Chapter 47: Mountains

Chapter 47: Mountains

Monitoring Patches were attached to the students' arms one by one.

The judges then gently tapped the students' arms, slowly infusing them with Specialized Mana.

At the same time, the numbers on the Monitoring Patches' panels began to fluctuate, rising from 0.5 to 1.3, then to 2.4, and finally stopping at 5.

This indicated that the judge had infused a total of 5 units of Specialized Mana into the student's arm.

Throughout this process, the judge was extremely cautious, fearing any mistake that might inadvertently harm or even kill the student.

Even if a student from an ordinary high school were to be injured or killed, compensation would still be required, with the amount varying based on the student's value.

If the student had signed a contract and belonged to a particular school, the compensation would be even higher.

There had been incidents where the aftermath of a Foundation Forging expert's battle accidentally killed a passerby, only to find out that the victim was a highly-invested senior student. The final compensation, including cultivation fees, living expenses, tuition, tutoring fees, and even sterilization fees, had bankrupted the perpetrator.

During the few seconds of Mana infusion, the student's body tensed up, and their breathing became heavier, clearly showing the effects of the Specialized Mana.

Even without actively channeling the Specialized Mana for an attack, its mere presence in the body caused damage.

Fortunately, the student had taken Painkiller Pills, so while they were uncomfortable, the pain was still bearable.

As the infused Mana reached 5 units, the Monitoring Patch's panel began to count down, recording the time it took for the student to neutralize the Specialized Mana. The shorter the time, the higher the score.

Since each student received Specialized Mana at different times, the rankings were determined by the recorded duration rather than the order of infusion.

After stopping the Mana infusion, the judge accepted a capsule from an assistant, swallowed it, and smiled at the camera in front of him. "For Mana replenishment, choose Ziyun. Just one Ziyun Mana Condensing Capsule, and my Mana is quickly restored. I can infuse 50 more students without any problem."

As the competition began, several judges infused Specialized Mana into the students one by one.

More and more students closed their eyes and focused on neutralizing the Specialized Mana that had invaded their bodies, making the scene increasingly quiet, with only the sound of Spiritual Respiration remaining.

Once the Specialized Mana was infused, Zhang Yu felt a burning sensation in his right arm, which grew more intense as the Mana continued to flow in.

The intense pain radiating from his arm made Zhang Yu understand why so many contestants took Pain Relievers.

He was so pained that he wanted to punch the judge who was still infusing the Specialized Mana into him.

"F*, no wonder I saw someone selling insurance earlier. This competition is way too dangerous."

Hastily, Zhang Yu activated the Wild Ox Soul-Soothing Technique, which gradually reduced the unbearable pain.

He then directed the Mana in his Dantian toward his right arm.

"The invading Mana is of the heating type."

"I need to counter it with cooling Mana."

Zhang Yu recalled the Mana conversion routes taught by Yan Laoshi and transformed the Mana in his Dantian into cooling Mana, which flowed toward his right arm.

As the cooling Mana passed through his body, he felt a refreshing sensation, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him.

When the cooling Mana collided with the heating Mana, Zhang Yu felt the burning sensation in his arm begin to subside.

However, the cooling Mana was rapidly consumed, much like using a bucket of water to put out a fire. The fire diminished, but the water was also depleted.

Zhang Yu could only convert more Mana to continue extinguishing the fire.

Fortunately, the Celestial Circulation Art provided a continuous flow of Mana throughout his body, the Wild Ox Soul-Soothing Technique stabilized his mind, and his advanced Mana Control Proficiency allowed him to efficiently convert the Mana into cooling Mana.

A Short Time Ago

Before the judges reached Songyang High School.

In the competition area of White Dragon High School.

Han Xingye glanced at Song Hailong, who was neutralizing the Specialized Mana in his body, and then looked at the large screen in front of him, thinking, "It should be almost time, right?"

Inside Song Hailong's body, his Mana flowed like a mighty river, surging toward the burning Specialized Mana in his right arm.

The Mana Renewal Syringe continuously replenished his Mana, combined with his own impressive Mana reserves, allowing him to freely channel his Mana, even enveloping the entire burning Mana and aiming to extinguish it in one go.

The pain during the neutralization process was almost completely suppressed by the medication, making Song Hailong barely feel any discomfort. He only needed to focus on his task.

"With my Mana reserves and control, who can possibly be faster than me in this competition?"

At that moment, a cry for help echoed through the competition area.

A student groaned and collapsed, and people immediately rushed to give him a Mana Neutralizing Tonic.

"Don't worry, he just ran out of Mana. He's been given a Mana Neutralizing Tonic."

Soon after, another student screamed and fell to the ground, spitting blood.

