A sharp, piercing sound of air friction echoed through the arena.

Zhang Yu's hand was raised high, holding a flying sword that spun rapidly like a helicopter rotor.

"Let's go! Spiral Shuriken!" he thought.

In the next moment, with a burst of his spiritual energy, the spinning sword shot upwards like a giant disc, sweeping through the air and hitting the signal boards one by one.

...

Ascetic Practitioner (Expand Details)

When Han Xingye focused on the information displayed above Zhang Yu's head, he saw a string of words:

Seeing this evaluation through the Heavenly Eye Talisman, Han Xingye was shocked for the second time that day.

"Another student from Songyang High School?"

"Where are they finding all these talents this year?"

The first two labels—Ascetic Practitioner and Sports Scholarship Student—were easy to understand.

They simply indicated that Zhang Yu was diligent in his cultivation and excelled in sports.

The next three labels were also straightforward: poor.

But it was the final three question marks that truly caught Han Xingye's attention.

"Question marks?"

"Is it a Concealment Talisman? A Disguise Talisman?"

While the Heavenly Eye Talisman could reveal a person's background, there were also countermeasures like Concealment and Disguise Talismans.

But why would a poor person like Zhang Yu have access to such talismans? And even if he did, why would he leave such obvious question marks? It was as if he was deliberately hinting that he was hiding something.

"These three question marks... how arrogant."

Arrogance and poverty—two words that shouldn't go together—yet Han Xingye felt both emanating from Zhang Yu.

Curious, Han Xingye turned his attention to Zhang Yu's performance.

He watched as the spinning sword rose into the air like a disc, creating whirlwinds as it swept through the signal boards.

Han Xingye's expression shifted to one of surprise, and then he chuckled.

"Haha, that's actually a clever way to hit the signal boards. The disc shape makes it easier to sweep through all the targets, compensating for his lack of experience in controlling the flying sword."

80 points

Seeing this score, Han Xingye nodded slightly.

However, many students began to complain, accusing Zhang Yu of cheating and breaking the rules.

Han Xingye glanced at them.

"Worthless, rare, worthless, worthless..."

"Worthless, worthless, worthless, rare..."

"Worthless, worthless, rare, worthless..."

Looking at the complaining students, Han Xingye smirked and thought, "What a bunch of fools."

"To make the sword spin like that and still maintain control, without it flying off and causing chaos, requires an incredibly precise control of spiritual energy."

"The design of this flying sword is meant for straightforward paths. To make it spin like that, you have to constantly adjust the flow of spiritual energy at every moment."

"This guy is compensating for his lack of experience with his exceptional control over spiritual energy."

"An 80 is not too high; if anything, it's too low."

"Probably because the judges are considering the sponsors and don't want to encourage this kind of approach."

Han Xingye glanced at the students from Purple Cloud High School and Red Pagoda High School.

As expected, none of the top three schools protested.

They could all see the difficulty in what Zhang Yu had done.

In the following matches, some students tried to replicate Zhang Yu's technique, but they all failed, sending their swords flying out of control.

Fortunately, the referees were on hand to prevent any injuries.

Gradually, the students who had initially protested began to realize that Zhang Yu's spinning sword technique was far from simple.

As Zhang Yu returned to the Songyang High School rest area, he couldn't help but think, "This sword isn't really designed for this kind of operation. My spiritual energy could go even faster, but the sword's command reception frequency has already reached its limit. Otherwise, I could have scored even higher."

Clearly, the high-speed spinning operation hadn't pushed Zhang Yu's spiritual energy control to its limit—thanks to his 10th-level Zhou Tian Qi Gathering technique—but it had reached the sword's design limit.

After all, the sword wasn't meant to be used this way.

As soon as Zhang Yu returned to the rest area, he was praised by Teacher Yan.

"Zhang Yu, you did well. Using your spiritual energy control to compensate for your lack of sword control was a smart move. An 80 is too low for what you did."

"As for the complaints from those mediocre students from other schools, just ignore them. Don't let it bother you."

Teacher Yan thought about Zhang Yu's performance and felt a surge of joy.

"If the next two rounds have events that suit Zhang Yu's strengths, he might even make it into the top ten!"

Only the top ten in the overall competition would receive prizes, real rankings, and have an advantage in university interviews.

High schools placed a lot of importance on this.

The thought of Zhang Yu potentially making it into the top ten made Teacher Yan's heart leap with excitement.

Her year-end bonus would surely increase if that happened.

She casually pointed to the student with the worst performance and said, "Bai Zhenzhen, go get Zhang Yu a bottle of water. Zhang Yu, don't be nervous in the next two rounds. Just do your best..."

Bai Zhenzhen's eyes widened as she glanced at Zhang Yu, who was smirking beside her.

Reluctantly, she stood up and went to get water from the organizers.

"Wait, Zhen, let me take a photo."

"You're dead, Zhang Yu!"

Bai Zhenzhen threw the water bottle at Zhang Yu's head and sat down angrily, thinking, "Damn it, I should have left before the competition started."

"What a stupid competition. It's just a game for the rich."

"Zhang Yu, you better make it into the top ten, or else..."

Not far away, He Dayou looked at Zhang Yu's score and felt a twinge of surprise.

"His spiritual energy control is that good? Well... at least he's still a poor guy."

Soon after, the first round of the competition ended, and the host returned to the stage, smiling.

"Good medicine, choose Purple Cloud. Purple Cloud Medicine, for all ages, cures all ailments with just one dose. Thank you to Purple Cloud Company for sponsoring this competition."

"All the emergency medicine for the second round will be provided by Purple Cloud Company..."

As the host spoke, he began to announce the rules for the second round.

This round would test the participants' ability to neutralize special spiritual energy.

