Chapter 110: The Speed Contest

Yuxing Han finished his brief advertisement. Knowing a 100,000 ad fee would soon be credited to his account, he smiled, waved at the camera, and slowly walked off the field.

Song Hailong watched Yuxing Han on the large screen, his eyes showing no emotion, as if the outcome of the match had been long anticipated. Song Hailong believed no one in the arena understood Yuxing Han's strength better than he did. "Without a doubt, he will be the first-place winner in this physical competition," he thought. "Everyone else is merely competing for second. Defeating him is not something that can be achieved overnight." Song Hailong had made up his mind: whether it took one year or two, he would definitely defeat this strongest opponent in history during his high school years.

The next moment, he flashed forward, his thigh, as thick as a pillar, sweeping with terrifying force towards Yuxing Han, who was walking towards him. Yuxing Han casually raised his lower leg, blocking Song Hailong's sweep. As their forces collided, a gust of strong wind exploded between them.

Yuxing Han smiled helplessly. "Too direct. How many times have I told you to be more subtle, to hide your hostility? Such a straightforward attack won't work on me."

Song Hailong retorted without yielding, "There's no problem with me attacking you, but I will defeat you fairly and squarely."

In the audience stands, Gangshan exclaimed, "Yuxing Han... what a powerful physique. Is he really just a first-year high school student?"

Le Jingchen nodded. "After all, he's a Golden Core Disciple, and I heard he's also True Person Xinghuo's closed-door disciple. The investment he's received is far beyond what ordinary students get. I'm afraid he will be the champion of every stage in this first-year physical competition."

After seeing Yuxing Han's performance in the previous stage, Le Jingchen understood one thing. The champion of this physical competition would undoubtedly be Yuxing Han. Therefore, his next step was to downplay the impact of Yuxing Han's body-refining techniques and strengthen the public's impression of him as a Golden Core Disciple, ideally attributing all his victories to True Person Xinghuo.

Meanwhile, in Songyang High School's rest area, Bai Zhenzhen looked at the large screen with some reluctance, where Yuxing Han's spectacular performance from the previous match was still being replayed.

"Damn, this Golden Core Disciple is truly monstrous," she muttered. "I probably won't have a chance against him until my physical strength breaks through level 5.0. But..." Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu beside her and said, "Yuzi, I think you have a chance to win against him."

Zhang Yu took a sip of water and chuckled, "Really? I guess only two people in this whole arena would believe that about me."

Bai Zhenzhen asked curiously, "Oh? Who else has such unique insight as me?"

Zhang Yu laughed heartily. "That would be myself, of course."

The two exchanged smiles. Bai Zhenzhen continued, "That guy seems to have eyes in the back of his head; that's how he gained such an advantage in the first stage. Otherwise, he might not have been so far ahead of us. But if it comes down to a true test of absolute strength and speed, even though his physical strength is a bit higher than yours, I don't think his control is as strong as yours..."

Level 10 Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, Level 10 Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms, Level 10 Dragon Back Overturning Mountain Hand, Level 10 Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi, and Level 10 Digging Palm, Crane Claw, Sports Car Leg, Elevator Soar... Zhang Yu nodded slightly. He believed that in today's arena, no one was stronger than him in muscle control and the recruitment of physical strength. Although his physical strength was 4.95, his ability to tap into his physical power meant that the strength and speed he burst forth with could rival, or even surpass, the students on the field with physical strengths above 5.0.

He subconsciously touched his heart. If the competition were held a little later, and his heart's robustness could keep up, Zhang Yu would be even more confident in defeating Yuxing Han in a contest of strength and speed. But for now... "Not only do I have to defeat my opponents in the next two matches, but I also need to create a significant enough lead to surpass them in total points."

The pressure was palpable. Zhang Yu took the stamina potion in his hand and used every single second to rest, recovering the energy and stamina lost in the previous match.

Beside them, He Dayou listened to their conversation, secretly rolling his eyes and inwardly scoffing at their arrogance. Yet he said nothing, because no matter how arrogant these two were, their scores had already utterly dwarfed his own. In other words, in He Dayou's mind, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had, unknowingly, earned the right to be arrogant in front of him.

After about half an hour of rest, the arena walls suddenly vibrated and began to descend. Immediately afterward, a circular track appeared before the spectators. The third stage of the physical competition was about to begin. This stage's content was also very simple: a 5000-meter race, scored based on each participant's completion time, with a maximum total of 75 points. Again, no spiritual power could be used; the competition relied solely on pure physical strength. Techniques like Sports Car Leg and Elevator Soar, which required spiritual power to support, were naturally unusable. In a situation entirely dependent on physical ability, simple running was the most efficient mode of movement for most participants. While 5000 meters is long for ordinary mortals, it's quite short for high school students, who can maintain a sprinting pace for most of the race.

