Songyang High.
The cafeteria, lunch period.
Zhao Tianxing stood with his tray, hesitating.
On the surface the campus seemed glass-still, everything just as before. But the clash on the training ground the day before had already spread all over the school.
Nearly every student now knew that Zhang Yu of Class One, Grade One had thrown in with White Dragon High School, and had squared off against the student council president Zhou Chechen and a pack of senior Grade Two students.
Judging by what Zhao Tianxing had observed and tallied up across the various student cliques, the verdict from the vast majority boiled down to something simple.
The Songyang loyalists' take: *Isn't this a school traitor? A class traitor? Selling out to the White Dragon people for profit — a Songyang turncoat! He should be expelled from his student status!*
The envious students' suspicion: *Li Xuelian first, now Zhang Pianpian — how does Zhang Yu keep drawing in rich women? I strongly suspect his surgery wasn't done thoroughly. The school should run a full investigation on him.*
Rage, envy... and a buried thread of covetousness, all of it curdled into bare malice.
And the bulk of students, who feared trouble, wouldn't go anywhere near Zhang Yu — terrified of being dragged under by the student council and the Songyang loyalists.
Zhao Tianxing was no different. He, too, was afraid that drawing too close to Zhang Yu meant being marked, being targeted...
After all, it wasn't as though Songyang High had never seen students bullying students.
Zhao Tianxing remembered hearing about Shuang Youpeng, the year above. In his first year, he'd taken first overall on the monthly exam — a real terror of his cohort.
But once he moved into Grade Two, his grades gradually couldn't keep pace with the rich kids, and bit by bit he'd begun to suffer humiliation.
They wouldn't let him do his homework. Wouldn't let him take his medicine. Wouldn't let him train. Wouldn't let him pull all-nighters.
They even forced him to eat fried chicken, French fries, beer, and desserts day after day, made him watch his own belly grow, his fat thicken, the muscle he'd trained so hard slowly melt away.
They forced him to watch videos, read novels, play games every day, watched his grades slip a point at a time while his dao-heart twisted and tormented...
Only after he'd thoroughly begged for mercy did Zhou Chechen let him off.
Just running it through his mind made Zhao Tianxing feel like he couldn't breathe.
So when Zhang Yu had invited him to eat together today, panicked and scrambling, Zhao Tianxing said he had something to do and would head to the cafeteria later.
Carrying that indecision, Zhao Tianxing fetched his food, held his tray, and when he once again met Zhang Yu's eyes, he instinctively looked away.
That single dodged glance sent a chill into his heart.
*Sigh. There goes any friendship with Zhang Yu.*
Wandering a few steps around the cafeteria with his tray, he couldn't help glancing back toward where Zhang Yu sat.
When he saw Bai Zhenzhen and Qian Shen both sit down at Zhang Yu's side, one after another, envy crept into Zhao Tianxing's eyes.
"Bai Zhenzhen and Qian Shen... how are they so gutsy? Not afraid at all?"
"If only I could do whatever I wanted like them."
He always thought too much, and he'd never liked that about himself. All his life he'd wished he could stop overthinking, stop caring so much about what others thought — but he just couldn't manage it.
Much like this moment: Zhao Tianxing clenched his tray on instinct, wanting to walk toward Zhang Yu's spot, yet it felt as though every student around were pointedly or subconsciously looking at him, as if the whole school would shun him the moment he sat beside Zhang Yu.
Of course, that was all in his head. The cafeteria was packed with people eating; almost nobody was actually paying him special attention.
Zhao Tianxing watched Zhang Yu chatting cheerfully with Qian Shen and Bai Zhenzhen, and without his noticing, yearning seeped into his eyes.
Ever since he'd gone home the day before, he couldn't stop replaying the image of Zhang Yu standing his ground, not taking a single step back, against Zhou Chechen.
He envied Zhang Yu for managing that feat, and desperately wished he could look as effortlessly serene as Zhang Yu under any kind of pressure.
Just as Zhao Tianxing dithered, unable to decide, he suddenly saw Zhang Yu waving at him.
