Chapter 252: Zhang Yu Reaches Foundation Establishment

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

"Not good!"

Chi He sprang to the side.

At the same time, a streak of sword light emerged from the shadows nearby, flashing like heavenly thunder as it slashed toward the scrambling Chi He.

The figure wreathed in lightning made Chi He’s eyes bulge with fury. “Bai Zhenzhen!”

“This crazy woman! Instead of running, she ambushed me?!”

The moment she decided to strike, Bai Zhenzhen had resolved to take full advantage of the situation.

“They know we’re buying a Heavenly Spirit Root, so they’ll monitor the delivery—that means the delivery address is where the battlefield will be.”

“In other words, I get to choose the battlefield, and I can ambush them in advance.”

Bai Zhenzhen had been lying in wait at the outskirts of the factory for a long time. The moment she spotted Chi He, she marked him as her first target.

“Wang Yin’s lapdog. He’s definitely the one leading this capture mission.”

“If I take him out first, it’ll throw them into disarray.”

She activated the Frost Soul Iceheart Technique to push her physical body beyond its limits—nerves and muscles responding at peak speed.

She channeled every ounce of power her True Spirit Root could gather from her flesh.

She accelerated with the prelaid electric fields of Thunderstep of the Nine Heavens.

And finally, she exploded with all her Thunder Mana in one devastating sword strike through the Thunder God’s Lightning Blitz…

Though her raw strength hadn’t changed much since the Foundation Establishment exam, her cultivation, comprehension, and swordsmanship had deepened significantly. She now grasped that sonic-breaking sword strike from the exam with increasing clarity.

This explosive moment culminated in a sky-shattering blow—her sword pierced straight through Chi He’s chest, tearing a gaping hole.

Boom!

The lightning-charged blade drew every expert’s attention in an instant.

Faced with their shocked, confused, angry, and fearful stares, Bai Zhenzhen bellowed, “Inspection Team on official duty. Who wants to die like this man?”

She kicked Chi He’s half-dead body flying.

“And just so you know, killing you right now is fully legal. If any of you lay a hand on me, be ready to lose everything.”

As she said this, Bai Zhenzhen activated the remaining electric fields of Thunderstep of the Nine Heavens and retreated in a flash.

Simultaneously, her body began breathing rhythmically, and her True Spirit Root frantically absorbed Spiritual Essence to restore her mana.

Thanks to nine months of cultivation, Bai Zhenzhen could now leave a thread of mana flowing after unleashing the Thunder God’s Lightning Blitz. With the help of her True Spirit Root, she could breathe and recover even in the middle of a fight.

Each extra breath bought her more power to keep fighting.

Her sword strike, her fierce roar—it all stunned the other Qi Refining cultivators. They could only stare as Bai Zhenzhen retreated.

Just then, divine power rained down from the sky and surged into Chi He’s body.

His mangled body began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Someone gasped, “That’s the Health Ministry’s surgical sigil!”

At the same time, everyone’s phones buzzed. They all answered automatically—and Wang Yin’s voice came through.

“I’m casting the sigils remotely. Don’t worry, you won’t die.”

“As for going bankrupt… however much damage this fight causes, I’ll pay double.”

“And you all know I never let my people walk away unrewarded.”

The group’s morale surged.

Wang Yin’s generosity was legendary. A few words were all it took to reignite their fighting spirit.

Ye Mantian was the first to give chase.

“Get her!”

Bai Zhenzhen felt a chill as she watched Chi He—whom she’d nearly killed at great cost—begin healing instantly.

“Freaking rich bastards,” she muttered.

“This is gonna be rough.”

Still, she was grateful to have her Inspection Team identity as cover. Deng Bingding had said that Righteous Gods wouldn’t step in directly.

Otherwise, Wang Yin’s sigils might have targeted her from the start.

“Hmph.”

Watching the pack of rabid dogs charge toward her, Bai Zhenzhen spun and vanished in a burst of lightning.

“Bring it on.”

“Let’s see how many of you I can kill before I fall!”

…

While the experts from the Oasis Group were focused on Bai Zhenzhen—

Zhang Yu stepped out of a shopping mall.

Cradling a box in his arms, he exhaled softly.

Inside… was the Heavenly Spirit Root he had just purchased.

The decoy delivery was cash-on-delivery, meant purely to lure the enemy away.

He slipped into a pre-prepared underground tunnel and opened the box. From now until he completed Foundation Establishment, he couldn’t afford to move an inch.

“Ah-Zhen, hang in there,” he murmured to himself.

