Chapter 42: Faysse Lineup

On the bus.

Because the timing of the Mage Competition was different for the third-year, second-year, and first-year students, the bus chartered by Songyang High School at this moment only contained the participating contestants from Zhang Yu's grade.

He Dayou looked in Zhang Yu's direction, thoughtfully considering the latter's efforts during this period.

Recently, Zhang Yu's mana had surged to a level of 15.4, reaching the top rank in the grade.

However, thinking that Zhang Yu had probably devoted all his time to improving his mana, He Dayou was somewhat unimpressed.

"Is it for the Mage Competition?"

"The Mage Competition isn't just about mana level."

He Dayou believed that if he hadn't been focused on building a solid foundation and mastering his mana control, and if his family was willing to invest more money, he would have already been number one in the grade in terms of mana stats.

This was also why the difference between wealthy students and ordinary students at Songyang High School only became truly apparent in the second year.

Their family experiences had taught them that the first year should primarily focus on laying a solid foundation.

Conversely, overly pursuing mana stats could lead to insufficient control, which could be difficult to correct later.

He Dayou continued to think, "The Mage Competition involves more than just mana level, which is merely a basic threshold. What truly determines the rankings is the control over mana…"

Thinking of this, he sighed inwardly, "In the end, unless it's a physical competition, which is Songyang's strength, the Mage Competition is just a formality for us. We're just there to provide atmosphere for those freaks from the top three schools."

On the other side of the bus.

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

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

Zhang Yu then saw a line of text on the phone: "Walls have ears, let's chat on the phone."

Zhang Yu quickly typed, "So who exactly are you taking me to meet at this Mage Competition?"

Bai Zhenzhen: "The poor devils from other schools."

Zhang Yu's eyes flickered, "You mean… other schools also have poor students with similar ideas to us?"

Bai Zhenzhen: "Yes."

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "Which schools?"

Bai Zhenzhen sent a female symbol ♀, followed by a ☻~

Zhang Yu's eyes widened in surprise, "A black girl?"

He felt surprised, could there be… Never mind. Could there really be black people in Kunxu?

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes, not understanding what Zhang Yu meant by "black girl." She directly replied on her phone, "I'm talking about girls' school students and Soul Cultivation students."

Hearing these two answers, Zhang Yu instantly understood.

Right, how many wealthy people would undergo gender reassignment surgery or even abandon their physical bodies to enter high school?

Mangshan High School and the Saintly Maidens Academy were natural havens for poor students.

The top students in those schools were definitely poor.

After painstakingly graduating from high school with excellent grades, how could they not want to break free from their limitations and get into top universities?

Wait a minute.

Zhang Yu suddenly asked curiously, "Can Soul Cultivation students also participate in the competition?"

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head, "They're probably not here to compete. It seems they're here to assist with judging, report on the event, and be spectators."

…

The bus slowly drove into a high school.

This was the venue for the Mage Competition, Red Tower High School, one of the top three schools in Songyang City.

The group of students from Songyang High School followed Teacher Yan, their team leader, to an indoor stadium, where they saw many students already waiting.

Various colorful school uniforms of different styles indicated that they were from different high schools in Songyang City.

When the Songyang High School group stepped into the stadium, countless eyes immediately turned to them.

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

Some carefully observed the group, thinking, "Their aura is so strong, are these the top students from a key high school?"

Others gloated, "So what if they're from a key high school, they're still here to accompany us as background decorations."

Arriving at the preparation area assigned to Songyang High School, Teacher Yan began to remind everyone of the points to pay attention to later.

"Today's competition has three events. Pay attention to mana distribution, don't be nervous, just treat it like a normal practice…"

After Teacher Yan allowed everyone to rest and use the restroom, Qian Shen hurriedly went to look at the list of participants.

He took out his phone, checked the names on the list, and began to look up their scores.

"White Dragon High School, Song Hailong, 682 points on the last monthly exam."

"Purple Cloud High School, Le Mulan, 678 points on the last monthly exam."

"Hiss…"

The more scores Qian Shen checked, the more he gasped in shock, "They're all monsters!"

On the other side, Zhang Yu was pulling Bai Zhenzhen to go to the restroom together when he suddenly felt a heavy pressure in the air.

Spiritual energy… was stirring!

It was as if they had suddenly jumped from a shallow pool into a deep sea.

The two instantly turned their heads and looked in the direction the pressure was coming from.

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

Each of their white school uniforms had a different number on them, ranging from 1 to 10.

Zhang Yu was puzzled, "What's going on? The Espada are here?"

What he didn't know was that this was a unique feature of White Dragon High School's uniforms. Each person's clothes could display a number.

After each monthly exam, the numbers on their chests and backs would update to show their rank on the monthly exam.

