Chapter 7: The Gap Between People
On the Bus
After obtaining the Feather Book, Zhang Yu had thought that his future life would be filled with him exclaiming, "Feather Book! Let me see where your limits lie!"
Little did he expect that in the blink of an eye, it would turn into... a ritual: "Zhang Yu! Let me see where your limits lie!"
But since things had already come to this point, the only way Zhang Yu could think of to dispel the power of the ritual was to become stronger.
So at this moment, he could only strive to cultivate himself.
As Zhang Yu inhaled and exhaled, strands of spiritual energy from the world around him seeped into his body one after another, gathering in his dantian qi - sea and being refined bit by bit into magical power, solidifying his foundation in the cultivation path of immortality.
However, thinking about the process of practicing the Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques last night, Zhang Yu wanted to try the same method to see if he could quickly upgrade the basic breathing method.
With a mere thought, the Feather Book unfolded. Then, Zhang Yu focused his attention on the 'Basic Breathing Method Level 1' on the page and immediately tried to drag the 'Basic Breathing Method Level 1' towards his character portrait.
But just as he was about to drag the 'Basic Breathing Method Level 1' towards his own character portrait, a flash of enlightenment surged out from the Feather Book.
"One can only focus on upgrading one skill at a time."
"One has to wait for a day before switching again."
Zhang Yu mentally named this function of the Feather Book as 'Specialization'.
At this moment, he suddenly understood that the specialized skill could be improved rapidly, but only one skill could be specialized in for a certain period of time, and one had to wait for a day before switching to another skill.
"In other words, if I switch the specialization from the Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques to the Basic Breathing Method now, then the Basic Breathing Method can be quickly upgraded through practice, but the Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques will revert to their normal practice efficiency."
"Unless I switch back to the Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques after a day..."
Thinking about what happened during physical education class, Zhang Yu decided not to make the switch for now and continued to focus on upgrading the Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques.
In the blink of an eye, time passed, and Zhang Yu maintained the Basic Breathing Method until the moment before getting off the bus.
...
In the School Cafeteria
Bai Zhenzhen carried her meal tray and sat down in front of Zhang Yu, who seemed like a zombie. She curiously glanced at him and said indifferently, "Did you stay up all night yesterday?"
Zhang Yu swallowed the big meat bun in his hand and cursed, "I was diligently working out until late at night."
Bai Zhenzhen's face remained expressionless, but she spoke without restraint, "Sigh, you're the only one in the whole school who hasn't had a vasectomy. I've been telling you not to save those twenty thousand yuan for so long. Look at how much time, energy, and protein you've wasted."
Zhang Yu swallowed an egg and smiled confidently, "Bai Zhenzhen, let me tell you something. My self - discipline and potential are so astonishing that even I'm shocked. It won't be long before I snatch your spot as the top student in the grade."
Upon hearing this, Bai Zhenzhen quickly rolled her eyes and said mercilessly through her delicate little mouth, "Yu Zi, say such overconfident words in front of me all you want, but if others hear it, I'm afraid they'll laugh so hard they'll pee their pants."
"You should be competing for the total score championship in the grade, not the title of the top condom user in the grade. You don't have the advantage of being vasectomized."
Zhang Yu shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself, "This Ah Zhen is usually so cold and reserved, but she says whatever comes to mind when we're alone."
Speaking of the fact that he was the only one in the school who hadn't had a vasectomy, Zhang Yu was no longer as surprised. He had gradually gotten used to the madness of this broken world and this crazy school.
However, the fact that he hadn't had a vasectomy was still a little secret of his. Among his classmates, he had only told Bai Zhenzhen about it.
But at this moment, thinking about this, a doubt suddenly welled up in Zhang Yu's heart: "Why was I able to get into school without having a vasectomy?"
Just then, Zhou Tianyi also carried his meal tray and sat down next to them, curiously looking at Zhang Yu as well, "You look really tired. Did you pull an all - nighter studying?"
Zhang Yu shook his head and said, "I practiced the Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques for a while and had some insights."
