You dare to cultivate without money?!-Chapter 261 - 226: The Burden of Magic Remains

When Zhang Yu first discovered the true appearance of the examination hall with the aid of his eye implant, his initial reaction was that it might not be so bad not to wear the eye implant and see fewer advertisements.

But after glancing a few more times at the myriad light screens and the various ads displayed on them, he realized he had underestimated the situation.

A vast amount of information about Spirit Roots, Magic Remains, and their prices kept flooding into Zhang Yu’s mind.

"Pre-god Spirit Roots? Could military-grade Spirit Roots also be downgraded? Would they flow into the civilian market?"

"And the prices of these Spirit Roots and Magic Remains... 4.99? 2.98?"

Upon seeing these prices, Zhang Yu was naturally startled: "Has the price level worldwide shrunk by ten million times while only my money remained unchanged?"

But such an outrageous thought was quickly dismissed by Zhang Yu internally.

Then he noticed that some advertisements had the words "spirit coins" after the prices.

Zhang Yu thought silently: "Spirit coins? Is this the currency used up there? It seems these spirit coins are really valuable; you can buy Spirit Roots with just a few coins?"

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu sighed slightly within his heart: "Just the countless information from these ads alone "

"If I get into university and don’t use the eye implant, I won’t even be able to see the ads, let alone other useful information, creating a massive information gap compared to others who have the eye implant..."

"If I were to be that impoverished, I might never have a chance to turn my life around."

This mere tip of the iceberg was enough to make Zhang Yu realize the importance of the eye implant.

But just at the next moment, he suddenly felt a discomfort in his eye.

He instinctively reached for his eye socket, but felt nothing, and his hand did not block any vision.

"I see, my perception of the eye is cut off."

"The sensation in my eyes now comes from the Magic Remains... is it the remains that are uncomfortable?"

This situation, where his fingers clearly touched his eyes, yet he felt nothing in them, made Zhang Yu feel extremely awkward.

It was as if his eye socket was telling him he no longer had eyeballs.

But his brain, his thoughts, told him he had eyes, and not only did he have eyes, he was receiving input from an eye implant.

And when the eye implant directed its gaze towards Zhang Yu, allowing him to look directly at himself lying on the operating table from a third-person perspective, the feeling of awkwardness intensified.

It even made the discomfort transmitted from his eye implant deepen.

At this moment, two numbers floated above the heads of Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao, indicating their current synchronization rate with the Magic Remains.

Zhang Yu 97%

Ye Lingxiao 99%

Meanwhile, Huang Zichou spoke: "During the process of Body Refinement training, as the physical strength increases, the cultivator’s control over the body also elevates, and the unity of body and mind becomes increasingly tight through hard practice."

"When you become accustomed to your strong physical body, honed bit by bit, and to this tight union of body and mind, any slightest discord between body and mind will bring discomfort."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly upon hearing these words, knowing that though this body once belonged to the original Zhang Yu, he had become thoroughly accustomed to it over the past year of arduous cultivation, becoming inseparable from it through numerous experiences of surpassing limits and practicing cultivation techniques.

Huang Zichou continued: "The tighter the integration of body and mind, the more dissonant you will feel after connecting with Magic Remains, causing the synchronization rate to drop."

"And as the synchronization rate declines, you might experience various reactions such as nausea, agitation, phantom pain, illusions, and so on, but don’t worry, these are normal phenomena."

"Just like now, cutting off the original connection with the eyes and connecting to the eye implant, your brain believes the eyes are gone, but the implant tells you they are present. In this contradiction, the brain might conclude that you are injured, thereby gradually producing phantom pain..."

Meanwhile, in the network of True Gods, the examiners were evaluating the performance of the two.

A Little God named Mu Guiyin commented: "Zhang Yu indeed has a powerful physique. But precisely because it’s so strong, he becomes overly reliant on it and finds it harder to adapt after switching to the Magic Remains."

"On the other hand, Ye Lingxiao, who has undergone various surgeries since his time in the Immortal Uterus, has grown accustomed to abrupt changes in his physical body over the years."

"And with his mana reaching 100, given the Ye family’s resources, he must have tried various Magic Remains, only to switch back to his own body in the end, so his acceptance of Magic Remains is likely very high."

Mu Guiyin sighed: "This is the gap in foundation, and this disparity will inevitably be further reflected in the synchronization rate data in this stage, keeping Ye Lingxiao’s synchronization rate always higher than Zhang Yu’s."

"Of course, the ultimate reason Ye Lingxiao can win lies in one other crucial factor..."

Listening to Mu Guiyin’s remarks, Huang Zichou thought to himself: "This guy Mu Guiyin was backing Ye Lingxiao even in the last stage."

"How many shares of the Oasis Group and the Ye Family has this guy secretly bought?"

Though grumbling inwardly, Huang Zichou couldn’t deny that Mu Guiyin had made a valid point; Ye Lingxiao’s advantage in this stage was too significant.

After Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao had adapted to the "Visionary" Magic Remains for a while, Huang Zichou brought the second Magic Remains for this round.

They saw a completely white, yet lifelike arm floating in front of Huang Zichou.

