Chapter 87: Champion

Although Bai Zhenzhen suggested he spit, Zhang Yu felt that doing so would demean his status as a contracted member of the Inspectorate Department. So, he chose to use his own blood instead.

As expected, even the blood of a “broke cultivator” like him made Le Mulan recoil in disgust. She would rather dodge than let her sword aura touch it.

On the other side, Le Mulan watched Zhang Yu charge in under this pretense and gave a cold snort. She flicked her sword finger, intending to block him with sword aura—but to her surprise, Zhang Yu's speed was astonishing.

It was because after the previous matches, his weighted training suit was already in tatters.

Knowing he’d need to go all out against Le Mulan, Zhang Yu had removed it before the match and spent over ten minutes adapting to the change.

Once the fight began, he deliberately held back—partly to mislead Le Mulan, partly to continue warming up.

He had to adapt to the speed of her sword aura, had to get his body, his blood, blazing hot!

…

Bai Zhenzhen had said, “Her Ice-Jade Body is likely a special constitution—I don’t know if she was born with it or if it was engineered—but either way, her mana doesn’t need to be converted. It naturally manifests as Cold-Type Mana. From the moment she refines it, it’s already superior.”

“When she infuses it into her sword aura, any clash drops your body temperature. It slows your nerves and muscle reactions...”

“To resist that Cold-Type Mana even briefly, you need to get your body burning hot.”

…

Now, as Zhang Yu sprinted at full speed, he moved like a flash of thunder and lightning. It wasn’t that Le Mulan couldn’t react—but she definitely hadn’t expected it.

“Was he holding back before? His full speed is this fast?”

“Why isn’t the Cold-Type Mana taking effect?”

That moment of surprise made her sword aura response slower than usual. All she could do was cast a flurry of sword auras to try and block his approach.

Zhang Yu met the incoming barrage—more than ten streaks of sword aura—with a single palm infused with crimson Martial Qi. He chose to take them head-on.

This was the other flaw Bai Zhenzhen had told him about.

Although Le Mulan’s Starfall Sword Aura was sharp, she hadn’t trained this technique to its theoretical peak for someone in the Qi Refining Realm.

Her abundant mana let her recklessly unleash sword aura, but her control wasn’t refined enough to micromanage so many streams at once for any extended period.

So in prolonged battles, if too many sword auras came at once, they interfered with one another, weakening their power.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Yu’s right arm clashed directly with over a dozen sword auras.

“As expected, they’re not as powerful as I imagined.”

With Formless Cloud Qi and the Indestructible Seal Method layered on, he shattered most of the sword aura—but not without injury. His palm was lacerated again, blood spraying and staining the Martial Qi even redder, wrapping around his arm like flames.

His feet never stopped. He burst within half a meter of Le Mulan and lunged at her arm.

“Ah!” Le Mulan roared, unleashing dozens of sword auras from her fingertips.

Zhang Yu’s expression didn’t change. Protected by Subdermal Qi and the Indestructible Seal Method, he powered through the injuries and blood, grabbing hold of her right arm.

At that moment, Zhang Yu had finally closed the distance.

His mind flashed again with Bai Zhenzhen’s words.

…

“I can feel it—her sword aura isn’t trying to kill me. It’s trying to push me back.”

“Her last flaw is likely due to her cleanliness obsession. She’s not good at close combat.”

“After all, high school only started half a year ago. I don’t care how rich she is—I don’t believe she’s mastered every discipline already.”

…

Now, with Zhang Yu up close, Le Mulan—who had seen how he fought Song Hailong—immediately sensed the danger.

She tried to blast him away with Cold-Type Mana-infused sword aura, but Zhang Yu’s heat only surged higher. Formless Cloud Qi channeled his own boiling blood and struck like a hammer.

In that narrow half-meter space, icy blue sword aura clashed with blazing red Martial Qi.

To Le Mulan, it felt like Zhang Yu had become a searing storm, devouring her sword aura, threatening to devour her whole.

Her sword aura was disrupted, repelled by the Indestructible Seal Method.

Then came the second-level Truck Pivot—a brutal move that smashed her to the ground, leaving her head spinning.

The next instant, Zhang Yu, bloodied, filthy, and reeking, sat directly on top of her.

Le Mulan’s face turned to terror. She screamed, “Get off—!”

She tried to release sword aura again, but before she could fully channel it, her wrists made a sickening crack—Zhang Yu had used the full force of the Truck Pivot to dislocate both of them.

