Within the rest area of Ziyun High School.

Le Mulan had already remounted Lian Tianji’s back.

She watched Bai Zhenzhen rush towards the arena, phone in hand, explaining the usage rights to the referee. “Bai Zhenzhen can actually use Zhang Yu’s phone to shop? Does she know his password and payment details?” she inquired.

“These two must be kindred spirits,” Lian Tianji remarked.

Seeing Zhang Yu slowly return to the rest area, Le Mulan patted Lian Tianji’s head and said, “I remember you have Zhang Yu as a friend, right?”

As soon as Zhang Yu reached the rest area, he poured all the potions he had bought before the competition to restore stamina, mana, and energy into his mouth.

Feeling the rapid recovery of strength within his body, his heart settled slightly.

The organizers had allotted half an hour of rest before the final, which, in Zhang Yu’s view, was enough to restore eighty to ninety percent of his stamina and mana.

Bai Zhenzhen, standing nearby, said, “…Did you remember everything I just told you?”

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, she continued, “Then I won’t say more. Rest well and prepare for the next battle.”

Not long after Bai Zhenzhen left, Zhang Yu felt a slight vibration from his phone. Opening it, he saw that Lian Tianji had recommended a friend for him.

“Le Mulan?”

Confused as to why Le Mulan would want to add him, Zhang Yu simply accepted the request.

Then, he saw a message from Le Mulan: Let’s meet. I have something I want to discuss with you.

Zhang Yu arrived at a quiet walkway outside the arena and saw Le Mulan already waiting there, radiating youthful beauty.

This top student from Ziyun High School possessed a beautiful face and a frosty demeanor. Wherever she went, she seemed to be the focus of attention, drawing gazes.

Seeing Zhang Yu arrive, she directly stated, “Two hundred thousand, I’ll buy you to lose. How about it?”

Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback. “You want to spend money to buy the competition champion?”

Le Mulan said nonchalantly, “Wealth is power, and money is part of strength. The martial arts competition is about choosing the strongest. Why can’t I use money to buy it?”

Zhang Yu stared at her and snorted, “You’re not confident in beating me?”

Le Mulan shook her head. “I just think fighting you might cost more than two hundred thousand. Using this money to guarantee a win, I think it’s worth it.”

Seeing Zhang Yu’s silence, Le Mulan added, “If two hundred thousand isn’t enough, then how about four hundred thousand? But that’s my limit. If you try to raise the price again, I won’t agree.”

Zhang Yu swallowed hard. He had to admit that the four hundred thousand that Le Mulan was offering was even more powerful than all the moves he had encountered in the continuous arena battles.

Four hundred thousand could buy what kind of cultivation manual? How long could he rent a spirit root? How many cultivation tools could he purchase? How much could he improve in talisman making?

Zhang Yu even felt that if he had this four hundred thousand, it would improve his cultivation far more than the martial arts competition’s five thousand reward and an expert-level cultivation manual.

After all, in Kunxu, as long as you had money, you had potential, you had aptitude, and you could advance wildly on the path of immortality. Even gods would serve people.

Zhang Yu said, “Okay, just transfer it directly to my card.”

Le Mulan opened her five fingers, and a purple jade-colored talisman book appeared in her palm. “Sign a contract with me under the witness of the true gods, and I’ll transfer the money to you immediately.”

Seeing Zhang Yu silent, instead of agreeing, Le Mulan asked in surprise, “You’re hesitating about four hundred thousand?”

She felt very strange.

“I heard from Lian Tianji that a few hundred yuan is enough to hire you as a security guard, right?”

“You poor people clearly fight over a few hundred or thousand every day, so why are you hesitating when four hundred thousand is right in front of you?”

“With your background, you can’t possibly get into the top ten universities. Is the first place in the martial arts competition really that important?”

There was no mockery in Le Mulan’s tone, as if she was genuinely very puzzled by Zhang Yu’s behavior at this moment.

Shaking her head, she turned to leave. “Since you can’t decide for the moment, I’ll leave first. But you can come and get this four hundred thousand before the final starts. But it’s only four hundred thousand at most, and I won’t raise the price.”

Watching Le Mulan leave, Zhang Yu asked Zhang Pianpian on his phone: Sis, if I don’t get first place in the martial arts competition, but only second, how much will it affect my chances of getting into the top ten universities?

Zhang Pianpian: The path I’m trying to find for you requires your high school grades and competition rankings to be as high as possible. The higher they are, the more likely you are to be selected. First place in the competition is naturally more likely to get into the top ten than second place.

Zhang Yu understood, so taking this four hundred thousand didn’t mean he couldn’t get into the top ten, only that the chances would be reduced…

But just as a thought of agreeing to Le Mulan’s offer arose in his heart, that damn ritual started yelling at him again.

“I knew it.”

“You brainless thing are really afraid I won’t get into the top ten.”

Feeling the four hundred thousand slip away from him, Zhang Yu felt a heart-wrenching pain, a pain even greater than when he and Lian Tianji clashed fists, even greater than when he and Song Hailong fought with all their might.

