Limitless Cloud Hand

Limitless Cloud Hand

Zhang Yu looked at his phone, where an electronic agreement was displayed.

The agreement was simple: it granted the top ten competitors in this Magical Power Competition the right to use Limitless Cloud Hand, provided they did not disseminate it or profit from its contents, and so on.

Bai Zhenzhen stood beside Zhang Yu, tilting her head as she read the agreement. She complained, "So stingy. Xianyun Corporation is such a huge company—how can they be this stingy with their sponsorship? They only give usage rights to the top ten overall? Why not give everyone a copy?"

Zhang Yu shook his head dismissively. "If everyone got one, wouldn't that be rather unfair to the students who did well in this competition?"

"In my opinion, even giving it to ten people is too many. I feel that anyone ranked below fourth overall didn't really understand the questions this time."

Bai Zhenzhen shot Zhang Yu a sidelong glance.

You bastard...

Listen to that. Unfair to the students with good grades? Anyone below fourth didn't understand the questions? Was that even something a human being could say? Zhang Yu, had you forgotten how, a month ago, you had lambasted the modern immortal Dao education system? Where had that backbone of yours gone?

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu's ugly face in disappointment.

Yu Zi! My Yu Zi is already dead. What stands before me now is nothing but a walking corpse controlled by grades!

"Haha, A-Zhen, the prize money came in." Zhang Yu looked at the payment notification on his phone and felt the corners of his mouth become harder to suppress than an AK.

Fourth place in this Magic Competition had earned him a full twenty thousand in cash, bringing his savings to over sixty-three thousand.

Zhang Yu slapped Bai Zhenzhen on the shoulder, then grandly waved his hand. "A-Zhen, when we get back to school, I'll treat you to dinner."

"Good boy!" Bai Zhenzhen said happily. "I knew you had roots. You definitely wouldn't forget where you came from."

Before long, the various schools began to disperse.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen followed the Songyang High School group out through the venue gates.

Just then, a black shadow fell from the top of the stadium.

"That is..." Zhang Yu's gaze shifted. "A person?"

Someone had fallen?

Just as Zhang Yu registered what was happening, someone at the scene had already moved.

If it had been an ordinary day, this jumper might have gone splat upon the ground.

But at this moment, there were simply too many high school students, teachers, coaches, referees, and judges present.

Especially since many of them were from Red Pagoda High School.

Protecting the campus environment was everyone's responsibility.

The instant the figure fell from above, several streams of Gang Qi roared over, forming cushion after cushion beneath the jumper and saving him.

Liang Qin, who had closed his eyes and awaited death, did not meet the imagined agony. Instead, he felt as though he had landed on an incomparably warm bed.

When he opened his eyes, he discovered that a mass of Gang Qi was gently carrying him down to the ground.

"Why did you save me?!"

Liang Qin stared at the scene in anguish, without the slightest joy at having been rescued.

While watching the Magic Competition just now, he had placed bet after bet, eventually losing every last cent. His father had even called to ask about the collection agency... So, as a gambling addict, he had made that choice just now.

The teacher who had saved him showed no joy either, merely saying in a rigid tone, "Jumping from buildings is prohibited on this campus."

"I've already called the police regarding your situation. Someone will discuss the specific compensation arrangements with you..."

Hearing this, an even deeper despair flashed through Liang Qin's eyes. He hurriedly argued, "I wasn't trying to jump! I just lost my footing..."

The other party said flatly, "Lost your footing? Then it was negligent building-jumping? That costs money too."

Liang Qin grew furious, but recalling the other man's Gang Qi just now, he could only force his anger down.

"When I find the chance, I'll jump somewhere else."

Having calmed down, Liang Qin began considering his next jumping spot. Schools, hospitals, malls, residential compounds... every damn one of them required compensation.

"What a rotten world. It's hard enough just to find a place where I can jump for free."

Meanwhile, Songyang High School was already about to leave the campus.

Not only the other students—even Zhang Yu was no longer that surprised at the sight of someone jumping. He merely thought that the person wrapped in a mass of Gang Qi looked somewhat familiar.

Songyang High School.

Cafeteria.

Bai Zhenzhen stuffed a chicken leg into her mouth in one bite. Amid crisp cracking sounds, she swallowed it meat, bone, and all.

Before her sat an enormous spread of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, costing Zhang Yu more than four hundred in total.

With Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's current cultivation and Physical Body strength, it was enough to give them a hearty meal.

"Ah, the school's Pre-made Meal still has the most authentic flavor. One whiff, and you can smell that fresh feeling of having just come out of the freezer."

After taking a bite, Bai Zhenzhen sighed. "The Boxed Meals at Red Pagoda High School taste wrong the moment you eat them. Who knows how much Synthetic Food they put in there."

Although Zhang Yu was eating with relish as well, he had many culinary memories from his previous life. Hearing that, he said, "A-Zhen, when I have money in the future, I'll treat you to something better."

Bai Zhenzhen said, "You mean the Dietary Supplementation meals on the second floor?"

Zhang Yu understood that for Songyang High School—no, for the vast majority of high school students across all of Songyang City—better food meant food that increased cultivation more and raised scores more effectively.

As for pursuing flavor itself... that was secondary, or rather, something most Songyang City high school students had no means to pursue. For high school students, taste was a luxury.

Zhang Yu did not explain, merely saying, "You'll know when I have money."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu recalled what had happened in the competition today and asked curiously, "A-Zhen, how did you comprehend that set of punches you used in the final round?"

