Chapter 99: Appointed Time, Competing for Competition Spots

Under the bridge, beside the river.

The rumbling of heavy trucks passing over the elevated bridge was accompanied by faint roars echoing from beneath the bridge.

A delivery driver was riding an electric scooter towards the bridge archway. He was a courier from the nearby commoner slum.

From a distance, he could faintly hear sounds of impact, but by the time he reached the bridge archway, he only saw Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen standing opposite each other.

"Here's your package."

The young courier handed a package to them, his face flushing as his gaze briefly met Bai Zhenzhen.

The high school girl was too beautiful and exquisite for him.

Remembering the prettiest girls from his middle school class and the school itself, the young man thought to himself, "High school students are just different, truly blessed. Their demeanor and looks are simply incomparable to middle schoolers."

But he immediately averted his gaze, afraid of offending them.

It wasn't the young man's first time delivering here; he vaguely knew that these two high school students often came here at night for unknown activities.

He also knew that a group of hoodlums used to hang around this area, but they had immediately fled after realizing high school students were frequenting the spot.

After all, high school students... they were the elite, capable of working in the city center, incomparable to commoners like himself. Even their courier fees were much higher than what commoners could charge.

With a hint of envy, the courier cast a final glance at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen before riding off on his electric scooter.

Zhang Yu opened the package and said to Bai Zhenzhen, "These are the synthetic food and beast protein milk you ordered. I wonder how they'll taste compared to the cafeteria food."

Bai Zhenzhen said indifferently, "They're cheap enough. As long as they're not utterly disgusting, I'll be fine with them."

Once the courier had completely left, Zhang Yu smiled slightly and said, "Let's continue."

Zhang Yu stood still, his entire body enveloped in swirling white mist.

As his spiritual energy grew, Zhang Yu's Formless Cloud Aura became increasingly tumultuous when he activated the Limitless Cloud Hand once more. It enveloped his entire body, making him barely visible as a blurred silhouette within the massive cloud of white mist.

Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen's figure darted rapidly around Zhang Yu, unleashing continuous roars like lightning streaking through the clouds. This was Bai Zhenzhen, whose cultivation of the True Body of Thunder had advanced by leaps and bounds recently.

For long-distance travel, Bai Zhenzhen naturally couldn't compare to Zhang Yu, with his Level 10 Sports Car Legs.

However, in combat, for short-distance sprints, footwork, displacement, dodging, and reaction time... Bai Zhenzhen was now far more agile than Zhang Yu.

Bai Zhenzhen's fists repeatedly plunged into the mist, colliding with Zhang Yu's Formless Aura again and again, erupting in crackling bursts.

The next moment, as the mist formed by the Formless Cloud Aura rotated rapidly, swirling like a vortex towards Bai Zhenzhen's striking fists, she felt her balance waver and was flung backward.

However, Bai Zhenzhen twisted her body rapidly mid-air, flexibly regaining her balance and landing steadily on the ground.

She looked at Zhang Yu, who was still shrouded in thick mist, and thought to herself, "As Yu Zi's spiritual energy deepens, this Formless Cloud Aura becomes denser and its area of effect expands, making it increasingly difficult to deal with."

Recalling the feeling of repeatedly charging into the thick mist...

With the combination of Limitless Cloud Hand and Dragon-Flipping Mountain-Overturning Hand, Zhang Yu's movements were not only difficult to observe, but various forces — crushing, flinging, swirling, vibrating, rebounding — assailed her from all directions, threatening to completely disrupt her balance and even trap her within the cloud.

Furthermore, when combined with Limitless Cloud Hand and the Indestructible Seal Technique, the mist would expand further with Bai Zhenzhen's body-rending sword energy attacks. After accumulating power, it would then rebound against the attacker, making continued assault increasingly uncomfortable.

In such circumstances, she also had to constantly guard against Zhang Yu's indistinct physical attacks from within the mist.

"No more, no more," Bai Zhenzhen said, waving her hand. "Your Formless Cloud Aura is now an impenetrable defense, like a spiky turtle shell. And with my spirit root, there are no weaknesses to find. It's completely ineffective for training."

Besides their individual intensive training, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had also been sparring together occasionally to hone their combat skills.

Without a third person watching, they no longer had to worry about exposing their high-level cultivation techniques. With various Level 10 techniques being used interchangeably, their combat training was far more effective than what they did at school.

At this moment, hearing Bai Zhenzhen's call, Zhang Yu also dispersed the Formless Cloud Aura surrounding him.

After this period of combat training, Zhang Yu had gradually gained a clear understanding of the situation.

"If the true spirit root is with me, I am invincible."

"If the true spirit root is with Ah Zhen herself, then we'll have an even fight, with wins and losses on both sides."

Of course, these outcomes were based on Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen not fighting with full intent to harm.

After all, without enough spare money to visit a clinic, neither of them wanted to get injured during combat training.

Now, as Bai Zhenzhen called for a stop, Zhang Yu had just dispersed his Formless Cloud Aura when he saw a figure shoot towards him. She swiftly leaped behind Zhang Yu and gently embraced him.

Bai Zhenzhen chuckled, "It's my turn to use it!"

As Bai Zhenzhen's body pressed against him, the spirit root returned to her.

With the repeated exchange of the spirit root over time, they had become incredibly familiar with this maneuver.

Zhang Yu smiled slightly as he watched Bai Zhenzhen begin her intensive cultivation beside him, then looked at his Feather Scroll.

Although his primary focus was on physical strength, his Dao Heart and spiritual energy had also steadily improved.

His Dao Heart had reached Level 4 (28), which allowed him to control his physical body and spiritual energy with increasing ease, like an extension of his own arm, and to execute martial arts techniques even better than before.

