Chapter 45: Purple Cloud Herb

A piercing screech of air friction ripped through the arena.

Zhang Yu's palm shot skyward, upon it danced a flying sword, its movements akin to a helicopter's rotor, spinning at an unholy speed.

"This is it! Rasengan Shuriken!"

In the next instant, he unleashed his mana, the whirling blade transforming into a massive disc, sweeping from low to high, targeting the aerial signal flags one by one.

...

**Ascetic (Expand for Details)**

As Han Xingye focused his gaze upon the display above Zhang Yu's head, a string of words materialized.

"Ascetic, Sports Scholarship Student, Extreme Poverty Household of Songyang City, Loan Slave, Card Slave, ??? "

It was Han Xingye's second shock of the day.

"Songyang High School again?"

"Where are they dredging up all this talent this year?"

"Ascetic" and "Sports Scholarship Student" were easily understood—a testament to diligent cultivation and athletic prowess.

The next three labels painted a clear picture: poverty.

But it was the final three question marks that truly perplexed Han Xingye.

"Question marks?"

"A concealment talisman? Disguise array?"

Where there was a Celestial Eye Charm to discern one's true nature, there were countermeasures like concealment talismans and disguise arrays.

But a pauper using such expensive countermeasures? Unlikely.

And who in their right mind would use a concealment talisman or disguise array and then deliberately create a "???" effect, practically screaming that they were hiding something?

"These three question marks… so brazen."

Brazen and pauper—words that shouldn't belong together, yet Han Xingye felt both radiating from Zhang Yu.

His curiosity piqued, he watched Zhang Yu's performance.

Then, he saw the flying sword, spinning like a celestial plate, hurtling skyward.

Han Xingye's eyes narrowed, observing the gusts of wind stirred by the blade's frenzied rotation, watching it sweep across the airborne flags like a silver moon. A flicker of astonishment crossed his face.

Then, a chuckle escaped his lips. "Heh, it is easier to hit the signal flags that way. The disc shape can easily sweep through all of the signal flags with a few movements. This can make up for the lack of experience with flying sword operation."

80 points.

As Han Xingye nodded approvingly at the score, a chorus of disgruntled voices arose from the students, accusing Zhang Yu of cheating and violating the rules.

Han Xingye's gaze swept over them.

"Insignificant," "Rare," "Insignificant," "Insignificant."

"Insignificant," "Insignificant," "Insignificant," "Rare."

"Insignificant," "Insignificant," "Rare," "Insignificant."

He sneered inwardly, "Fools."

"To make a flying sword spin like that, maintaining control without sending it spiraling wildly, requires an incredibly refined control over mana."

"The design of this flying sword is for straight, direct attacks. To make it spin like that, one must constantly alter the rhythm of mana input at every instant."

"This fellow is using his immense control over mana to compensate for his lack of experience in flying sword operation."

"Eighty points isn't too high; it's too low."

"The judges are likely considering the sponsors' wishes, discouraging such unorthodox tactics."

Han Xingye glanced at the students from Ziyun High School and Hongta High School. None of the top three schools voiced any opposition, a clear indication that they understood the difficulty involved.

In the subsequent rounds, others attempted Zhang Yu's technique, only to fail miserably, sending their swords careening out of control.

Thankfully, the referees were vigilant, preventing any injuries.

Slowly, the initially critical students began to realize that Zhang Yu's spinning blade maneuver was anything but simple.

As Zhang Yu returned, he mused, "This flying sword can't really handle the way I am using it. My mana can speed up the rhythm, but the sword's internal system that takes in my commands is already at its limits. Otherwise, the score could have been higher."

The high-speed rotation hadn't even reached the limit of Zhang Yu's mana control, honed by the Tenth Level of the Celestial Qi Gathering Art, but it had already pushed the flying sword's design to its absolute edge. After all, the sword wasn't designed for such use in the first place.

The moment Zhang Yu returned to Songyang High School's rest area, he was met with praise from Teacher Yan.

"Zhang Yu, you did well. Using mana control to compensate for your inexperience with flying swords. Eighty points is too low."

