Chapter 73: Quarterfinal

Watching Chu Qiuhe lose to Zhang Yu, Qian Shen exclaimed in surprise, "Zhang Yu won."

Zhao Tianxing had also been observing this match, but he couldn't understand it at all and asked in confusion, "How did he suddenly win? It felt like Zhang Yu was being suppressed the whole time."

Qian Shen said thoughtfully, "Although Zhang Yu was being suppressed, if you think about it carefully... he actually blocked almost all of Chu Qiuhe's attacks."

"On the other hand, Chu Qiuhe, relying on his strong physique, was almost all offense and no defense."

Qian Shen said somewhat uncertainly, "And then he seemed to get hit right in a vital spot by Zhang Yu?"

He sighed with some emotion, "I heard that in the past, college entrance exams were purely arena battles, but there were too many random factors in combat, and relying solely on combat couldn't select the best talents, so it was gradually revised into the current six-subject, 700-point system."

He Dayou said with schadenfreude, "With this loss, Chu Qiuhe is finished at White Dragon High School from now on."

Zhao said, "It's just one lost match; don't you think that's an exaggeration?"

He Dayou: "If you lost to a student from an ordinary high school, what would be the consequences?"

Zhao Tianxing immediately frowned: "What do students from ordinary high schools know about cultivation? How could I lose to them?"

He Dayou said calmly, "What if you did lose?"

The sky would fall, he'd be the shame of Songyang, ridiculed by the whole school, go up to the rooftop... Just thinking about it, Zhao Tianxing felt everything turn bleak.

Seeing his expression change, He Dayou chuckled, "Now do you understand?"

But then he saw Zhang Yu stepping down from the arena, and couldn't help frowning again.

Although Chu Qiuhe's loss secretly pleased him, Zhang Yu's win pained him as well.

Meanwhile, at another competition area.

The unconscious Chu Qiuhe was carried back to the White Dragon High School preparation zone by others.

The competition coach glanced over but didn't rush to wake him up and humiliate him immediately.

After all, only Chu Qiuhe had returned so far; the other contestants were still competing at the arenas.

Of course, he would wait until everyone was back, then make Chu Qiuhe kneel in front of all the students and humiliate him severely.

"He actually lost to someone from Songyang High School."

Just thinking about it made the competition coach secretly furious—his upcoming bonuses and performance reviews would be docked, he might even be laughed at by other teachers and scolded by the school administration...

Just as the competition coach was thinking about this, another White Dragon High School student was carried over.

The competition coach looked at the student on the stretcher and frowned, "What happened to you?"

The student's face was pale, and he stammered, "I beat someone from Ziyun, then Bai Zhenzhen from Songyang High School defeated Hu Yuntao, and then she fought me... I lost to her."

As soon as he said that, he felt the temperature around him drop ten degrees, and he couldn't help trembling.

The competition coach said coldly, "How did you lose?"

The student lowered his head and said, "That Bai Zhenzhen rented a stealth-type spiritual root that could appear and disappear from my senses."

The competition coach said coldly, "Her stats are far below yours; even if she caught you off guard, it would be hard for her to beat you."

A hint of confusion also flashed in the student's eyes: "I... I don't know either. She suddenly hit my vital point, and I don't know how I passed out."

Meanwhile, on another stretcher, Chu Qiuhe—who had woken up long ago but had been pretending to be unconscious—suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, "At least I'm not the only one who lost."

At that moment, a thought even surged in Chu Qiuhe's mind.

"Zhang Yu... you fucking keep winning a few more matches!"

"It'd be best if you beat a few more White Dragon High School people."

As long as Zhang Yu won enough, Chu Qiuhe felt that his own loss wouldn't look so bad.

As for the wins and losses of other classmates?

A classmate's victory couldn't be written on his Chu Qiuhe's resume, but a classmate's defeat could better preserve his face.

At the same time, the battles on various arenas were also approaching their end.

On the arena, Song Hailong let out a fierce roar, grabbed his opponent, and with terrifying strength suddenly erupted, flinging the person away like a ball—crashing into the ten-meter-high ceiling with a loud bang, stunning the entire audience.

The White Dragon people in the audience clapped wildly, until Song Hailong raised his right hand and clenched his fist, at which they all stopped instantly.

On the other side of the arena, Le Mulan lightly flicked her slender fingers, and streaks of ice-blue mana stabbed like swords toward her opponent three meters away, carving out sword scars.

No matter how desperately the opponent fought back, he was always blocked three meters away by those streaks of ice-blue sword light, not even a single drop of blood splashed from his body could come within three meters of Le Mulan.

Watching her opponent finally faint from blood loss, Le Mulan turned and slowly walked down from the arena.

The Purple Cloud people in the audience were completely silent, not daring to make a sound, but the cheers erupting from the White Dragon people not far away for Song Hailong made Le Mulan frown inwardly.

"So noisy."

In the blink of an eye, all eight groups had determined their winners, and the top eight of this martial arts competition were fully decided.

Among the top eight, aside from Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, Song Hailong, and Le Mulan, there were also Lian Tianji, two students from Red Tower High School, and another student from White Dragon High School.

Zhang Yu looked at the schedule for the next rounds of the top eight.

"My first match is against Lian Tianji, and then I'll have to deal with... the winner between Song Hailong and that other Red Tower student."

According to Zhang Yu's own judgment, that Red Tower student was most likely no match for Song Hailong.

In other words, if he wanted a chance to win the championship, he would have to defeat Lian Tianji first, then Song Hailong.

"But by comparison, A-Zhen's path is much harder." Zhang Yu looked at the lower bracket: Bai Zhenzhen first had to defeat Red Tower High School's 300-point top seed, then get past Le Mulan of Purple Cloud High School, before she could meet him in the championship match.

