Chapter 31: The Spirit Realm

The Spirit Realm.

A mental world co-created by the alliance of the ten great sects.

As the examination officially commenced, Zhang Yu felt his consciousness being dragged out of his physical body and into another world.

A gentle breeze brushed through his hair, and he felt the hard sensation of sitting on a chair.

When Zhang Yu opened his eyes, an ordinary classroom appeared before him.

Seated within the classroom were dozens of students around his age, hailing from various different high schools.

This was the Spirit Realm, a mental world distinct from reality.

The Spirit Realm could be called a real world, or it could be called a fake world.

It was a real world because everything a person felt here was indistinguishable from the real world.

It was a fake world because all the matter within it did not exist in reality; it was like a dream, an illusion, where everything seen, smelled, touched, or felt could be artificially controlled.

Zhang Yu knew that his physical body remained in his bed at Songyang High School, and only his consciousness had arrived in the Spirit Realm.

Like the students around him, he had been randomly selected to this classroom from among the many students participating in the examination from Songyang City.

Glancing at the classroom environment, Zhang Yu couldn't distinguish any difference between this place and reality.

He thought to himself, "I hope I don't get stuck halfway through the exam. Imagine all the high schoolers in the city being trapped in a virtual MMO."

A place similar to a virtual network world—this was Zhang Yu's understanding of the Spirit Realm after reading some of its background materials.

It was just that Kunxu had achieved this through immortal cultivation technology.

Of course, Zhang Yu understood that his knowledge of the Spirit Realm was still too limited and his understanding was certainly one-sided, but for his current self, it was enough.

In front of the crowd, a thin man wearing an owl mask stood behind the podium, looking at them.

Li Xingyu scanned the examinees before him.

In the next instant, from his own perspective, every examinee's ID number, name, and high school popped up above their heads.

"Sigh, I hope this finishes early so I can get off work."

As a Soul Cultivator from Mangshan High School—one without a physical body, possessing only a soul—Li Xingyu had long since grown accustomed to daily life in the Spirit Realm.

Due to the unique nature of Soul Cultivators, they did not need to participate in this Dao Heart Examination; instead, they were brought in by teachers to serve as proctors.

Thinking about his remaining 45 hours of work for the day, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Suddenly, while inspecting the examinees, his gaze froze, and he looked toward Zhang Yu.

"Is it him?"

Li Xingyu remembered that at Li Xuelian's art exhibition, it was this very security guard who had made a massive scene, triggering the anomalous changes in the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Painting.

"From Songyang High School?"

"Interesting. I'll record his progress during this exam; perhaps I can sell it to the principal as decent research intelligence."

After a brief moment of consideration, Li Xingyu stepped forward a few paces. With every step he took, several identical versions of himself split off. By the time he reached his tenth step, an identical Li Xingyu stood before every single examinee.

This Spirit Realm cloning technique was a common occurrence for a Soul Cultivator like Li Xingyu.

Watching the owl-masked proctor in front of him, Zhang Yu's mind raced with speculation.

The strength of one's will is the manifestation of the Dao Heart. To judge the level of a Dao Heart, one generally tests the strength of the will.

Therefore, the Dao Heart Examination primarily tested willpower—at least during the Qi Refining stage.

However, there were many ways to test the strength of an individual's will. To prevent examinees from undergoing targeted training in advance and causing measurement errors, the specific content of each Dao Heart Examination varied.

As far as Zhang Yu knew, the higher the specification of an exam, the more resources were invested in it, and the more complex the content the examinees experienced in the Spirit Realm would be.

After all, more complex and diverse experiences could more accurately detect the condition of the examinees.

"This is a monthly exam..." Zhang Yu thought. "Based on previous experience, it shouldn't be too complicated."

At the same time, Li Xingyu reached out toward him. As he opened his palm, a device resembling a mobile phone appeared in his hand.

"Take it."

Simultaneously, all the Li Xingyus spoke in unison: "The content of today's Dao Heart Examination is very simple... Pain."

"For the next sixty minutes, the controller in your hands can adjust your pain level at any time."

"During these sixty minutes, the higher your pain level and the longer you maintain it, the higher your ranking will be."

The Dao Heart Examination is scored based on ranking, so the specific score depends not only on oneself but also on the level of the other examinees.

For example, the Songyang City Dao Heart Monthly Exam is scored based on the ranking of all high school students in the city.

The actual College Entrance Examination, however, is scored based on the ranking of all examinees across the entire first layer of Kunxu.

"Furthermore, if the pain level exceeds your threshold of endurance and causes you to lose consciousness, your consciousness will immediately exit the Spirit Realm, and your score will be treated as zero."

After explaining the exam content, Li Xingyu pointed a finger, and a ten-second countdown appeared in mid-air within the Spirit Realm.

"The timer starts in 10 seconds."

Zhang Yu looked at the phone-like controller in his hand. On its screen, he could see: 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 continuously adjust his perceived pain level starting from Level 0.

Just looking at it made Zhang Yu feel as if his whole body was already aching.

Which idiot came up with this exam topic? Does the person who wrote this not have a soul?

