Chapter 103: The Extension of the Corporate Battlefield
Just like the martial arts competition at White Dragon High School, the athletics meet held at Purple Cloud High School was also scheduled for midnight.
However, due to Songyang High School’s consistent investment in athletics, the school had arranged for a bus this time.
In the dead of night.
He Dayou, Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, and the other two contestants, making a total of five, along with their coach Wang Hai, were riding the bus toward Purple Cloud High School.
Additionally, Qian Shen and Zhao Tianxing, as friends of Zhang Yu, had been allowed by Wang Hai to board the bus to watch the competition.
But aside from the spirited Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, the others on the bus were subdued… some were cultivating through breathing exercises, some were reading, and others were scrolling through videos on their phones. In short, they had no expectations for this athletics meet, carrying an air of just wanting to get it over with.
Of course, even when scrolling on their phones, Songyang High School students were not just watching anything.
On the screen was a woman, over four meters tall with shoulders broader than a truck, who looked like a giantess, instructing on the essentials of body tempering and promoting body tempering drugs.
Wang Hai glanced at the video the student was watching and frowned. “Watch less of these body tempering influencers. They’re all fake, just trying to trick you into buying alchemical enhancers.”
The student was skeptical. “Mr. Wang, she’s a major influencer with tens of millions of followers. Many people have seen her in person, so she can’t be fake, can she?”
Wang Hai snorted. “How could anyone in the Qi Refinement realm achieve that height and dimension just by relying on drugs? It’s obviously plastic surgery, all fake and unresponsive muscle.”
With the growing number of high school students and the development of the body tempering industry, a peculiar aesthetic of “taller is more beautiful, bigger is better” had naturally emerged.
Wang Hai knew that the body tempering influencers online, under intense competition, were pursuing increasingly extreme physiques.
They had even started to abandon true strength for eye-catching appearances, moving from a normal physique of two or three meters to a grotesque aesthetic of four or even five meters.
Wang Hai lamented, “A practitioner who earnestly tempers their body, relying on drugs and exercise supplemented by some modification surgeries, will find that reaching three meters tall and two meters wide is basically the limit.”
“Those four-meter-tall influencers are filled with prosthetic muscles and bones. If you look closely at the injection marks on their bodies, you’ll see the needle points are all wrong.”
Shaking his head, Wang Hai sighed, “Every year, corporations entice young people to take out loans for plastic surgery. If they don’t die on the operating table, they can become influencers hawking products. After a few years, when the surgical side effects kick in, they’re replaced by new influencers.”
“To earn money for their own treatment, these people will tell any lie and sell any piece of junk. You should stop watching them from now on.”
How did Wang Hai know so much? It was because a former classmate of his had gone down that path. After the side effects of the surgery manifested, he exhausted his family’s fortune but couldn’t be cured, ultimately dying during a live broadcast. Even Wang Hai himself had been approached by a talent agency, nearly getting pulled into the world of body tempering influencers.
But after saying all this, Wang Hai was overcome by a wave of listlessness.
He was reminded of the recent breakthroughs in body tempering technology at White Dragon, Purple Cloud, and Red Pagoda.
For the past two weeks, Wang Hai had been using his connections to find out what kind of technology Oasis Group had provided to the three major high schools, and what concessions those schools had made in return.
After all, such a generational update in body tempering technology was bound to affect the entire body tempering market in Songyang City, and it would certainly have a huge impact on a top-tier coach like him.
But whether it was the three major high schools or the corporations behind them, they all maintained strict secrecy. Apart from some obvious characteristics displayed at the second-year athletics meet, the true intelligence within was beyond what a physical education teacher like him could uncover.
And the thought of that second-year athletics meet made Wang Hai’s expression darken further.
He had personally witnessed at that competition how the second-year students from Songyang High School were miserably eliminated, how they were pushed out of the rankings by the sheer power of the students from the three major high schools.
Even Lan Ling, whom the school had meticulously cultivated and who had received muscle fiber transplants from third-year students early on, was trampled under the feet of the top students from the three schools.
It made him sigh inwardly that the times had changed.
As he thought of this, Wang Hai couldn’t help but think of one person.
Zhou Chechen…
Based on his results, the vice president of the second-year Student Council should have participated in this year’s second-year athletics meet.
But for some reason, Zhou Chechen was absent this time; he did not participate in the competition.
