Chapter 40
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Chapter 40: Joy of Mental Cultivation Technique and Magic Power Competition Tutoring
The next morning.
Since breaking through the Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method to Level 10 last night and purchasing the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art, Zhang Yu had been relentlessly driven by Ritual Power to study, cultivate, and work. He had gradually adapted to this constant pressure. When he began practicing the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art, he felt an immediate and profound connection, his progress far exceeding his expectations.
As the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art continued to level up, Zhang Yu found himself increasingly able to endure the monotony, tedium, and loneliness of cultivating the mental cultivation technique.
Aside from using Ritual Power to push himself, he barely paused, charging forward relentlessly on the path of cultivating the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art.
As dawn broke, Zhang Yu slowly opened his eyes. His Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art had already reached Level 7 (15/21).
To have advanced this far in a single night, Zhang Yu sometimes felt a chill of fear at his own talent.
Moreover, his Dao Heart had also made significant progress. He saw new data in his Feather Book that his Dao Heart was now at Level 2 (1%).
Could it be that cultivating the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art has sharpened my perception of my Dao Heart, allowing me to sense its specific progress?
Zhang Yu shook his head. He still knew too little about the Feather Book.
After getting up, brushing his teeth, and washing his face, Zhang Yu continued to practice the mental cultivation technique silently on his way to school.
Based on his current explosive progress with the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art, he felt confident he could push it to Level 10 today.
***
Songyang High School.
During break time.
Zhang Yu, immersed in cultivating his Mental Cultivation Technique, frowned slightly as he heard footsteps approaching.
A tall, bald-headed youth walked up to him and said, “Student Zhang Yu, sorry to bother you.”
“Could I borrow your math test paper from yesterday?”
After waiting a moment and seeing Zhang Yu still silent, the youth smiled dismissively. “Sorry, looks like I’m disturbing you.”
“Go ahead and cultivate. I’ll come back later.”
But as the youth turned away, a dark glint flashed in his eyes.
Zhang Yu’s complete focus on his cultivation and lack of acknowledgement made him feel disrespected.
He thought bitterly, Hmph, just as expected of the third-ranked student. So arrogant. A 530-point scorer like me, he doesn’t even see me as human, does he?
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu felt a sense of relief as he heard the youth’s footsteps fade away.
That Liang Qin kid is getting a little too familiar, isn’t he?
Liang Qin was the youth who had asked to borrow Zhang Yu’s math test paper.
Ever since Zhang Yu’s Monthly Exam scores were released, classmates had been approaching him, trying to pry into the secrets of his rapid improvement.
Most students came only once or twice before giving up. Zhang Yu spent nearly every break diligently cultivating. And the other students, seeing him ignore them, gradually stopped bothering him as the excitement of the Monthly Exam faded.
Only Liang Qin persisted, seeking Zhang Yu out after almost every class.
And it was not just during breaks.
During Martial Arts Class, Liang Qin would bring him water.
After Physical Education, he would offer Zhang Yu a sweat towel.
In the cafeteria, he would try to save a seat for Zhang Yu in advance.
In their conversations, Liang Qin constantly showered Zhang Yu with flattery. He was like an overly attentive bee, constantly buzzing around Zhang Yu.
Initially, Zhang Yu had found Liang Qin pleasant enough.
But after a few days, he grew increasingly annoyed with him.
Liang Qin’s constant interruptions during breaks, which disrupted his cultivation, were especially irritating.
Moreover, while flattering him, Liang Qin always subtly probed for the secret to Zhang Yu’s rapid improvement, which Zhang Yu found tiresome.
So, for the past two days, Zhang Yu had gradually begun ignoring Liang Qin, hoping he would take the hint and back off.
This seemed to have stirred some resentment in Liang Qin, but Zhang Yu had no other choice.
***
Time flew by, and it was almost the end of the school day.
During self-study class, Zhang Yu’s body trembled slightly. He felt a sweet nectar surge from the depths of his sea of consciousness, nourishing his entire being and filling him with unparalleled joy.
Simultaneously, a low roar echoed from the visualization diagram in his mind. The old bull he had sketched came to life, its horns raised to the sky and its mouth emitting a deep bellow as if it had truly come alive.
Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art Level 10
As this Mental Cultivation Technique reached Level 10, Zhang Yu felt an overwhelming sense of contentment and happiness.
The thought of his strength steadily improving and of mastering one cultivation art after another filled him with anticipation. This anticipation, in turn, fueled a constant stream of joy.
Is this the effect of reaching Level 10 in the Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art?
As long as you have hope for the future, even tedious cultivation and relentless hardship can bring joy and satisfaction.
Zhang Yu found this Mental Cultivation Technique increasingly fascinating. Shouldn’t a cultivation art that allowed one to find joy in the midst of suffering also reduce the pain of cultivation and boost its efficiency? Why were so many people giving it negative reviews?
Unless many who cultivated this technique, even after reaching Level 10, could no longer feel joy because their lives already lacked any hope for the future?
Thinking about the current state of the first layer of Kunxu, Zhang Yu shook his head helplessly.
The Desolate Bull Soul-Pacifying Mind Art is a good cultivation art.
But no matter how good a cultivation art is, it is still just a cultivation art. What happens in the future ultimately depends on the person.
As Zhang Yu was musing to himself, a female voice called out, “Yu Zi?”
