Chapter 6: Freedom

"Damn it!"

*Bang!*

"Damn it!"

*Bang!*

"Damn it!"

*Bang! Bang!*

In the pitch-black concrete room, accompanied by bursts of low grunts and the sound of impacts, Zhang Yu finally finished the second set of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, despite the intense pain constantly radiating throughout his body.

He collapsed onto the floor with a thud, gasping for air.

Feeling his hands and feet still trembling slightly, Zhang Yu felt that this body had truly reached its limit; every inch of flesh and blood in his body refused to move.

But even in this state, that chilling sensation and the voice in his mind returned once again.

"Please abide by the ritual agreement, strive to complete your wish, and do not intentionally slack off or procrastinate. 10."

"Screw you!" Zhang Yu cursed inwardly. "I've already reached my limit!"

"I really can't train anymore!"

"I have classes tomorrow!"

But no matter what he said or how he explained, the countdown did not pause or hesitate in the slightest.

Seeing the countdown ticking toward the end, Zhang Yu could only curse and scramble back up to train.

Under normal circumstances, it is very difficult for most people to push themselves to their true limits when training alone.

Only under the supervision and strict requirements of a master, teacher, or coach can one often train to their limit time and time again.

It was the same for Zhang Yu. If it were just him, he probably would have been too exhausted to move after one or two sets of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms and would have just rested.

But the power of the ritual acted like a demonic coach, staring at him every moment and threatening him with death, urging him to continue training without the slightest bit of laziness.

Third set...

Fourth set...

Fifth set...

All the way to the tenth set!

Under the repeated threats of the ritual's power, Zhang Yu actually completed ten full sets of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms!

During this time, the pain in his flesh and blood went from a tearing sensation to a sharp, needle-like agony, and finally, it seemed to go numb. He even felt as if his hands and feet were about to disappear.

At the same time, every bit of mana in his body was forced out and continuously injected into his damaged flesh and blood.

After these ten sets were finished, Zhang Yu felt as if both his body and his internal mana had been squeezed dry, like a rag that had been wrung out thousands of times—not a single drop remained.

At this moment, Zhang Yu just wanted to lie on the floor and not move a muscle.

To his relief, the voice that had been hounding him like a death sentence did not sound again, as if it deemed that he had truly given his all and reached his limit.

During the training, Zhang Yu had also slightly grasped the characteristics of this ritual power.

"This thing is a bit like an artificial idiot; it doesn't have true intelligence, it just operates according to certain rules..."

Zhang Yu had seen similar things in the movies, television, and news of Kunxu.

Powerful magical artifacts contained artifact spirits. These spirits were like artificial intelligence, possessing a certain level of wisdom to handle various problems, and those powerful enough even had intelligence comparable to humans.

At this moment, having confirmed that the ritual power was no longer forcing him to train, Zhang Yu could finally relax his mind and feel the effects of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms' upgrade.

Yes, the moment Zhang Yu completed the tenth set, he could feel that this martial art had leveled up.

In that instant, his cognition and understanding of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms became much deeper.

Many details he hadn't noticed or fully understood before flashed into his mind like a bolt of lightning.

And on the Feather Scroll, the initial 'Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 1 (0/10)' had changed to 'Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 2 (0/20)'.

"I only need to practice 20 more times to raise the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms to Level 3?"

"If I keep training like this, wouldn't I be able to push the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms to Level 10 very quickly?"

Zhang Yu knew that in the Qi Refining realm, the level of martial arts and Daoist techniques could only be cultivated up to Level 10.

"By then, even if I don't use needles or take medicine, the effects of my training won't be inferior to Bai Zhenzhen and the others... No, perhaps even far superior."

"At this rate, it's not impossible to raise my physical strength to be the best in the grade."

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu felt encouraged, and his body didn't seem to hurt as much.

"Terrifying. My potential is truly terrifying. Once it's stimulated by the Evil God, I'll simply soar to the heavens."

With beautiful visions of the future, Zhang Yu, his body pushed to the limit, gradually fell into a sleepy state and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

He slept until five o'clock the next morning, when Zhang Yu woke up instinctively, just as he had done countless times before.

But today, his limbs and bones were sore and weak; even opening his eyes was an immense effort.

At this moment, although Zhang Yu was awake, he didn't want to get up at all; he just wanted to sleep a little longer, even if he was on the concrete floor of an unfinished building.

"Five minutes... just five more minutes..."

But the moment Zhang Yu wanted to slack off, a chilling voice rang out from the depths of his heart again.

"Please abide by the ritual agreement, strive to complete your wish, and do not intentionally slack off or procrastinate. 10."

