Chapter 99
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Chapter 99: The Agreed Time, Competing for Competition Spots
Under the bridge, by the riverbank.
Amidst the rumbling of heavy trucks passing over the overpass, faint, intermittent roars echoed from beneath the bridge.
A delivery person rode his electric scooter toward the bridge. He was a courier from the nearby mortal slum.
From a distance, he could vaguely hear the sound of impacts. But when he reached the bridge, he only saw Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen standing face to face.
“Your delivery.”
The young courier handed over the package. His gaze inadvertently lingered on Bai Zhenzhen, causing his face to flush involuntarily. The high school girl was simply too beautiful and refined for him.
Recalling the class and school beauties from his middle school days, he thought to himself, High school girls are just different… they’re like proud prodigies. Their grace and looks are on another level compared to middle schoolers.
He quickly averted his gaze, afraid of offending them.
This was not his first time delivering to this spot. He vaguely knew that this high school couple often spent their nights here, though he was not sure what they were doing.
He also knew that a group of local thugs used to hang out in the area, but they had fled as soon as they saw high school students around.
After all, high school students were the cream of the crop, the ones who could get jobs in the city. They were not something mere mortals like them could compare to. Even when delivering packages, the students charged far more than the locals.
With a hint of envy, the delivery person glanced one last time at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen before riding off on his electric scooter.
Zhang Yu tore open the package and said to Bai Zhenzhen, “Here’s the synthetic food and Beast Protein Milk you ordered. I wonder how it tastes compared to the cafeteria food.”
Bai Zhenzhen shrugged nonchalantly. “As long as it’s cheap, I’ll take it, provided it doesn’t taste worse than shit.”
Once the delivery person was completely gone, Zhang Yu smiled faintly and said, “Let’s continue.”
He stood still as white mist began to swirl around him.
As his magic power grew, Zhang Yu once again unleashed the Limitless Cloud Hands. The Formless Cloud Gang Qi surged even more violently, enveloping his entire body. Within the dense white mist, only a vague, blurred figure could be faintly discerned.
Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen’s figure darted around Zhang Yu with lightning speed, each movement accompanied by thunderous booms. She moved like lightning streaking through clouds, a testament to her rapid progress in cultivating the Thunderclap True Body.
In terms of long-distance movement, Bai Zhenzhen could not match Zhang Yu, who possessed the Level 10 Roadster Legs. But when it came to short bursts of speed in combat, footwork, evasions, and reaction time… the current Bai Zhenzhen was far more agile than Zhang Yu.
The sound of Bai Zhenzhen’s fists crashing into the swirling mist echoed as they collided repeatedly with Zhang Yu’s Formless Gang Qi, creating crackling explosions.
In the next instant, the swirling mist of the Formless Cloud Gang Qi spun rapidly, sweeping toward Bai Zhenzhen’s striking fist like a vortex. She felt her center of gravity waver violently, and her entire body was sent flying backward.
However, mid-air, Bai Zhenzhen twisted her body with incredible flexibility, regaining her balance and landing steadily on the ground.
She watched Zhang Yu, still completely shrouded in dense mist, and thought to herself, As Yu Zi’s magic power keeps on growing stronger, his Formless Cloud Gang Qi is becoming denser and spreads further. He’s becoming someone increasingly difficult to deal with.
Recalling the sensation of repeatedly charging into the dense mist…
With the combination of Limitless Cloud Hands and Dragon-Back Mountain-Toppling Hand, not only was Zhang Yu’s for, and movements nearly invisible, but all sorts of forces came at her from all directions.It included shattering, whipping, coiling, jolting, and rebounding attacks, all aimed at disrupting her balance or even trap her within the swirling clouds.
Moreover, when he combined the Limitless Cloud Hands with the Indestructible Seal Technique, Bai Zhenzhen’s Broken Body Sword Qi attacks only caused the mist to expand further. After accumulating energy, it would counterattack, making combat increasingly frustrating.
