Chapter 49
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Chapter 49: Limitless Cloud Hands
Zhang Yu stared at his phone, which displayed an electronic agreement.
The agreement was simple. It granted the top ten finishers in the Magic Power Competition the right to use the Limitless Cloud Hands technique, with stipulations against sharing it, using its contents for profit, and so on.
Bai Zhenzhen stood beside Zhang Yu, tilting her head as she read the agreement. She complained, “So stingy. Immortal Cloud Group is such a huge company, so why are they being so cheap with their sponsorship? Only the top ten in the final rankings get usage rights? Shouldn’t everyone get a copy?”
Zhang Yu shook his head dismissively. “If everyone got one, wouldn’t that be unfair to the students who performed well in the competition?”
“In my opinion, even ten is too many. I doubt anyone ranked fourth or lower truly understood the exam questions.”
Bai Zhenzhen gave Zhang Yu a sidelong glare.
What the hell…
Just listen to him. Unfair to the high-scoring students? Fourth place and below did not understand the questions? Were those even the words of a human? Zhang Yu, have you forgotten how fiercely you criticized the modern cultivation education system just a month ago? Where did that righteous spirit of yours go?
Bai Zhenzhen stared at Zhang Yu’s hideous expression with disappointment.
Yu Zi! My Yu Zi is dead! The person standing before me now is just a walking corpse controlled by scores!
“Haha, A-Zhen, the prize money has arrived,” Zhang Yu said, glancing at the notification on his phone. His lips curled into a grin that was harder to suppress than an AK-47’s recoil.
The fourth-place prize in the Magic Power Competition was a whopping 20,000 yuan in cash, instantly boosting his savings to over 63,000 yuan.
Zhang Yu clapped Bai Zhenzhen on the shoulder and waved his hand grandly. “A-Zhen, I’ll treat you to dinner when we get back to school.”
“Good boy!” Bai Zhenzhen exclaimed happily. “I knew you hadn’t forgotten your roots.”
Soon, students from the various schools began to disperse. Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen followed the group from Songyang High School out through the stadium gates.
Just then, a dark figure plummeted from the stadium’s roof.
“That’s…” Zhang Yu’s eyes sharpened. “Is that a person?”
Someone had fallen?
Before Zhang Yu could fully process what was happening, others on the scene had already sprung into action.
On any other day, the jumper would have already splattered onto the ground with a sickening thud.
But at this moment, the area was filled with high school students, teachers, coaches, judges, and referees…
Many of them were from Red Pagoda High School.
After all, as the saying goes, protecting the campus environment is everyone’s responsibility.
The instant the figure plummeted from above, several beams of Gang Qi erupted, forming a series of cushions that caught the jumper.
Liang Qin, who had closed his eyes to await the expected agony, instead felt himself land on an incredibly warm, soft bed.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself gently carried to the ground by a sphere of Gang Qi.
“Why did you save me?”
Liang Qin watched this unfold with anguish, feeling no joy at being rescued.
While watching the Magic Power Competition, he had repeatedly placed bets and finally lost all his money again. His father had even called about the debt collectors. So, as a gambling addict, he had made his choice just moments ago…
The teacher who saved him showed no joy either, speaking in a cold, matter-of-fact tone. “Jumping is prohibited on this school campus.”
“I’ve already reported your situation to the police. A specialist will contact you to discuss compensation…”
Hearing this, a flash of despair crossed Liang Qin’s eyes. He quickly protested, “I didn’t mean to jump! I just slipped…”
The teacher replied flatly, “Slipped? Negligent jumping, then? That also costs money.”
Liang Qin was furious, but remembering the teacher’s earlier display of Gang Qi, he could only suppress his anger.
When I get a chance, I’ll find another place to jump.
Having calmed down, Liang Qin began to consider his next jumping spot. Schools, hospitals, shopping malls, residential complexes… every single one required compensation.
In this messed-up world, it’s hard to even find a place to jump for free.
Meanwhile, the students from Songyang High School were almost off campus.
It was not just the other students, even Zhang Yu was no longer surprised by the suicide attempt. He simply found the person enveloped in the ball of Gang Qi to be strangely familiar.
***
Songyang High School.
The cafeteria.
Bai Zhenzhen popped a whole chicken leg into her mouth. With a series of light crunches, she swallowed it, bones and all.
Before her sat a large table piled with chicken, duck, fish, and other meats, a meal that had cost Zhang Yu over 400 yuan.
Even with their current cultivation and physical strength, this was more than enough for a filling meal.
“Ah, nothing beats the proper taste of the school’s pre-packaged meals,” Bai Zhenzhen sighed after her first bite. “You can smell the freshness, like it just came out of the freezer.”
“That bento box from Red Pagoda High School always tastes off,” she lamented after another bite. “Who knows how much synthetic food they add to it?”
Although Zhang Yu was also eating with gusto, he possessed memories of far more exquisite cuisine from his past life. Hearing her, he said, “A-Zhen, when I’m rich, I’ll treat you to something even better.”
“You mean the dietary supplementation meals on the second floor?” Bai Zhenzhen asked.
Zhang Yu understood. For most high school students at Songyang High, and indeed for the vast majority in all of Songyang City, “better food” meant food that could boost one’s cultivation and improve one’s grades.
The pursuit of flavor itself was secondary, or rather, it was a luxury most high school students in Songyang City had no means to pursue.
For high school students, taste was a luxury.
Zhang Yu did not explain, simply saying, “You’ll understand when I’m rich.”
