Having defeated her formidable opponent, Bai Zhenzhen looked around, thinking that her victory over the Red Tower High prodigy would surely astonish the entire arena.
But when she looked up, she realized that almost no one was paying attention to her corner of the ring.
The vast majority of spectators had gone to watch Song Hailong, Yue Mulan, and the 300-point Zhang Yu.
"Damn it!" Bai Zhenzhen thought to herself. "A bunch of score-obsessed fools who can't open their eyes to see the real champion seed."
However, Bai Zhenzhen believed that as time passed, more and more people would notice her achievements.
Meanwhile, the other two contestants in Bai Zhenzhen's group had been watching her battle with Hu Yuntao from start to finish with great interest.
Originally, their purpose had been to observe Hu Yuntao, since Bai Zhenzhen's performance in the scoring round had been too weak, and Hu Yuntao was their key opponent to watch.
But they never expected that Hu Yuntao would, for some reason, run to the edge of the ring himself, and then, in a moment of inattention, get tricked and knocked out of the ring.
Obviously, from these two students' perspective, there had been no vanishing act by Bai Zhenzhen at all.
Suddenly, the two of them thought of the 300-point Zhang Yu, who had used a similar method to get the Yellow-Turban Strongman out of bounds.
The two couldn't help but think: "Is this some new tactic developed by Songyang High?"
"Relying on tricks and schemes to lure people out of bounds, achieving victory of the weak over the strong?"
"The quality of these low-scoring students from other high schools is really poor."
Low-scoring people have poor quality — the two of them both felt that this commonly accepted truth among the three major high schools had once again been proven.
But although they despised it in their hearts, both of them also became more vigilant, silently warning themselves that if they encountered Bai Zhenzhen later, they absolutely must not be careless and capsize in the gutter.
Just then, Bai Zhenzhen noticed Zhao Tianxing in the spectator stands waving at her, giving a thumbs-up.
"Hmph, Old Zhao." Bai Zhenzhen also waved toward Zhao Tianxing, thinking to herself: "As expected, it's these low-scoring students who give the best emotional value."
...
In the spectator stands.
Zhao Tianxing was giving a thumbs-up while happily saying: "A-Zhen saw us!"
"I can't believe she beat that Hu Yuntao from Red Tower High so easily."
"At first, I was really worried that Hu Yuntao would eat her alive."
He Dayou said casually from the side: "She just got lucky. That tiger demon is a classic case of high scores but low ability. To think he could be tripped out of the ring like that — even I might be able to beat him."
Although he had previously felt that Bai Zhenzhen struggled in her fight against the Yellow-Turban Strongman, seeing her now looking so proud after defeating Hu Yuntao made him feel even more uncomfortable.
Qian Shen said: "It feels... not that simple."
"Why did that tiger suddenly run to the edge of the ring?"
Just then, Zhao Tianxing pointed toward Zhang Yu and said: "Zhang Yu is about to go on."
Zhao Tianxing sighed with relief: "Good thing A-Zhen and Yu-zi are in different halves of the bracket. They won't have to fight each other in an internal battle."
He Dayou said cryptically from the side: "Maybe Zhang Pianpian pulled some strings."
He thought to himself that as the son of a school board member at Songyang High, he could even slightly manipulate the draw for the practical exam.
Zhang Pianpian, that super-rich woman with over 2.5 billion in savings, doing a small favor for someone under her would absolutely not be a big deal.
Just then, Qian Shen exclaimed: "Dayou, look—is that Zhang Yu's opponent your middle school classmate?"
He Dayou's body shook, and he quickly looked toward the ring.
When he saw Zhang Yu and Chu Qiuhe walking up onto the ring together, He Dayou's brow furrowed immediately.
Zhang Yu... toward this poor person who had once instantly killed him, He Dayou definitely didn't want Zhang Yu to win.
But Chu Qiuhe... toward this middle school classmate who had always looked down on him, He Dayou originally didn't care much about the other's performance. But if the other was going to defeat a Songyang High contestant, then he would feel very uncomfortable in his heart.
Damn it... palm and back of hand are both piss — can't these two just get eliminated together?
...
On the ring.
Chu Qiuhe first walked to the center of the ring, making sure he wouldn't accidentally get pulled off the edge by his opponent because he was too close to the boundary.
And as he walked, Chu Qiuhe could feel the blood and energy in his body surging wildly, his heart pounding violently, the needle marks on his temples bulging high — all of this was indicating one thing: Chu Qiuhe had taken drugs.
Chu Qiuhe's mind echoed with what the competition coach had just said: "This is the newest combat supplement, which can enhance your muscle strength and physical endurance, temporarily raising your physical strength to the 2.2 level."
Chu Qiuhe hesitated: "Is this necessary?"
The competition coach said: "This Zhang Yu may be inferior to you in all stats, but his martial skills are quite good, and he knows how to study tactics. Besides... do you think students from this kind of school wouldn't take drugs to beat us?"
At this moment on the ring, feeling the drug's power continuously spreading through his body, constantly stimulating all his muscles and blood energy, Chu Qiuhe felt that his body had never felt so good before.
"This new drug is really potent!"
"Whatever techniques or tactics you have, today I'll suppress you with absolute strength!"