Bai Zhenzhen, seeing the satisfied and joyful expression on Zhang Yu’s face, scanned him from head to toe with a suspicious look. Then, she asked dubiously, “Yu Zi, you didn’t… overflow in class, did you?”
[Note : The Chinese term used here is “溢出” (yìchū), literally “overflow/spill over.” In cultivation contexts, this is a common euphemism for involuntary seminal emission (ejaculate) during meditation/breakthroughs (viewed as a loss of vital energy).]
Zhang Yu’s eyes snapped open. He stared at Bai Zhenzhen’s disgusted expression and helplessly retorted, “Tch, I was just appreciating the beauty of cultivation and contemplating the world’s helplessness, but your vulgar words completely ruined the mood.”
Bai Zhenzhen, however, could not care less about Zhang Yu’s talk of beauty and helplessness. She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the classroom.
“Stop talking nonsense. Have you forgotten about the Magic Power Competition tutoring after school today? We already paid 3,000 yuan for it.”
After Zhang Yu’s magic power broke into the top ten in his grade last month, he and Bai Zhenzhen were selected for the First-Year team participating in the Magic Power Competition.
However, the competition would test them on subjects they had not covered in school, with topics that were far beyond the classroom curriculum.
Therefore, Teacher Yan, their magic power class instructor, organized tutoring sessions to teach them the material for the competition.
***
In the classroom.
Besides Teacher Yan, who had her hair coiled up and wore black-framed glasses, only Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had shown up.
Teacher Yan explained, “Everyone else has private tutors and their own tutoring schedules, so they will not be attending these extra classes.”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Does this mean we are the only two poor kids among the top ten in our grade for Magic Power?”
Bai Zhenzhen clenched her fists, thinking, I did not expect this to be the kind of extra class that would damage my reputation on campus.
Teacher Yan’s eyes burned with fighting spirit. She thought, These rich kids are so disrespectful. They would rather trust their private tutors than me?
Those private tutors are just smooth-talking charlatans who only know how to swindle money. How can they compare to my thirty years of solid teaching experience at a Key High School?
Only two out of ten students showed up? This is seriously damaging my reputation on campus.
It is bad enough that they skipped class, but they did not even pay the tutoring fees?
If students from Class 2 or Class 3 had dared to pull such a stunt, Teacher Yan would have immediately called their parents and summoned them all to the school making them understand the consequences of looking down on their magic power teacher.
But when she thought about the parents of the eight students from the Demonstration Class… well, their parents were so busy with work. A teacher should be more understanding.
She glanced at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, thinking to herself, You two paupers better make me proud and crush those eight brats. Then they will all have to come to me for tutoring.
While her mind raced with these thoughts, Teacher Yan maintained a calm facade and slowly began her lecture. “The Magic Power Competition will test you on things completely different from what you have been studying. Your total Magic Power is just the foundation, while the key is having proper control over it.”
She projected an Energy Flow Diagram onto a screen and began explaining with great enthusiasm, “The Magic Power currently flowing through your bodies is in its most basic form.”
“By controlling the flow and pathways of your magic power, you can alter its form.”
“For instance, one path for advancement leads toward Martial Dao applications such as Sword Qi and palm strikes.”
“Further refinement can lead to phenomena such as heating, cooling, and even generating electricity.”
As she spoke, she extended a finger. A sharp ripple of energy surged from her fingertip, effortlessly slicing through a sheet of paper in front of her.
A moment later, her fingertip glowed faintly red, and a tiny flame flickered upon it.
“This is the most basic form of magic power transformation.”
“Of course, basic transformations rely on fundamental skills and control over your magic power, so its power is extremely limited.”
“The true breakthrough, the one with real practical value, lies in the unique magic power derived from various extraordinary cultivation arts.”
As Teacher Yan explained, Zhang Yu suddenly remembered the chilling palm force He Dayou had unleashed during their Monthly Exam battle.
He suspected that it was a form of unique magic power cultivated through a specific art.
On the podium, Teacher Yan projected an animated Energy Flow Diagram and turned to the two students, saying, “This is the simplest Sword Qi conversion route, which can transform magic power into a wisp of sharp Sword Qi.”
“Now, try it for yourselves using the method I just taught you, and see if you can pull it off.”
Bai Zhenzhen stared at the animated Energy Flow Diagram for a moment and soon began to feel dizzy.
This energy flow route is too complicated!
Then she tried it herself, only to be left speechless.
Her magic power swirled around in her left arm, but it stubbornly refused to coalesce into even a hint of sharp energy.
Is this really the simplest Sword Qi conversion route? This is the competition’s difficulty level?
She felt as if she had just learned addition, only for her teacher to hand her a linear equation with two variables and tell her to solve it.
Just then, she heard Zhang Yu’s excited voice.
“A-Zhen, come look at this!”
Bai Zhenzhen turned to see Zhang Yu tapping his fingertip across his notebook, where he had neatly carved a perfect linear equation with two variables into the paper.
[Note: This is a pun. Bai Zhenzhen uses a “linear equation with two variables” (二元一次方程) as a metaphor for an impossibly difficult task. Zhang Yu, having mastered the Sword Qi, literally “cuts” (切, qiē) the shape of the equation into his notebook, both acing the task she failed and making a joke out of her metaphor.]
Yu Zi, this unfamiliar side of you is sickening.