Thanks to painkillers, she didn’t feel any pain—but she couldn’t move her fingers to generate sword aura.

Shocked and furious, she stared at Zhang Yu. Just one evasion, one slip-up, and he had seized the opportunity.

She hadn’t even used her full abilities—and she was already in this sorry state.

Still unwilling to give up, she kicked upward—but then heard Zhang Yu’s cold voice.

“You said you’re rich. That money is part of your power, right?”

Crack! Her knees snapped too.

“Then I’ll beat you to a pulp. Let’s see if money can save you now.”

At that moment, Le Mulan felt like a plaything in Zhang Yu’s hands. One by one, her joints were broken by the overwhelming force of the Truck Pivot, until she lay motionless on the ground.

She glared daggers at Zhang Yu, as if trying to flay him alive with her eyes.

He said coolly, “Let me tell you one last thing.”

“All your flaws—Bai Zhenzhen noticed them. She told me.”

“If she’d had enough insurance funds, she could have beaten you too.”

Boom!

Zhang Yu grabbed Le Mulan’s head and hurled her off the stage like a sack of trash.

As he stood there—bloody, alone, and upright—the entire venue fell into stunned silence.

No one had imagined, expected, or even dared to dream that today’s Martial Arts Tournament would end with a penniless student from Songyang High as champion.

Xiong Wenwu—defeated.

Song Hailong—defeated.

Le Mulan—defeated.

One by one, the geniuses and rich kids of the Three Great Academies had fallen. Defeated by a broke student. Defeated by someone from a different school.

The poor had won. The rich had lost.

As students from the Three Great Academies fell silent and stunned—

Zhao Tianxing suddenly broke into enthusiastic applause.

He hadn’t planned it, didn’t want attention. He was simply moved by Zhang Yu’s performance and couldn’t help but clap.

In that moment, even Zhang Yu’s ragged Songyang High uniform seemed majestic in Zhao Tianxing’s eyes.

But the solitary applause echoed awkwardly through the vast, quiet hall. Zhao Tianxing stopped, embarrassed.

Then Bai Zhenzhen, down below, began cheering and clapping.

Beside Zhao Tianxing, Qian Shen also applauded, eyes fixed in awe on the stage.

Even He Dayou, the school board member’s son, gave a light clap. “Not bad. You really made Songyang proud.”

Lian Tianji from Purple Cloud High also joined in, thinking his sponsorship deals might be back on.

Song Hailong stared at Zhang Yu with a complicated expression, then slowly clapped. Once he did, all the students from White Dragon High followed suit.

Even Chu Qiuhe, lying on a stretcher pretending to be unconscious, was suddenly clapping furiously.

As applause filled the arena, Bai Zhenzhen leapt onto the stage laughing.

“Champion! Champion! We’re the champions!”

“Told you Le Mulan couldn’t handle close combat. She never had the chops.”

She grabbed Zhang Yu’s hand and raised it high, beaming as their Songyang High uniforms gleamed in the spotlight.

Then she shouted, “Anyone looking to advertise or find a brand ambassador, talk to us! My bro here’s not just the martial arts champ—he’s also fourth in the Law Tournament!”

Zhang Yu looked out at the crowd—but his vision blurred.

He hadn’t taken any heavy hits this match, but he’d pushed himself hard. Chained together multiple martial techniques. Lost a lot of blood. And after so many battles, the toll was showing.

He reached out to Bai Zhenzhen. “Ah-Zhen, I’m dizzy. Help me to the doctor.”

Still riding the high, Bai Zhenzhen said, “Wait, wait, just a bit longer! Everyone’s watching!”

Zhang Yu sighed. “To help you put Le Mulan in her place, I risked bankruptcy, bled like hell, and fought with my life. You won’t even call me Dad—but now Dad’s not feeling well, and you won’t even help him walk?”

Bai Zhenzhen knew this moment would become one of Zhang Yu’s legendary tales for life.

But she was still grumpy he hadn’t perfectly followed her plan. “You bled that much just to look cool? If you’d followed my strategy—spit, snot, a little drool—it would've been way safer and more effective!”

On the ground, awaiting medical aid, Le Mulan twitched. Her eyes showed a flicker of disbelief. And in her heart, one grim realization.

“These two broke bastards... have no bottom line.”

Bai Zhenzhen had already scooped Zhang Yu up and was carrying him to the emergency zone, not wanting to hear him brag any more.

Lei Jun followed close behind, face full of concern.

Just the thought that Zhang Yu had taken first place in the Martial Arts Tournament made his heart swell with pride.