“I’ll come find you as soon as I finish.”

With that, Zhang Yu swallowed the Heavenly Spirit Root in one gulp, beginning the fusion process—merging root with flesh to charge toward Foundation Establishment.

…

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Over a dozen figures chased each other down narrow alleys, their collisions echoing through the night.

This derelict factory district was Bai Zhenzhen’s chosen battleground—crisscrossed with alleys, tunnels, and half-finished buildings.

The uneven terrain caused the pursuers to split—some faster, some slower. Before long, they were scattered.

Ye Mantian, the fastest, had closed the gap to less than twenty meters.

The slowest were over a hundred meters behind.

When Bai Zhenzhen suddenly stopped, turned, and drew her sword, she had only one opponent to face: Ye Mantian.

He instantly understood: though a dozen chased her, only he could fight her now.

Boom!

With a roar, Ye Mantian’s muscles swelled. He threw his fists forward like siege hammers.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

He was confident—if he could just stall her for a few breaths, the others would catch up. He didn’t need to win, just survive for a bit.

But to his horror, Bai Zhenzhen didn’t dodge. She charged headfirst into his iron fists.

She wasn’t a body-tempering cultivator. She didn’t know the Iron Head Technique. One hit could crack her skull.

“No!” Ye Mantian remembered Wang Yin’s warnings all too clearly.

“You absolutely must not kill Bai Zhenzhen! I don’t care if you’re injured—she must survive! A corpse is worth nothing compared to a living captive!”

Ye Mantian roared, pulled back, and weakened his strike.

But shifting from full power to retreat in an instant made his body rebel. His muscles twisted, his mana clashed internally.

As he reeled, Bai Zhenzhen’s fingers drew a lightning sword arc that slashed through him.

Bang!

Ye Mantian’s body burst with blood. His hands, feet, eyes, and Dantian—all slashed.

He collapsed, helpless, watching Bai Zhenzhen vanish into the distance.

“This woman… she’s insane,” he thought. “She gambled I’d pull back. What if I hadn’t?”

Bai Zhenzhen watched a surgical sigil’s power heal Ye Mantian and nodded to herself.

“As I thought… with this kind of remote healing, it’s better not to kill.”

“I could’ve done it… but once someone’s life is truly in danger, they’ll stop holding back—Wang Yin’s orders be damned.”

As Chi He tried to intercept her again, Bai Zhenzhen assessed her remaining mana and dodged in a new direction.

Using the terrain, she fought while fleeing—leaving electric fields to burst forward at critical moments, sometimes breaking through with suicidal attacks, sometimes unleashing the fifteenth strike of the Infinite Sword Meditation, breaking the sound barrier…

She darted and fought like this for over forty minutes.

But the net around her was tightening. Her room to maneuver was shrinking.

As they prepared to capture her, Bai Zhenzhen slashed open a manhole cover and leapt into the sewers.

“Mana, stamina, and space—I’m almost tapped out,” she thought. “Time to fall back along my planned escape route.”

Just then, a figure shot out from below.

It was Zhou Yang of the Zhou Family.

Disguised, even hiding his Purple-Gold Merit Lord title, he whispered a command—and a freezing aura surged outward.

Bai Zhenzhen shivered. Even her blood felt like it was turning to ice. She stared in disbelief.

“Who the hell is this?! When did he get here?!”

Zhou Yang had begun moving as soon as he heard the Oasis Group was hunting Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

He wanted to capture them—either to rise again as the Zhou Family declined, or to curry favor with Wang Yin.

He had been shadowing Chi He and the others, waiting for a chance.

Now it had come.

He unleashed his Frost Heaven Freezing Field and struck.

Boom!

Caught off guard, Bai Zhenzhen barely blocked—but frost crusted over her arm and face, and she slammed into a wall.

She vomited a mouthful of icy blood.

As she tried to retreat, Zhou Yang’s hand landed on her shoulder.

Freezing energy surged into her body, locking her in place.

Chi He and the others closed in. Seeing Zhou Yang’s disguise and Bai Zhenzhen frozen, Chi He scowled.

“Who are you?”

Zhou Yang nodded politely. “Just a small fry hoping to serve Director Wang.”

Chi He sneered. “Hand her over, then.”

“I’ll bring you to him myself.”

Zhou Yang was pleased—he was about to hand her over when white fog suddenly rose all around them.

The factory, alleys, buildings—all vanished in the mist.

It was like the entire district had been pulled into another world.

And from within the fog came Zhang Yu’s cold voice.

“Clown. Get your filthy paws off her.”