"Old Zhao! Over here!"
Zhao Tianxing started. *Did Zhang Yu think I couldn't find him just now?*
He gritted his teeth, then hurried over and sat down next to Zhang Yu.
In that moment he felt certain half the cafeteria was watching him, and all he wanted was to sit down fast and get Zhang Yu to stop yelling his name.
And this time he wasn't wrong — a lot of people were indeed staring at Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, Qian Shen, and him.
But even so, Zhao Tianxing felt pretty cool right now. Maybe in their eyes he looked as cool as Zhang Yu had yesterday.
That, he got exactly wrong. To the vast majority of students, the present Zhao Tianxing looked like nothing but a clown, tagged with the same "do not touch" label.
No sooner had Zhao Tianxing sat down than Zhang Yu got a reply from Zhang Pianpian.
The message Zhang Yu had just sent his sister: *Sis, I have a classmate who loves studying and really wants to add you as a friend.*
Zhang Pianpian: *What's his score?*
Zhang Yu: *Around 620 or so at his highest.*
Zhang Pianpian: *Too low. No.*
Zhang Yu: *Huh?*
Zhang Yu thought to himself: *This big sister of mine is seriously prejudiced against scores too.*
He suddenly recalled the call she'd once made him — back when Zhang Yu couldn't even break 600, in her eyes she probably thought of him as a piece of human wet-trash... no wonder she talked to him so rudely.
But considering the environment at White Dragon High, Zhang Yu felt it was... well, pretty reasonable for the top student of that school's first grade to act this way.
He looked up at Qian Shen, brimming with expectation before him, and said awkwardly: "I... she said your score of 620-something is too low. She won't add you."
Qian Shen was blank for a second, then flushed crimson. "Don't you forget that 6 in the ones place!"
"My highest was 626!"
But the moment those words were out, Qian Shen hung his head, gaze dimming.
Zhang Yu felt that in that instant, Qian Shen was thinking many, many things, until finally the boy nodded. "My score really is too low."
Then Qian Shen lifted his head again, face full of longing. "Not bad — someone who hit 699 picks friends with such class."
"Please tell her I'll work hard to raise my score and get that friend slot."
"And also — even though I'm at Songyang High, I've long yearned for White Dragon High. I even sat the entrance exam once, just missed it by a hair..."
Zhang Yu got it now. Qian Shen was a thoroughly spiritual White Dragoner. Guess the air over White Dragon High really is sweeter, huh.
With a face full of disdain, he forwarded the whole speech to Zhang Pianpian.
Zhang Pianpian: *Next time someone in that 620-plus range says that sort of thing, don't bother forwarding it. People with grades like that can't keep pace with us.*
Looking at the newly invigorated Qian Shen before him, Zhang Yu thought it over, then simply couldn't bring himself to pass on those words.
...
Afternoon class.
The literature teacher was lecturing from the podium.
Bai Zhenzhen was quietly drilling her spirit-power control down below.
Just then her phone gave a soft buzz. She picked it up and found a message from Mo Tianyi.
Mo Tianyi: *Bai Zhenzhen, you and Zhang Yu threw in with Zhang Pianpian of White Dragon High?*
A-Zhen froze for a moment, then understood at once — but wasn't quite sure how to answer.
Zhang Pianpian, the top student of White Dragon High's senior class, was to Mo Tianyi and his lot of poor students the very picture of a rich person.
And that Zhang Pianpian was sheltering Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu — in their eyes she must have forcibly signed the two of them away from Songyang High's control.
Why else would she? There was no way Bai Zhenzhen could tell Mo Tianyi that Zhang Pianpian simply admired her and Zhang Yu's talents, and thus wanted to look after them and back them in their run for the Top Ten.
As for Zhang Yu and Zhang Pianpian being brother and sister — she'd sworn to keep that secret. She wasn't some gossip-monger like Zhou Tianyi, so that was even more out of the question.
But all at once she got it. Why explain at all?
Explain all that to them — was she supposed to tell them she wasn't signed? Expose the fact that she and Zhang Yu meant to attack the Top Ten under Zhang Pianpian's protection?
