Chapter 115: Holding Up the Sky
While Zhang Yu was silently conserving his energy and spirit, a wave of gasps erupted from the arena.
In the broadcast room, Gang Shan stared at the “10000 kg” displayed on the Sky Pillar, astonished. “Challenging such a high weight in the second round?”
Xiong Wenwu slowly ascended the stage, his eyes fixed on the Sky Pillar pressing down from above, as if he were watching a section of the sky collapsing towards him.
The next moment, his massive, bear-paw-like hands shot up and slammed against the descending pillar.
With an explosive bang, Xiong Wenwu’s entire body tensed, veins bulging on his skin as blood seeped from between his clenched teeth.
But even with such exertion, the Sky Pillar’s descent didn’t slow in the slightest; it seemed poised to crush the figure on the stage, inch by inch.
However, in the next instant, a ferocious roar burst from Xiong Wenwu, and a sound like a dragon’s cry seemed to ripple through the arena, causing countless students and spectators to tremble.
Simultaneously, a bloody mist erupted from all over Xiong Wenwu’s body.
The black dragon scales cracked like overstretched clothing, splitting open into one bloody gash after another.
His skin, flesh, and scales couldn’t withstand the overloaded burst of power, torn apart by his violently expanding muscles.
And as the bloody mist burst from his body, the descending Sky Pillar gradually came to a halt. With another thunderous roar, he even managed to push it back up by several inches.
The 10,000-kilogram challenge was a success.
Below the stage, Hu Yuntao let out a tiger’s roar, leading the Red Pagoda students in a wave of cheers.
Gang Shan was surprised. “He went all out in the second round? His muscles must be severely torn. With an injury that severe, he definitely won’t be able to participate in the next round.”
“However, with a score of 10,000 kilograms, no one here besides Yu Xinghan has a chance of surpassing it. Now we’ll see if Yu Xinghan decides to push himself in the final round.”
Le Jingchen watched Xiong Wenwu walk off the stage, but he noticed that wasn’t the case.
The boy’s injuries… were healing rapidly.
The Black Dragon bloodline gives them extraordinary regenerative abilities? And on top of that…
Seeing the medical team rush towards Xiong Wenwu, Le Jingchen felt that this student might very well compete again in the third round.
Le Jingchen remarked, “Xiong Wenwu’s 10,000-kilogram achievement will surely motivate the other contestants. The next round is going to be exciting.”
…
As the second round concluded, the contestants began submitting their target weights for the final round.
The staff member recording the weights thought to himself, Was everyone stimulated by Xiong Wenwu’s final desperate push? They’re all going so hard…
Just then, his eyes suddenly widened, and he looked up at Zhang Yu. “This number… are you sure?”
After confirming it several times, the staff member finally recorded the target weight Zhang Yu had submitted, though a single question echoed in his mind: “Is he insane?”
Meanwhile.
In the White Dragon High School rest area.
Just as Yu Xinghan was about to submit his target weight… he was stopped.
Yu Xinghan spoke to Li Xuelian on the other end of the phone, “Senior Sister, why are you stopping me? You know my strength; this weight is absolutely no problem.”
Li Xuelian’s voice was calm. “But if you unleash an overloaded burst, you’ll get injured.”
“Xinghan, your body is very strong, but that also means it’s very expensive to repair.”
“I don’t wish to waste Father’s money on medical expenses.”
Yu Xinghan said, “What about the contract? If I let this Xiong Wenwu beat me next round, I’ll only get second place in this event.”
Li Xuelian replied coolly, “Even if you get second in this event, your total score will still be first. You will still be the champion of this athletics meet.”
“Don’t waste money for the sake of some insignificant ranking.”
Yu Xinghan still felt a sense of suppressed frustration.
The thought that he was clearly stronger than Xiong Wenwu but was being prevented from crushing him with a single burst, and might instead have to let him take first place in the final event… it made the Heavenly Martial Heart-Tempering Art circulating in his mind feel sluggish.
