Chapter 32
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Chapter 32: Magic Power and Physical Education
Spirit Realm.
Li Xingyu had been observing Zhang Yu’s condition from the side.
When he saw Zhang Yu’s pain level reach 37, he sensed that the young man had reached his limit.
“He won’t be able to hold on in this state.”
Li Xingyu glanced at the top of Zhang Yu’s head. From his perspective, the young man’s heart rate, breathing, and other parameters were all displayed.
“He’s reached his pain tolerance. The pain level should be lowered.”
“At this level, he’s still within the bounds of a Level 1 Dao Heart, right? There’s nothing special about him. How could he have possibly grasped the mysteries of the Heavenly Being Martial Arts Portrait?”
Just as Li Xingyu was thinking this, he felt a sudden shift in Zhang Yu’s aura. The contorted expression on his face gradually returned to normal and even twisted into a sinister grin.
Hm? He held on?
“The feeling this aura gives off… It’s like the martial arts from the Heavenly Being Martial Arts Portrait?”
Li Xingyu watched Zhang Yu’s state with surprise, seeing him endure second by second until the full sixty minutes were over.
His astonishment grew as he calculated in his mind, “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 Being Martial Arts Portrait, it seems he has used some of the profound mysteries he gleaned from it to strengthen his own will.”
“This guy is pretty impressive. I should be able to sell this information for a decent price.”
At this thought, Li Xingyu wrote up 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 consideration, he changed the price from 1,000 to 10,000 yuan.
Then he added the title, “SHOCKING! Songyang High School Unearths Peerless Martial Dao Genius!”
***
Taking off his Spirit Interface Mask, Zhang Yu stood up, trembling uncontrollably. Even though he had already left the Spirit Realm, he still had the illusion that his entire body was stinging with pain.
On a bed nearby, a student tried to stand up but his legs gave way and he collapsed onto the floor.
Similar scenes were playing out on the beds all around them. It was clear they had not yet recovered from the aftereffects of the Spirit Realm.
One student immediately opened a personal medicine bottle, took out a pill, and swallowed it.
Zhang Yu guessed it was a Dao Heart buffer agent.
While it was possible to gradually raise one’s Dao Heart Level through cultivation arts like the Basic Heart Refining Method or the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Technique, combined with the corresponding mindset, many students still chose to take Dao Heart buffer agents.
This drug could regulate neurotransmitters and brain secretions, boosting mood and motivation, making it more efficient to enhance willpower and raise the Dao Heart level.
But the Dao Heart buffer agent was not without side effects. The higher the quality and the stronger the effect of the drug, the more expensive and addictive it was, and the more terrifying the side effects of withdrawal became.
Often, once a person started taking it, they needed to continue it for long-term. If they stopped, it would cause their Dao Heart to regress.
The original Zhang Yu’s Dao Heart level, which had been approaching Level 2, had begun to regress because he could not afford to keep buying the drug.
It was only after a series of trials, coupled with his insights into the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Technique, that the current Zhang Yu felt he had returned to that near-Level 2 state.
The current Zhang Yu had no intention of ever touching a Dao Heart buffer agent again.
Compared to relying on a drug, he now had more faith in his own potential and self-discipline.
At this moment, however, there was no more time for the students to rest.
There was a second exam that morning, so all the students could do was quickly brace themselves and hurry toward the next examination field.
***
When Zhang Yu arrived at the Examination Field for the Magic Power test, he saw that many assistant teachers and testing instruments were already prepared.
When it was his turn, they attached sensor patches to his arms, chest, and abdomen. Then, following the teachers’ instructions, he began circulating his magic power, directing it from his dantian to his palms.
This Magic Power test was clearly more precise and accurate than usual to prevent any issues with the Monthly Exam results.
The patches not only measured the total amount of magic power circulating within Zhang Yu’s body but also the efficiency of each cycle. This was to prevent candidates from simply using money to inflate the quantity of their Magic Power while lacking any real quality.
Zhang Yu could clearly sense that compared to the torment of the Dao Heart Examination, the students seemed far less tense during the Magic Power test. After all, everyone’s Magic Power level had already been determined long before the exam, leaving little room for on-the-spot performance.
You either had Magic Power or you did not. You either knew how to use it or you did not.
Just as Zhang Yu finished his examination, the assistant teacher recording the data let out a small gasp and could not help but glance at him several more times.
Zhang Yu asked, “Teacher, is something wrong?”
The assistant teacher quickly shook her head. “Nothing at all.”
But in her mind, she muttered, Such high magic power circulation efficiency. He must be another one of those damn rich kids.
***
Lunchtime.
The cafeteria was filled with students who looked like zombies.
Some were still recovering from the aftereffects of the Dao Heart Examination, while others were consumed by anxiety over their poor scores. There were even those contemplating suicide.
Bai Zhenzhen also sighed deeply as she sat down. “That son of a bitch!”
“The bastard who designed this Dao Heart Examination is completely inhuman! Does he even have a horse left? I bet he’s going to start an online poll to rate his questions and set his phone to vibrate, and stuff it down his pants…”
[Note: The original text uses two layers of Chinese internet slang. The first is `出生` (chūshēng, birth), which is a euphemism for the insult `畜生` (chùsheng, animal/bastard). The second, `连马都不要了` (lián mǎ dōu bùyàole, literally “doesn’t even want his horse”), is a complex pun on `司马` (Sīmǎ, a surname) used to create a roundabout and deniable way of saying `(his) mom is dead`, a severe insult.]
After more than two minutes of uninterrupted, creative cursing, Bai Zhenzhen only stopped to take a bite of her food when Zhou Tianyi walked over.
