Chapter 13
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Chapter 13: Magic Power Competition
During the magic power class that day, the students of the Demonstration Class sat cross-legged in the meditation chamber, circulating their breathing technique.
The camera at the front monitored their every move and recorded any slight deviations, noting whether they opened their eyes, scratched an itch, fidgeted, or shifted their weight.
All this data was compiled into a single metric called the distraction rate.
The class with the highest weekly distraction rate would be publicly reprimanded school-wide.
The students of the Demonstration Class remained unfazed. No matter how they were assessed, their class was guaranteed to come out on top.
Meanwhile, the student with the lowest weekly distraction rate would not only receive public praise but also a 500-yuan reward and an hour’s free rental of a Heavenly Spirit Root.
This incentive made all the students in the Demonstration Class sit up and take notice.
When Zhang Yu first learned about the concept of a distraction rate, he could not help but think that if such a system had existed in his previous life, students would have cursed the school as complete idiots.
But this world was different. The students of the Demonstration Class stared at the daily distraction rate like rutting bulls, and a fierce competitive spirit filled the entire classroom.
At that moment, a bell rang. Everyone who had been silently cultivating stopped and turned their gaze to the large screen at the front, eager to see the distraction rate data for the class.
1st Place. Zhang Yu. Distraction rate 0%. Magic Power 8.3.
2nd Place. Bai Zhenzhen. Distraction rate 0.03%. Magic Power 11.2.
3rd Place. Qian Shen. Distraction rate 0.12%. Magic Power 11.1.
As the students in the classroom looked at the distraction rate rankings, they remained silent, but subtle changes in their eyes and expressions revealed a growing sense of surprise.
The teacher for the magic power class was Teacher Yan, a woman with her hair coiled up and wearing black-framed glasses.
At this moment, Teacher Yan looked at the scores displayed on the large screen and said, “I won’t call out the names of the several students with distraction rates exceeding 0.3% today.”
“It’s been three months since the start of the semester. How many times have I told you to focus your mind and cultivate your qi with detachment?”
“With such high distraction rates, how can your breathing technique efficiency possibly compare to others’?”
“You all have twenty-four hours in a day to cultivate. You won’t get more time than anyone else. If your breathing technique efficiency is low, you’ll fall behind by a little bit each day. After three years of high school, the gap in your power could be ten, twenty, or even thirty points.”
“And how many times have I said this? Students who can’t lower their distraction rates can come to my office to buy mind-calming agents. I sat in my office for three hours yesterday afternoon, and not a single person came to ask me about them… Do you all really think you have no problems at all?!”
After a round of criticism, Teacher Yan smiled faintly and looked at the top students on the screen. “Of course, there were also students who performed exceptionally well.”
“I’d like to commend the three students with the lowest distraction rates. In particular, Zhang Yu has maintained a 0% distraction rate for four consecutive days. Compared to his previous performance, this is a qualitative leap.”
“And his Magic Power has increased by a full 0.5 points in the past three days. This indicates he must have been working very hard outside of class, either by renting a Spirit Root or a high-spiritual-energy cultivation room, right, Student Zhang Yu?”
All eyes immediately turned toward him.
But Zhang Yu remained with his eyes closed, appearing half-asleep while still silently circulating the Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method.
Teacher Yan praised him, “See? This is the attitude of a true top student. He doesn’t stop even after class is over, seizing every single moment to cultivate and grow stronger.”
Zhao Tianxing watched Zhang Yu diligently practicing his breathing technique and found himself increasingly baffled by his classmate. “If he’s working so hard, why does he slack off and avoid getting the enhancers during Physical Education class?”
Bai Zhenzhen watched Zhang Yu, who still had his eyes closed, and thought to herself, Aside from eating and using the restroom, Yu Zi has been practicing his breathing technique non-stop these past few days. He’s working this hard. Could it be that the 700,000-yuan debt collection calls pushed him to this extreme?
On the stage, Teacher Yan continued, “Of course, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. There is nothing free lunch on the Path of Immortality. You won’t get far without investing money. Recently, an opening for Heavenly Spirit Root rentals has become available at the school. Any interested students can come see me.”
But before Teacher Yan left, something she said caught Zhang Yu’s attention.
“Oh, by the way, the city’s Magic Power Competition starts next month. Almost every high school in the city will have their freshman participate, and the first-place prize is 100,000 yuan.”
“Since registration is next Friday, the school plans to select the top ten first-year students based on their magic power level to represent us in the competition.”
***
That evening, in the cafeteria.
Zhou Tianyi had to leave early for Cram School, leaving only Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen at the table.
Feeling Bai Zhenzhen’s intense gaze on him, Zhang Yu finally could not take it anymore and spoke. “A-Zhen, I know I’m exceptionally handsome. In a school like Songyang High, which is full of nothing but bookworms, I stand out like a crane among chickens. But you do not really need to stare so intently, do you?”
Bai Zhenzhen asked, “So you want to enter the Magic Power Competition too?”
“What a shame, A-Zhen,” said Zhang Yu, shaking his head. “If you, the number one genius in our class, were not my friend, you would be provoking me right about now. Then, in the competition arena, you would have been repeatedly face slapped by my stunning performance, leaving your pupils quaking in utter shock and your worldview shattered.”
