Midway through Zhang Yu’s deduction, his face suddenly flushed. “Ah-Zhen, could you run without shaking so much?”

Bai Zhenzhen snapped, “Quit whining! How else am I supposed to run fast? It’s not like I’ve got shock absorbers.”

Zhang Yu gritted his teeth. “Then could you at least tone down the electricity? It’s frying my nerves.”

Bai Zhenzhen scoffed. “What’s Thunderstep without lightning? Besides, with how tough your body is, a little electric shock won’t kill you.”

When Zhang Yu stayed quiet for a while, Bai Zhenzhen assumed he had no further complaints.

But the next second, her face twisted with disgust. “You little perv… seriously, you should consider getting neutered.”

Right now, it felt to Bai Zhenzhen like she was taking her brand-new sports car for a spin with her best bro—only for said bro to announce he was about to crap himself in the passenger seat.

“I’m warning you—if you do anything weird on my back, I’ll do the surgery myself today!”

“You think I want this?” Zhang Yu groaned. “I told you to stop shaking and sparking—it’s your fault I’m suffering!”

Watching the bickering duo, Fu Ji silently thought, “Bai Zhenzhen meeting Zhang Yu was a stroke of luck. Her Zhen Spirit Root evolved rapidly under the nourishment of those Immortal-Class Techniques.”

“But on the flip side, Zhang Yu meeting Bai Zhenzhen and gaining that spirit root’s support and data feedback—was just as much of a blessing.”

“Zhang Yu sped up Bai Zhenzhen’s growth, and she, in turn, gave him power in return.”

“And then they met me—now that’s luck stacked on luck.”

“Fate really is freaking incredible sometimes.”

“I have a feeling…”

“This might just be the single most important investment of my life.”

“This time, I might really hit it big.”

…

Before long, the school day ended.

Today was the day Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, and Yu Xinghan had agreed to enter the Spiritual Realm for their Dao Heart tutoring session.

In the Songyang High cafeteria—

Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, Qian Shen, and Zhao Tianxing were sitting together, eating.

Other students around them glanced over now and then with expressions of awe and apprehension.

“You guys hear? The monthly exam results are out. Some teachers say Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s data is already at senior-year level.”

“Total monsters. No wonder they beat the Student Council president into the ground.”

“Beat him? He was forced to eat his own vomit on the spot! Look, I’ve even got the GIF.”

“That’s just the reverse playback, right?”

“Well, I’ve also got this one. Look—the Council officer’s chest has the words ‘Junior College Student’ etched into it…”

“I used to think Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were pretty chill. Who knew they hit that hard?”

“High scorers are all like that…”

“If it were me, I’d go even harder. What’s the point of having high scores if you don’t flex them? Straight-A students should humiliate the flunkies! Blame the Council for not being good enough…”

As rumors spread, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had become campus legends—overlords of Songyang High. They stood atop the school’s academic food chain, dubbed the Emperors of Songyang.

As for third-ranked Qian Shen and eighth-ranked Zhao Tianxing, they were seen as mighty lieutenants—generals who stood guard at the Emperors’ sides.

Their lunch table was a feast for the giants of the freshman year. The academic pressure radiating from them was so dense it practically formed a barrier, making the others feel unworthy to approach.

Just then, another group entered the cafeteria. Leading them was He Dayou, ranked fourth in the grade.

Despite now becoming a Purple-Tier student himself, He Dayou’s physique looked a bit off due to the Super-Metabolism Surgery from his prior training program—some parts of his skin were deep purple, others lighter, making him look segmented.

According to Zhang Yu, He Dayou now resembled a purple mantis shrimp.

That said, his power had risen significantly. As the son of a school board member, he had solidified his place as fourth in the grade and had recently been appointed Vice President of the Student Council.

Upon seeing Zhang Yu’s table, He Dayou paused slightly.

As the school board member’s son, his first major headache after becoming Vice President was figuring out how to deal with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

“Quitting the competitions means they’ve completely given up on getting into the Ten Great Academies.”

“Which means we’re not rivals anymore.”

“As for personal grudges… those are with Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling—not me.”

“I don’t need to fight these broke weirdos. We’re on completely different tracks. If I make it into the Top Ten, they’ll look up at me like ants seeing the sky.”

He whispered to a student beside him, and soon, four plates of nourishing Demon Beast Meat were brought to Zhang Yu’s table.

