Chapter 52: The Midterm Ends, A Storm Brews

Inside the unfinished building.

Zhang Yu, clad in a weighted training suit, unleashed a punch. His feet stomped against the concrete floor, and a muffled boom echoed through the deserted structure.

Sweat plastered his body, yet Zhang Yu didn't pause. He relentlessly practiced each move of the Thirty-Six Form Body Tempering Art.

His entire being radiated heat, wisps of vapor swirling around him in the cold night air.

Ever since he managed to maintain the Desolate Bull Soul-Soothing Heart Incantation while simultaneously practicing the Limitless Cloud Hand to Level 10 a week ago, Zhang Yu had been challenging himself with an even greater difficulty: training the Level 10 Thirty-Six Form Body Tempering Art.

Initially, it was indeed tough, a dual torment on both his body and mind.

Thankfully, as long as he could maintain the incantation, the Desolate Bull Soul-Soothing Heart Incantation always brought Zhang Yu a sliver of joy and contentment born from anticipation.

As for when he couldn't maintain the incantation?

The ritualistic power would guide Zhang Yu back onto the right path, forcing him to maintain the incantation.

Like at this very moment, when Zhang Yu's mind relaxed even slightly, and the visualized diagram in his mind began to blur, he knew that the ritual was about to nag him again.

"Please adhere to the ritual agreement, strive to fulfill your wish, do not intentionally slack off and delay, 10."

Zhang Yu quickly focused his mind, diligently maintaining the state of the Desolate Bull Soul-Soothing Heart Incantation, and the visualized diagram in his mind gradually became clear again.

Damn it!

Although the chilliness had dissipated again, Zhang Yu couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Just then, the sound of his phone ringing echoed in the dark, unfinished building.

Hearing this sound, Zhang Yu felt as if he'd heard celestial music.

Thankfully, this idiotic ritual had a sliver of judgment, allowing him to rest slightly while answering the phone.

Picking up his phone, Zhang Yu discovered a message from Zhou Chechen, the vice president of the student council.

Zhou Chechen: Zhang Yu, how's your consideration going?

Zhang Yu glanced at the time.

"Ah, sending student council messages at four in the morning; this is the normal routine of us Songyang people."

Zhang Yu: I want to focus on preparing for the monthly exam first. We can talk about signing the contract after the exam.

Zhou Chechen: Haha, no problem, then we'll wait until the monthly exam is over. I've already prepared a contract that you'll absolutely be satisfied with. Looking forward to the day we sign.

Although Zhang Yu knew that Zhou Chechen probably chatted with all potential signees like this, being fawned over by the other party like this from time to time over the past month was undeniably comfortable.

"Alas, it's not pure friendship wanting to fawn over me without any ulterior motives."

Thinking about how he had to continue this insincere charade with the other party, Zhang Yu felt a bit uncomfortable.

"I wonder if this guy will change his face if I reject him again after this monthly exam?"

Zhang Yu looked up, gazing at his Feather Book.

Dao Heart: Level 2 (93%)

Mana: 18.7

Physical Strength: Level 1.33

After these days of rigorous training, his strength had greatly improved again.

In particular, he was getting closer and closer to Dao Heart Level 3, and his mana level was already the undisputed number one in Songyang High School's first grade, even surpassing Bai Zhenzhen.

Only his physical strength had dropped back to around 7th or 8th place because he had stopped training for more than half a month and had only recently started exercising again.

However, Zhang Yu estimated that if he continued to cultivate diligently in his current state, it wouldn't be long before his physical strength would definitely be in a dominating lead among Songyang's first grade.

But even so, he was still a long way from getting into the top ten prestigious schools.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and immersed himself in arduous training again.

…

On the day of the monthly exam.

An atmosphere of grimness permeated the high school campus.

But for Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, the monthly exam itself wasn't worth too much worry.

After smoothly completing the theoretical exam in the morning, Zhang Yu, after lunch and his midday cultivation, arrived at the computer lab for the Taoist Arts exam, completing the test questions with a sweat-soaked brow.

