CHAPTER 193: THE SECOND ROUND OF THE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT EXAM BEGINS

Zhang Yu paused as he read the reply. “Why do I get the feeling… she’s afraid I’ll keep pressing her?”

Fu Ji chuckled. “That woman probably figured out that you and Bai Zhenzhen are taking the Foundation Establishment exam.”

“After all, the times you two left the city weren’t exactly hard to look up.”

“And since Yun Ni is the hereditary Inspectorate officer, it’s only natural she’d know the exam schedule.”

Zhang Yu’s gaze flickered at Fu Ji’s analysis, and in that instant, a dozen thoughts clicked into place.

…

The next morning, thanks to the documentation provided by the Inspectorate and a personal call from Yun Ni, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen finally got their leave slip approved by the school and boarded a train headed to Xiandu City.

As the train prepared to depart, Si Zhouyu called again.

“Hey? What’s the situation now? Are we still tailing them or not?”

A long pause followed before a voice responded, “Come back. No need to follow them.”

Si Zhouyu frowned. “What did you say? We spent all this time tracking those two students and now we’re just backing off?”

“They’re clearly up to something big leaving the city like this!”

“Why aren’t we following?”

The voice on the line replied coldly, “That’s an order from the company’s leadership.”

“Orders from leadership must be obeyed—whether you understand them or not.”

“Return immediately.”

Si Zhouyu took a deep breath. Watching the train slowly pull away, he shook his head after a moment and left the station.

Meanwhile, on the train, after several hours of testing and observation, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen reached a conclusion.

Zhang Yu typed into his phone: “They didn’t follow us.”

Bai Zhenzhen: They didn’t? Could it be they know about the Foundation Establishment exam and don’t dare to dig further?

Zhang Yu thought back to Yun Ni’s reaction the day before and replied: I think so too. That sudden withdrawal—Foundation Establishment is the only reason that makes sense. ꞦαɴǒВĘṣ

Bai Zhenzhen: What a shame. I was hoping to bait them into uncovering the exam.

Yesterday, after hearing Fu Ji’s analysis and seeing Yun Ni’s reaction, Zhang Yu had realized that amid all the waiting and enduring, they had finally landed a chance to strike back.

Unfortunately, today the bait didn’t take.

Zhang Yu: It’s fine. At least we’ve confirmed one thing.

Zhang Yu: Our enemy isn’t Zhou Chechen.

Zhang Yu: Because Zhou Chechen likely doesn’t even know about the Foundation Establishment exam.

Fu Ji said, “Right. Only the upper ranks of the Zhou Family would have access to that kind of information.”

Zhang Yu: So our real enemy isn’t Zhou Chechen. It’s… the Zhou Family.

…

At the same time.

Songyang High School.

Lan Ling stared at Zhou Chechen in disbelief. “Why would you approve their leave? Zhang Yu’s probably using this chance to train or make money. We shouldn’t be giving them even a second to breathe!”

“We should have resisted the pressure, kept them locked down, and issued disciplinary action if they left. Maybe even expelled them…”

Zhou Chechen looked at Lan Ling’s dissatisfied expression and sighed silently, unwilling to argue further.

Instead, his mind drifted to the leave approval process.

“Inspectorate squad captain Yun Ni?” he thought. “So their backer is the Inspectorate?”

“Actually, it makes sense. Zhang Pianpian used to be in the Inspectorate. She could’ve introduced Zhang Yu to them before she left.”

“And Bai Zhenzhen… applying for leave with Zhang Yu like this? So their relationship isn’t as distant as it seemed at school?”

“Well, now that I know who’s backing Zhang Yu, what will Uncle and the others do? Surely they won’t pick a fight with the Inspectorate?”

…

“So they actually mobilized the Inspectorate.”

“This heretic god’s got some nerve.”

On the 333rd floor of the Central Tower, Zhou Yang lay on his hospital bed, eyes scanning the intelligence just delivered to him.

“And this timing… it lines up with the Foundation Establishment exam?”

“Coincidence? Or a deliberate smokescreen?”

Two paths immediately emerged in Zhou Yang’s mind.

To follow, or not to follow?

He chose not to.

To him, the worst-case scenario of not following was simply losing the lead if Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen went on the run.

“If this heretic god is truly preparing for flight, then they’ve clearly caught wind of something. Following them would only net me the pawn—Zhang Yu.”

But if he did follow, and they really were taking the Foundation Establishment exam?

You couldn’t just investigate whatever you wanted. Not without knowing what might get exposed.

What if his men stumbled on something they weren’t supposed to see—like the exam?

