Chapter 102

Looking at Zhang Yu's physical strength level of 3.21, He Dayou's eyes were filled with disbelief.

He couldn't believe that after spending so much money and training so hard every day, he had actually been overtaken by Zhang Yu by such a margin.

He roared in his heart: "How is this possible? How could this be?"

"What exactly did Zhang Yu do? Why has his physical strength improved more than mine in just one month?"

"Is there some new drug or new technology? But where did he get the money?"

Beside him, Lan Ling's gaze also sharpened, and he thought to himself: "Did Zhang Pianpian step in behind Zhang Yu? To achieve such an improvement, what did that woman do? Could she have used the immortal arts technology of White Dragon High School?"

Wang Hai was even more curious about how Zhang Yu had made such a leap: "Which pharmaceutical company? Which corporation's new technology? Are they trying to promote a new product through Zhang Yu?"

He carefully observed Zhang Yu and found that there were no needle holes bulging from his temples, and the common injection sites on his arms showed no trace of training.

According to common sense, such a high school student didn't seem like a body-tempering powerhouse.

Wang Hai thought to himself: "The injection site must be somewhere I can't see. Is it the Heavenly Demon Acupuncture Technique? Or the Blood Corpse Acupuncture Technique? What method did he use?"

On the other side, Zhang Yu felt creeped out by Wang Hai's gaze and thought to himself: "That old Wang must be suspecting me of using drugs again."

"How many times have I said it? I've always been training naturally."

Beast meat powder? Who doesn't eat some when body-tempering?

Beast protein milk has almost no side effects.

As for the Hunyuan Pill, that can't even be considered technical drug use.

"I've been sleeping under the sky and lying on the ground every day—truly pure natural cultivation."

Zhang Yu looked at the door-like man Lan Ling and thought to himself that this was a true medicine man who had condensed the essence of immortal arts technology.

Zhang Yu spoke: "So? Any problem with us joining the competition team now?"

Lan Ling's eyelids twitched slightly, and he said in a neutral tone: "As agreed, naturally you can…"

At the same time, compared to everyone else's disbelief, astonishment, and curiosity, Ye Haitao, who was originally ranked fifth, was in despair.

After Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen joined, she had dropped from fifth to seventh, completely losing her chance to participate in the sports competition.

Thinking of the huge sums her family had invested to get into the competition team and the special training program, and the debt on their backs… now she had lost her spot in the competition. Ye Haitao felt as if the sky was falling.

Her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, her hands and feet twitching uncontrollably, as if she had lost control.

Wang Hai's gaze sharpened: "Her Dao heart is unstable. Get her Dao-heart buffer and pour it into her mouth."

On the other side, Li Yong, originally fourth but now sixth, couldn't accept this result, especially since his physical strength was only 0.02 levels lower than Bai Zhenzhen's.

"To support me through high school, to earn money for me to compete, to let me enjoy the special training program, my parents have already borne too much…"

To make money, Li Yong's father had joined a gang, smuggling children's flying swords, risking execution to earn tuition for Li Yong.

His mother had joined a food gang, counterfeiting pre-prepared dishes in underground workshops, constantly facing the danger of gang fights and corporate crackdowns. Now, under pressure from synthetic food, she even faced the crisis of being 'optimized' and fired by the gang.

This was Li Yong's family—a gang family with an income higher than that of urban white-collar workers, but facing the constant risks of death, bankruptcy, and debt.

As a second-generation gangster, Li Yong's childhood dream had been to get into university.

"I am my family's hope. Only by getting into university can I change our family's fate, wash away the black, and break free from the gang…"

"To keep up with the training progress here, I take over twenty kinds of medication every day, eat a meal every two hours, and have broken bones many times during extreme muscle training. Now, if the painkillers wear off even a little, my whole body aches as if I'm dying…"

"My family has sacrificed so much, and I have sacrificed so much—why should I lose?"

"Just because Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen became the lackeys of some rich people? Because they got invested in and have money, does a poor bastard like me have to lose to the rich men's dogs?"

Apparently, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, who used different spiritual roots every day, were seen by many classmates as being invested in by the wealthy and belonging to the rich camp.

So after hearing Lan Ling agree to let Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen join the team, Li Yong stepped forward.

Staring hard at Bai Zhenzhen, he said: "Our physical strength is only 0.02 levels apart—that's not a decisive gap in a sports competition. I challenge you!"

Through his training over this period, Li Yong had also learned that the sports competition wasn't just about comparing physical strength numbers.

Otherwise, all the high school students in Songyang could just be ranked by their physical strength numbers—why compete at all?

The physical strength number was just a foundation. What the sports competition tested… was how well a student could bring that flesh and blood into play.

"Bai Zhenzhen has the support of a wealthy person like Zhang Pianpian behind her, so her funds are definitely more abundant than mine. But I don’t believe she has trained harder or more focused than I have this past month; her control over physical strength might not be as good as mine."

"Plus, in the special training plan, my fascial self-limitation was already surgically released, so my muscles can burst with overloaded power… I can definitely beat her!"

While mentally cheering himself on, Li Yong pointed at Bai Zhenzhen and said, "I want to compete with you to see who is stronger. Do you dare?"

Before anyone else could speak, Bai Zhenzhen was already laughing inside, eagerly shouting a silent "Good!" in her heart: "Today is my stage; it’s not Yu’s turn to show off."

But thinking that Zhang Yu could no longer show off because no one challenged him due to his excessively high stats, Bai Zhenzhen felt her joy diminish a little.

She looked at the speaking Li Yong, putting on an aloof, iceberg-girl expression, and said indifferently, "How do you want to compare?"