Does Zhou Chechen know something?
While Wang Hai was pondering, Zhang Yu, sitting not far away, was also contemplating today’s athletics meet.
After learning about the breakthroughs in body tempering technology at the three major high schools, Zhang Yu had naturally asked his sister, Zhang Pianpian, who stood at the pinnacle of all high school students in Songyang City and was ranked first among the third-years at White Dragon High School.
Zhang Pianpian’s words now surfaced in Zhang Yu’s mind.
“This time, whether it’s Oasis Group or the corporations and families behind White Dragon, Purple Cloud, and Red Pagoda, they are all placing great importance on this first-year athletics meet.”
“You ask why the focus is on the first-year competition and not the other grades?”
“It’s because the lower the grade, the more the influence of body tempering technology on scores outweighs the individual student’s talent, and the more it highlights the differences between the technologies.”
“Zhang Yu, this first-year athletics meet isn’t just a competition between students. It’s a competition between the Immortal Dao technologies embodied by the students, and behind those technologies, the schools and corporations.”
“It’s a clash of Immortal Dao technologies between the major corporations, an extension of the corporate battlefield.”
“As for their attitude toward the other high schools… for the big three, it’s a matter of crushing them as a matter of course.”
“It is by showcasing this process of crushing you that they will advertise their advanced body tempering technology.”
And now Zhang Yu recalled the question he had asked at the time.
Zhang Yu: “Sis, from the sound of it, you’re not very optimistic about my chances?”
Zhang Pianpian had smiled faintly and said, “Whether I’m optimistic about you or not is unimportant. What matters is whether you truly have the strength to defeat your opponents.”
At this moment, on the bus, Zhang Yu looked at his Feather Book. Is this strength enough to defeat them?
More than a month had passed since the last time he competed for a spot at Songyang High School.
In this month, with the help of the Crimson Marrow Primordial Pill, his True Spiritual Root, and the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi, his strength had broken through repeatedly, and his body strength in particular had developed by leaps and bounds.
Dao heart: Level 4 (80%)
Magic power: 43.9
Body Strength: Level 4.95
But looking at his three basic stats, Zhang Yu still felt unsatisfied, sighing inwardly that he was gradually hitting a bottleneck in his Dao heart, magic power, and body strength.
Sigh, the Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method is becoming less and less effective. The speed of my magic power refinement has been slowing down recently. After this athletics meet, I must start looking for a new breathing exercise to practice.
Cultivation techniques were graded as basic, advanced, expert, military, and immortal sect, primarily based on their quality.
But no matter how good a technique was for the Qi Refinement realm, it would be useless in the Foundation Establishment realm.
The Celestial Cycle Qi-Gathering Method was a technique for the early stage of Qi Refinement. Zhang Yu’s current level was already approaching that of a second-year student, so he needed to consider a technique for the middle stage of Qi Refinement.
Next is my Dao heart. The Heavenly Martial Heart-Tempering Art is actually sufficient to continue raising my Dao heart, but the trouble with this technique is… every practice session requires both internal and external cultivation, practicing those nine external arts.”
And it just so happened that Zhang Yu had recently been focusing on increasing his body strength, cultivating the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi.
This meant he had no time to practice the Heavenly Martial Heart-Tempering Art and could only continuously circulate the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Mantra in his mind, causing his Dao heart’s improvement to hit a bottleneck.
This was because the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Mantra could only be considered an early-stage Qi Refinement technique; reaching level 5 Dao heart was pretty much its limit.
So I still need to find a heart art that I can practice constantly in my sea of consciousness to continue raising my Dao heart.
Finally, there was his body strength.
Originally, with the assistance of his True Spiritual Root, coupled with the Crimson Marrow Primordial Pill and the level 10 Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi, Zhang Yu’s body strength had been soaring. It was only when he gradually approached level 5.00 that the progress began to slow.
The Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi is still effective enough; its bottleneck should be at a much higher level.
The reason it’s slowed down recently should be because over the past two months… especially this last month, my body strength has increased too quickly, and the strength of my heart hasn’t kept up.
Because he relied on purely natural body tempering and used very few drugs, the growth rate of Zhang Yu’s internal organs was not fast, and his heart was not enlarging as rapidly as those of the drug-reliant competitors.