After cross-checking the two prior times Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had left the city, Zhou Yang broke into a cold sweat.

“If this really was a long-con… then the setup began four months ago? That was when registration opened, wasn’t it?”

“So they really are taking the Foundation Establishment exam?”

“And they even made it to the second round? If that’s true, Zhang Yu must be hiding considerable power.”

“What is this heretic god trying to do? Target the Foundation Establishment exam?”

No matter how he turned it over in his head, Zhou Yang couldn’t figure it out. Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen couldn’t possibly outperform Xiandu’s chosen elites.

In his view, taking the exam was a waste of time and effort—and might even shatter their Dao Hearts if they failed.

Especially since Zhang Yu had been harassed nonstop by Zhou Chechen recently…

“If they knew they’d be eliminated, why go at all? Are they after some intel?”

Even if he couldn’t grasp the heretic god’s goals, Zhou Yang’s interest was undeniably piqued.

“To dare mess with the Foundation Establishment exam, this heretic god must hold a high position.”

“And I’m hidden in the dark, while they know nothing about me. Yet I’m learning more and more about them… there’s an opportunity here.”

“If Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen return, I might just be able to use them to capture this heretic god’s divinity.”

“But I mustn’t touch the Foundation Establishment exam. Can’t risk finding out about their participation—not until the exam’s over.”

As he pondered, Zhou Yang’s phone vibrated.

He opened the surveillance feed and saw a violently shaking hard drive locked under layers of coils, antiques, chains, and ritual bindings.

Frowning, he tapped his screen. Copper wires surged forward like dragons, coiling tightly around the hard drive and subduing it once more.

“You stubborn relic… still not giving up?”

The entity sealed in that hard drive was the Zhou Family’s ancestral heretic god.

As the family’s most outstanding heir in ten generations, Zhou Yang had hatched a radical thought after learning of the heretic god’s secrets and witnessing the clan’s rituals.

“Why worship this thing?”

“It should be treated like a beast—raised and used. Not venerated.”

So he trained relentlessly, studied obsessively, and plotted in secret… until at last, he subdued the heretic god and turned it into his own ritual battery.

But the cost had been enormous.

A glance at his missing lower half reminded him. He snapped his fingers. “Get me dressed. I’m heading out.”

A rack nearby sprang open. Alongside coats and shirts, it held perfectly intact lower halves—pants, shoes, even full legs.

He casually selected one and attached it. As the sensation of blood and muscle returning to his limbs settled in, he frowned slightly. “These legs are too short.”

Switching to another, he nodded with satisfaction. “That’s more like it.”

The rejected pair dissolved into a pool of blood, which he flushed down the drain.

But spotting the faint corpse-spots on his new calves, Zhou Yang muttered, “Tch. Should be fine for a day, right?”

His gaze drifted to his title of Purple-Gold Merit Lord. In his mind, he was already calculating.

“Let’s see… in Songyang City, who has authority over the Inspectorate?”

Ever since subduing the heretic god, Zhou Yang’s lower half had rotted away.

No matter what kind of new flesh he acquired, it always decayed rapidly.

But that wasn’t an issue for someone with money.

Kunxu lacked many things—but not people. Plenty were willing to sell their legs for cash… and get prosthetics in return.

To Zhou Yang, they were no different than clothes. Easy to wear. Easy to discard. Useless for training.

After all, many techniques required a complete body to execute.

So he’d selected compatible spares and raised them in various spots across the city, ready for retrieval when needed.

“Still…” Zhou Yang thought of Zhang Yu. “Can’t believe my lower half ended up taking the Foundation Establishment exam.”

…

While Zhou Yang plotted in secret…

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had already returned to the underground exam site in Xiandu City.

But this time, Zhang Yu didn’t meet with Bai Zhenzhen.

From the second round onward, the exam was divided into four tracks: Dao Heart, Mana, Physical, and Martial Arts. One winner from each track would receive the Foundation License.

“Ah-Zhen’s probably doing the Martial Arts track.”

Zhang Yu looked at the four other candidates standing across from him, knowing these would be his rivals in the Physical track.

Among them were Xiandu’s top talent Ye Lingxiao—and an old acquaintance, Yu Xinghan.

But judging by how gaunt Yu Xinghan looked, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “You little bastard… don’t tell me you were still pulling an all-nighter before the exam?”

Then he sensed Ye Lingxiao’s gaze, full of searing battle spirit.

Ye Lingxiao: “You’ll fight seriously this round, won’t you?”

Zhang Yu thought, “The me now is nothing like I was two months ago.”

Their eyes locked in mid-air, a fierce surge of fighting spirit erupting between them.