Chapter 47: Contention
Inside the venue.
Following a fleet of drones, box after box of catered meals was delivered.
After the first and second rounds of the Magic Power Competition concluded, it was already time for lunch.
However, the many contestants eating their boxed lunches were still discussing the highlights of the two previous matches, their gazes occasionally drifting toward the scoreboard on the large screen.
But the name that had originally ranked fourth had vanished, and the top ten was once again dominated by the three elite schools: White Dragon High School, Purple Cloud High School, and Red Pagoda High School.
This was because with the official conclusion of the first and second matches, the top ten displayed on the large screen had been updated to show the top ten in total points.
Only those who entered the top ten in the Magic Power Competition’s final overall rankings would receive prize money, a true placement, and a result that universities would recognize—something that would be useful during college interviews.
And the name that had torn open a fissure in the second match, forcing its way into fourth place, had now disappeared as if it were a phantom.
It was like a small bird trying to break through the heavens, only to be swatted back down by a great hand formed from the three elite schools.
Teacher Yan sighed inwardly.
Zhang Yu’s score in the first flying sword match was ultimately a bit too low. It dragged him down, which is why his total score couldn’t squeeze into the top ten.
But what could be done about it?
The rich had an absolute advantage when it came to wielding flying swords, and Teacher Yan couldn’t blame Zhang Yu’s family for not buying him a magic flying sword.
If there’s anything to blame, it’s his bad luck for running into a competition sponsored by a flying sword manufacturer.
Elsewhere, Zhang Yu looked at the lunch box in his hand, eating while complaining, “They’re selling a single meal for eighty? Why don’t the people from Red Pagoda High School just go rob someone?”
Just as Zhang Yu was grumbling, another lunch box was placed before him.
Zhang Yu looked up to see Teacher Yan holding it out.
Teacher Yan said kindly, “You must be exhausted after this morning. I knew you’d be hungry, so you can have this one too.”
Nearby, Bai Zhenzhen watched this scene and pouted to herself.
How could he be hungrier than me? Yu-boy dispelled the specialized magic power in a minute and a half, but I had to hold on for over eight minutes to finish. It nearly killed me.
The more Teacher Yan watched Zhang Yu devour two meals, the more pleased she grew. Such a large appetite was clearly the sign of a good student.
As for Bai Zhenzhen, Qian Shen, and He Dayou, who also had big appetites? Hah, for students with no chance of placing in a magic power competition to eat so much—were they anything but useless gluttons?
Teacher Yan offered some encouragement, “You did very well this morning. Just do your best this afternoon, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
Although Teacher Yan wished Zhang Yu would give it four hundred percent of his focus, she knew that circulating magic power was not something to be rushed. A calm and peaceful mindset was crucial, or it could backfire.
Thus, fearful that placing in the second match would put too much mental pressure on Zhang Yu, she immediately came to comfort him, hoping he would compete in as relaxed a state as possible.
Inwardly, Teacher Yan couldn’t help but calculate Zhang Yu’s score.
Eighty points in the first round, ninety-three in the second, for a total of 173.
She looked up at the large screen, her eyes scanning from the first-place score of 195 down to the tenth-place score of 176.
As long as Zhang Yu can catch up by 4 points in the next round, he can make it into the top ten.
Four points might not sound like much, but Teacher Yan knew that in a highly difficult and competitive event like the Magic Power Competition, the higher the score, the harder every single point was to earn.
This was especially true with thirty top students from the three elite schools all vying for those top ten spots.
Thinking of this four-point gap, Teacher Yan couldn’t help but feel a little tense herself.
“It all depends on what this final round will test.”
Lunchtime ended quickly, and the final round of the afternoon’s Magic Power Competition officially began.
The host walked onto the stage and began, “For martial arts, for Daoist techniques, come to Immortal Resonance! With three hundred laboratories and one hundred cultivation technique masters, they have been dedicated to Immortal Dao education for a hundred years. We thank the Immortal Resonance Education Group for sponsoring this Magic Power Competition…”
Immortal Resonance Group. Zhang Yu remembered that this company was affiliated with the Myriad Laws Sect. It was the same major corporation where he had worked part-time testing techniques and obtained the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method.
He also recalled seeing the Songyang City Director of the Immortal Resonance Group at Li Xuelian’s art exhibition.
A moment later, a complex magic power circulation diagram was distributed to every competing student.