There wasn't much time for Zhang Yu to sigh; in a flash, the top eight matches had officially begun.

The number of arenas in the entire competition ground also shrank from eight to four.

Zhang Yu stepped onto the arena and saw Lian Tianji already waiting there.

After seeing Zhang Yu, Lian Tianji's eyes lit up, and he said, "Zhang Yu, I watched the replay of your previous fight—it was a very exciting battle."

"Being able to use technique to suppress an opponent whose strength, speed, and stamina are all above your own—your understanding of the martial way has already surpassed mine."

"But when it comes to actual combat, it's never just about comparing a single dimension."

As he spoke, he brought the backpack behind him to the front: "And out of respect for you, I will now use my full strength to fight you."

As soon as he finished saying this, Lian Tianji pulled a bottle of medicine from his backpack and prepared to drink it.

Zhang Yu watched him getting ready to take the medicine, already used to it—this was just how it was in Songyang City, this was our high school students going all out!

But just then, a referee walked up from the side and actually stopped Lian Tianji from drinking the medicine.

"!"

This time Zhang Yu was startled instead: "Wait, does this competition ban drugs?"

"Is this still Kunxu?"

However, after checking Lian Tianji's backpack, the referee confirmed that all the drugs were compliant, so he simply said, "No problem, go ahead."

So Lian Tianji first drank a bottle of medicine, then ate a few capsules, and then began to take out a syringe and inject it into his arm.

And as the drugs entered his body, Lian Tianji's body showed obvious changes.

His muscles bulged slightly, blue veins spread across the surface of his skin, and his breathing became heavier and coarser...

Watching him continuously taking drugs and eating more and more, Zhang Yu felt speechless.

"Wait... can't you just stop respecting me? Just look down on me, despise me, okay?"

Then Zhang Yu gradually noticed something was wrong.

Because while injecting the drugs, Lian Tianji was also reciting words to the side.

"I've been taking this combat stimulant for three months now, and the effect is really good—it quickly releases muscle potential and suppresses pain..."

Zhang Yu looked at another Purple Cloud person beside them who was holding a phone and filming Lian Tianji, and couldn't help asking, "Are you filming a commercial?"

Lian Tianji: "I often share and livestream my daily study and cultivation routines online. This time I'm also recommending some reliable and effective combat drugs to my fans."

Then he added, "Classmate Zhang Yu, don't take this lightly."

"On the long path of immortal cultivation, learning to make money and having the ability to earn money is a very important thing."

"As the saying goes, 'On the mountain of books, money is the path; in the boundless sea of learning, wealth is the boat.' People who only know how to spend money but not how to earn it won't go far on the road of cultivation."

Zhang Yu looked at the referee beside him and said, "Can we start now?"

The referee glanced at him sideways: "You want to start before I've even finished applying the medicine—don't you think winning this way would be dishonorable?"

"I fucking... fine, just whatever." Zhang Yu was beyond exasperated. "Go ahead, go ahead. Do whatever you want."

A moment later.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Lian Tianji cupped his hands toward Zhang Yu. "Then... let's begin."

As the referee counted down "3, 2, 1, start," both men shot forward like lightning and collided with a thunderous boom.

Every time Lian Tianji's fist clashed with Zhang Yu's Formless Cloud Aura, it resounded with a loud crash.

Zhang Yu could feel that each punch from his opponent contained an explosive force—the moment it touched his aura, it detonated violently, blasting the Formless Cloud Aura into constant dissipation, forcing Zhang Yu to continuously channel his mana to replenish it.

This was precisely the expert-level technique Lian Tianji cultivated—the Explosive Wave Fist! Tier 3 Drive!

This fist technique, derived from the principles of dynamite explosions and shockwaves, converted its special mana into what was called Explosive Fist Force. It could directly detonate the mana upon impact, not only doubling its power but also making it nearly impossible for opponents to deflect or redirect.

Lian Tianji thought to himself: "The Limitless Cloud Hand excels at using the Formless Cloud Aura to borrow force and redirect it."

"But my Explosive Wave Fist uses explosive force—the Formless Cloud Aura can't redirect it; instead, it gets constantly blasted apart."

"Zhang Yu's strength isn't as great as mine, and his mana isn't as abundant. He should be unable to hold out much longer."

In theory, that should have been the case.

But Lian Tianji was startled to discover that not only was Zhang Yu blocking his attacks with perfect timing in the narrowest of windows, but he was also gradually redirecting the Explosive Fist Force, using Lian Tianji's own force to counter his attacks.

This was precisely Zhang Yu using the Unyielding Seal Technique to redirect and displace Lian Tianji's mana.

"So he can actually redirect my fist force? That means aside from the Limitless Cloud Hand, he's also proficient in another advanced martial art that can leverage mana to borrow and redirect force."

At this thought, Lian Tianji burst into loud laughter: "Zhang Yu, you really haven't let me down."

Just then, a Cloud Viper member from below the ring said, "Lord Lian Tianji, the advertisers said that if you can't finish him within a minute, they're going to deduct your pay."

Lian Tianji's face darkened. "I understand."

Zhang Yu felt that his opponent had suddenly turned serious—the smile vanished from his face, and even his eyes began to reveal traces of killing intent.

At the same time, the spiritual energy in the air gradually began to surge and roil.

Zhang Yu's eyes flickered. Has Lian Tianji also brought a Battle Spirit Root to compete?

"The path of learning is paved with money; the boundless sea of knowledge is sailed with wealth as a boat." These two lines are from a book called "My Wife is a White Bone Demon." I'll take this opportunity to recommend it here.