Chapter 103
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 103: The Company Battlefield’s Extension
Just like the Martial Arts Competition at Bailong High School, this sports competition at Purple Cloud High School was also scheduled for midnight.
However, due to Songyang High School’s long-standing investment in PE competition, the school had arranged for a bus this time.
Under the cover of night, a total of five competitors, including He Dayou, Zhang Yu, and Bai Zhenzhen, were traveling together on the bus toward Purple Cloud High School, along with Wang Hai, the Competition Team’s coach.
Additionally, Qian Shen and Zhao Tianxing, as friends of Zhang Yu, had also boarded the bus to watch the match, thanks to Wang Hai making an exception for them.
But apart from Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, who were brimming with fighting spirit, the others on the bus were disengaged. Some were cultivating spiritual energy with breathing techniques, some were reading books, and some were watching videos on their phones. In short, they showed no anticipation for the sports competition and seemed to just want to get it over with.
Of course, even when Songyang High School students watched videos on their phones, they were not just scrolling mindlessly.
The video showed a woman who looked like a giant. She was over four meters tall with shoulders wider than a truck, and she was demonstrating body refinement techniques while promoting body refining medicines.
Wang Hai glanced at the video the student was watching and frowned. “Stay away from these body refinement influencers,” he said. “They’re all scams just trying to trick you into buying their medicines.”
The student looked unconvinced. “But Teacher Wang, this is a mega-influencer with tens of millions of followers. Many people have met her in person, so how could she be fake?”
Wang Hai scoffed. “How could someone in the Qi Refining Realm achieve that height and size just by taking drugs? It’s obvious she’s had plastic surgery. They’re all fake muscles and dead weight.”
As the number of high school students grew and the body refinement industry flourished, it gave rise to a distorted aesthetic where height meant beauty and size was seen as ideal.
Wang Hai knew that online, driven by fierce competition, body refinement influencers were pushing their physical obsessions to increasingly extreme ends.
Some even abandoned genuine strength for attention-grabbing appearances, moving on from their original, normal heights of two to three meters to pursue grotesque ideals of four or even five meters.
Wang Hai remarked with a sigh, “True cultivators who rely on drugs, rigorous training, and occasional modification surgery to refine their bodies honestly will typically reach a physical limit of around three meters tall and two meters wide.”
“Those four-meter-tall internet celebrities are all filled with fake muscles and bones. If you look closely at the needle marks on their bodies, the injection sites are all wrong.”
Shaking his head, Wang Hai continued with a sigh, “Every year, the Company introduces young people to loans for cosmetic surgery. If they survive the operations, they become influencers peddling products. A few years later, when the side effects kick in, they are replaced by new celebrities.”
“These people will lie about anything and sell any junk medicine just to make money to treat themselves. You should stop watching them.”
Why was Wang Hai so knowledgeable about this? Because one of his classmates had taken this path. After the surgery’s side effects surfaced, he was unable to find a cure despite spending his family’s entire fortune, and he died during a live stream. Even Wang Hai himself had been approached by an agency and was nearly pulled into the world of body refinement influencers.
But after saying all this, Wang Hai felt a sudden wave of dejection.
He was reminded of the recent breakthroughs in Body Refinement Technique made by Bailong, Purple Cloud, and Red Pagoda.
Over the past two weeks, Wang Hai had been using his connections to investigate what kind of technology the Oasis Group had provided to the top three schools and what sort of progress they had made as a result.
After all, such a generational upgrade in Body Refinement Technique would inevitably impact the entire body refining market in Songyang City and would have a profound effect on a Gold Medal Coach like himself.
However, both the Three Schools and the companies behind them maintained strict secrecy on the matter. Apart from some obvious improvements shown during the second-year PE competition, the true details of the technology were beyond the reach of a Physical Education teacher like him.
As he thought back to that second-year PE competition, Wang Hai’s expression grew increasingly gloomy.
He had personally witnessed the devastating defeat of Songyang High School’s second-year students in that match, where they were utterly outclassed and pushed out of the rankings by the students from the Three Schools.
Even Lan Ling, whom the school had meticulously nurtured and who had received muscle fiber transplants from third-year students early on, was trampled underfoot by the top students from the Three Elite Schools.
It made him sigh inwardly. The times have truly changed.
And as this thought crossed his mind, Wang Hai could not help but think of a certain person.
