Chapter 73: Violent Storm

As Zhang Yu and Lian Tianji stepped onto the ring.

On the other fighting ring, Bai Zhenzhen sat cross-legged, waiting for her opponent, Xiong Wenwu from Red Tower High School. Xiong Wenwu was a demon-descendant student, over 2.7 meters tall and weighing almost a ton, who, like Song Hailong and Zhang Yu, had achieved a score of 300.

At that moment, the demon-descendant student was in the Red Tower High School's rest area, glaring at Hu Yuntao.

"Lost? Why did you lose? And to someone from Songyang?"

Xiong Wenwu repeatedly slapped Hu Yuntao on the forehead. Hu Yuntao, who was fiercely formidable in the arena, now knelt obediently before him like a docile kitten, receiving a lecture. However, the constantly wagging tail behind him highlighted his impatience.

Xiong Wenwu spoke with exasperation: "You didn't even pass the group stage, which means you didn't get any ranking. That's one less good achievement on your resume. Do you know that missing this one achievement could get you rejected from a university interview? If you don't get into a good university, Father will disown you and send you straight to work in the factory!"

Disowned! Factory work!

Hu Yuntao, who had been obediently listening, stiffened upon hearing these words. Why do many monsters from the reservation not have fathers? It's because monsters who can't study and can only work are directly disowned by Father.

"Do you know what working means?" Xiong Wenwu continued his reprimand: "It's very hard for monsters to find jobs. You'll end up working in Father's factory, undergoing modifications, and being 'planted' on an assembly line. Like those ox demons, horse demons, and monkey demons, you'll eat, drink, and relieve yourself on the assembly line until you die, spending your whole life repaying fertility loans."

Hu Yuntao clenched his fists. The thought of the factory he once visited, where countless workers were integrated into assembly lines forged from the flesh and blood of great demons, working tirelessly day and night, filled him with a surge of fear. He remembered the various 'half-elementary, half-middle, half-high school' monster elders on those lines.

"Ten years of arduous study to get into high school, and you end up just going to a factory?" Xiong Wenwu continued his tirade: "If you reach university peak, with a prestigious diploma in hand, who could disown you? Who could force you into a factory?"

Hu Yuntao looked utterly ashamed: "Big Brother, I know I was wrong. In the next competition, I will give my absolute best and not be lazy in the slightest."

Xiong Wenwu sighed: "I just don't want to see you study so hard for years, only to fail to get into university and be planted on an assembly line after high school, living out a miserable life. Father would lose a good son, and I would lose another brother. Your future depends on your own performance. As for today, I'll avenge you first."

With that, he turned and quickly walked towards the fighting ring.

Hu Yuntao called out a reminder from behind him: "Big Brother, that girl has a stealth spirit root, which can reduce an opponent's perception. Be careful..."

Xiong Wenwu waved his hand, then after a sprint, he leaped forcefully. His nearly one-ton body descended like a small mountain, making the entire ring roar and shake violently.

"Woman, I never hold back in a real fight. If you feel like you're dying, surrender immediately."

After saying this, Xiong Wenwu pulled out three syringes and plunged them into his neck. With a fizzing sound, three doses of liquid were instantly injected into his bloodstream, causing every hair on his body to stand on end and his bear-like face to bulge with muscle.

Just by looking at his height and weight, Bai Zhenzhen could feel the astonishing power contained within him. And based on Lei Jun's previous assessment, Bai Zhenzhen knew that Xiong Wenwu, the demon-descendant student, likely had the highest physical strength among all the high school first-years present.

"It's roughly between 2.5 and 2.6."

She exhaled deeply, feeling her spirit root release its power within her. In that moment, she felt as if a certain restraint on her mind had been lifted. Countless martial arts techniques she had learned and seen surged through her mind, as if coming alive.

