Chapter 27: Exam Sprint

It was three in the morning.

Inside the office of Songyang High School.

While looking at the list on the computer screen, Su Haifeng said to the other end of the phone, "Yes... Dao Heart's performance hasn't changed."

"His Mana increased very rapidly some time ago. It seems he spent most of his time and money on breathing exercises. That's how he broke into the top 10."

"Although his Physical Strength hasn't been tested for three weeks due to being isolated, it had already dropped to 19th place before. Now that he's focusing on Mana, it's a blessing if he can even maintain 19th."

"There's no noticeable progress in Martial Arts or Dao Techniques either. These two subjects might drop below 30th place in this monthly exam."

Looking at Zhang Yu's recent grades, Su Haifeng shook his head. "In short, I'm not optimistic about a significant improvement in his scores for this monthly exam."

"The school will probably still offer him a Grade D contract."

"I understand, I'll try my best to persuade him to sign the contract."

"Although I don't know how he gained Li Xuelian's appreciation, he's taken the exams. He should have a clear understanding of his situation by now."

After hanging up the phone, Su Haifeng casually closed Zhang Yu's grade record and looked at the next file.

To him, Zhang Yu was just a small matter among many. There were more important students and things at Songyang High School that needed his attention.

...

Four in the morning.

Inside the unfinished building.

Today was the day of Songyang High School's monthly exam.

Although Zhang Yu's strength had improved significantly again after nine days of torment, he was still seizing the time to practice the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering, striving to improve his strength a little more before the exam officially started.

And his stats on the Feather Script Chapter had changed to:

Zhang Yu

Dao Heart: Level 1

Mana: 11.7

Physical Strength: Level 1.05

His Mana had increased from 10.5 to 11.7 through passive breathing exercises mixed with occasional active ones.

His Physical Strength had increased from Level 0.85 to Level 1.05 under his relentless training.

Of course, the most significant progress in these nine days was in the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering, which had now become Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering Level 9 (89/90).

And as Zhang Yu threw his last punch, the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering finally reached Level 10, the limit achievable in the Qi Refining realm.

The moment he raised the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering to Level 10, countless memories seemed to flow through his mind. He saw himself practicing the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering again and again, and he pondered a deeper, more thorough understanding of his own body.

After countless careful refinements, his body finally underwent a qualitative change, beginning to adjust in a more rational way.

A booming sound seemed to resound in his mind!

As his heart pumped waves of Qi and blood towards his limbs and bones, Zhang Yu's entire body seemed to undergo a transformation.

His flesh and blood contracted and expanded, and his bones and joints emitted a series of cracking sounds. The contours of his entire body grew slightly larger.

His muscles became better distributed for power generation, and his bone structure became stronger and more stable. His entire body seemed to be adjusted to be more balanced and coordinated.

This process of optimizing the structure of his body was originally gradually completed as he improved the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering to Level 10, but now it was completed in an instant.

Physical Strength: Level 1.05 → Level 1.25

With the adjustment and optimization of his body structure, Zhang Yu's Physical Strength increased by 0.2 levels in one go, a significant increase of 20%.

In particular, Zhang Yu could feel that the improvement brought about by this optimization of his body structure was not just an increase in Physical Strength, but had a more far-reaching effect. The more balanced and coordinated structure of his body would allow him to walk the path of body tempering better and faster in the future.

Zhang Yu smiled slightly, feeling excited in his heart. "Improving the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering to Level 10 can actually actively optimize my body structure."

"Could it be that skills will have such a big improvement when they reach Level 10?"

This was information that the teacher had not taught in class.

But Zhang Yu knew that Level 10 skills... even basic martial arts like the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering were too far away for first-year high school students. It was normal for the teacher not to mention relevant information.

"Then next, I'll raise the Stellar Qi Gathering Method to Level 10 and see what effect it has."

Stellar Qi Gathering Method: Level 8 (3/160)

Zhang Yu estimated that he could spend at most a week to raise this breathing technique to Level 10.

However, although he thought so, he was not in a hurry to immediately switch the Feather Script's specialization to the Stellar Qi Gathering Method, simply because he had other plans for today.

"Please abide by the ritual agreement, strive to fulfill your wish, and do not deliberately slack off or procrastinate."

Just as Zhang Yu was feeling excited and slightly emotional about his improvement, the damn countdown sounded again.

Zhang Yu cursed a few times, but thinking that this thing had no will or intelligence, cursing it only left a sense of emptiness like punching cotton.

So he still sat down cross-legged, meditating and breathing while taking the opportunity to rest his tired body after a night of labor and recovering his strength.

Preparing to... welcome the monthly exam.

...

Songyang High School.

The students, rushing about, had a hint of anxiety on their faces.

Today, the campus seemed to be stained with a chilling atmosphere.

Zhang Yu looked up and saw that the banner that originally said "Live to old age, learn to old age" had been replaced with anti-suicide propaganda: "One student jumps, the whole family pays."

The school: Cold and trembling. Isn't the cost of repairing the school's flowers, plants and ground, and cleaning and disinfecting money? Why can't our school ask for compensation?

Even the outer perimeter of the roof was surrounded by a layer of barbed wire, increasing the difficulty for students to jump off.

Bai Zhenzhen praised, "It seems that those inhuman school leaders finally care about the students. They know that monthly exams can easily lead people to jump, and they have taken some protective measures."

But as soon as they arrived at the cafeteria for breakfast and saw the notice of some food price increases, Bai Zhenzhen couldn't help but explode in anger.

"Another price increase? How many times has it been since the beginning of the semester?"

"How can a bunch of parasites who can't even run the cafeteria well run the school?"

