Chapter 168: Zhang Yu's Heartache (Thanks to 'Tian Ze Lv' for Rewarding Silver Alliance Leader)

Chapter 168: Zhang Yu’s Heartache (Thanks to “Heavenly Principle Law” for the silver guildmaster’s reward)

By the divine judges’ definition, a ten‑star difficulty technique is one that an ordinary high‑school student would need three years to master.

Nine‑star requires two years, eight‑star a year, and seven‑star roughly half a year…

Hearing this, Dai Xingzhi thought, “If we must finish it in two hours, I’m confident with a five‑star method, six‑star carries a chance of failure, and anything seven‑star or higher… apart from Yun Jing and Ye Lingxiao, hardly anyone would dare choose.”

After all, Dai reasoned that risking a zero‑score by chasing extra points with an unattainable skill was simply not worth it.

On the other side.

Zhang Yu paid no heed to the difficulty briefing; he watched rows of techniques materialize on the light screen, a grin tugging at his mouth.

“Demon‑Parasite Method, Unending Mountain‑Moving Sutra, Great Hand Seal of the Heart Origin…”

Though the divine judges could not possibly provide every Qi‑refining technique from Kunxu, the array was already dazzling to Zhang Yu.

“So many techniques? Can we pick them all?”

At that moment Zhang Yu’s eyes sparkled with excitement, for with his prodigious potential, assisting the Feather Book to master any technique was effortless.

Meanwhile the divine judges continued outlining the rules, and Deng Bingding announced, “…techniques of varying difficulty naturally have different difficulty coefficients.”

“The final score for this stage will be calculated from the difficulty coefficient and the time you spend mastering the technique.”

“All right, you now have ten minutes to begin selecting your techniques.”

“Once a technique is chosen, it cannot be changed.”

“If after ten minutes you have not completed your selection, it will be deemed a forfeit and scored as zero.”

“All weapons, materials, medicines and other supplies needed for practice will be provided on site once you have chosen a technique.”

“Finally, do not select a technique you already know, or you will be treated as cheating.”

As the final rules of this martial‑arts exam were finished, the ten‑minute timer began, and the students started manipulating the light screens before them to pick techniques.

Pupils swiped at the screens, their fingers clicking incessantly, eyes darting from one technique to another, occasional hesitations flashing across their faces.

Zhang Yu perused the list, thinking, “If I want a high score, I should choose the hardest technique.”

Each technique in the list had been assigned a star rating by the divine judges.

Zhang Yu filtered for the highest ten‑star techniques, and the screen displayed: Cosmic Palm, Blood‑Scattering Demon‑Slaying Method, Demon‑Dissolution Technique, Endless Sword Formula, Thousand‑Faced Heart Secret…

“Ten‑star difficulty only indicates the utmost training challenge; it does not guarantee supreme power, nor does it mean it is the technique I need or that suits me best.”

With that thought, Zhang Yu recalled the structure of the Foundation‑Qualification exams and the purpose of today’s test.

“The Foundation‑Qualification exam consists of three rounds; the round I’m in now is the first round in August.”

“The second round will be in October, and the third in January of next year.”

“For this first round, placing within the top twenty in the combined scores of mana, physique, and martial path guarantees you won’t be eliminated and earns you a spot in the second round.”

Zhang Yu tallied his rankings in the mana and physique sections, knowing that if he also placed in the top twenty for the third, elimination was unlikely.

“So… instead of merely picking the hardest technique for a high score…”

He thought, “Perhaps I should seize this chance to train, free of charge, a powerful technique that truly fits me.”

“First, it won’t jeopardize my passing today.”

“Second, it will benefit my future development.”

Zhang Yu’s gaze swept over techniques priced in the hundreds of thousands, even millions, making his mouth water.

Though all were expert‑level, there were still tiers within that rank, evident from their price tags.

Techniques costing seven, eight hundred thousand or even a million were beyond anything Zhang Yu could ever imagine affording.

With that kind of money, he would surely spend it on pills, elixirs, leasing spirit veins, ascending the spirit realm…

But now, he had the chance to obtain it for free

to cultivate such an expensive technique.

With that in mind, Zhang Yu made up his mind: “I will choose the technique that best suits me and is the strongest.”

The best fit was not hard to find.

“Just after my physical strength breaks past level eight, the crimson marrow’s primordial qi begins to lose efficiency.”

With that thought, Zhang Yu selected the category of body‑refining martial arts, then chose the later stage of Qi‑refinement.

Which of these body‑refining arts was the strongest?

He clicked to sort them by price.

“Kunxu is riddled with traps; scams and ‘cutting the chives’ schemes are endless.”

“One thing is certain: a company here will never list a technique they deem powerful at a low price.”

“‘Good value for money’ simply does not exist.”

