Chapter 431: Chapter 377: The Hidden Health Bar in the Competition (Thanks to ‘hotpick Reward Leader’)

When Zhang Yu was buried into the underground cavity by Ma Xuan, he knew he had to seize the time to get out.

Just because during the time he was buried underground, their side had one less person on the field.

“If Ma Xuan and his team seize this opportunity to eliminate one of our members… then it’s trouble.”

Zhang Yu understood that although it was rare for students to be killed in the civil engineering competition, students surrendering and temporarily leaving the field were not uncommon.

After all, medical expenses, magic remains repair costs, and magic treasure maintenance fees… all had to be borne by the contestants themselves.

Once the contestant constantly gets injured, and the medical and repair costs gradually exceed their capacity, surrendering and temporarily leaving the field becomes a very natural choice.

“Our team’s overall strength is not as good as theirs, Ma Xuan’s.”

“Losing me will increase the pressure on Che Yufei, Shi Yunxiang, and the others even more.”

“If the body and magic remains keep getting damaged…”

Zhang Yu thought that if he were them, surrendering would also be normal; otherwise, even if winning the competition, there wouldn’t be enough money for healing or repairs, making it meaningless.

“In the competition, apart from the visible health bars, every contestant actually has an invisible health bar behind them, which is their financial strength.”

“The stronger the financial strength, the higher losses they can bear, and the more they can fight to the end in the arena.”

“And the weaker and poorer the financial strength, the lower losses they can bear, and the easier it is to surrender in the arena.”

So Zhang Yu was very aware that during the time he was buried underground, his teammates’ savings were being continually depleted.

He must hurry back before someone from his side gets eliminated and return to the battlefield.

As the thoughts rushed through Zhang Yu’s mind, a gang qi figure appeared behind him, emitting a chilling coldness.

With waves of coldness, the skeletal structure of the gang qi figure gradually solidified, eventually transforming into Zhang Yu’s Deep Cold Warrior within moments.

Boom!

Accompanied by the heavy punch of the Deep Cold Warrior pounding the mud above, a large amount of mud and sand was shaken loose.

Immediately, another Deep Cold Warrior struck out with a punch, fiercely shaking the ground above Zhang Yu.

Only to see one Deep Cold Warrior after another emerge with the infusion of Zhang Yu’s gang qi, raising a storm of fist shadows.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…

After summoning a full 9 Deep Cold Warriors, Zhang Yu himself then used the Star Sky Rushing Pulse Technique, punching out with spiraling shock power.

Under the earth, it was as if a small engineering team had suddenly emerged, with Zhang Yu leading the Deep Cold Warriors, raising a storm of fist shadows, continuously breaking down the earth and paving a path out.

The tremors of the ground were transmitted upward as Zhang Yu progressed, causing greater and greater rumblings on the surface.

Until Ma Xuan also noticed the tremors coming from underground…

With a thunderous roar, Zhang Yu sprang out from the earth with nine Deep Cold Warriors, and was already back on the battlefield.

Zhang Yu: “Sorry, for keeping everyone waiting.”

On the battlefield at this moment, Cong Na and Yang Yan were on the front line.

Ji Yuanshu was in the distance while firing shots.

On the construction site, only Ma Xuan was controlling the field remotely with the Small Three Harmonies, along with Bo Ziran and Ji Susu who were doing the construction work.

Seeing the sudden emergence of Zhang Yu, all three were startled.

Ma Xuan was well aware of how he buried Zhang Yu. Originally, he had calculated that given Zhang Yu’s cultivation, even if he could crawl out, it would take at least 20 minutes, enough for them to repel one or two opponents from the other side.

By that time, Zhang Yu, even if he returned to the battlefield, would not be able to change the overall situation, allowing Ma Xuan plenty of time to deal with the opponents slowly.

Eyes scanning over the nine Deep Cold Warriors, Ma Xuan thought to himself, “Is he relying on this to speed up the process? Then his mana consumption must be huge…”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu’s battle-ready gaze swept across the entire field: “Now… let’s continue the fight we started.”

Only to see the nine Deep Cold Warriors flash slightly, already bringing a gust of icy wind as they charged at Bo Ziran and Ji Susu, who were working on the other side.

Bo Ziran let out a loud shout, already proactively blocking in front: “Leave it to me!”

Simultaneously, the words he intended to say already appeared on the eye sockets of his teammates.

Bo Ziran: “This kid has fought till now, and even with such a massive amount of gang qi, he dug up quickly from underground, with gang qi fiercely consumed. His internal mana must surely be weakened, leaving little combat power.”

“He is now bluffing, wanting to affect our construction work and affect Ma Xuan’s support for the front lines.”

“Don’t fall for his provocation, leave it to me.”

Only seeing Bo Ziran’s lung magic remains vibrating, a stream of lung gold sword qi already emerged from his body, gathering at his right fingertip.

The sword qi, accompanying a light touch of his fingertip, had already been used to slay towards the Deep Cold Warrior before him with Mystic Gold Freedom Sword.

Bo Ziran’s lung magic remains, usually in the act of breathing, could continuously condense and accumulate lung gold sword qi.

And the Mystic Gold Freedom Sword he cultivated possessed the ability to break through gang qi.

At this moment, by applying lung gold sword qi to perform his Mystic Gold Freedom Sword, he pushed this expert-level cultivation technique to far beyond normal power.

With a swift slash of Sword Qi, Bo Ziran instantly sliced a Deep Cold Warrior into pieces.