The numbers 1 to 10 on these 10 people represented their top ten positions in the grade.

But what Zhang Yu did know was that the source of the spiritual energy disturbance came from the leader of this group.

A giant of a man, two and a half meters tall, like a Titan, with long hair that stood straight up.

Seeing the gazes directed at him, the giant grinned and scratched his spiky hair sheepishly, saying, "Sorry, everyone, I'm not used to the new Celestial Root. I'll try to control it…"

With his low shout, the pressure in the air slowly subsided, returning to normal.

Bai Zhenzhen watched this scene, speechless, "Showing off right from the start, such a despicable rich kid."

But thinking that she might lose to these people in the competition later, Bai Zhenzhen felt a sense of helplessness.

After all the tutoring and practice in the past few days, Bai Zhenzhen had confirmed one thing: her talent for mana control was far inferior to Zhang Yu's. This competition was destined to be just a formality for her.

On the other side, Qian Shen looked at the uniforms of the White Dragon High School group and immediately recalled the scores he had just looked up.

Matching them to the numbers on their uniforms, he looked at the giant and thought, "He must be Song Hailong, the leader of this year's White Dragon High School, an ultimate monster with 682 points, possibly a super species that has reached reproductive isolation from us."

He Dayou raised an eyebrow as he looked in Song Hailong's direction, "A show-off, but he's participating with a Celestial Root? His mana is prone to surge, it should be difficult to control, right?"

Not long after the arrival of White Dragon High School, a series of whooshing sounds suddenly rang out from outside the stadium. Then, a massive airship stopped in the sky above the venue.

Seeing this scene, countless poor students from ordinary high schools in the stadium held their breath, feeling a surge of wealth sweeping over them.

Then, a group of students in purple school uniforms walked down from the airship. Zhang Yu recognized one of them, Lian Tianji, who had also participated in the art exhibition.

Afterward, Zhang Yu had exchanged contact information with him and often saw him in the top three of the daily step rankings.

Lian Tianji seemed to have also seen Zhang Yu, smiling and waving at him. Then, he seemed to be saying something to the girl beside him and pointed in Zhang Yu's direction.

The girl looked as cold as ice, looked in the direction Lian Tianji was pointing, and nodded slightly at Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "She looks like a real ice beauty, not a fake like Zhenzhen."

Qian Shen also looked at the Purple Cloud High School team, searched for photos of Le Mulan online, and compared them, eventually locking his gaze on the indifferent girl beside Lian Tianji.

"This should be Le Mulan from Purple Cloud High School, a high-caste being with 678 points. In her eyes, creatures below 650 points are probably no different from dirt!"

Not long after the White Dragon High School and Purple Cloud High School teams arrived, the host team, Red Tower High School, finally arrived late.

But when Zhang Yu saw the most conspicuous person among them, he exclaimed in surprise, "A monster?"

Bai Zhenzhen immediately jumped to the side, pointed at Zhang Yu, and said, "Hey, hey, hey! Watch your language, it's a demon-descendant Songyang citizen."

Although the student was wearing a school uniform, his red, shiny fur, thick tail, and round face made him look exactly like a panda.

Zhang Yu looked at the student, who looked like a panda, and a very weak feeling washed over him.

He asked curiously, "No, but how did this panda get into Red Tower High School? It can't be just his innocent smile, right?"

Although he felt that the panda's smile was indeed very innocent, Zhang Yu believed that the other party must have some special skill to enter a key high school and participate in the competition.

Bai Zhenzhen shrugged beside him, "Demon-descendant Songyang citizens are generally quite talented in physical strength, but looking at him… I feel like I could kill three of him with one punch."

"Then he must be particularly talented in mana?"

The two chatted as they entered different restrooms.

After finishing, Zhang Yu was pulled around by Bai Zhenzhen, following cell phone messages to a grandstand on the second floor of the venue.

They saw two girls already waiting there. Zhang Yu recognized one of them, Wu Qingqing, the girl who had also participated in the art exhibition from the Saintly Maidens Academy.

Zhang Yu's gaze flickered slightly as he looked at the other girl, thinking, "This must also be a big shot from the Saintly Maidens Academy?"

"Hey, long time no see." Wu Qingqing walked over and greeted Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. The girl behind her seemed deaf to everything around her, holding a book in one hand and clutching Wu Qingqing's clothes with the other.

It was as if Wu Qingqing could lead her all the way into the street to get hit by a truck, and she would still just look down at her book and follow silently.

"These two are Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu, the poor geniuses from Songyang High School."

After introducing them, Wu Qingqing pushed the girl behind her forward and said, "This is Ye Xianyun, the number one student in the first year of our Saintly Maidens Academy."

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

Zhang Yu: What are you so proud of?

Ye Xianyun looked up, nodded silently at the two, and then continued to look down at her book.