Since entering high school and beginning martial arts training, she, who had originally only used her spirit root for concealment, began to understand martial arts more and more after encountering them. Not only did she learn techniques faster, but after real combat, she gradually became able to spot weaknesses in various martial arts.

3, 2, 1, Fight!

With the referee's whistle, Xiong Wenwu leaped up, plummeting like a cannonball. She couldn't meet him head-on; retreat was her only option. Bai Zhenzhen swiftly retreated. Simultaneously, points of spiritual energy flickered at her fingertips, and a sharp sword qi burst forth from her body.

Expert-level technique - Body-Piercing Sword Qi, Level 3 activation.

A foot of sword qi extended from Bai Zhenzhen's fingertip, thrusting towards Xiong Wenwu, who had just landed. But as a flurry of fur scattered, Bai Zhenzhen felt as if her sword had struck a steel plate. After piercing through his fur and epidermis, it struggled to penetrate further into his muscle.

"He has a body-protection technique? Plus the effect of a combat spirit root, and his immense physical strength..." Bai Zhenzhen's brow furrowed, and in the next moment, her figure vanished from Xiong Wenwu's sight.

But Xiong Wenwu was prepared for this. Without the slightest hesitation, like a rampaging beast, his claws glinted menacingly, striking relentlessly in the direction where Bai Zhenzhen had disappeared, like a fierce storm. At the same time, Xiong Wenwu attacked while vigorously sniffing, seemingly trying to pinpoint Bai Zhenzhen's location by scent.

Bai Zhenzhen's eyes widened as she watched his movements. With the enhancement of her spirit root, every action he took, every shift in spiritual energy triggered by his techniques, was clearly visible to her. She could even vaguely predict his subsequent attacks based on the flow of spiritual energy in the air.

Yet, even with her stealth ability, after repeated extreme dodges, wounds began to appear on Bai Zhenzhen's arms, thighs, and waist. His sharp claws tore across her skin and muscle as easily as a hot knife slicing through butter, leaving terrible, gaping wounds on her body. In contrast, her Body-Piercing Sword Qi could only ever shave off his fur, leaving behind insignificant marks.

"Ultimately, the difference in strength and speed is too great. In at most four or five more seconds, I will lose."

Despite this, Bai Zhenzhen felt incredibly calm at that moment. As her opponent used more and more techniques, and the surrounding spiritual energy grew denser, his movements and body became increasingly clear to her eyes. In her eyes, Xiong Wenwu now seemed like a colossal furnace, accumulating more and more spiritual energy and magic power within him, burning fiercely to propel his formidable physique. Furthermore, Bai Zhenzhen could see spiritual energy densely covering Xiong Wenwu's epidermis, as if he were wearing it as armor.

"No weaknesses anywhere on his body... No, there are weaknesses."

As several deep, bone-revealing claw marks appeared on her calf, Bai Zhenzhen gradually discerned her opponent's weaknesses. Weaknesses in his techniques... weaknesses in his body...

Finally, she took a step, like a butterfly dancing gracefully in a raging storm. Step by step, she moved through the piercing cold that assaulted her, dodging the deadly sharp attacks.

"I don't want to be stuck working at the lowest level for the rest of my life... I want to get into the Top Ten! I want to go further on the path to immortality!"

Sword qi roared from Bai Zhenzhen's fingertips as she launched a strike at the weakness she saw.

In the spectator stands, Qian Shen and the other two watched Xiong Wenwu and Bai Zhenzhen's fight with wide eyes. Xiong Wenwu's attacks were too fierce, his movements too swift, pressing down on Bai Zhenzhen like flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder. So much so that the three of them couldn't spare a single thought to speak, and even from a distance, they felt an illusion of being overwhelmed by his aura. Especially as Bai Zhenzhen's figure appeared so tiny before Xiong Wenwu, giving an impression of excessive fragility.

Qian Shen thought to himself: "He's too ferocious. Just a graze tears skin and flesh. If Bai Zhenzhen takes a direct hit, she might not die, but she'll be severely injured. She's going to lose..."

