Top Ten!

Magic Competition venue.

In the area belonging to Ziyun High School.

Le Mulan's forehead was covered in dense beads of sweat.

She had already completed her fourth Magical Power Oscillation. The repeatedly kneaded mass of Magical Power had turned into a hazy white fog, bobbing and sinking within her dantian, drifting unstably and becoming harder and harder to control.

"Three more. Just three more, and I'll succeed."

Song Hailong's breathing grew heavier and heavier.

Vast Magical Power rose from his dantian like layer upon layer of white clouds, gradually forming into a whirlpool.

"The final Magical Power Oscillation."

"As expected, I'll be the one who wins in the end..."

Boom!

Boom!

A burst of thunderous noise suddenly came from afar.

Song Hailong's expression changed sharply.

Someone had actually succeeded before him?

No... that wasn't it... He quickly realized something, surprise appearing in his eyes. "Two people? Two people were actually faster than me?"

In the distance, Xiong Bufan pressed his palms together. Threads of white, cloud-like Magical Power surged from his paws and gathered into a ball, making it look as though he were holding a lively cloud. But the cloud quickly began to disperse, clearly unable to last.

Yet he did not look at it. Instead, he turned toward the direction from which the booming sound had come.

"Only one step slower than me? Someone from White Dragon High School, or Ziyun High School?"

Xiong Bufan stared at the white qi that had soared upwards and condensed like a cloud pillar without dispersing, astonishment filling his eyes. "What's going on? It's only a competition. We're competing for speed, and everyone is trying to be fast. Why did he train his Body Protecting Qi so well?"

"He's putting on way too much of a show!"

At Songyang High School's competition grounds.

Zhang Yu spread his palms. Streams of white air gushed wildly from his hands and floated straight toward the sky above him, like white wolf smoke soaring upwards, immediately drawing more and more attention.

After Zhang Yu used the fastest possible speed to forcefully practice the Limitless Cloud Hand once in a half-digested rush, and naturally failed to convert any Astral Qi from it... he felt that he had already mastered the technique.

At a thought, qi moved with his will. Wave after wave of Magical Power completed seven oscillations in succession, transforming into surging Astral Qi that erupted from his palms and ultimately created the scene before them.

Seeing this, Teacher Yan excitedly clenched her fist, then hurriedly took out her phone and snapped photo after photo in Zhang Yu's direction.

Zhang Yu's talent for controlling Magical Power is actually this astonishing? It seems the previous Magical Power Exam simply failed to reveal it at all.

Thinking back to Zhang Yu's Magical Power improvement during this period, she quietly sighed. It was likely this improvement in that area that had greatly raised the efficiency of his Breath Circulation.

Watching this scene, Bai Zhenzhen also revealed a moved expression and said with the relief of an old parent, "The child has grown up."

A moment later, the results of the third Magic Competition round appeared one after another.

Xiong Bufan of Red Pagoda High School ranked first.

Zhang Yu of Songyang High School ranked second.

Song Hailong followed close behind in third place.

Le Mulan of Ziyun High School was squeezed down into fourth.

As the third round gradually came to an end, the students' total Magic Competition scores were released one after another.

The many students looked at the final overall rankings, their expressions varied.

First place: Song Hailong, White Dragon High School, total score 290.

Second place: Le Mulan, Ziyun High School, total score 287.

Third place: Xiong Bufan, Red Pagoda High School, total score 285.

The Three Great Famous Schools still monopolized the top three total-score rankings, opening an enormous gap over every contestant behind them.

But at this moment, at least the vast majority of students in the venue were not looking at the top three. Their attention was fixed on the fourth-place contestant.

Fourth place: Zhang Yu, Songyang High School, total score 273.

Songyang High School was also a Key High School, but seeing it among the top ten now, surrounded by the names of the Three Great Famous Schools one after another, felt utterly jarring.

It was like a crack had been forcibly torn open in what had once been an impenetrable mass of dark clouds.

"Fourth place... how much was the prize money again?"

Looking at the final ranking, Zhang Yu could not stop the corners of his mouth from rising. He was already considering how much prize money fourth place in the Magic Competition would bring.

He was already extremely satisfied with this ranking.

After all, although he was confident that he would definitely surpass these opponents in the future—

When it came to their true strength at present, he was indeed still temporarily inferior to the academic elites of the Three Great Famous Schools.

He still needed more time to develop.

Being able to squeeze into fourth place on this trip, he had to say it was A-Zhen's divine blessing, plus Feather Scroll fulfilling its filial duty. Of course, most importantly, it was his own unrelenting perseverance.

Qian Shen stared fixedly at Zhang Yu. He remembered perfectly clearly that Zhang Yu's Monthly Exam score had only been 620 points, six points lower than his own.

Yet this very existence with 620 points had actually ranked alongside those beings above 650 points from the Three Great High Schools in the Magic Competition—High Caste, ultimate monsters?!

"Again... It was like this at the art exhibition last time too. This Zhang Yu always manages to display abilities beyond what his score should allow."

He clutched his head, disbelief still filling his eyes. "It's as though the evaluation system of 700 points across six subjects can no longer perfectly express the degree of his evolution."

"This man..." Qian Shen stared hard at Zhang Yu, a thought suddenly rising in his heart that even he found unexpected.

"This man who cannot be perfectly expressed through scores—perhaps in the future, he can trigger another reform of the high school scoring system and make this evaluation system even more perfect."

At that moment, He Dayou glanced at Qian Shen, who was clutching his head and muttering to himself, and secretly thought, What kind of fit is this idiot throwing now?

He turned his head, unable to suppress the surging emotions in his heart as he looked at Zhang Yu.

Envy, jealousy... It was impossible that he felt none of those things, especially when everything before him was happening to the poor person he had looked down on most.