This was the task for the final round of the Magic Power Competition: to convert one’s own magic power into specialized magic power by following the pathways on the diagram.
At the same time, cameras operated by the soul cultivator students were sweeping across the entire venue, ready to assess the condition of each contestant at a moment’s notice and to facilitate the recording of their completion order.
As the timer officially started, students began circulating their magic power according to the pathways on the diagrams.
Zhang Yu frowned slightly as he studied the routes on his diagram.
This thing… it seems to be a type of specialized magic power used for combat.
Although his level 10 Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method gave him exceptionally strong control over his magic power, the pathways on this magic power circulation diagram were vastly different from the magic power cycle of the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method.
If the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method was a technique of internal circulation for self-improvement, then the cultivation pathways on the diagram before him were a method of projecting magic power externally for combat.
He could tell that, in terms of complexity, this cultivation pathway was inferior to the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method.
But whether it was the circulation pathways or the techniques they contained, they were completely different from the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method he was familiar with.
In particular, there was an oscillation and refinement technique that he had never encountered before.
This Magic Power Competition is going way too far off-curriculum.
And yet…
Zhang Yu glanced at the Feather Book that had appeared beside him, only to find no change whatsoever.
It’s not a cultivation technique?
I guess I have no choice but to force my way through it.
Zhang Yu drew upon the magic power in his dantian and began to circulate it cautiously according to the diagram.
Meanwhile, in the Purple Cloud High School section.
Lian Tianji gazed at Le Mulan not far away, noting her confident expression, and thought, Our esteemed number one student is guaranteed to get an outstanding score. All I have to do is not drag us down and help boost our school’s total score…
Le Mulan looked at the diagram before her and tilted her head.
“I feel like I’ve drilled something similar to this.”
Let me think… this is the Body-Protecting Astral Qi from some martial arts technique, isn’t it?
She circulated the magic power within her body and, sure enough, began converting it strand by strand into the specialized magic power indicated on the diagram with practiced ease.
Body-Protecting Astral Qi, converted from magic power, was considered a specialized magic power belonging to the Martial Dao branch within the Immortal Dao system established by the Ten Great Sects.
Le Mulan recalled that converting magic power into Body-Protecting Astral Qi required the step of magic power oscillation, and the better the quality of the astral qi, the more oscillations were needed.
“Each oscillation increases the quality of the astral qi, but it also makes it harder to control.”
“According to the instructions in this diagram, it should require seven oscillations, followed by circulation along the prescribed pathways…”
Suddenly, her brow furrowed slightly.
Listening to the various muffled grunts and pained cries coming from nearby, she found it distracting.
These were students who had been injured dispelling magic power in the previous round. Their injuries hadn’t healed, and circulating their techniques now only agitated their wounds.
“Can’t these students from ordinary high schools afford some decent medication?”
“Even if they can’t afford it, they can’t even buy quality painkillers?”
As the thought crossed her mind, Le Mulan suddenly realized that these poor students from ordinary high schools probably really couldn’t afford expensive painkillers.
This was the sound of poverty.
It’s distracting me from the test.
But Le Mulan knew that the power of money could block out the sound of poverty.
She reached out, put on a pair of soundproof earmuffs worth tens of thousands, and felt the world finally fall silent. A faint smile touched her lips as she resumed her magic power conversion.
Over in the White Dragon High School section, Song Hailong stared at the diagram in his hands as the magic power throughout his body began to circulate automatically, moving as if by his will alone, gradually aligning with the instructions on the chart.
His long-term practice with the Heavenly Spiritual Root made his magic power control exceptionally deft now that he was without it.
He had also practiced many similar problems before, which made his movements more fluid and faster by a large margin.
Boom!
A mass of magic power in his dantian abruptly scattered amidst a violent oscillation, only to be slowly gathered back together by Song Hailong.
“First oscillation, complete!”
Simple! Simple! Simple! Too simple!
My parents have the finest genes, selected from among thousands.
I stopped sleeping at the age of five.
I am now eighteen. In all these years, I have always had the best performance, the highest scores, and the strongest constitution among my peers in the Song family! I am also the only one of my generation who has never attempted suicide, never grown weary of studying, and never suffered from depression! I am the Song family’s ace!
“You pieces of trash in this arena, what makes you think you can compete with me!”
At that moment, he was completely focused, without the slightest distracting thought, wanting only to master the technique in the diagram as quickly as possible and trample the top students from the other two elite schools under his feet.