Then came the last exam of the day: martial arts combat.

This time, his opponent was Qian Shen.

Qian Shen's gaze towards Zhang Yu was complicated.

Because his opponent was someone who had scored six points lower than him on the last monthly exam, but had scored several dozen points higher in the total mana competition.

So, Zhang Yu might have a lower score than him, but it was also somewhat unlikely that Zhang Yu would have a lower score than him. This made Zhang Yu even more complex and unpredictable in Qian Shen's eyes. That was why, despite having a lower score on the previous monthly exam, Qian Shen was extremely cautious of him.

Zhang Yu looked at Qian Shen's cautious appearance and smiled slightly, "Then I'm coming."

The next moment, he struck out with a palm, and his entire person arrived in front of Qian Shen with a whoosh.

Although Qian Shen was cautious enough, after a dozen or so moves, he gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.

Finally, accompanied by a gust of wind, he looked at the fist that had stopped in front of his head and said helplessly, "I lost."

But before the second round began, he stared at Zhang Yu and said earnestly, "You didn't use your full strength, did you? You didn't even use the Limitless Cloud Hand."

Qian Shen had seen Zhang Yu learn the Limitless Cloud Hand on the day of the competition, so he naturally knew that the other party had obtained the right to use the martial skill.

Moreover, during the past two weeks of martial arts classes, Zhang Yu would use the Limitless Cloud Hand every time he fought with Bai Zhenzhen.

Qian Shen said sternly, "Use the Limitless Cloud Hand, fight me with your full strength."

"We are in the monthly exam now, not practicing in class."

"I don't want to obtain any of the points I get on the exam through fraudulent means."

"Use your full strength, don't insult my score."

Zhang Yu took a deep breath, "I understand."

He sighed inwardly, "Is my rare joy during breaks from arduous cultivation about to end?"

Only to see Zhang Yu once again dash towards Qian Shen with a whoosh, and then his palm, imbued with the Formless Cloud Force, slammed towards Qian Shen.

Having seen the power of the Limitless Cloud Hand during the practical combat class, Qian Shen naturally didn't choose to clash head-on.

He dodged while kicking fiercely towards Zhang Yu's lower body.

But he saw Zhang Yu's other palm, layered with clouds of qi, block the leg he had kicked.

Qian Shen's leg kicked on the clouds of qi, only feeling like he had kicked a ball of weightless, ethereal mist. But the next moment, a fierce force rebounded from within, blasting his entire person out of bounds.

The second round ended.

The third round began.

After that battle just now, Qian Shen really wanted to take back what he had just said.

Although looking like a handsome fellow while shouting those words just now, it was really uncomfortable to be scored lower on the practical combat exam.

Not far away, Lei Jun's gaze withdrew from Zhang Yu and Qian Shen and looked at Bai Zhenzhen and He Dayou on the other side.

Looking at He Dayou, who had been knocked to the ground by Bai Zhenzhen in a few moves, Lei Jun thought to himself, "The skill gap is too big. For the next monthly exam, I might as well not let Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen draw lots and just arrange for the two of them to be in the same group for the practical combat exam."

…

The next morning was the Dao Heart and Mana exam.

Entering the Spirit Realm again.

This time, Zhang Yu discovered that he was tied to a hospital bed, with a syringe on the left and a button on the right.

A female voice came from the broadcast: "Good pills, choose Ziyun! Ziyun Pharmaceuticals, wholeheartedly for all ages. Swallow one pill and all illnesses disappear! Thank you, Ziyun Company, for jointly sponsoring this monthly exam…"

Listening to the rules narrated in the broadcast, Zhang Yu finally understood that the content of this Dao Heart exam was—happiness.

Each press of the button would inject a drug called Joyful Powder into his body.

And after the exam started, a dose of Joyful Powder would be automatically injected into the examinee.

The requirement for the examinees next was to press the button as little as possible and inject as little of the drug as possible. The less drug injected, the higher the ranking, and the higher the score.