He introduced, "This is a professional-grade arm Magic Remains from the Sky Martial Group—Sword Tomb."

"As an established company specializing in the development of combat Magic Remains, this lightweight ’Sword Tomb’ is said to incorporate all the advantages of previous generations, making it very suitable for cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage."

"Not only is it made of high-strength materials to endure the power contest of Foundation Establishment cultivators, but it can also automatically convert mana into high-energy Sword Qi once infused."

"The Sword Tomb can even store a Level 20 swordsmanship."

"Currently, thousands of swordsmanship techniques are available at the Sky Martial Mall. Just place an order and download the swordsmanship to the ’Sword Tomb’, then install it, and a Level 20 swordsmanship can be yours instantly."

"With just a thought, the Sword Tomb can perform swordsmanship according to preset tactics, and the Artifact Spirit inside the Magic Remains will assist in combat, correcting the trajectory of sword moves..."

As Huang Zichou introduced the Sword Tomb, light screens lit up around them, showing a user wielding the "Sword Tomb" and slashing Sword Qi.

Watching this scene, Zhang Yu mused to himself, "Is this Magic Remains for the Foundation Establishment Stage?" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"It can even store swordsmanship..."

Zhang Yu increasingly felt that in the college phase, wealth seemed to have a greater effect on the Immortal Path.

But he quickly suppressed this thought, as the urgent task at hand was this Foundation Establishment exam.

"I wonder if these True Gods feared that Qi Cultivation Stage Magic Remains wouldn’t challenge us, or if they chose these Magic Remains usable only in the Foundation Establishment Stage for advertising instead of those usable in the Qi Cultivation Stage."

Zhang Yu understood that the same professional-grade Magic Remains of the Foundation Establishment Stage would definitely be stronger and bear greater load than those of the Qi Cultivation Stage.

Just like among advanced cultivation techniques, the ones for the Foundation Establishment Stage are certainly more powerful and difficult to cultivate than those for the Qi Cultivation Stage.

He guessed internally, "This Magic Remains for the Foundation Establishment Stage likely carries quite a burden."

Apparently understanding the worries of the two candidates, Huang Zichou reassured, "Although ’Sword Tomb’ is specifically designed for the Foundation Establishment Stage, it’s not intended for implanting Magic Remains in you this time."

"Neither your blood circulation, muscle strength, nor your flesh and bones really connect with the Magic Remains."

"You don’t need to use mana to maintain the operation of the Magic Remains. There’s no mana requirement, no material and cell rejection as side effects either..."

"It’s just temporarily connecting your neural signals to the Magic Remains, simulating the feeling of having them. So you can connect several Magic Remains’ neural signals, and also connect those for the Foundation Establishment Stage."

Zhang Yu understood that this exam was ultimately about testing their body’s adaptability to unfamiliar Magic Remains through remote neural signal connection, far from actual implantation, hence the ability to connect to these Magic Remains of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

After a brief moment, as Huang Zichou finished his introduction, he once again utilized talismans from the Ministry of Health to sever the connection between Zhang Yu, Ye Lingxiao, and their right arms.

At this instant, Zhang Yu felt an emptiness below his right shoulder, no longer sensing the slightest presence of an arm.

However, this feeling only lasted for a dozen seconds before Zhang Yu sensed the presence of a new arm.

He watched as, under the effect of Divine Power, the "Sword Tomb" floated in mid-air and moved according to his thoughts—forming a fist, bending the arm, swinging...making various movements.

Yet the more he tried to adapt to this arm Magic Remains, the more awkward he felt, even noticing a slight delay in the "Sword Tomb’s" actions, always a beat slower than his thoughts.

In the next moment, the Sword Tomb completely stopped, no matter how Zhang Yu pushed, unable to budge an inch.

Seeing this, Zhang Yu was shocked internally, "Has my sync rate decreased so much that I can’t establish contact with this Magic Remains anymore?"

Just then, a sound came from the Sword Tomb, "Your free time has expired, please watch videos to receive more time."

At the same time, Zhang Yu noticed that Ye Lingxiao’s Sword Tomb had stopped likewise and issued the same warning sound.

Damn it... Zhang Yu swore inwardly, "What’s going on? Applying this on an exam? Do I have to watch an ad video now?"

Huang Zichou quickly explained, "It seems we accidentally used up too much free time during the previous tests."

"For regular use, just become a member of the Sky Martial Mall, then you can skip ads."

Zhang Yu looked at the other side’s explanation to the audience and thought, "It’s not really an explanation for us candidates, but rather a pitch to potential customers, isn’t it."

"And damn it... you’re not concerned about the exam’s mistakes, but about the user experience issues of the product."

Meanwhile, Huang Zichou said in the intranet, "Everyone, quickly use the link I sent to help watch the videos. Each of us watches one; the rewarded free time is enough for the exam."

So, the five True God examiners present immediately wandered to the other side, collectively watching the videos through the Divine Power network.

As for paying to buy a membership directly? Who would fork out the money? What kind of category does this membership even fall into? How to reimburse it?

Thinking of this, the five True Gods ultimately decided to honestly finish watching the videos.

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