Beneath the bridge arch, along the river’s edge.

Heavy trucks rumbled overhead, their echoes reverberating through the bridge’s underbelly.

A courier, astride his electric scooter, approached the bridge’s shadow, emerging from the nearby slum of mortals.

Even from afar, he thought he could faintly hear the sounds of impact. Yet, upon reaching the bridge’s support, he found only Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen facing each other, seemingly at peace.

“Your delivery,” the courier said, handing over a package. His gaze lingered on Bai Zhenzhen, a blush rising on his cheeks. The high school girl was breathtakingly beautiful, ethereal in her grace. Recalling the belles of his own middle school days, he mused, “High school students are, after all, high school students, truly the darlings of the heavens…their aura and beauty are simply unmatched by those younger.” He quickly averted his eyes, lest he offend her.

This wasn’t the courier’s first delivery to this spot. He vaguely knew that this pair of high schoolers frequented the area, though he was unsure as to their purpose. He was also aware that a group of petty thugs had once lurked here, but they had vanished upon the high schoolers’ arrival. After all, these students…they were the dragons and phoenixes destined for work in the city, far beyond the reach of common folk like him. Even the delivery fees were higher for them. With a hint of envy, he cast one last glance at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen before departing on his scooter.

Zhang Yu tore open the package. “This is the synthetic food and beast protein milk you ordered,” he said to Bai Zhenzhen. “I wonder how it compares to the cafeteria fare?” Bai Zhenzhen replied nonchalantly, “As long as it’s not worse than excrement, I’ll accept it. The price is right, after all.” Once the courier was out of sight, Zhang Yu’s lips curved into a smile. “Let’s continue,” he said softly.

Zhang Yu stood motionless, ethereal white mists swirling around him. As his cultivation deepened, his deployment of the Limitless Cloud Hand Technique grew increasingly formidable. The Formless Cloud Vigor surged like a tidal wave, engulfing his entire being. Within the dense white fog, only a blurry silhouette could be discerned. Simultaneously, Bai Zhenzhen’s figure darted around Zhang Yu, a constant storm of thunderous impacts punctuating the air. This was the result of her rapid progress in cultivating the Thunderstrike True Body. While Bai Zhenzhen couldn’t match Zhang Yu’s Carapace Legs at level 10 for long-distance sprints, in the heat of battle, her short bursts of speed, footwork, displacement, dodging, and reaction speed far surpassed Zhang Yu’s.

Bai Zhenzhen’s fists repeatedly plunged into the swirling clouds, colliding fiercely with Zhang Yu’s Formless Vigor. In an instant, the mist of the Formless Cloud Vigor began to spin rapidly, becoming a vortex that crashed against Bai Zhenzhen’s charging fist. Bai Zhenzhen felt her center of gravity destabilize, and she was flung away. However, she twisted her body mid-air, deftly regaining her balance and landing firmly. She gazed at Zhang Yu, still shrouded in the dense fog, and thought to herself, “As Yu’s magic power deepens, this Formless Cloud Vigor becomes increasingly dense. Its reach in the air has also expanded, making it more and more difficult to deal with.” Recalling the feeling of repeatedly charging into the mist… with the combination of the Limitless Cloud Hand and the Back Dragon Overturning Mountain Hand techniques, not only were Zhang Yu’s movements difficult to discern, but forces of collapse, throw, whirl, vibration, and deflection assailed her from all directions, attempting to completely break her balance, even imprison her within the mist. Combined with the Limitless Cloud Hand and the Undying Seal technique, the mist, rather than dissipate, would expand further with Bai Zhenzhen’s sword-qi, storing power to reflect any attack, making any opponent tire. In this situation, one must remain vigilant of Zhang Yu’s difficult to see strikes coming from the mist.

“I yield, I yield,” Bai Zhenzhen said, waving her hands. “Your Formless Cloud Vigor now serves as both offense and defense, like a turtle shell covered in thorns. It’s also bolstered by my spirit root, leaving no weakness to exploit. This training is ineffective.” Over the past few weeks, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had been diligently cultivating their own skills, and had also engaged in frequent sparring matches to hone their combat prowess. With no onlookers present, they had no need to worry about exposing their advanced techniques. Various level 10 abilities were unleashed in turn, making their combat training far more effective than anything they could learn at school. Hearing Bai Zhenzhen’s call, Zhang Yu dispersed his Formless Cloud Vigor. Having engaged in a substantial amount of combat training, Zhang Yu had gained a clearer understanding of his capabilities.

“If the true spirit root were within me, I would be invincible.” “If the true spirit root were within Ah Zhen, our spars would be evenly matched.” Of course, these results were based on the premise that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were not fighting with all their might. Without sufficient funds to visit the clinic, they were unwilling to risk injury during their combat training. At this moment, just as Zhang Yu dispersed his Formless Cloud Vigor after Bai Zhenzhen called a halt, a figure shot towards him, leaping behind him and gently embracing him. Bai Zhenzhen laughed. “My turn!” As Bai Zhenzhen’s body pressed close, the spirit root returned to her. Through repeated exchanges of the spirit root over the past weeks, they had grown exceptionally familiar with the process.