Just because this drug, newly developed by Ziyun Company, could relax the mind, stimulate the brain, and allow people to feel supreme happiness.

Of course, according to Ziyun Company's own publicity, it was claimed that this drug had no side effects, no addictiveness, and had already passed clinical trials…

Zhang Yu certainly didn't dare to believe this.

"A bunch of bastards."

"Putting up these advertisements during the monthly exam, huh?"

"The person who made this Dao Heart exam is getting more and more excessive. One day I'm going to smash him…"

Although he was currently in the virtual world of the Spirit Realm, and the Joyful Powder injected later was just a virtual sensation, Zhang Yu still couldn't help but burst into a string of curses, and finally helplessly felt the Joyful Powder being injected into his body.

Intense pleasure constantly impacted Zhang Yu's brain. Even with his will and cultivation of his mind cultivation, he still couldn't help but press the button twice before the end of the exam, showing how potent this Joyful Powder was.

…

Compared to the stimulation of the Dao Heart exam, the Mana exam and the Physical Education exam seemed ordinary.

But after the Physical Education exam ended, Wang Hai once again applied to the school leaders to let Zhang Yu join the competition team, but was rejected once again.

And the reason for the rejection was that Zhang Yu's sports performance had declined somewhat and still needed to improve.

But what he was told privately was that all of this was related to the student council.

After thinking about it, Wang Hai sent a message to Zhang Yu the next day.

"Do you have any disagreements with the student council? They don't seem to want you to join the school's physical education competition team."

…

Inside the unfinished building.

Wearing a weighted training suit, Zhang Yu stood quietly in place, feeling the changes in his sea of consciousness at this moment.

At this moment, he had finally reached Level 3 Dao Heart.

The control over his physical body had become more meticulous, the mana in his dantian had become more lively and controllable, and even every piece of flesh and every strand of power throughout his body had become more coordinated and comfortable in his perception.

Even the mental fatigue of the past few days seemed to have been swept away at this moment, and he felt incredibly comfortable.

Dao Heart: Level 3 (0%)

This was the feeling after Zhang Yu reached Dao Heart Level 3; the control over himself and his own power had become stronger.

"Finally Dao Heart Level 3."

"Now I can cultivate the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, right?"

Zhang Yu had long been looking forward to this expert-level cultivation method passed down by a Golden Core True Person.

Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art! Let me see where your limits are!

Almost as soon as his Dao Heart reached Level 3, he eagerly switched the Feather Book's specialization to this cultivation method.

The Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art was a martial arts cultivation method that included nine sets of martial skills in total: fist, palm, leg, finger, claw, knife, sword, spear, and staff.

These nine sets of martial skills included methods for combat and methods for body tempering, but these were not the key.

The true essence of the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art lay in comprehending the artistic conceptions contained within these nine sets of martial skills in order to condense one's own martial will.

At this moment, Zhang Yu once again began to practice the nine sets of martial skills of fist, palm, leg, finger, claw, knife, sword, spear, and staff from beginning to end, just like that time at the art exhibition.

With each of Zhang Yu's moves, gusts of wind surged around, and the concrete floor rumbled as he stomped on it.

After raising the basic-level Scattered Hand to Level 5, and cultivating the basic-level Thirty-Six Form Body Tempering Art and the advanced-level Limitless Cloud Hand all to Level 10, and after sparring with Bai Zhenzhen over a hundred times, Zhang Yu's perspective was now completely different from the past.

The more he cultivated, the more he could feel that it had both combat methods and body tempering methods, covering a very comprehensive range. After learning it, it could be used to temper the body and to fight against enemies.

"...It's just that it takes a little long."

Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art: Level 1 (0/10)

Zhang Yu had spent almost 14 minutes practicing the nine sets of martial skills one by one while wearing a weighted training suit.

Sensing this, Zhang Yu faintly felt a pain in his liver.

He knew that this cultivation method was going to be a lot of grinding.