Bai Zhenzhen replied casually, "Didn't that Energy Circulation Diagram have six moves?"

Zhang Yu said in surprise, "It did?"

"Yeah." Bai Zhenzhen thought back for a moment. "Couldn't you tell at a glance?"

You had hacks on, didn't you? Zhang Yu looked at A-Zhen before him, still unable to understand how she had seen it at a glance. It seemed that even students ranked beyond 100 in the competition had their merits.

After speaking, Bai Zhenzhen said with an unwilling expression, "I was forced into it. I just wanted to see whether external martial moves could assist that method of circulating Magical Power."

"Looks like it still didn't work."

Thinking of how she had been frustrated at every turn in today's Magical Power Competition, Bai Zhenzhen made up her mind to properly improve her Magical Power control from now on.

Then she looked up at Zhang Yu before her, recalling how he had stolen the limelight in the competition today, and immediately felt even worse.

"Starting tomorrow, I'm going to cram school!"

I, Bai Zhenzhen, will yield to no one in my life!

Bai Zhenzhen asked, "Are you going to Teacher Yan's extra classes?"

Before parting today, Teacher Yan had called Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen over and told them that, based on their competition results, she would apply to the school for funding to open a Magical Power Competition tutoring class and have them enroll when the time came.

Zhang Yu nodded at that. "Of course I am."

Though he had achieved an excellent result of fourth place today, the competition had also made Zhang Yu feel his own limitations.

If he had not comprehended Limitless Cloud Hand from Bai Zhenzhen at the last moment, he likely would not even have made the top ten overall.

He hoped to become stronger at controlling Magical Power, so that when he competed in Magical Power Competitions in the future, he would no longer need to rely on luck to win.

Besides, once the school invested funding, Teacher Yan's competition tutoring might even come with benefits such as flying swords and cultivation methods, which made Zhang Yu look forward to it.

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, Bai Zhenzhen's lips curled upward. "All right. Then we'll go find Old Yan for tutoring together."

After returning home.

Zhang Yu did not cultivate the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra to strengthen his Dao Heart as he usually did.

After all, his Feather Book Specialization had now switched to the martial art Limitless Cloud Hand.

So he simply took this opportunity to continue pushing the level of Limitless Cloud Hand.

He thought that Limitless Cloud Hand only had six moves over and over again. Maybe it would level faster than Freehand Fighting—perhaps it would reach level ten in a single night.

Thus, Zhang Yu once again went to the Unfinished Building.

Coming here made Zhang Yu feel as if he had returned home. After all, he had spent night after night practicing martial arts here.

It was quiet here, and he did not have to worry about disturbing anyone. He could train without holding back.

If he had not already paid rent at home, and if the Unfinished Building had not lacked internet, electricity, and water, he would have wanted to move a bed here and live in this fine free place.

He walked into a bare, dusty hall.

With a thought from Zhang Yu, streams of Magical Power rose from his dantian, passed through seven layers of tremors, and transformed into masses of cloud mist that surged from his palms.

Having already cultivated Limitless Cloud Hand to level 1, the speed and quality with which he converted Magical Power into Martial Dao Gang Qi in one breath far surpassed every competitor at the arena today.

Feeling the cloud mist enveloping his hands, Zhang Yu thought, Formless Cloud Gang?

After signing the electronic agreement, Zhang Yu had gained the right to use Limitless Cloud Hand, as well as its Electronic Manual.

The true name of this Martial Dao Gang Qi had also been written in the manual.

Formless Cloud Gang resembled white clouds. It could be hard or soft, excelled at guiding force and borrowing strength to strike back, and was a Martial Dao Gang Qi with broad applications in battle, capable of both attack and defense.

Next, Zhang Yu began practicing the six external martial moves of Limitless Cloud Hand.

He threw a punch forward, and the white Formless Cloud Gang carried surging force with it, like a huge siege hammer, releasing a shrieking howl.

This was the fierce and forceful move of Limitless Cloud Hand, specially used to break enemies head-on.

Next, Zhang Yu shifted both hands. The white Formless Cloud Gang wrapped around his body like layers of cloud and mist, carrying a soft, yielding elasticity.

This was the defensive move of Limitless Cloud Hand. The springy Formless Cloud Gang could not only deflect the force behind an opponent's moves, but even rebound a portion of that force.

Like this, Zhang Yu finished practicing the six moves of Limitless Cloud Hand in only a moment, then practiced them all over again.

Limitless Cloud Hand had far too few moves—only six in total. Zhang Yu completed ten repetitions in just over ten minutes.

Limitless Cloud Hand Level 1 (0/10) → Level 2 (0/20)

As Limitless Cloud Hand rose to level 2, Zhang Yu felt as though he had undergone practice after practice in an instant. Whether it was the process of refining Magical Power into Formless Cloud Gang, his control over Formless Cloud Gang, or even the application of those six external moves, all of it improved tremendously in an instant.

Zhang Yu looked at his hands.

Originally, wisps of white, cloud-smoke-like Gang Qi would drift upward from the Formless Cloud Gang wrapped around his hands, shooting toward the sky like beacon smoke. That had also been the appearance he displayed at the arena.

But now, as Limitless Cloud Hand rose to level 2, there were far fewer wisps of Gang Qi drifting upward. This was precisely evidence that his control over this Gang Qi had improved.

(End of Chapter)