Chapter 117: A Peerless Genius
In the spectator stands.
Lan Ling took a deep breath and slowly said, “He actually managed to do it? With the current weight of 12,531 kilograms and the gap to Yu Xinghan, it’s really possible for Zhang Yu to take first place in the overall score.”
As a second-year student specializing in body tempering who had participated in athletics meets before, Lan Ling deeply understood the difficulty of what Zhang Yu had just accomplished.
“To achieve this with his level of physical strength, his extraction of bodily power and his technique in circulating that power both far exceed the level of a first-year.”
Beside him, Zhou Chechen frowned, seemingly not having expected things to develop to this point at all.
He murmured, “Does that mean his contest of speed with Yu Xinghan in the previous event wasn’t achieved through some kind of potent drug either?”
“And this level of control over his body… no wonder he was able to control his surface features like Yu Xinghan after undergoing White Dragon’s new body tempering technology modification.”
Zhou Chechen looked at Zhang Yu walking off the high platform, feeling ever more regretful that he had failed to sign such a genius back then. Now, not only had he been snatched up by Zhang Pianpian, but it had also affected the deal between their two families and Purple Cloud.
Lan Ling, as a body tempering specialist, was currently full of admiration for the talent Zhang Yu had displayed.
But the more he admired it, the more he wanted to suppress him.
Lan Ling said coldly, “This Zhang Yu must be suppressed. Otherwise, if we let him keep promoting White Dragon’s demonic muscle technology, it will only hinder our upcoming cooperation with Purple Cloud; this is no longer just a matter of our private conflict with him.”
Zhou Chechen shook his head and said, “There you go again, getting anxious.”
“Zhang Yu is in the limelight right now, but behind him are White Dragon High School and the Immortal Resonance Group. To promote their new body tempering tech, they will definitely protect him. Why should we rush up to be the villains?”
“If anyone should be anxious now, it should be Purple Cloud and Red Pagoda.”
Zhou Chechen sighed and said, “Besides, in about two more months, Zhang Pianpian will be leaving.”
“The promotional effect of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen will have mostly worn off by then.”
“Won’t it be easy to deal with two penniless kids then? There are plenty of ways to make them obediently earn money for us.”
In the live broadcast room.
Gang Shan watched Zhang Yu walk off the stage and said, feeling moved, “This trip to Songyang City’s first-year athletics meet was truly not in vain.”
“To think he could successfully challenge 12,531 kilograms, and not through pure brute force, but through a peak combination of strength and skill.”
“Remarkable. The high school students these days are becoming more and more competitive, more and more terrifying.”
Beside him, Le Jingchen’s gaze swept across his phone, where someone had sent him the list of agents from Zhang Yu’s delivery.
With a casual glance, Le Jingchen knew they were all the most common, mass-market agents.
Confirming this point, Le Jingchen’s gaze hardened as he thought to himself, A physical level of 4.95 makes it impossible to lift a 12,531-kilogram Sky Pillar with brute force.
The drugs he used were also ordinary stuff.
Which means this Zhang Yu was able to do this… by relying on extreme extraction and control of his own body, pushing the control of his muscle power to its absolute limit.
Thinking of this, Le Jingchen felt a small sense of relief.
Thank goodness… thank goodness he’s just a peerless genius.
Geniuses were not scary, because no matter how peerless or amazing, a genius represented only a single strong individual.
Perhaps to many students, teachers, and audience members, certain geniuses were highly valued.
But from Le Jingchen’s lofty perspective, geniuses were just small, investable projects; what was truly frightening was unknown new technology.
What Le Jingchen had really been worried about… was whether the Immortal Resonance Group’s technology could mass-produce individuals like Zhang Yu, capable of challenging a 12,531-kilogram Sky Pillar.
Happily, it seemed for now that it was purely because this student named Zhang Yu possessed peerless talent.
But the thought… that the top ten would now include Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, two representatives of White Dragon’s technology, and that the champion and runner-up of the overall score would be taken by Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, made Le Jingchen feel a wave of displeasure.
Because this meant the promotional effect for Purple Cloud Supplements was diminished, and the return on his family’s investment this time was thus affected.
So, upon hearing Gang Shan’s sigh beside him, Le Jingchen followed up by saying, “Indeed. This Zhang Yu’s talent is quite terrifying.”
Hype? Who didn’t know how to do that?
Le Jingchen decided to thoroughly hype up this Zhang Yu, with the key emphasis on his peerless talent.
That way, his good results would all be because of his talent, and as a result… if the Immortal Resonance Group wanted to use this person to promote their new technology later, the effect would be diminished.
Le Jingchen was heard saying, “I don’t know if you noticed, Gang Shan, but when he lifted the Sky Pillar, his whole body was covered in blood, with injuries all over.”
“But he is able to move normally now, which means that although his entire body was injured, not a single area was severely hurt.”
“This is very frightening. It shows that he relied on his skill to cleverly distribute the force to various parts of his body, and no single part exceeded its tolerable limit.”
“You could say that he truly unleashed the absolute limit of his strength.”
“This person’s skill in power control has likely reached the level of peak Qi Refinement; even you and I cannot compare.”
