Spirit Roots

Spirit Roots

After leaving Su Haifeng's office, Zhang Yu walked back toward the classroom.

Next week, he had to break into the top ten in magical power for the entire grade and earn the qualification to represent Songyang High School in the Magic Competition.

The week after that, the Monthly Exam would begin. Only by achieving sufficiently outstanding results could he get a better contract from the school.

Zhang Yu was completely confident that his magical power would break into the top ten within the next week. After all, his Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method was already Level 4. This level would only keep rising, and his magical power would improve more and more rapidly.

But aside from magical power, the Monthly Exam also tested sports, Dao Heart, martial arts, and Dao techniques. Having to drastically improve all four subjects within the next two weeks made Zhang Yu feel immense pressure all at once.

As for the General Education exam?

Not only was General Education worth just fifty points, but nearly everyone in the Demonstration Class scored close to full marks on it. There was simply no way to open up a gap.

It could be said that even Zhang Yu had no clear idea how far he could ultimately go in the Monthly Exam two weeks from now.

"Anyway... just grind."

Zhang Yu felt as though he had been set ablaze.

Who said manually grinding didn't count as grinding?

Feather Scroll! Over the next two weeks, show me where your limits are!

Thus, the moment he returned to the classroom, Zhang Yu began Breathing Spiritual Opportunity and fully activated the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method.

In the blink of an eye, the first class ended.

"Ah, I'm exhausted."

Just as Zhang Yu's resolve loosened slightly and he wanted to rest, that countdown carrying a bone-chilling coldness rose again, forcing him to keep working.

"Fuck!"

"Idiot Ritual... one day, I'll kill you!"

In another corner of the classroom, Zhao Tianxing looked at the message on his phone and breathed a sigh of relief.

Earlier, Sports Teacher Wang Hai had sent him to investigate Zhang Yu's supply channels. When Wang Hai asked about the results today, Zhao Tianxing told him about yesterday's art exhibition.

Wang Hai's reply was: Got it. You don't need to keep following Zhang Yu for now. Just maintain a good relationship with him. Come to the Training Field after school tomorrow. I'll give you an extra Body Tempering lesson.

No longer needing to pry information out of Zhang Yu made Zhao Tianxing relax considerably.

And Wang Hai's reward of an extra lesson secretly delighted Zhao Tianxing even more.

After all, Wang Hai was an ace teacher. The quality of his private lessons needed no explanation; not only were they expensive, but they were often impossible to book.

As for continuing to maintain a relationship with Zhang Yu...

Zhao Tianxing looked up toward Zhang Yu's seat and saw that the other boy was circulating his breath.

"After what happened yesterday, I must already be a clown in his eyes."

Just imagining that Zhang Yu might be laughing at his clumsy performance last night made Zhao Tianxing feel his cheeks burn again.

But when he thought of the reward of Wang Hai's private lesson, he still made up his mind. Once class ended and Zhang Yu had some free time, he would go chat with him for a bit.

Yet as one morning class after another passed, Zhao Tianxing simply could not find a chance to exchange even a few words with Zhang Yu.

"Still circulating his breath?"

"Circulating his breath during class."

"Circulating his breath after class too."

"He hasn't even gone to the bathroom once... what powerful kidneys."

Zhang Yu's diligent appearance made even Zhao Tianxing's heart tighten.

At long last, lunchtime arrived. Zhao Tianxing had just gotten his food and was about to sit beside Zhang Yu.

Then he saw Zhang Yu wolf down the meal like a ghost in two bites before running out of the cafeteria as fast as lightning.

Bai Zhenzhen cursed inwardly, "You're even grinding during lunch? Are you going to let people eat in peace or not?"

Mealtime was the only time at Songyang High School without grades, without a bastard like Su Haifeng watching over them, and without a freak like Wang Hai sticking his fingers into it.

It was the rare time during the school day when top students could relax, take a breather, or even gossip a little.

It was Songyang High School's own mental spa time.

Bai Zhenzhen was deeply dissatisfied with Zhang Yu's study-demon behavior of even saving lunch break for cultivation.

Brother, if you grind this hard, how are the rest of us supposed to eat with peace of mind?

What if you grind past us?

Are you trying to start an academic arms race or what?

And when Zhao Tianxing returned to the classroom and saw Zhang Yu already circulating his breath again, he inwardly thought, Just as expected.

For the entire afternoon that followed, Zhao Tianxing still could not find the slightest chance to speak with him. Every time he turned to look, Zhang Yu was either listening attentively in class or Breathing Spiritual Opportunity.

The more he watched, the more anxious Zhao Tianxing became.

"You've already become an Apprentice Golden Core, and you're still working this hard? Are you leaving us ordinary students any way to survive?"

Only when school ended did Zhao Tianxing finally find an opportunity to catch up with him. He had assumed Zhang Yu would go look for temporary work again today.

But he heard Zhang Yu say, "Looking for a temp job?"

"Little Zhao, high school students should still put studying first. How can you run off to work every day?"

"Don't think earning eight hundred an hour makes you so impressive. Those are temp jobs—you can't find them every day." Looking at his balance of 8,300 yuan, Zhang Yu finally had the confidence to stop working for the time being and focus on cultivation.

So he returned home, took a Nerve Filler, and continued circulating his breath until the next morning.

