Chapter 77: Back Dragon Overturns Mountain

Le Mulan returned to the rest area of Ziyun High School and saw Lian Tianji kneeling on the ground.

She walked over to him, directly used him as a small stool, and sat down on his back.

This was her punishment for Lian Tianji's failure—for the next three days, whenever he appeared before her, he had to serve as her stool.

Lian Tianji asked, "It's over so soon?"

He looked back at the battle between Bai Zhenzhen and Xiong Wenwu. Although Bai Zhenzhen's stats weren't great, her practical combat ability was extremely strong, and she could always spot her opponent's weaknesses. Lian Tianji had originally thought Bai Zhenzhen could force the sacred number-one-in-grade to use a few more moves.

Le Mulan frowned, kicked Lian Tianji's body with her crossed right foot, and said coldly, "Stool, no talking."

Lian Tianji immediately shut his mouth.

But Le Mulan still added, "She didn't have money for treatment. Even if she did, it would just be a waste of more time."

Lian Tianji instantly understood, but that was how the world worked—money was part of one's strength, and lacking money was a reflection of weakness.

Bai Zhenzhen was poor, and...

Lian Tianji thought to himself, "The poor losing to the rich—only natural."

Just then, Zhang Yu and Song Hailong took the stage one after another.

Lian Tianji slowly turned his head to focus on the arena.

After being defeated, a person usually has two ways to respond.

Either say they were careless.

Or praise the opponent as too strong.

The former seems uglier, while the latter saves face.

So Lian Tianji also wanted to choose the latter.

"If Zhang Yu beats Song Hailong, maybe I can even get my advertising partnerships back..."

After all, that would change the narrative from 'defeated by a student from Songyang' to 'narrowly lost to a finalist.'

"Come on! Zhang Yu!"

The same person cheering for Zhang Yu in his heart was Chu Qiuhe from the rest area of Bailong High School; he even couldn't help secretly cursing Song Hailong.

Although as a Bailong student he knew well how terrifying Song Hailong was, he still couldn't suppress a faint delusion in his heart: "What if? What if he's careless and accidentally loses? Song Hailong... only if you lose can everyone save face."

As Song Hailong spread his arms and raised both hands on the arena, thunderous cheers erupted from the audience.

"Song Hailong! Number one!"

"Song Hailong! Number one!"

Zhao Tianxing listened to the Bailong students' unified chants and felt that Zhang Yu on the stage looked utterly helpless.

He couldn't help thinking, "Should we also cheer for Zhang Yu?"

But when he voiced this idea, He Dayou quickly turned his head away, pretending not to hear.

Qian Shen also said reluctantly, "Better not—this is, after all, Bailong's territory."

Watching the powerful momentum of the Bailong students' shouting, Zhao Tianxing's initial desire to cheer for Zhang Yu gradually faded.

And thinking about how nervous he felt just watching from afar, he could hardly imagine the pressure Zhang Yu must be feeling standing on that stage.

On the arena.

As Song Hailong suddenly clenched his right fist, the cheers from the audience vanished instantly, and the entire venue fell silent again.

Song Hailong looked at Zhang Yu and laughed, "I really didn't expect a kid from Songyang to fight all the way through so many opponents to reach the top four."

"As a reward, I'll lower the difficulty of this match for you."

With that, Song Hailong smoothed his spiky hair, and the next moment, a set of numbers appeared on his forehead.

10 million?

Just as Zhang Yu was wondering, Song Hailong directly answered his question: "This is a built-in function of my external spirit root—it shows my medical insurance cost cap."

"My current medical insurance cap is 10 million. If you can burn through all 10 million of that treatment budget, I'll admit defeat."

What the hell, you're literally putting your own health bar on display, aren't you? Zhang Yu stared fixedly at that number, beginning to think about what impact it would have on the fight ahead.

But then, thinking that the other party's insurance covered up to 10 million in treatment, while his own only covered 100,000... oh no, now there was only 70,000 worth of injury left, Zhang Yu couldn't help but feel a pang of helplessness.

Yet the next moment, he had already activated the Heavenly Martial Heart-Tempering Art, suppressing all kinds of negative emotions, stirring his fighting spirit, and devoting himself completely to the battle at hand.

And in the audience stands, because Song Hailong's physique was too powerful, his voice always shook the entire venue, letting many spectators hear and see, now sparking a flurry of exclamations and praise.

"As expected of the White Dragon Academy's top freshman, his insurance has a full 10 million limit!"

"He's so rich, no wonder his grades are so good!"

"No kidding, how could a poor person be as outstanding as Song Hailong?" "Song Hailong has the highest monthly exam scores and he's so loaded; I think the martial arts tournament champion should just be given to him directly!"

Meanwhile, on the ring, Song Hailong beckoned to Zhang Yu: "You make the first move. If I strike first, you might not get a chance."

Watching Song Hailong stand completely unguarded, Zhang Yu tested with a palm strike, sending Formless Cloud Qi crashing heavily into his opponent's chest.