"As for those mediocre students at the common high schools, ignore them. Don't take them seriously."

Teacher Yan thought about Zhang Yu's score and beamed, "If the later rounds feature events more suited to Zhang Yu's strengths, perhaps he can sneak into the top ten?"

Only the top ten overall scores in the magic contest earned prize money, significant recognition, and advantages during university interviews. The high school's level of attention would be drastically different.

The thought of Zhang Yu potentially squeezing into the top ten made Teacher Yan's heart flutter with anticipation, knowing her year-end bonus would surely increase.

She randomly pointed at Bai Zhenzhen, the student with the worst score, and said, "Bai Zhenzhen, go get Zhang Yu a bottle of water. Zhang Yu, don't be nervous in the next two rounds. Just perform at your usual level…"

Bai Zhenzhen's eyes widened. She glared at Zhang Yu who was smirking and had no choice but to stand up and fetch water from the organizers.

"Wait, Zhenzhen, let me take a picture."

"You want to die, Zhang Yu?"

Bai Zhenzhen hurled the water bottle at Zhang Yu's head before slumping back into her seat, fuming. "Damn it, I should have left before the competition started."

"This damn magic contest is just a game for the rich."

"Yuzi, you better get into the top ten, or else I..."

Nearby, He Dayou watched Zhang Yu's score with a hint of surprise. "His mana control is that powerful? Good...good thing he's a poor wretch."

Soon after, the first round ended. The host reappeared, beaming, and announced, "For good pills, choose Ziyun. Ziyun Pharmaceuticals cares for your entire family. Take one pill and all diseases are cured. Thank you to Ziyun Company for their co-sponsorship of this magic contest."

"All emergency medicines for the second round will be sponsored by Ziyun Company..."

As he spoke, the host began to announce the rules of the second round.This round tests the ability to neutralize specialized magical forces.

The specific process involves attaching monitoring patches to the contestants, then having the judges inject a specific type of magical force. The contestants are then observed to see how long it takes them to neutralize it. Naturally, the shorter the time, the higher the score.

If more than ten minutes pass, or the contestant feels they cannot withstand it, they can immediately take the "Magic Dissipation Pill," sponsored by the Ziyun Corporation, to eliminate the magical force within them.

Furthermore, the Ziyun Corporation has set up temporary stalls all around, selling various medicines needed by the contestants.

The reason Ziyun Corporation is selling medicine here is because there is another rule in this second round.

This round allows the consumption of medicine!

Zhang Yu was astonished.

"Damn it! Are you people even human? To earn the sponsorship fee from Ziyun Corporation, you're encouraging the use of drugs in a competition?"

At the same time, Zhang Yu saw the students from Songyang High School beside him begin to take things out.

Painkillers, sedatives, focus enhancers... Looking at the three-piece set they produced, Zhang Yu suddenly realized that these guys were all prepared.

Teacher Yan, who was beside him, asked with concern, "Zhang Yu, did you bring medicine?"

"Remember to take it before the start of the round."

Taking medicine in a competition... To Teacher Yan, this was perfectly normal.

Afraid of pain and itching? Chew a painkiller. Unstable will? Drink a sedative. Afraid of distraction while channeling qi? Take a focus enhancer...

In short... To be energetic and fierce on the field, the medicine cannot stop being taken off the field.

This is the competition.

The competition is about taking medicine!

Magical Force Competitions have always been one of the projects that pharmaceutical companies love to sponsor the most, so there is usually at least one round that allows contestants to take medicine, as long as the medicine consumed is within the range of medicines listed by the organizers. This is also what all the referees and Soul Cultivation student assistants will be supervising and checking later.

So, taking medicine is part of the competition, and even demonstrates the foundation of a high school.

Seeing Zhang Yu's dumbfounded expression, Teacher Yan helplessly opened his bag: "Look at you, participating in the competition without even preparing medicine?"

"Luckily, I brought a spare."

As he spoke, Teacher Yan had already taken out various bottles and jars from his bag, pouring out several portions and delivering them to Zhang Yu.