As if sensing his dissatisfaction, Li Xuelian added a warning, “Xinghan, understand that your body no longer belongs to you. Everything you have belongs to Father. You have no right to consume assets and money that are not yours.”
“This is also Father’s will.”
After ending the call, Li Xuelian thought to herself, His long-term practice of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Tempering Art has made his thinking somewhat rigid. This is a good opportunity to suppress that a bit, and it can serve as a foundation for his next heart art.
As for the competition rankings, Li Xuelian had no worries.
Yu Xinghan had accumulated too large of a lead in the first three events. Even if he let Xiong Wenwu take first place here, it wouldn’t matter. Yu Xinghan would still be the overall champion, and the advertising and endorsement contracts with White Dragon High School and the Immortal Resonance Group would proceed smoothly.
Back in the arena, after Yu Xinghan hung up, he crushed his phone with a crack, and a chilling aura emanated from him, causing all the surrounding high school students to keep their distance.
After a long while, and only after repeated urging from the staff, did he walk over with a frosty expression and submit his target weight for the final round.
…
As the final round of the Sky Pillar began, the contestants, no longer conservative like in the previous round, went all out and began to challenge their limits.
Some succeeded, some failed, and some were injured.
Gang Shan commented, “Everyone’s giving it their all this round. The specific numbers for their target weights are also very interesting. I believe that the contestants who can set their target weights most accurately are the ones who have the most thorough understanding of their own limits.”
Le Jingchen nodded. “Theoretically, the better one understands their own body and condition, the more precise the weight they set will be.”
When Bai Zhenzhen took the stage, the number displayed on the Sky Pillar was 8050 kilograms.
As immense pressure transmitted from her palms, the scars on Bai Zhenzhen’s body once again turned crimson, like dragon claws slowly tightening their grip on her.
Perhaps due to the stimulation from the speed competition, her scars now appeared even more vivid, glowing like rubies.
When Bai Zhenzhen let out a fierce cry and pushed the Sky Pillar upward, several scars finally split open, staining her body with blood.
Bai Zhenzhen let out a pained grunt and roared in her heart, “Damn it, body… hold on! I have to get into the Ten Greats!”
After holding on for five seconds, Bai Zhenzhen finally lowered her hands and walked off the platform, covered in blood.
Wang Hai immediately ran up to her, sighing helplessly. “You know your own condition. Why didn’t you report a lower weight?”
Bai Zhenzhen just smiled without saying a word, thinking to herself, In the last martial arts competition, I didn’t have the money or the confidence to fight to the end.
This time, with Yu-boy winning the championship and reimbursing my medical expenses, I can finally let loose a little.
At this thought, Bai Zhenzhen looked over at Zhang Yu, who was still immersed in his own world, completely focused. That’s right, Yu-boy, keep it up. Your mom is counting on you to cover these medical bills.
Just then, Bai Zhenzhen felt a wave of heat wash over her. She saw Le Mulan, who was passing by on her way to the stage, steaming like she was being cooked.
Bai Zhenzhen couldn’t help but complain internally, How many damn enhancers did she take? Is she trying to turn into an alchemy furnace?
Le Mulan recalled the process of taking the enhancers just moments before.
Her competition coach had said worriedly, “Even if this is Chairman Le Jingchen’s request, isn’t this dosage a bit too dangerous?”
Le Mulan had replied nonchalantly, “Give them to me.”
She turned to the advertising camera nearby and said slowly, “For other students, this event is just about challenging their physical limits. But for me, having undergone the super-metabolism surgery, this event is also a chance to challenge my medication limits.”
After displaying each of the enhancers, Le Mulan injected them one by one into her body. A moment later, she felt her heart pound violently, and her face instantly turned beet red.
“My target weight is 9000 kilograms. This is a result only strength-focused contestants can achieve, but now… I can do it!”
On the stage, after Le Mulan shakily supported the 9000-kilogram Sky Pillar for five seconds, she suddenly collapsed to her knees, feeling her leg bones fracture.