Seeing a burst of blood on Bai Zhenzhen's calf, adding another wound, the three couldn't help but feel their hearts sink, as if they could already see Bai Zhenzhen's body covered in blood and gore. But in the very next moment, they watched in shock as Bai Zhenzhen slipped through the flurry of his claw shadows, and then a sword qi struck out in reverse.

Xiong Wenwu's figure seemed to pause slightly, and then a large gush of blood suddenly erupted from behind him.

Zhao Tianxing exclaimed in surprise: "She broke through his defense?"

He Dayou: "She couldn't pierce Xiong Wenwu's muscles before, so how is she suddenly able to now?"

Qian Shen frowned in deep thought: "Could it be that she hit a weakness in his technique?" Watching the blood gush more and more violently from behind Xiong Wenwu, gradually resembling a fountain, Qian Shen cried out in alarm: "Did she sever an artery? The blood loss is terrifying!"

In the other arena, Lei Jun looked at Xiong Wenwu, who was spurting blood from behind, and at the location of the bleeding, his eyes suddenly lit up: "It's hemorrhoids! External hemorrhoids! That's right, most demons originally walk on all fours. After gaining human form and starting to learn and cultivate, they have to sit for long periods every day, so their hemorrhoids must be more severe and larger. Especially external hemorrhoids that have prolapsed are not protected by body refinement techniques! Furthermore, Xiong Wenwu was just engaging in intense exercise and had taken so many potent drugs, causing his entire body to be engorged with blood. This means the hemorrhage would be even more severe."

Lei Jun became excited: "To think she could find such a weakness? My tutoring hasn't been in vain after all..."

But the next moment, Xiong Wenwu in the ring let out a furious roar, his eyes bloodshot, like a dying beast. Xiong Wenwu roared internally: "I want to study! I don't want to die on an assembly line! I want to remain Father's son forever!"

In the next instant, as Xiong Wenwu spun at high speed, a torrent of blood and claw shadows covered everything in all directions.

"Not good!" Lei Jun's gaze sharpened: "This demon has gone berserk! He's just attacking wildly..." Seeing Bai Zhenzhen, wounded in the leg and overwhelmed by Xiong Wenwu's assault, he knew it would be extremely difficult for her to dodge such chaotic, unpatterned attacks, especially with her movement restricted by her leg injury.

When Lei Jun arrived below the ring, he saw Xiong Wenwu lying on the ground, covered in blood. Beside him, Bai Zhenzhen stood, panting heavily. Apart from the claw marks all over her body, there was nothing below her right elbow. Her right arm had been torn off by the berserk Xiong Wenwu.

Bai Zhenzhen wins!

Lei Jun quickly picked up her severed arm, and holding Bai Zhenzhen, he rushed her to the emergency area.

The emergency doctor glanced over and couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. But then he looked at his colleague attending to Xiong Wenwu and felt a pang of envy. "Severe hemorrhage, over-exertion from cultivating, organ failure, plus hemorrhoid surgery, and such high physical strength... That bear demon will cost at least hundreds of thousands [in treatment]."

With a sigh, he turned his attention back to Bai Zhenzhen. But just as he was about to begin treatment, Bai Zhenzhen struggled and asked, "How much does it cost? Can insurance cover it?"

The emergency doctor calmly replied, "For the examination, basic treatment, and arm reattachment, it'll be eighty-eight thousand. There are still thirty thousand worth of services that insurance won't cover, which you'll have to pay out of pocket."

"Out of pocket?" Bai Zhenzhen retorted angrily, "I have insurance, and you want me to pay thirty thousand out of pocket?"

The emergency doctor ignored Bai Zhenzhen and merely urged, "If you want treatment, be quick. If the arm necrosis is severe, I won't be able to treat it here. If you have to go to the hospital then, it could cost over three hundred thousand."