While eating and chatting, Zhang Yu suddenly noticed that since Zhou Tianyi had arrived, Bai Zhenzhen had become much quieter, reverting to being the aloof and taciturn top student.
After breakfast, the three of them walked along the track towards the classroom.
From time to time, Zhang Yu opened his palm and watched the Feather Book appear and disappear from it.
"Sure enough, no one else can see the Feather Book?"
Just then, a 'bang' came from the direction of the teaching building, followed by a series of shouts and screams.
A crowd had gathered in front of the main entrance of the teaching building, and a corpse with its head smashed in was lying quietly on the ground.
The people around were discussing animatedly, and some people had recognized the identity of the corpse.
Someone who knew the deceased well started gossiping, "This is Lu Chao from Class 3, Grade 12. He used to be in a demonstration class. It seems that his grades have been dropping, and he's about to be demoted, right?"
"Lu Chao, huh? He was among the top ten in the grade in his sophomore year."
Some poor - hating bigots started a general attack.
"So what if you were among the top ten in your sophomore year? Poor people are just poor. You can see that there are hardly any poor people left in the demonstration classes in senior three. Poor people are not cut out for cultivation."
Some severely grade - discriminating people started their own comments, "Hmph, falling from the sixth floor and dying. Sure enough, he's a poor student. If it were a top student from a demonstration class in senior three, I bet they'd have to jump from at least the tenth floor to die."
Passing by, Bai Zhenzhen looked at the scene and sighed, "Another senior three student jumped to their death?"
Zhou Tianyi said, "This is the third one this year. It seems that the pressure on this year's senior three students is really high."
Zhang Yu suddenly asked, "Was he very poor?"
Bai Zhenzhen glanced at him, not sure whether she was giving advice or sighing, and said indifferently, "He must have borrowed a lot. Anyway, if you have to borrow money to study, you're definitely not rich."
"Students like him usually perform quite well at first when they enter Songyang High School."
"But generally, by the time they reach senior three, they gradually can't keep up with their wealthy classmates and often end up getting into second - or third - tier universities."
"As for the top ten universities, it seems that in Songyang High School, no commoner has been admitted for more than a decade."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback. He knew that the so - called top ten referred to the ten top universities directly affiliated with the major sects, which were the most prestigious universities and the dream schools of countless students.
But he didn't know that in Songyang High School, there hadn't been a commoner admitted to the top ten universities for so many years.
He thought to himself, "Is it because of insufficient resources or lack of money?"
Zhang Yu also recalled some rumors about those wealthy students. It was said that many top - notch tutoring teachers, secret tutoring manuals, high - end cultivation techniques, and drugs in the laboratory... were only circulated among the wealthy circles and would never be revealed to the poor.
Looking at the splattered blood on the ground, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "If I hadn't been inspired to tap into my potential, I might have ended up on this path in the future."
Although the incident of the student jumping to their death sparked a wave of discussions, for the busy students who were constantly studying and cultivating, it was just something to talk about during their breaks.
Soon, no one paid attention to it anymore, and the students continued to immerse themselves in their daily cultivation studies, striving for their future lives.
Although they were only teenagers, everyone already knew a cruel fact.
Depending on different scores, one enters different universities.
Depending on different universities, one decides their future sect.
Depending on different sects, one's life is determined.
Regardless of whether their relationships are good or bad, classmates will go their separate ways if their grades differ.
...
During the Three - Period Physical Education Class
Once again rejecting Teacher Wang Hai's sales pitch, Zhang Yu didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the teacher's gaze towards him seemed to have changed.
But he really had no choice. Whether it was a matter of money or health, he couldn't possibly go for the injections anymore.
So Zhang Yu simply pretended not to notice and continued his practice.
Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques Level 2 (1/20)
Counting the one time he practiced at the bus stop, Zhang Yu only needed to practice the Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques 19 more times to level up.
This made him extremely motivated during his subsequent training. He kept urging his muscles, squeezing out every bit of magical power.
Even when he sometimes wanted to take a break, under the reminder of the ritual power, he would quickly perk up and continue to practice hard.
