Chapter 21: Heavenly Martial Heart Refining

Seeing these words, the many students present were startled, thinking that Bai Zhenzhen had succeeded.

However, they heard Li Xuelian let out a sigh and look toward Bai Zhenzhen, saying, "To be able to learn the moves of these nine martial arts in such a short time by your own strength, your talent and aptitude are truly one in ten thousand."

"It is just a pity that, in the end, you are still somewhat short of my father's requirements."

Upon hearing this, some of the students present breathed a sigh of relief, while others were secretly astonished.

Zhao Tianxing thought to himself, "Even this didn't meet the requirements? Just how powerful of a disciple does this Master Xinghuo want?"

On the other side, Bai Zhenzhen secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

She hadn't expected to trigger the changes in the Martial Arts Map in one go just now; she thought she had succeeded and had almost, in a moment of panic, wanted to refuse Master Xinghuo's offer of discipleship.

Bai Zhenzhen thought to herself, "It's a good thing I didn't say it out loud, otherwise the embarrassment would have been immense. I knew it felt like something was still missing."

Following Bai Zhenzhen's actions, others stepped forward to attempt to practice the nine sets of martial arts respectively, but none of them triggered any further changes in the Celestial Martial Arts Map.

In contrast, the ever-expanding confidence of Lian Tianji prevented him from stepping up to try again for a while; he seemed to be contemplating the reason for Bai Zhenzhen's failure—what exactly was it that they were missing?

For a moment, the entire scene fell silent, and before anyone knew it, no one else stepped forward to try.

Just as Li Xuelian was about to conclude the matter, she saw Zhang Yu walking up while holding his phone.

"Hmm?" Li Xuelian suddenly became interested, thinking, "Having witnessed so many failures, he still has the confidence to go up. It seems he has some sort of certainty."

But in the next moment, she couldn't help but frown.

Because Zhang Yu actually began playing a video on his phone, practicing the martial arts by following Bai Zhenzhen's movements in the video.

Clearly, he had just recorded Bai Zhenzhen's demonstration of the martial arts.

As she watched Zhang Yu mimic every move and stance according to the video, Li Xuelian's frown deepened.

It was evident that besides the boxing technique he had comprehended himself, Zhang Yu was quite unfamiliar with the other eight sets of martial arts. Although he was currently imitating Bai Zhenzhen's movements from the video like a parrot, it only served to highlight the gap in their respective understandings of these eight sets of techniques.

From a distance, Zhao Tianxing watched Zhang Yu, dressed in a security guard uniform, mimicking Bai Zhenzhen's movements like a clumsy imitation under the gaze of the crowd. He felt his scalp tingle and his toes curl in sheer secondhand embarrassment.

Just watching this, he felt as though the gazes of the crowd toward Zhang Yu were filled with contempt and ridicule. He could hardly imagine how the person actually standing in that position, doing that very thing, would feel.

"Stop it, Zhang Yu!" Zhao Tianxing couldn't bear to watch any longer and screamed in his heart, "This is too embarrassing! You're being treated like a clown!"

Naturally, Zhang Yu could not hear Zhao Tianxing's thoughts, nor did he care how the people in the exhibition hall viewed him.

He simply practiced the nine martial arts one by one, following Bai Zhenzhen's movements in the video with utmost seriousness.

As he finished his final move, countless experiences and sensations suddenly flooded into his mind, giving Zhang Yu an instantaneous and different understanding of the Celestial Martial Arts Map, as if he had practiced it tens of thousands of times.

At this moment, the moves of the nine martial arts gradually vanished from his mind, replaced by nine different intentions that flickered in and out of his consciousness.

In this moment, Zhang Yu suddenly understood: the nine martial arts on the Celestial Martial Arts Map emphasized *intent*, not mere *moves*.

What a practitioner had to do was to contemplate the "artistic conception" within every single move while practicing the martial arts.

The killing intent to break through ten thousand armies, the fighting spirit of nine deaths without regret, the momentum of moving forward without hesitation... the nine martial arts were designed to cultivate martial intent to fortify one's Dao Heart.

"This isn't a combat or body-tempering martial art, but a martial art that uses martial intent to temper the Dao Heart."

This was a martial cultivation method used to raise the level of one's Dao Heart!

"Martial Intent" was the collective term used by the ten great sects, after careful categorization, for various martial powers such as sword intent, fist intent, saber intent, and so on.

The most fundamental function of martial intent was to strengthen the spirit and solidify one's will, thereby raising the practitioner's Dao Heart level.

And for a Golden Core Master like Master Xinghuo, their martial intent could even remain within a painting, influencing the spirits and consciousness of others.

Simultaneously, a powerful change began to manifest in Zhang Yu's temperament.

Killing intent, fighting spirit, momentum, valorousness... waves of incredibly powerful aura emerged from his body, seemingly poised to condense into his martial intent in a single breath at this very moment.

At the same time, the man on the Celestial Martial Arts Map became increasingly clear, even gradually appearing in vivid colors, as if turning into a real person, staring intently at the changes in Zhang Yu.

The onlookers who noticed this were also shocked; this was undoubtedly the greatest reaction the Celestial Martial Arts Map had shown all day.

Lian Tianji, Qian Shen, Bai Zhenzhen... they were all staring fixedly at Zhang Yu. They all felt the change in him, and the same incredible thought rose in their minds.

"Is he actually going to succeed?"

But in the next moment, the changes in Zhang Yu were abruptly and completely interrupted. The martial intent that seemed about to condense also dissipated into nothingness at that instant.

