Chapter 43: Alliance and the First Hurdle of Phase

After exchanging greetings, Wu Qingqing held up her phone, pointing the screen towards Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

A soft light flashed on the screen, revealing a cartoon-style young man. She introduced him, "This is Mo Tianyi from Mangshan High School."

Zhang Yu was inwardly shocked. "Holy crap, a VTuber?"

The animated youth nodded to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, introducing himself, "Greetings, I am Mo Tianyi."

"I have scanned the surrounding environment. We can speak freely here."

Zhang Yu curiously eyed the phone screen, asking, "Where are you right now?"

Mo Tianyi smiled gently. "I am currently in the Spirit Realm. Fortunately, the Spirit Realm is connected to the internet, so I can contact you."

Then, his expression turned serious as he asked earnestly, "Zhang Yu, I must ask you something. Have you been accepted as a disciple by True Person Xinghuo?"

Zhang Yu was about to speak when Bai Zhenzhen abruptly stepped forward, shielding Zhang Yu and declaring, "He has not."

"I told him about the pitfalls of being a Golden Core disciple and advised him to refuse True Person Xinghuo."

Zhang Yu glanced at Bai Zhenzhen in surprise, unsure why she would say that. However, trusting Ah Zhen, he remained silent, listening to their exchange.

Upon hearing Bai Zhenzhen's words, a hint of disappointment flashed across the faces of both Wu Qingqing and the virtual Mo Tianyi.

Wu Qingqing couldn't help but protest, "How could you let Zhang Yu refuse such an opportunity? If you want to get into the Top Ten, True Person Xinghuo would be an invaluable asset."

Bai Zhenzhen scoffed, "An old geezer kicked out of a major sect, his cultivation halved, who knows if he'll be begging for handouts on the streets after a divorce and his daughter empties his savings? Becoming his disciple would be like being a beast of burden, probably worse than my part-time jobs. How much can we squeeze out of him?"

"You..." Mo Tianyi sighed inwardly, regretting his suggestion to Bai Zhenzhen to try the art exhibition. Otherwise, Zhang Yu might have truly become a Golden Core disciple, increasing the chances of a student from a poor background entering the Top Ten.

Bai Zhenzhen continued, "The reason I contacted you today is to introduce Zhang Yu to your people."

"Although he's a bit lacking compared to me, he is still a rare genius. He is also being targeted by the student council."

Mo Tianyi's image on the screen flickered briefly before he regained his composure, smiling. "I've heard of Zhang Yu's talents for some time."

"This Law Arts competition will be a good opportunity to see him in action."

"That's it?" Bai Zhenzhen grumbled. "Give us some real investment."

Mo Tianyi sighed helplessly. "We're all poor. Resources are limited. You know our focus has always been on the Boss. We don't have much to spare."

"This is just a small token from me personally, please don't think it's not enough..."

With that, he transferred 2000 yuan to Bai Zhenzhen.

Zhang Yu inwardly thought, "Wow, so Ah Zhen dragged me here to beg for money."

"But it seems this 'Anti-Rich Alliance' is really broke. Not much money to give."

Seeing the transfer notification on the phone, Bai Zhenzhen frowned. "Only 2000?"

She knew who they were referring to. He was currently the most promising, talented, and lucky of these impoverished geniuses, considered the most likely to break through the shackles and enter the Top Ten schools.

This poor genius had earned the trust of these poor students, who saved every penny to invest in him.

They all hoped that this poor genius would enter a top university and join a major sect, lifting them all to prosperity and slowly piercing through the net that covered Songyang City.

Even her invitation to the art exhibition, in her view, was likely in the hopes that she could use her status as a Golden Core disciple to help that person.

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Didn't we agree to help each other, to be united in spirit? Are you just saying one thing and doing another? Was my membership fee for nothing?"

Mo Tianyi shook his head with a wry smile. Compared to Bai Zhenzhen's 2000 yuan membership fee, the amount she had taken from them in various ways was already tens of thousands.

If Bai Zhenzhen wasn't truly gifted and they didn't think she could draw away a significant amount of attention from the Boss in the future, they certainly wouldn't have invested so much money in her.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Wu Qingqing smiled and said, "Zhenzhen, don't worry. The Boss is at a crucial stage. Everyone is short on cash. Although Mo Tianyi manages the money, he needs the approval of several senior students before he can release any funds."

"How about this? Zhang Yu is so talented. As long as he gets a good ranking in this Law Arts competition, Mo Tianyi can talk to the senior students, and then it would be justified for them to ask for more money for you."

After some back-and-forth, Bai Zhenzhen finally grabbed Zhang Yu and left the stands.

Watching their departing figures, Wu Qingqing said helplessly, "Zhenzhen only comes to us to ask for money, treating us like an ATM."

Mo Tianyi said, "When it comes to entering the Top Ten, her belief is the strongest among us, which is why she's desperately trying to get money."

Mo Tianyi could clearly sense that Bai Zhenzhen was not hoping for the Boss to enter the Top Ten and then protect them. She wanted to enter the Top Ten herself.

Mo Tianyi: "I just didn't expect her to bring Zhang Yu along to beg for money this time."

Speaking of Zhang Yu, Wu Qingqing praised, "Raising his score by 70 points in a month, Zhang Yu is indeed very talented. He's worth investing in."

