Chapter 83: Part-time Job, Moments
“Lie down.”
Hearing Song Hailong’s words, Zhang Yu turned to look at Bai Zhenzhen beside him.
“Lie down? Does my job description cover that much? Is this five thousand yuan really that hard to earn?”
Song Hailong cracked his neck and said, “I mean let’s hurry up. We’ll start with ground combat in a bit. That’s where I lost, so of course I’m spending money to win back my pride there.”
With that, Song Hailong walked over to a switch on a nearby wall and asked, “What scent do you like?”
Zhang Yu looked at the switch on the wall, assuming it was for the air conditioner, and asked in confusion, “You mean the AC scent? An air freshener?”
Song Hailong was speechless. “I’m talking about the intellect-enhancement agent scent, of course. I’m more used to peach or mint…”
Seeing the blank look on Zhang Yu’s face, Song Hailong remembered the other boy was from Songyang High School and said casually, “Never mind, let’s go with mint.”
As he pressed the switch a few times, Zhang Yu gradually began to smell a minty aroma wafting through the air, while his blood slowly started to race and his mind grew excited.
Song Hailong then pointed to a faucet nearby and said, “The pipe on the right is all energy drinks. If you run low on stamina later, just drink from it directly.”
Zhang Yu was already at a loss for words, thinking to himself, Stimulants in the AC and Red Bull in the water, is that it? Damn… they’re too rich.
Seeing Zhang Yu’s astonished expression, Song Hailong said with a hint of pride, “You don’t need to be so surprised. After all, White Dragon High is known to many outsiders as a place flowing with potions and needles; you can even detect traces of Dao heart buffer in the shower water.”
“A few years ago, a group of poor people even snuck into the sewers over here, trying to steal the water our school discharged to drink it, hehe… a bunch of people who failed to get into a high school Immortal Dao program, thinking they could achieve immortality by drinking a little of our wastewater.”
“Some people’s bodies did improve, but others couldn’t handle the potency and died on the spot, which was discovered after the fact.”
Zhang Yu felt increasingly speechless.
Mortals stealing immortal elixirs, is that the deal? But he couldn’t help asking, “This stolen water was?”
Song Hailong smiled. “Just wastewater from the restrooms, bathhouses, and the like. It often has some residual potion components, which those lawless paupers stole for their own use.”
Zhang Yu said, “It’s a good thing they were caught. There won’t be any more victims in the future, right?”
Song Hailong nodded, smiling faintly. “Yes, the school later decided to sell the gutter water to those poor people themselves. The sewers have never been burgled since.”
Damn it… so in the eyes of White Dragon High, the only victim was White Dragon High itself, huh? Zhang Yu was speechless for a moment, then simply started his warm-up.
A short while later, seeing that Zhang Yu had finished warming up, Song Hailong added a few more rules for the training.
As he began to speak on the topic of training, the smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a serious expression.
“No need for lethal force in training. As long as you can control me, I lose. If the fight continues until your strength wanes and you’re no longer at your peak, and I still haven’t controlled you, that also counts as my loss.”
“If I can control you, then I win.”
“If you fail to win against me even once within these two hours, then this tutoring session is over, and you don’t need to come back in the future.”
Zhang Yu understood. Little Song wanted to defeat him at his peak in a head-on confrontation.
Next, Song Hailong said to Bai Zhenzhen, “As for you, Bai Zhenzhen, it’s as you said: either you fight me, or you stand aside and offer me guidance.”
“But if you can’t beat me, or if I find your advice useless, then you don’t need to come back in the future either.”
Then Zhang Yu walked over, and in the blink of an eye, he and Song Hailong were once again locked in ground combat.
Their hands collided and grappled, constantly using the Dragonback Mountain Toppler Hand to counter and exchange moves, each trying to lock the other’s body.
By now, Zhang Yu had already advanced his Dragonback Mountain Toppler Hand to level 10.
Even though he didn’t reveal it, still maintaining the appearance of a level 2, his understanding of this martial art, of grappling and wrestling, was far beyond anything Song Hailong could compare to.
In particular, Zhang Yu had also tried to integrate the Dragonback Mountain Toppler Hand into the Formless Cloud-Astral Qi of the Limitless Cloud Hand, using the astral qi to assist in completing various grappling and wrestling techniques.
Song Hailong felt as if his every move had been completely seen through by Zhang Yu. That white astral qi could not only deflect his power but could even execute techniques similar to the Dragonback Mountain Toppler Hand.
And so… almost as soon as the fight began, Song Hailong was already at a disadvantage, able to rely only on his brute strength and physique to forcibly break his opponent’s techniques.
This left Song Hailong utterly astonished.
This Zhang Yu… his technique is much stronger than yesterday.
How could he have improved so much in just one day?
A flash of insight suddenly struck Song Hailong.
This kid, he must have practiced the Dragonback Mountain Toppler Hand like crazy after he went back, all for the sake of beating me again right now.
Why would he think that?
Because ever since the match ended yesterday, Song Hailong himself had been finding people to train his Dragonback Mountain Toppler Hand relentlessly.
He even had his meals for the day injected directly into his stomach and veins to absorb them, all for the sake of making valiant progress and closing the technical gap with Zhang Yu as quickly as possible.