With a crackling explosion, a palm strike strong enough to split rock and shatter stone landed on Song Hailong's body, but Zhang Yu felt as if he had hit a giant rubber tire.

Not only did the other's form not budge an inch, but the 10 million on his forehead only decreased by 300.

Zhang Yu recalled what Lei Jun had told him about the Elephantom Sinew Body: "This Song Hailong has been implanted with elephant demon sinew and muscle; his mana channels through them, directly reinforcing his physical toughness, making his strength and resilience incalculable by normal standards."

"Plus, his original physical toughness is already far above mine, and he also has the protective effect of the external spirit root, the 'Nurturing Body Spirit Root'..."

Clearly, because of Song Hailong's formidable physique, he had taken Zhang Yu's palm strike without sustaining much injury.

At the same time, Song Hailong shook his head and said, "That palm only cost me 300. Way too weak."

"Put some muscle into it, buddy. If this is all you've got, even if I just stand here and let you hit me, how long would it take you to burn through that 10 million?"

A few more palm strikes thundered into Song Hailong's vital points, but it was still that same feeling of hitting a rubber tire. Although Song Hailong's body trembled slightly, the number on his forehead added up... only decreased by a little over 2,000.

!?

What was even more astonishing was that the next moment, the number on Song Hailong's forehead showed signs of recovering.

The amount that should have been subtracted—over 2,300—gradually became just a little over 2,000.

Seeming to notice the change in Zhang Yu's gaze, Song Hailong laughed heartily, pointed at the number on his forehead, and said, "See? It went back up, didn't it?"

"Sorry, sorry. The combat spirit root I'm using this time isn't the ordinary Nurturing Body Spirit Root, but the deluxe version."

"Besides boosting my physical toughness and resilience, this spirit root can also continuously absorb spiritual energy from the air, slowly healing my wounds."

Seeing Zhang Yu's increasingly grim expression, Song Hailong roared with laughter: "Aren't you going to attack? If you don't hurry up, it'll climb back to 10 million."

Hearing Song Hailong loudly say these words, whether it was the many spectators in the stands or the contestants from various schools around the arena, all felt as if they saw an ocean of money pressing down between the two.

It made everyone feel that that 10 million was like an impenetrable city wall standing before Zhang Yu, leaving him without even a shred of hope for victory.

"If you won't come, then I will."

Song Hailong, two and a half meters tall, opened his hand wide like a dragon's claw, reaching toward Zhang Yu.

His mana, channeled through the elephant demon sinew and muscle, directly boosted his strength and physique, allowing him to sweep through the entire freshman class with just brute force, without requiring many techniques.

Feeling the overwhelming claw momentum, Zhang Yu showed no panic at all.

"The stat gap is too big. I can't beat him with my own power alone."

"The only way is to use his power to defeat him. Counterattacking on defense is my strategy."

Just as Zhang Yu thought this and raised his arms, covered with Formless Cloud Qi, to block Song Hailong, he found the opponent's clawing motion change, executing a grappling technique.

"Grappling?"

"No, more than that..."

In his full concentration state, Zhang Yu watched every inch of the opponent's grabbing motion change, quickly dodging while blocking with Formless Cloud Qi.

He soon realized that Song Hailong was performing a set of grappling and throwing martial arts.

It was exactly the expert-level martial art Song Hailong had cultivated—Dragon Back Overturning Mountain Hand, level 1 activated!

This was an expert-level martial art that used pure physical violence to drive grappling and throwing.

And for Song Hailong, who had implanted elephant demon muscle fibers into his body, all of his mana was used to empower his physical form; this martial art, driven purely by brute force, was an exceptionally good fit for him.

Although, because he had devoted more energy to other directions, Song Hailong’s martial skill was not strong—even though this technique was not difficult, it was only at a paltry level 1.

Yet, relying on his incomparably mighty physique, coupled with this level 1 grappling and wrestling martial art, was enough for Song Hailong to crush opponents of the same level.

At this moment, Zhang Yu felt that pressure. In his state of full concentration, he could sense that the other’s hands were like a great net, gradually enveloping him entirely, then flinging him toward the ground to completely subdue him.

“You want to wrestle with me? Play ground techniques?”

Zhang Yu, who possessed no relevant skills, naturally did not want to fall to the ground and grapple with the opponent, then compete in physical strength and ground tactics.

He was like a small, darting fish, repeatedly and barely scraping past the edges under Song Hailong’s all-encompassing net.

But finally…

“Got you.”

Song Hailong suddenly tightened his grip on Zhang Yu’s arm, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Yet just at the moment when both he and Zhang Yu exerted force, Zhang Yu let out a furious roar.

The Formless Cloud Qi that had originally only covered his palms suddenly surged, spreading all the way to his elbows, and then slipped out of Song Hailong’s grasp like a loach.

Beneath the arena, Lian Tianji’s body jolted, and he thought with surprise: “In a desperate situation, his Ultimate Cloud Hand broke through again? Level 5? This Zhang Yu is truly a martial arts prodigy.”