Chapter 27: The Contract

After Li Xuelian finished explaining Zhang Yu’s situation, a light chuckle came from the other end of the line.

“Not bad at all—but no need to recruit him.”

Li Xuelian asked in confusion, “Why not?”

Xinghuo Zhenren burst out laughing, his tone brimming with joy. “Because I’ve already found a real prodigy.”

“Same grade, just fifteen years old, and mastered the Celestial Martial Heart-Forging Technique in under half an hour.”

“No contracts on him, either.”

He couldn’t help but laugh again.

Li Xuelian was shocked. “There’s a freak like that?”

Xinghuo Zhenren chuckled. “Told you already—there’s never a shortage of geniuses on the First Floor of Kunxu. What’s missing is people willing to invest in them.”

“Top scorers in each subject during the college entrance exams, plus the overall valedictorians—you know how stunning those talents are.”

“But every year, the First Floor churns out more like them. And a whole crop not far behind. They keep popping up, year after year, like weeds you can’t cut fast enough.”

“There are just too many geniuses. I simply never found the right one before—always a step too late. But this time, I beat them to it.”

Li Xuelian cast a somewhat regretful glance in Zhang Yu’s direction. “Not going to sign Zhang Yu while we’re at it?”

Xinghuo Zhenren replied, “Forget it. From now on, all our family’s resources are going into the real prodigy. No need to spread ourselves thin.”

…

Inside a side meeting room of the art exhibition.

Li Xuelian looked at Zhang Yu with genuine apology. “I’m sorry, student. My father has other urgent matters and won’t be taking disciples for the time being.”

She smiled sincerely. “But you’re free to use the Celestial Martial Heart-Forging Technique going forward. I have the authority to grant you full user rights.”

Li Xuelian’s eyes sparkled with admiration. “Lastly, I’d like to personally gift you ten thousand yuan.”

“No need to refuse. It’s purely a token of my appreciation for your talent.”

“I hope the next time we meet, you’ve already been accepted into a top-tier university.”

“Oh, right—about those videos you recorded. They do involve distribution rights of the Celestial Martial Heart-Forging Technique. You’ll need to delete them…”

Moments later, watching Zhang Yu’s departing figure, the smile on Li Xuelian’s face slowly faded.

Even though Xinghuo Zhenren wasn’t taking him in, she had no intention of antagonizing someone with clear talent.

After all, whether it was the user rights to the Celestial Martial Heart-Forging Technique or the ten thousand yuan—those were nothing to her.

She couldn’t even remember how many such small gestures she’d casually offered to young talents over the years.

Most of them ended up mediocre, long since forgotten.

With this matter handled, Li Xuelian made the rounds to greet a few key guests, but she was already eager to find her father.

She was far too curious about the so-called peerless genius Xinghuo Zhenren had mentioned.

…

Meanwhile, at the still-ongoing art exhibit—

Bai Zhenzhen watched as Zhang Yu emerged from the meeting room. “Well? Did you turn down Xinghuo Zhenren? Did Li Xuelian give you any trouble?”

Zhang Yu recalled Li Xuelian’s admiring gaze and shook his head. “Not really.”

“Before I even said anything, she beat me to the punch—told me Xinghuo Zhenren had other things going on…”

“But she did give me an extra ten thousand yuan.”

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes. “Classic brush-off.”

“Maybe she looked into your file and realized you’re not that amazing.”

“Poor monthly exam scores, no sterilization record, mediocre muscle development, drowning in soul-devouring debt…”

Zhang Yu snorted. “Oh, come on, Ah-Zhen. Can’t admit you lost, so now it’s personal attacks?”

Seeing Zhang Yu’s smug face, Bai Zhenzhen couldn’t help grabbing his shoulder and demanding, “Alright, spill it—what kind of cheat did you use?”

“Tell me—did you bribe the staff with borrowed money to study the Celestial Martial Diagram ahead of time?!”

Watching her face twist with jealousy, Zhang Yu chuckled.

Keep going, Ah-Zhen. Watching you weaklings squirm after defeat—that’s my joy now.

While the two were talking, Qian Shen approached from a distance.

He looked at Zhang Yu gravely and asked, “You underperform on tests on purpose, don’t you?”

The Celestial Martial Diagram trial had raised Qian Shen’s resistance toward high scorers.

But for a low scorer to outperform him—that was utterly baffling.

Seeing Zhang Yu shake his head, Qian Shen said unwillingly, “No way. If you weren’t tanking your scores, why do your grades not match your talent?”