“Zhou Chechen…”
Based on his academic record, this Second-Year student and Vice President of the Student Council should have participated in the Second-Year sports competitions.
Yet Zhou Chechen was conspicuously absent, failing to compete in the Second-Year sports competitions.
Does Zhou Chechen know something we don’t?
As Wang Hai pondered this, Zhang Yu, seated nearby, was also deep in thought about today’s PE competition.
Having learned of the recent breakthroughs in Body Refinement Techniques at the Three Schools, Zhang Yu naturally asked his elder sister, Zhang Pianpian, who stood at the pinnacle of all high school students in Songyang City as the top third-year at Bailong High School.
Zhang Pianpian’s words now echoed in Zhang Yu’s mind.
“This time, whether it’s the Oasis Group or the companies and families backing Bailong, Purple Cloud, and Red Pagoda High Schools, they’re all placing extraordinary emphasis on the First-Year PE competition.”
“Why focus on the First-Year competitions instead of other grades?”
“Because the lower the grade, the greater the impact of Body Refinement Techniques on scores compared to individual student ability. This makes it easier to highlight the differences between various Body Refinement Techniques.”
“Zhang Yu, this First-Year PE competition isn’t just a student rivalry. It’s a clash of the immortal cultivation technologies they embody and the schools and companies behind them.”
“It’s a battleground for the major corporations to compete in immortal cultivation technology, an extension of the corporate battlefield.”
“As for the other high schools, for the Three Schools, they’re just there to be crushed.”
“By crushing you, they’ll showcase their advanced Body Refinement Techniques.”
Zhang Yu recalled the question he had asked at the time.
Zhang Yu asked, “Sis, listening to you, it sounds like you don’t have much confidence in me?”
Zhang Pianpian smiled faintly and said, “Whether I think you will win or not doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you have the strength to defeat your opponents.”
On the bus now, Zhang Yu gazed at his Feather Book. Is this strength enough to defeat them?
It had been over a month since he had competed for a spot on the Songyang High School competition team.
During that month, aided by the Hunyuan Pill, True Spirit Root, and Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi, his strength had broken through repeatedly, and his Physical Strength had experienced a leap in development.
His stats showed his Dao Heart at Level 4 (80%), his Magic Power at 43.9, and his Physical Strength at Level 4.95.
Despite these numbers, Zhang Yu remained unsatisfied. He sighed inwardly, realizing he was gradually hitting bottlenecks in his Dao Heart, Magic Power, and Physical Strength.
Ah, the Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method is becoming increasingly inadequate. My magic power refinement speed has been steadily slowing down. After the Physical Competition ends, I must find a new Breathing Technique to cultivate.
Cultivation Arts are categorized into grade such as Basic, Advanced, Expert, Military, and Immortal Sect, primarily based on their quality.
However, even the highest-quality Qi Refining Realm techniques are useless for the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method is a Qi Refining early-stage technique, but Zhang Yu’s current level was approaching that of a Second-Year student, requiring him to consider mid-stage Qi Refining techniques.
Zhang Yu continued to think, Next is my Dao Heart. The Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Technique could still support my Dao Heart’s improvement, but the problem with this technique is that each cultivation session requires simultaneous internal and external practice, practicing those nine external stances.
However, Zhang Yu had recently been focusing solely on enhancing his physical strength by cultivating the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi.
This had left him no time to cultivate the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Technique, forcing him to rely solely on mentally circulating the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art, which had consequently stalled his Dao Heart’s progress.
The Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art could only be considered a Qi Refining technique suitable for early-stage practitioners. And reaching level 5 in his Dao Heart was likely its limit.
That means I need to find a cultivation art that allows me to cultivate my Dao Heart constantly within my sea of consciousness and further enhance it.
Finally, there was his physical strength.
With the support of his True Spirit Root, combined with the Hunyuan Pill and Level 10 Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi, Zhang Yu’s physical strength had skyrocketed until it gradually approached level 5.00, at which point its growth began to slow.
The Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi technique is still effective. The bottleneck must be at a higher level.
The recent slowdown is likely because my physical strength has increased too rapidly over the past two months, especially the last month, while my heart hasn’t kept pace.
Because he relied on natural body refining without using body refining drugs, Zhang Yu’s internal organs, including his heart, had not grown as quickly as those of drug-dependent competitors.
Fortunately, with the True Spirit Root’s assistance, it should catch up soon…
Zhang Yu could feel his heart growing stronger and more powerful each day. It should soon be able to support his physical strength in breaking through to new heights.
