Chapter 116: The Strongest Power!

12,531 kilograms? Are you insane?

How could a student, who has only been training for eight and a half months since the start of school, possibly achieve this? Even a demon descendant couldn't do it.

This was the thought that immediately sprang to the minds of most people present when they saw the number on the Sky Pillar.

Even Gangshan, in the live broadcast room, expressed surprise: "Who is the next contestant? They're actually attempting to challenge the 12,531-kilogram Sky Pillar?"

Luo Jingchen, standing nearby, calmly said, "The last contestant who hasn't appeared yet must be Zhang Yu from Songyang High School, right?"

Gangshan responded, surprised: "That student from Songyang High School? He only lifted 7,000 kilograms in the last round, didn't he? Now he's suddenly jumping to 12,531 kilograms? Is he really not afraid of being crushed to death?"

"And this weight, precise to the single digit... Does he mean he has fully grasped his limit, even down to the individual kilogram?"

Luo Jingchen remained silent, as he too was unclear about what was happening.

"Could it be... a new promotional tactic? A humorous one?"

"Are Bailong High School and Xianyun Group using marketing strategies I don't understand?"

Wang Hai, however, began to get anxious: "What is this kid doing? 12,531 kilograms? Is that something he can handle right now?"

"Someone's going to get killed!"

"How expensive was the insurance you bought? How dare you play like this?"

Considering the 12,531-kilogram weight pressing down, Zhang Yu could be severely injured the moment he tried to bear it. Wang Hai immediately rushed towards the arena.

If something happened to a student under his charge, he, as the teacher, would be responsible.

It would be particularly bad if the student survived but ended up financially ruined.

Wang Hai also didn't want such an excellent student to have all their potential for immortal cultivation drained by medical expenses so early, right in their first year of high school.

Although Wang Hai tried to stop him, he was held back by staff members.

While Wang Hai was grappling with the staff, the other contestants also looked at Zhang Yu with surprise on their faces.

Luo Mulan looked at his back, her head feeling hot and a little dizzy, and wondered haphazardly, "Could he have entered the wrong number?"

Song Hailong grew incredibly curious: "Zhang Yu isn't a fool; what exactly is he trying to do?"

Yu Xinghan, who considered himself to possess the strongest physique and the highest level of physical control at the venue, looked at Zhang Yu nearby and thought to himself, "This guy is just bluffing. With his level, it's simply impossible to achieve that."

Hu Yuntao, his face full of disdain, also didn't believe Zhang Yu could lift the 12,531-kilogram Sky Pillar. Just as he was about to exchange a few words with Xiong Wenwu beside him, perhaps to ridicule Zhang Yu, he discovered that Xiong Wenwu had already fainted.

At this moment, countless eyes in the arena were fixed on Zhang Yu, and all attention converged on him alone, creating a heavy, almost tangible pressure.

Just watching from afar gave Zhao Tianxing goosebumps; he wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it for Zhang Yu.

But in Zhang Yu's eyes at that moment, there seemed to be no one else in the arena.

He calmly waved towards the stadium entrance and just as calmly accepted the takeout delivered by Teacher Ziyun. These were the medicines he had ordered just before the final round began. Although he had paid extra for a delivery person who had achieved Great Perfection in Qi Refinement, the delivery was still held up outside the school gate and only now brought to him by Teacher Ziyun.

Zhang Yu slowly took out three vials of injectables from the takeout packaging and administered them into his body, one by one. Feeling the state of his own flesh and blood, he secretly thought, "After all, for a weight of 12,531 kilograms, some medicinal assistance is still necessary."

Seeing Zhang Yu inject himself, Wang Hai's heart sank even further: "What kind of medicine is that? What medicine are you injecting? Pushing yourself this hard will really damage your foundation!"

To many people present, Zhang Yu's reliance was clearly the medicine he was injecting at that moment.

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu's back as he slowly ascended the stage and secretly thought, "Go, Yu-zi! Win all the prize money, the advertisements, the endorsements, and the top ten spots... Damn it, win them all!"

In the live broadcast room, Gangshan also grew excited: "Zhang Yu's physical strength is 4.95, isn't it? With a weight of 12,531 kilograms, he could be severely injured with the slightest mistake."

Luo Jingchen nodded and said, "It's almost impossible to push the body to such an overload and withstand this amount of weight from the Sky Pillar. Even a slight error in posture or power application could result in torn ligaments and broken bones."

Gangshan exclaimed, "So this isn't just a challenge of his strength, but also his technique, and he's doing it with his health insurance, or even his potential for immortal cultivation, on the line!"

On stage.

Zhang Yu slowly raised his head and looked at the base of the Sky Pillar.

Although the venue was incredibly noisy, and countless eyes and all attention were focused on him, and even though this upcoming challenge concerned his future, the arrangements of the three major high schools, and the company's plans... for Zhang Yu, who was completely focused at that moment, these thoughts had vanished from his mind.

And when he activated the full concentration state of the 'Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art,' his mind became focused to an unprecedented degree.

The entire world seemed to turn black and white at that moment. In Zhang Yu's eyes, only the Sky Pillar before him and his own physical body remained.

His powerful heart beat steadily, and his muscles and bones throughout his body became incredibly active, nourished by his vital energy and the medicine.

Undoubtedly, after the breakthrough with his heart in the previous round and an hour and a half of development, his physical body was in peak condition. Even his physical strength had increased from level 4.95 to 4.96.

At this moment, his heart was no longer a hindrance; his entire body was perfectly balanced, allowing him to unleash the full power contained within his flesh and blood.

"So, the rest is simple."

