Chapter 54: Heavenly Martial Heart Refining

The moment Zhang Yu finished his current cycle of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual, countless images of his own cultivation flashed through his mind—images of him experiencing these nine sets of martial arts, sensing the intent within them, and contemplating their inherent temperament.

In the next instant, nine distinct intents emerged simultaneously in his mind.

The killing intent of crushing ten thousand troops, the fighting spirit of dying without regret, the momentum of an unstoppable advance... these intents felt as though they had undergone a thousand refinements within his mind, finally converging into a single human figure.

This was the Martial Dao Intent condensed within his sea of consciousness after Zhang Yu had mastered Level 1 of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual.

The silhouette looked somewhat like Zhang Yu, but the face was a blur, radiating an aura that seemed capable of battling heaven and earth.

"Heavenly Martial Intent..."

With a mere thought from Zhang Yu, the Heavenly Martial Intent in his sea of consciousness sprang into motion. Under his mental guidance, it began to perform the nine sets of martial arts from the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual, move by move.

As the Heavenly Martial Intent activated, waves of an unprecedented aura surged from Zhang Yu's body.

At this moment, Zhang Yu felt as if he had become a God of War, one who fought against heaven and earth, intending to crush everything in his path with pure violence.

Bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes, and his blood qi and mana began to accelerate slightly.

Zhang Yu could feel his physical state gradually adjusting toward a condition increasingly suited for combat.

"Whew."

He exhaled, temporarily halting the circulation of the manual, and thought to himself, *Is this Heavenly Martial Intent this violent? It requires a matching mindset—it must be the mindset of a battle maniac.*

*That Spark True Person... an old geezer kicked out of a major sect, and he actually created this kind of Martial Dao mental cultivation method?*

*Damn it... he couldn't have been kicked out because he beat up his superiors, could he?*

To Zhang Yu, it felt like discovering that a greasy, middle-aged man who had been fired from a company was actually a secret battle maniac in his private life.

"Logically, that shouldn't be the case."

After all, in the context of fighting in Kunxu, killing a passerby cost money, and blowing up a building cost even more; the greater the destructive power, the easier it was to incur costs.

So, what about fighting in the lawless wilderness? In Zhang Yu's memory, he didn't know of any place that hadn't been bought up by the Company—at least not around Songyang City.

If a powerhouse wanted to fight frequently, they would need money to prevent constables from arriving if they won, and even more money to make the constables arrive faster if they were losing. They would need money for medical treatment if injured, and even if not injured, they would need money for insurance just in case. If they bought insurance, wouldn't they also need to buy annual insurance for all their magical treasures and dharma skeletons...

"The better you are at fighting, the more money you spend. The more money you spend, the poorer you become. The poorer you are, the less you can fight."

"So, the better you are at fighting, the less you can fight."

"Maybe that Spark True Person was kicked out simply because the old geezer was too combative."

Zhang Yu lamented, "The path of Immortals isn't something you can achieve through fighting and killing alone."

But there was no use in overthinking it now. Zhang Yu continued his cultivation, intending to push the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual to Level 2.

Cultivating the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual required the external physical body and the internal Heavenly Martial Intent to gradually synchronize, performing the nine sets of martial arts in unison.

If one merely circulated the energy using the Martial Dao Intent within the sea of consciousness, it would only trigger the effects of the mental cultivation method.

As the Heavenly Martial Intent acted once more, Zhang Yu felt the profound impact of this manual even more deeply.

A mental cultivation method could only be operated one at a time within a given period.

Therefore, at this moment, Zhang Yu felt no effect from the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Manual; there was only the effect of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual.

Without the effect of the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Manual, Zhang Yu's ability to endure hardship should have dropped significantly.

However, under the state of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual, he felt his fighting spirit soaring. He feared nothing, and nothing could make him retreat.

Whether it was a powerful enemy or any form of hardship, he felt he could just punch through it!

The hardship of cultivation was even suppressed by this fighting spirit, making Zhang Yu feel just as motivated even without the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Manual.

"So intense! So blood-pumping!"

Feeling the blood qi throughout his body showing signs of slight acceleration, Zhang Yu realized that the Heavenly Martial Intent not only provided a combat buff but also promoted his cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, over two hours passed. Panting and radiating heat, his blood qi surging, Zhang Yu had practiced this technique for a full ten rounds.

Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual Level 1 (0/10) → Level 2 (0/20)

In an instant, Zhang Yu felt as if his consciousness had traversed day after day, deeply immersing itself in the intent of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual through repeated practice.

Simultaneously, the figure formed by the Heavenly Martial Intent in his sea of consciousness became increasingly clear, with the faint outline of Zhang Yu's face beginning to emerge.

Another night passed in the blink of an eye. Through intermittent periods of rest and practice, Zhang Yu finally pushed the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual to Level 3 (12/30).

Then, he received a call from Wang Hai, learning that due to his involvement with the Student Union, he had failed to make the school's athletic competition team.

*Is this an intentional warning?* Zhang Yu thought to himself. *If I refuse to sign again this time, will they use even more methods to deal with me?*

Not long after, he received another invitation from the Student Union to discuss the contract.

