Chapter 73
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 73: Wild Wind and Raging Storm
Just as Zhang Yu and Lian Tianji stepped onto the arena.
On another arena.
Bai Zhenzhen sat cross-legged, awaiting her opponent. He was Xiong Wenwu from Red Pagoda High School, a Monsterfolk student over 2.7 meters tall and weighing nearly a ton. Like Song Hailong and Zhang Yu, he had also received a score of 300.
At that moment, the Monsterfolk student was in Red Pagoda High School’s rest area, glaring at Hu Yuntao.
“Lost? Why did you lose? And to someone from Songyang?” Xiong Wenwu slapped Hu Yuntao’s forehead repeatedly with his massive palm. The ferocious Hu Yuntao, who had been utterly terrifying in the arena, now faces crouched before him like a docile kitten, obediently enduring the scolding.
However, the tail swishing incessantly behind him betrayed his impatience.
Xiong Wenwu said, his voice laced with disappointment, “You didn’t even make it through the grouping stage. That means you won’t even have a ranking. Your resume will be missing a crucial achievement.”
“Do you realize that this one missing achievement could be the difference between getting accepted into a good university and being rejected?”
“If you fail to get into a good university, Father will disown you and send you straight to work in the factory!”
Disowned! Forced to work in the factory!
Hu Yuntao, who had been listening obediently, could not help but stiffen at these words.
Why were so many monstersfolk from the Protected Area fatherless? It was because those who could not study and could only work were immediately disowned by their father.
“Do you even know what working in the factory means?” Xiong Wenwu continued to berate him. “It’s incredibly difficult for monsterfolk to find jobs. You’ll end up working in Father’s factory, undergoing ‘modifications’ and being planted on the assembly line. You’ll be just like those Bull Demon, Horse Demon, and Monkey Demon… eating, drinking, and shitting on the assembly line until you die, spending your entire life paying off your breeding loan.”
Hu Yuntao clenched his fists. The memory of a factory he had once visited flashed before his eyes. On the assembly line forged from the flesh and blood of great demons, countless workers had fused with the line itself, toiling day and night without rest. The thought of the Half-Step Elementary School, Half-Step Middle School, and Half-Step High School Seniors on those lines filled him with a chilling fear.
“After more than a decade of diligent study to finally enter High School, is this what it all comes down to? Ending up in a factory?” Xiong Wenwu continued his tirade. “If you reach the peak of University with a prestigious diploma in hand, who would dare disown you? Who would dare force you into a factory?”
Hu Yuntao’s face was filled with shame. “Big Brother, I know I was wrong. In the next competition, I’ll give it my all and won’t slack off in the slightest.”
Xiong Wenwu sighed. “I just don’t want to see you waste years of hard work only to fail to get into university. After graduating from high school, you would be planted on an assembly line to live out a miserable existence. Father would lose a good son, and I would lose another brother.”
“What happens next depends on your own performance.”
“As for what happened today… I will avenge you first.”
With that, he turned and strode toward the arena.
Hu Yuntao called out from behind him, “Big Brother, that girl has a stealth-type spirit root that can lower her opponent’s perception. Be careful…”
Xiong Wenwu waved him off, then charged forward and leaped into the air. His nearly one-ton frame crashed down like a small mountain, causing the entire arena to rumble and shake violently.
“Woman,” Xiong Wenwu growled, “I never hold back in a real fight. If you think you’re about to die, you had better surrender quickly.”
After uttering these words, Xiong Wenwu pulled out three syringes and plunged them violently into his neck.
zzzttt…
With a hissing sound, three vials of medicinal drugs were instantly pushed into his bloodstream. This caused every hair on his body to stand on end and the muscles on his bear-like face to bulge.
Just by looking at her opponent’s height and weight, Bai Zhenzhen could sense the astonishing power contained within.
Based on Lei Jun’s earlier assessment, Bai Zhenzhen knew that the Monsterfolk student, Xiong Wenwu, likely possessed the highest Physical Strength among all the first-year high school students present.
“Around 2.5 to 2.6,” she estimated.
Huuu…
Letting out a long breath, Bai Zhenzhen also felt her Spirit Root release its power.