“Conversely, the most expensive techniques invariably possess great power.”

When the sorting finished, the body‑refining arts displayed before Zhang Yu, from highest to lowest, were: 1.55 million ¥ Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen, 1.54 million ¥ Titanium Body‑Refining Key, and 1.52 million ¥ Great Celestial Dragon Power.

Though all three were eight‑star difficulty—not the ultimate ten‑star—they were precisely the techniques Zhang Yu truly needed.

After scanning the descriptions of these three costly arts, a pang of sorrow struck him.

“These three… I would have to abandon two of them?”

He fell into deep indecision.

“Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen can strengthen the body while cleansing the tendons and marrow, fortifying the organs, truly altering one’s constitution, boosting vitality, expelling toxins, and enhancing the efficacy of medicinal alchemy…”

“Mastering this technique lets one devour pills and needles recklessly; it is the true holy art of body‑refinement, elevating the cultivator’s immortal potential.”

Compared with Zhang Yu's hardships, on the other side Ye Lingxiao appeared exceedingly decisive.

As the heir of the perfect bloodline of the Ye clan of Xiandu, Ye Lingxiao possessed a nervous system far more developed than that of ordinary high schoolers, granting him terrifying innate control over muscles, organs, and even magical energy.

This talent, once he set foot in high school, was fully unleashed, allowing him to master any technique at a glance and perfect it after a single study.

One could say that since entering high school, the sheer number of arts he has cultivated has already surpassed the imagination of ordinary students, and even his classmates, teachers, and private trainers remain clueless as to how many techniques he truly knows.

At this moment, in Ye Lingxiao's eyes, many of the rows of techniques listed are ones he has long already mastered.

For those he has not yet learned, he has mostly at least heard of them, knowing roughly what direction they belong to.

Nevertheless, he will not risk selecting a technique he has already practiced for this examination.

Partly because he despises such a trivial act, and partly because each of his techniques a licensed, genuine copy purchased with usage rights.

As a pure legitimate user, any technique he has trained can be instantly verified by the on‑site divine judges.

Thus, after Ye Lingxiao filtered out the ten‑star difficulty techniques, he casually chose a method he had never practiced before and did not dislike.

Ye Lingxiao thought to himself, “Let it be the Endless Sword Technique.”

Across the hall, Yun Jing’s approach was even simpler; unlike Ye Lingxiao, he had not amassed a multitude of techniques. He simply sorted the list from highest to lowest difficulty and selected the foremost entry, the Cosmic Palm.

Yu Xinghan, on his side, paused to contemplate briefly.

During the Qi‑refining stage, every technique’s cultivation and selection had already been planned and arranged by Master Xinghuo.

And judging by his rankings in the first two examinations, the pressure on his performance this time was modest; he did not need to chase the most arduous technique.

“There is no need to pick a technique outside the master’s plan; that would only waste my extra time and effort.”

After all, Master Xinghuo’s schedule for Yu Xinghan is already extremely tight, leaving him virtually no spare time to practice any additional arts.

“I must stick to the techniques laid out in the plan.”

“That way, when Li Xuelian sends money next time to buy me a technique…”

Thinking that today he could learn a technique for free, and that next time he could extract a fee from Li Xuelian, Yu Xinghan felt a surge of excitement.

“Then of course I should choose the most expensive one in the plan…”

Yu Xinghan’s gaze settled on the seven‑star, 900,000‑yuan Tiangang Qi‑Gong.

“A seven‑star Tiangang Qi‑Gong would be a struggle even if I tried to master it within two hours.”

“And moreover…”

Staring at the eight bold characters in the description—“To practice this art, swing the blade against life”—Yu Xinghan felt a chill creep up his spine.

He had just asked the divine examiner, and was told that Tiangang Qi‑Gong demands bodily integrity; should he choose it, the on‑site judges would summon the health department’s deity to restore the physical loss caused by his sterilization surgery.

“Thus, cultivating Tiangang Qi‑Gong would entail a tainted Dao‑heart and hormonal upheavals that alter body and mind, severely hindering one’s own cultivation.”

Such detrimental changes, for Yu Xinghan, who aspires to forge ahead bravely on the immortal path, were nothing short of poison.

“No wonder the master reserved Tiangang Qi‑Gong for my sophomore or even junior year.”

“So mastering this art requires such a great price?”

Yu Xinghan clenched his teeth and thought, “But fortune favors the bold; if I shy away from a 900,000‑yuan gamble, how will I ever scale the immortal road later?”

“I’ll go for it!”

The remaining students—such as Dai Xingzhi, Meng Tao, and other Xiandu high‑schoolers—mostly opted for five‑ or six‑star difficulty techniques.

They did so for prudence, for if a chosen technique proved too difficult to complete within two hours, it would count as a zero.

(End of Chapter)