Li Yong stepped forward boldly: "Alright, then we’ll compare…"

"Presumptuous." Lan Ling snorted coldly. "This is about deciding the school’s competition slots, not a game between the two of you. The specific competition event will be decided by me and the teachers after discussion."

So after some discussion, it was decided that Bai Zhenzhen and Li Yong would compare physical strength through barbell weightlifting.

Of course, as with all sports competitions, no magical power could be used during the competition; it was a test of pure physical strength.

Therefore, both of them were fitted with detection patches to monitor whether their magical power was circulating.

Zhang Yu watched this scene and thought to himself, "Looks like I’ll have to stop the Zhou Tian breath-gathering method during sports competitions. What a pity to lose that passive respiration time." Zhang Yu could certainly choose to stop the passive respiration of the Zhou Tian breath-gathering method, since it was ultimately a breathing technique he himself controlled.

On the other side, Li Yong stepped up to the 1500-kilogram barbell, grabbed it with both hands, and with a loud shout, his face flushed red as he lifted the barbell.

After holding it for five seconds, with a loud boom, the 1500-kilogram barbell crashed heavily to the ground, bouncing a few times.

Li Yong looked solemnly at Bai Zhenzhen: "Your turn."

Under everyone’s gaze, Bai Zhenzhen walked up to the barbell. With a tremor of her body, her muscles tightened all over, and she seemed to have swelled slightly.

Strand after strand of muscles intertwined and pushed, as if forming a single whole.

Originally, under the training of the Thunder-Strike True Body, Bai Zhenzhen’s nervous system had been heavily strengthened, giving her great muscle recruitment and strength control.

Later, after exchanging spiritual roots with Zhang Yu for cultivation, her body refinement incorporated some effects of the Red Marrow Primordial Qi, enhancing her muscle coordination and explosive power even further.

Now, Bai Zhenzhen grabbed the barbell with both hands and, without flushing or panting, effortlessly lifted the 1500-kilogram barbell.

As she lifted it, her expression unchanged, she said calmly, "This is too easy. Switch to something harder."

=9+书_吧

After holding it for five seconds, Bai Zhenzhen casually dropped the barbell in place and strode toward another 2000-kilogram barbell.

Then, under everyone’s astonished gaze, with a faint blush on her face, Bai Zhenzhen let out a low shout, her arms bulging, and suddenly lifted the barbell over her head.

Lan Ling’s eyes narrowed, thinking to himself: "Strong explosive power and muscle control. This probably isn’t her limit yet. Zhang Pianpian really spared no expense."

He Dayou had originally shared a similar thought to Li Yong’s—that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s physical strength had skyrocketed in a short time, and since they hadn’t participated in the special training plan, their control might not be as good as theirs.

But now, seeing Bai Zhenzhen easily lift the 2000-kilogram barbell, a shadow also crossed his eyes.

And watching this scene, the most upset person on the scene was naturally Li Yong.

After all, his previous limit was lifting a barbell of just over 1900 kilograms, while Bai Zhenzhen’s performance clearly far exceeded his limit.

Rationally speaking, he should give up.

But he couldn’t accept it.

"I’ve given so much, I’ve come all this way, and now I have to surrender because of some rich person’s money?"

So Li Yong walked up to the 2000-kilogram barbell, took a deep breath, and then grabbed it fiercely.

Every muscle in his body tensed. The 2000-kilogram barbell stood before him like a mountain, only showing a slight movement when he exerted his full force.

Li Yong roared in his heart: "I want to go to college!"

"I don’t want my parents to stay in gangs!"

"Get the hell up!"

With his muscles trembling all over and veins bulging on his flushed forehead, the 2000-kilogram barbell was actually lifted inch by inch.

Roar!

With a furious shout, Li Yong looked at the barbell he had raised high above his head, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

But the next moment, a series of light cracking sounds came from his arm.

Then, as he stared dumbfounded, blood sprayed from his right arm.

And as his hand went limp, the barbell he had just raised above his head came crashing down.

Wang Hai's expression turned serious. He rushed over, catching the two-thousand-kilogram barbell with one hand while supporting Li Yong with the other.

Li Yong struggled to control his right arm, trying to lift his hand, but found his muscles trembling uncontrollably.

Li Yong said in panic, "Teacher... what's happening to me?"

Wang Hai took one look and roughly understood. He sighed and said, "After you underwent the fascia removal surgery, the degree of muscle expansion can exceed the limits."

"But your physical body hasn't adapted to the overload performance of your arm muscles, so the flesh and blood tore."

Wang Hai knew this was one of the flaws of the special training program—after all, the muscles on the body are not an integrated whole. When the transplanted muscle fibers erupt with violent power, if the original flesh and blood cannot keep up with the load, a breakdown occurs.

Upon hearing this, Li Yong became even more panicked. "Can I still get better? Can I still participate in the special training program?"

Wang Hai comforted him, "It's okay, it's okay. After some treatment and a few days of rest, you can continue training..."

Lan Ling didn't even glance at the failed Li Yong. Instead, he looked at Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu with a businesslike expression and said, "Then, as agreed, your results are enough to join the sports competition team."

"Next month's sports competition will be attended by you along with He Dayou and the other two."

"As for the remedial training for the competition team afterward, you can attend or not, as you wish."

Zhang Yu, however, asked curiously, "Then... what about that special training program? Can we participate?"

Regarding this so-called special training program—a method that allowed He Dayou and the others to skyrocket their physical strength in one month—both Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had long been extremely curious.

Lan Ling looked at the two and gave a cold laugh, thinking to himself, "Could it be that Zhang Pianpian also has her eye on our Songyang High School's transplantation technology? Is that why she had them join?"

He said with a businesslike expression, "The special training program is led by the student council, with the school's cooperation, selecting candidates according to certain standards."

"You two do not meet the criteria and are not qualified to participate in this program."