In that moment, her mind seemed to break free from some invisible restraint. Countless Martial Arts techniques she had learned and witnessed surged through her mind as if coming to life.
Ever since entering High School and beginning her Martial Arts cultivation…
She, who had once only known how to use her Spirit Root for concealment… had started to develop a deeper understanding of Martial Arts after encountering the Martial Dao. She was not only learning techniques faster but was also gradually beginning to spot their weaknesses during actual combat.
3… 2… 1… Begin!
With the referee’s whistle, Xiong Wenwu leaped up, diving toward her like a cannonball.
A direct block was impossible. She could only retreat.
Bai Zhenzhen swiftly backed away. At the same time, spiritual energy flickered at her fingertips as a sharp Sword Qi erupted from her body.
An Expert-Grade Cultivation Technique, Level 3 Broken Body Sword Qi, was activated.
A foot-long blade of Sword Qi erupted from Bai Zhenzhen’s fingertip, piercing toward Xiong Wenwu just as he landed.
But amidst a cloud of flying fur, Bai Zhenzhen felt this strike hit a steel plate. After splitting through the fur and skin, it could not penetrate any deeper into the muscle.
A Body Protection Technique? Plus the effects of a Combat Spirit Root and incredible physical strength…
Bai Zhenzhen frowned, and in the next moment, she vanished from Xiong Wenwu’s sight.
But Xiong Wenwu was prepared. Without the slightest hesitation, he charged like a rampaging beast. His claws flashed with a cold light as he relentlessly attacked the space where Bai Zhenzhen had disappeared, like a torrential storm without end.
As he attacked, Xiong Wenwu also sniffed the air wildly, seemingly trying to use scent to track Bai Zhenzhen’s location.
Bai Zhenzhen stared wide-eyed at his movements. Enhanced by her Spirit Root, she could clearly perceive his every action, every technique, and the resulting fluctuations in spiritual energy.
She could even vaguely predict his subsequent attacks based on the flow of this energy in the air.
But even with her stealth abilities combined with desperate dodges, wounds began to appear on Bai Zhenzhen’s arms, thighs, and abdomen.
Xiong Wenwu’s sharp claws raked across her skin and muscle like a scorching blade slicing through butter, effortlessly leaving behind horrifying wounds.
In contrast, Zhenzhen’s Broken Body Sword Qi could only shave off the fur on his body, leaving behind insignificant scratches.
My strength and speed are simply too far behind, she thought. I have at most four or five seconds left before I lose.
Despite this, Bai Zhenzhen felt an unprecedented calm within her heart.
As her opponent’s attacks grew more frequent and the surrounding spiritual energy intensified, she saw his movements and his body with increasing clarity.
In her eyes, Xiong Wenwu now resembled a massive furnace that was accumulating more and more spiritual energy and magic power within him. This energy burned fiercely, driving his formidable physique.
Furthermore, Bai Zhenzhen could see that Xiong Wenwu’s skin was densely covered in spiritual energy, as if he were wearing it like armor.
Not a single flaw anywhere on his body… No, there is one.
As several set of bone-deep claw marks were carved into her calf, Bai Zhenzhen gradually saw his weakness.
A flaw in his techniques… and a flaw in his body posture…
Finally, she took a step forward, like a butterfly dancing in a raging storm.
Step by step, she moved through the rushing, biting chill, and step by step, she dodged the deadly sharpness.
I refuse to spend my whole life working in the First Layer…
I’m going to test into the Ten Greats!
I want to go further on the Path to Immortality!
With a roar from her fingertip sword aura, Bai Zhenzhen struck towards the flaw she saw.
***
In the audience seats.
Qian Shen and his two companions stared wide-eyed at the clash between Xiong Wenwu and Bai Zhenzhen.
Xiong Wenwu’s attacks were too fierce and his movements too swift, crashing down upon Bai Zhenzhen like lightning and thunder.
The onslaught was so intense that the three men could not spare a thought for conversation. Even from a distance, they felt the illusion of being oppressed by his overwhelming aura.
Especially in comparison to Xiong Wenwu, Bai Zhenzhen’s figure seemed so small and fragile.
