In front of a skyscraper in the city center.

Zhang Yu looked up at the towering skyscraper, which seemed to pierce the sky. He could faintly make out what appeared to be a celestial palace emerging at its very top.

This was the Xianyun Group’s office building in downtown Songyang City.

In addition, Zhang Yu noticed an even taller colossal building in the distance, seemingly reaching the true edge of the horizon. He knew it was Songyang City’s tallest building, the Central Tower, rumored to have 999 floors, and a landmark he often saw on his way to and from school.

At that moment, he turned his head back to the office building in front of him.

“Xianyun Group?”

On his way there, Zhang Yu had already searched online for information about Xianyun Group.

It was a massive enterprise under the Myriad Law Sect, with business operations spanning martial arts technique development and sales, immortal cultivation education, and cultural and creative products like books.

The Myriad Law Sect was one of the Ten Great Sects. In this Kunxu world, from daily necessities and living to birth, aging, sickness, and death, people’s lives were inextricably linked to the Ten Great Sects. This was even truer for immortal cultivation.

Therefore, Zhang Yu was not surprised that a giant enterprise like Xianyun Group belonged to the Myriad Law Sect, one of the Ten Great Sects.

Lowering his head, Zhang Yu entered the building. After explaining his purpose at the front desk, he successively went through registration, contract signing, and a simple physical examination. Finally, he was led to a place that resembled a classroom.

Inside, he saw several students already seated besides himself.

After waiting for a while longer, once the number of students in the classroom reached fifteen, a middle-aged man in a suit walked in and began to explain the day’s cultivation trial.

“Hello everyone, I am your instructor for today.”

“All of you present have signed contracts, but I must still remind you that everything discussed here today is not permitted to be disseminated. Should our company discover anyone leaking information, we will find you, no matter where you go.”

The students felt a chill in their hearts upon hearing this, yet they knew the speaker was not exaggerating. Given the Xianyun Group’s power and the Myriad Law Sect behind it, achieving this would indeed not be difficult.

“The cultivation technique you will be attempting to learn today is what we refer to as Experimental Technique No. 113. Now, please watch the instructional video first…”

According to the instructional video, this technique was a Qi Condensation breathing method. However, unlike basic breathing methods, it was significantly more complex, akin to establishing a unique energy circulation system throughout the entire body.

As a result, most students who came for the trial were still completely bewildered after watching the video.

It wasn’t until the instructor’s subsequent detailed explanation that the students began to grasp a rough understanding, though it only made their scalps tingle even more.

“Wait… you want us to practice *this* technique? Are we even capable?”

The cultivation route for this technique was simply too intricate and difficult, like drawing the “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” scroll on a single A4 sheet of paper.

If Zhang Yu were to describe it, it was as hard as carving flowers in excrement.

Forget about cultivating according to the demonstrated route; those present couldn’t even memorize the route, having forgotten most of it almost immediately after it was explained.

Let alone disseminating it, the students had absolutely no confidence in their ability to master this martial art and complete the trial.

As if sensing the students’ shifting emotions, the instructor stated from the front, “Don’t worry, this trial does not require you to master this technique.”

“In fact, it’s impossible for beginners to master this technique on their own.”

“What we are testing today also includes auxiliary cultivation equipment designed to work with Technique 113…”

Next, the students present were led to a testing room, where energy detection patches were affixed to their hands, feet, chest, back, and other areas.

Then, silver needle-like objects, connected by wires, were brought before the students by robotic arms.

The instructor standing by continued, “Once you begin cultivating, the detection patches will constantly monitor the circulation of energy within your bodies.”

“The Magneto-Needles, operated by robotic arms, will stimulate points along your energy circulation path, helping you identify and correct the cultivation route…”

Zhang Yu listened for a moment and understood: it was like an automatic navigation system… or rather, it *wasn’t* automatically cultivating, was it?

Because Technique 113’s energy route was exceedingly complex, requiring extremely precise timing and positioning for spiritual energy and internal force circulation, it necessitated simultaneous monitoring of the cultivator’s path and guidance through Magneto-Needle stimulation at various points in the body.

However, this process was not without considerable danger, precisely because Technique 113’s cultivation route was so intricate.

With such a complex cultivation route, even a slight deviation in the energy’s circulation path could lead to uncontrolled energy overflow within the body, causing itching and pain, alternating hot and cold sensations, and easily provoking even greater loss of control.

If prolonged, this could result in internal injuries, which would become more severe the longer the situation persisted.

Afterwards, one would either have to pay a high price to hire a powerful individual at a hospital to suppress the runaway energy within the injured person using their own formidable power, or endure it by physical strength, waiting for the energy to naturally deplete and dissipate. The third option was for the cultivator to master the technique themselves and use its methods to actively restrain the runaway energy along the cultivation path.

Meanwhile, the instructor continued, “…As per the contracts you’ve signed, the compensation for this trial will be distributed according to the percentage of the cultivation route you complete. Only by completing 100% of the route will you receive the full ten thousand yuan.”

“If the energy only travels half the route, then it will only be five thousand.”

“All right, everyone. If there are no questions, please begin.”

Zhang Yu glanced at the information displayed on his Feather Scroll.

Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method Level 0 (0/1)

He mused, “Does this mean I only need to practice it once?”

Zhang Yu closed his eyes and tried to circulate the newly learned technique, moving the energy from his Dantian towards his spine.

At the same time, he felt a slight tingling sensation in his spine, recognizing it as the Magneto-Needle guiding him to circulate the energy there.

So, he followed the Magneto-Needle’s guidance, slowly circulating his energy along.

Meanwhile, outside the testing room, a group of people were observing the students’ progress.

“It’s begun.”

The lead researcher, with disheveled short hair, was intently staring at the constantly changing data on the screen.

The screen displayed the internal energy circulation of each student after they began attempting Experimental Technique No. 113.

The assistant beside him also watched the cultivation diagrams of each student on the screen with a grave expression. These were images illustrating the students’ internal energy circulation routes, compiled from energy data collected from various parts of their bodies.

Correct circulation routes were displayed in green, while deviations in energy flow were marked in red.

As time ticked by, the assistant’s eyes increasingly showed disappointment as more and more red error indicators appeared on the cultivation routes.

“Teacher, it seems the Magneto-Needle’s guidance precision needs further improvement, otherwise it won’t meet the energy circulation accuracy required for beginners practicing Technique 113.”

“It’s still too difficult for beginners to master Technique 113. Should we recruit a batch of testers with higher Dao-heart levels?”

The researcher, referred to as ‘Teacher,’ frowned and said, “Both Technique 113 and the Magneto-Needles were originally developed for beginners. I will not change this direction.”

“Besides, those with higher Dao-heart levels have better techniques to learn. Technique 113’s passive breathing effect lacks competitiveness for them; it’s beginners who truly need the passive breathing effect more…”

Just then, a student who made a mistake grunted and suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of blood.

The ‘Teacher’ said coldly, “Get him out of here quickly. Don’t let him disturb the state of mind of the others.”

But with the appearance of the first student to vomit blood, more and more students attempting to practice the technique began to feel unwell. Some turned pale and gasped for breath, others screamed in pain and fainted, while some had minor injuries, merely looking pale with pain or itching in the areas where energy was circulated.

Watching student after student being sent out, the ‘Teacher’s’ expression grew increasingly grim.

He said with dissatisfaction, “The quality of this batch of students is too poor. Can’t we recruit some more capable ones?”

The assistant quietly explained, “Teacher, the previous test subjects were too severely injured. No schools are willing to cooperate with us anymore.”

The ‘Teacher’ snorted, a look of displeasure on his face: “They’re just a bunch of poor students. Whether it’s Technique 113 or the Magneto-Needles, if we can successfully improve them, imagine the size of the beginner market! What if a few hundred people die?”

Meanwhile, inside the testing room, only three students remained, still persevering with their cultivation.

Two of them were still persisting because they had fewer errors and very little energy had escaped control.

The other student, pale-faced, surprised the ‘Teacher’ slightly: “This child made quite a few errors during cultivation. He must be in excruciating pain all over, yet he can still persist until now?”

The assistant beside him asked, “Teacher, should we stop him?”

The ‘Teacher’ shook his head and said with interest, “Since he’s so determined to earn this money, let’s give him the chance.”

“Besides, for our research, having more error data from a complete cultivation route is clearly more beneficial.”

Inside the testing room, whenever Zhang Yu considered giving up, he felt a chilling sensation from the ritual’s power and the countdown appearing in his mind.

“This idiotic thing! All it does is nag and nag. If you’re so capable, you do it!”

During cultivation, even a minor mistake caused energy to escape the route uncontrollably and dissipate throughout his body, irritating him with aches, itching, and alternating hot and cold sensations.

Only after painstakingly completing the entire cultivation route and seeing “Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method Level 0 (0/1)” on his Feather Scroll change to “Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method Level 1 (0/20)” did he finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

Zhang Yu admitted there was an element of gambling involved, but fortunately, he had succeeded this time.

Memories of cultivating this technique hundreds and thousands of times now surged into his mind, making him feel as though he had been practicing it for months.

At this moment, Zhang Yu felt that if he wished, he could use the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method to gather all the runaway energy in his body and establish a complex energy circulation system.

However, he did not do so immediately. Instead, enduring the aches and itching all over his body, he slowly stood up.

The instructor quickly walked over, sounding somewhat surprised as he asked, “Student, are you alright?”

It was his first time seeing someone persist in cultivating this technique until the very end, especially with such a high error rate.

Zhang Yu clutched his stomach and said, “I feel like my insides are on fire, it’s so itchy and painful. My upper body feels like it’s burning, and my lower body feels frozen… It’s really terrible.”

The instructor quickly supported him and said, “Let me take you to the infirmary to get checked out first.”

“No need!” Zhang Yu waved his hand emphatically. “What I mean is… I want more money.”

The instructor sized him up, observing Zhang Yu’s continuous trembling and increasingly pale face, and then said, “A thousand yuan. Sign another contract, and anything that happens to you afterward will have nothing to do with us.”

After some negotiation, Xianyun Company ultimately increased Zhang Yu’s payment by an additional three thousand yuan, on the condition that regardless of any future injuries, they would bear no responsibility.