In the Spirit Realm.

Li Xingyu, who was standing nearby, had been observing Zhang Yu’s condition. When he saw Zhang Yu’s pain level reach 37, he sensed that Zhang Yu was at his limit.

“Given his condition, he won’t be able to last.”

He glanced at the top of Zhang Yu’s head. From Li Xingyu’s perspective, parameters such as heart rate and breathing were all displayed.

“He’s reached his endurance limit. The pain level should be lowered.”

“At this level, it still seems to be within the scope of a Level 1 Dao Heart, right? There’s nothing particularly special about it. How could he possibly comprehend the mysteries of the Heavenly Martial Arts Diagram?”

Just as Li Xingyu was thinking this, he felt Zhang Yu’s aura suddenly change. His originally contorted expression gradually returned to normal, even showing a hint of a sneer.

“Huh? He held on?”

“This aura… it feels like a martial art from the Heavenly Martial Arts Diagram?”

Li Xingyu looked at Zhang Yu’s state with some surprise, watching him endure minute by minute until the 60 minutes were up. He grew even more surprised, calculating, “With this level of willpower, his Dao Heart is close to reaching Level 2.”

“Although he hasn’t mastered the martial arts from the Heavenly Martial Arts Diagram yet, it seems that some of the profound insights gained from it can also be used to enhance his willpower.”

“This guy is quite impressive. His information should be worth some money.”

Thinking this, Li Xingyu quickly wrote a description of Zhang Yu’s information and posted it on an intelligence website, setting the price at 1,000 yuan. But after a moment’s thought, he changed the price from 1,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan. Then he wrote in the title, “Shocking! Sunyang High School Discovers Peerless Martial Arts Genius!”

Taking off his Spirit Realm visor, Zhang Yu shakily stood up. Even though he had exited the Spirit Realm, he still felt a tingling sensation all over his body. On a nearby bed, a student tried to stand up but his legs instantly gave out, sending him collapsing to the floor. Similar scenes were abundant on the beds around them, clearly showing the lingering after-effects of the Spirit Realm experience.

A student immediately opened a portable medicine bottle, took out a pill, and swallowed it. Zhang Yu guessed it was a Dao Heart Buffer. Although one could gradually improve their Dao Heart level by relying on cultivation techniques like the Basic Heart Refinement Method and Heavenly Martial Heart Refinement Art, combined with their corresponding philosophies, many students still chose to take Dao Heart Buffers.

These medications could adjust neurotransmitters and brain secretions, enhancing mood and motivation, thereby more effectively boosting willpower and raising one’s Dao Heart level. However, Dao Heart Buffers were not without side effects. The higher the quality of the medication, the stronger its effects, meaning it would not only be more expensive but also more addictive, and the withdrawal symptoms would be even more terrifying. Often, once taken, they needed to be continued long-term; otherwise, discontinuing the medication would lead to a regression in one’s Dao Heart.

The original Zhang Yu had experienced a gradual regression from his nearly Level 2 Dao Heart due to lacking funds to continue his medication. It wasn’t until the recent Zhang Yu underwent a series of trials and gained insights from the Heavenly Martial Heart Refinement Art that he felt he had returned to a level close to Level 2 Dao Heart. The current Zhang Yu no longer intended to touch Dao Heart Buffers. Compared to taking medication, he now trusted his own potential and self-discipline more.

However, at this moment, there was no more time for everyone to rest. There was still a second exam in the morning, so many students could only quickly rouse themselves and hurry to the next examination hall.

Arriving at the mana examination hall, Zhang Yu saw many assistant teachers and testing equipment already prepared. When it was Zhang Yu’s turn, detection patches were affixed to his arms, chest, and lower abdomen. He then began to circulate his mana as instructed by the teachers, moving it from his dantian to his palms. The mana test at this time was clearly more refined and accurate than usual, to prevent any issues with the monthly exam results. Besides detecting the total amount of mana circulating within Zhang Yu’s body, the patches also measured the efficiency of each mana circulation. This was also to prevent examinees from having a large quantity of mana that was simply accumulated through wealth, but lacked quality.

Zhang Yu could clearly feel that, compared to the torment of the Dao Heart examination, many students were noticeably less nervous during the mana examination. After all, everyone’s mana level had already been determined long before the exam and had nothing to do with on-the-spot performance. Mana either existed or it didn’t; one either knew how to use it or they didn’t.

Just as Zhang Yu finished his check, the assistant teacher responsible for recording data let out a surprised gasp and couldn’t help but glance at Zhang Yu a few more times.

Zhang Yu asked, “Teacher, is something wrong?”

The assistant teacher quickly shook her head, “No, nothing.” She merely mumbled to herself, “Such high mana circulation efficiency. Definitely another ridiculously rich person.”

Lunchtime.

The cafeteria was filled with students who looked like zombies. Some hadn’t recovered from the after-effects of the Dao Heart exam, others were anxious about performing poorly, and some were even contemplating suicide…

Bai Zhenzhen also sat down, sighing, “Oh, for crying out loud!”

“The jerk who designed this Dao Heart exam is utterly shameless. Is he going to open an online review for his questions and then stick his phone on vibrate mode down his pants…?”

