Chapter 20: A Self-Sacrificing Strike
With the first drum, courage rises; with the second, it wanes; and with the third, it is exhausted.
The charging group, after leading the jogging group by four or five laps, all slowed down. Every single one of them was panting heavily, their lips and tongues parched, and their throats felt like they were on fire. Their once agile steps became quite sluggish.
In contrast, the girls who had been calmly jogging in the back to conserve their energy had steady, slow, and long breaths. However, some students whose Spirits provided little enhancement to their physical fitness had already begun to fall behind.
Huo Yuhao followed the group closely, his pace steady and rhythmic—inhaling for three steps and exhaling for three steps. Some sharp-eyed girls noticed Yuhao's breathing frequency and began to try and imitate it.
Meanwhile, the two top-tier individuals were still competing. Wang Dong and Dai Huabin were almost perfectly in sync. Dai Huabin kept his eyes on the shadow beside him, gritting his teeth hard, desperate to pull ahead.
Time passed minute by minute. After a little over an hour, many students could no longer hold on and collapsed; at least two-thirds had fallen.
Huo Yuhao silently counted his laps; he was a lap and a half ahead of the last few. Moreover, those few had already stopped running, and the distance was still widening.
Dai Huabin was still competing with Wang Dong. A distance that he could usually bridge with a few quick steps now seemed like an insurmountable chasm to him, impossible to cross.
Wang Dong's physical fitness was bolstered by her Three Lives Martial Soul and the precious medicinal herbs she had been raised on since childhood, which allowed her second ring to reach the thousand-year level. With such physical attributes, even the three-ring Dai Huabin found it difficult to surpass her unless he activated his Spirit Body Enhancement state to further boost his physical capabilities.
Just as Wang Dong passed by Huo Yuhao, Yuhao slowed down slightly. Dai Huabin drew closer and closer. When that golden hair appeared in the corner of Yuhao's vision, Yuhao directly exploded with strength and slammed into him!
"Go to hell!"
He didn't even bother faking a fall; it was a blatant collision!
The metallic 'clang' of the iron chestplate echoed across the entire playground. Many students slumped on the ground looked toward the source of the noise, their mouths agape in shock.
Huo Yuhao had exhausted a great deal of strength. Dai Huabin was in no better state because he had been maintaining a high-speed movement, consuming much of his stamina and spirit power. The collision caused both of them to lose control instantly. Dai Huabin tumbled several times on the track, feeling as though his internal organs were being shaken apart.
Huo Yuhao, having prepared for this self-sacrificing strike in advance and it being a sneak attack, was slightly better off. He only rolled once, though his bones ached from the pressure of the iron chestplate.
Dai Huabin's internal organs were vibrating, his vision went dark, and he was consumed by fury. Combined with his uneven breathing, he spat out a mouthful of blood. 'Which blind fool hit me...' Before Dai Huabin's hazy vision could identify his assailant, he passed out directly.
"Huabin!" a girl who was still running screamed out. Though young, her body was well-developed and already showing its curves. Zhu Lu was also drenched in sweat and looked pale with fright. She knelt directly by Dai Huabin's side, shaking him forcefully.
"Hmph! Is this the kind of student you teach, Zhou Yi?! To actually use such underhanded tactics to fight for first place for the class!" Mu Jin glared at Teacher Zhou Yi with wide eyes, while also locking onto Huo Yuhao. "A student with such poor character should be expelled!"
"He is my student; whether he is expelled is for me to decide. Being able to win is a good tactic. If you want to blame someone, blame your class's students for not being united or smart!" Teacher Zhou Yi refused to back down and retorted directly. However, even she hadn't expected Huo Yuhao to suddenly knock down Dai Huabin; it didn't look like an accident, but rather intentional.
Wang Dong, who was still running, whipped her head around at the sound of the collision and found both Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin on the ground. She stopped her pace and turned back, wanting to help Huo Yuhao up.
"What are you doing! He couldn't have outrun me! Why..." Wang Dong didn't understand Huo Yuhao's actions, thinking he was trying to help her.
Huo Yuhao was too exhausted to speak, his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood. He closed his eyes speechlessly. 'Was I doing that to help you? I was getting revenge!'