This was due to a mishandling of the Specialized Mana, causing it to spread throughout the body and lead to internal injuries.

Han Xingye glanced at the fallen student.

Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning...

He knew that more and more students from ordinary high schools would struggle to keep up, either due to insufficient Mana reserves, inadequate Mana Control Proficiency, or poor-quality medication, and would be eliminated one by one.

He was not concerned.

"Do you think taking medication will narrow the gap?"

"Everyone takes medication, but the gap between ordinary high schools and the top three schools will only grow larger..."

Just as he was thinking this, the large screen flickered and displayed a name.

White Dragon High School, Song Hailong, 1:29

Han Xingye smiled slightly. "Oh? Even faster than in school. It seems the atmosphere here has made him more excited."

More names began to appear on the screen, quickly filling the top ten.

The screen only displayed the top ten names.

The rankings from second to tenth place kept changing, but Song Hailong's name remained firmly at the top, as if he were single-handedly suppressing all the other students.

Soon, more names began to stabilize, and the rankings from second to tenth place gradually stopped changing.

The crowd looked at the unchanging top ten names in shock. One student soon noticed a clear fact: "All ten of these people... are from White Dragon High School!"

Although White Dragon High School was not among the first batch to receive Mana, they quickly dominated the rankings after Song Hailong took the lead, with all ten of their students completing the task within their respective times.

Yan Laoshi looked at the unchanging names on the screen, feeling as if a mountain had been placed in front of Songyang High School.

"Ah, the top three schools... This kind of competition is ultimately their domain."

At that moment, the rankings from second to ninth place all dropped one position, as a new name surged to second place.

Hongta High School, Xiong Bufan, 1:35

The students from Hongta High School also began to neutralize the Specialized Mana in their bodies.

Shortly after Xiong Bufan took second place, two more students from Hongta High School joined the top ten.

Han Xingye turned to look in the direction of Hongta High School and quickly found the most conspicuous item in his Celestial Eye Talisman's view.

Protection Zone | Pharmaceutical Barrel | High-Speed Mana

The protection zone was easy to understand. Han Xingye guessed that the creature was from a demon descendant protection zone.

High-Speed Mana... Han Xingye was not entirely sure, but he understood the Pharmaceutical Barrel.

"How much medication did they stuff into this creature?"

"F*, secretly using demons for drug experiments, huh?"

The creature must have had prohibited drugs in its body. I should report you.

What? Our school is doing the same? And on humans?

Forget it, forget it.

Although Xiong Bufan's performance brought Hongta High School into the spotlight, he did not take first place, and the top spot remained firmly held by White Dragon High School.

However, a moment later, the top nine students all dropped one position.

With Le Mulan of Ziyun High School suddenly appearing at the top, the air seemed to explode.

Ziyun High School, Le Mulan, 00:25

"25 seconds!"

More and more students gasped in shock.

They found it hard to believe that while they were struggling to neutralize the Specialized Mana, someone could do it in just 25 seconds.

Is this even human?

Everyone could imagine that Le Mulan would receive a perfect score of 100 in this second round, but even that 100 was limiting her, as her score would have been even higher otherwise.

Han Xingye was shocked for the third time that day.

He frowned, looking at the words "Frostbloom Constitution" above Le Mulan's head, thinking that her ability to neutralize the Specialized Mana so quickly must be related to her special constitution.

Song Hailong, standing nearby, did not show any anger. Instead, he laughed heartily. "Interesting, very interesting. It seems my biggest rival for the next three years will be this Le Mulan."

More than a minute later, the other students from Ziyun High School also neutralized the Specialized Mana, with Lian Tianji and another student joining the top ten.

In the end, Le Mulan, Song Hailong, and Xiong Bufan occupied the first, second, and third places.

The top ten were divided among four students from White Dragon High School, three from Ziyun High School, and three from Hongta High School.

Seeing the unchanging rankings, the high school students on the scene felt a heavy silence.

This was the first time many of them had truly experienced the gap between themselves and the top three schools.

The ten names and times on the screen felt like a mountain pressing down on them, highlighting the vast chasm between the top three schools and the rest.

At that moment, the rankings on the screen changed again.

The names from fourth to tenth place all dropped one position.

In a competition almost entirely dominated by the top three schools, someone had unexpectedly surged to fourth place.

Songyang High School, Zhang Yu, 1:38

When Zhang Yu successfully neutralized the Specialized Mana, the timer beeped.

This soft beep sounded like a large stone dropped into the hearts of the Songyang High School students around him.

The students from the top three schools also instinctively looked in the direction of Songyang High School, surprised to find a student of comparable skill there.

Yan Laoshi looked at the rankings on the screen and quickly took a photo with his phone.

These were all important teaching achievements.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end