Chapter 230: Beyond Sound

After witnessing Yun Jing's power in the first two Foundation Establishment exams and realizing the disparity in strength and financial resources between them, Bai Zhenzhen quickly came to a realization.

"If I just steadily improved my strength, even if I tried my absolute best and eventually reached a similar level to my opponent, our chances of winning would still be 50/50."

"Therefore, simply focusing on improving my strength won't be enough to secure the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate."

"But I'm not without an advantage... My advantage is that I was weak enough in the first two rounds to be completely overlooked by my opponent." From the moment the groups were finalized, she had already identified Yun Jing as her biggest opponent, constantly observing him, understanding him, and gathering intelligence.

"I understand his Dharma Bones, his cultivation techniques, his dual dantian technology... but he doesn't know much about me." This information asymmetry, created by her perceived weakness, was Bai Zhenzhen's advantage.

"To fully utilize this information asymmetry, I must strengthen myself in a targeted way."

"My goal isn't to surpass my opponent, but to defeat them in the arena."

"These are actually two different approaches."

For example, to surpass the strength of a high school student from Songyang High School might require arduous cultivation day and night. However, to defeat a high school student from Songyang High School, one might only need a speeding truck, or perhaps just place a pirated secret manual in their desk.

It was upon realizing this that Bai Zhenzhen gradually began to adjust her cultivation direction. For instance, her choice of new cultivation techniques, the True Spirit Root's deduction direction for her techniques, and changes to her combat style... all began to be geared towards arena combat, with Yun Jing as the ultimate target.

Bai Zhenzhen aimed to specialize herself into the state most suitable for defeating Yun Jing in an arena. Even if it meant sacrificing improvements in other areas of strength, she was determined to do so, solely to obtain the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate.

At that very moment, as the third round of the arena match began, Yun Jing, upon hearing Bai Zhenzhen's words, once again activated his dual dantians. Streams of spiritual energy transformed into a sea of fire, bombarding Bai Zhenzhen. Watching Bai Zhenzhen dart back and forth, dodging his bombardment, Yun Jing sneered inwardly, "She claims she'll defeat me with one sword? Let's see her get close first."

But Yun Jing quickly realized something was off. Bai Zhenzhen wasn't trying to approach him at all; instead, she was repeatedly cleaving through the sea of fire with her sword, as if the flames themselves were her true enemy.

"What exactly is this woman trying to do?"

"No, whatever she's planning, I must stop her."

"I absolutely cannot fall here. The Yun family is waiting for me to revitalize it."

"If the family company collapses, I'll only have myself and this Foundation Establishment qualification certificate to rely on."

A premonition of danger surged within him. Yun Jing let out a low roar, his spiritual energy circulating to its limit. His dual dantians roared like colossal dragons, spewing out lava-like spiritual energy that transformed into streams of fire dragons, blasting towards Bai Zhenzhen. The slightest touch from these fire dragons would result in a violent explosion; direct confrontation would undoubtedly lead to injury, making evasion the only option.

Yet, Bai Zhenzhen's face remained serene. Facing the roaring fire dragons, she neither dodged nor retreated. Her longsword met them with the technique of Myriad Swords without End. Amidst a thunderous roar, Bai Zhenzhen, having cleaved through a fire dragon with a single stroke, was covered in scorch marks. Still, she relentlessly advanced towards the next fire dragon.

One sword... another sword... and another... The electric light on Bai Zhenzhen's longsword grew increasingly dazzling, and her attack speed became progressively faster. This was the effect of the Level 10 Myriad Swords without End technique after being refined by the True Spirit Root. It continuously accelerated her sword strikes with the infusion of lightning spiritual energy, each strike faster than the last, reaching its limit and breaking the sound barrier by the 15th strike. In the blink of an eye, her Myriad Swords without End technique was already at its 14th strike.

At this moment, Bai Zhenzhen's aura suddenly shifted. Her eyes, radiating a sharp gaze, were fixed on Yun Jing on the other side of the sea of fire. Then, Bai Zhenzhen activated the new martial art she had cultivated over the past three months: Nine Heavens Thunder Step. Besides using lightning spiritual energy to accelerate movement, the greatest feature of this technique was its ability to leave residual lightning spiritual energy on the ground, creating an electric field in an area that continuously accelerates the practitioner's movement.

It could be said that the longer one fought within a fixed area using this technique, the stronger the electric field created, and the more pronounced the acceleration effect on the practitioner. When Bai Zhenzhen used her True Spirit Root to deduce this technique, it significantly increased the duration for which the lightning spiritual energy could remain and form an electric field. This was the technique she had specifically chosen, cultivated, and deduced for arena combat, designed to further enhance her speed advantage in the ring.

And today's best-of-three rule was even more suitable for her than she had anticipated. In the just-concluded second round of the match, she had focused solely on stalling for time, making no attempt to win, precisely to leave enough lightning spiritual energy on the arena floor so that the effects of Nine Heavens Thunder Step would reach their maximum in the third round.

At this very moment, streaks of electricity suddenly burst forth from the arena floor, forming an invisible electric field that enveloped the entire stage. Bai Zhenzhen felt the electric field and the lightning spiritual energy throughout her body mutually attracting, as if coil after coil of springs were tightening behind her, ready to launch her like an electromagnetic cannon at her command.

"Not enough..."