Zhu Lu felt much more relieved after discovering that Dai Huabin had only fainted. However, the person who hit him... Zhu Lu looked at Huo Yuhao with a face full of rage. Her heterochromatic eyes, one yellow and one blue, flickered with chilling killing intent. She stripped off her iron chestplate and unleashed her Spirit, the Hell Civet.
She directly released her first Spirit Ability, Hell Clone. Three Zhu Lus nimbly attacked Huo Yuhao. The three Cat-girl figures crisscrossed, making it impossible to distinguish the real from the fake, but even the Clones possessed attacking power.
Huo Yuhao's Heavenly Eye Martial Soul sensed the danger, and his Spiritual Detection skill activated. He burst out with the last of his strength to push Wang Dong, who had her back to Zhu Lu, away. "Watch out!"
He himself fell heavily to the ground again, his head spinning from the shock. Fortunately, it wasn't from a great height, so it wasn't serious.
Huo Yuhao turned his head, mental force condensing at his brow as he prepared to fire the Heavenly Eye Divine Light at Zhu Lu's true body. Suddenly, a domineering and sharp female voice rang out from a distance, "How bold! To actually release a Spirit Ability! It seems you don't respect my rules!"
Six spirit rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black—rose from beneath Teacher Zhou Yi's feet. She erupted with spirit power and rushed in front of Zhu Lu in an instant. With just a single hand-chop, she knocked Zhu Lu's true body unconscious, and the remaining Clones vanished as they could no longer be maintained.
Wang Dong, who had been pushed to the ground, let out an 'ouch' as she landed on her bottom. Wearing an iron chestplate weighing dozens of kilograms, she nearly broke her tailbone.
Everything happened almost simultaneously. Mu Jin hadn't expected Teacher Zhou Yi to be so fast; by the time she reacted, it was already over. She also released her own spirit rings, bursting forward with impressive speed through the air. The two faced off against each other.
Mu Jin said coldly, "As a teacher, to actually strike a student! And a freshman at that! You certainly show a lot of bravado, Zhou Yi!"
"It was your student who used a Spirit Ability to harm my student. What is wrong with me stepping in to stop it? If you're not satisfied, go complain to the Academic Affairs Office!" Teacher Zhou Yi gave off the feeling that she would start a fight at the slightest provocation.
If she hadn't arrived in time, Zhu Lu's cat claws would have gone straight for Huo Yuhao's throat, and the consequences would have been unthinkable. To use such ruthless methods at such a young age—they really are the nobility of the Star Luo Empire; are they relying on having someone to back them up?
Teacher Zhou Yi recognized the Hell Civet Spirit of the cloning girl at a glance; it was the Legacy Spirit of the Zhu family of the Star Luo Empire. Combined with the Evil Eyes characteristics of the unconscious blonde boy, if she guessed correctly, he was a possessor of the Evil Eyes White Tiger Spirit. If the compatibility between their Spirits was high, they could even perform a Martial Soul Fusion to unleash a powerful Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Among the Shrek Seven Devils from ten thousand years ago, there were ancestors from both the Dai and Zhu families.
As a teacher at Shrek, Mu Jin could naturally see the intent behind Zhu Lu's attack with her eyesight. Although Huo Yuhao had initiated the collision, Zhu Lu had been too impulsive. Knowing she was in the wrong, Mu Jin could no longer vent her anger; furthermore, Dai Huabin was unconscious and needed medical treatment.
Taking off Dai Huabin's iron chestplate, Mu Jin circulated her spirit power to help smooth out the surging spirit power and Qi within his body. She wasn't worried about Zhu Lu; Teacher Zhou Yi had shown restraint and only knocked her out; she would wake up in a moment.
Seeing that Mu Jin had no time to pick a fight, Teacher Zhou Yi turned to look down at Huo Yuhao lying on the ground. His aura was weak but steady, with no signs of injury. She lightly kicked Yuhao's thigh and said irritably, "Have you rested enough? If you have, get up and keep running! Run until the end!"
She knew he would cause trouble for her, Teacher Zhou Yi shook her head helplessly.