What’s the point of cultivating immortality if you don’t have money?.

Chapter 529 Undercurrents (Thanks to 'Falling Leaves and Fragrant Flowers' for the generous donation)
As the top student in her class for three consecutive years, Su Yunni always believed that she could maintain her ranking.

As for Zhang Yu, who transferred from the Civil Engineering Department, she didn't really care about him.

However, seeing the other party gradually gain fame in the weapon crafting department in recent months, Su Yunni couldn't help but secretly compete with him and made up her mind to keep her position as the top student in the class.

Reviewing, doing practice problems, conducting experiments... Whenever she thought of Zhang Yu closely following behind her, she dared not slack off in the slightest.

On the day of the exam, she gave it her all and used every trick in the book.

On this evening in early September, Su Yunni kept refreshing the report card in her eyes, eager to know her results as soon as possible.

"First!"

Seeing the rankings, Su Yunni breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm still number one in the class."

Just as she was feeling a bit smug and wanted to check the group chat to see if anyone was praising her,

But then Zi Yunzhen in the group chat said: Did you guys know? Zhang Yu handed in his paper half an hour early.

Another person said: "I was in the same exam room as him, and he left the lab an hour early."

Zi Yunzhen: So early? No wonder he was already there when I went to the lab that day.

Upon seeing these words, Su Yunni frowned and quickly checked the rankings and overall score again.

Zhang Yu was still second in his class, but due to the increase in his overall score and the graduation of the 10th grade students, Zhang Yu's department ranking jumped from 48th to 39th.

After Su Yunni calculated the change in the other person's overall score, she discovered that the other person's overall score had increased by the same amount as hers in this final exam.

"I got a perfect score...and he got a perfect score too?"

But Su Yunni suddenly realized that she had worked so hard to get a perfect score, while the other person had left the exam early in every subject, clearly not giving it their all.

The initial excitement of maintaining first place in the class cooled down at this moment. Su Yunni felt as if she had punched cotton. The final exam that she took so seriously had been met with Zhang Yu's casual attitude.

"Is this guy putting all his energy into his own project?"

Su Yunni's eyes flickered with light and shadow as she opened the textbooks for the higher grades one by one.

"I also need to prepare well for the design competition."

Although Zhang Yu said he wanted to confront Jin Jun head-on, Su Yunni naturally didn't believe Zhang Yu could succeed.

Su Yunni made up her mind to prepare well for the design competition: "I want to win the design competition and obtain the military-grade technique before Zhang Yu can create a military-grade project."

When purchasing the refining materials needed for the experiment, Su Yunni frowned slightly: "Have the prices of raw materials gone up?"

"Could it be because of the top ten leagues?"

Although the price of raw materials has risen, it doesn't matter to Su Yunni and she doesn't take it to heart.

……

The updated final exam results also signify the arrival of a new school year.

Zhang Yu also became a senior student.

At this moment, students are constantly updating messages in the Songyang hometown group.

Most of the messages are from freshmen who came to the second floor after the college entrance examination. They were the most active in sending messages after arriving on the second floor a while ago, and now they often discuss the environment, academics, homework, and dormitories of different schools in the group...

As Zhang Yu watched their conversation, he felt as if he were seeing himself during his freshman year of college.

Yu Xinghan: 9% new second-hand Tianyan Fahai, anyone interested?
Yu Xinghan: Once I got to university, I didn't have any good eyesight, and I couldn't even concentrate in class.

Seeing Yu Xinghan recommending Eye Essence to the freshmen again, Zhang Yu didn't think much of it. Many people in the group were doing similar things, which could be considered as experienced people in Songyang City mentoring new ones.

However, some of the topics the freshmen were discussing still bothered Zhang Yu.

"Has Songyang High School become one of the top four high schools in Songyang City?"

Looking at the newly graduated high school students from Songyang High School in the group, Zhang Yu noticed that many of them were inquiring about him and seemed particularly interested in him.

"I didn't expect that even after I left Songyang High School for several years, my legend would still be around?"

Just as the new students in the group were radiating vitality, the graduating students were also occasionally expressing various laments.

Have you found jobs yet?

"The employment rate has dropped again this month, which seems to be related to the top ten leagues."

"Graduation means unemployment, I can only do odd jobs for now..."

Most students can hardly understand what it feels like to be a graduate.

The subtle changes in employment data are seen by most people as being similar to the annual changes in the employment rate.

The start of the Top Ten Leagues attracted a lot of attention and interrupted Zhang Yu's arduous cultivation in the Taiqing Realm.

This year's Top Ten Leagues will be held on a floating island amidst a sea of ​​clouds.

Besides the various professional competitions, the most eye-catching events in the top ten leagues are naturally the military competitions. For example, the ten-school sword duel attracts a lot of attention, and Zhang Yu knows that Bai Zhenzhen and Wen Wuyai will also participate.

There's also the Ten Schools Treasure Competition. As far as Zhang Yu knows, Yan Qianji from the Weapon Forging Department, his senior sister Ye Xingli, and several other prodigies from the Weapon Forging Department will participate.

Because of Ye Xingli's involvement, her experimental project was suspended, and Zi Yunzhen, as her assistant, also temporarily had no experimental project to do.

Zhang Yu had a fairly good impression of Zi Yunzhen: "She washed the materials quite cleanly."