Accompanied by the starting countdown of 3, 2, 1.
Chu Qiuhe, like a wild beast, lunged toward Zhang Yu with an afterimage trailing behind him.
Boom!
A punch struck out, his entire body radiating a violent aura, charging toward Zhang Yu like a massive truck.
Expert-level technique — Truck Charging Fist! Level 2 activation!
In ancient times, martial arts masters created techniques by observing birds, beasts, mountains, rivers, the sun, and the moon.
Nowadays, various masters create techniques for this era by observing traffic, cars, and high-rise buildings.
The Truck Charging Fist was said to have been created by a certain martial arts master who watched trucks on the highway for three months, comprehended the essence of a truck's charge, and incorporated the momentum of dozens or hundreds of tons of heavy trucks surging forward into a fist technique.
As a strength-type body cultivator, Chu Qiuhe chose to practice this Truck Charging Fist to perfectly leverage his strength advantage.
Now, with the Level 2 Truck Charging Fist fully unleashed, he truly seemed to transform into a terrifying hundred-ton heavy truck, making the ring creak and groan as he charged toward Zhang Yu head-on.
"Facing this strike of mine, Zhang Yu definitely only has one option..."
Chu Qiuhe was confident that with his strength, Zhang Yu absolutely could not contend head-on. His only choice would be to dodge.
But the Truck Charging Fist had its own follow-up moves to deal with dodging.
"After he dodges, I'll then use the 'Truck Sharp Turn' to pursue, adding this fist's power into the high-speed lateral movement of an acute angle, increasing the fist's momentum by another five points."
"I'll blast you out of the ring with a single punch!"
But in the next moment, Chu Qiuhe was shocked to discover that Zhang Yu actually sent a palm strike infused with white vital Qi directly toward him, intending to take his punch head-on?
Boom!
As Chu Qiuhe's fist collided head-on with the Formless Cloud Qi, Zhang Yu felt the other's force surge toward him like a massive herd of wild boars, rampaging within the vital Qi, trying to tear it apart and send him flying.
Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art Level 10 effect — Full Concentration State!
Everything around him instantly entered an extremely slow state.
Watching Chu Qiuhe's fist sink inch by inch into the vital Qi, Zhang Yu clearly and keenly discerned the trajectory of the incoming fist force, then gradually stirred the Formless Cloud Qi, guiding the other's power...
Bang!
Chu Qiuhe felt that as soon as his fist touched the Formless Cloud Qi, it was like hitting a slippery rubber ball. His fist was deflected to the side, slamming into empty space beside Zhang Yu.
But in the next instant, accompanied by a roar, Chu Qiuhe used his physical strength to halt his fist's momentum, then threw another punch straight at Zhang Yu.
Bang!
But this punch was also deflected by the other, leaving Chu Qiuhe's center wide open as he watched helplessly while Zhang Yu slipped into his embrace.
Amidst cracking sounds, Zhang Yu had already landed three consecutive punches on Chu Qiuhe's chest, ribs, and abdomen.
Roar!
The combat supplement made Chu Qiuhe feel no pain at all. Instead, his blood surged upward, and he forcefully tried to wrap both arms around Zhang Yu in a bear hug.
"With my strength, if I just grab him, I can crush him..."
But Zhang Yu seemed to have sensed his movement in advance, dodging his grasp at almost the limit of distance.
Then Chu Qiuhe punched again, only to have his fist force deflected once more, followed by two more punches landing on his chest.
"Damn it... just one hit!"
"With his build, if my Truck Charging Fist can get past the vital Qi, if I can hit his body just once! I'll definitely defeat him!"
Clearly feeling that just one solid hit would win the match.
Chu Qiuhe roared as he unleashed a relentless storm of attacks.
But he couldn't help but feel that he was the one being suppressed.
Zhang Yu seemed like a winged rubber ball, dancing gracefully under Chu Qiuhe's barrage — either dodging his grapple attempts at the limit of distance, or using the Formless Cloud Qi to deflect his fists.
"I keep getting hit by him..."
"Am I... being suppressed?"
"He's using pure technique to suppress me, who is stronger in power, speed, and endurance?"
Chu Qiuhe felt this was unbelievable. In the next moment, his abdomen was again struck squarely by the Formless Cloud Qi.
Although this time he still felt no pain, his seemingly endless stamina seemed to stutter for an instant, leaving him frozen for a split second.
"Not good... my internal organs seem to be bleeding."
And this split second of frozen time was seized by Zhang Yu immediately.
Upper abdomen... chest... shoulders... waist...
Chu Qiuhe's body was continuously battered by Zhang Yu. Every place where he tried to generate force was brutally interrupted by these strikes.
He felt that at this moment he had become a giant sandbag, letting Zhang Yu vent his strength, before finally collapsing weakly to the ground.
"I... I lost?"
"Lost to a student from outside the three major high schools?"
At this moment, Chu Qiuhe felt he could never face his classmates at White Dragon High again.
He seemed to see his school status plummeting, being ridiculed by all the teachers and students, becoming a slave to countless classmates — he wished he could jump off the 30th floor of White Dragon High...
And then he was frightened into unconsciousness by this dark vision.
This battle, Zhang Yu won!