Chapter 66: Aura of Authority

Roar!

With a furious bellow, Lan Ling’s muscles swelled with a terrifying surge of power. The force exploded from within him, allowing him to withstand the suppression of the Restraint Sigil.

“Got a lot of strength, huh?” Zhang Yu slowly approached Lan Ling, watching as the latter’s blood surged through his body and he struggled, bit by bit, to tear off the Restraint Sigil.

Zhang Yu shook the talisman book marked with the insignia of the Inspection Department and chuckled. “This is official business. The Divine Ministries have granted authority. You going to resist that? You want to oppose the gods?”

Lan Ling’s eyes narrowed sharply at the sight of the talisman book. Disbelief flashed in his gaze. “That broke loser joined the Inspection Department?”

A second later, he ripped apart the Restraint Sigil with a bang, but he didn’t make another move. Instead, he regarded Zhang Yu with a look that suggested he was reevaluating who he thought he was.

Seeing that Lan Ling didn’t press the fight, Zhang Yu flashed a smug grin at Bai Zhenzhen not far away, thinking to himself, “Damn, I must look seriously cool right now.”

Bai Zhenzhen stared fixedly at the talisman book in his hand, her mind racing. “Where’d Yuzi get that thing?... I’ve got to borrow it for a spin!”

The crowd stared in shock. Zhang Yu had suddenly appeared, subdued Lan Ling with a single Restraint Sigil, and now stood there calm and composed.

He Dayou watched, bewildered. “How the hell did Zhang Yu sneak into the Divine Ministries?”

Zhao Tianxing was both anxious and fearful. “Zhang Yu actually bought a talisman book? Don’t tell me he spent today’s leave selling off his organs?”

Then he shook his head hard, ashamed of himself. “Now’s not the time to think about that! The real issue is—how did Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen end up clashing with upperclassmen from sophomore year? That’s the dangerous part.”

Still, Zhao Tianxing couldn’t help the flicker of envy that rose as he looked at Zhang Yu. A thought he tried to suppress surfaced anyway: Standing up to a senior like that... damn, it’s kind of badass.

Qian Shen locked his gaze on the talisman book in Zhang Yu’s hand, utterly stunned. “Zhang Yu’s Dao Techniques exam score is going to skyrocket!”

Just as the standoff between Zhang Yu and Lan Ling grew more intense, a chill fell over the training hall.

A white mist rose from Lan Ling’s sweat-drenched body as the sharp drop in temperature caused condensation to form on his skin.

He let out a cold snort at Zhang Yu and began slowly backing away, turning his head toward the main entrance.

“President.”

Everyone turned toward the voice.

Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, Zhou Chechen stepped forward across a layer of frost spreading beneath his feet.

The Vice President of the Student Council, Zhou Chechen had spoken at the opening ceremony as the student representative. Every month, his face appeared on the big screen and across the school broadcast thanks to his outstanding achievements.

The student among students, the senior among seniors—his presence instantly silenced the entire hall.

He Dayou was the first to react, bowing deeply. “Good day, Senior.”

That seemed to break the dam. The first-year students all bowed together. “Good day, Senior.”

The second-years followed suit, bowing as well. “Good day, President.”

Though officially the Vice President, with the senior Student Council President busy preparing for the college entrance exam, Zhou Chechen had effectively taken full control.

Power, prestige, wealth, and talent—he was the uncrowned king of the school.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen stared at him like they were witnessing a king receiving homage from his ministers—and they were the only ones in the hall who didn’t bow.

Zhou Chechen didn’t speak to them immediately. Instead, he looked toward the second-year students. The frost around him thickened with every breath.

“Shuang Youpeng,” he said. “You were first place in both total score and combat skills back in your first year. What did you think of that spar between Bai Zhenzhen and Lan Ling?”

A second-year, smaller in stature than the rest, stepped out from the group.

Under everyone’s gaze, his hands fidgeted—tugging at his hair, scratching at his ears. He looked at Zhou Chechen with naked fear.

He stammered out his reply, “Overconfident… careless… no understanding of the gap between herself and her opponent.”

Watching Shuang Youpeng squirm like a whipped dog, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen could barely hold back their disgust.

This was once the top student of his year? Now he looked like nothing but a trembling sycophant before Zhou Chechen.

Zhou Chechen nodded slightly. “Looks like this batch of first-years isn’t even as sharp as you were back then.”

Shuang Youpeng waved his hands quickly. “You flatter me, President. Truly, you do.”

Zhou Chechen turned to the first-years again, his voice calm. “Have you thanked your senior for his guidance?”

The first-years bowed in unison. “Thank you, Senior, for your guidance.”

In just moments, Zhou Chechen had become the axis around which the entire room revolved. Every student’s mind and breath hung on his every word, every look.

Finally, Zhou Chechen turned his gaze on Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. His voice was cold. “Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen and Lan Ling were engaged in a normal training bout. Why did you attack a senior with a Restraint Sigil?”

As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand, from which streams of ice-blue mana began to emerge, dragging the temperature down once again.

“Using a Restraint Sigil on school grounds,” he continued, “and showing such disrespect to your elders—these are things I, as Vice President of Songyang High’s Student Council, cannot tolerate.”

Zhang Yu’s eyes flickered. He raised the talisman book. “Zhou Chechen, are you threatening a Divine Assistant from the Inspection Department?”

Zhou Chechen’s eyes half-lowered. The corners of his lips curled in a slight smile.

The Heavenly Eye Sigil in his possession had already revealed the status floating above Zhang Yu’s head.

“Outsourced employee of the Songyang City Inspection Team (click for details).”