He nodded politely at them, then went upstairs.

But inwardly, his anxiety kicked in again.

“Can I even make it into the Ten Great Academies anymore?”

“Songyang High is falling further behind the top schools.”

“Do we even stand a chance this year?”

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen finished eating, geared up with their Spiritual Realm Masks, and got ready for their tutoring session with Yu Xinghan.

The masks, incidentally, had been borrowed from Yu Xinghan. This content belongs to novel⁂fire.net

Once they logged in, their vision flickered, and the next moment—they were in another world.

…

The Spiritual Realm.

What appeared before Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen was a building that seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky.

Standing at its base, they saw countless people entering and exiting through the massive doors. Yet all those people looked like ghostly projections, overlapping and phasing through one another without the slightest interference.

“So this is the public zone of the Spiritual Realm,” said Bai Zhenzhen. “My first time here.”

Zhang Yu nodded. This was getting more and more like a fully virtual world.

Previously, they’d been inside simulation environments built by the Spiritual Realm, but those were limited—mostly test zones that ended once the trial was completed.

The place Yu Xinghan had brought them to now, though, was different: a public area within the Spiritual Realm.

Like a website on the internet, it was always online and accessible—though not to just anyone. They’d bought temporary access rights from Yu Xinghan.

At that moment, Yu Xinghan’s figure flickered into view beside them.

“You’re here? Come on, let’s go in.”

“This is the Dao-Seeking Hall run by the Xianyun Group—one of the tutoring institutions built within the Spiritual Realm.”

“But the cost here is high, and access is restricted. Entry is by reservation or recommendation only.”

“Still, given that our clientele covers all of the First Floor of Kunxu, there’s no shortage of traffic.”

“The whole First Floor?” Bai Zhenzhen exclaimed.

Yu Xinghan nodded. “Anyone on the First Floor of Kunxu can attend classes here.”

They entered.

As they passed through the main door, light surged and the scene warped—they’d been teleported to one of the building’s upper levels.

“This floor’s focused on Dao Heart and Martial Arts tutoring,” Yu Xinghan continued.

“Dao Hearts can be tempered in the Spiritual Realm, and martial arts training can also gain rich experience here. But Mana and the physical body still have to be built up in the material world.”

“There are many ways to train your Dao Heart.”

“For example, by experiencing the lives of powerful cultivators and walking their paths—you get closer to their Dao Hearts.”

“Or by enduring extreme pain, which also forces your Dao Heart to grow.”

“But those either have major side effects or are too slow.”

“The best method is to create customized scenarios tailored to the heart technique the cultivator is practicing…”

As he spoke, Yu Xinghan led them smoothly into a classroom.

“I’ve rented a Dao Heart tempering room here. This time, we’ll share it.”

“Right—what heart techniques are you two using? I need to set the parameters…”

…

As Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen followed Yu Xinghan into the building—

Outside the Dao-Seeking Hall, a blurry figure was monitoring everyone who entered or exited.

Suddenly, a voice came through his earpiece. It was Mo Tianyi. “Boss, Zhang Yu and the others just went in.”

The figure asked, “Can you see what they’re doing?”

Mo Tianyi replied, “I just started this job, so give me a moment…”

A short pause.

“Found them. They’re sharing a classroom with Yu Xinghan, tempering their Dao Hearts together.”

The figure raised an eyebrow. “You can do Dao Heart tempering with three people?”

“In theory, yes,” Mo Tianyi explained. “Dao Heart tempering rooms are basically simulation scenarios tailored to each person’s heart technique.”

“If three people use it, the system will generate a scenario that fits all three.”

“Show me.”

“On it.”

A moment later, a visual appeared in front of the blurry figure.

Beneath a sky heavy with dark clouds, a factory roared with activity.

Outside, protesting workers were clashing with security guards.

Suddenly, one guard wielded a baton and charged into the fray, battling a mob of Qi Refining workers.

“Yu Xinghan?” The figure narrowed his eyes. “What’s his technique this time?”

“Celestial Martial Heart-Forging Technique,” Mo Tianyi replied. “So the system gave him a desperate battlefield—he’s cast as a corporate security guard forced to fight bankrupt workers on behalf of a penny-pinching company.”

The figure nodded. “That’s definitely an intense life-or-death scenario.”