Watching Bai Zhenzhen cultivate with focused determination, Zhang Yu smiled and turned to his jade scroll. Although his primary focus had been on enhancing his physical strength, his Dao Heart and magic power had also steadily increased. His Dao Heart had reached level 4 (28), allowing him to more skillfully control his physical strength and magic power, and his martial arts techniques had become more refined. His magic power had grown rapidly with the aid of the true spirit root, now reaching 34.8, making his deployment of the Formless Cloud Vigor more powerful and imposing. “However, lately, as my magic power has grown, the rate at which it can be refined has become increasingly slow. It seems the effectiveness of the Cycle of Heavenly Qi Absorption technique is beginning to wane, perhaps nearing its limit.” As a technique designed for beginners, the Cycle of Heavenly Qi Absorption naturally had its limitations. Zhang Yu estimated that 50 points of magic power was the upper limit of what the Cycle of Heavenly Qi Absorption could support. “If I wish to possess a more profound magic power, I will need to replace it with an expert-level breathing technique.” As for his physical strength, Zhang Yu’s primary focus over the past few weeks, it had reached level 3.21, a significant leap from the time of the martial arts competition a month prior. Of course, such substantial improvement had also cost Zhang Yu a considerable amount of money. Although his income from tutoring, coupled with occasional sales of Lian Tianji’s clothing, had earned him over ten thousand yuan, the cost of the three-thousand-yuan Origin Strengthening pills, as well as his constantly increasing food expenses as his physical strength grew, had caused Zhang Yu’s spending to increase daily. His savings were now less than twenty thousand yuan.

The sky was growing brighter. Zhang Yu looked at the rising sun and said, “Ah Zhen, prepare to head to school. Do you remember what day it is today?” Bai Zhenzhen’s face was still flushed from training. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she said, “Of course I remember. Today is the glorious day we show our talents to the sports competition team!”

Inside the sports stadium.

As training began, students opened large bottles and gulped down Dao Heart Buffer. During the training session, one student experienced sudden arm spasms and a bout of weakness. Wang Hai stepped forward, grabbed the student’s arm to examine it, and frowned. “Did you meet your daily quota of Dao Heart Buffer yesterday?” Seeing the student stammer, Wang Hai snorted. “Having undergone the special training program, your physical strength is most likely to exceed the control of your Dao Heart. Therefore, the daily dosage of Dao Heart Buffer needs to be increased fivefold. Even a slight shortfall can cause you to lose control of your physical strength.” “We have you drink Dao Heart Buffer not for the school’s profit, but for your own sake.” “Having spent so much money and undergone such difficult training, do you want to miss out on a place in the sports competition because you saved a few sips of buffer?” Seeing the student hang their head in shame, Wang Hai relented.

Then, he looked at He Dayou, who was training, with a complex expression. He sighed inwardly, “He Dayou has already left Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen far behind, hasn’t he? Alas, with the advancement of immortal techniques, individual talent and effort seem so insignificant.” He Dayou was slowly lifting a heavy and enormous barbell. At the same time, the Heavenly Devil Parasitic Art circulated within him, accelerating the fusion of the transplanted flesh during strength training, enabling him to control his power more freely and precisely. After all, the transplanted flesh could not be used freely from the start. He Dayou still remembered the first time he completed the transplant surgery, feeling as if he were wearing iron armor, making his movements cumbersome. But with his unremitting efforts, even as the surgery continued, this “iron armor” had gradually become lighter and thinner through his continuous training. From iron armor, it evolved into a coat, then from a coat into underwear. Now, He Dayou barely felt any restraint. The transplanted flesh was like a layer of almost imperceptible skin, now fully under his control. “Good, maintain this state. In a few days, I can begin the next stage of surgery.” “Then continue to cultivate assiduously. Before the competition, raising your physical strength to level 4.0 or higher is not without hope.”

Just then, accompanied by calls of “Senior Brother!” “Senior Brother!”, He Dayou turned his head to see Lan Ling enter the gymnasium with several second-year students from the sports department. Lan Ling looked around and frowned slightly. “Have Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen not arrived yet?” He Dayou knew that today was the day to decide the final places for the sports competition in a month, and also the day for Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen to come and humiliate themselves. “Those two have been skipping classes frequently lately. I wonder how much progress they’ve made.” “But it doesn’t matter. No matter how much progress they make, they can’t surpass me, who is in the special training program.” He Dayou continued to train silently. After surpassing Zhang Yu in the last monthly exam, he had gradually stopped taking his former rival to heart. “One must look forward. My future opponents are the geniuses from White Dragon High, Purple Cloud High, and Red Pagoda High.”

At the same time, Lan Ling had looked at He Dayou and the other four who were training and said, “Since Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen have not yet arrived, let’s first test your physical strength. We’ll test the two of them when they arrive, and then we can directly determine the allocation of places.” In Lan Ling’s view, physical strength alone was enough to eliminate those two poor students.

First place, He Dayou, physical strength level 3.07.

Fourth place, Li Yong, physical strength level 2.96.

Fifth place, Ye Haitao, physical strength level 2.94.

Looking at the physical strength values of the five, Lan Ling nodded slightly. “He Dayou, you have made rapid progress, keep it up. Winning a place in the sports competition is not out of the question.” “Ye Haitao, you are the last to join the team, you need to work harder. This value is not enough to compete for a place in the competition…” Faced with the comments of Lan Ling, the second-year student council member, the first-year students present all accepted respectfully, bowing and saying yes.

Just then, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen walked into the stadium under the gaze of everyone. Lan Ling glanced at them coldly and said indifferently, “First test your physical strength. If you can exceed level 2.94, you can get a competition place.”