Magic Competition Lineup

Magic Competition Lineup

On the coach bus.

Because the Magic Competition for seniors, sophomores, and freshmen was held at different times, the bus Songyang High School had rented currently carried only contestants from Zhang Yu's year.

He Dayou looked in Zhang Yu's direction. Thinking of the other boy's efforts over this period, his eyes turned thoughtful.

Recently, Zhang Yu's Magical Power had surged to 15.4, placing him first in the year rankings.

But thinking that Zhang Yu had probably devoted all his time to raising his Magical Power, He Dayou felt somewhat dismissive.

"Is it for the Magic Competition?"

"The Magic Competition isn't just about whose Magical Power is higher."

He Dayou felt that if he had not been focused on laying a solid foundation and making his Magical Power control as natural as moving his fingers, then if his family had been willing to throw in more money, he would have long since taken first place in the year in terms of Magical Power.

That was also why, at Songyang High School, wealthy students only truly began pulling away from poor students in Magical Power during their sophomore year.

Their Lineages' experience told them that freshman year was still mainly for building foundations.

Obsessively pursuing higher Magical Power values instead could easily lead to insufficient control, perhaps even leaving one unable to turn things around for a long time.

He Dayou continued in his heart, The Magical Power level in a Magic Competition is only a basic threshold. What truly determines the ranking is control over Magical Power...

Thinking of that, he sighed inwardly. At the end of the day, unless it's the Physical Competition, which is Songyang's strong suit, we're only here to make up the numbers in the Magic Competition—to serve as atmosphere for the freaks from the Three Great Famous Schools.

In the seats on the other side.

Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen, who had her eyes closed in rest, and asked, "So? Can you tell me who we're meeting now?"

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at him and took out her phone, pointing it at Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu saw a line typed on the screen: Eavesdroppers in the next seat. Talk on the phone.

Zhang Yu hurriedly typed: So who exactly are you taking me to meet at this Magic Competition?

Bai Zhenzhen: Poor bastards from other schools.

Zhang Yu's gaze shifted. "You mean... there are poor students at other schools who have ideas similar to ours?"

Bai Zhenzhen: Yes.

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "Which school?"

Bai Zhenzhen sent a female symbol, then added a tilde.

Zhang Yu's eyes moved, and he replied in surprise, "A black woman?"

He felt taken aback. Could it be that Kunxu had mud... ahem, ahem, black people too?

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes. She had no idea what Zhang Yu meant by "black woman," so she simply replied on her phone: I mean female students, and Soul Cultivators.

Hearing those two answers, Zhang Yu immediately understood.

Right. How many rich people would undergo gender reassignment surgery just to get into high school, or even abandon their Physical Bodies?

Mangshan High School and Saintly Women's Academy were naturally strongholds for poor bastards.

The top students there were bound to be poor as well.

After pouring their heart and soul into graduating high school with outstanding grades, how could they not want to break through their shackles and enter a top university?

Wait.

Zhang Yu suddenly asked curiously, "Soul Cultivators can compete too?"

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head. "They probably aren't here to compete. It seems they're here to assist the judges, report on the event while they're at it, and serve as spectators."

The coach bus slowly drove into a high school.

This was the venue for this Magic Competition: Red Pagoda High School, one of Songyang City's Three Great Famous Schools.

Following Teacher Yan, the Songyang High School students arrived at an indoor stadium, where they found many students already waiting.

Their colorful school uniforms, all in different styles, showed that they came from various high schools across Songyang City.

The moment the Songyang High School group stepped into the stadium, countless gazes swept toward them.

Someone sighed inwardly, Songyang is here too? Another strong school.

Someone carefully observed them, thinking, What a powerful presence. Are these the academic elites of a Key High School?

Others gloated inwardly, So what if they're from a Key High School? They still have to come here and serve as background with us.

Once they reached the preparation area assigned to Songyang High School, Teacher Yan began reminding them of what they needed to watch out for.

"There are three events today. Watch how you allocate your Magical Power. Don't get nervous—just treat it like ordinary practice..."

After Teacher Yan told everyone to rest or use the restroom as they wished, Qian Shen hurried off to check the list of contestants.

Taking out his phone, he compared the names on the list while looking up their scores.

"White Dragon High School, Song Hailong. 682 points on the last Monthly Exam."

"Ziyun High School, Le Mulan. 678 points on the last Monthly Exam."

"Gasp..."

The more scores Qian Shen checked, the more sharply he inhaled. "They're all monsters, every last one of them."

On the other side, Zhang Yu was pulling Bai Zhenzhen along to the restroom when he suddenly felt a heavy pressure swell through the air.

Spiritual Energy... was stirring! It was as though they had suddenly leapt from shallow water into the deep.

The two instantly turned their heads toward the direction the pressure was coming from.

They saw a group of people in white school uniforms slowly entering the stadium.

Every one of their white uniforms bore a different number, from 1 through 10.

Zhang Yu was baffled. "What's this? Did the Ten Blades show up?"

What he did not know was that these were White Dragon High School's distinctive uniforms. Every student's clothes displayed a number.

After every Monthly Exam, the numbers on their chests and backs would update to show their Monthly Exam rankings.

The numbers 1 through 10 on these ten people at this moment represented their positions as the top ten in their year.