Bai Zhenzhen knew she had only one chance with this sword strike, so she had to make it absolute. So she activated another martial art she had never shown Yun Jing before: Thunder God's Thunderbolt Art. This technique involved condensing spiritual energy into lightning protective qi around her body, which increased her speed while resisting the physical pressure of high-speed movement. The deduced effect of this technique was to allow Bai Zhenzhen to unleash all the lightning spiritual energy within her body in one go, unleashing a lightning-fast sword strike that surpassed her own limits.

Whether it was Myriad Swords without End, Nine Heavens Thunder Step, or Thunder God's Thunderbolt Art, Bai Zhenzhen consistently pursued one goal throughout her selection and subsequent deduction of techniques: to gain a greater advantage and higher chance of victory when fighting Yun Jing in the arena. With the full activation of Thunder God's Thunderbolt Art, Bai Zhenzhen felt all the lightning spiritual energy in her body surge out, leaving not a single trace behind.

Yet, with the Ice Soul Heart Technique circulating, even in this perilous situation where she left no room for retreat, Bai Zhenzhen felt her flesh, strength, and protective qi becoming increasingly vibrant under the technique's amplification. The next moment, propelled by the accelerating layers of electric fields, Bai Zhenzhen took a step forward, directly crashing into the vast sea of fire, her sword striking towards Yun Jing. The fifteenth strike of Myriad Swords without End was like a rocket propulsion, emitting a thunderous boom as lightning clashed with the air.

Following closely, the activation of Thunder God's Thunderbolt Art allowed Bai Zhenzhen to pour all the spiritual energy from her entire body into this single sword strike. "Go! Take all my spiritual energy and protective qi!" She roared inwardly, even channeling all of her protective lightning qi into this sword strike, just to make it faster, even faster.

Due to the lack of protective qi, Bai Zhenzhen's body rapidly became bruised and lacerated under the high pressure of the extreme speed, with cracks appearing all over. Amidst a series of thunderous roars, Bai Zhenzhen, moving faster than the sound itself, had already bypassed the sea of fire, which was being compressed and shattered by waves of air, and arrived before Yun Jing.

Her longsword had begun to accelerate little by little from the very first round today, and now, at this moment in the third round, the speed of this strike finally reached its limit, surpassing the speed of sound! With her heart technique fully active and her mind intensely focused, even though it was a sword strike that had already surpassed the speed of sound, Bai Zhenzhen felt as if the entire world had slowed down in her eyes. She watched her longsword inch by inch as it pierced Yun Jing's shoulder, while his eyes were filled with blank confusion, completely unable to react.

"Indeed, as I estimated before, accelerating to this extent should surpass the observation limit of Yun Jing's eye Dharma Bones..." Bai Zhenzhen was intimately familiar with all the parameters of Yun Jing's eye Dharma Bones. She knew the safest way to bypass them was to accelerate to a speed where he couldn't process the information in time.

"All three battles today were just to accelerate this single sword strike to this level..."

"No..." Bai Zhenzhen's mind suddenly conjured images of the arduous cultivation over the past year, the countless life-or-death struggles, and the relentless endurance against overwhelming pressure. She even recalled more: the distress of hiding her spirit root since childhood, the diligent study to ascend the path of immortality...

"For this one sword strike, I have accumulated power for over a decade, accelerated for over a decade, and chased after you all for over a decade."

"Now... this sword strike has finally caught up to you."

As the longsword collided with Yun Jing, his skin, muscles, and bones fractured layer by layer. A large hole was torn open in his upper body, and with a resounding crash, he was sent flying. After this all-out strike, Bai Zhenzhen's body, having pushed beyond its limits and delivered a sword strike that broke the sound barrier, was covered in blood and lacerations, her muscles and tendons feeling as if they were tearing apart.

Feeling the shroud of divine power envelop her, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly opened her eyes and asked, "Did I... win?"

Huang Zichou looked at Bai Zhenzhen and nodded, saying, "You won. One of today's four Foundation Establishment qualification certificates is yours."

Bai Zhenzhen smiled faintly upon hearing this, thinking, "Yuzi, Mom's done her part. The rest is up to you." The next moment, Bai Zhenzhen completely lost consciousness.

In the audience, "Crying-Laughing Emoji," having watched the replay of all three arena rounds, remarked, "Quite interesting."

"This Bai Zhenzhen's raw strength isn't as high as Yun Jing's, but clearly, her combat talent and potential are superior."

"And now she has a Foundation Establishment qualification certificate..."

"Crying-Laughing Emoji" immediately sensed that Bai Zhenzhen held significant investment value and could imagine numerous universities already discussing admission conditions for her.

"Oh? Also from Songyang City?" "Crying-Laughing Emoji" glanced at the examinee's profile and smiled slightly, "And she's from the same school as Zhang Yu? In that case, I might as well hire her too."

"It just so happens that by the time they start university, I should be done and able to return, right?" This time, even "Smiling Emoji" next to him didn't object to the suggestion, instead saying, "Although this Bai Zhenzhen is also incredibly poor, since she was able to pass the Foundation Establishment exam and obtain the qualification certificate on her first try, she is indeed a talent. She could also help you once she's at university..."

"However, don't forget to give her proper new employee training and set clear rules, so she doesn't bring certain 'poor people' habits with her in the future..."

Just then, on the other side, Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao had begun their final match, and the numerous spectators immediately shifted their attention to them.