With the aid of the true spirit root, his spiritual energy had grown rapidly, now reaching 34.8. This made his Formless Cloud Aura even more potent and formidable when activated.

"However, recently, as my spiritual energy has increased, the rate of spiritual energy refinement has slowed down. It seems the effectiveness of the Cosmic Qi Gathering Method is diminishing, and I might be approaching a bottleneck."

As a cultivation method designed for beginners, the Cosmic Qi Gathering Method naturally had its limits. Zhang Yu felt that around 50 points of spiritual energy would likely be the maximum it could support.

"To possess more abundant spiritual energy, I'll need to switch to an expert-level breathing technique then."

As for physical strength, Zhang Yu's primary focus during this period, it had now reached Level 3.21, a significant surge compared to his level during the martial arts competition a month ago.

Naturally, such a substantial improvement also cost Zhang Yu a considerable amount of money.

Although he had income from tutoring fees, plus occasionally selling a piece of clothing to Refining Heaven Extreme, Zhang Yu had earned over 100,000 during this period.

However, the 30,000-per-pill Primeval Pellets, and the ever-increasing food expenses as his physical strength improved, led to Zhang Yu's expenditures growing rapidly. At this moment, his savings had dwindled to less than 20,000.

As dawn gradually broke, Zhang Yu looked at the rising sun and said, "Ah Zhen, it's time to get ready for school."

"Do you remember what day it is today?"

Bai Zhenzhen's face was still flushed from her recent workout. Wiping sweat from her forehead, she said, "Of course! Today's the big day we show off at the athletic competition team!"

Inside the stadium.

As training began, students opened large bottles and started gulping down Dao Heart Buffering Agent.

During the subsequent training, one student suddenly experienced an arm spasm and felt a wave of exhaustion.

Wang Hai walked over, grabbed the student's arm, and frowned, "Did you drink enough Dao Heart Buffering Agent yesterday?"

Seeing the student's hesitation, Wang Hai snorted, "You've undergone the special cultivation program, so your physical strength can easily surpass your Dao Heart's control. That's why you need to increase your daily Dao Heart Buffering Agent dosage to at least five times the normal amount. Even a little less could cause your physical strength to go out of control."

"We're not making you drink Dao Heart Buffering Agent for the school to earn money; it's for your own good."

"You've spent so much money and endured so much rigorous training. Do you want to miss out on an athletic competition spot just to save a few sips of buffering agent?"

Seeing the student lower their head in shame, Wang Hai finally let them off.

He then looked at He Dayou, who was training nearby, a complex expression on his face. He sighed inwardly, "He Dayou has completely surpassed Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, hasn't he? Ah, with the advancement of immortal cultivation technology, individual talent and effort mean little."

At that moment, He Dayou was slowly lifting a heavy and enormous barbell.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Demonic Parasitic Method circulated within him, accelerating the integration of the transplanted flesh and blood during this strength training, allowing him to exert his power more freely and controllably.

After all, transplanted flesh and blood were not immediately easy to master.

He Dayou still remembered feeling as if he was wearing a suit of armor after his first transplant surgery, his body constrained and movements cumbersome.

However, through his persistent efforts, even as the surgeries continued, the 'armor' on his body became increasingly lighter and thinner with continuous training.

It transformed from a suit of armor to a coat, then from a coat to an undershirt. Now, He Dayou felt little restriction; the transplanted flesh and blood were like an almost imperceptible layer of skin, which he could fully control.

"Excellent. If I maintain this state, I can undergo the next phase of surgery in a few days."

"Then, I'll continue to train diligently. There's still hope of pushing my physical strength past Level 4.0 before the competition."

Just then, accompanied by greetings of "Hello, Senior!" and "Hello, Senior!", He Dayou turned to see Lan Ling arriving at the gymnasium with several other second-year students from the sports department.

Lan Ling scanned the surroundings and frowned, "Are Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen not here yet?"

He Dayou knew that today was the day to finalize the spots for the athletic competition a month later, and also the day Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen would come to humiliate themselves.

"Those two skip classes all the time now; I wonder how much they've actually improved."

"But it doesn't matter. No matter how much they've improved, they can't surpass me, not under the special cultivation program."

He Dayou continued his silent training. Ever since he surpassed Zhang Yu in the last monthly exam, he had gradually stopped thinking about his former rival.

"One must look forward. My future opponents are the top students from White Dragon High, Purple Cloud High, and Red Pagoda High."

Meanwhile, Lan Ling looked at He Dayou and the other five who were training and said, "Since Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen aren't here yet, you five can measure your physical strength first. Once they arrive, we'll measure theirs, and we can conclude."

In Lan Ling's opinion, there was no need for further comparison; physical strength alone should be enough to eliminate those two poor individuals.

First place: He Dayou, Physical Strength Level 3.07Fourth place: Li Yong, Physical Strength Level 2.96Fifth place: Ye Haitao, Physical Strength Level 2.94

Looking at the physical strength scores of the five, Lan Ling nodded slightly. "He Dayou, you've made rapid progress. Keep it up, and getting a ranking in the athletic competition will be no problem."

"Ye Haitao, you joined the team most recently, so you need to work harder. This score makes it difficult to secure a spot..."

Faced with comments from Lan Ling, a second-year student council executive, the first-year students present naturally accepted them with gratitude, bowing and assenting.

Just then, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen walked in, observed by everyone.

Lan Ling gave them a cold glance and said plainly, "Let's measure your physical strength first. If you can exceed Level 2.94, you'll secure a competition spot."

A moment later, Zhang Yu's and Bai Zhenzhen's physical strength levels appeared on the large screen, joining the rankings.

First place: Zhang Yu, Physical Strength Level 3.21Fifth place: Bai Zhenzhen, Physical Strength Level 2.98