Chapter 40: The Mental Method of Happiness and Law Competition Tutoring

Early the next morning.

Ever since Zhang Yu broke through the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Method to Level 10 last night and began practicing the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra...

Having been constantly driven to learn, cultivate, and work by the power of the Ritual, and having gradually adapted to it, Zhang Yu felt an incredible affinity with the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra the moment he began practicing it. His progress was faster and more violent than he had imagined.

In particular, as the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra leveled up repeatedly, Zhang Yu became increasingly able to endure the boredom, monotony, and loneliness of cultivation.

Aside from using the Ritual power to force himself, he took almost no rest, forging ahead with fierce determination on the path of practicing the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra.

As dawn broke, Zhang Yu slowly opened his eyes. His Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra had already reached Level 7 (15/21).

Having raised this mental cultivation method to such a state overnight, Zhang Yu sometimes felt frightened by his own talent.

Beyond that, his Dao Heart had also made significant progress; specifically, Zhang Yu saw new data on the Feather Book: Dao Heart Level 2 (1%).

"Could it be that after practicing the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra, my grasp of the Dao Heart has become more accurate, allowing me to perceive its specific progress?"

Zhang Yu shook his head; he still knew too little about the Feather Book.

After getting up to brush his teeth and wash his face, Zhang Yu continued to practice the mental method in his mind while on his way to school to make the most of his time.

Judging by the rapid pace of his progress with the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra, he felt he should be able to push this method to Level 10 today.

...

Songyang High School.

During the break between classes.

While practicing his mental method, Zhang Yu heard approaching footsteps and couldn't help but frown slightly.

A tall, bald youth walked up to him and asked, "Student Zhang Yu, sorry to bother you."

"Could I borrow your math exam paper from yesterday to take a look?"

After waiting for a moment and seeing that Zhang Yu did not respond, the youth smiled nonchalantly. "My apologies, it seems I have interrupted you."

"Then continue your cultivation. I'll come find you later."

However, as the youth turned around, a flash of gloom crossed his eyes.

Zhang Yu's focused cultivation and complete disregard for him gave him a sense of disrespect.

He thought darkly to himself, *"Heh, as expected of the third-ranked student in the grade, so arrogant. A player in the 530-point range like me isn't even treated like a human being, is he?"*

On the other side, hearing the footsteps of the other person leaving, Zhang Yu felt a sense of relief that he was finally gone.

"Is this kid Liang Qin a bit too overly familiar?"

Liang Qin was the youth who had just asked to borrow the math paper.

Ever since Zhang Yu's monthly exam results came out, classmates had frequently approached him to probe the secret behind his rapid improvement.

But most people stopped coming after one or two attempts, especially since Zhang Yu spent almost every break period diligently cultivating. Seeing that he ignored people, and as the hype surrounding the monthly exams gradually faded, fewer and fewer people came to stir up trouble.

Only this Liang Qin came to find him almost every single break.

And it wasn't just during breaks.

During martial arts class, Liang Qin would come to hand him water.

When physical education class ended, he would come to give Zhang Yu a sweat towel.

When eating in the cafeteria, he would try to save a seat for Zhang Yu in advance.

In conversation, he always made a habit of flattering Zhang Yu.

Like an overly attentive little bee, he would hover around Zhang Yu from time to time.

At first, Zhang Yu thought the guy was decent.

But after a few days, he found Liang Qin increasingly annoying.

Specifically, his habit of coming over during breaks interfered with Zhang Yu's cultivation.

Furthermore, while flattering him, he would always use indirect methods to pry for the secrets of his grade improvement, which Zhang Yu found quite tedious.

Consequently, over the past two days, Zhang Yu had gradually stopped acknowledging him, hoping the other would take the hint and back off.

Although this process seemed to have stirred up some resentment in the other, Zhang Yu had no other choice.

...

Time flew by, and it was almost time for school to end.

During self-study, Zhang Yu's body trembled slightly as he felt a surge of sweet dew welling up from the depths of his sea of consciousness, nourishing his entire body and bringing an incomparable sense of exhilaration.

At the same time, a light roar came from within the mental visualization map in his mind. The old ox Zhang Yu had sketched was not only lifelike but was also tilting its horns toward the sky, letting out a low growl as if it had truly come to life.

[Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra Level 10]

As this mental method reached Level 10, Zhang Yu felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and joy.

Just thinking about how his strength would continue to steadily increase, and thinking about how one cultivation method after another would be pushed to Level 10, filled Zhang Yu with immense anticipation and a continuous surge of joy derived from that expectation.

"Is this the effect of the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra reaching Level 10?"

"As long as one holds anticipation for the future, even the most tedious bitter cultivation and constant hardship can be felt as joy and satisfaction."

Zhang Yu felt that this mental method became more and more interesting the more he practiced it. A method that allowed one to feel joy during bitter cultivation—wouldn't this reduce the pain of cultivation and increase efficiency? Why did so many people give it bad reviews?

Unless many people who practiced this method could no longer feel joy even after reaching Level 10 because they no longer had any anticipation for the future in their lives?

