Chapter 28: Taoist Arts and Practical Combat

Unarmed Combat Level 2 (0/20) → Unarmed Combat Level 3 (0/30)

In an instant, the fifteen moves of Unarmed Combat became increasingly proficient in his mind; even the subsequent variations and transitions between every single move became incredibly clear and distinct.

The circulation of mana for every move became as instinctive as breathing. Zhang Yu felt that if he were to strike a blow right now, the mana within his body would transform of its own accord, naturally flowing to his limbs and extremities.

"The passive breathing of the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Method is also taking effect during this process."

Feeling the circulation of mana within him, Zhang Yu could sense that because the mana was constantly roaming through every part of his body, his control over mana became much more seamless whenever he practiced Unarmed Combat.

He felt a sense of wonder at how much the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Method helped beginners; it was beneficial not only for breathing and body tempering but even for practical combat martial arts.

However, with the exams approaching, Zhang Yu had no time for idle contemplation.

After breathing for a short while to recover his physical strength, he hurried toward the examination hall.

The first session in the afternoon was the Daoist Arts exam; the second session would be the Martial Arts practical exam.

The content of the Daoist Arts exam primarily focused on the recognition and application of Talismans.

After all, those at the Qi Refinement stage had not yet mastered true Daoist arts; they could only use their knowledge and mana to trigger talismans. Consequently, the Daoist arts curriculum throughout the three years of high school was almost entirely centered on talismans.

Specifically, "Fu" referred to the incantation, and "Lu" referred to the inscribed book. The term "Fu-Lu" (Talismans) referred to the secret methods used by humans to communicate with deities and harness divine power.

...

Inside the computer lab.

Arriving at the exam hall, Zhang Yu sat before a computer, silently recalling all the knowledge regarding talismans.

Not far away, Zhao Tianxing was frantically flipping through his textbook, repeatedly memorizing points he was afraid of forgetting.

Bai Zhenzhen was napping on her desk, appearing not at all nervous about the upcoming exam.

Just then, accompanied by the ringing of a bell, the students placed all non-exam-related items on the desks at the front of the classroom and returned to their assigned seats.

A moment later, the computer screens in front of everyone flickered slightly, and their exam papers appeared.

Question 1: Which of the following talismans belongs to the incantations of the Great Deity Wanxing Sitong of the Ministry of Transportation?

Relevant data instantly surfaced in Zhang Yu's memory.

The Ministry of Transportation was one of the eight great divine departments of Kunxu, in charge of all roads, aviation, and maritime/river transport within Kunxu, possessing the authority to monitor all transportation under heaven.

The Great Deity Wanxing Sitong was a True Deity within the Ministry of Transportation responsible for urban roads. Zhang Yu remembered that one of the deity's powers seemed to be the recording of surveillance data for all urban roads and vehicles...

Through an incantation, one could borrow the power of the Great Deity Wanxing Sitong to access various types of surveillance within the urban road network, allowing for a foresight that could see three hundred years ahead and leave no detail unobserved.

After the memory flashed through his mind, Zhang Yu continued to look at the options below.

There were four options, roughly like this

A,!*★, °*:.☆(￣▽￣)/$:*.°★*.

B, (o>ε(o>ｕ(≧∩≦)(￣ー￣)X(^▽^)

C, *`)`)*▍`)*`)(((`)

D, 『』～o(▽｀o)=▊=▋=▍

"All four options are the beginnings of incantations. Judging by the style, they all belong to True Deities of the Ministry of Transportation... Heh, trying to mess with my head right from the start?"

"It should be option D, the Vehicle Surveillance Talisman, right?"

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and chose D, then moved on to the next multiple-choice question.

"Which of the following incantations does NOT belong to a Reporting Talisman?"

Zhang Yu froze slightly. "Reporting Talisman? I haven't learned that. Is this another out-of-syllabus question?"

Frowning, he picked one that looked plausible and moved to the next question.

After finishing all the multiple-choice questions one by one, he moved on to the fill-in-the-blanks and essay questions, where the difficulty spiked sharply.

Questions included things like: "Please compose a Physical Examination Talisman to respectfully invite the Great Deity Kangchun Sheng of the Ministry of Health to inspect whether your gastrointestinal tract has developed any masses."

Or: "Which talisman can be used to quickly subdue three non-mana-using mortals located 30 meters to the direct north? Please draw the talisman. Below is the specific data for the three mortals and the surrounding environment..."

"Dammit... if it's just three mortals, can't I just knock them down directly? What kind of talisman do I need?"

Just as Zhang Yu was sweating profusely while composing a Restraint Talisman, he heard the sound of a chair dragging.

He looked up and saw his classmate, He Dayou, finishing his paper and preparing to leave.

Zhang Yu remembered that He Dayou had ranked third in total score during last month's monthly exam; he was a "dead-rich" person just like Qian Shen.

However, unlike Qian Shen, who focused on grades, He Dayou was a show-off who rarely interacted with Zhang Yu.

Finishing the exam early, like he was doing now, was a form of showing off wealth.

This was because talismans were a subject where true success required throwing money at it; it was the exam with the clearest divide between the rich and the poor.

Many people even referred to incantations as the "language of the rich."

To be specific, drawing an incantation allowed one to mobilize the power of the eight divine departments to accomplish various incredible feats. These eight departments were often referred to by the world as the Eight Divine Departments.

However, schools only taught the most basic methods of drawing talismans. If one wanted to learn more advanced talismans—many of which weren't even taught in schools—one had to purchase "Lu-Shu" (Inscribed Books).

