Chapter 42: Mana Competition Lineup

Chapter 42: Mana Competition Lineup

On the bus.

Since the Mana Competition for the senior, junior, and sophomore years are held at different times, the bus rented by Songyang High School currently only carries the contestants from Zhang Yu's grade.

He Dayou glanced at Zhang Yu, thinking about the effort he had put in over the past period. A thoughtful expression crossed his face.

With Zhang Yu's Mana reaching 15.4, he had already topped the grade rankings.

However, He Dayou was somewhat dismissive, assuming that Zhang Yu had devoted all his time to boosting his Mana.

"Is it for the Mana Competition?"

"The Mana Competition isn't just about Mana levels."

He Dayou believed that if his family had been willing to invest more money, he could have easily been the top in Mana levels by now, just for the sake of laying a solid foundation and mastering Mana control.

This is why, at Songyang High School, the gap between wealthy and less privileged students in terms of Mana levels only widened significantly in the junior year.

Their family experience taught them that the freshman year should focus on building a foundation.

Over-pursuing high Mana levels could lead to poor control, a problem that might take a long time to rectify.

He Dayou thought to himself, "In the Mana Competition, high Mana levels are just a basic threshold. What truly determines the rankings is Mana control..."

Thinking this, he sighed inwardly, "After all, unless it's a sports competition, which is Songyang City's strong point, we're just going through the motions in the Mana Competition, serving as extras for the freaks from the top three schools."

On the other side of the bus.

Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen, who was resting with her eyes closed, and asked, "How about it? Can you tell me who we're meeting now?"

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes and took out her phone, pointing it at Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu saw a message on the phone: "Ears have walls. Let's chat on the phone."

Zhang Yu quickly typed, "So, who are you bringing me to meet this time?"

Bai Zhenzhen: "Poor students from other schools."

Zhang Yu's eyes widened. "You mean... there are poor students in other schools with similar ideas?"

Bai Zhenzhen: "Yes."

Zhang Yu, curious, asked, "Which school?"

Bai Zhenzhen sent a female symbol followed by a tilde.

Zhang Yu's eyes widened in surprise. "A black girl?"

He felt a bit taken aback, wondering if there were black people in Kunxu as well.

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes, not sure what Zhang Yu meant by "black girl", and replied on her phone, "I meant female students from other schools and soul cultivators."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu immediately understood.

Indeed, how many wealthy people would undergo gender reassignment surgery or even abandon their physical bodies just to attend high school?

Mangshan High School and Holy Girls' Academy were natural strongholds for poor students.

The top students in these schools were inevitably poor.

After putting in immense effort to graduate with excellent grades, how could they not want to break the constraints and get into top universities?

Wait a minute.

Zhang Yu suddenly asked, "Can soul cultivators participate in the competition?"

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head. "They're not here to compete. They're here to assist the judges and help with event coverage, acting as spectators."

...

The bus slowly entered a high school.

This was the venue for the Mana Competition, one of the top three schools in Songyang City—Hongta High.

The students from Songyang High School, led by Teacher Yan, entered an indoor stadium and saw many students already waiting.

The colorful and varied school uniforms indicated that they were from different high schools in Songyang City.

As the Songyang High School group entered the stadium, many eyes turned to them.

Someone thought, "Songyang City is here too? Another strong school."

Another carefully observed them, thinking, "They have such strong auras. These must be the top students from a key high school."

Yet another thought with a mix of schadenfreude, "So what if they're from a key high school? They're still here to play supporting roles."

After being led to their designated preparation area, Teacher Yan reminded everyone of the key points for the competition.

"Today's competition has three events. Pay attention to your Mana allocation. Don't get nervous; treat it like a regular practice session..."

After Teacher Yan let everyone rest and use the restroom, Qian Shen hurriedly checked the list of participants.

He took out his phone and started comparing the scores.

"Bailong High, Song Hailong, 682 points in the last monthly exam."

"Ziyun High, Le Murlan, 678 points in the last monthly exam."

"Wow..."

The more he checked, the more Qian Shen felt a chill run down his spine. "They're all monsters."

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu was taking Bai Zhenzhen to the restroom when he suddenly felt a heavy pressure in the air.

Spiritual Current... was stirring!

It was as if they had suddenly jumped from the shallow end to the deep end of a pool.

The two instantly turned to look in the direction of the pressure.

A group of students in white uniforms slowly walked into the stadium.

Each of their white uniforms had a different number, ranging from 1 to 10.

Zhang Yu was puzzled. "What's going on? Did the Ten Blades arrive?"

He didn't know that this was a unique feature of Bailong High's uniforms. Each student's uniform displayed a number that updated after every monthly exam, showing their ranking.