But before Bo Ziran’s lips could curl into a smile, marveling at how Zhang Yu’s display was just bravado… a terrifying cold wave suddenly erupted from the body of the Deep Cold Warrior.

A surge of cold poison followed the scattered Gang Qi, continuously pouring into Bo Ziran’s body, causing his complexion to turn bluish-purple and his body temperature to plummet drastically.

“Zhang Yu actually possesses such Mana?”

Looking at the remaining eight Deep Cold Warriors charging forward, Bo Ziran was startled, feeling the continuously dropping temperature within his body, he immediately retreated.

Simultaneously, Bo Ziran realized the dilemma before him.

“Destroy these things and you’ll be invaded by cold poison.”

“But if I don’t destroy them, should I just let them wreck the project?”

At this moment, Bo Ziran deeply felt that Zhang Yu wasn’t just disgusting to deal with in person; this humanoid Gang Qi was equally nauseating.

He could only remind: “Ji Susu, first utilize Cultivation Technique to increase body temperature, then destroy these things.”

In a blink, Bo Ziran and Ji Susu could only halt their tasks, simultaneously using Cultivation Technique to warm themselves up while dodging the siege of the eight Deep Cold Warriors.

Meanwhile, as Zhang Yu used the Deep Cold Warriors to temporarily hold the two at bay, his body, muscles and tendons swelled, pushing the War Demon Life-Extending Technique to its limit, and with a step forward… he created a howling gust of wind, rushing straight towards Ma Xuan.

Ma Xuan’s gaze quickly scanned over Bo Ziran and Ji Susu not far away, finally focusing on Zhang Yu charging at him, he thought to himself, “Does he really intend to fight me while dealing with Bo Ziran and Ji Susu?”

“What arrogance.”

However, Ma Xuan did not release the Small Three Harmonies to counter Zhang Yu immediately.

He contemplated: “Releasing the Small Three Harmonies now means Shi Huaiyu and the others can rush in right away.”

“If so many people flood the construction site, this situation will become the worst possible scenario.”

“In comparison, faced with Zhang Yu… how would taking a few direct hits matter?”

As Ma Xuan pondered, Zhang Yu had already arrived, propelled by the War Demon Life-Extending Technique and tearing through pervasive coldness, delivering a punch aimed at Ma Xuan’s head.

Bam!

Surging Protective Gang Qi erupted from within Ma Xuan, directly deflecting Zhang Yu’s punch.

Yet feeling the profound chill imbued in Zhang Yu’s punch, Ma Xuan couldn’t help but frown.

Zhang Yu smiled as he looked at Ma Xuan, calmly saying, “What will you choose?”

“Would you rather be beaten into an ice popsicle or let Shi Huaiyu and the others in to cause chaos?”

“Ma Xuan, it’s your turn to choose now.”

Gazing at Zhang Yu, Ma Xuan replied indifferently, “Zhang Yu, Nine Heavens Cloud Sky Force has given you unwarranted confidence.”

“I won’t let Shi Huaiyu and the others in.”

“And you… cannot harm me.”

As he spoke, a point of golden light bloomed from Ma Xuan’s forehead, quickly spreading over his entire body, emitting a mystical light that enveloped him.

Observing the runes emerge and flow beneath Ma Xuan’s golden skin, Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened, thinking, “Magic Remains of the skin?”

He posted a screenshot to the competition group and immediately received a response from Tian Yang.

Tian Yang: It’s the Vajra Spell Skin crafted by the Mystic Gold, once activated it can unleash the Vajra Body Protection Spell with high resistance to physical attacks and Mana; ordinary methods cannot break it.

Zhang Yu was intrigued: “It’s a Taoist Skill-based Magic Remain?”

Zhang Yu fired several more punches, each strike of Gang Qi was completely deflected by the golden glow, with Ma Xuan’s body remaining motionless, seemingly unaffected by Zhang Yu’s force.

Witnessing this, Ma Xuan’s lips curled into a confident smile, feeling the situation back under control.

But in the next moment, from the tunnel dug by Zhang Yu, a silhouette suddenly darted out.

“Xiao Qingxuan?!”

Seeing Xiao Qingxuan emerge, shrouded in Dragon-shaped Gang Qi from the tunnel, a hint of astonishment flashed in Ma Xuan’s eyes.

But he quickly understood: “No wonder he hasn’t acted much on the main battlefield… this guy has been crafting tunnels all along? No, Shi Huaiyu should also be aiding him on the battlefield.”

“Plus, Zhang Yu was also excavating a path upward, so he strategically tunneled to Zhang Yu’s spot, saving significant time and Mana…”

In Ma Xuan’s mind, the process of Shi Huaiyu controlling sand to assist, Xiao Qingxuan digging the front half, Zhang Yu digging the rear half of the tunnel, and ultimately connecting both sides surfaced.

And observing the Dragon-shaped Gang Qi density on the opponent, Ma Xuan understood why Xiao Qingxuan managed sporadic actions on the battlefield.

“His real body was underground, using Gang Qi with a conduction range within 100 meters to support the battlefield through the tunnel, creating the illusion of his presence.”

Witnessing Zhang Yu and Xiao Qingxuan exchange a smile, Ma Xuan realized they had coordinated earlier.

“This complicates things.”

As Xiao Qingxuan appeared, he immediately unleashed a palm strike, sending nine beams of Dragon-shaped Gang Qi, each over 100 meters long, crashing into the barely constructed fortress, leaving Ma Xuan with no time to choose or hesitate.