Fortunately, with the help of the True Spiritual Root, it should be soon…
Zhang Yu could feel his heart growing stronger and more powerful these days. It should soon be able to support another breakthrough in his body strength.
By this calculation, I should hurry up and buy a new breathing exercise and heart art after this athletics meet.
Speaking of which, the prize money for the champion of this athletics meet has increased several times, finally reaching a full 300,000. As long as I get that 300,000…
The thought of the 300,000 prize money made Zhang Yu slightly excited.
But the 300,000 prize also indicated the high profile of this athletics meet and the importance the major corporations placed on it. Just as Zhang Pianpian had said, the competition was bound to be unprecedentedly fierce, making Zhang Yu feel a trace of pressure.
In reality, it had only been eight months since the start of his first year, and Zhang Yu’s basic stats were already approaching the average level of a second-year student at Songyang High School. This was already considered meteoric progress, and it was only when competing against the freaks from the three major high schools that he felt any pressure.
Not far away, He Dayou looked at the determined faces of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen with confusion.
He didn’t understand why, given the current situation, these two still looked so confident.
Although he hadn’t been able to gauge their progress since the last monthly exam because they were always skipping class.
But in such a short amount of time, no matter how much an individual broke through… how could it possibly compare to the technological breakthroughs of the three major high schools?
Just then, the bus they were on pulled to a stop at the entrance of Purple Cloud High School.
Unlike the modern skyscrapers of White Dragon High School, Purple Cloud High School had an appearance of small bridges, flowing water, pavilions, and terraces, giving it a classical, quaint feeling.
Especially under the illumination of various gold and white lights, it appeared even more ethereal, like a realm of immortals.
The entire campus of Purple Cloud High School covered a vast area, yet there were no tall buildings to be seen.
However, being able to occupy such a large piece of land in the city and build a school that looked like a park was enough to give one a profound understanding of the immense financial power behind Purple Cloud High School.
Shortly after entering the campus, Zhang Yu and the others were led into a guest passageway.
As the receiving teacher made introductions, the passageway ahead began to spray a disinfectant.
The receiving teacher from Purple Cloud High School looked at them apologetically and said, “My apologies, this is a school rule at Purple Cloud High. All off-campus personnel must be disinfected upon entry to remove any filth.”
What the hell… Are they treating us like some kind of vermin? Zhang Yu was speechless. At that moment, he deeply understood that it wasn’t just Le Mulan who had a cleanliness obsession; this whole damn school had one.
This wretched school was just as unreliable as White Dragon High School.
So Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen stepped forward together, looking at the teacher seriously.
Zhang Yu pointed to himself and then to the others from Songyang, saying, “I scored over 660 on the monthly exam, and I’m first in the martial competition and fourth in the Magic Power Competition. I’m different from them.”
“At my level, I could get into White Dragon High School for free. I don’t need to be disinfected, right?”
Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes flickered, and she nodded in agreement. “That’s right. Is there a VIP channel suitable for those of us with scores over 660?”
The receiving teacher said with an apologetic face, “I’m sorry, the school rules are absolute. All outside personnel must be disinfected, with no distinction based on scores.”
Damn it, this is even more unreliable than White Dragon High School.
In an instant, in the minds of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, Purple Cloud High School had already hit rock bottom in their ranking of the three major high schools.
Then Bai Zhenzhen suddenly pointed to people walking down another passageway. “How come they don’t need to be disinfected?”
Everyone immediately looked over and saw a group of ‘monsters’ in White Dragon High School uniforms walking through an adjacent passageway, with no disinfection measures in sight.
The receiving teacher from Purple Cloud High School chuckled at her words, his expression seeming to say, ‘Does this even need an explanation?’
“How can that be the same?” The receiving teacher shook his head. “They are from White Dragon High School, after all. As a partner school of Purple Cloud High, they are not considered off-campus personnel.”
Wang Hai spoke up. “Alright, alright, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Since we’re here, let’s follow Purple Cloud High’s rules. Don’t delay the start of the competition.”
As a veteran coach who had led teams to the three major high schools for competitions countless times over the years, Wang Hai was exceptionally experienced.
He was especially experienced in being insulted by the three major high schools, and his heart was no longer stirred by such things.
It was just that in previous years, Wang Hai could still count on his students to fight for some glory in the athletics meet, to snatch a ranking and win back some face.
This year, however, there’s no hope.
He sighed and stepped into the disinfection channel first.