Like the martial arts competition at White Dragon High, this sports competition held at Violet Cloud High was also scheduled for midnight.

However, due to Sunny Mountain High’s consistent investment in sports, the school chartered a bus for this event.

At this very moment, under the cloak of night, He Dayou, Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, and two other contestants, along with Wang Hai, the competition team’s coach, were riding the bus towards Violet Cloud High.

In addition, Qian Shen and Zhao Tianxing, as Zhang Yu’s friends, were also allowed on the bus by Wang Hai to watch the competition.

But apart from Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, who were full of fighting spirit, the others on the bus… some were cultivating their spiritual energy, some were reading, and some were scrolling through videos on their phones. In short, they had no expectations for this sports competition and just wanted to quickly get through it.

Of course, even when students from Sunny Mountain High were watching videos on their phones, they weren’t just watching anything.

The video showed a woman over four meters tall, with shoulders wider than a truck, looking like a giant, guiding people on body refinement techniques and promoting body refinement potions.

Wang Hai glanced at the video the student was watching and frowned, saying, “Watch less of these body refinement influencers; they’re all fake, just trying to trick you into buying medicine.”

The student was somewhat incredulous, “Mr. Wang, this is a super influencer with millions of fans. Many people have met her in person; it can’t be fake, right?”

Wang Hai snorted, “How could you reach this height and dimension in the Qi Refining Realm just by taking medicine? It’s obvious they’ve had plastic surgery; it’s all fake muscles and dead muscles.”

With the increase in the number of high school students and the development of the body refinement industry, many people naturally developed an aesthetic that “tall is beautiful” and “big is good.”

Wang Hai knew that in the fierce competition on the internet, body refinement influencers were becoming increasingly extreme in their pursuit of physical appearance.

They even began to sacrifice true strength for eye-catching appearances, pursuing a deformed aesthetic of four or even five meters tall from the original normal height of two or three meters.

Wang Hai sighed, “True cultivators who rely on medicine, training, and some reconstructive surgery to refine their bodies can only reach a height of three meters and a width of two meters, that’s basically the limit.”

“Those four-meter-tall influencers are all filled with fake muscles and fake bones. If you look closely at the needle holes on their bodies, the needle positions are all wrong.”

Shaking his head, Wang Hai sighed, “The company introduces young people every year to take out loans and get plastic surgery. If they don’t die on the operating table, they can become influencers and promote products. After a few years, the side effects of the surgery kick in, and they’re replaced by new influencers.”

“These people will lie about anything and sell any garbage medicine to earn money to treat themselves. Don’t watch them in the future.”

Wang Hai knew this so well because a classmate of his had gone down this path and eventually, after the side effects of the surgery kicked in, couldn’t afford treatment and died during a livestream. Even Wang Hai himself had been approached by an agency and almost pulled into the body refinement influencer world.

But after Wang Hai said this, he felt a wave of listlessness.

Because he thought of the breakthroughs in body refinement technology at White Dragon, Violet Cloud, and Scarlet Pagoda High.

For the past two weeks, Wang Hai had been using his connections to find out what kind of technology the Oasis Group had provided to the three high schools and what progress they had made as a result.

After all, this kind of technological upgrade in body refinement would inevitably affect the entire Sunny Mountain City’s body refinement market and have a huge impact on a gold-medal coach like Wang Hai.

But whether it was the three high schools or the companies behind them, they were strictly secretive about it. Apart from some obvious characteristics shown in the second-year sports competition, the real inside information was beyond what a sports teacher like him could find out.

And thinking of that second-year sports competition, Wang Hai’s expression became even gloomier.

He had witnessed firsthand in that competition how the second-year students of Sunny Mountain High were miserably eliminated and how they were squeezed out of the rankings by the absolute strength of the students from the three high schools.

Even Lan Ling, who had been carefully cultivated by the school and had started transplanting muscle fibers from third-year students early on, was trampled underfoot by the top students of the three high schools.

He couldn’t help but sigh that times had changed.

And thinking of this, Wang Hai couldn’t help but think of one person.

“Zhou Chechen…”

According to his grades, this second-year student council vice president should have participated in this second-year sports competition.

But Zhou Chechen was absent this time and did not participate in this second-year sports competition.

“Does Zhou Chechen know something?”