At the same time, Xiong Bufan of Red Pagoda High School was hunched over his diagram. His eyes were shut tight, and his fluffy tail twitched continuously, as if he had reached a critical moment in his cultivation.
The competition coach at his side watched this scene and thought, When Bufan and his batch were at the breeding facility, they were being dosed with alchemical enhancers since before birth. By the time he was ready for high school, his physique was the most outstanding of them all.
When the school brought him over from the breeding facility in the conservation area, the toughness of his meridians was already more than ten times that of an ordinary student. No matter how he strained himself circulating his technique, there’s no need to worry about injury.
Since he enrolled, I’ve had him constantly train the speed of his magic power circulation.
He has also practiced Body-Protecting Astral Qi many times before.
This time, he is bound to be the first to master this diagram.
Hmm, I really should have the principal naturalize more demons… no, wait… I mean, plan for more demon-kin students.
How is just one enough? I think adding another four to the competition team would be no problem. Those leaders who insist on a pure human team are too conservative. I heard the neighboring city already has a team composed entirely of demons… I mean, demon-kin.
Zhang Yu had to admit that without the relevant training or prior preparation, securing a good rank in this round seemed like an impossible task.
This competition wasn’t just a contest of talent and aptitude; it was also a battle of financial power, influence, and resources.
Damn it!
Does my journey in this competition end here?
Zhang Yu! Are you really going to lose to money?
Not far away, Teacher Yan saw Zhang Yu’s troubled expression and sighed inwardly.
She then glanced at the other Songyang High School students. Seeing them sweating profusely, their faces pale, or looking as if they desperately needed to take a dump from the strain, Teacher Yan shook her head helplessly.
The students of Songyang High School were already no match for the top students of the three elite schools. After consistently failing to achieve results in the Magic Power Competition, the school had simply stopped investing in it.
Without the school’s investment, their competition results grew worse and worse, which in turn made the school even less willing to invest. It was a vicious cycle.
Teacher Yan understood that without the school’s full support, lacking the proper teaching and practice, the two sides were never on the same starting line to begin with.
Just then, a student suddenly raised his hand.
“I need to use the restroom.”
Teacher Yan cursed inwardly.
So you really did have to go.
“Go on, quickly!”
At that moment, Teacher Yan suddenly heard the sound of sinews and bones ringing out in unison from nearby.
She turned her head and was surprised to see Bai Zhenzhen practicing a fist form.
Has she already given up? This is a competition of circulating magic power, what is she doing practicing martial arts for?
The sounds of the fist form also drew Zhang Yu’s attention. He glanced over and sighed to himself, Alas, Zhen has been driven mad.
Huh?
Suddenly, Zhang Yu felt that the fist form Bai Zhenzhen was practicing was inexplicably familiar, as if it could be combined with something.
The martial art was very simple, composed of just six moves repeated over and over. After watching for a moment, he had a sudden realization.
Could this martial art be combined with the magic power circulation diagram?
Seeing “Limitless Cloud Hand Level 0” appear on the Feather Book, Zhang Yu felt an urge to pick Bai Zhenzhen up and spin her around.
“Zhen!”
“You’re a saint!”
“You’re the savior of Songyang High School!”
The diagram detailed a method of magic power circulation, while Bai Zhenzhen was performing the external martial stances.
Together, they formed a complete combat martial art—the Limitless Cloud Hand.
This was an advanced-level martial arts cultivation technique.
However, this technique emphasized internal cultivation over external moves. The key lay in the application of magic power, in how to convert it into Body-Protecting Astral Qi. The six external forms were less like techniques and more like six practical examples of its application.
The Magic Power Competition had simply isolated the magic power circulation diagram from the technique to use as a test question.
For an ordinary person, the absence of the external forms wouldn’t affect their ability to learn the method of converting Body-Protecting Astral Qi.
But for Zhang Yu, whether or not it was a complete cultivation technique that could be registered by the Feather Book… that made a world of difference.
Zhang Yu had no idea how Bai Zhenzhen had comprehended the external forms. All he could do now was seize the opportunity, immediately switch the Feather Book’s specialization to the Limitless Cloud Hand, and begin practicing.
Limitless Cloud Hand Level 0 (0/1, 15.4/5 Magic power)
One pass!
All he needed was one pass! Even if it was riddled with errors, even if his execution was a complete mess, he would be able to completely master this Limitless Cloud Hand!