But facing the countless cameras and the upcoming media blitz, she knew she couldn’t show weakness; this was her responsibility as a key member of her family’s next generation.
So she forced herself to her feet, trying her best to walk off the stage as if nothing had happened.
The moment she was offstage, she was surrounded by cameras. Although her head was spinning, with reminders from her coach, Le Mulan managed to deliver her advertising lines.
After Le Mulan’s successful 9000-kilogram lift, Song Hailong managed 9300 kilograms, Hu Yuntao, drenched in his own blood, lifted 9800 kilograms, and Yu Xinghan broke 10001 kilograms, becoming the second person in the entire competition to successfully challenge a 10-ton Sky Pillar.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the entire crowd, Xiong Wenwu, still bearing the bloody marks of his last attempt, slowly ascended the stage.
But just as everyone was anticipating Xiong Wenwu’s performance, Wang Hai noticed something strange.
“Where’s Zhang Yu? Why hasn’t he gone up yet?”
“Is he scheduled after Xiong Wenwu?”
“Just how many kilograms did he report?”
Meanwhile, Xiong Wenwu once again looked up at the slowly descending Sky Pillar, feeling the oppressive black mass gradually obscure his vision, as if the sky itself were falling.
And this feeling of the sky falling… he had experienced it countless times since he was a child.
Every screening at the breeding facility, every time a companion was eliminated, every exam after entering high school… each time was so tense, so terrifying, so utterly helpless.
Just like at this very moment, as he tried to raise his palms to hold back the pressure descending from the heavens.
He could only feel the 10,800-kilogram weight pressing down with an unstoppable force, forcing his head down, bending his back, and driving him to his knees.
A referee nearby asked, “Xiong Wenwu, do you wish to continue?”
Xiong Wenwu didn’t hear the referee; his mind was filled only with the orders given by his father.
“10,800 kilograms. You should be able to do that, right? Isn’t the strength event supposed to be your specialty? If you can’t even do this, who will buy the new technology Red Pagoda is launching?”
“Injured?”
“If you don’t get injured, how can you demonstrate the restorative capabilities of the new technology?”
“Getting injured is a good thing. The more severe the injury, the better you can showcase your recovery.”
At this moment, Xiong Wenwu’s muscles grew tighter and tighter, his teeth felt like they were about to shatter, and his heart pounded like a car engine.
I can do it!
I can do it, Father!
I am not the same as I was before, not the same Number 33456 who could only watch helplessly as fate was decided, as the sky fell.
I have studied now, I have cultivated the Immortal Dao, I am a high school student! A chosen one destined for university!
Now… I can hold up the sky!
ROAR!
As the muscles in his arms burst, Xiong Wenwu violently stopped the descending Sky Pillar.
Then, as his massive body rose to its full height, the Sky Pillar was pushed back a full meter.
With the sound of tearing muscles and cracking bones, bloody blossoms erupted all over Xiong Wenwu’s body, and a trickle of blood from his ruptured organs flowed from the corner of his mouth.
The next five seconds felt as long as his entire life.
When Xiong Wenwu came to his senses, he had already collapsed on the stage.
Looking at Hu Yuntao rushing towards him, Xiong Wenwu murmured, “Did… did I succeed?”
Hu Yuntao nodded repeatedly, exclaiming excitedly, “You did it, Big Brother! With this promotion, the Black Dragon bloodline technology will definitely be a huge seller!”
Immediately, cameras swarmed in, beginning to document the entire process of Xiong Wenwu’s recovery.
Hu Yuntao encouraged him from the side, “Big Brother! You have to hold on, don’t pass out! You still haven’t said the advertising slogan…”
Just as Xiong Wenwu was being carried off, with the Red Pagoda students cheering for their first-place victory and the other students and spectators marveling at his achievement.
The Sky Pillar on the stage trembled slightly, and a new number appeared.
12531 kg.
Only then did everyone realize there was still a contender left. Who could it be?