And what if Mo Tianyi and their Boss got the same idea, wanted Zhang Pianpian to shelter them too... then what?
Or Mo Tianyi's crowd had too many loose mouths, and if the rich learned of it, wouldn't that stir up pointless waves?
Right now everyone believed they'd been taken in by the rich woman Zhang Pianpian, believed they wouldn't go for the Top Ten — and that was a good thing.
At most, later on, if they really did break into the Top Ten, they could repay the few tens of thousands Mo Tianyi and the others had invested, and if there was a chance, help push them up to Kunxu Layer Two.
"At the end of the day — for me and Yu'er, and for Mo Tianyi too — whether we can pass into the Top Ten is what matters most."
"So whatever choice raises our odds of getting into the Top Ten is the optimal play."
With that settled, Bai Zhenzhen replied on the spot: *Mm, sorry, we just couldn't hold out. We're not trying for the Top Ten anymore. We've already signed onto Zhang Pianpian's rolls.*
A moment later Mo Tianyi answered: *Sigh, can't blame you two. I've heard a bit of the pressure Songyang's been putting on you — buckling is only natural. But about our business, I hope you and Zhang Yu keep it secret, don't breathe a word to anyone.*
Bai Zhenzhen: *Don't worry. We may have given up, but we still want you to succeed. You're the poor folk's last hope. Go get 'em!*
...
In the Spirit Realm.
Watching Bai Zhenzhen's sincere reply, Mo Tianyi breathed a small sigh of relief — but in the next breath, regret flickered through him.
Whether it was Zhang Yu nabbing fourth place in the ranked martial competition, or Bai Zhenzhen's will as it had once shown itself, both had made him believe those two really had a sliver of a shot at the Top Ten.
But now it looked...
"In the end, they couldn't outlast the pressure."
Then came the sting of realizing the money he'd sent Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had gone down the drain.
"I should've known not to wire them that cash. Wouldn't this sum have been better spent on the Boss?"
He sighed inwardly: *When it finally comes to punching through that ceiling above us and carrying us all into the Top Ten, in the end it'll have to be the Boss...*
Just then, a line flashed before Mo Tianyi's eyes: "Work stalled for over 1 minute. Return to your post immediately and continue working."
Mo Tianyi hurriedly reined his thoughts in, reopened his Spirit Realm link, and got back to work.
Unlike the other schools, the soul-cultivator students of Mountain Mang High had to take part in internship work starting from Grade One.
Dialog boxes began to bloom before Mo Tianyi's eyes once more. Today his shift was as customer service for a cram institute.
Customer: *My son's already had the sterilization surgery, but now no high school will take him. The girls' schools and the soul-cultivator programs have all turned him away for his mutilated body. What do we do?*
Mo Tianyi typed back: *Girls' schools and soul-cultivator programs have lower thresholds and are crowded every year, so a maimed body easily gets weeded out. But all is not lost — you can have your son go through a sterilization-repair surgery, then return for the interview.*
Mo Tianyi: *If that fails too, repeat the year, then do another sterilization surgery. Two sterilization surgeries like that are a huge bonus on the resume — it shows a steadfast dao-heart. He's sure to be admitted next year.*
Mo Tianyi: *We have partner hospitals I can recommend to you...*
Beside Mo Tianyi, a dozen more identical Mo Tianyis each faced their own dialog boxes, working just the same.
And these Mo Tianyis inside the Spirit Realm — the space they inhabited was a room of about ten square meters, containing nothing but them and the dialog boxes.
After eighteen straight hours of work, there finally came five minutes of rest.
Staring at his earned wages, Mo Tianyi hurriedly sent the money to the Boss.
"The Boss needs cash right about now."
Thinking how today's pay would add a little more hope to the Boss's run at the Top Ten, a thread of satisfaction and anticipation wound through Mo Tianyi's heart.
*You have to make it, Boss. You're the only poor man in Songyang City with a shot at the Top Ten.*
*And the only possible way for us to break out of this life...*