Beyond the expensive purchase price of a Lu-Shu, there were also membership fees, costs for offering sacrifices to the gods, faith levels, and other massive expenses.

It could be said that the talismans provided by Lu-Shu, aside from being categorized by the practitioner's cultivation level, relied most heavily on money.

Only by spending enough money on a Lu-Shu could one attain a sufficient faith level, unlock more permissions, master more advanced drawing methods, and access various types of talismans.

Only after fulfilling these prerequisites did one have the qualification to engage in hard study and practice—such as one-on-one incantation dialogues with the Eight Divine Departments, receiving error corrections from True Deities, or receiving divine guidance for incantation optimization while practicing... Of course, this rigorous training process was equally expensive.

In short, learning talismans outside of school was a process built entirely on piles of money.

Throughout this process, once one violated the rules set by the Eight Divine Departments—such as privately distributing incantations or using them to violate sect laws—one would face punishment, ranging from fines to total bankruptcy.

Every time Zhang Yu attended a Daoist Arts class to learn incantations, he couldn't help but lament that this was an utterly unfair subject. It was the best way for the wealthy to boost their scores during the college entrance exams and the subject that most effectively widened the gap between them and the poor. It truly deserved its reputation as the language of the rich.

But Zhang Yu had also heard Zhou Tianyi mention that talismans were not even the most expensive part of Daoist arts.

Many various Daoist arts that could only be learned after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage required massive amounts of capital, enough to leave a college student in massive debt.

Having finally endured this Daoist Arts exam, Zhang Yu stepped out of the classroom only to see a large crowd surrounding He Dayou, comparing answers.

He saw He Dayou smile slightly, pull out something resembling a jade plaque, and then scribble across it like a ghost writing charms.

As the mana in his hand fluctuated, a golden phantom slowly emerged from the jade plaque.

He Dayou laughed, "This is the Answer Talisman of the Great Deity Tianzhi Wanwen. If you have any questions, just ask Him."

Seeing this, many students gasped in awe, their eyes filled with envy as they looked at He Dayou.

As Zhang Yu watched the jade plaque in He Dayou's hand, Bai Zhenzhen's voice rang out beside him: "That's a Lu-Shu, right? Even the skin is jade-colored. This guy must have been preparing to flex this for a long time, hasn't he?"

Zhang Yu turned his head and saw a resentful, jealous, and physically contorted Bai Zhenzhen.

Zhang Yu asked, "How did your exam go?"

Bai Zhenzhen said discontentedly, "What else? At least a quarter of them were talismans I've never even studied."

"The college entrance exam was 20% out-of-syllabus the year before last, and this year it's hitting 25%? If this keeps up, by the time we take the exam, will half the paper be stuff they haven't taught us? They really have no shame."

"I hope I don't run into those rich bastards during the practical exam, otherwise, I'll beat them so hard they fail."

On the other side, He Dayou seemed to sense the gazes of Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu. He turned around and gave them a slight smile.

Bai Zhenzhen instantly switched to a calm, indifferent expression and gave him a slight nod.

A moment later, the next exam was about to begin. He Dayou and several companions walked toward the Martial Arts practical exam area.

He Dayou was the type of person who could write an elementary school essay titled *My School Board Director Father*.

Because his father truly was a director of Songyang High School.

However, having lived a life of luxury since childhood, he did not feel his life was easy, simply because he was merely one of his father's thirty-odd children.

It was only after undergoing numerous assessments, competing time and again, and fulfilling family KPIs that he became one of only two high school students—and one of only two cultivators—among those thirty-plus siblings.

As for the other mortal siblings, they had long since gone to work in their father's companies to pay off the debts incurred by their upbringing.

"Even though I am a child of a wealthy family, the most important reason I have reached this point is my own hard work and talent."

"I obtained my father's investment through my own efforts, so why can't I show off my wealth?"

"Those poor wretches do nothing but complain all day, thinking I only made it this far because I have a rich father? A bunch of naive, ridiculous fools."

With these thoughts in mind, He Dayou had always looked down on those who were both poor and had bad grades.

And as the son of a school director entering Songyang High School, his understanding of the school's many unwritten rules deepened, causing him to gradually lose respect even for the poor students with good grades.

"No matter how good their grades are, they are only temporary. These poor people have no idea... from the moment they are born, they have no chance of rising up."

"Perhaps they and we are no longer even the same species."

Carrying these thoughts, He Dayou maintained his third-place ranking in total scores, occasionally flaunting his wealth, living a peaceful campus life while waiting for the moment he would enter a top-tier university.

Until the change in one person shattered his inner peace.

Watching Zhang Yu's increasing diligence over the past half-month—a diligence so intense it had caused the entire class to start competing fiercely—he felt disgusted.

"These poor wretches... counting their debts on their fingers every month, rushing off to work immediately after school every day to earn a few hundred or a thousand in pocket money, living frugally just to try and cultivate, dreaming of sudden wealth and eternal life."

"They have no idea who their actual competitors in the college entrance exams are."

"Yet they keep jumping around in school."

"Truly, poverty is ugly."

He Dayou could not stand Zhang Yu's frantic efforts, as if he could actually win against wealthy people like them through hard work.

Especially after hearing the rumor that Zhang Yu had been taken in as a disciple by a Golden Core True Person, the son of the school director had specifically used his connections to verify the news.

After confirming that Zhang Yu had *not* been taken in as a disciple by a Golden Core True Person, his loathing for the man reached a peak.

"Intentionally not clarifying it... trying to borrow someone else's prestige to intimidate others?"

Therefore, he planned to use the practical exam as an opportunity to teach this poor wretch a lesson, making him realize his true place.