Chapter 212: Zhang Yu Under Ambush

Just as Yue Jincheng's face grew darker, watching Zhang Yu walk out of the breeding facility's main gate and slip his phone into his pocket, a resolve stirred within Yue Jincheng's heart.

With a flicker of movement, he silently and swiftly trailed Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

"With my proper university graduate skills, even if I act right in front of them and take one or two things from them… I guarantee they won't have a clue—they won't even have a chance to notice."

Yue Jincheng had reviewed Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's exam results from the past few months and knew they were roughly at the level of a senior high school student in the late Qi Refining stage.

That was already outstanding at Songyang High, but in his eyes, they were just two kids.

Especially since he was a college graduate specializing in commercial investigation—he had already mastered silent movement, covert operations, theft, and other related skills, so dealing with two high schoolers was as easy as flipping his hand.

"Just take their phones, use the company's tools to copy the data, and put the phones back before they notice."

"Once I crack the data back at base, I'll immediately know all their secrets. Why stoop to this stupid tailing?"

"Just a couple of high school brats—I should have done this long ago!"

Just as Yue Jincheng's form flickered and he was about to catch up to Zhang Yu, Si Zhouyu, standing nearby, changed expression slightly and also followed, raising a hand to stop Yue Jincheng.

But faced with Si Zhouyu's action, Yue Jincheng sneered inwardly: "How can a community college graduate stop me?"

Watching Yue Jincheng accelerate again and silently close in behind Zhang Yu, Si Zhouyu cursed under his breath, gave up stopping him, and instead dashed toward Bai Zhenzhen to cover Yue Jincheng's move.

Si Zhouyu sighed to himself: "Ah, this kid is too eager to make a name for himself—too impulsive."

"Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are just two high schoolers, easy enough for the two of us to handle, but if you won't even listen to the boss's orders, even if you do get credit, what's the point?"

"Ah, I'm going to have to write a mountain of reports when we get back…"

Meanwhile, Yue Jincheng's right arm traced an afterimage as he simultaneously activated, combined, and unleashed six martial arts techniques.

In an instant, his arm moved at a speed beyond normal visual perception, silently reaching from behind Zhang Yu toward his pocket.

Just as Yue Jincheng made his move, Fuji spoke in Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's minds: "Careful, someone's making a move—heading for Zhang Yu."

Zhang Yu thought to himself: "Oh? Daring to act directly? Are we being underestimated? Or is something else going on?"

Bai Zhenzhen thought to herself: "No need to let him succeed, so Yu Zi should counterattack in time, right? Then what I need to do… is keep the two of them from running off immediately if they fail."

Just as Yue Jincheng's lips curled into a smile and his hand was about to slip into Zhang Yu's pocket, he suddenly felt his palm touch something soft as cotton.

But though the cotton was incredibly soft, it sent a violent repulsive force surging back.

Bang!

As the recoil traveled from Yue Jincheng's fingertips, he saw clouds and mist billowing around Zhang Yu—clusters of Formless Cloud Armor had burst out from beneath his clothes, encircling his form like patches of fog.

"What?!" Yue Jincheng was taken aback: "This kid actually sensed my move? And blocked my strike…"

At that moment, though Yue Jincheng was surprised, he wasn't truly stunned. He hesitated because two choices warred in his mind.

"Since I've already made a move, I might as well just grab his bag and have the company clean it up as a robbery…"

"Better leave now—they suffered no loss, the cops won't bother, and they won't find out who attacked them…"

But just then, divine power gathered in the sky, coalescing into a clap of thunder that roared.

The muffled rumble of thunder rolled across the heavens, as if trying to wake the entire world at once.

"Thunderclap Talisman?" Yue Jincheng was startled again—he hadn't expected that after his failed strike, the other party would directly use such a talisman.

"Let's go!" Si Zhouyu barked in a low voice, shooting away like a black cloud, immediately preparing to retreat.

A flash of reluctance passed through Yue Jincheng's eyes, but he knew this place was no longer safe to linger. He stepped back, also intending to leave.

Yet at that moment, a series of sharp crackling sounds came from Yue Jincheng's side, and a tingling heat like static electricity rose on his cheek.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Bai Zhenzhen, her whole body ablaze with crackling lightning, had charged to Yue Jincheng's side in a thunderous roar. Her fingertip invisible sword aura, carrying sparks and thunder, thrust straight at Yue Jincheng.

Yue Jincheng snorted, threw a punch, and shattered the invisible sword aura. As he prepared to follow up with a punch at her body, Bai Zhenzhen shifted her form, revealing a large patch of flowers behind her.

Bai Zhenzhen said flatly, "Careful—that'll cost you."

Remembering that every blade of grass and tree in this reserve belonged to Red Tower Company, Yue Jincheng instinctively held back his punch.

And so, with a single sword and a single flower, Bai Zhenzhen had delayed Yue Jincheng for a moment.

And that moment was exactly when Zhang Yu arrived.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amid the thunderous roar throughout the sky, the clouds around Zhang Yu transformed into four giant white arms, which ruthlessly struck at Yue Jincheng using the techniques of Wuji Cloud Hand, Undying Seal Art, Dragon-Carrying Mountain-Turning Hand, and Dragon-Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm.

