Chapter 76: Poor, Semifinal

In the top four match.

Xiong Wenwu's heavy bleeding on his side was clearly the most eye-catching.

Many spectators looked over because of the blood all over the floor, and then were astonished to find that the student from Songyang High School had actually defeated the strongest fighter from Hongta High School.

Hu Yuntao immediately rushed over and sent Xiong Wenwu for treatment.

When he heard that Xiong Wenwu's heavy bleeding was actually due to hemorrhoids, Hu Yuntao subconsciously clenched his buttocks.

"What do we do about this? Can we just rely on surgery? Every time it flares up, go to the hospital for hemorrhoid surgery?"

Thinking about the repeated surgical costs, Hu Yuntao felt a pang of heartache: "Damn it! Why do I also have external hemorrhoids! Why am I not an internal hemorrhoid! If it were internal, the body tempering technique could protect it, and I wouldn't have to spend money on surgery."

The competition coach next to him patted his shoulder and laughed, "Silly kid, if you find your head being targeted as a weakness during an attack, what do you do?"

"Obviously, I'd train the Iron Head Skill!" Hu Yuntao's eyes flickered: "Are you saying?"

"Exactly right." The competition coach's gaze suddenly turned cold as he stared at Hu Yuntao and Xiong Wenwu on the operating table, and said coldly: "After we get back to school, get ready to start hard training. Director Long is very dissatisfied with your performance this time."

The emergency doctor overheard their conversation and couldn't help thinking to himself: "If the head is a vital point, why not just wear a helmet?"

On the other side of the emergency area.

Hearing the doctor's quote, Bai Zhenzhen's expression darkened. After asking again several times, she suddenly said, "For these scratches on me, don't consider any scar removal or cosmetic repair. Just use the fastest and simplest treatment. Then it should all be covered by insurance, right?"

The emergency doctor said helplessly, "Fine, fine, then 98,000 will go through insurance. But these wounds will definitely leave scars..."

As he spoke, the emergency doctor channeled his mana, his hands moving in a blur as he began cleaning, reattaching her arm, suturing, stopping bleeding, ... applying various medicines... and finally infusing a healing mana into Bai Zhenzhen's body to speed up wound recovery.

Although the fee wasn't cheap, the doctor's skills were indeed good.

After more than half an hour, Bai Zhenzhen felt that her injuries were mostly healed.

However, scars were left on her arms, thighs, calves, and waist.

After being sent back to the rest area, Bai Zhenzhen waved her arm and smiled, "The technique is pretty good. I feel like I can use about 80 to 90 percent of my strength without any problem."

As for the scars on her body, Bai Zhenzhen naturally didn't take them to heart.

Things like cosmetic treatments or scar removal were only for rich people, nothing to do with her.

Lei Jun, standing beside her, looked at Bai Zhenzhen with a complicated expression and said, "You still intend to keep competing?"

Bai Zhenzhen smiled, "Of course. As long as I beat that Le Mulang in the next match, I'll meet Yuzi in the finals. Then we'll be first and second, and you, Old Lei, will also have some face."

Lei Jun sighed, "But your insurance is almost used up. I've seen that Le Mulang's fighting style—sharp sword aura and a wide attack range. Fighting her... your medical bills could easily reach over a hundred thousand, or even several hundred thousand."

Bai Zhenzhen was silent for a moment.

Lei Jun said, "You've already made it to the top four, which is a great achievement to put on your resume. Why risk continuing to compete?"

What he didn't say out loud was... After all, you can't get into the top ten elite universities anyway. Winning first place in the martial arts competition isn't really that important for you.

Lei Jun continued to persuade her, "Your fighting style inherently makes you prone to injury. If you still had several hundred thousand on hand and didn't have to worry about post-match treatment, I definitely wouldn't try to stop you."

"But are you sure you want to take on a debt of over a hundred thousand, or maybe even several hundred thousand, just for this martial arts competition?"

Seeing Bai Zhenzhen still silent, Lei Jun said helplessly, "Ah Zhen, we're different from those rich kids. When competing, we also have to consider cost-effectiveness."

Just then, a figure limped over in pain, which turned out to be Zhang Yu, who had just finished treatment.

Seeing Zhang Yu covered in injuries, Lei Jun thought helplessly, "Looks like Zhang Yu can't compete anymore either."

But Zhang Yu moved his limbs a bit and said, "Don't worry, Old Lei. I was careful while fighting—I didn't hit any vital spots, just flesh wounds."

"Plus, I just mastered a tough body training technique yesterday. The injuries only look serious, and the insurance only cost 30,000..."

Lei Jun was skeptical at first, but after checking Zhang Yu, he looked at him in surprise, "Kid, you're something! You really didn't get hurt much?"

"I'll go get you two some food and drinks. Take a break while you can."

Shortly after Lei Jun left, Zhang Yu looked at his phone and then at the silent Bai Zhenzhen beside him. "Ah Zhen, I heard what you two were talking about. You know the credit limit on my platform is maxed out—I can't get any more. At most, I can borrow a little from my sister."