"A pity, a pity." A sentence surfaced on the painting: "A talent of heaven, yet one move short of the mark."

There was no look of surprise on Zhang Yu's face.

[Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual: Level 0 (1/1, 8.3/8 Mana, 0.85/0.8 Physical Strength, 1/3 Dao Heart)]

A martial art called the "Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual" appeared upon the Feather Book.

This was a martial art that had finally appeared on the Feather Book after Zhang Yu repeatedly contemplated the Celestial Martial Arts Map, carefully observed the demonstrations of many students, and recorded and studied Bai Zhenzhen's video repeatedly.

Unlike the martial arts Zhang Yu had learned before, this Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual had requirements for mana, physical strength, and Dao Heart.

"Besides having to practice all these boxing, palm, and leg techniques, it also requires 8 mana, 0.8 physical strength, and a level 3 Dao Heart."

"I have met all the other requirements; it is only this level 3 Dao Heart..."

Zhang Yu's own Dao Heart was only level 1.

After such an attempt, he had indeed gotten stuck at the final step.

"As it stands, this Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual is a martial art used to condense martial intent and solidify one's will to temper the Dao Heart after reaching a level 3 Dao Heart."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "A requirement as high as a level 3 Dao Heart... that's not something a first-year high school student who has only been in school for three months could possibly achieve, right?"

Looking at the failed Zhang Yu, Li Xuelien's eyes were filled with brilliance.

Her original intention flashed through her mind; she had never truly expected any of these first-year students to succeed.

"According to the information sent by the security company just now, this person is Zhang Yu, a first-year student from Songyang High School."

"To be able to reach this stage, he truly deserves to be called a talent of heaven."

Recalling Zhang Yu's performance just now, she sighed inwardly, "Impressive. I almost misjudged him."

"He appeared to have stiff movements, with every punch and kick being crooked and awkward, yet he was ultimately able to comprehend the intent contained within."

"This shows that he prioritizes intent over form, having seen through the mysteries of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual early on."

"Good, good, good. My father's lineage will gain another high-quality disciple."

In fact, as soon as Li Xuelien had checked the profiles of the participants, she felt that no one would likely succeed in this test.

After all, students capable of mastering the martial arts in the Celestial Martial Arts Map on the spot would either come from illustrious families or would already be second or third-year students who had long since signed contracts; it was unlikely they would come here to seek Master Xinghuo as a teacher.

The possibility of finding a genius who could master the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual on the spot was inherently extremely small.

But that didn't mean no one could join her father's lineage.

If among the first-year students present, someone could withstand the impact of the martial intent, master all the moves on the spot, and perceive the mysteries of the martial intent from them, then even if they couldn't complete the cultivation in the end, they would definitely be a person of extraordinary talent.

If such a person had come a year later, they would surely have been able to master the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual, which would also meet her father's requirements. Now, it was equivalent to finding them a year early, before they had grown and signed a contract.

She believed her father would certainly be willing to accept such an excellent disciple.

In that case, the fact that this first-year student couldn't master the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual would not be a drawback; instead, it would be more advantageous for Li Xuelien to slightly lower the price when signing the contract later.

Thinking of this, she smiled toward Zhang Yu.

"Student, although you haven't truly mastered the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual, you have already comprehended its mysteries. Mastering this martial art will only be a matter of time."

"I will ask my father in a moment to see if he is willing to take you as a disciple."

Hearing this, the crowd was once again shocked.

Lian Tianji looked toward Zhang Yu, opened his phone, and secretly took a photo of him. He wanted to find someone to ask where this security guard powerhouse had suddenly emerged from.

Qian Shen looked at Zhang Yu in disbelief, screaming in his heart, "Impossible! How can someone with a score of 550 be taken as a disciple by a Golden Core Master? I must be dreaming. Is the Celestial Martial Arts Map still testing me?!"

Bai Zhenzhen: "Is Yu-zi... using a cheat code?"

Discovering that her good friend, who was originally inferior to her in every way and was in debt alongside her, had suddenly soared to the heavens, Bai Zhenzhen felt a sudden sense of discomfort.

*Yu-zi, it's not that I don't want you to do well. If you ranked in the top ten or top five of the grade—higher than before, but lower than me—then I would definitely bless you.*

*Who told you to suppress the crowd and even surpass me?*

However, seeing the people around approaching Zhang Yu to befriend him, Bai Zhenzhen thought to herself, "Once Zhang Yu is signed under a Golden Core Master, he will definitely be able to attract a lot of investment. When that time comes, I must thoroughly fleece him for money and borrow from him."

But in the next moment, she had a change of heart, her brow furrowing: "But his Golden Core cultivation was halved and he was 'optimized' by the great sects. He has no resources and no background. If Zhang Yu truly joins the sect, he'll really be a beast of burden for life."

"Forget it, forget it. Since we're brothers, I should probably remind him not to be blinded by the words 'Golden Core' and tell him he must refuse them."

On the other side, Zhao Tianxing's eyes widened even further, his mind going blank. But he quickly thought of how he had just tried to advise Zhang Yu, and a wave of embarrassment washed over him: "Too embarrassing."

"He is a true genius. When I said those things to him, he must have thought I was a clown."

As Bai Zhenzhen walked toward Zhang Yu, many students also crowded around.

Some wanted to add Zhang Yu's contact information, some wanted to ask him about the mysteries of the Celestial Martial Arts Map, and others wanted to take photos with him.

Meanwhile, Li Xuelien had already stepped aside and called her father.

"Dad, I've found a good seedling here in Songyang City..."

(End of Chapter)