Professional Intelligence

The Zhou Family.

Zhou Chechen threw off his coat and hurriedly ran into the house. He had come home as soon as school was over today to ask his elders what exactly the Foundation Establishment Exam in the Immortal Capital was all about. Why hadn't he known anything about it before?

But Zhou Chechen had just passed through the hall when he slowly stopped and looked at the people in the reception room with a look of astonishment on his face.

"Chechen, you've come at the perfect time."

Zhou Yang, who was in the reception room, also noticed Zhou Chechen's arrival and waved, saying, "This is your Uncle Zhang, and Aunt Bai."

"They are both exceptionally talented and their future achievements are limitless. I consider them my equals, so you can just call them Uncle Zhang and Aunt Bai when you meet them."

Zhou Chechen stood there, stunned, seemingly unable to react for a moment.

Zhou Yang glared at him and said, "This child, why don't you know how to greet people?"

Zhang Yu laughed and said, "Look how scared you've made the child."

He waved his hand and said, "It's okay, we're all classmates. You can call me Yu-ge and her Zhenzhen-jie. We'll call you Little Zhou from now on."

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhou Chechen and said, "Why hasn't this child shown any reaction since we met?"

Zhou Yang smiled helplessly and said, "He's been spoiled rotten by his father; he doesn't know any manners at all."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhou Chechen and said, "When you saw your Uncle Zhang and Aunt Bai, why didn't you even give them a red envelope?"

"Quickly transfer a gift to the elders, ten thousand yuan, do you hear me?"

Under Zhou Yang's intense gaze, Zhou Chechen reluctantly transferred 10,000 to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen respectively.

Bai Zhenzhen smiled slightly and said, "Good boy, Little Zhou, go play by yourself. We still have something to talk to your Uncle Zhou about."

Then, under Zhou Yang's pressing gaze, Zhou Chechen gritted his teeth and called out, "Yu... Yu-ge, Zhenzhen-jie."

As he turned to leave, Zhou Chechen felt as if something inside him had shattered into pieces. At that moment, he truly felt that he was no longer on the same level as Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen because of the absolute gap in their academic performance.

He thought to himself, "I am still just a chess piece, while they are gradually jumping off the chessboard and onto a larger one."

After Zhou Chechen left, Zhou Yang said, "There will be many people at home later tonight, so let's continue our talk in my study."

Not long after, as Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen left, Zhou Yang reflected on the events of the day.

After news of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen obtaining Foundation Establishment Certificate spread throughout the city, especially after the Oasis Group was implicated, Zhou Yang knew... he had missed his best opportunity to take action against Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

Without dwelling on how Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen overpowered the Immortal Capital Master to obtain the Foundation Establishment Certificate, Zhou Yang's first thought was how to handle the aftermath.

"Then... let's try to ease the tension first."

Compared to continuing the fight or waiting for potential future retaliation, spending money to avoid trouble and further ease tensions seems to be the best option right now.

So Zhou Yang also wanted to donate some money to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, and also to test their attitudes.

Zhou Yang recalled his interactions with the two men today. After accepting his three million, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen acted very amicably, seemingly without any resentment.

"Zhou Chechen had already apologized to them and offered his condolences last time."

"With my personal involvement this time, in the best-case scenario... they should no longer be enemies with the Zhou Family."

"Unless... they are both particularly vengeful, or they know about the Evil God behind me."

"If they still try to deal with me after today, then don't blame me for fighting to the death."

"However..." Thinking of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's current situation, Zhou Yang sneered inwardly, "They've attracted so much attention right now, they might just mess things up at any time, it's not my place to worry about them."

After Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen left the Zhou Family, the smiles on their faces gradually disappeared.

Zhang Yu slowly said, "It seems he wants to ease tensions with us. How sincere do you think he is? Is he just stalling for time, or does he really not want to fight us anymore?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Logically speaking, he probably doesn't want to fight us anymore, but we can't rule out the possibility of something unexpected happening."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Yes."

"I won't have peace of mind until the Zhou Family is eliminated and everyone who knows of Fu Ji's existence is wiped out."

Fu Ji said, "At least for now he's willing to ease tensions with you, so let's pretend to make peace with him for now."

"Time ultimately rests on your side."

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had just finished talking with Zhou Yang when they were immediately called over by Yun Ni, the Patrol Team Captain.

The reason given was that, as a reward for their hard work in the Patrol Team over the past year, the Patrol Team was going to promote them to top-level outsourced staff.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were both slightly taken aback upon hearing this. Heaven knows what they had actually done while they were receiving salaries without working for a year. All they felt was that everyone in the Patrol Team Patrol Team's office building was so polite and friendly.

Zhang Yu couldn't help but sigh, "Ever since I became the top student in my grade, I feel like there are more and more good people in Songyang High School. Everyone is so kind."

"And after I passed the Foundation Establishment Certificate, there were simply more good people in the entire Songyang City."

At this moment, Zhang Yu understood even more why the Kunxu Person had to study hard and take exams. In this wretched Kunxu, the better your grades, the more hell you could turn into heaven.