Gang Shan shot Le Jingchen a surprised look. Brother… are you laying it on that thick? Does your Purple Cloud also have an investment in this Zhang Yu?
However, Gang Shan was, after all, a seasoned streamer who had even promoted high-interest loans that required mortgaging one’s own mother; what kind of situation hadn’t he seen? With a moment’s thought, he guessed Le Jingchen’s intention.
So he played along, saying, “Indeed, this Zhang Yu’s physical technique seems to have reached the pinnacle of perfection. In his hands, one part of strength can be used to produce ten parts of effect. Mere physical strength, body structure, or even drugs and technology… can no longer accurately describe his true power.”
“Nice hype!”
Inside the Songyang High School rest area.
Zhang Yu, listening to the conversation between Le Jingchen and Gang Shan in the live broadcast, nodded in deep agreement and asked, “Who is this streamer? Sharp-eyed, thorough analysis. Tell me his name, I’ll follow him later.”
He Dayou, who was watching the stream, said helplessly, “Gang Shan.”
Wang Hai said disapprovingly from the side, “He Dayou, since Zhang Yu is curious about this streamer, can’t you bring your phone over and share it with your classmate?”
He Dayou was once again speechless; he had never realized before how annoying high-achieving students were. At least when his grades were higher than others, he was never this arrogant.
Fortunately, Zhang Yu waved his hand and said, “No need, Teacher Wang. Don’t disturb a regular student’s life just for my little bit of curiosity.”
Zhang Yu sighed with emotion. “I am but a humble student who took fourth place in the Magic Power Competition, first place in the martial arts competition, and might take first place in the athletics meet. I just want to get along with everyone, not to create a clear hierarchy like at White Dragon and Purple Cloud.”
Wang Hai said to the other students nearby, “Look, look! Do you all see? Classmate Zhang Yu has always been this humble, which is how he achieved what he has today. If this were White Dragon High, you all would have to be kneeling to listen to him speak today.”
Then Wang Hai randomly pointed to a student and said, “Zhao Tianxing, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and get a few energy drinks for classmate Zhang Yu. Can’t you see he needs to replenish his strength after finishing the competition?”
Zhao Tianxing understood that although Wang Hai seemed to point randomly, the fact that he could precisely single out the student with the worst grades present meant that it was definitely not random.
He could only sigh that his weak-poor-clown theory had been validated once again, and then he ran off to get energy drinks for Zhang Yu.
Just then, the Sky Pillar on the stage lit up; the final overall scores and rankings for the athletics meet were about to be announced.
Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, Wang Hai… everyone present turned their gazes to the Sky Pillar, watching as the names appeared one by one.
First Place, Songyang High School, Zhang Yu, 341 points
Second Place, White Dragon High School, Yu Xinghan, 338 points
Third Place, Purple Cloud High School, Le Mulan, 324 points
Fourth Place, White Dragon High School, Song Hailong, 322 points
Fifth Place, Songyang High School, Bai Zhenzhen, 320 points
Sixth Place, Red Pagoda High School, Xiong Wenwu…
Bai Zhenzhen didn’t bother to read any further after sixth place; after all, in this competition, she felt that only the top five had any real substance. The rest were just riff-raff, not worth looking at.
On the other side, while Zhang Yu was still looking at his first-place name on the Sky Pillar, his phone rang. It was a call from Zhang Pianpian.
Zhang Yu answered the phone and said, “I took first place.”
Zhang Pianpian said, “Yes, I’ve already communicated with the White Dragon side. As long as you are willing to admit that you underwent White Dragon’s demonic muscle modification, they will give you advertisements and endorsements, and they will also handle the pressure from other companies for you.”
A flicker of joy appeared in Zhang Yu’s eyes as he asked, “How much money?”
Zhang Pianpian sighed. “It should have been more, but ever since Le Jingchen started hyping up your talent with Gang Shan, the Purple Cloud side has begun to promote you as a peerless genius from all angles. If this continues, the advertising and endorsement fees will likely be reduced significantly.”
Zhang Yu was enraged.
The praise that had sounded so pleasant just moments ago now seemed incredibly jarring in hindsight.
For the first time, Zhang Yu discovered that he detested this kind of praise.
Zhang Yu asked again, “What about Zhen? She’s in fifth place. Can you try to get some advertisements for her as well?”
Zhang Pianpian said, “I know, just wait for news.”
“Also, no matter how much money you get today, remember not to spend it yet, and especially don’t use it all to pay off your loans.”
“In less than two months, I’ll be heading to university.”
“Let’s meet tonight. I have some things to talk to you about as well.”
From Zhang Pianpian’s words, Zhang Yu felt a sense of urgency wash over him.
Before he knew it, less than two months remained before Zhang Pianpian would leave the first layer of Kunxu.
At that time, he and Bai Zhenzhen would lose the kind of protection Zhang Pianpian now provided and would have to face the pressure from the high school, the Student Council, and the companies alone.
At this thought, much of the joy in Zhang Yu’s heart from winning the athletics meet was washed away, replaced instead by a rising sense of urgency.