Bai Zhenzhen shook her head. “Yu Zi, you are talking about the citywide Magic Power Competition.”
“That is where every high school in Songyang City sends their best students, the ones with the strongest magic power and wealthiest families. It is a gathering of countless ultra-rich kids.”
Bai Zhenzhen sighed dramatically. “What do you think would happen if an ordinary person like you actually participated?”
Her eyes seemed to pierce through time, revealing a grim spectacle as she spoke with a mournful expression. “You would be repeatedly humiliated by countless powerful cultivators, become a stepping stone for the wealthy elite, and end up as the laughingstock of Songyang High School, dragging its reputation through the mud!”
“It is too tragic. I can already see you being trampled underfoot by the monstrous prodigies from other high schools, your Dao Heart shattered, leaving you like a beaten dog on the street.”
Zhang Yu rolled his eyes. “Do not be so dramatic. The Magic Power Competition is not a fight to the death in some arena. There is no shame in losing.”
“Besides, the first-place prize is 100,000 yuan.”
“Even finishing in the top ten gets you 10,000 yuan.”
Watching Zhang Yu’s eyes light up with greed, Bai Zhenzhen realized her friend was truly desperate. Driven to the brink by debt collectors, he had become so fixated on money that he was entertaining the wild notion of entering the competition.
Zhang Yu was indeed in dire financial straits. Although he had earned 13,000 yuan from Immortal Cloud Company just a few days ago, he had immediately used 10,000 to pay off a loan. Another 1500 yuan went to cover his rent, leaving him with only 1500 yuan.
“If you want to compete, you should first figure out how to raise your Magic Power into the top ten of our class. You are only ranked sixteenth right now, are you not? How much more money will you need to borrow to break into the top ten?”
Zhang Yu quickly calculated in his mind.
His current Magic Power was 8.3, placing him sixteenth in his class.
The student currently ranked tenth had a Magic Power of 9.5.
To surpass that person, Zhang Yu would need to raise his Magic Power to 9.5 by next Friday.
“No, I need to account for everyone else improving too.”
“To be safe, I should aim to raise my Magic Power to 10.0 by next Friday.”
“There are eight days until next Friday. Can I really raise my Magic Power from 8.3 to 10.0 in that time? That is a full 1.7-point increase.”
“I would need to improve by more than 0.2 points each day. Is that even possible?”
Absolutely. It was easy.
In the eyes of the other teachers and students, Zhang Yu’s rapid progress in recent days must have been fueled by a massive investment in premium Spirit Roots and training grounds.
But Zhang Yu knew the truth. It was all due to his extraordinary potential and unwavering self-discipline.
The Level 4 Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method had already allowed him to increase his Magic Power by 0.5 in just three days. He was confident that as he continued to upgrade the method, his Magic Power gains would become even more rapid.
“After all, the highest level a skill can reach during the Qi Refining stage is only Level 10.”
“A Level 4 breathing technique is something most first-year students would find impossible to achieve within their first semester.”
“But if I keep cultivating, I will likely be able to advance the Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method all the way to Level 8, 9, or even 10 in a short time. That is a level many people might not reach even after three full years of high school.”
Just as Zhang Yu was feeling invigorated by this thought, he noticed Bai Zhenzhen reaching across the table with her chopsticks, aiming for his bowl.
“How dare you!” Zhang Yu exclaimed, raising his own chopsticks to block her.
A series of clinks echoed as his chopsticks were easily swept aside by Bai Zhenzhen’s effortless maneuver.
Feeling a familiar rhythm in her movements, Zhang Yu was stunned. “The High School Basic Sword Technique? Have you already learned it? And you have even incorporated it into your use of chopsticks?”
Quickly snatching a few pieces of meat from Zhang Yu’s bowl, Bai Zhenzhen chuckled. “Is this really that hard, Yu Zi? Anyone with hands could do it, right?”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, Damn, she’s flexing in front of me again.
Bai Zhenzhen mixed the meat she had taken with rice and quickly shoveled in a few mouthfuls, then said in surprise, “I didn’t expect the five-yuan meal’s ribs to be so good. I’ll have to get one next time too.”
Patting her slightly bulging belly, Bai Zhenzhen burped contentedly and said, “Sigh, any more and it’ll affect my cram school.”
With that, she pushed her tray toward Zhang Yu. “Here, Yu Zi. Extra food for you.”
Looking at the neatly arranged, untouched half-portion of leftovers Bai Zhenzhen had left behind, Zhang Yu understood she had deliberately saved it for him.
It seemed that after becoming aware of Zhang Yu’s financial struggles, Bai Zhenzhen had recently taken it upon herself to feed him extra portions at dinner.
Zhang Yu grabbed the tray and began to eat as he spoke. “A-Zhen, you don’t need to worry about things like my pride or face. Given our relationship, you could just send me money directly and it would be fine.”
Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes. “I have to get to my cram school. Take your time.”
***
Outside the cafeteria.
A tall figure stood in a nearby stairwell, his eyes fixed on the cafeteria entrance.
After a moment, when he saw Zhang Yu emerge from the cafeteria, the tall figure tensed up but immediately started following him.
Following Zhang Yu out of the school gates, Zhao Tianxing’s gaze flickered when he saw him enter the stationery store across the street. He wondered, “Could this be where Zhang Yu gets his supplies?”