“Just an outsourced errand boy from the Inspection Team,” Zhou Chechen sneered inwardly. “You really think you can throw your weight around at Songyang High?”

As the cold aura from Zhou Chechen’s palm surged to its peak, a warm breeze swept through the training hall from all directions, scattering the frost and bringing the temperature back to normal.

Zhang Pianpian entered through the main gates alongside another man.

“You’re planning to attack one of my temps?”

Zhou Chechen’s head snapped toward the voice. The moment he saw Zhang Pianpian’s face, his eyes froze. “Zhang Pianpian? What is she doing here? Is she backing Zhang Yu?”

“Zhang Pianpian? Zhang Yu? Same surname… could they be related?”

But Zhou Chechen distinctly remembered checking Zhang Yu’s file—there were no powerful relatives listed.

If Zhang Yu really had someone like Zhang Pianpian backing him, there’s no way he’d have been so easy to mess with.

Then another thought crept in. “Or… did Zhang Yu find himself a stronger master and become Zhang Pianpian’s dog?”

As the cold aura still hadn’t faded from Zhou Chechen’s hand, Zhang Pianpian kept walking toward the center of the hall.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t you hear me?”

“Or are you saying… you want to make me your enemy?”

As Zhang Pianpian spoke, she casually lifted her right index finger. The talisman book fluttered to her fingertip as if summoned by divine will.

A moment later, her fingertip slashed across the talisman page in a swift motion.

Bai Zhenzhen stared in shock, her gaze catching the school emblem on Zhang Pianpian’s uniform. “White Dragon High? What’s she doing here? Is she seriously going to fight Zhou Chechen?”

Zhang Yu’s heart jumped. “She’s going in just like that? What talisman is she using? Another Restraint Sigil?”

As tension mounted across the training hall, the talisman in Zhang Pianpian’s hand flared with a burst of magical energy.

Crushing Presence Sigil—Activated!

Above Zhang Pianpian’s head, two lines of glowing text materialized.

The first line read:

White Dragon High Third-Year Monthly Exam Score: 699 Points

Gasps rippled through the crowd as eyes widened in unison. A stunned silence followed.

“Third-year monthly exam, 699 points?” Qian Shen screamed internally. “She’s a god! The future god of the college entrance exam!”

But before anyone could even process the score, the second line of text appeared above Zhang Pianpian’s head.

Bank Balance: 2

At first, it was just a lone digit. Then a 5 popped up beside it.

Every second, another digit joined the string.

Twenty-five thousand?

Two hundred fifty thousand?

Two point five million?!

By the time the number hit twenty-five million, students across the training hall were already short of breath.

Now they finally understood what talisman Zhang Pianpian had used.

The Crushing Presence Sigil—a divine spell that summoned one’s test scores and bank account balance to cow others into submission.

When the number climbed to 2.5 billion, paired with the previous 699 points, it struck the crowd like a mountain crashing onto their chests.

And that was just her bank balance.

The assets that number represented—the resources, the cultivation clout—it was enough to make hearts tremble.

Even He Dayou felt a shock run through him. “Twenty-five billion in just the bank? What kind of total net worth does this woman have?”

Unable to resist, he pulled out his talisman book and activated a Heavenly Eye Sigil, trying to glimpse her background.

All he saw was five glowing characters hovering over her head:

You’re Not Worth Knowing

She had used a talisman to completely obscure her foundations. He couldn’t see a thing.

Seeing those five words, He Dayou staggered backward, face pale, as if struck by lightning. In that moment, it was as though an uncrossable chasm had split open between him and Zhang Pianpian.

Zhao Tianxing was still counting the digits above her head, starting over and over, constantly losing track. When he finally confirmed the full number was indeed 2.5 billion, he sucked in a sharp breath.

“So rich. Just so absurdly rich. The pressure from a rich person is literally crushing!!”

At that moment, Zhao Tianxing felt utterly unworthy, like he didn’t even deserve to share the same room with her.

Zhang Yu stood frozen too.

That’s… my rich older sister?

“No way. I don’t remember us being rich.”

“In fact, we were practically a family of broke ghosts. Then where the hell did Zhang Pianpian get all this money?”

“Something’s not right… way too not right…”

“What did she go through during all those years we were apart?”

The question that had first surfaced during the Divine Assistant assessment now pressed harder than ever.

“How did she go from broke to billionaire?”

“I… I want to learn too.”

Zhang Yu couldn’t wrap his head around it. No matter the reason, he still felt a dull ache in his chest.

Sis… why did you leave us behind? Mom and I are your real family too!

On the other side, Zhou Chechen finally withdrew the cold aura from his hand.

His gaze flicked a few more times to the score, the bank balance, and finally to those five glowing words: You’re Not Worth Knowing.

In the end, he looked politely at Zhang Pianpian and said, “Senior Zhang, there’s been a misunderstanding. I didn’t realize Zhang Yu was one of your people. Had I known, I’d never have given him trouble.”

Zhang Pianpian saw the entire crowd cowed by a single Crushing Presence Sigil and gave a satisfied nod.

“Good. Then I hope you remember what you just said.”

“Don’t let me hear anything about you giving my people grief. Or else—”

“I’ll use this pocket change sitting above my head to buy your brain stem.”

“Pretty sure your dad would love to make that deal.”

At that, a twitch pulled at the corner of Zhou Chechen’s eye. For a moment, he was speechless.

Just then, the man who had entered alongside Zhang Pianpian let out a hearty laugh.

“Pianpian’s just joking, Junior Zhou. Don’t take it too seriously.”

That man was none other than Chu Chengxuan, top of the senior class and the true President of the Student Council at Songyang High.