“Hmm?” Zhang Yu thought for a second. “Maybe exams just can’t fully reflect someone’s potential…”

Qian Shen cut him off, voice rising, “Impossible!”

“The college entrance exam and the six high school core subjects were designed by the Ten Great Academies, fine-tuned by countless experts and cultivators. It’s the most optimal, most scientific, most Immortal Dao-aligned evaluation system!”

“Every subject, every point, reflects the full range of human differences—bloodline superiority, regional disadvantage, evolutionary incompleteness…”

Watching Qian Shen speak with utter sincerity, Zhang Yu realized he had misjudged him.

You’re not just a score supremacist—you’ve evolved into a full-blown caste-theorist.

According to Qian Shen, high scores meant greatness, meant elite status, meant superiority and confidence. Low scores? Trash.

This was the worldview he’d built over years as a top scorer—and really, it was the unspoken rule at every elite high school.

“Hmph. Believe what you want.”

“But I’ll be reporting this to the school. I expect you to show your true strength next time—and not pull another ‘550 evolution-defective’ score.”

Watching Qian Shen’s back as he left, Zhang Yu wasn’t even sure if he’d just been insulted or not.

Beside him, Bai Zhenzhen nodded thoughtfully. “Buried in all that nonsense, he did make one good point.”

“The school’s definitely going to hear about this. They might come to you about signing a contract.”

“Contract?” Zhang Yu looked over at Ah-Zhen, intrigued. He’d heard rumors but never grasped the details.

Bai Zhenzhen explained, “You know not everyone in high school is loaded like Qian Shen.”

“For many who are poor but talented, someone has to invest in them.”

“And schools themselves are one type of investor.”

“Usually by the start of sophomore year, schools will review freshmen performance and grades and select a few top students to sign contracts and fund them.”

“But a very select few are just too exceptional—too dazzling. To prevent others from poaching them, the school might approach them about a contract even during freshman year.”

She puffed up her chest. “Like me.”

Zhang Yu asked, “How come you never mentioned this before?”

Bai Zhenzhen gave him a side-eye, as if to say: You really didn’t know how much of a nobody you used to be?

She continued, “With how you performed at the exhibit, the school will definitely want to talk contracts. Whether or not to sign…”

Seeing her hesitate, Zhang Yu asked, “Is it really that hard to choose?”

Bai Zhenzhen sighed. “Not hard, really. If you know yourself well enough, the decision’s easy.”

“The hard part is whether your self-assessment is right.”

She looked Zhang Yu in the eyes and asked seriously, “For example, when you comprehended the Celestial Martial Diagram—what kind of cheat did you use?”

But halfway through, she waved it off. “Forget it. No need for a mother-son cheat confession.”

“Anyway, if you’re truly confident that you’ll get into one of the Ten Great Academies, then don’t sign anything now.”

“On the other hand, if you’re not sure and are aiming for just a decent university, then as long as the contract isn’t a total scam, go ahead and sign.”

Zhang Yu mulled it over and asked a few more questions about the school and the contracts.

As they chatted, another girl approached—cute, energetic.

“Hi there! You were amazing just now. Can I get your contact info?”

Since comprehending the Celestial Martial Diagram, Zhang Yu had gotten used to this kind of attention. Even Lian Tianji from Purple Cloud High had asked for his contact.

He sighed inwardly and added her.

“Heh. Even cute girls are making the first move now?”

“What school are you from?” he asked.

“I’m Wu Qingqing from Saint Girls Academy, elite class.”

Zhang Yu’s face froze. In Kunxu, someone looking like a guy might not be a guy—but if you're in the elite class of a girls’ academy, you definitely used to be one.

Wu Qingqing seemed to catch his expression and smiled. “Wow, kinda old-fashioned, aren’t you?”

“Let me guess—you think we’re all admission loopholes, bombing tests left and right?”

“Well, just wait for the next city-wide mock exam. Our class’s top students won’t be any worse than you.”

Zhang Yu watched her walk off, speechless.

That’s not what I was worried about…

Seriously, Kunxu. Even the trans students here get judged by their grades first?

“Congrats,” Zhou Tianyi walked over. “You sign with a Gold Core Cultivator yet?”

Zhang Yu looked at him, remembering how invisible the guy had been during the Celestial Martial Diagram trial.

After that, Zhang Yu spent the rest of the day balancing his duties as a security guard and chatting with various guests.

By the time his shift was fully done, his account had jumped by another 1,600 and 10,000 yuan—rocketing up to 13,300 in total.

After repaying the remaining 5,000 of this month’s loan, Zhang Yu’s balance dropped to 8,300.

But at least, for now, he no longer had to worry about collections.