But what Zhang Yu did know was that the source of the Spiritual Energy disturbance was the leader of that group.

A hulking man two and a half meters tall, like a Titan Giant, with a mane of long hair soaring skyward from his head.

Seeing everyone looking at him, the giant man grinned and awkwardly scratched his soaring hair. "Sorry, everyone. I just got a Heavenly Spiritual Root, and I'm not used to it yet. I'll try to keep it under control..."

With a low shout from him, the pressure in the air slowly subsided, returning to normal.

Watching this, Bai Zhenzhen said speechlessly, "Showing off your wealth the moment you arrive. What a vile, filthy rich bastard."

But when she thought that she would likely lose to these people in the coming competition, Bai Zhenzhen felt helpless again.

After the tutoring and training of the past few days, Bai Zhenzhen had confirmed one thing: in pure Magical Power control, her talent was still far inferior to Zhang Yu's. This competition was destined to be nothing more than a supporting role for her.

Elsewhere, as Qian Shen looked at the uniforms of the White Dragon High School group, the scores he had just looked up immediately surfaced in his mind.

Matching them one by one to the numbers on their uniforms, he looked at the giant man and thought, That must be Song Hailong, White Dragon High School's leader for this year. A 682-point ultimate monster—a super-species that may already have developed reproductive isolation from us.

He Dayou raised an eyebrow as he looked toward Song Hailong. "What a show-off. But he brought a Heavenly Spiritual Root to compete? His Magical Power rises too easily, so controlling it should be difficult, shouldn't it?"

Not long after White Dragon High School arrived, bursts of howling air suddenly rang out from outside the stadium. Then a massive Flying Boat stopped above the venue.

At this sight, countless poor bastards from ordinary high schools in the stadium held their breath, feeling a scent of wealth sweep over them in an instant.

Then a group of students in purple uniforms descended from the Flying Boat. Zhang Yu recognized one of them: Lian Tianji, who had attended the art exhibition with him.

Afterward, Zhang Yu had exchanged contact information with him, and often saw him among the top three of the daily step-count Rankings.

Lian Tianji seemed to spot Zhang Yu as well. Smiling, he waved at him, then appeared to say something to the girl beside him before pointing in Zhang Yu's direction.

The girl looked cold as frost. Following the direction Lian Tianji pointed, she looked over and nodded at Zhang Yu from afar.

Zhang Yu thought, She looks like a genuine icy beauty—not a fake like A-Zhen.

Qian Shen also looked toward the Ziyun High School team. While searching for photos of Le Mulan online and comparing them, he finally fixed his gaze on the aloof girl beside Lian Tianji.

"That should be Le Mulan from Ziyun High School. A high-caste existence with 678 points. In her eyes, living beings below 650 points are probably no different from dirt and dung!"

Soon after the teams from White Dragon High School and Ziyun High School arrived one after another, the competing team from the host school, Red Pagoda High School, finally showed up fashionably late.

But when Zhang Yu saw the most conspicuous member among them, he blurted out in surprise, "A monster?"

Bai Zhenzhen immediately jumped to the side and pointed at Zhang Yu. "Hey, hey, hey! Watch your wording. They're Demon Descendant Songyang City people."

Though that student wore a school uniform, his glossy red fur, thick tail, and round face made him completely look like a red panda.

As Zhang Yu looked at the student who resembled a red panda, an overwhelming sense of weakness hit him head-on.

He asked curiously, "No, but how did this red panda get into Red Pagoda High School? Don't tell me it was with a pure and innocent smile?"

Though Zhang Yu felt that the red panda's smile truly did seem pure and innocent, he believed that the other party had to possess some special talent to enter a Key High School and even compete here.

Bai Zhenzhen shrugged beside him. "Demon Descendant Songyang City people are generally quite talented in Physical Strength, but looking at him... I feel like I could punch three of him to death."

"Then he must have some particular talent in Magical Power?"

As they chatted, the two entered separate restrooms.

After they were done, Bai Zhenzhen pulled Zhang Yu this way and that, following messages on her phone until they arrived at a viewing stand on the second floor of the venue.

Two girls were already waiting there. Zhang Yu recognized one of them as Wu Qingqing from Saintly Women's Academy, the girl who had also attended the art exhibition last time.

Zhang Yu's gaze shifted slightly as he looked at the other girl. Then this one must be another big shot from Saintly Women's Academy?

"Hehe, long time no see." Wu Qingqing came over and greeted Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. The girl behind her seemed deaf to everything around her; she held a book in one hand and read with her head lowered, while her other hand pinched the corner of Wu Qingqing's clothes as she followed along.

It felt as though even if Wu Qingqing led her into the street and got her hit by a truck, she would still only lower her head, keep reading, and silently follow.

"These two are Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu, Songyang High School's impoverished geniuses."

After introducing them, Wu Qingqing pushed the book-reading girl behind her forward and said, "This is Ye Xianyun, the top freshman at our Saintly Women's Academy."

She said proudly, "She's also the only girl in our key class who hasn't had surgery."

Zhang Yu: What exactly are you proud of?

Ye Xianyun raised her head, silently nodded at the two of them, then lowered her head and continued reading.

(End of chapter)