Qian Shen thought to himself, He’s too intense. Even a graze would tear her flesh open. If she takes a direct hit, Bai Zhenzhen will be severely wounded, if not killed.
She’s going to lose…
When a spray of blood erupted from Bai Zhenzhen’s calf, adding another wound, the three men could not help but feel their hearts sink. They could almost see an image of her body mangled and covered in blood.
But in the next instant, they watched in shock as Bai Zhenzhen passed through the flurry of claw shadows and unleashed a Sword Qi counterattack.
Xiong Wenwu’s figure seemed to falter slightly, and then a massive torrent of blood gushed from his back.
Zhao Tianxing exclaimed in surprise, “Did he break through his defenses?”
He Dayou asked, “She couldn’t even pierce Xiong Wenwu’s muscles just now. How did it suddenly work?”
Qian Shen frowned in deep thought. Could it be she struck a flaw in his Cultivation Art?
Watching the blood gush from Xiong Wenwu’s back, growing fiercer and resembling a fountain, Qian Shen gasped, “Did she sever an artery? The amount of blood is terrifying!”
***
Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena.
Lei Jun watched the blood gushing from Xiong Wenwu’s back. His gaze fixed on the source of the bleeding, and a sudden light flashed in his eyes. “It’s hemorrhoids! External hemorrhoids!”
“That’s right. The Monster Race mostly crawls on all fours. After they begin learning and cultivating in human form, they have to sit for long periods every day. Their hemorrhoids must be even more severe and larger.”
“Especially external hemorrhoids, which have already protruded outside the body and are unprotected by his Body Refinement Technique!”
“Plus, Xiong Wenwu was just engaged in intense physical exertion and had taken so many potent drugs. His entire body is engorged with blood, which makes this sudden hemorrhage even more severe.”
Lei Jun grew excited. “To find such a weakness… My time tutoring you has not been wasted after all.”
***
But the next moment, on the Arena, Xiong Wenwu’s eyes turned blood red as he roared like a dying beast.
A roar echoed in Xiong Wenwu’s mind. I want to study! I don’t want to die on the assembly line! I want to remain Father’s son!
In the next instant, as Xiong Wenwu spun at high speed, a spray of blood and countless claw shadows covered the area in all directions.
“This is bad!” Lei Jun’s eyes narrowed. “He has gone berserk! He’s attacking completely wildly…”
Seeing Bai Zhenzhen caught in Xiong Wenwu’s onslaught with her injured leg, Lei Jun knew it would be extremely difficult for her to dodge such chaotic, uncoordinated attacks when her mobility was already limited.
By the time Lei Jun reached the foot of the Arena, he saw Xiong Wenwu lying on the ground, drenched in blood.
Bai Zhenzhen stood nearby, panting heavily. Aside from the claw marks covering her body, the space below her right elbow was empty.
Her right arm had been torn off by the berserk Xiong Wenwu.
Bai Zhenzhen wins!
Lei Jun immediately picked up the severed arm, scooped Bai Zhenzhen into his arms, and rushed her to the medical area.
The emergency doctor glanced at Bai Zhenzhen and could not help but chuckle inwardly. But when he turned to look at the colleague attending to Xiong Wenwu, a hint of envy flickered in his eyes.
Massive hemorrhage, overexertion of qi, organ failure, and a hemorrhoid surgery on top of all that, and his physical strength is still so high. That Bear monster’s case is worth at least several hundred thousand.
Sighing, he refocused his attention on Bai Zhenzhen.
But just as he was about to begin treatment, Bai Zhenzhen struggled to speak. “How much? Can I use insurance?”
The emergency doctor replied calmly, “The examination, basic treatment, and reattachment of your arm will cost you 88,000 yuan. The remaining 30,000 for other procedures are not covered by insurance and will be an out-of-pocket expense.”
“Out-of-pocket?” Bai Zhenzhen exclaimed angrily. “I bought insurance, and you are telling me I have to pay 30,000 myself?”
Ignoring her outburst, the emergency doctor urged, “If you want treatment, you need to decide quickly. If your arm becomes severely necrotic, I will not be able to treat it. By the time you get to a hospital, it would likely cost you over 300 thousand.”