Looking at Teacher Yan's loving and concerned gaze, Zhang Yu helplessly accepted the medicine.

"Damn it! My body can't take medicine, right?"

The original Zhang Yu had damaged his body from taking medicine, and this memory scared Zhang Yu so much that he never dared to take medicine randomly, at most, he would take some nerve-filling agents to reduce sleep.

In addition, he himself had amazing talent and was burdened with huge debts, so he had never planned to take medicine randomly.

Although he didn't know if there would be any problems with his current body taking medicine randomly, he didn't plan to take the risk anyway.

"Taking these medicines just for a competition, I'm afraid the lifespan I gain from cultivating immortality won't be enough to offset the loss."

But at this moment, feeling Teacher Yan's concerned gaze, he could only nod with an awkward smile, thinking in his heart: "I'll pretend to take it in the bathroom later."

At the same time, the entire venue had become a medicine exhibition.

In the Ziyun High School rest area, Lian Tianji fiercely swallowed a large handful of medicine, then took a big gulp of water, swallowing all the medicine in his mouth.

The competition coach next to him looked at his gradually reddening and purpling face and nodded, saying, "Good, you've already entered the competition state."

After saying that, he took out a wooden box from his bag.

Along with the opening of the wooden box, a total of ten syringes emitting a faint purple light appeared in front of everyone.

The competition coach said, "This is the Meridian Expansion Injection from the Ziyun Laboratory, which can temporarily widen your meridians throughout your body with blood circulation and speed up your qi circulation efficiency later."

"One needle per person, don't fight over it."

After watching the students inject themselves one by one, he encouraged them: "Everyone must hold on to the end later, our total score is not too far from Bailong High School, we must catch up in this round!"

Roar!

The crowd, who had just finished taking medicine and injections, felt infinite fighting spirit in their hearts and let out a wild roar, deafening.

Red Pagoda High School's rest area.

The competition coach was holding a panda-like demon offspring student, taking a few handfuls from the animal medicine next to him: "Bufan, take another handful, we are now at the bottom of the three famous schools, if this is still the case in the second round, my bonus for this year will be gone."

The little panda, Xiong Bufan, stretched out his paw at him and raised a middle finger: "Enough!"

"Don't feed me anymore!"

"Ugh ugh ugh...You f***ing...Don't feed me anymore!"

On the other side, in the Bailong High School rest area.

Song Hailong grabbed a large handful of medicine and swallowed it, then looked at the Ziyun High School rest area in the distance.

Listening to the wild roar coming from Ziyun High School, he snorted coldly: "I will crush all of your fighting spirit later."

At the same time, competition coach Han Xingye walked over carrying a thermos box and said to everyone, "This is the Kangling Needle specially prepared by the school for you. Stab it into the dantian later, hurry up and come get it."

Along with the opening of the thermos box, a burst of cold air rushed out, then revealing two rows of fluorescent needles.

Song Hailong grinned, and he, who had the number 1 printed on his school uniform, was also the first to pick up a tube of needle.

The other students around him also took out the needles from the thermos box in the order of the numbers on their chests, then stabbed them into their dantian positions.

The other students from the surrounding schools looked at this scene with envy in their hearts: "Is it a Kangling Needle? Concentrated spirit essence, can quickly restore the magical force in the body, is it prepared to replenish the magical force while neutralizing the magical force during the competition later?"

Even more students were full of jealousy: "One Kangling needle into the dantian, my fate is up to me, not the heavens, alas... I don't know if I can afford the Kangling Needle in this life."

Just then, a commotion came from a corner of the venue.

Only to see a student foaming at the mouth and twitching in all four limbs being carried out, causing a burst of discussion.

Some students sighed: "An overdose?"

Some teachers sneered: "There is no such thing as an overdose, only insufficient drug resistance, you still have to practice!"

Some teachers clapped their hands and urged: "Don't mind other people's business, concentrate your attention on the competition!"

As everyone's preparations gradually came to a close, the second round of the competition officially began.