Chapter 228: Burden of the Dharma Skeleton

Chapter 228: The Burden of the Dharma Relic

When Zhang Yu first saw the true face of the examination hall through the power of his ocular dharma relic, his initial reaction was that not wearing the relic and seeing fewer advertisements might not be so bad after all.

But after taking a few more glances at the light screens scattered across the floor and the various ads displayed on them, he realized he had underestimated the situation.

A flood of information about spiritual roots, dharma relics, and prices poured into Zhang Yu’s mind.

“Former divine spiritual roots? Could military-grade divine roots be downgraded and flow into the civilian market?”

“And these prices for spiritual roots and dharma relics… 4.99? 2.98?”

The first time he saw these numbers, Zhang Yu was naturally taken aback: “Could it be that the entire world’s prices have shrunk by ten million times, leaving only my money unchanged?”

But such an absurd notion was quickly dismissed in his mind.

Then he noticed that in some ads, the word “spirit coin” appeared after the price.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: “Spirit coins? Is that the currency used up there? It seems spirit coins are really valuable—just a few coins can buy a spiritual root?”

With this thought, Zhang Yu let out a faint sigh: “Just these ads on the ground alone contain countless pieces of information.”

“If I get into university and don’t use an ocular dharma relic, I won’t even see the ads, let alone other useful information. Compared to those who have ocular relics, there will be a massive information gap…”

“If I were that poor, I’d probably have no chance to turn things around.”

Even this mere tip of the iceberg made Zhang Yu realize the importance of ocular dharma relics.

But in the next moment, he suddenly felt a discomfort in his eyes.

He instinctively reached for his eye sockets, but felt nothing, and his hand didn’t block any of his vision.

“Right, my perception of my eyes has been cut off.”

“The sensation in my eyes now comes from the dharma relic… Is the relic uncomfortable?”

This mismatch—where his fingers touched his eyes but his eyes felt nothing—made Zhang Yu deeply uneasy.

It was as if his eye sockets were telling him he no longer had eyeballs.

But his brain and his thoughts insisted he had eyes—not only that, but he was also equipped with a pair of ocular dharma relics.

And when the gaze of the ocular relic swept toward Zhang Yu’s direction, allowing him to see himself lying on the operating table from a third-person perspective, this unease grew even stronger.

It even deepened the discomfort coming from his ocular relic.

Just then, two numbers appeared above Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao’s heads—their current synchronization rates with the dharma relics.

Zhang Yu: 97%

Ye Lingxiao: 99%

At the same time, Huang Zichou spoke: “During body refinement training, as physical strength increases, the cultivator’s control over their body also rises. The union of body and mind grows tighter after repeated arduous training.”

“When you become accustomed to the powerful body you’ve cultivated bit by bit, and to this tight state of body-mind integration, any disharmony between body and mind will bring you discomfort.”

Zhang Yu nodded inwardly, understanding that although this body had once belonged to the original Zhang Yu, after a year of relentless training, he had fully adapted to it. Through countless breakthroughs and cultivation of techniques, he had become inseparable from this body.

Huang Zichou continued: “The tighter the body-mind integration, the more disharmony you feel when connecting to a dharma relic, leading to a lower synchronization rate.”

“As the synchronization rate drops, you may experience various reactions like nausea, agitation, phantom pain, or phantom images. Don’t worry—these are normal.”

“Right now, for instance, after cutting off the original connection to your eyes and linking to the ocular relic, your brain thinks your eyes are gone, but the relic tells you they’re there. In this contradiction, your brain might judge that you’re injured, gradually generating phantom pain…”

Meanwhile, within the network of the orthodox gods, several examiners were evaluating the two candidates.

A minor god named Mu Guiyin remarked: “Zhang Yu’s physical body is indeed powerful. But precisely because it’s so powerful, he relies too much on that strength. After switching dharma relics, he finds it harder to adapt.”

“In contrast, Ye Lingxiao has undergone various surgeries since he was still in the immortal element womb. He’s been modified countless times from a young age and is long accustomed to sudden changes in his body.”

“And with his mana reaching 100, given the Ye family’s resources, he must have tried many dharma relics. Even if he practiced with different ones and eventually returned to his own body, his acceptance of dharma relics is bound to be high.”

Mu Guiyin sighed: “This is the gap in foundation. This gap will become even more apparent in the synchronization data of this stage, ensuring Ye Lingxiao’s synchronization rate remains higher than Zhang Yu’s.”

“Of course, the most important reason Ye Lingxiao will ultimately prevail is…”

Listening to Mu Guiyin’s musings, Huang Zichou thought to himself: “This Mu Guiyin was backing Ye Lingxiao even in the last stage.”

“How many shares of Green Oasis Group and the Ye family’s stock did he secretly have people buy?”

Though inwardly complaining, Huang Zichou had to admit Mu Guiyin was right—Ye Lingxiao had too great an advantage in this stage.

After Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao had slightly adapted to the “Farsight” dharma relic, Huang Zichou brought out the second dharma relic of this stage.

A pure white, lifelike arm floated before Huang Zichou. He introduced it: “This is the professional-grade arm dharma relic from Tianwu Group—the ‘Sword Grave.’”

“As an established company specializing in combat dharma relics, Tianwu Group’s lightweight ‘Sword Grave’ incorporates all the advantages of previous generations. It’s a very suitable dharma relic for Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

“Not only is it made of high-strength materials capable of withstanding the power struggles of Foundation Establishment cultivators, but when infused with mana, it can automatically convert mana into high-energy sword qi.”

“Inside the Sword Grave, it can store a level 20 swordsmanship technique.”

“Currently, thousands of swordsmanship techniques are listed in the Tianwu Mall. Simply place an order, download the technique to the Sword Grave, and install it—you’ll instantly have a level 20 swordsmanship skill.”

“With a single thought, the Sword Grave can execute the swordsmanship according to a preset tactic, assisted by the relic’s spirit for combat support, correcting sword trajectories…”

As Huang Zichou introduced the Sword Grave, light screens lit up around them, showing a user swinging the Sword Grave and unleashing streaks of sword qi.

Watching this, Zhang Yu thought: “Is this a dharma relic for Foundation Establishment?”

“It can even store swordsmanship…”

Zhang Yu increasingly felt that at the university stage, wealth played an even greater role in immortal cultivation.

But he quickly set aside that thought—the immediate priority was this Foundation Establishment exam.

“I wonder if these orthodox gods chose these Foundation Establishment-level dharma relics because they think Qi Refining-level relics can’t test us properly, or just to advertise, instead of picking some Qi Refining-level relics.”

Zhang Yu understood that among professional-grade dharma relics, those for Foundation Establishment were certainly stronger and more burdensome than those for Qi Refining.

Just as advanced-level techniques for Foundation Establishment were more powerful and harder to cultivate than those for Qi Refining.

He speculated inwardly: “These Foundation Establishment-level dharma relics probably come with a considerable burden.”

As if sensing the candidates’ concerns, Huang Zichou reassured them: “Although the Sword Grave is designed specifically for Foundation Establishment, this time we won’t be implanting the relic.”

“Neither your blood circulation, muscle strength, nor your flesh, blood, and bones will be truly connected to the relic.”

“There’s no need to use mana to maintain the relic’s operation, no mana requirements, and no side effects like material-cell rejection…”

“We’re just temporarily connecting your neural signals to the relic to simulate the feeling of having it. So you can connect to multiple relics’ neural signals, including those of Foundation Establishment-level relics.”

Zhang Yu understood that this exam was ultimately about testing their physical adaptability to unfamiliar dharma relics through remote neural signal connections, far from actual implantation, which allowed them to connect to these Foundation Establishment-level relics.

A moment later, after Huang Zichou finished his introduction, he once again used a talisman from the Ministry of Health to sever Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao’s connection to their right arms.

In that instant, Zhang Yu felt an emptiness below his right shoulder, as if his arm no longer existed.

But this sensation lasted only a dozen seconds before he sensed the presence of a new arm.

He watched as the Sword Grave, floating in midair under divine power, clenched its fist, bent its arm, swung—performing various movements according to his thoughts.

Yet the more he tried to adapt to this arm relic, the more awkward he felt. Even the Sword Grave’s movements seemed delayed, always a beat behind his intentions.

Then, the Sword Grave came to a complete halt. No matter how Zhang Yu urged it, it wouldn’t budge.

Startled, Zhang Yu thought: “Has my synchronization rate dropped so much that I can no longer maintain a connection with this relic?”

Just then, a voice came from the Sword Grave: “Your free trial time has expired. Please watch a video to extend your time.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu noticed that the sword mound at Ye Lingxiao’s side had also come to a halt, emitting the same warning sound.

“Damn it…” Zhang Yu cursed inwardly. “What the hell? Pulling this stunt during an exam? Am I supposed to watch an ad video now?”

Huang Zichou quickly explained from the side, “It must be because we used up too much of the free time during the earlier test.”

“For daily use, as long as you become a member of the Tianwu Mall, you can skip the ads.”

Zhang Yu watched him explain while facing the audience and thought, “He’s not even explaining to us examinees—he’s directly explaining to potential customers, isn’t he?”

“And damn it… you’re not concerned about the mistake during the exam at all—you’re worried about the product’s user experience.”

At the same time, Huang Zichou said on the internal network, “Everyone, quickly use the link I sent you to help watch the video. We’ll each watch one, and the free time rewarded will be enough for the exam.”

Thus, the five righteous god examiners immediately drifted off, all watching videos through the divine power network.

As for directly paying for a membership? Who would foot that bill? Under what pretext would the membership be? How would it be reimbursed?

Thinking of this, the five righteous gods decided it was better to just watch the videos obediently.

(End of this chapter)