Other than going to the bathroom and switching the Feather Scroll's Specialization back to the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method, Zhang Yu poured every moment of his time into breath circulation.

Thus, four days passed in the blink of an eye.

After four days of bitter cultivation, Zhang Yu's Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method reached Level 6 (45/120).

After several days of diligent practice, his magical power also surged from 8.3 to 9.4 in one go, leaving him only two places away from the grade's top ten in magical power.

That day, outside the first-year classrooms.

Su Haifeng strolled over to the rear door of the classroom and looked at the students studying on their own.

As the Homeroom Teacher of the Demonstration Class, he had clearly come over to wander around despite having no classes, naturally so that he could fiercely invigorate the students' mental state with his icy stare, merciless mockery, and the authority of the grade director.

Then Su Haifeng discovered that the students in the classroom were grinding harder than usual today.

Fewer people went to the bathroom.

More people were seriously circulating their breath, while fewer began nodding off midway through it.

Those who were actually spacing out but pretending to stare at their books merely to avoid being caught by him had vanished.

The class's Distraction Rate had also dropped significantly.

In fact, Su Haifeng had vaguely noticed this trend beginning two days ago.

And after observing it, he discovered that the source of this trend was the student named Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu's crazed breath circulation, his uninterrupted 0% Distraction Rate, and his explosive rise in magical power over the past few days... Bai Zhenzhen, Qian Shen, Zhao Tianxing, and the others had been the first to feel pressured.

Then the grinding spirit that erupted from Bai Zhenzhen and the others pressured even more people.

Those scoring 550 were grinding, those scoring 600 were grinding, even those scoring 650 were grinding—how could you still rest?

Su Haifeng even checked the report on the Demonstration Class students' average daily cafeteria time and found that it had decreased by more than 20%.

Su Haifeng looked at Zhang Yu, who was still circulating his breath, and sighed inwardly. "Is it because I wounded his self-esteem before?"

"Perhaps I can use this trick more often in the future."

Without realizing it, he had already come up with the topic for his next teaching research paper: An Exploration of Insulting Students in High School Education.

After looking over the classroom's learning atmosphere with satisfaction once more, Su Haifeng nodded and left.

Not long after Su Haifeng departed, the dismissal bell rang. Zhang Yu immediately stood up and headed toward the school's Quiet Room.

Because he had become the student with the lowest Distraction Rate in the entire grade last week, Zhang Yu had not only received a five-hundred-yuan bonus and public commendation, but also one hour of free Heavenly Spiritual Root rental rights.

And today was the day the school would redeem that one hour of Heavenly Spiritual Root time.

Since Spirit Root rentals and the breath-circulation Quiet Rooms were both scheduled by the school, missing his slot would mean forfeiting the reward. Zhang Yu therefore hurried to the Spirit Root rental office without wasting a moment.

Zhao Tianxing seized the chance and followed behind Zhang Yu. "Are you going to rent a Heavenly Spiritual Root?"

When Zhang Yu nodded, Zhao Tianxing continued, "You didn't seem to rent Heavenly Spiritual Roots at school very often before, did you?"

"Want me to introduce the Heavenly Spiritual Root models our school has?"

Zhang Yu's gaze shifted slightly. Because of the price, the original Zhang Yu had always rented Spirit Roots from educational institutions running various promotions. He truly was not familiar with the Heavenly Spiritual Root models at school.

After all, with the development of the times—and especially after the Ten Great Sects organized and researched them—Spirit Roots had long ceased to be divided as crudely as they had been in Ancient Times.

First, in terms of rank, the Ten Great Sects divided Spirit Roots into five grades.

There were the lowest-grade Human Spiritual Roots, the higher-grade Earth Spiritual Roots, and the still higher-grade Heavenly Spiritual Roots. As long as one had money, these three grades could be bought.

Above those were Military Grade Divine Spiritual Roots and the Immortal Spiritual Roots supplied exclusively by the Ten Great Sects.

Divine Spiritual Roots could only be used by the military and certain special government departments.

Immortal Spiritual Roots could only be used by those who had joined one of the Ten Great Sects.

As for classifications, Spirit Roots such as the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth roots of Ancient Times... Kunxu had long abandoned such categories.

Because the design and manufacturing industries for Spirit Roots had become increasingly advanced and prosperous, Spirit Roots were gradually classified according to different functions, such as learning types, combat types, cultivation types, and so on.

Zhao Tianxing said, "The most popular Spirit Roots in our high school are definitely learning-type roots and cultivation-type roots."

"For example, Parasitic Spiritual Roots..."

Zhang Yu was shocked. "Chicken Spirit Roots?"

Zhao Tianxing said, "The ji in 'to store.' A Parasitic Spiritual Root can temporarily reside inside someone's body and transfer the magical power that person refines through the Spirit Root to its owner. It's a favorite Spirit Root among many rich people."

"Muscle Growth Spiritual Roots are also beloved by many people. During breath circulation, they can refine Spiritual Energy into a kind of Growth Spiritual Opportunity and inject it directly into the muscles, speeding up muscle growth. They build muscle twenty-four hours a day and greatly improve Body Tempering results..."

Thanks to Delicious Fish Tofu for the generous ten-thousand reward.

End of chapter