Zhang Yu was considering that if he started refining the Heavenly Sun God in the future, he might be able to recruit Zi Yunzhen as his assistant to do odd jobs and speed up his refining process.

When faced with Zhang Yu's invitation, Zi Yunzhen only asked: How much is the salary?
Zhang Yu: Young people shouldn't only think about money. Don't you want to participate in military-level projects?
Zhang Yu: Besides, I can repair magic items. If you come to my project team in the future, I can personally help you repair magic items.
Zi Yun had no interest in Zhang Yu's empty promises and replied casually before giving up.

Just after replying to the message on her eyelid, she noticed that her neighbor's dormitory door was open, and a strong stench was coming from inside.

Speaking of her neighbor, Zi Yun knew that he was a senior student in the weapon crafting department, but she hadn't seen him for a long time.

I only found out today that the other person committed suicide in their dorm room a few days ago, apparently because of the stock they bought plummeting in value.

"It seems that several stocks have fallen quite sharply recently."

However, Zi Yun had seen plenty of cases where stock prices plummeted to the point of suicide, so she glanced at it and didn't pay much attention.

Zi Yunzhen casually walked into the dormitory and adjusted her eyes.

"Is today the ten schools' sword-fighting competition?"

……

"Why has the medical insurance for the competition increased so much?"

On the sea of ​​clouds, Bai Zhenzhen looked at the medical insurance contract in front of her and couldn't help but curse, "Are they treating us like fat sheep to be slaughtered?"

Wen Wuyai, who was standing to the side, said, "Zhenzhen, aren't all insurance companies like this? If it weren't for the teacher's influence this time, and the need to ensure the fairness of the Top Ten Leagues, they probably wouldn't sell us insurance as usual."

With a soft whoosh, a sword aura struck Wen Wuyai, clashing with her protective sword aura.

Wen Wuyai didn't care about this, since Bai Zhenzhen's emotions would cause sword energy to emerge from the void if he had even the slightest fluctuation.

Fortunately, Bai Zhenzhen's control has improved a lot. Now, she can basically kill anyone above the level of a junior colonel with one sword. Students with strong abilities like Wen Wuyai can even act as if nothing happened.

None of the other top students from Tianjian University around them were weak, and they didn't care about this at all.

Bai Zhenzhen muttered, "It's still too expensive."

Wen Wuyai advised, "I heard that the insurance premiums for participating in the Top Ten Leagues have increased this time, so it's normal for them to be more expensive."

However, the next moment, Bai Zhenzhen's expression suddenly changed, from a gloomy face to a joyful one, and her body swayed as if a tail was wagging.

Upon seeing this, Wen Wuyai immediately understood that the other party was communicating with Zhang Yu.

The sound of air being cut rang out as the participating students from Tianjian University, including Wen Wuyai, all moved away from Bai Zhenzhen.

The next moment, a scarlet sword light swept around Bai Zhenzhen, leaving deep sword marks in the air.

Watching this scene, Wen Wuyai thought to himself, "Every time I talk to Zhang Yu, it's truly the most dangerous time for Zhenzhen."

"Did the Seven Emotions God arrange for them to talk before the competition to enhance Zhenzhen's combat power?"

……

"Go, Zhen!"

After ending the call with Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu received another message from Yingxin.

"Has the project payment not arrived yet?"

Zhang Yu immediately contacted the person in charge, Master Juxing, but the reply he received left him feeling helpless.

Juxing Zhenren: It's not that I don't want to help, it's just that everyone's money is stuck right now, and there's nothing I can do.
Juxing Zhenren: Many projects may have to be temporarily suspended. Let your staff endure a little longer. Things should be fine once the Top Ten Leagues are over.
Zhang Yu: What does this have to do with the top ten leagues? Why would playing a single match affect our project?
Juxing Zhenren: Don't ask me, I don't know either.
Seeing the numerous employees in the company eagerly awaiting their paychecks, Zhang Yu had no choice but to take out his own savings again to pay a portion of their salaries, and let Zhao Tianxing and the others find some part-time jobs to do for the time being.

Then Zhang Yu looked at the live stream in his eyes; Bai Zhenzhen's sword duel with her opponent had already begun.

The two sides engaged in fierce battles in the boundless sea of ​​clouds, spanning hundreds of kilometers, probing each other's movements while concealing their own.

Amidst the rolling sea of ​​clouds, only fleeting glimpses of sword light could be seen, leaving behind sword marks hundreds of meters long in the sky.

Thanks to the concealment ability of her divine root, Bai Zhenzhen remained undetected by her opponent and eventually successfully knocked them down from the clouds.

Zhang Yu discovered that the sword fights were becoming increasingly intense, and casualties were gradually occurring.

Beyond sword fighting, as the Ten Major Leagues continued, Zhang Yu soon discovered that other military competitions were equally intense, with more casualties than in previous years, even though the casualties were not as high as in sword fighting.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Everyone says that the top ten universities are using the results of the top ten leagues to distribute their benefits. Now that the conflicts between the top ten universities are becoming more intense, are the top ten leagues becoming even fiercer?"

When Bai Zhenzhen fiercely fought against the Nascent Soul disciples of White Bone University, the intensity of the battle reached a new level.

(End of this chapter)