Thinking about the current state of the first layer of Kunxu, Zhang Yu shook his head helplessly.

"The Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Heart Sutra is a good method."

"But no matter how good a method is, it is still just a method. The future ultimately depends on the person."

Just as Zhang Yu was feeling sentimental, a female voice called out, "Yu-zi?"

Looking at Zhang Yu's face, which was filled with satisfaction and joy, Bai Zhenzhen scanned him from head to toe and said with a look of suspicion, "Yu-zi, you didn't... overflow in the classroom, did you?"

Zhang Yu snapped his eyes open. Looking at the disgusted Bai Zhenzhen, he said speechlessly, "Sigh, I was just contemplating the beauty of cultivation and realizing the helplessness of the world, but the moment a vulgar person like you speaks, the whole atmosphere is ruined."

Bai Zhenzhen couldn't be bothered to care about whatever "beauty" or "helplessness" Zhang Yu was talking about. She grabbed him and pulled him toward the classroom exit.

"Stop talking nonsense. Did you forget we have extra classes for the Law Competition after school today? We already paid 3,000 yuan."

After Zhang Yu's mana surged into the top ten of his grade last month, he and Bai Zhenzhen had both been selected for the first-year class team to participate in the Mana Competition.

However, the topics covered in the high school mana competition were things that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had never learned in school; they were projects that far exceeded the classroom curriculum.

Therefore, Teacher Yan of the Mana class had organized extra lessons to teach the competition projects.

...

Inside the classroom.

Aside from Teacher Yan, who sat with her hair in a bun and wore black-rimmed glasses, the only students present were Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

Teacher Yan explained, "Aside from the two of you, everyone else has private tutors and their own tutoring arrangements, so they aren't coming to these extra classes."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, *"Doesn't this mean that among the top ten in the grade for mana, we are the only two paupers?"*

Bai Zhenzhen clenched her fists tightly, thinking, *"I didn't expect it to be this kind of extra class that lowers one's campus reputation just by attending."*

A fierce fighting spirit flashed in Teacher Yan's eyes as she thought, *"These rich kids have no respect at all. They all trust private tutors and don't trust me?"*

*"Those private tutors are all smooth-talkers who only know how to scam money. How can they compare to my thirty years of solid teaching experience in a key high school?"*

*"Only two out of ten showed up. Doesn't this greatly diminish my campus reputation?"*

*"It's one thing for them not to come, but they didn't even pay the tuition fee?"*

If the students from Classes 2 and 3 dared to do this, Teacher Yan would certainly make angry phone calls to their parents, summoning them all to the school to teach them the consequences of looking down on a mana teacher.

But thinking about the parents of these eight students in the demonstration class...

*Heh, people's jobs are so busy; as teachers, we should be more understanding.*

She looked at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, thinking, *"You two paupers better try your best to make me proud. Surpass those eight guys completely so that in the future, they'll all come to my classes obediently."*

Despite the various thoughts swirling in her mind, Teacher Yan remained composed on the surface. She spoke slowly, "The things tested in the Law Competition are completely different from what you usually learn. Total mana is just the foundation; the key is the control of that mana..."

She projected a human energy-circulation diagram and began to explain vigorously, "The mana currently in your bodies is the most basic form of mana."

"By controlling the flow and pathways of the mana, you can change its form."

"For example, one direction of advancement is toward martial uses like sword qi or palm force..."

"Taking it a step further, you can trigger phenomena such as heating, cooling, or even electricity..."

As she explained, she extended a finger. A sharp ripple appeared at her fingertip, easily slicing through a sheet of paper in front of her.

A moment later, her fingertip turned slightly red, reflecting a tiny flame.

"This is the most basic change of mana form."

"Of course, basic form changes rely on fundamentals—on the control of mana—and their power is extremely limited."

"What truly goes a step further and possesses practical value are the special types of mana transformed from various miraculous techniques and ultimate skills..."

Listening to Teacher Yan's explanation, Zhang Yu suddenly remembered the frigid palm force that He Dayou had used during their combat in the monthly exam.

He estimated that was likely a type of special mana transformed from a specific cultivation method.

On the podium, Teacher Yan projected an animated diagram of energy circulation and said to the two, "This is the simplest sword qi transformation pathway, which can convert mana into a sliver of sharp sword qi."

"Try to see if you can do it, following what I just taught you."

Bai Zhenzhen watched the animated diagram for a while, but after a moment, she felt a bit dizzy.

"This circulation pathway is too complicated!"

She then tried it herself, only to feel a sense of speechlessness.

The mana swirled around in her left arm, but it simply could not transform into even a sliver of sharp aura.

*Is this really the simplest sword qi transformation pathway?*

*Is this the competition difficulty?*

She felt as if she had just learned addition, and then the teacher handed her a quadratic equation and told her to solve it.

Just then, Zhang Yu's shout rang in Bai Zhenzhen's ear.

"A-Zhen, come look quickly!"

Bai Zhenzhen turned her head and saw Zhang Yu lightly tapping his fingertip on his notebook, directly "cutting out" a quadratic equation.

*Yu-zi, this unfamiliar face of yours makes me feel nauseous.*

(End of Chapter)