The string of curses, which didn’t repeat for over two minutes, only stopped when Zhou Tianyi walked over, prompting Bai Zhenzhen to finally take a bite of her food. Zhang Yu believed that similar curses must be echoing above every high school in Sunyang City at that moment.

As soon as Zhou Tianyi sat down, he couldn’t help but say, “Did you guys hear? Several high schools have had students jump from buildings.”

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes narrowed, and they both instantly looked at Zhou Tianyi.

Zhou Tianyi continued, “It’s because the rules for this Dao Heart exam were too strict. For example, some students, trying to get high scores, accidentally set their pain level beyond their limit and fainted. They were immediately kicked out of the Spirit Realm, and their exam was counted as a zero.” He shook his head with a sigh, “Some people couldn’t handle it after waking up and just jumped.”

“Zero points.” Bai Zhenzhen murmured beside him, “That’s the ultimate humiliation in high school. From then on, they completely lose their right to exist in school.”

“If it were me, I’d jump too, and crush that bastard who set the exam.”

Zhang Yu asked, “In that case, the examiner for this test must be in a tough spot, right? If any of those who jumped were from rich families, wouldn’t their parents retaliate furiously against the examiner?”

Zhou Tianyi looked at Zhang Yu as if he were an idiot. “How could that happen?”

Zhang Yu: “Are you saying even rich parents can’t get revenge? Does this examiner have a very strong background?”

Zhou Tianyi shook his head, “I mean, how could rich people die from jumping from a building at school? Every one of them pays for security fees. As soon as someone jumps, the school-wide alarm goes off, and security guards or teachers immediately rescue them. Even if they actually hit the ground, they’d definitely be rescued by the emergency team.” He said, as if stating the obvious, “If rich people want to die, they’d certainly choose a different method. You can’t die by jumping from a building at school.”

Seeing how confidently Zhou Tianyi explained it, Zhang Yu had to admit that in this broken Kunxu, things might indeed be this way.

After eating, Zhang Yu took advantage of the cooldown ending for his specialization, re-adjusted his Feather Scroll specialization to the Universal Qi Gathering Method, and also practiced breathing exercises a few times.

Universal Qi Gathering Method Level 8 (3/160) → (6/160)

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the final exam of the afternoon: the physical education exam.

Inside the huge training grounds, Wang Hai was seated at the judges’ table. During the upcoming exam, he, along with several other first-year PE teachers, would be grading all the first-year examinees. He lowered his head and scanned the list of examinees, his gaze gradually stopping at Zhang Yu’s name.

Zhang Yu, in his original impression, was a model student who diligently exercised, took his medicine, and underwent acupuncture every day. He had a serious attitude and good tolerance to medication, and had already become an object of Wang Hai’s observation last month. If Zhang Yu could persevere further, Wang Hai wouldn’t mind nurturing him to become a second Zhao Tianxing, a flagship student who would achieve excellent results in the future.

However, starting this month, for some unknown reason, Zhang Yu had repeatedly challenged his authority in class, even promoting the unorthodox slogan of ‘natural body refining.’ At first, he suspected Zhang Yu had found other ‘supply channels,’ and that someone behind him wanted to compete for the market of Sunyang High School’s first-year elite class. But after Zhao Tianxing’s observations and report, he gradually dismissed this possibility. Then he heard rumors spreading that Zhang Yu had been accepted as a disciple by a Golden Core Master.

Although Wang Hai was one of Sunyang High School’s ace PE teachers, he wasn’t qualified enough to have contact with someone at the Golden Core Master level. He couldn’t confirm the truth of whether Zhang Yu had truly been taken as a disciple by a Golden Core Master.

As Wang Hai pondered these thoughts, ten students walked onto the platform in front of him. The students flexed all their muscles, and their bodies were covered with various detection patches.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Then, accompanied by beast-like roars, the muscles on the ten students’ bodies suddenly swelled, and astonishing power erupted from their bulging, veined muscles. The data acquired by the detection patches quickly appeared on the screens in front of the PE teachers, showing them the power unleashed by every piece of flesh and muscle on the examinees’ bodies. This was different from the usual rough full-body physical strength tests; instead, it involved a precise test of physical strength in various parts of the body as the examinees exerted their power.

At the same time, Wang Hai and the others quickly scanned the examinees’ bodies, assessing their physical forms, body structures, and explosive states. Combining this with the newly acquired data, they individually scored each examinee present. Physical strength was not the sole criterion for scoring in the monthly PE exam. The dimensions, size, and structure of every piece of flesh and muscle throughout the body were all important. Which structure was better suited for exerting force? Which muscles were more useful in actual combat? Which were ‘live’ muscles and which were ‘dead’ muscles? All these required evaluation by experienced judges, combined with the data. After all, even with comparable physical strength, differences in body structure and dimensions could lead to significant variations in physical power, speed, and even combat performance.

Wang Hai was already well-versed in this. As an ace PE teacher, over the past few decades, he had seen countless masses of flabby flesh weighing two hundred or three hundred pounds, and even five-hundred-pound behemoths many times.

After a quick glance, he recorded his score, and his mind returned to Zhang Yu. “Well, let’s see your score then.”

“If your score has dropped significantly after three weeks of isolation, then it proves you absolutely cannot be a Golden Core disciple.”

“In that case…”

As he thought this, a hint of coldness flashed in Wang Hai’s eyes. Everyone who affected his ‘sales’ should be expelled.