Throughout this ordeal, she had to remain constantly vigilant against Zhang Yu’s indistinct physical attacks hidden within the mist.
“Enough, enough!” Bai Zhenzhen waved her hand and said, “Your Formless Cloud Gang Qi is now both offense and defense, like a spiny turtle shell. You’re even using my Spirit Root, so I can’t find a single weakness. This training is completely ineffective.”
During this period, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had been alternating between individual cultivation and sparring sessions to hone their combat skills.
With no third party to witness them, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen no longer needed to worry about revealing their high-level cultivation techniques. They took turns unleashing various Level 10 cultivation techniques, and the practical training proved far more effective than anything they could achieve at school.
Hearing Bai Zhenzhen’s call, Zhang Yu dispersed the Formless Cloud Gang Qi surrounding him.
Through their recent sparring sessions, Zhang Yu had gradually come to understand the situation.
If the True Spirit Root is in my body, I’m invincible.
But If the True Spirit Root is in A-Zhen’s body, we’re evenly matched.
Of course, these conclusions assumed neither Zhang Yu nor Bai Zhenzhen would go all out with lethal intent.
After all, without enough spare cash to visit the clinic, neither wanted to risk injury during their practical training.
As Bai Zhenzhen called for a stop, Zhang Yu had just dissipated his Formless Cloud Gang Qi when he saw a figure flash behind him, lightly leaping and wrapping her arms around him.
Bai Zhenzhen laughed heartily and said, “Now it’s my turn to use it!”
As her body pressed against his, the Spirit Root returned to her.
After repeatedly exchanging the Spirit Root during this period, both of them had become incredibly familiar with the movements.
Watching Bai Zhenzhen diligently cultivating nearby, Zhang Yu smiled faintly before turning his attention to his Feather Book.
Although his primary focus had been on enhancing his Physical Strength, his Dao Heart and Magic Power had also steadily improved.
His Dao Heart had reached Level 4 (28%). At this level, his control over his physical body and magic power became as effortless as moving his own limbs, and his mastery of Martial Arts techniques surpassed his previous abilities.
With the aid of the True Spirit Root, his Magic Power surged rapidly and had now reached 34.8. This allowed his Formless Cloud Gang Qi to become increasingly abundant and turbulent when unleashed.
However, recently, as my Magic Power has grown, the refinement speed has gradually slowed. It seems the Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method’s effectiveness is diminishing, and I may be approaching a bottleneck.
As a cultivation art designed for beginners, the Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method naturally had its limits. Zhang Yu estimated that around 50 points of magic power would likely be the maximum it could support.
To achieve more substantial magic power, I’ll eventually need to switch to an expert-grade breathing technique.
Having focused on enhancing his Physical Strength during this period, Zhang Yu had now reached level 3.21. This was a massive jump compared to his level during the Martial Arts Competition a month prior.
Naturally, such rapid progress came at a steep cost.
Although tutoring fees and occasionally selling off an item to Lian Tianji had netted him over 100,000 yuan, his funds had been steadily depleted. The Hunyuan Pills cost 30,000 yuan each, and his food expenses were constantly rising along with his Physical Strength. He now had less than 20,000 yuan left in his savings.
As dawn broke, Zhang Yu gazed at the rising sun and said, “A-Zhen, it’s time to head to school.”
“You remember what day it is, right?”
Bai Zhenzhen’s cheeks still held a rosy glow from her workout. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she replied, “Of course! Today’s the big day we go show the PE Competition Team what we’re made of!”
***
Inside the PE hall.
As training began, students opened large bottles and started gulping down Dao Heart buffer agent with audible glugs.
During the ensuing drills, one student’s arm suddenly spasmed, and he was overcome by a wave of weakness.
Wang Hai walked over, grabbed the student’s arm to examine it, and frowned. “Did you drink enough Dao Heart buffer agent yesterday?”