"Damn it!" Zhang Yu opened his eyes wide, listening carefully as the voice continued to sound. After repeatedly confirming that this was not a hallucination, he could only sit up while grumbling.

At this moment, Zhang Yu suddenly realized that things might be more serious than he had originally imagined.

"From now on, as long as it's related to studying, cultivation, taking college entrance exams, or working—that is, anything related to studying, cultivating, working, or making money to satisfy the second wish... I can't be the slightest bit lazy?"

"A 24-hour supervisor, huh."

Carrying his exhaustion and fatigue, Zhang Yu had to rush back to his rented room.

Feeling the grease and sweat all over his body, he hurried to pay the 323.4 water bill, took a five-minute shower, and then rushed to the bus stop.

Looking up at the display screen at the station, Zhang Yu thought, "Is the next bus arriving in ten minutes?"

Finding a pole to lean against, he thought to himself, "I'll rest for a bit. Thankfully, that piece of junk didn't tell me to use this time to train."

Zhang Yu regretted that thought the moment it crossed his mind.

Because a chill surged from his heart, and that nightmare-like voice sounded again.

"Please abide by the ritual agreement, strive to complete your wish, and do not intentionally slack off or procrastinate. 10."

"I..." Zhang Yu cursed inwardly. "Is this thing monitoring the thoughts in my head? As long as I think of a way to work hard but don't do it... it's going to kill me?"

And so, amidst the countdowns, Zhang Yu had to endure his exhaustion and begin the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms under the surprised, confused, admiring, or indifferent gazes of the people around him.

*Hah!*

*Bang!*

With the final punch thrown, Zhang Yu, drenched in sweat, collapsed onto the ground again.

Looking at the bus approaching in the distance, he felt extremely fortunate: "It's finally here."

To his delight, Zhang Yu even found a seat on the bus today.

"Finally, I can get some proper rest."

"I'll just nap for a bit. Surely it can't force me to train on the bus? Unless it's breathing exercises..."

The moment the words "breathing exercises" crossed his mind, Zhang Yu felt something was wrong.

"Please abide by the ritual agreement, strive to complete your wish, and do not intentionally slack off or procrastinate. 10."

Sure enough, the countdown rang out again, forcing Zhang Yu to perform basic breathing exercises while sitting on the bus.

Doing breathing exercises while riding the bus sounds simple and efficient, but even the former Zhang Yu had given up after trying it a few times.

First, the environment on the bus was too noisy, making it hard to concentrate.

Second, and most importantly, Zhang Yu was too tired from waking up early every day.

Having finally found a seat, he just wanted to nap, and he couldn't muster the energy for breathing exercises.

The few times he had tried, he would often start to drift off into a daze after a while.

But now, under the compulsion of the ritual's power, Zhang Yu had to force himself to perform the breathing exercises, struggling against sleepiness as he tried to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth with every breath.

At this moment, he fully understood that things were far more serious than he had previously thought.

"This isn't just a normal 24-hour supervisor; this is pushing me to my death every single second."

"As long as this thing is on me, all laziness, slacking, entertainment, enjoyment, and relaxation... will be gone."

"There will be no more weekends, let alone holidays. My life will have no joy; every minute and every second will be dedicated to studying, cultivation, and work... until the second wish is completed."

Zhang Yu clutched his head without realizing it: "I will become a complete study machine, a workhorse, with no leisure time at all. I'll be a 'grind-king' for the rest of my life... until I'm completely crushed by this pressure!"

He lamented in his heart: "If it's going to be like this for the rest of my life, then even if I achieve success in the Dao, what's the point of living a few hundred more years? The more years I live, the more years of suffering I'll have to endure."

"Oh, Heavens!"

The surrounding passengers all looked at Zhang Yu, who was clutching his head in pain.

But Zhang Yu could no longer care about that. As the "Please abide by the ritual agreement..." countdown sounded again, he sat up straight, suppressing the sorrow in his heart, and continued to perform the basic breathing exercises.

But at the same time, a resolve gradually surged in Zhang Yu's heart.

In fact, until this morning, Zhang Yu, who had arrived in this world, had been somewhat lost.

Although he thought about getting into a prestigious university, joining a major sect, and achieving success in the Dao, it was hard to say how much of that was influenced by the original owner's memories or his own choices following the inertia of life.

Until this moment, Zhang Yu finally had a goal—a goal he was determined to complete, no matter how many setbacks he faced.

That was to become strong enough—strong enough to completely remove this ritual power that was forcing him.

Zhang Yu wanted... freedom!