Don't tell me there are levels like "Burning Level," "Genital Severing Level," or "Death by a Thousand Cuts Level"...

Is this our own little Songyang City version of *Saw*?

The thing Zhang Yu hated most was enduring hardship, and what he hated even more was someone forcing him to endure it.

Yet, ever since he arrived in Kunxu and embarked on this path of cultivation, he had been constantly enduring hardship—swallowing it in huge gulps.

At this moment, Zhang Yu felt utterly nauseated; his internal resistance reached its limit.

Sensing this, Zhang Yu's gaze sharpened, and he thought to himself, "But then again, as a high school cultivation student, studying, practicing, and taking exams is my vocation. If I endure more hardship now, I can earn more money later."

"I love studying! I love exams!"

Giving himself a pep talk, Zhang Yu felt slightly more revitalized, and the pain controller before him seemed a bit more tolerable.

What is will? What is thought? What is the Dao Heart?

The Dao Heart instructors had taught much: from ancient times to the present, some worshipped gods, some worshipped demons, some worshipped humans... establishing various different ideologies. By combining different thoughts with mental cultivation methods, one could elevate their Dao Heart and strengthen their will.

In Zhang Yu's understanding, will was simply the ability to endure hardship; the stronger the willpower, the more hardship one could bear.

And using thought to enhance will meant using a mindset that told oneself there were benefits to this hardship, thereby allowing oneself to endure even more.

At this moment, Zhang Yu was using these small thoughts to comfort and encourage himself, hoping to achieve a better score later.

Zhang Yu had many such small thoughts; everyone had many.

But the kind of thought that could be long-term implemented and formed into a systematic ideology was something Zhang Yu did not yet possess, nor had the school's Dao Heart classes been able to teach him.

That was something a student had to ultimately establish by combining the textbooks with their own experiences and their own cultivation methods.

The strength of a cultivator's will could be used to score their Dao Heart level.

The thoughts in a cultivator's heart could be used in conjunction with mental methods to raise their Dao Heart level and further enhance their will.

Thought is the core, will is the manifestation, and mental methods are the means. The combination of these three constitutes a cultivator's complete Dao Heart.

The next moment, as the countdown in mid-air hit zero.

The many students present began to operate their controllers. Some let out screams of agony, some had distorted faces, and some gasped for air...

When Zhang Yu adjusted his pain level to 1, he felt as if a steel needle had been driven into his palm.

He quickly activated the Level 1 Basic Heart-Refining Method taught in his Dao Heart classes, struggling to stabilize his spirit.

Emptiness, nothingness, selflessness... the Basic Heart-Refining Method was a mental method designed to stabilize emotions, maintain calmness, and gradually enter a state of meditation.

Through long-term practice, one's Dao Heart level would rise, and their willpower would grow stronger.

This Level 1 Basic Heart-Refining Method was a technique the original Zhang Yu had learned before the current Zhang Yu arrived in this world.

However, because he had always been busy increasing his mana and physical strength—focusing on the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Method, the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms, and Unarmed Combat—he had never had the chance to improve this mental method.

As Zhang Yu activated the Basic Heart-Refining Method, he felt his heart gradually calm down, and his tolerance for pain seemed to increase significantly.

He immediately raised his pain level to Level 2.

*Hiss!*

Zhang Yu felt as if his other hand was also being pierced by a steel needle.

However, it was still bearable.

Thus, Zhang Yu increased the pain level one level at a time. When the pain level reached 37, he felt as if thirty-seven steel needles had been driven through his hands and feet.

At this moment, Zhang Yu's face was contorted. No matter how hard he tried to circulate the Basic Heart-Refining Method, he could not feel even a hint of tranquility.

"Calm the mind! Calm the mind! Calm the mind!"

Quiet the heart and focus the spirit, endure silently, persist silently, like water wearing away stone... the Basic Heart-Refining Method required such a system of thought to reach its maximum effectiveness.

This was also the standard way to improve the Dao Heart; only when one's thoughts matched their mental method would the effect of Dao Heart improvement be at its best.

But this whole routine of "calming the mind," "focusing the spirit," "enduring silently," and "persisting silently" did not suit Zhang Yu's personality at all.

At this moment, he only wanted to kill the person who wrote this exam question—right now! Immediately!

Just as Zhang Yu felt he had reached his limit, the contents of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Fist, palm, leg, spear, saber, sword...

One silhouette after another flashed through his mind, carrying the killing intent to break through ten thousand armies, the fighting spirit of nine deaths without regret, and an unstoppable momentum... these were what resonated with his heart.

Although Zhang Yu, with his insufficient Dao Heart level, had not truly mastered the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual.

But at this moment, merely recalling the intent within this martial art caused a surge of momentum to rise within Zhang Yu's heart.

He felt like a small soldier following behind a peerless general; seeing the general's majestic posture, his courage was bolstered and his spirit was lifted.

At this moment, the pain of being pierced by those steel needles was no longer so unbearable.

A savage grin appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Once I climb to the top, I'm definitely going to beat the idiot who wrote this exam until they're on their knees begging for mercy."

(End of Chapter)