Wang Hai watched the rules explained on the big screen and thought to himself, "The key to this stage is how to unleash the maximum speed of one's physical body."

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen applied their spiritual power detection patches and took their positions behind the starting line in order. All participants who did not make it into the top 20 in the previous stage had been eliminated. Only 20 people remained on the track. Everyone wore the running shoes and athletic uniforms uniformly provided by Ziyun High School, to prevent anyone from using immortal dao technologies embedded in their shoes or clothing to gain an advantage. After all, this was a physical competition testing pure physical strength; using performance-enhancing drugs was acceptable, but tampering with shoes or clothing was a serious violation.

Zhang Yu glanced at Song Hailong, Hu Yuntao, Xiong Wenwu, and Yuxing Han, who were not far from him. He took a deep breath, activated the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, and cast aside all distracting thoughts. Only one idea remained in his mind: Defeat everyone!

The moment he activated the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, Yuxing Han suddenly turned his head and looked in Zhang Yu's direction. Zhang Yu, as if sensing something, also met Yuxing Han's gaze. Both saw an infinite fighting spirit in the other's eyes.

In that moment, both instantly understood that the other had also activated the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art. Yuxing Han smiled slightly, thinking to himself, "It seems to be the third-place finisher from the last match. He also knows the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art? Oh, right, I heard Senior Sister Li mention that they had found a suitable successor here..." With a shift in his gaze, Yuxing Han subtly mouthed two words to Zhang Yu: "Keep up." Then he turned his head back, facing straight ahead again.

As the command echoed from the broadcast, all 20 participants tensed their muscles, and the air around them seemed to solidify with their held breaths. The next moment, it was as if twenty cannons fired simultaneously. With explosive bangs, twenty afterimages stretched across the track as everyone burst forward.

Amidst deafening roars, Hu Yuntao was undeniably in the lead! The demon-descendant student from Hongta High School was now on all fours, his dragon scales bristling with his undulating, powerful muscles, shimmering with a colorful aura. His posture and habit of running with all four limbs gave him a tremendous advantage the moment the race began, as if he were flying through the air... he shot forward dozens of meters in one breath, immediately taking the lead.

A wild wind rushed at him, sweeping across Hu Yuntao's eyes, which were becoming increasingly crimson with neural and vascular excitement. "Father! Watch me closely, I will take first place in this stage!" The memory of his father's reprimand after the last martial arts competition filled Hu Yuntao with intense unwillingness, shame, and fear. The fear of forced labor, the fear of being disowned... these had plagued his mind for the past two months, urging him to repeatedly push his body's potential to its limits. Whenever he thought of his "brothers" and "sisters" who had died on the assembly line, Hu Yuntao was able to repeatedly break through his physical limits during training.

Especially now, he was not fighting alone. His father's essence blood, after being adapted by the bodies of his brothers and sisters, had been injected into him, awakening his Black Dragon bloodline. In that moment, Hu Yuntao seemed to feel the blood of his father, brothers, and sisters flowing within him like a fiery torrent, causing his body to erupt with terrifying power. His feet kicked up a wave of air on the track.

"I can win!" "First place in this stage..."

Just as Hu Yuntao ran faster and faster, his confidence burning brighter with the fire-like blood, a shadow suddenly covered his vision. A male voice came from his side: "Little cat, quite a fast start."

"What?" Hu Yuntao snapped his head around, only to see Yuxing Han, like a meteor, directly bypass him, who was running at full speed, and continuously pull ahead.

"This guy!" Hu Yuntao roared, his dragon blood seeming to boil, and with steam rising from his entire body, he accelerated again, chasing after Yuxing Han. He seemed to feel countless brothers and sisters shouting to him from within his boiling dragon blood. "Run!" "Run, Yuntao, run!" "Run out of the factory!" It was as if the factory gate had opened behind him; if he slowed down even a step, he would be swallowed by that boundless, dark gate.

But what filled Hu Yuntao with utter despair was that despite his frantic acceleration, Yuxing Han in front of him was getting further and further away. The opponent was like a true star in the heavens; no matter how hard he tried, how much he struggled, he couldn't touch even a shred of it. His continuous frantic acceleration further disrupted his original rhythm, and combined with the weight and wind resistance from his already massive build... all of this rapidly depleted his stamina, and his speed began to subtly slow down.

Just then, another gust of wind swept past him. Song Hailong, Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, and Le Mulan had successively overtaken him. Hu Yuntao watched this scene in terror, feeling as though he was running frantically forward, yet as several people continuously surpassed him, it was as if he was constantly receding, backing into the factory gate. And that factory gate had, at some point, transformed into a massive dragon's maw... poised to completely swallow him.