Zhang Yu comforted her, "Alas, not acting like humans is normal for them. Calm down and don't let it affect today's monthly exam."

But after a moment, listening to the new regulations from the cafeteria server, Zhang Yu angrily said, "Why can only one 5-yuan combo be taken per person per day? I could take ten servings yesterday! Why can't students just eat their fill!"

"Alright, alright, Yu Zi." Bai Zhenzhen patted Zhang Yu's shoulder and comforted him, "Don't be impulsive, there are teachers watching. I'll buy you an extra serving of the poor man's combo."

Carrying their food to find a place to sit down, Zhang Yu looked at his savings balance.

Although he had once again received the 500 yuan reward for a 0% distraction rate, Zhang Yu's savings had decreased to 6,000 due to the large amount of food consumption required for body tempering every day, the continuous use and purchase of nerve fillers, and miscellaneous expenses such as transportation.

And the time was about to usher in a new month, which meant that a new loan had to be repaid, and new rent, water and electricity bills had to be paid...

There was also food. After starting high-intensity body tempering, Zhang Yu felt that his appetite was getting bigger and bigger, and it was normal to eat ten pounds a day. The food expenses alone would be several hundred yuan a day, which would be tens of thousands a month.

Zhang Yu increasingly felt that cultivating immortality was indeed becoming more and more expensive.

"I hope I can get good results in the monthly exam and get a good contract."

"Otherwise, I'll have to go back to work."

At this moment, Zhou Tianyi sat down next to them with his food, and all that was heard was him shaking his head helplessly: "Do you know why the cafeteria raised its prices?"

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen suddenly raised their heads together, staring at Zhou Tianyi, waiting for him to continue.

"The city government is promoting the synthetic food of the Oasis Company, and has increased the tariffs on ingredients imported from other cities. In the future, the prices of foods other than synthetic food will continue to rise throughout Songyang City."

"I heard that the principal is also considering replacing the cafeteria's pre-made meals with synthetic food in the future."

Before cultivating immortality, the original Zhang Yu had actually eaten a lot of synthetic food, after all, the price of synthetic food was much cheaper.

Deep-fried insects, plant protein, plus recycled water and oil, the taste can only be said that even pigs would not eat it.

"We can't even eat pre-made meals anymore?"

So Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen sighed again, angrily cursing the Oasis Company and the city government for not acting like humans at all.

After finishing breakfast, because today was the monthly exam, the three of them did not return to the classroom as usual, but went to their respective examination halls.

The morning was the general education exam and the martial arts class theory exam, both of which were written exams, the former with a total score of 50 points and the latter with a total score of 20 points.

In the afternoon, there was the Daoist arts exam with a total score of 100 points, and the martial arts combat exam with a total score of 80 points.

These 80 points for combat, plus the 20 points for the morning martial arts theory, made up the 100 points for the martial arts class.

The morning exams were all written exams, and the original Zhang Yu had long since mastered this aspect.

After finishing the exam, Zhang Yu did not rush to compare answers like other students, but hurriedly ate lunch and then seized the time to come to the small garden to start exercising.

Free Combat: Level 1 (0/10)

Zhang Yu switched the Feather Script's specialization to Free Combat, which was why he had not switched to the Stellar Qi Gathering Method before.

After raising the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering to Level 10 yesterday, no matter how he breathed and circulated the Stellar Qi Gathering Method, it was impossible to obtain too much improvement.

But if he seized the daytime break to improve the Level 1 Free Combat, Zhang Yu estimated that he could raise this martial art to Level 2 at least.

This would definitely lead to a significant improvement for the afternoon martial arts combat exam.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu practiced even more earnestly.

It was seen that between his moves, driven by the Level 1.25 Physical Strength, his entire body's muscles and bones resonated, and each punch and palm carried bursts of wind and thunder.

At the same time, wisps of Mana were circulated to different parts of the body with each move, enhancing the power of the move.

Free Combat was a basic practical martial art. Although there were only 15 moves in total, including fists, palms, legs, and throws, they could respond to various practical situations. Each move also had a corresponding Mana circulation route.

Zhang Yu was now practicing these 15 moves repeatedly.

As a practical martial art, the intensity of Free Combat practice was far lower than that of the Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering.

In addition, Zhang Yu now had Level 1.25 Physical Strength, Level 8 Stellar Qi Gathering Method for Mana circulation, and the body optimization brought by the Level 10 Thirty-Six Styles of Body Tempering. This made his speed of training Free Combat moves even more rapid. After just over fifty minutes, he raised Free Combat to Level 2.

Free Combat: Level 1 (0/10) → Free Combat: Level 2 (0/20)

In an instant, Zhang Yu only felt the 15 moves of Free Combat flashing back and forth in his mind, and in the blink of an eye, he had memorized them thoroughly.

But Zhang Yu did not stop. Although he felt that his body was a little tired, he decided to continue practicing this martial art.

"There are still two and a half hours before the afternoon exam starts."

"Let's see if I can push Free Combat to Level 3 before the exam."

It was seen that Zhang Yu practiced the 15 moves of Free Combat repeatedly, sweating like rain.

His body became more and more tired, his hands and feet gradually became sore, and his movements began to become slightly deformed.

But as long as Zhang Yu thought of the mountain of debt on his back, and the increasingly heavy expenses, he always gritted his teeth and persevered.

More than two hours later, a large drop of sweat dripped on the ground with a snap.

At this moment, Zhang Yu was steaming all over, and his muscles were heating up violently due to three hours of high-intensity exercise.

But a smile appeared on Zhang Yu's face. He had finally successfully pushed this martial art to the third level.