Seeing the student stammer, Wang Hai snorted coldly. “You’ve all undergone the special training program, so your physical strength can easily surpass your Dao Heart’s control. That’s why you need to drink at least five times the standard dose of buffer agent daily. Even a little less could cause your physical strength to spiral out of control.”
“We’re making you drink this buffer agent not for the school to make a bit of money, but for your own good.”
“After spending so much money and enduring so much grueling training, do you really want to miss out on placing in the Sports Competitions just because you tried to save a few mouthfuls of buffer agent?”
Seeing the student hang his head in shame, Wang Hai finally let the matter drop.
He then turned his gaze to He Dayou, who was training nearby with a complex expression. He sighed to himself, He Dayou has completely left Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen in the dust, hasn’t he? Ah, with the advancement of immortal cultivation technology, individual talent and effort are becoming worthless.
At that moment, He Dayou was slowly lifting a massive, heavy barbell.
At the same time, the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law within his body activated, accelerating the fusion of the transplanted flesh and blood during his strength training. This allowed him to wield his power with greater ease and control.
After all, transplanted flesh and blood are not something that can be mastered immediately.
He Dayou still remembered how he felt after his first transplant surgery. It was like wearing a suit of iron armor that constrained his movements and made every action clumsy.
But through his relentless efforts, even as the surgeries continued, the “iron armor” on his body gradually became lighter and thinner with his persistent training.
It evolved from armor to a coat, and then from a coat to underwear. Now, He Dayou barely felt constrain at all. The transplanted flesh and blood had become like a barely perceptible layer of skin, completely under his control.
Excellent. If I maintain this state, I can undergo the next phase of surgery in a few days.
Then I’ll continue to train hard. It’s not entirely hopeless that I can push my Physical Strength to Level 4.0 or higher before the competition.
Just then, accompanied by a series of calls of “Hello, Senior,” He Dayou turned to see Lan Ling leading several other Second-Year students from the Physical Education Department into the gym.
Lan Ling scanned the area and frowned. “Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen still not here yet?”
He Dayou knew that today was the day to determine the final roster for the competition team next month. It was also the day Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen would come to embarrass themselves.
“Those two have been skipping classes left and right lately. Who knows how much progress they’ve actually made?”
“It doesn’t matter. No matter how much they’ve improved, they can’t possibly surpass me, not when I’m part of the special training program.”
He Dayou continued his silent training. Ever since he surpassed Zhang Yu in the last Monthly Exam, he had gradually stopped taking his former rival seriously.
A person has to look forward. My future opponents are the top students from Bailong High School, Purple Cloud High School, and Red Pagoda High School.
Meanwhile, Lan Ling turned to He Dayou and the other four who were training. “Since Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen aren’t here yet, you all can test your physical strength first. Once they arrive, we can test them and get this over with.”
In Lan Ling’s view, there was no need for further comparisons. Their physical strength alone should be enough to eliminate those two poor fools.
1st place, He Dayou, Physical Strength 3.07.
4th place, Li Yong, Physical Strength 2.96.
5th place, Ye Haitao, Physical Strength 2.94.
Lan Ling nodded slightly as he reviewed the five students’ Physical Strength scores. “He Dayou, you’ve improved quickly. Keep this up, and placing in the PE Competition should be no problem.”
“Ye Haitao, you were the last to join the team, so you need to work harder. With that score, it will be difficult to place…”
Faced with the critique from Lan Ling, an officer from the Second-Year Student Council, the First-Year students present all accepted it naturally with bows of acknowledgment.
Just then, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen walked in under everyone’s gaze.
Lan Ling gave them a cold look and said flatly, “Test your Physical Strength first. If you can exceed 2.94, you’ll get a spot for the competition.”
A few moments later, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s Physical Strength scores appeared on the big screen, joining the rankings.
1st place, Zhang Yu, Physical Strength 3.21.
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.
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5th place, Bai Zhenzhen, Physical Strength 2.98.
