Chapter 75: Dragonback Mountain Toppler
Le Mulan returned to the rest area for Purple Cloud High School and saw Lian Tianji kneeling on the ground.
She walked over to him and, treating him like a small stool, sat directly on his back.
This was his punishment for failure. For the next three days, whenever he appeared before her, he would have to serve as her bench.
Lian Tianji asked, “Is it over already?”
He had reviewed the fight between Bai Zhenzhen and Xiong Wenwu. Although Bai Zhenzhen’s stats were lacking, her practical combat ability was exceedingly strong, and she could always perceive her opponent’s weaknesses. Lian Tianji had originally thought Bai Zhenzhen would be able to force a few more moves out of the hallowed grade-level number one.
Le Mulan frowned, kicking Lian Tianji’s side with her raised right foot.
“A bench shouldn’t speak,” she said coolly.
Lian Tianji immediately shut his mouth.
However, Le Mulan added another sentence, saying, “She ran out of money for treatment, though it would have just wasted a bit more time even if she had it.”
Lian Tianji understood instantly. That was how the world worked—money was a part of one’s strength, and a lack of money was a reflection of weakness.
Bai Zhenzhen was poor, and…
Lian Tianji thought to himself, It’s only natural for the poor to lose to the rich.
Just then, Zhang Yu and Song Hailong ascended the stage.
Lian Tianji slowly turned his head, his gaze fixed on the fighting ring.
After being defeated, a person often had two ways of coping.
Either claim they were careless.
Or praise the opponent for being too strong.
The former was more disgraceful, while the latter allowed one to save face.
Therefore, Lian Tianji also wanted to choose the latter.
If Zhang Yu beats Song Hailong, I might even be able to get my advertising partnership back…
After all, if that happened, his situation would change from ‘defeated by a Songyang student’ to ‘a narrow loss to a finalist’.
“You can do it, Zhang Yu!”
Also cheering for Zhang Yu in his heart was Chu Qiuhe, back in the White Dragon High School rest area. He couldn’t even stop himself from secretly cursing Song Hailong.
Although, as a White Dragon student, he knew full well how terrifying Song Hailong was, a sliver of fantasy still welled up in his heart.
Maybe? Maybe if he gets careless, he’ll lose by accident? Song Hailong… only if you lose can the rest of us save face.
As Song Hailong spread his arms and raised his hands high on the stage, a tsunami of cheers erupted from the audience.
“Song Hailong! Number one!”
“Song Hailong! Number one!”
Listening to the perfectly synchronized shouts from the White Dragon contingent, Zhao Tianxing felt that Zhang Yu looked utterly isolated and helpless on the stage.
He couldn’t help but think, Shouldn’t we be cheering for Zhang Yu, too?
But when he voiced this idea, he saw He Dayou, who was beside him, quickly turn his head away and pretend he hadn’t heard.
Qian Shen also spoke with some difficulty, “Let’s just forget it. This is White Dragon’s home turf, after all.”
Watching the imposing, unified cheers of the White Dragon students, Zhao Tianxing’s initial desire to cheer for Zhang Yu gradually faded.
As he thought about how nervous he felt just watching from afar, he found it impossible to imagine the pressure Zhang Yu must be under, standing on the stage himself.
On the stage.
As Song Hailong’s right hand clenched into a fist, the cheers from the audience instantly died away, and the entire venue fell silent once more.
Song Hailong looked at Zhang Yu and laughed heartily.
“I really didn’t expect a kid from Songyang to be able to fight his way past so many opponents and reach the semi-finals.”
“As a reward, I’ll help you lower the difficulty of this match.”
As he spoke, Song Hailong ran a hand through his spiky hair, and in the next moment, a string of digits appeared on his forehead.
10,000,000?
Just as Zhang Yu was wondering, Song Hailong directly answered his unspoken question.
“This is a built-in feature of my external spiritual root. It displays my medical insurance coverage limit.”
“My current limit is ten million. If you can burn through this entire ten-million treatment budget, I’ll admit defeat.”
Of all the nerve… you actually just displayed your own health bar, didn’t you.
Zhang Yu stared intently at the number, beginning to contemplate its impact on the coming fight.
But the thought that his opponent had insurance to cover ten million while he only had enough for a hundred thousand… no, now only enough for seventy thousand worth of injuries, filled Zhang Yu with a sense of helplessness.
In the next instant, however, he had already activated the heart art of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Tempering Art, suppressing all his negative emotions and mustering his will to fight, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to the battle before him.
Meanwhile, in the audience, because Song Hailong’s physique was so formidable, his voice always resonated throughout the arena, allowing the spectators to hear and see everything. His display now sparked a wave of gasps and praise.
“As expected of White Dragon’s number one! His insurance coverage is a full ten million!”
“He’s so rich! No wonder he’s so good!”
“Obviously. How could a poor person be as outstanding as Song Hailong?”
“Song Hailong has the highest scores on the monthly exams and he’s so wealthy. I think they should just give him the martial arts competition championship directly!”
And on the stage, Song Hailong beckoned to Zhang Yu.
“You go first. If I make a move, you might not get the chance.”
Seeing Song Hailong’s completely unguarded posture, Zhang Yu sent a probing palm strike, empowered by Formless Cloud-Astral Qi, slamming it fiercely into his opponent’s chest.