As Wang Hai was thinking, Zhang Yu, who was sitting not far away, was also thinking about today’s sports competition.

After learning about the breakthroughs in body refinement technology at the three high schools, Zhang Yu naturally asked his sister, Zhang Pianpian, who stood at the top of all high school students in Sunny Mountain City, the first-ranked third-year student at White Dragon High.

In Zhang Yu’s mind, the words of Zhang Pianpian appeared.

“This time, whether it’s the Oasis Group or the companies and families behind White Dragon, Violet Cloud, and Scarlet Pagoda High, they all attach great importance to this first-year sports competition.”

“You ask why they value the first-year competition and not other grades?”

“Naturally, because the lower the grade, the greater the impact of body refinement technology on scores compared to the individual student, and the more it can highlight the differences between body refinement technologies.”

“Zhang Yu, this first-year sports competition is not just a competition between students, but also a competition between the immortal cultivation techniques contained within the students and the schools and companies behind those techniques.”

“It’s a clash of immortal cultivation techniques between major companies, an extension of the company battlefield.”

“As for the attitude towards other high schools… for the three high schools, it’s just a matter of crushing them along the way.”

“By showing this crushing process, they promote advanced body refinement technology.”

And Zhang Yu remembered what he had asked at that time.

Zhang Yu: “Sister, does that sound like you don’t have much faith in me?”

Zhang Pianpian smiled slightly and said, “Whether I have faith in you or not is not important. What’s important is whether you 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 place in the competition at Sunny Mountain High.
In this past month, aided by the Hunyuan Pill, True Spiritual Root, and Scarlet Marrow Hunyuan Qi, his strength had broken through time and again, and the fortitude of his body had undergone a transformative advancement.

Dao Heart: Level 4 (80)
Mana: 43.9
Physical Strength: Level 4.95

But gazing at these three fundamental stats, Zhang Yu felt a sense of dissatisfaction, sighing softly as he sensed bottlenecks gradually forming in his Dao Heart, Mana, and Physical Strength.

“Alas, the ‘Celestial Cycle Qi Gathering Method’ is becoming increasingly inadequate. The rate at which I refine Mana has slowed considerably lately. After this physical competition, I must find a new breathing technique to cultivate.”

Cultivation methods were graded into Basic, Advanced, Expert, Military-Grade, and Immortal Sect levels, primarily based on quality.

However, even the highest quality Qi Refining realm technique would be useless for those in the Foundation Establishment stage.

The ‘Celestial Cycle Qi Gathering Method’ was a technique belonging to the early Qi Refining stage. Zhang Yu’s current level, however, was approaching that of a second-year high school student, requiring him to consider techniques suitable for the mid-Qi Refining stage.

Zhang Yu mused internally, “Secondly, there’s my Dao Heart. The ‘Celestial Martial Heart Refinement Art’ is sufficient to support further Dao Heart enhancement, but its drawback lies in… each session requiring simultaneous internal and external cultivation, necessitating the training of those nine external martial arts.”

Yet, Zhang Yu had been focused on enhancing his physical strength, practicing the Scarlet Marrow Hunyuan Qi.

This resulted in a lack of time to practice the Celestial Martial Heart Refinement Art, forcing him to continuously circulate the Desolate Bull Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra in his mind, thus bottlenecking Dao Heart improvement.

This was because the Desolate Bull Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra could only be considered an early Qi Refining technique, reaching the limit at around Dao Heart level 5.

“So, I also need to find a method that allows constant cultivation within the sea of consciousness, to continue enhancing my Dao Heart.”

“Finally, there’s physical strength.”

With the aid of the True Spiritual Root, coupled with the Hunyuan Pill and level 10 Scarlet Marrow Hunyuan Qi, Zhang Yu’s physical strength had surged continuously until it gradually approached level 5.00, at which point it began to slow down.

“The Scarlet Marrow Hunyuan Qi is still sufficient, the bottleneck should be at a higher level.”

“The reason it has slowed down recently must be that in the past two months… especially this past month, my physical strength has increased too rapidly, and my heart’s strength hasn’t kept pace.”

Because he had been purely refining his body through natural means, with virtually no reliance on elixirs, Zhang Yu’s organs weren’t growing as fast. His heart wasn’t expanding as rapidly as those who relied on elixirs.