At that thought, even a trace of regret rose in He Dayou's heart.

"He is only a poor bastard in the end."

"That's just as well... he is only a poor bastard."

In Ziyun High School's resting area.

The competition coach looked at Le Mulan, Lian Tianji, and the others before suddenly saying, "What do you think? How about bringing that Zhang Yu over to our side?"

Clearly, after seeing Zhang Yu's performance, the coach wanted to recruit him.

Lian Tianji said from the side, "Although Zhang Yu doesn't have the bloodline of our Ziyun High School, he truly performed outstandingly. I also think bringing him over would be good."

So-called bloodline was a hierarchy of contempt popular within Ziyun High School.

It generally referred to one's background from Ziyun Nursery, Ziyun Kindergarten, Ziyun Primary School, and Ziyun Junior High School.

From left to right, every additional Ziyun credential was considered to make one's "bloodline" purer.

Le Mulan asked, "Where were his first and second academic credentials from?"

"I actually asked him about that." Lian Tianji named Zhang Yu's former primary school and junior high school.

A trace of undisguisable disgust immediately appeared on Le Mulan's face. Those two schools reeked too strongly of poor people.

Seeing the change in Le Mulan's expression, Lian Tianji knew there was no chance. He secretly thought, Then the next time I meet Zhang Yu, we'll probably be competing against each other in the Martial Arts Competition.

At that thought, a hint of anticipation arose in his heart.

Outside the restroom.

The moment Zhang Yu came out, a man stopped him. The newcomer was Han Xingye, the competition coach from White Dragon High School.

"Zhang Yu, come to White Dragon High School." Han Xingye extended his hand toward Zhang Yu. "A talent like yours would be wasted in Songyang."

"Although you performed well in this competition, the gap between you and us will only grow wider in the future."

Han Xingye was speaking the truth.

Although the Three Great Famous Schools divided up nearly all of Songyang City's best students, as time went on... there would always be some who slipped through the net into other Key High Schools, or even ordinary high schools.

Han Xingye had seen a few first-year students from other high schools who had stood out from the crowd in the Magical Power Competition.

But he had never seen second-year or third-year students from other high schools perform exceptionally in the Magical Power Competition.

"If you come to White Dragon High School, I'll definitely help you apply for a contract with sufficiently good terms."

Zhang Yu suddenly asked, "If I go to White Dragon High School, can I get into the top ten?"

Han Xingye froze slightly, apparently not expecting Zhang Yu to ask such a question. He was caught off guard.

The true answer was naturally no. Even if Zhang Yu went to White Dragon High School, he would merely become one of White Dragon High School's investment projects.

Forget the top ten. Recruiting Zhang Yu was meant to stop him from participating in the remaining competitions of his first year. After all, achievements connected to Gaokao scores and university interviews were gilding projects for the rich. Poor people should not be allowed to occupy those slots.

As for university, he would certainly be able to get into a decent one in the future, but it would definitely not be one of the top ten.

After all, White Dragon High School's conditions were surely better than Songyang High School's, and Zhang Yu could receive better development there.

But the slots among the top ten... had never been prepared for poor people.

Just then, Teacher Yan walked over and stood in front of Zhang Yu, staring at Han Xingye warily. "Teacher Han, what are you saying to my student?"

Whether Zhang Yu had money or not, to Teacher Yan, so long as he could achieve a ranking, that was her teaching result.

Han Xingye smiled helplessly. They both brought students to competitions every year, so he and Teacher Yan could be considered acquaintances.

Having been caught poaching another teacher's student, Han Xingye was somewhat embarrassed. He immediately said to Zhang Yu, "No matter what, it's better than staying at Songyang High School... you know, that place, right?"

Teacher Yan grew angry at those words.

What did he mean, "that place"? Did he think that just because he had not said it aloud, she could not guess all those insulting terms he had for Songyang High School?!

But thinking of the gap between her own school and White Dragon High School, Teacher Yan truly feared he would continue stating facts she could not refute. She had no choice but to interrupt, "Enough. If this teacher has anything to say, you can speak with me. Please do not harass our student."

Watching Teacher Yan and Zhang Yu leave, Han Xingye shrugged and secretly thought, If he is truly clear-headed enough, he should choose this side.

Even if he still can't get into the top ten.

"Did you see that?"

"Fourth place! Zhang Yu got fourth place overall! Fourth place, do you understand?"

"Just tell me how much you plan to invest."

Hearing the commotion from Bai Zhenzhen's side, Mo Tianyi said helplessly, "Zhenzhen, you don't need to be this excited. I can see it..."

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Then hurry up and send the money! Your boss wasn't even this impressive in his first year, right?"

Mo Tianyi said, "Boss did of course achieve rankings in competitions too..."

After some back-and-forth, Mo Tianyi concluded, "Zhang Yu's results are indeed extremely outstanding."

"I admit that I gave you too little money before."

"I'll report the situation to the boss and the other senior students, and do my best to secure more investment for you."

Bai Zhenzhen had long understood this and urged, "Remember to approve the money quickly."

After ending the connection, Mo Tianyi looked at Zhang Yu's fourth-place ranking on the screen. His chest, which should have long since cooled, seemed to grow faintly warm again.

"You did truly beautifully."

"You actually broke through the suppression of so many rich people and charged to this rank."

"Unfortunately, it's too late..."

A trace of helplessness and desolation flashed through Mo Tianyi's heart. If it had been two years earlier, I definitely would have chosen you.

Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen secretly thought, He has placed in the Martial Arts Competition? I'd like to see exactly which one you are.

Thanks to 'FrankChiao' for sending Zhang Yu the Oscar Trophy gift worth ten thousand.