At this moment, sensing Zhang Yu’s improvement, Song Hailong thought to himself, He thought the same way I did? As expected of the man who barely defeated me.
At this thought, a competitive expression appeared on Song Hailong’s face. The vital energy in his body surged, and a torrent of magic power endlessly reinforced his physical form, allowing him to continuously erupt with ferocious power as he gritted his teeth and resisted Zhang Yu’s assault.
He felt as if he had been plunged into a stormy ocean. Zhang Yu’s hands were like a series of undercurrents, and the astral qi was like wave after wave, constantly dragging him down into the depths.
As for Zhang Yu’s side… he felt like he was trying to bind a furious dragon. Even when he managed to restrain it with chains time and again, his opponent would always manage to break them with sheer, savage force.
And Song Hailong’s technique? To Zhang Yu, it was…
Was there any improvement? Perhaps it’s just too minor compared to mine for me to notice.
Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen stood to the side watching the two fight, sighing in her heart.
Of these two, one has an absolute physical advantage, and the other has an absolute technical advantage.
Song Hailong’s moves are often countered by Zhang Yu’s technique.
And Zhang Yu’s moves are often broken by Song Hailong’s superior strength.
She couldn’t help but frown.
There’s no martial arts tournament ring or out-of-bounds rule today. Yu-boy can’t win with a clever trick.
I’m afraid this will go on until Yu-boy runs out of stamina.
Just as Bai Zhenzhen had thought, about three minutes later, Song Hailong suddenly stopped. “Your strength has weakened; you’re no longer at your peak. I lose this round. Take a rest and prepare for the next one.”
While the two rested, Bai Zhenzhen began to analyze their fight, pointing out their respective flaws.
At first, Song Hailong was somewhat dismissive, but he soon began to listen intently, his gaze toward Bai Zhenzhen changing slightly.
This woman’s insight is truly sharp. I originally thought she was just a freebie, but now it seems inviting her wasn’t a waste after all.
During the break, Zhang Yu curiously turned on the faucet to his side and took a few sips of the energy drink. He instantly felt a fire ignite in his stomach as his stamina rapidly recovered.
“It works this well?”
Zhang Yu had already made up his mind: the next time he came to White Dragon High, he would definitely bring a basin to fill up.
They continued to fight and rest intermittently. Zhang Yu and Song Hailong grappled repeatedly, but almost every encounter ended with Zhang Yu’s stamina giving out. Only once did Zhang Yu win by controlling Song Hailong’s joints.
Zhang Yu rubbed his sore hands, thinking, Although he says he lost, if this were a real fight to the finish, the one losing would be me after my stamina declined, wouldn’t it?
This Song Hailong is just too tough. Without the out-of-bounds rule of the ring, it’s very difficult for me to defeat him before my stamina drops.
I really do need to increase my physical strength.
At that moment, Zhang Yu felt an even greater urgency to make his physique stronger.
Before leaving White Dragon High, Song Hailong transferred the payment to the two of them, then looked at Zhang Yu and reminded him, “I won’t stop improving my physical strength just for the sake of our training.”
“In two months, when the sports competition officially begins, my physical strength will be at least level 4.0 or higher.”
“So… I hope you can work hard to keep up. Otherwise, if the gap in our physical strength becomes too large, the training will be meaningless.”
The moment they stepped out of White Dragon High’s gates, Bai Zhenzhen grabbed Zhang Yu and they started running towards the subway station.
Zhang Yu asked in confusion, “Zhen, what’s the rush?”
Bai Zhenzhen said, “I drank too much of that energy drink, I need to use the restroom!”
“That trash White Dragon High, they charge ten yuan to use the restroom, making me hold it until now.”
…
While Zhang Yu and Song Hailong were wrestling.
In a quiet room at Purple Cloud High School.
Le Mulan slowly dispersed the Purple Saint Heart Art that had been circulating in her mind, doing her best to halt the thought that ‘the rich are holy, wise, good, and strong, while the poor are filthy, foolish, evil, and weak’.
Under the effect of the Purple Saint Heart Art, she normally only had to look at her bank balance or the profits on her stocks. The larger the numbers, the smoother the heart art would circulate, the greater the benefit to her Dao heart, and the calmer and more stable her spirit would become.
But in contrast… this also caused her aversion and disgust towards poverty, and even the poor, to grow ever stronger.
However, the former Le Mulan didn’t think there was any problem with this. Whether it was poverty or poor people, money could shield her from them.
Until she encountered Zhang Yu in the ring.
Thinking of this, she took a deep breath and opened Zhang Yu’s social media feed.
Le Mulan encouraged herself internally, A poor person’s social media feed, here I come.
The first thing that met her eyes was a selfie of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen standing at the gate of White Dragon High School.
The accompanying text read: Back at White Dragon High again. Song Hailong, the number one first-year, invited us for instructional guidance. If any other friends would like some guidance, feel free to get in touch.
“Song Hailong actually paid the poor Zhang Yu for guidance?”
Seeing this, Le Mulan’s eyes lit up slightly.
He didn’t want the 400,000, but he’s willing to be paid for lessons?