"I just need to do what I can do."

This was a rare instance for Zhang Yu to enter a full concentration state purely for the sake of power exertion, in a non-high-speed environment.

He watched the Sky Pillar slowly descend, like a snail.

Zhang Yu gently extended a finger and pressed it against the base of the Sky Pillar. He immediately felt a mountain-like, tsunami-like force descending from above, passing through his body and transmitting to the platform beneath his feet. And if he exerted even a little force to resist this power, he could almost see the pressure from the Sky Pillar and the platform beneath him, one from above and one from below... like the gaping maw of a giant beast, poised to crush him to dust.

The next moment, as Zhang Yu firmly pressed his palms, beginning to resist the descending Sky Pillar, this sensation grew increasingly intense.

Despite his extensively trained and incredibly powerful physique, in Zhang Yu's perception at that moment, his body felt fragile under the Sky Pillar's pressure. His arms, shoulders, spine, leg bones, and muscles in every part of his body... all grew increasingly vulnerable under the immense force. It was a feeling of fragility where, in his perception, a single moment of inattention could exceed the limits of his body parts, leading to torn ligaments and broken bones.

So, as the Sky Pillar pressed down, Zhang Yu continuously adjusted his posture.

Arm muscles can't sustain it like this... they need to be engaged.

The lumbar spine can't resist like that... it needs to dissipate the force.

The pressure on the legs needs to be distributed...

Zhang Yu felt as if he were assembling a complex structure, freely and skillfully combining the strength throughout his body to support the immense pressure descending from above. However, this structure was made of his own flesh and blood, and at that moment, it felt as fragile as glass, capable of being shattered by the terrifying descending force with the slightest hesitation.

"Almost..."

"It's almost done..."

Zhang Yu's brain worked at high speed, and sweat continuously secreted from his forehead as he constantly adjusted and broke down the forces.

Throughout this process, the Sky Pillar continued its unwavering descent.

The Sky Pillar and the platform were like a giant mouth slowly closing, and Zhang Yu felt as if he were walking a tightrope above it, liable to be swallowed at any moment.

But at this moment, Zhang Yu had no time, not even to panic. With his complete absorption, he could only feel his thoughts becoming clearer and smoother, and the 'power' in his eyes growing more distinct.

The Sky Pillar's center of gravity, the flow of power through his muscles, the support of every piece of his flesh and blood... Everything was so clear, so understandable, giving Zhang Yu a feeling of unprecedented clarity.

Under the immense pressure before him, Zhang Yu made a new breakthrough.

Pulling, shifting, dissipating force, exerting force, supporting, exploding... The techniques from various Level 10 cultivation methods integrated perfectly at this moment.

Zhang Yu seemed to see countless forces flowing, balancing, and interweaving.

The next moment, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes; his entire nervous system, muscles, and bones felt as if they were pierced by a bolt of lightning.

"I can feel it... I can see it..."

"All the power..."

With a fierce exertion of all his muscles, Zhang Yu's entire body achieved an unprecedented state of balance. Every inch of his skin, every bone, every fiber of his flesh, was sharing the terrifying force descending from above.

A force of 12,531 kilograms erupted from within Zhang Yu. His body, like an incredibly fragile yet immensely strong statue, slowly propped up the Sky Pillar. It was incredibly fragile because the slightest misstep, or even a tiny tilt in the weight distribution, would break his body's balance, causing it to collapse and shatter. Yet it was immensely strong because every fiber of his flesh throughout his body exploded with its ultimate potential, like reinforced concrete bars, pushing against the terrifying 12,531-kilogram force to lift the Sky Pillar.

Thus, under the astonished gaze of countless people, Zhang Yu slowly straightened his back and steadily lifted the Sky Pillar onto his shoulders.

The first second!

Bones began to show damage, skin started to crack, and blood appeared all over his body.

The third second!

His internal organs began to bleed internally.

The fifth second!

Blood spilled from Zhang Yu's mouth, eye sockets, and nose, yet he showed a faint smile. Because he had shouldered the 12,531-kilogram Sky Pillar. At this moment, he represented the strongest force in the entire arena!

Below the stage, Yu Xinghan stared intently at Zhang Yu's body, his gaze sweeping over every exposed muscle and every contour. What he saw at this moment was not an ordinary physique, but a technique perfected to its peak, a demonstration of understanding of the body and power that completely surpassed his own.

At this moment, Yu Xinghan understood: he had lost.

He had lost this time in the excavation and utilization of physical strength.

Zhang Yu, with his own flesh and blood as a wager, had defeated him.

And as the Sky Pillar slowly ascended back, there was hardly a part of Zhang Yu's body that wasn't damaged. However, precisely because damage had appeared throughout his entire body, distributing the injury, he did not suffer severe trauma.

Wang Hai and Bai Zhenzhen rushed onto the stage.

Wang Hai quickly examined Zhang Yu's body, then gasped sharply.

"The injuries are so minor? Even without treatment, he could gradually heal, right? No... it's not just minor. If many of these areas were even slightly more severe, it could have triggered a chain reaction, leading to severe injuries and medical bills reaching hundreds of thousands or even millions."

"This kid... he controlled his injuries to stay below the threshold of severe injury..."

As an ace sports coach, Wang Hai was naturally extremely familiar with the human body's structure. It was precisely for this reason that he knew how incredible Zhang Yu's injuries before him were.

The only explanation Wang Hai could come up with was... talent.

"Absolute talent. Absolute talent in excavating and controlling physical strength."

"This Zhang Yu is the most gifted and valuable student I've encountered in my entire coaching career."