"But my sister has it tough too. I asked, and at most I can borrow 200,000 from her. Do you think that's enough for your next match?"

Bai Zhenzhen: "I can borrow from my adoptive mother myself and pay it back myself. You don't need to borrow for me."

"But I've looked carefully at Le Mulan, she's not easy to deal with; she gets injured too easily. To beat her... it might not be possible for less than 400,000."

Bai Zhenzhen sighed, "Yu Zi, wouldn't it be great if we were rich?"

Zhang Yu, who had lived two lives, heard these words and was left speechless.

He hadn't been born into wealth in either life—what else could he say?

...After a while, with the quarterfinals all concluded, the participants had received proper treatment and were out of danger.

The list of the semifinalists was then announced to the audience: Zhang Yu, Song Hailong, Le Mulan, and Bai Zhenzhen.

The upcoming semifinal matches would be Zhang Yu vs. Song Hailong, and Le Mulan vs. Bai Zhenzhen.

Finally, the winners of the two matches would compete for the championship.

It seemed that because the semifinals attracted more attention, the two matches would not be held simultaneously but one after the other.

After the referee drew lots for the order of matches, the first match was Le Mulan vs. Bai Zhenzhen, and the second was Zhang Yu vs. Song Hailong.

On the stage.

Le Mulan looked at Bai Zhenzhen in front of her, and when her eyes swept over the ugly scars on the opponent's hands and feet, she couldn't help frowning slightly.

She asked in confusion, "Why do you keep scars on your body?"

Bai Zhenzhen shrugged, "No money to treat them."

!

Le Mulan was shocked. Although she knew the poor were very poor, the fact that they couldn't even afford to heal scars still gave her a sense of "shocking news."

"So this is what being poor is like? How terrifying."

Facing an opponent who couldn't even afford treatment, her fighting spirit instantly waned, and she even felt a hint of pity.

Although the opponent had managed to exploit Xiong Wenwu's weakness and win as an underdog, Le Mulan didn't care.

Because when facing any opponent among the first-year high school students, Le Mulan had enough confidence... she had no weaknesses.

Accompanied by the countdown of 3, 2, 1—start!

Le Mulan tapped her fingertips consecutively, and sharp sword energies slashed through the air, shooting directly toward Bai Zhenzhen's position.

This was the Star Dipper Sword Technique that Le Mulan had painstakingly cultivated to level 5.

The level 5 Star Dipper Sword Technique could already injure enemies across a distance of five meters.

Seeing the sword energy crossing five meters, Bai Zhenzhen's expression changed, and she quickly urged her own Body-Breaking Sword Energy to block.

But soon Bai Zhenzhen discovered that Le Mulan's Star Dipper Sword Technique was not only sharp; the sword energies were arranged like troops in formation, with complex connections, always attacking her from all angles.

And if Bai Zhenzhen tried to break through the blockade of these sword energies, every step she took would make the opponent's attacks denser.

She felt as if she were trapped in a large formation; as Le Mulan's continuous sword energies compressed her movable space, the situation became increasingly dangerous.

She tried to enter stealth, but soon her position was exposed as swords clashed with swords and energies collided.

The opponent's sword energy was too fast and dense; with her speed and explosive power, she could not dodge purely by moving.

As for waiting for the opponent to exhaust her mana? Bai Zhenzhen could see that the mana inside the other woman was surging violently, showing no signs of depletion. Trying to exhaust her mana would probably drain Bai Zhenzhen's own mana first.

Bai Zhenzhen sighed inwardly, "Alas... using stealth directly on the stage is too disadvantageous. It's only most surprising in the first match; once the opponent is prepared, it's not as useful."

Watching Bai Zhenzhen's flustered state, Le Mulan was not surprised at all.

"My Star Dipper Sword Technique forms its own formation. The sword energy is strict and controlled, with no flaws in the moves."

"Unless someone uses an extremely powerful defensive technique to forcefully charge through, no one of the same level can get close to me."

And in Le Mulan's view, Bai Zhenzhen could hardly be considered on the same level.

"There is a flaw," Bai Zhenzhen thought to herself. "But my own stats aren't strong enough. If I force it, even if I win, I'll be severely injured, right?"

"This one move might cost three or four hundred thousand..."

"Is it worth risking hundreds of thousands?"

Bai Zhenzhen felt a moment of hesitation.

She had the courage to pierce through Xiong Wenwu's storm-like onslaught and strike at the flaw in his body with her sword.

But when she had to gamble hundreds of thousands on a victory, she hesitated.

And it was precisely this hesitation that made her realize—once this strike was launched, success would be hard to come by, because she had lost her unwavering resolve.

"Sigh…"

So a few seconds later, when she saw herself on the verge of being completely enveloped by sword energy, Bai Zhenzhen chose to concede.

As she stepped down from the arena, a hint of relief flickered in her eyes: "In the end, I'm still lacking strength—too poor."

"Forget it. I'll tell that flaw to Yu Zi. Let my good son teach that woman a lesson for me. He probably won't have to spend so much money."

With Le Mulan's victory, the semifinals moved to the second match—Zhang Yu vs. Song Hailong.