“Is this the heartache of losing a fortune?”

Immediately, Zhang Yu activated the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, severing all distracting thoughts.

At this moment, only one thought remained in his heart.

He would beat the hell out of that damn rich woman Le Mulan in the arena.

…As the final began.

Le Mulan and Zhang Yu simultaneously stepped onto the arena.

The martial arts competition had finally reached its final stage.

Countless blue and white sword energies surged out of Le Mulan’s body with an overwhelming force, slashing towards Zhang Yu.

Once Le Mulan’s Star Dou Sword Art was unleashed, it was continuous, dignified, and arranged like a formation, making it difficult to break through.

Seeing Zhang Yu dodging left and right under her sword energy, occasionally using the Phaseless Cloud Veil to resist, Le Mulan felt like she was watching a rat scurrying around.

“You want to exhaust my mana?”

Le Mulan laughed. “Do you think you can exhaust it all?”
The next moment, accompanied by Le Mulan’s bursting sword qi, the magical power within her body surged increasingly, like a roaring river, ceaseless and boundless. The force of her magical power had surpassed that of all the other contestants present.

At the same time, a female voice echoed from within her.

“Welcome to the Ziyun Replaceable Core.”

“Remaining magical power in the core: 8,000,000.”

Le Mulan touched her abdomen, then looked towards Zhang Yu before her, “The replaceable core within my body, I have charged with magical power worth a total of 8 million.”

Simultaneously, a line of text appeared on her wrist, a number constantly decreasing from 8 million.

Clearly, as she continuously unleashed her magical power and sword qi, the magical power charged within the core was being constantly consumed. However, with a reduction of only a thousand’s worth per second, the distance to completely exhausting the 8 million was still extremely far.

But this also meant that Le Mulan was spending thousands of currency for every second she fought.

With a flick of Le Mulan’s fingers, streams of sword qi bombarded Zhang Yu like a storm. Forget getting close, it was practically forcing Zhang Yu off the stage, inch by inch.

“If you worry that my meridians cannot withstand such surging magical power, there’s no need to fret.”

“My battle spiritual root, ‘Magic Labyrinth,’ has already protected all my meridians, allowing me to maintain a high output of magical power continuously, without worrying about wear and tear.”

At the same time, seeing Le Mulan’s unrestrained bombardment on the stage, flaunting her wealth with 8 million worth of inexhaustible magical power, the audience became excited.

This was even more admirable than Song Hailong’s 10 million insurance, because that 10 million was from the insurance company, while Le Mulan was throwing out her own hard-earned money.

Some audience members, watching Le Mulan scattering money, praised, “So beautiful, this way of spending money without caring is truly beautiful.”

Some audience members were filled with envy, “Having money is truly awesome, truly blissful.”

Some audience members awakened, “Indeed, to walk far on the path of immortality, one must spend money. Today, I will fiercely squeeze my old folks’ coffers and advance further on the path of immortality.”

Accompanied by the noisy sounds from the audience, Le Mulan frowned slightly.

While firing sword qi, she looked at Zhang Yu and said, “Did you hear that? Although they are a bit noisy, they are not wrong. Money is the foundation of cultivation.”

“As a poor person, if you had earned that forty thousand today, you could have gotten a little closer to me.”

“But you actively gave up this opportunity to become stronger.”

She looked in Zhang Yu’s direction, asking with a sincere expression, “I’m very curious, you are so poor, yet unwilling to earn money, why is that?”

It seemed that Le Mulan had said so much just to ask this question that she felt curious about.

Zhang Yu looked at her sincere inquiry and suddenly felt a bit amused.

Was this the rich daughter coming to observe the life of a pauper?

He snorted coldly and said, “The price is set at 400,000, is it because you think you can win against me with a maximum spend of 400,000?”

Le Mulan nodded, “Correct, I have calculated that your defeat is worth at most 400,000. Spending even a single bit more is a waste.”

At the same time, with the continuous bombardment of sword qi, a crack finally appeared in the Immeasurable Cloud Qi, cutting a sword mark on Zhang Yu’s palm.

Zhang Yu said calmly, “What if I add in the blood of this pauper?”

Blood dripped into the qi, staining the Immeasurable Cloud Qi with traces of crimson.

But facing the injury on his hand, Zhang Yu was not flustered in the slightest. Instead, he was prepared, suddenly splashing the blood-covered hand towards Le Mulan’s location.

Le Mulan, who had not moved from start to finish, always forcing her opponent with sword qi, actually moved her feet slightly, deliberately avoiding the splashed blood.

With Le Mulan’s dodge, a clear flaw immediately appeared in her Starry Sky Sword Art.

Zhang Yu shot out like lightning, wanting to break through the heavy sword qi and approach Le Mulan.

At the same time, Bai Zhenzhen’s words flashed through Zhang Yu’s mind.

“Le Mulan’s first flaw is that she… seems to be a neat freak.”

“I suggest you directly spit at her, preferably phlegm. Not only will she dodge, but she will definitely not want to use her sword qi to intercept the spit.”