At the same time, threads of sharp aura wandered on the periphery, continuously aiming at Yue Jincheng with faint electrical glints. This was Bai Zhenzhen, who had temporarily retreated after failing with her sword strike. "These two brats."

Watching Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen join forces to surround him, Yue Jincheng’s already irritable and angry mood grew even worse.

"Do you really think I’m afraid of you?"

"You want to keep me here? Can you even manage that?"

Yue Jincheng suddenly let out a fierce roar, his muscles swelling abruptly, transforming from his formerly gaunt build to a height of nearly 2.8 meters.

This was his true combat height; his usual physique was merely altered through his cultivation technique to conceal his identity.

He unleashed the terrifying aura befitting a university graduate, sweeping fiercely toward the two high school students before him.

Amid explosive crashes, Yue Jincheng resembled an angry Vajra, his fists and palms moving in unison. In the blink of an eye, he shattered the four-arm energy projection that Zhang Yu had hurled at him.

But in the next moment, a sword aura shimmering with lightning stabbed toward Yue Jincheng’s back, forcing him to turn and disperse it.

No sooner had he scattered that sword aura than he heard a *pfft* sound.

No mistake, every word, every sentence, every part, every look!

A bolt of lightning shot from Bai Zhenzhen’s mouth, like an arrow aimed at Yue Jincheng’s right eye.

"Spit?" Yue Jincheng sneered inwardly at the sight. "A mere trick."

"Am I, a proper university graduate, not well-versed in this move from real combat?"

With an equally *pfft* sound, two streams of spit collided midair, bursting apart with a bang and dissipating into the air.

Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Yu circulated his mana and once again transformed his Formless Cloud Qi into four giant arms, smashing them toward Yue Jincheng.

Although it had been a long time since he participated in arena matches like martial arts competitions, Zhang Yu’s actual combat ability had now far surpassed his former self during those competitions.

Especially in his continuous sparring with Bai Zhenzhen and Yu Xinghan, he had gradually figured out the true combat method best suited to his entire set of martial arts.

In the beginning, Zhang Yu was accustomed to spreading Formless Cloud Qi all over his body like heavy armor, protecting every part of him to fend off enemy attacks.

But he soon realized this approach wasted a great deal of Qi.

After all, when ten parts of Qi were spread over the whole body, only one or two parts were actually struck by the enemy and used for defense, while the rest was completely wasted.

So Zhang Yu tried, during his fights with Yu Xinghan and Bai Zhenzhen, to converge Qi precisely at the point of impact just before being struck.

This way, he could use Formless Cloud Qi more efficiently, and its defensive effect was even better.

Yet Zhang Yu quickly discovered that this still failed to bring out his true strength—the many tenth-level martial arts he had mastered.

Eventually, Zhang Yu tried transforming his Qi into giant arms, which could not only defend efficiently but also execute various martial techniques, leveraging the strengths of his entire martial cultivation.

At this very moment, Yue Jincheng, locked in combat with Zhang Yu, quickly perceived the subtlety in this.

As a graduate from a 72nd-tier lower school, Yue Jincheng’s cultivation had long reached the pinnacle of Qi Refining. His Dao heart, mana, and physical strength had all attained the limits of Qi Refining, and he had also cultivated dozens of techniques to the tenth level.

At this moment, every punch and kick he threw unleashed overwhelming force—a single move was enough to send an outstanding high schooler like Song Hailong flying.

But the four giant Qi arms controlled by Zhang Yu either parried, blocked, redirected, shifted, deflected, or rebounded the force, stubbornly withstanding the power Yue Jincheng unleashed with his profoundly deep martial techniques.

Yue Jincheng felt as if he had stepped into a mud pit, firmly bogged down by his opponent.

However, he was, after all, a proper university graduate. Under his full-force bombardment, Zhang Yu’s Qi-formed giant arms soon shattered and scattered.

But every time this happened, Bai Zhenzhen, roaming on the periphery, would use her lightning mana along with various venomous sword techniques to stab at his vital points, forcing him to fend her off first.

And once Bai Zhenzhen was driven back, Zhang Yu would have already re-circulated his Qi and charge at him head-on again.

In addition, he had to be wary of Bai Zhenzhen’s electrified spit, whereas Yue Jincheng’s own spit had little effect on Zhang Yu’s Qi or the elusive Bai Zhenzhen.

Sensing that he was being momentarily stalled by the two of them, Yue Jincheng was once again astonished: "These two brats were hiding this much strength during the exam?!"

"At this level, even among the three major high schools, they’d rank among the top in the senior year."

"And with one fast and one slow, one yin and one yang, one unorthodox and one orthodox, they cooperate so perfectly..."

Just as Yue Jincheng was inwardly astonished, traces of divine power suddenly manifested in the air, then condensed into lines of script that floated throughout every corner of the scene, completely surrounding Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, and Yue Jincheng, who were in the midst of battle.

Warning! Warning!

Patrol squad enforcing the law on site! Everyone, restrain your magical power and cease all movement!

In the distance, Si Zhouyu, who had been about to turn back and help Yue Jincheng retreat, furrowed her brow and sighed inwardly at the sight: "The patrol squad arrived too fast."

She shook her head helplessly, and her entire figure had already retreated back into the darkness, vanishing without a trace.