For this martial arts competition, each school could send a maximum of ten participants.
When Zhang Yu arrived at the venue, he noticed that there were only about forty participants in total, with thirty of them coming from the three top high schools.
The remaining ten or so participants were from other regular and key high schools.
These students might not have been fully aware of the competition's standards, lacked information channels, or simply came hoping to gain some experience or get lucky.
However, as the top students from the three elite high schools took turns showcasing their strength, the students from the other schools gradually lost confidence and began withdrawing from the competition.
Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, of course, did not back down.
Zhang Yu recalled the rules, knowing that participants would be ranked into different tiers based on their scores.
Participants from the same tier would then be randomly assigned to one of eight groups for the elimination rounds.
This system ensured that each group had a mix of high and low-tier participants, preventing multiple top-tier students from being eliminated early in the same group.
Zhang Yu thought to himself, "If I want to avoid being grouped with the strongest students, I need to score as high as possible. Only then can I avoid facing tough opponents in the group stage and secure a spot in the top eight."
As he watched the Yellow Turban Warrior on the stage, Zhang Yu began formulating his battle plan.
Soon, it was his turn to step onto the stage.
In the audience, Zhao Tianxing, Qian Shen, and He Dayou sat together.
While He Dayou looked somewhat disdainful, Qian Shen was intently watching the matches.
Zhao Tianxing, however, felt uneasy.
He couldn't shake the feeling that the students from the three elite high schools were staring at him.
Wearing his Songyang High School uniform in the grand hall of Bailong High made him feel out of place, as if everyone around him was looking down on him.
Of course, Zhao Tianxing was overthinking it.
Most students from the top three schools didn't care about Songyang High.
To them, Songyang was just another ordinary school—nothing worth paying attention to.
Just then, a student from Bailong High approached He Dayou and said, "Dayou, you actually came to watch my match?"
He Dayou looked at the student, wondering why his sunglasses and mask hadn't done their job.
"Yeah," he replied, nodding.
"I wanted to see how the top schools are performing this year."
The Bailong student, Chu Qiuhe, chuckled.
"I saw that Songyang High is participating this time. What were you thinking? Aren't you afraid of getting crushed?"
Although He Dayou knew there was a gap between Songyang and the top schools, as the son of the school's board chairman, he couldn't help but feel a pang of discomfort at the insult. How dare you insult Songyang in front of me? You're asking for trouble. But he also knew that the gap between Songyang and Bailong was real.
Even though He Dayou and Chu Qiuhe had been classmates in middle school, their friendship had soured after they entered different high schools.
In front of Chu Qiuhe, He Dayou always felt inferior.
Chu Qiuhe didn't even acknowledge Qian Shen and Zhao Tianxing, treating them as if they were invisible.
After all, Songyang High was... well, Songyang.
He Dayou replied calmly, "Who knows? That guy got fourth place in the last magic competition, so maybe he's here to try his luck again."
Hearing about the fourth-place finish, Chu Qiuhe was momentarily speechless.
He forced a smile and said, "Martial arts combat is different from magic competitions. Martial arts test overall strength, and the gap between Bailong, Ziyun, Hongta, and the other schools is huge."
As he spoke, he turned his attention to the stage.
"Oh, your school's up next. Let me see how good he is..."
At the same time, many in the audience expected a tough fight when they saw a student from Songyang High stepping onto the stage.
But to their surprise, Zhang Yu clashed with the Yellow Turban Warrior, and with a loud bang, the warrior was thrown out of bounds.
Zhang Yu scored 300 points.
The entire audience erupted in shock.
No one had expected a student from Songyang High to perform so well.
Chu Qiuhe was also stunned.
Before he could finish his sentence, the Yellow Turban Warrior had already been defeated.
"300 points? Songyang can produce students like this?" he exclaimed, his tone dripping with disbelief, as if he had seen a flower growing out of a pile of manure.
Although He Dayou disliked Zhang Yu, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction seeing Chu Qiuhe's shocked expression.
He nodded modestly, "Our batch is pretty strong."
Qian Shen added, "Zhang Yu scored 653 points. He's really good."
Zhao Tianxing, seeing the audience's reaction, instinctively straightened his back, feeling a bit more pride in his Songyang uniform.
When Chu Qiuhe returned to Song Hailong's side, he saw the competition coach reviewing the slow-motion replay of Zhang Yu's match with a few students.