Then, recalling the events at the competition, he asked curiously, “A-Zhen, that set of fist techniques you used in the final round, how did you comprehend it?”
Bai Zhenzhen replied casually, “Couldn’t you see it? The Energy Flow Diagram clearly has six moves.”
“It does?” Zhang Yu asked, stunned.
“Of course,” Bai Zhenzhen said after a moment of recollection. “Isn’t it obvious at a glance?”
She’s hacking, isn’t she? Zhang Yu looked at A-Zhen, still unable to fathom how anyone could see that at a glance. It seemed even students ranked below one hundred in the competition had their merits.
After she spoke, however, her face filled with frustration. “I was forced into it. I had no other choice but to try using physical techniques to supplement the magic power circulation method.”
“It still didn’t work, of course.”
Recalling her frustrating setbacks throughout the Magic Power competition, Bai Zhenzhen made a firm resolution to work hard on her magic power control.
Then she looked up at Zhang Yu and remembered his stunning performance on the competition field, which immediately made her feel even worse.
“Starting tomorrow, I’m signing up for cram school!”
I, Bai Zhenzhen, have never been outdone by anyone in my life!
Bai Zhenzhen asked, “Are you going to Teacher Yan’s tutoring session?”
Before they had parted ways earlier, Teacher Yan had called Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen over. He told them he would use their competition results to apply for school funding to set up a cram school for the Magic Power competition and encouraged them to sign up.
Hearing this, Zhang Yu nodded and said, “Of course I’ll go.”
Although he had achieved a good result of fourth place, the competition had also made Zhang Yu aware of his own limitations.
If he had not comprehended the Limitless Cloud Hands from Bai Zhenzhen at the last moment, he probably would not have even made it into the top ten in the overall rankings.
He hoped to strengthen his control over his Magic Power so that he would no longer have to rely on luck to win future competitions.
Furthermore, with the school providing funds, Teacher Yan’s cram school might come with benefits like Flying Swords and Cultivation Arts, which made Zhang Yu look forward to it even more.
Seeing Zhang Yu nod, the corners of Bai Zhenzhen’s mouth curled up. “Alright then. We’ll go to Old Yan for tutoring together.”
***
After returning home.
Zhang Yu did not practice the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art to improve his Dao Heart as he usually would.
After all, his Feather Book’s specialization had now switched to the martial art Limitless Cloud Hands.
So he decided to take this opportunity to continue leveling up this technique.
He figured that since Limitless Cloud Hands only had six moves, it might level up even faster than Freehand Combat. He might even reach level 10 in a single night.
With that, Zhang Yu went to the abandoned building again.
Arriving there felt like coming home to him. He had, after all, spent night after night practicing his martial arts in this place.
It was quiet and he did not have to worry about making noise, so he could train without holding back.
If not for the fact that he had already paid his rent and that this abandoned building had no internet, electricity, or water, he would have brought a bed over and lived in this wonderful, free place.
He walked into a large, bare, and dusty hall.
With a mere thought from Zhang Yu, streams of magic power rose from his dantian. They vibrated through seven layers before transforming into wisps of cloud-like mist swirling from his palma.
Because he had already mastered the first level of Limitless Cloud Hands, the speed and quality with which he converted magic power into martial gang qi in a single go far surpassed any other contestant in the arena today.
Feeling the cloud-like mist enveloping his hands, Zhang Yu thought to himself, Formless Cloud Gang Qi?
After signing the electronic agreement, Zhang Yu gained the right to use Limitless Cloud Hands and received an electronic manual.
The true name of this martial gang qi was also written in the manual.
Formless Cloud Gang Qi resembled white clouds and could be both hard and soft. It excelled at redirecting force and using an opponent’s strength against them. This versatile martial gang qi was useful in both attack and defense.
Next, Zhang Yu began practicing the six external stance techniques of Limitless Cloud Hands.
He threw a punch forward, and the white Formless Cloud Gang surged with immense power, roaring like a great siege hammer.
This was the most aggressive and powerful technique of Limitless Cloud Hands, designed specifically for breaking through an enemy’s defenses head-on.
Next, Zhang Yu shifted his hands, and the white Formless Cloud Gang Qi swirled around him like layers of mist, imbued with a soft, elastic quality.
This was the defensive technique of the Limitless Cloud Hands. At this moment, the springy Formless Cloud Gang Qi could not only deflect the force of an opponent’s attacks but even reflect a portion of it back.
In this way, Zhang Yu completed all six moves of the Limitless Cloud Hands in mere moments, then immediately repeated the sequence once more.
The Limitless Cloud Hands had so few moves, a mere six in total, that Zhang Yu finished ten repetitions in just over ten minutes.
Limitless Cloud Hands Level 1 (0/10) → Level 2 (0/20)
As the Limitless Cloud Hands reached Level 2, Zhang Yu felt as if he had instantly undergone countless repetitions of practice. His proficiency in refining magic power into Formless Cloud Gang Qi, manipulating the Gang Qi, and applying the six external moves all surged dramatically in an instant.
Zhang Yu looked at his hands.
Previously, the Formless Cloud Gang Qi enveloping his hands had emitted wisps of white, cloud-like Gang Qi that drifted upward like smoke signals soaring straight into the sky. This was the very image he had presented during the competition.
But now that the Limitless Cloud Hands was at Level 2, the upward-drifting wisps of Gang Qi had diminished significantly. This reflected his improved control over this energy.