After being promoted to an outsourcing position, Yun Ni brought him some good news. "You are now top-tier outsourcing personnel, and you can participate in Cross-Layer Meeting once a month."

"It just so happens that Pianpian also got a position on the Second Layer, which means she can now communicate across floors..."

Zhang Yu quickly understood that this was an excuse to give them a chance to communicate with Zhang Pianpian under the guise of Cross-Layer Meeting.

So Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen went to a private meeting room. As the private network was connected, a line of text appeared in their expectant gazes.

"Zhang Pianpian, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Talisman Department at Ten Thousand Laws University, is currently speaking to you."

Zhang Yu was startled, but then felt a little relieved.

He thought to himself that with Zhang Pianpian's talent and strength, it wasn't unbelievable that she had been on the Second Layer for so long, obtained the Foundation Establishment Certificate, and then completed the Foundation Establishment.

"But isn't this a bit too high-profile?"

Then the screen flashed, and Zhang Pianpian appeared in front of them.

Upon seeing Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen on the screen, Zhang Pianpian was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting that the people on the other side of the screen would be Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

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However, Zhang Pianpian quickly realized what was going on, smiled slightly, and said with satisfaction, "It seems that you two have passed the Foundation Establishment Exam, and the Patrol Team is starting to treat you well?"

As Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen chatted back and forth, they recounted to Zhang Pianpian their experience of passing the Foundation Establishment Exam and the current situation in Songyang City.

Although Fu Ji is very knowledgeable, both Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen trust Zhang Pianpian more and want to consult her about the upcoming university application process.

Zhang Pianpian nodded upon hearing this and said, "Although I said before that I would wait for you at Ten Thousand Laws University."

"But given your current situation, you could make some other choices based on the conditions offered by those admissions representatives..."

During his conversation with Zhang Pianpian, Zhang Yu inquired about the long string of names displayed on her contact information.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Pianpian explained, "You'll understand when you get to the Second Layer. From the Second Layer onwards, everything on the second, third, and Fourth Layer, and even the fifth and Sixth Layer, is designed to serve the university."

"Every university is like a city, and all the companies and administrative institutions in that city are under the university's jurisdiction."

"Here, academic qualifications, university, department, and level of understanding divide people into different levels."

Even within the same degree program and the same university, different departments can be categorized into different tiers. For top-tier programs... even the toilet paper in the dedicated teaching buildings is of better quality than the textbooks for less desirable programs.

"Here, everyone judges a person by their character first, then their education, then their university, and finally their major."

"College students can insult Junior College at will, and students from the top ten universities can step on the heads of students from other schools."

"Everyone wants to have their level of knowledge, education, university, and major tattooed on their head, displaying them one by one."

"Even within the same university, students in good majors have access to better class resources and can move up several rows to get to the front of the class."

"You might not even be able to get a spot in classes for less desirable majors, and I heard you even have to wait in line to use the restroom."

"Therefore, on the Second Layer, it is only natural to present one's situation in detail and receive different treatment according to different levels."

Zhang Yu nodded upon hearing this, but he wasn't surprised at all. In his view, Kunxu would indeed categorize people into different levels in this way.

The above situation was not at all unexpected to him; it's just that compared to the previous level, the distinction between people seemed to be more refined.

Zhang Pianpian continued, "Hearing this, you should understand how important choosing a major is. Even if you get into a good university, if you don't choose a good major, you'll only lead a relatively unsuccessful life."

"Not to mention the potential for a tenfold or even a hundredfold difference in income, some professions even face difficulties finding employment."

"However, since you have Foundation Establishment Certificate, you should have a wide range of professional options. I can tell you some of what I know."

"Take Ten Thousand Laws University as an example. Finance, weapon crafting, and Dao Arts are the three departments that stand at the pinnacle."

"However, the paths of finance and Dao Arts require too much background and wealth, so I don't recommend that you two choose them."

"For you, weapon crafting is a late-game option. Although it's difficult in the early stages, you should have a chance..."

"Civil Engineering is also good; it's suitable for laying foundations."

"After all, Civil Engineering can start working and earning money as soon as they enter the program. Earning money for two years and building a solid foundation before switching majors is a good option."

"But whatever you do, don't graduate from Civil Engineering. Once you get your Civil Engineering degree, you'll never be able to escape this pitfall for the rest of your life..."

"And don't apply to the Archaeology Department either. The better you do in that major, the more you'll have to venture into the Eighteenth Underground Layer of Kunxu to excavate the ruins of those sects that have been buried in the past and study those sects that have been eliminated in history..."

"Other professions like security, weaponry, and military are also good early-game specializations. Early progression is rapid, and you can earn money quickly, but they're more likely to be eliminated as you get older..."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and asked, "Is this the case for Spark True Person?"

Zhang Pianpian said with some emotion, "That's right. If he had changed his major back then, perhaps his life would be very different now."

"By the way, don't apply to the Medical Department either. This major is currently dominated by Second Layer Lineage powers, and it's full of local Aristocratic Clan. Outsiders won't get anywhere there..."

During Zhang Pianpian's introduction, various information about the majors and universities on the Second Layer appeared before Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, gradually giving them a general outline of their future choices.

(End of this chapter)