***

Songyang High School. Noon. Student Union Office.

Accompanied by a cold snort, the temperature in the entire office seemed to drop sharply, causing even the burly Lan Ling to shiver involuntarily.

But in the next moment, the temperature returned to normal, as if everything that just happened had been a mere hallucination.

However, Lan Ling knew it wasn't a hallucination; Zhou Chechen's mood had simply soured.

Because just a few minutes ago, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had both rejected the Student Union's invitation to sign, citing that the three top-tier universities could offer higher prices.

Lan Ling slowly set down his dumbbell and looked at the Vice President, Zhou Chechen, who was sitting on the sofa, and asked, "President, what should we do?"

Zhou Chechen muttered, "Haven't I given them enough face?"

"Haven't I offered them the best terms I can provide?"

"I don't understand. This is a win-win situation that benefits both them and the school. Why won't they just agree?"

Lan Ling said, "Perhaps the fourth-place ranking in the Mana Competition gave Zhang Yu some undue ambition, leading Bai Zhenzhen to want to raise her price as well."

Zhou Chechen sighed, "Does he think that even if we don't let them go, those three top universities can actually sign them? They want a raise... don't they even consider if they are worth that much?"

"These paupers... if you're too harsh on them, they'll resent and curse you in their hearts and refuse to work properly."

"If you give them a little face, they'll get cocky and start thinking things they shouldn't, eventually making everything look ugly."

With that, he waved his hand helplessly. "Do as you see fit."

"In any case, I want to see their signed contracts within seven days."

***

Inside the classroom of the High School Freshman Demonstration Class.

Zhang Yu was maintaining the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Manual while continuing to study.

Since he began practicing the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual, Zhang Yu had started alternating between the two methods.

When practicing this martial arts manual, he would naturally maintain the state of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Refining Manual while performing the external techniques.

When he couldn't practice the martial arts—such as during rest or class—he would maintain the state of the Desolate Ox Soul-Suppressing Manual.

In this process, Zhang Yu felt a mental contradiction, which in turn affected the efficiency of both methods.

"One wants to fight, fight, fight, and crush everything. The other wants to endure hardship and accumulate strength silently."

"Switching between these two... sigh."

He couldn't help but scratch his head, and from the mental contradiction between the two manuals, he thought of the signing choice laid out before him.

"I can choose my mindset, but in reality, it seems there is no option to just 'fight, fight, fight'..."

Just then, his phone vibrated.

Zhang Yu saw it was a message from Teacher Yan, his Mana instructor.

"Zhang Yu, did you offend the Student Union? I've refunded the money for the extra classes, and you won't be able to participate in the Mana Competition for the time being."

"Find a way to repair your relationship with the Student Union quickly."

Seeing this message, Zhang Yu's eyes narrowed. He knew this was the Student Union applying pressure again.

Suddenly, Bai Zhenzhen's voice sounded beside him: "I was kicked out by Old Yan. Were you also kicked out of the Mana Competition team?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, Bai Zhenzhen said angrily, "Those bastards in the Student Union... they're probably going to keep messing with us from now on."

"Can you hold out?"

Zhang Yu nodded. "I can hold out, but how long can we keep doing this?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "We hold out until our strength is sufficient, until we master the methods to get into top universities."

"And in the process, the pressure from the Student Union will inevitably grow."

"That's how these rich people are. Once it affects their interests... no, even if it just means they make slightly less money, they will immediately tear off their hypocritical masks and use any means necessary to deal with you."

Bai Zhenzhen held her head and said with a bitter face, "We will be constantly suppressed and isolated."

"They might use practical combat classes to have teachers or upperclassmen beat us, use Dao Heart classes to torture us in the Spirit Realm, bribe teachers to give us low grades, and strip away our various benefits and opportunities..."

"Their lackeys will also jump out one by one to use low-life tricks—things like putting glue on chairs, pouring cold water in the toilets, or stealing homework notebooks."

"In short, they will use every available means to screw us over."

Her eyes seemed to already see an incredibly dark high school experience.

"We will gradually become hated by everyone in school, falling to the bottom of the food chain, suffering repeated humiliations from those rich people, until we become people that no one even wants to eat lunch with."

She suddenly grabbed her hair. "Sigh, damn it."

"This situation won't improve at all; instead, it will escalate until we graduate in senior year and get into university... or until we kneel and surrender, signing their indentures."

Zhang Yu rolled his eyes. "How do you know so much?"

Bai Zhenzhen: "A senior told me a long time ago, right before she committed suicide."

Saying this, she turned to look at Zhang Yu. "If you can't hold out, you might as well sign early while you can still command a good price."

Zhang Yu curled his lip. "I won't sign."

"I'm going to get into one of the Top Ten Universities. I'd rather die than sign."

Seeing Zhang Yu's determined expression, Bai Zhenzhen smiled. "Then let's hold out together."

"But don't worry, sitting around waiting for death isn't my style."

"I'm almost about to find the leader of the Pauper Alliance. I'm definitely going to find a way from him to get into university without signing."