The numbers 1 to 10 on the uniforms of these 10 students indicated that they were the top 10 in their grade.

But Zhang Yu knew that the source of the Spiritual Current disturbance was the leader of this group.

A giant man, standing at 2.5 meters tall, with a head of spiky hair, walked in.

Noticing the gazes of the crowd, the giant man smiled sheepishly and rubbed his spiky hair, saying, "Sorry, everyone. Just got a Heavenly Spirit Root. I'm still getting used to it. I'll try to control it..."

With a low growl, the pressure in the air gradually subsided, returning to normal.

Bai Zhenzhen watched this and muttered, "Showing off their wealth, what a bunch of obnoxious rich people."

But thinking about the upcoming competition, where she would likely lose to these people, Bai Zhenzhen felt a sense of helplessness.

After days of tutoring and practice, Bai Zhenzhen had confirmed one thing: her talent in Mana control was far inferior to Zhang Yu's. This competition was destined to be a mere formality for her.

Qian Shen, looking at the uniforms of the Bailong High students, immediately recalled the scores he had just checked.

Matching the numbers on their uniforms, he thought, "That must be Song Hailong. The leader of this year's Bailong High, a 682-point ultimate monster, possibly a super species that has already achieved reproductive isolation from us."

He Dayou, looking at Song Hailong, raised an eyebrow. "Showoff. But bringing a Heavenly Spirit Root to the competition? His Mana will surge easily, making it hard to control, right?"

Shortly after Bailong High arrived, a loud whooshing sound filled the stadium. A large flying boat descended and landed above the venue.

Seeing this, the poor students from ordinary high schools felt a wave of wealth wash over them.

A group of students in purple uniforms then walked down from the boat. Zhang Yu recognized one of them, Lian Tianji, who had also attended the art exhibition.

After the event, Zhang Yu had added Lian Tianji's contact and often saw him in the top three of the daily step count rankings.

Lian Tianji seemed to notice Zhang Yu and waved at him, then whispered something to the girl beside him, pointing in Zhang Yu's direction.

The girl, with a cold expression, looked in Zhang Yu's direction and nodded slightly.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "She looks like a genuine ice queen, not a fake like Zhenzhen."

Qian Shen also looked at the Ziyun High group, searching for Le Murlan's photo online and comparing it. His gaze finally settled on the cold girl beside Lian Tianji.

"This must be Le Murlan from Ziyun High, a 678-point high-caste being. To her, anyone below 650 points is no better than dirt!"

Not long after the arrival of the Bailong High and Ziyun High teams, the Hongta High team, as the hosts, finally arrived.

But when Zhang Yu saw the most prominent person in the group, he exclaimed in surprise, "A monster?"

Bai Zhenzhen immediately jumped to his side, pointing at Zhang Yu. "Hey, watch your words. It's the Yao Kin of Songyang."

The student, though wearing a uniform, had red, shiny fur, a thick tail, and a round face, clearly a Crimson Panda Student.

Zhang Yu, looking at the Crimson Panda Student, felt a sense of weakness.

He asked curiously, "But how did this Crimson Panda Student get into Hongta High? It can't be just with a pure smile, right?"

Although the Crimson Panda Student's smile seemed innocent, Zhang Yu believed the student must have some special talent to enter a key high school and participate in the competition.

Bai Zhenzhen shrugged. "Yao Kin of Songyang are generally talented in Physical Strength Level, but looking at him... I feel like I could knock out three with one punch."

"Then maybe he has a special talent in Mana?"

The two chatted as they entered different restrooms.

After finishing up, Zhang Yu was dragged around by Bai Zhenzhen, following a message on her phone to a balcony on the second floor of the venue.

Two girls were already waiting there. Zhang Yu recognized one of them, Wu Qingqing, who had also attended the art exhibition and was from Holy Girls' Academy.

Zhang Yu's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the other girl, thinking, "So, this must be another top student from Holy Girls' Academy?"

"Hehe, long time no see", Wu Qingqing greeted Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, while the girl behind her seemed oblivious to the world, holding a book and following Wu Qingqing by the hem of her clothes.

It felt as if Wu Qingqing could lead her into traffic, and she would still follow, head down, absorbed in her book.

"These are Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu, the poor geniuses from Songyang High School."

Wu Qingqing introduced them and then pushed the girl reading the book forward. "This is Ye Xianyun, the top student in the freshman year at Holy Girls' Academy."

She added proudly, "And the only girl in our advanced class who hasn't had surgery."

Zhang Yu thought, "What are you proud of?"

Ye Xianyun looked up, nodded silently at the two, and then continued reading her book.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end