tianxing followed him onto the subway and then off again. Seeing him arrive outside a fried chicken shop, he asked curiously, "You came this far for this shop. It must be especially delicious, right?"

"Because it's on the way."

Unfortunately, the moment Zhang Yu stepped into the fried chicken shop and lingered, the damned countdown sounded in his mind again.

He could only say to Zhao Tianxing, "Buy me a fried chicken set. I'll wait here."

Watching Zhang Yu sit down on the spot and begin meditating, Zhao Tianxing scratched his head, unable to make sense of the situation.

A little later, as he watched Zhang Yu happily gnawing on a fried chicken drumstick by the roadside, Zhao Tianxing found the whole thing even stranger.

He's so disciplined that he even uses queueing time for Breath Circulation, yet he wants to eat fried chicken... What a strange person.

What surprised Zhao Tianxing even more as he continued following Zhang Yu was that Zhang Yu did not go to a tutoring class, nor did he go buy medicine. Instead, he came to a plaza to wait for temporary work.

"You're looking for a job?"

Zhang Yu rubbed his stomach, found a clean patch of ground, and comfortably sat down. He waved a hand. "One meal of fried chicken doesn't buy conversation. I'm going to cultivate while waiting for work, so do whatever you want."

Watching Zhang Yu start Breath Circulation right there on the ground, Zhao Tianxing froze again. "Breath Circulation?" He looked at the sewage not far away, listened to the noisy music coming from the barbershop across the street, then looked at the job seekers around them, all of whom clearly looked like people not to be messed with. He could not help asking again, "Here?"

But Zhang Yu had already devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method and did not respond to him this time.

Zhao Tianxing squatted beside Zhang Yu and observed him carefully for a while. Once he confirmed that Zhang Yu was genuinely practicing Breath Circulation, even more doubts rose in his heart. What benefit is there to doing Breath Circulation here?

Is he just cultivating while waiting for work?

After waiting for a while and seeing no sign that Zhang Yu intended to get up, Zhao Tianxing was wondering whether he should leave when his phone vibrated.

Seeing Wang Hai's message asking about the situation, Zhao Tianxing replied that he was getting close to Zhang Yu. After hesitating for a long time, he finally sat down beside him and began Breath Circulation as well.

Half an hour later, Zhao Tianxing could not help opening his eyes. Zhang Yu was still practicing Breath Circulation.

An hour later, Zhao Tianxing could not help standing up, walking around, and stretching. When he turned back, Zhang Yu was still practicing Breath Circulation.

More than two hours later, Zhao Tianxing had long since stopped Breath Circulation and was practicing the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms move by move.

And whenever he glanced over, Zhang Yu had remained completely motionless from beginning to end. Forget small movements like scratching his head or scratching his butt—even his eyelids had not lifted once, and the rhythm of his breathing had not changed in the slightest.

Zhao Tianxing could not help marveling inwardly, Such incredible focus. No wonder he can maintain a zero-distraction rate for days on end.

"But there's neither a Spirit Root here nor an environment rich in Spiritual Energy, and he hasn't taken any medicine... With Breath Circulation this inefficient, does it really mean anything?"

Under Zhang Yu's focused cultivation, the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method advanced once again, reaching Level 4 (12/80).

Just then, another van drove into the plaza. Hearing that they were looking for security personnel, Zhang Yu withdrew his attention and continued cultivating.

As a first-year high school student, he had no competitive edge in security work compared with the Old Geezers around him.

But soon, he heard that their hiring requirements were youth, a good build, a clean and refreshing appearance, and looks that could not be too poor.

Zhang Yu suddenly opened his eyes and strode toward the van with the gait of a dragon and tiger, confidently raising his hand. "What about me?"

The driver in the van suddenly lit up and walked toward Zhang Yu. "Good, good, good. You're exactly who we need."

Zhang Yu chuckled and was about to shake hands with him, only to discover that the man had passed him by and grabbed Zhao Tianxing's hand instead. "Great physique, and such a delicate, handsome face."

"That chest!"

"That waist!"

"That back!"

Patting Zhao Tianxing's body as he spoke, the driver praised, "The proportions are simply perfect. Though his absolute strength is not yet powerful, his foundational frame has already been built to perfection. Like an uncut jade, he radiates limitless potential."

"To reach this level, without persistent bitter cultivation, an extremely disciplined lifestyle, guidance from a famous teacher, and medicine and injections pushed nearly to the limit, it would be absolutely impossible."

"You're the one, kid. I'll pay you 800 an hour. Come with me."

At that moment, Zhang Yu was stunned.

He had never expected his lean, defined physique, handsome and aloof face, and aura as a visitor from another world to lose out to a muscle monster like Zhao Tianxing.

"Boss, look at me. I can do it too."

The driver glanced at Zhang Yu and shook his head. "No skinny dogs."

"You don't inspire enough confidence for security work. If you have to block flying swords, you'd block half as many as everyone else."

Zhao Tianxing immediately tried to refuse. "Actually, I'm not here to—"

Zhang Yu quickly cut him off. "Boss, we're blood brothers. We swore that whether it's work for one person or work for a whole group, we'll always do it together."

The driver frowned, looked at Zhang Yu, then at Zhao Tianxing beside him, and finally asked Zhang Yu, "Four hundred an hour for you, four hours total. Are you in?"

Zhang Yu nodded repeatedly. "I'm in! I'm in! I'm in!"

Zhao Tianxing was dragged by Zhang Yu toward the van.

With an embarrassed expression, Zhao Tianxing said to Zhang Yu, "I'm not here to work. And if I get home too late, my mom will worry. I should go talk to the boss..."

Zhang Yu quickly said, "Didn't you have something you wanted to tell me? Come work with me. You can talk about whatever you want."

Thinking of the task Wang Hai had assigned him, Zhao Tianxing could only say unwillingly, "I need to call my mom first."

The van carried the two of them toward the city center, while the driver introduced the job along the way.

"Ms. Li Xuelian is holding an art exhibition in the Hall in the Clouds on the 999th floor. Security itself is no longer an issue."

"But Ms. Li wasn't satisfied with the looks of the internal security staff. She was worried they would affect the viewing experience, so she asked us to find some young, handsome guys."

"Once you get there, change into security uniforms and follow the security captain's orders in everything."

"Remember this especially: under no circumstances, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not offend Ms. Li."

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "Ms. Li must be very rich, right?"

"Heh heh, rich?" The driver snorted and said proudly, "She's more than rich. Ms. Li is the daughter of a Golden Core True Person!"