Considering this, after the sports competitions, I need to prioritize buying new Breathing Techniques and Mental Cultivation Techniques.
Speaking of the Physical Education Competition, the champion’s prize money has been raised several times, finally reaching a full 300,000 yuan. If I can just get that 300,000…
The thought of that substantial prize money stirred a flicker of excitement in Zhang Yu.
But the sheer size of the prize also underscored the high stakes of this competition and the intense focus of the major companies involved. As Zhang Pianpian had warned, the competition would undoubtedly be intense, a pressure that even Zhang Yu could not help but feel.
In truth, only eight months had passed since the start of the first-year term, yet Zhang Yu’s foundational stats had already reached the average level of second-year students at Songyang High School, a meteoric rise. It was only when competing against the prodigies from the Three Schools that he truly felt the weight of pressure.
Not far away, He Dayou watched Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen with a puzzled expression, their faces brimming with determination.
He could not understand why they remained so confident in this situation.
Although, because they skipped class so often, he had not been able to gauge their progress since the last Monthly Exam, he could not fathom how any individual breakthrough, no matter how remarkable, could possibly match the advancements in Body Refinement Techniques backed by the top three Schools in such a short time.
Just then, the bus carrying the group pulled up to the gates of Purple Cloud High School.
Unlike the modern skyscraper-like structure of Bailong High School, Purple Cloud High School exuded an ancient, picturesque charm from the outside. Bridges arched over flowing streams while pavilions and towers stood amidst lush gardens, all bathed in the ethereal glow of golden and white lights that gave the impression of an immortal realm.
The school’s sprawling campus covered a vast area, yet it lacked any towering buildings.
The fact that such a large tract of land could be devoted to a school, transforming it into a park-like oasis in the heart of the city, spoke volumes about the immense wealth backing Purple Cloud High School.
Shortly after Zhang Yu and the others entered Purple Cloud High School, they were ushered into a designated visitor corridor.
As the reception teacher explained, a mist of disinfectant began to spray from nozzles in the corridor ahead.
The reception teacher from Purple Cloud High School looked at the group with an apologetic expression and said, “I’m sorry, but this is a school regulation. All off-campus visitors must undergo a uniform disinfection process to remove any impurities.”
Damn it… Are they treating us like some kind of filth? Zhang Yu thought, speechless. At that moment, he truly understood that Le Mulan’s germophobia was not just her own quirk. This entire damn school was a clean freak.
This wretched school was just as ridiculous as Bailong High School.
At this, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen stepped forward together, facing the teacher with stern expressions.
Zhang Yu pointed at himself and then at the other students from Songyang. “I scored over 660 on the Monthly Exam, took first place in the Martial Arts Competition, and fourth in the Magic Power Competition. I’m different from them.”
“At my level, I could get into Bailong High School for free. Do I really need to be disinfected?”
Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes glinted, and she nodded. “That’s right. Is there a VIP entrance for those of us who scored over 660?”
The reception teacher replied with an apologetic look, “I’m sorry, but the school regulations state that all outside personnel must be disinfected. There are no distinctions made based on scores.”
Damn it, this is even more ridiculous than Bailong High School.
In that instant, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen mentally re-ranked the Three Schools, placing Purple Cloud High School at the very bottom.
Then Bai Zhenzhen suddenly pointed to people walking through another corridor. “How come they don’t need to be disinfected?”
Everyone immediately looked over and saw a team of ‘monsters’ in Bailong High School uniforms walking through an adjacent corridor, where there were no disinfection measures at all.
Hearing this, the reception teacher from Purple Cloud High School chuckled, their expression seeming to ask, Does that even need an explanation?
“How can you compare them?” The teacher shook their head. “They’re from Bailong High School, after all. As a partner school, they are not considered outsiders.”
“Alright, alright,” Wang Hai said. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Since we’re here, we’ll follow Purple Cloud High School’s rules. Let’s not delay the competition.”
As a veteran coach who had led teams to compete at the top three Schools countless times over the years, Wang Hai was what you might call experienced.
He was especially experienced in being humiliated by the Three Schools, so his heart was long past being stirred by such things.
In previous years, however, Wang Hai could at least count on his students to fight for their pride in the competition, secure a respectable rank, and win back some face.
“But this year, there’s no hope.”
He sighed and was the first to step into the disinfection corridor.