“Fortunately, with the True Spiritual Root’s assistance, it should be soon…”

Zhang Yu could feel his heart growing stronger and more powerful each day, soon able to support his physical strength’s continued breakthrough.

“Considering this, after this sports competition, I must hurry and purchase a new breathing technique and heart sutra.”

“Speaking of which, the champion’s prize money for this sports competition has increased several times, finally reaching a hefty 300,000. As long as I get this 300,000…”

The thought of the 300,000 reward made Zhang Yu slightly excited.

However, this 300,000 prize also indicated the high caliber of this sports competition and the importance attached to it by various companies. As Zhang Pianpian had said, the competition would undoubtedly be unprecedentedly fierce, causing Zhang Yu to feel a hint of pressure.

In reality, only seven months had passed since the start of the first year of high school, and Zhang Yu’s fundamental stats were already approaching the average level of second-year students at Songyang High School, which could be described as a rapid advancement. Only when competing against the freaks from the three major high schools did he feel pressure.

Not far away, He Dayou looked at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, their faces full of fighting spirit, with a puzzled expression.

He didn’t understand why, in the current situation, these two still looked so confident.

Because the two often skipped class, he hadn’t been able to track their progress since the last monthly exam.

But in such a short period, no matter how much an individual improved… how could they compare to the breakthroughs in physical training techniques behind the three major high schools?

Just then, the bus carrying them had stopped at the gate of Ziyun High School.

Unlike the modern building of Bailong High School, Ziyun High School, from the outside, gave the impression of small bridges, flowing water, pavilions, and towers, with an antique, classical feel.

Especially under the illumination of various gold and white lights, it appeared even more ethereal, like a fairyland.

The entire Ziyun High School occupied a vast area, but there were no tall buildings in sight.

However, being able to occupy such a large area in the city and build the school like a park was enough to make people deeply understand the strong financial resources behind Ziyun High School.

Not long after Zhang Yu and the others entered Ziyun High School, they were led into the guest passage.

Accompanied by the introduction of the receiving teacher, disinfectant began to spray from the front of the passage.

Looking at everyone, the receiving teacher from Ziyun High School said apologetically, “Sorry, this is the school rule of Ziyun High School. Outsiders entering the school need to be uniformly disinfected to remove impurities.”

“Damn… are they treating us like dirt?” Zhang Yu was speechless. At that moment, he deeply understood that it wasn’t just Yue Mulan who had a cleanliness obsession at Ziyun High School, the entire school was obsessed with cleanliness.

This school was just as unreliable as Bailong High School.

So, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen stood up together, looking at the other party seriously.

Zhang Yu pointed at himself and then at the other Songyang students, saying, “I scored over 660 on the monthly exam and was the first in the Martial Arts Competition and fourth in the Magical Arts Competition. I’m different from them.”

“With my level, entering Bailong High School would be free. I don’t need to be disinfected, right?”

Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes flickered as she nodded, “Yeah, is there a VIP channel for those of us with a score above 660?”

The receiving teacher said apologetically, “Sorry, the school rules stipulate that all outsiders need to be disinfected, regardless of their scores.”

Damn it, even more unreliable than Bailong High School.

In an instant, in Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s minds, Ziyun High School had been ranked at the bottom among the three major high schools.

Then, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly pointed to people walking in another passage, saying, “Why don’t they need to be disinfected?”

Everyone immediately looked over and saw a team of ‘monsters’ wearing Bailong High School uniforms walking through a passage next to them, with no disinfection measures.

The receiving teacher from Ziyun High School smiled upon hearing this, the kind of expression as if saying, ‘Does this even need explaining?’

“Can that be the same?” The receiving teacher shook his head, “After all, they are from Bailong High School. As a partner school of Ziyun High School, they are not considered outsiders.”
Wang Hai said, “Alright, alright, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Now that we’re here, let’s follow the rules of Ziyun High School and not delay the upcoming competition.”

As a seasoned coach who had led teams to the three major high schools countless times over the years, Wang Hai could be considered extremely experienced.

Especially experienced in being humiliated by the three major high schools, an experience he had grown numb to, barely causing a ripple in his heart.

It was just that in previous years, Wang Hai could still hope for his students to win a bit of glory and snatch a few places in the athletic competitions, earning back some face.

“But this year, there’s no hope.”

He sighed, stepping into the disinfection channel ahead of everyone else.