Accompanied by the tearing pain throughout his body, he broke through his limits time and time again, facing life - and - death threats over and over again. It was both painful and fulfilling.
After spending more than two class periods, Zhang Yu finally collapsed on the ground, not wanting to move an inch anymore.
Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques Level 2 (17/20)
"I've reached my limit."
The ritual power didn't force him anymore, apparently also believing that he had reached his limit.
But Zhang Yu was not discouraged at all. To upgrade a basic martial art from Level 1 to Level 3 in just two days was something that the previous Zhang Yu could never have imagined.
"If I hadn't done extra practice last night, I should be able to finish three periods of physical education class, right?"
"However, this stupid ritual forced me to seize every minute and second to train. I'm afraid that in the future, staying up late to practice and then being too tired to do anything but rest during physical education class will become the norm."
Zhang Yu felt that it was like in his previous life when someone stayed up all night cramming and self - studying and then slept through class during the day. Obviously, it wasn't a healthy lifestyle.
"It's all this stupid ritual's fault. It can't tell the time or place."
Just then, Zhang Yu, lying on the ground, suddenly felt a shadow covering his body, as if a mountain had blocked his head.
Teacher Wang Hai looked down at Zhang Yu on the ground and said coldly, "What are you doing during physical education class?"
Zhang Yu quickly said, "Teacher, I did extra practice last night, and I'm a bit tired now."
Feeling Wang Hai's unkind look, Zhang Yu added an explanation, "My Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques reached Level 2 last night."
The reason he gave this explanation was that Zhang Yu knew that in this school where grades were everything, most teachers wouldn't give trouble to students with good grades.
He thought that if Wang Hai knew that he had made great progress, he shouldn't give him a hard time.
This was something Zhang Yu had been thinking about after subtly noticing the change in Wang Hai's attitude towards him.
But Zhang Yu was wrong.
There are many types of teachers in this world.
For example, most of the main - subject teachers in Songyang High School like students with good grades, those who are easy to teach and bring a sense of teaching achievement. They are more tolerant of the mistakes of students with good grades.
Some teachers devote more energy to students with poor grades, focusing on improving their academic performance because it's easier to help them improve.
There are also many elective teachers who don't care how well the students learn. As long as they start and end class on time, wasting even one more second at work is unacceptable to them.
But there is also a type of teacher who sometimes cares more about whether students are obedient and whether they challenge their authority than about students' grades.
In such a teacher's class, they are the absolute authority and do not accept any disobedience from students. Even if you use a method of learning that they haven't taught, they will mock you openly and use you as an example to belittle you.
And clearly, Wang Hai, who likes to sell medicine and physically punish students, is this type of teacher.
Physical education class in Songyang High School is his little kingdom, and the students are his channels for peddling drugs.
Originally, Zhang Yu had always refused to buy medicine, which had already irritated him.
Seeing Zhang Yu lying down 'slacking off' just now made him even more annoyed. He wanted to take this opportunity to teach Zhang Yu a lesson and set an example, making the students ashamed of not following Zhang Yu's example of natural body strengthening.
But his scolding was blocked by Zhang Yu's words, 'My Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques reached Level 2 last night'.
In Wang Hai's eyes, this was already a challenge to his authority in physical education class.
"So what if your Body Strengthening Thirty - Six Techniques are at Level 2?"
Wang Hai pointed at Bai Zhenzhen and said, "Look at her. She doesn't skip injections or slack off in class after reaching Level 2."
Zhang Yu helplessly said, "Teacher, that's not what I meant..."
Wang Hai said coldly, "Zhang Yu, I've seen students like you many times. Relying on a bit of talent, you don't listen to the teacher's guidance and disregard the school's teaching."
"You should understand that the reason you were able to make a breakthrough is that you have been attending classes and getting injections seriously for the past three months, laying a solid foundation for you."
"Whatever self - study or tutoring you do outside of school, at most, it's just dessert."
"Only the classes in school are the most important main course."
"I'll report your problem to your homeroom teacher. You'd better watch out for yourself."