The coach analyzed, "Zhang Yu positioned himself at the edge of the stage from the start. This forced the Yellow Turban Warrior to attack from the edge. Then, he used a simple straight punch, and here's the interesting part."
In the replay, Zhang Yu seemed to predict the Yellow Turban Warrior's move, intercepting it and using a technique called "Wuji Cloud Hand" to redirect the warrior's force, ultimately throwing it out of bounds.
"The entire sequence was perfectly calculated," the coach concluded.
After hearing the analysis, Song Hailong, who had initially been intrigued, lost interest.
He turned away, looking bored.
"I thought this guy might be a dark horse like in the magic competition. Turns out he's just relying on tricks. How dull."
The coach didn't argue with Song Hailong.
As the reigning top student and the son of a wealthy family, Song Hailong could say whatever he wanted as long as he didn't insult the teachers.
The coach also knew that Song Hailong didn't need to worry about opponents like Zhang Yu.
Still, the coach warned the other students, "Don't underestimate him. Even if he used some tricks, being able to make those split-second decisions shows either exceptional reflexes, focus, and understanding of martial arts, or that he had studied the Yellow Turban Warrior's patterns beforehand. Even if his stats aren't as high as yours, this kind of opponent can still pull off an upset. If any of you lose to someone outside the top three schools today, you'll be fined 10,000 and spend the next month kneeling in class."
The students quickly nodded in agreement.
Listening to the coach's analysis, Chu Qiuhe thought to himself, So that's how it was. At first, he had thought Zhang Yu was on par with Song Hailong.
But now, he felt that with some preparation, he could probably achieve the same result.
Meanwhile, in Ziyun High's preparation area, Lian Tianji laughed.
"Zhang Yu is really impressive."
Le Mu Lan, standing nearby, glanced over and said coldly, "He can't even afford the most basic combat spirit root. Poor people are so pitiful. But even though he's so poor, he still risks bankruptcy to compete. I really don't understand it."
She turned to Lian Tianji and asked curiously, "You're poorer than me. Can you understand their thinking?"
Lian Tianji awkwardly smiled, not knowing how to respond.
He comforted himself internally, *The sacred number one is just blunt.
She doesn't mean to look down on me.
Don't take it to heart.*
Not long after Zhang Yu left the stage, it was Bai Zhenzhen's turn to compete.
In the audience, Qian Shen and Zhao Tianxing were eagerly anticipating her performance.
However, they soon noticed that Bai Zhenzhen was struggling on the stage, barely managing to dodge the Yellow Turban Warrior's attacks while trying to land hits on its sensors.
"Is Bai Zhenzhen having such a hard time?" He Dayou muttered, watching the girl who had once confidently beaten him now struggling against the warrior.
He felt no joy in her struggle, only a bitter taste in his mouth.
The bitterness wasn't directed at Bai Zhenzhen but at himself, remembering how she had once defeated him.
Qian Shen frowned.
"Bai Zhenzhen's fighting style doesn't seem suited for the Yellow Turban Warrior."
Zhao Tianxing worried, "If this keeps up, she might end up in a group with high-scoring opponents and get eliminated early."
As Bai Zhenzhen's difficult battle continued, the audience and other participants quickly lost interest.
Song Hailong had already closed his eyes, finding the match a waste of time.
Lian Tianji, on the other hand, felt a bit surprised.
"The girl who came with Zhang Yu... she was with him in the last magic competition too. She's so weak. Why did she come to compete with him? Is she... Zhang Yu's slave? Is Songyang starting to play that game now?"
Lei Jun, who had tutored Bai Zhenzhen for two weeks, had a different perspective.
"It seems Bai Zhenzhen realized her fighting style isn't effective against the Yellow Turban Warrior, so she's holding back."
Zhang Yu, standing with his arms crossed, also began to understand Bai Zhenzhen's strategy.
Although the Yellow Turban Warrior's strength was limited to 1.98, its material was still indestructible to students.
Bai Zhenzhen's fighting style relied on exploiting weaknesses, but against an opponent like the Yellow Turban Warrior, which required brute force, she was at a disadvantage.
Zhang Yu thought to himself, *My goal is to avoid strong opponents in the group stage and secure a spot in the top eight.
It seems Bai Zhenzhen knows she can't score high, so she's hiding her strength to surprise stronger opponents later.*
In the end, Bai Zhenzhen scored 89 points.
(End of Chapter)