You dare to cultivate without money?!-Chapter 42 - 31 Spirit Realm
42: Chapter 31 Spirit Realm
42 -31 Spirit Realm
Spirit Realm.
A mental world created by the collaboration of the Ten Major Sects.
When the exam officially began, Zhang Yu felt his consciousness being pulled out of his body and into another world.
A gentle breeze brushed through his hair, and there was a hard feeling of sitting on a chair.
When Zhang Yu opened his eyes, what appeared before him was a regular classroom.
Inside the classroom were students of similar age from various high schools, totaling several dozen.
This is the Spirit Realm, a mental world distinct from the real world.
The Spirit Realm can be considered a real world, and it can also be seen as a false world.
It’s called the real world because everything experienced here can be indistinguishable from the real world.
It’s called the false world because everything in this world doesn’t exist in reality, like a dream or an illusion; everything seen, heard, touched, and felt here can be controlled by humans.
Zhang Yu knew that his physical body was still lying in a bed at Songyang High School, only his consciousness had come to the Spirit Realm.
Like the other students around him, he was randomly selected from the many students taking the exams in Songyang City to this classroom.
Glancing at the classroom environment, Zhang Yu couldn’t tell any difference from reality at all.
He thought to himself, “Hopefully, I won’t get stuck halfway through the exam, like all the high school students in the city trapped in a virtual online game.”
A place similar to a virtual network world, this was Zhang Yu’s understanding of the Spirit Realm after learning some information about it.
Except Kunxu achieved this using Immortal Techniques.
Of course, Zhang Yu understood that he knew too little about the Spirit Realm, and his understanding was definitely superficial, but for now, it was enough for him to comprehend it this way.
Before everyone, a slender man wearing an owl mask stood behind the podium looking at them.
Li Xingyu glanced at the examinees in front of him.
The next moment, from his perspective, each examinee’s number, name, and high school appeared above their heads.
“Sigh, I hope this ends soon so I can get off work early.”
As a soul cultivator from Mangshan High School without a physical body, Li Xingyu had long been accustomed to daily life in the Spirit Realm.
Due to the special nature of soul cultivators, they didn’t need to participate in this Dao Heart exam and were instead drafted by teachers to oversee it.
Thinking of the 45 hours of work he had left today made him sigh involuntarily.
Suddenly, while reviewing the examinees, his gaze sharpened and he looked towards Zhang Yu’s direction.
“Is it him?”
Li Xingyu remembered that at Li Xuelian’s art exhibition, it was this security guard who stood out and caused changes in the Heavenly Man Martial Illustration.
“From Songyang High School?”
“Interesting, let’s record his exam process; maybe it can be a good piece of research data to sell to the principal.”
Noticing slightly, Li Xingyu took a few steps forward, and with each step taken, several identical versions of him split out, so that by the tenth step, each examinee had a Li Xingyu standing in front of them.
This division technique in the Spirit Realm was commonplace for soul cultivators like Li Xingyu.
Zhang Yu looked at the invigilator before him with the owl mask, a guess rising in his heart.
The strength of will is a manifestation of the Dao Heart, and to assess the Dao Heart level, it’s generally done through testing the strength of will.
So the Dao Heart exam mainly tests willpower, especially in the Qi Refining Stage.
But there are many methods to test each person’s will strength.
To avoid examinees from training specifically in advance causing discrepancies in testing, each Dao Heart exam’s specific questions vary.
As far as Zhang Yu knew, the higher the standard of the exam, the more resources were invested in the Dao Heart exam, and the more complex the exam content experienced in the Spirit Realm.
After all, more complex and diverse experiences can more accurately reflect the candidates’ conditions.
“This is the monthly test…” Zhang Yu thought inwardly, “According to past experiences, it shouldn’t be too complicated.”
Meanwhile, Li Xingyu extended his hand towards him, opening his palm to reveal something resembling a cell phone.
“Take this.”
At the same time, all the Li Xingyu said in unison, “The content of today’s Dao Heart exam is simple…
pain.”
“In the next sixty minutes, the controllers in your hands can be adjusted to change your pain level at any time.”
“For these sixty minutes, the higher the pain level and the longer it’s maintained, the higher your ranking.”
Dao Heart exams are scored based on rankings, so your exact score depends not only on yourself but also on the performance of other examinees.
For example, the Dao Heart monthly exam in Songyang City is scored based on the rankings of all high school students in the city.
The real college entrance exam is scored according to the rankings of all college candidates on the first level of Kunxu.
“And if the pain level exceeds your limits and causes you to faint, your consciousness will immediately exit the Spirit Realm, and your score will be processed as zero.”
After explaining the exam content, Li Xingyu pointed with his hand, and a ten-second countdown appeared in midair in the Spirit Realm.
“The timing starts in 10 seconds.”
Zhang Yu looked at the controller in his hand resembling a phone and saw the screen showing pain level 0, pain level 1, pain level 2, pain level 3…
The only two buttons on the controller represented up and down, allowing him to adjust the pain level continuously upward or downward, changing the level of pain he felt at any time.