The process involved attaching detection patches to the participants' bodies.

The judges would then inject a special type of spiritual energy into them, and the participants would have to neutralize it as quickly as possible.

The faster they did it, the higher their score.

If it took more than ten minutes, or if the participant felt they couldn't handle it, they could immediately take the neutralizing medicine provided by Purple Cloud Company to eliminate the special spiritual energy.

In addition, Purple Cloud Company had set up temporary medicine stalls around the arena, selling various drugs that the participants might need.

The reason Purple Cloud Company was selling medicine here was because of another rule for this round: participants were allowed to take medicine.

Zhang Yu was shocked.

"What the hell? Are these people even human? Encouraging drug use in a competition just to make money from sponsors?"

At the same time, Zhang Yu noticed that his classmates from Songyang High School were all pulling out various drugs.

Painkillers, sedatives, focus enhancers...

Seeing the trio of drugs they were taking out, Zhang Yu realized that they had all come prepared.

Teacher Yan, standing nearby, asked with concern, "Zhang Yu, did you bring any medicine?"

"Remember to take it before the round starts."

Taking medicine during a competition...

To Teacher Yan, this was completely normal.

Afraid of pain? Take a painkiller.

Lacking willpower? Take a sedative.

Worried about losing focus during cultivation? Take a focus enhancer.

In short... if you want to perform at your best in the competition, you have to keep taking medicine.

That's just how competitions work.

Competitions are all about taking medicine!

Spiritual energy competitions have always been one of the favorite events for pharmaceutical companies to sponsor.

That's why there's usually at least one round where participants are allowed to take medicine, as long as the drugs are within the list approved by the organizers.

This is something the referees and spiritual energy assistants will monitor and check.

So, taking medicine is just part of the competition.

In fact, it's a way to showcase a high school's resources.

Seeing Zhang Yu's confused expression, Teacher Yan sighed and opened her bag.

"Look at you, coming to a competition without even preparing any medicine?"

"Luckily, I brought some extras."

As she spoke, Teacher Yan pulled out various bottles and jars from her bag and handed a few to Zhang Yu.

Under Teacher Yan's caring gaze, Zhang Yu reluctantly accepted the medicine.

"Crap! My body can't handle medicine, can it?"

The original Zhang Yu had ruined his health by taking too much medicine, and the memory of that had scared him into avoiding drugs ever since.

At most, he would take some neural supplements to reduce his need for sleep.

On top of that, with his natural talent and his massive debts, he had never been inclined to take unnecessary drugs.

Although he wasn't sure if his current body could handle the medicine, he wasn't willing to take the risk.

"Taking these drugs just for a competition? I'm afraid the lifespan I've gained from cultivating will be wasted."

But under Teacher Yan's watchful gaze, he could only awkwardly nod and think, "I'll pretend to take them in the bathroom later."

Meanwhile, the entire arena had turned into a medicine showcase.

In the Purple Cloud High School rest area, Lian Tianji swallowed a handful of pills and washed them down with a large gulp of water.

The competition coach, watching his face turn red and purple, nodded in approval.

"Good, you're getting into the competition mindset."

After saying that, the coach pulled out a wooden box from his bag.

As the box opened, ten syringes emitting a faint purple light appeared before everyone.

The coach explained, "These are Meridian Expansion Injections from the Purple Cloud Laboratory. They temporarily widen your meridians through your bloodstream, increasing your cultivation efficiency during the competition."

"One syringe per person. Don't fight over them."

After watching the students inject themselves, the coach encouraged them, "Everyone, you must hold on until the end. Our total score isn't far behind White Dragon High School. We must catch up in this round!"

"Roar!"

The students, having just taken their medicine and injections, felt an overwhelming surge of fighting spirit and let out a deafening roar.

In the Red Pagoda High School rest area, the competition coach was holding a panda-like demon descendant student and feeding him some animal medicine.

"Bufen, take some more. We're currently at the bottom among the top three schools. If we don't do well in the second round, my year-end bonus is gone."

The panda, Xiong Bufen, extended a claw and gave the coach the middle finger.

"Enough!"

"Stop feeding me!"

"Ugh... damn it... stop feeding me!"

Meanwhile, in the White Dragon High School rest area, Song Hailong swallowed a handful of pills and looked towards the Purple Cloud High School rest area.

Hearing the roars from Purple Cloud High School, he sneered, "I'll crush your fighting spirit in a moment."

At the same time, the competition coach, Han Xingye, walked over carrying a thermal box and said to the students, "This is the Kangling Injection specially prepared by the school. Inject it into your dantian. Come and get it quickly."

As the box opened, a wave of cold air rushed out, revealing two rows of glowing syringes.

Song Hailong, with the number "1" on his uniform, was the first to grab a syringe.

The other students, following the order of the numbers on their chests, took the syringes from the box and injected them into their dantians.

Students from other schools watched with envy.

"Is that the Kangling Injection? It's concentrated spiritual essence that can rapidly restore spiritual energy. Are they planning to replenish their energy while neutralizing the special spiritual energy during the competition?"

Some students were even more jealous.

"One Kangling Injection into the dantian, and my fate is in my hands. Sigh... I wonder if I'll ever be able to afford a Kangling Injection in my lifetime."

Just then, a commotion broke out in one corner of the arena.

A student, foaming at the mouth and convulsing, was carried out, sparking a wave of discussion.

One student sighed, "Did he overdose?"

A teacher scoffed, "There's no such thing as an overdose. It's just a lack of drug tolerance. He needs to train more!"

Another teacher clapped his hands and urged, "Stop paying attention to that. Focus on the competition!"

As the preparations were completed, the second round of the competition officially began.

(End of Chapter)