With a crackling boom, the palm, powerful enough to shatter stone monuments, landed on Song Hailong’s body, yet Zhang Yu felt as if he had struck a massive rubber tire.
Not only did his opponent’s body not budge an inch, but the ten million on his forehead only decreased by 300.
Zhang Yu recalled what Lei Jun had told him about the Elephant Tendon Body.
“This Song Hailong has been implanted with elephant demon muscle. Magic power channeled through the elephant demon muscle can be used to directly fortify the physical body, making his strength and damage resistance incalculable by normal standards.”
On top of that, his physical strength is already far beyond mine, and he has the protective effect of the external ‘Embodiment Spiritual Root’…
Clearly, because of Song Hailong’s powerful physique, he had taken Zhang Yu’s palm strike without suffering any significant injury.
At the same time, Song Hailong shook his head and said, “That palm only cost me 300. It’s far too weak.”
“Put some fire into it, kid. At this rate, even if I just stood here and let you hit me, how long would it take you to burn through this ten million?”
Several more palm strikes slammed into Song Hailong’s vital areas, but it was still like hitting a rubber tire. Although Song Hailong’s body trembled slightly, the total reduction to the number on his forehead… was only another 2,000 or so.
What was even more astonishing… was that in the next moment, the number on Song Hailong’s forehead actually began to recover.
The initial reduction of over 2,300 gradually reverted to just over 2,000.
Seeming to notice the change in Zhang Yu’s gaze, Song Hailong laughed aloud, pointed to the number on his forehead, and said, “See? It’s going back up.”
“My apologies, my apologies. The combat spiritual root I’m using this time isn’t an ordinary Embodiment Spiritual Root, but the deluxe edition.”
“Besides enhancing my physical strength and damage resistance, this spiritual root can also continuously absorb spiritual energy from the air, allowing my injuries to gradually heal on their own.”
Seeing Zhang Yu’s expression grow increasingly grave, Song Hailong boomed with laughter.
“Still not going to make a move? If you don’t hurry up, it’ll be back to ten million.”
Hearing Song Hailong’s loudly proclaimed words, everyone—from the audience to the contestants from the various schools around the arena—felt as if they were witnessing an insurmountable wall of money standing between the two combatants.
It made everyone feel as if that ten million was an impenetrable city wall blocking Zhang Yu’s path, leaving him without a single shred of hope for victory.
“If you won’t come to me, then I’ll come to you.”
The two-and-a-half-meter-tall Song Hailong spread his massive hand, swiping at Zhang Yu like a dragon’s claw.
Magic power coursed through his elephant demon muscle, directly amplifying his strength and physique, to the point where he hardly needed any complex techniques; this brute force alone was enough to sweep through the entire first year.
Feeling the overwhelming force of the claw attack, Zhang Yu showed no hint of panic.
The difference in our stats is too great. It’ll be difficult to defeat him with my own power alone.
The only way is to borrow his strength to defeat him. A defensive counterattack is my only strategy.
Just as Zhang Yu was thinking this, raising his arms wreathed in Formless Cloud-Astral Qi to block Song Hailong, he saw his opponent’s claw attack shift, transitioning into a set of grappling techniques.
Grappling?
It’s more than that…
In a state of total concentration, Zhang Yu watched every minute change in his opponent’s attack, quickly dodging while parrying with his Formless Cloud-Astral Qi.
He soon realized that Song Hailong was executing a martial art focused on grappling and throwing.
It was the expert-level martial art cultivated by Song Hailong, the Dragonback Mountain Toppler Hand, level 1, activated!
This was an expert-level martial art that used pure physical violence to power grappling and wrestling techniques.
And for Song Hailong, implanted with elephant demon muscle and using all his magic power to fortify his body, this martial art that relied purely on physical violence was a perfect fit.
Although Song Hailong’s martial skill wasn’t his strong suit due to focusing his energies elsewhere, and this technique wasn’t particularly difficult, it was still only at a mere level 1.
But relying on his incredibly powerful physique, combined with this level 1 grappling and wrestling art, was more than enough for Song Hailong to crush other experts of the same level.
Zhang Yu could feel that pressure now. In his state of total concentration, he could feel his opponent’s hands moving like a great net, slowly closing in to envelop him completely, intending to slam him to the ground and utterly subdue him.
He wants to wrestle with me? Play a ground game?
With no related skills of his own, Zhang Yu was naturally unwilling to be taken to the ground to grapple with his opponent, where the fight would be decided by physical strength and ground techniques.
He was like a small, slippery fish, repeatedly making narrow, difficult escapes from under Song Hailong’s all-encompassing net.
But finally…
“Got you.”
Song Hailong’s hand clamped down on Zhang Yu’s arm, a slight smile touching his lips.
But just as he and Zhang Yu both exerted their strength, Zhang Yu let out a furious roar.
The Formless Cloud-Astral Qi, which had previously only covered his palms, suddenly surged, extending all the way to his elbows. He then slipped from Song Hailong’s grasp like an eel.
Below the stage, Lian Tianji’s body jolted.
In a desperate situation, his Limitless Cloud Hand broke through again? he thought in shock. Level 5? This Zhang Yu is truly a martial arts prodigy.