Just looking at it, Zhang Yu felt like his whole body was already starting to hurt.
Who came up with such an exam topic?
Are those who designed it out of their minds?
Don’t tell me that within these pain levels, there are things like burning, limb severing, flaying alive…
Is this our Songyang City’s little Saw movie?
The thing Zhang Yu hated the most was suffering, but what he hated more than suffering was being forced to suffer by someone.
Ironically, ever since he came to Kunxu and embarked on this path of cultivation, he had been suffering constantly, taking large bites of hardship.
At this moment, Zhang Yu felt thoroughly disgusted, with his sense of resistance reaching a peak.
Aware of this, Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened, inwardly remarking, “But come to think of it, as a high school student on the path of cultivation, learning and taking exams is my duty.
Learning to suffer now means earning more money in the future.”
“I love learning, I love exams!”
Pumping himself up, Zhang Yu felt a bit more invigorated, and the pain controller before him seemed more agreeable.
What is will?
What is thought?
What is the Dao Heart?
The Dao Heart class teacher talked a lot about how throughout history, some people worshipped gods, some worshipped demons, some worshipped humans…
establishing various beliefs, using different beliefs combined with mental methods to elevate the Dao Heart and strengthen willpower.
In Zhang Yu’s understanding, will is the capacity to endure hardship, and the stronger the willpower, the more one can endure.
Thoughts that improve willpower are those that convince oneself that the current hardship is beneficial, thus enabling oneself to endure more hardship.
At this moment, Zhang Yu was using some small thoughts to comfort and encourage himself, hoping for better examination results later.
Everyone has many such small thoughts, including Zhang Yu.
But a thought that can be carried out consistently and form a system was something Zhang Yu did not yet possess, and this wasn’t something Dao Heart classes in school could teach him.
It requires each student to integrate their textbooks, personal experiences, and cultivation techniques…
to eventually establish it.
The manifestation of a cultivator’s willpower can be used to grade their Dao Heart level.
A cultivator’s thoughts, when combined with mental methods, can enhance the Dao Heart level, further strengthening their willpower.
Thought is the core, will is the manifestation, and mental methods provide the means; the combination of these three elements constitutes a complete Dao Heart for a cultivator.
In the next moment, as the countdown in midair hit zero.
The many students present all began operating their controllers; some let out screams, some had twisted expressions, others took a sharp breath…
When Zhang Yu adjusted the pain level to 1, he felt a steel needle piercing his palm.
He quickly activated the Basic Heart Refining Skill taught in Dao Heart class, focusing on stabilizing his mind.
Emptiness, nothingness, selflessness…
the Basic Heart Refining Skill is a mental method that helps stabilize emotions, maintain calm, and gradually enter a state of meditation.
Through long-term practice, the Dao Heart level rises, and willpower grows stronger.
This level 1 Basic Heart Refining Skill was a mental method the original Zhang Yu had learned before coming to this world.
But because all his time had been spent on improving his mana, physical strength, enhancing Circulation Qi Gathering Method, Thirty-Six Forms of Body Building, and Freehand, he had never had the chance to upgrade this mental method.
At this moment, when Zhang Yu activated the Basic Heart Refining Skill, he felt his mind gradually calming down, and his pain tolerance seemed much stronger.
He immediately increased the pain level to 2.
Hiss!
Zhang Yu felt as if the other hand was also pierced through by a steel needle.
But he could still endure it.
So Zhang Yu raised the pain level step by step; when it reached 37, he felt 37 steel needles penetrating his hands and feet.
At this moment, Zhang Yu’s face was distorted, no matter how hard he tried to operate the Basic Heart Refining Skill, he couldn’t find any calm.
“Calm and composed!
Calm and composed!
Calm and composed!”
Calming the mind, silently enduring, silently persevering, water drops wear through stone… The Basic Heart Refining Skill must be combined with such a thought system to maximize its effect.
This is also the norm for improving the Dao Heart; only when one’s thoughts and mental methods match does the improvement of the Dao Heart reach its best effect.
But calming the mind, silently enduring, silently persevering, water drops wear through stone… This set completely doesn’t match Zhang Yu’s character.
At this instant, all he wanted was to immediately, right now, kill the person who came up with this Dao Heart exam’s questions.
Just as Zhang Yu felt he had reached his limit, the content of the Heavenly Martial Refining Heart Technique suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Fist, palm, leg, spear, saber, sword…
One figure after another abruptly appeared in his mind, carrying the killing intent to shatter armies, an indomitable fighting spirit, overwhelming courage…
these were in line with his heart.
Although Zhang Yu, lacking a high enough Dao Heart level, had yet to truly master the Heavenly Martial Refining Heart Technique.
Yet at this moment, just recalling the intent within this martial art filled Zhang Yu’s heart with a sharp vigor.
He felt like a small soldier following an unrivaled general, gaining renewed courage and spirit from witnessing the general’s valiant posture.
At this moment, the piercing pain of those steel needles became much more bearable.
He smiled grimly: “When I climb to the top later, I swear I’ll beat the exam designer till they beg for mercy.”