Mo Tianyi shook his head. "If he were a wealthy person, this performance would indeed be enough to compete for a spot in the Top Ten."

"But unfortunately… he is a poor man."

He sighed, lamenting, "For a poor person to break through the sky above them, just having great monthly exam scores is far from enough… far from enough…"

Behind Wu Qingqing, Ye Xianyun had been silently reading her book all along, as if everything outside had nothing to do with her.

……

On the other side, Bai Zhenzhen walked along, saying to Zhang Yu, "Yu, you have to make me proud in the Law Arts competition later!"

"At least get into the top ten. It will give me more leverage to ask them for money."

"Wait… I think you looked pretty tough when you were directly asking for money just now."

Zhang Yu thought for a moment, then asked the question in his heart: "Besides helping each other and pooling money, are there any other ways for the poor to enter the Top Ten?"

In his view, relying solely on a few poor students to save money, even if they were all Daoist geniuses from various schools, to break through the blockade of the wealthy and enter the Top Ten... it seemed unrealistic.

Bai Zhenzhen explained, "That's what I want to find out from them."

"As far as I know, their Boss should be a second-year student from one of the three famous schools."

"I don't know what method he used, but it seems that he hasn't signed a contract with any school or student council, hasn't been jointly suppressed, and still has the qualifications for the college entrance examination."

"I want to know how he did it."

"The only way, it seems, is to continuously increase our influence within their circle, then find that 'Boss' and figure out a way to make him reveal his methods."

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "How do we increase our influence?"

Bai Zhenzhen said matter-of-factly, "We are students, so the way to increase our influence is naturally through exams! Competitions! Achieving results!"

"Whether it's for the poor or the rich, this is the same. Whoever has good grades, they invest in them."

"It's just that I'm not very good at this Law Arts competition. It depends on how far you can get."

Not long after Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen returned to Songyang High School's rest area, Zhang Yu's eyes suddenly moved, and he saw someone in the stands.

"Liang Qin?"

Seeing Liang Qin waving at him, as if encouraging him, Zhang Yu nodded in greeting.

"What the hell? He chased all the way to Red Tower High School to watch my competition as a spectator?"

"Dude, are you okay? If you do this, I won't dare to turn my back to you in the future."

Liang Qin looked at Zhang Yu in the rest area, a slight smile appearing on the corner of his mouth. Then he took out his phone, opened the platform, and prepared to place a bet.

After all, gambling is a popular recreational activity deeply loved by the people of Songyang City.

The platform that Liang Qin often uses even has a large platform endorsed by the vice mayor, which is all-encompassing and almost covers all kinds of gambling in Songyang City.

At this moment, Liang Qin casually searched and found various high school competition events.

He asked for leave to watch the competition, of course, to follow Zhang Yu and get a reward.

However, after seeing the Law Arts competition, he couldn't help but feel itchy and prepared to place a bet.

At the same time, Zhang Yu also saw the platform promotional flyers floating down beside him.

"Participate in the competition, why not bet on the competition, new users get a 100 yuan red envelope..."

Zhang Yu felt speechless for a while. Gambling advertisements are directly promoted in the arena? Everyone gambles, and he is not messing around, right?

Seeing this scene, Bai Zhenzhen immediately waved her hand and snatched the promotional flyer, staring at Zhang Yu and saying, "Yu, you can't touch this."

Zhang Yu said, "I think I have a good chance of getting into the top ten. If I bet..."

Bai Zhenzhen said seriously, "How much are you planning to bet? What if you lose?"

Zhang Yu said, "The probability of winning is very high..."

Bai Zhenzhen continued, "If you win, then the problem is even bigger. Your concept of money will be completely changed, because you have won, and you will always want to win again."

As a native of Songyang City, Bai Zhenzhen has seen too many people fall on this.

Even in news reports, she has seen immortals lose everything they have.

She continued to persuade, "I'm afraid you will get used to relying on this, and finally lose everything you have."

"Yu, you really can't touch it."

Bai Zhenzhen lightly shook her palm and shattered the promotional flyer into powder.

Zhang Yu took a deep breath, used the Desolate Bull Soul-Suppressing Heart Technique, and suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart: "You are right, Ah Zhen, I was greedy, I really shouldn't touch this thing."

In fact, Zhang Yu understood the reasoning, but the huge economic pressure made him have a moment of greed just now.

A moment later, accompanied by a burst of music, this Law Arts competition officially began.

Only to see drones controlled by soul cultivators flying out, bringing the props needed for this Law Arts competition.

When everyone saw the things used for the competition being placed in the arena, exclamations rang out one after another.

"It's a flying sword!"

"Are we going to control swords? Is the first level so difficult? The previous competitions never tested flying swords!"

"It's over, I haven't used a flying sword!"

Only to see the host walk to a flying sword floating in the air and say, "The Nine Heavens Sword Light is cold, and one sword shakes the Kunxu. Thank you for the super easy-to-kill Nine Heavens Flying Sword joint sponsorship of this Law Arts competition."

"Holy crap!"

Zhang Yu cursed inwardly, "Flying sword manufacturers are sponsoring, so you are testing flying swords in the Law Arts competition? You really don't want your face. If the Joyous Union Sect comes to sponsor, will you test dual cultivation? Have the guts to test it!"