Zhang Yu was certain that similar curses were echoing over the campuses of various high schools across Songyang City at that moment.
As soon as Zhou Tianyi sat down, he could not help but say, “Have you guys heard? Several high schools have had students break down completely and they jumped off buildings.”
Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes narrowed, and they both turned to Zhou Tianyi at once.
He continued, “It’s because the rules for this Dao Heart Examination were so strict.”
“For example, some students were desperate for high scores and accidentally set the pain level beyond their limits, causing them to pass out. They were immediately kicked out of the Spirit Realm and their exams were marked as 0.”
He shook his head with a pained expression. “Some of them couldn’t handle it when they woke up and just jumped.”
“Zero points.” Bai Zhenzhen muttered from the side, her voice faint. “That’s the ultimate humiliation in high school. You’d completely lose your right to survive at school after something like that.”
“If it were me, I’d jump down too. But first, I’d make sure to kill the son of a bitch who set the exam.”
Zhang Yu asked, “In that case, the person who set this exam must be in for a hard time, right? If one of those students was a rich kid, wouldn’t their parents go crazy and retaliate against the examiner?”
Zhou Tianyi looked at Zhang Yu as if he were an idiot. “How could that possibly happen?”
“So you’re saying even a rich kid’s parents couldn’t get revenge?” Zhang Yu asked. “Does the examiner have some serious backing?”
Zhou Tianyi shook his head. “I mean, how could anything possibly happen to a rich kid at school?”
“Every single one of them pays security fees.”
“The moment there’s a problem, a campus-wide alarm goes off. Security guards or teachers immediately rush in to save them.”
“Even if one of them jumped off a building, the emergency response team would definitely revive them.”
He stated as if it were obvious, “If a rich kid wants to die, they’ll have to find another way. Here at school, even jumping off a building won’t kill them.”
Watching Zhou Tianyi’s confident and reasoned explanation, Zhang Yu had to admit that in this damned Kunxu, things might actually be this way.
After eating, Zhang Yu waited for the cooldown on his specialization to end. He then switched the Feather Book’s specialization back to the Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method and practiced his Breathing Technique a few more times.
Cosmic Orbit Energy 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.
In the vast training ground, Wang Hai sat on the judges’ platform.
Throughout the exam, he and several other first-year PE teachers would be grading all the first-year students.
He glanced down at the exam roster, his gaze gradually settling on Zhang Yu’s name.
In Wang Hai’s eyes, Zhang Yu had once been a model student who diligently exercised, took his medicine, and received his enhancer punctually.
He had shown a serious attitude and good drug tolerance, which had made him a subject of Wang Hai’s observation last month.
If Zhang Yu had kept it up, Wang Hai would not have minded cultivating him into a second Zhao Tianxing, who would achieve excellent results in the future and become another one of his star students.
But starting this month, Zhang Yu had inexplicably begun to challenge his authority in class, even shouting heretical slogans about ‘natural body refining’.
Initially, Wang Hai suspected that Zhang Yu had found an alternative source for his supplies and that someone was trying to compete with him for the market of Songyang High School’s First-Year Demonstration Class.
However, after some observation and a report from Zhao Tianxing, Wang Hai gradually dismissed this possibility.
Then, rumors began to circulate that Zhang Yu had been accepted as a disciple by a Golden Core True Person.
Although Wang Hai was one of Songyang High School’s top Physical Education teachers, he was not yet qualified to interact with those on the level of a Golden Core True Person.
He could not confirm whether Zhang Yu had truly been accepted as a disciple by a Golden Core True Person.
As Wang Hai pondered these matters, ten students stepped onto the platform ahead.
The students flexed their muscles to expose their physiques, their bodies covered in various sensor patches.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
Accompanied by a series of bestial roars, the students’ muscles bulged dramatically. Astonishing power erupted from their flesh as their veins popped.
The data from the sensor patches rapidly appeared on the screens before the Physical Education teachers, reporting the force that had just erupted from every piece of flesh on the examinees’ bodies during the exertion.
This was different from the usual crude, full-body assessment of Physical Strength. Instead, it was a highly detailed test of the physical strength in all parts of their bodies, measured the very moment the examinees exerted themselves.
At the same time, Wang Hai and the other teachers quickly scanned the examinees. They assessed the form of their muscles, their body structures, and the state of their power bursts. Combining these observations with the newly acquired data, they graded the examinees on the spot.
Physical Strength was not the only metric used to determine scores in the Physical Education Monthly Exam.
The dimensions, size, and structure of every piece of muscle throughout the body was crucial.
Which structure was best suited for explosive power? Which muscles were more practical in actual combat? Which were living muscles (functional) and which were dead muscles (purely aesthetic)? These were all factors that the experienced judges had to evaluate by combining their observations with the data.
After all, even with overall comparable Physical Strength, differences in body structure and size could lead to vast disparities in a body’s power, speed, and overall combat performance.
Wang Hai was already thoroughly familiar with this process. As a top-tier Physical Education teacher, he had seen countless slabs of pale, fleshy masses weighing 200 or 300 jin over the past few decades. He had even witnessed several behemoths weighing 500 jin.
[Note: The ‘jin’ (斤) is a traditional Chinese unit of mass. One jin is equal to 500 grams or approximately 1.1 pounds.]
With a quick glance, he recorded his scores, his mind drifting back to the matter concerning Zhang Yu.
Let’s see your score then, he thought.
“If your score has dropped significantly after three weeks of isolation, it will prove you cannot possibly be a Golden Core expert’s disciple.”
“And in that case…”
A cold glint flashed in Wang Hai’s eyes as the thought crossed his mind.
Anyone who interfered with his shipments deserved to be expelled.
