Chapter 341: Journey of Spirit and Flesh Unity

Chapter 341: The Journey of Spirit and Flesh Unification

"The first stop of the Journey of Spirit and Flesh Unification has been generated."

"This simulation environment is based on the big data model for breakthroughs in spirit and flesh unification, combined with vast historical records and user data, offering an extremely high degree of authenticity. Those with a Dao Heart level below 13 or suffering from the following conditions are advised to consult their doctor before beginning..."

"Please confirm that you have read and agreed to the 'User Agreement.'"

"All generated data in this scenario belongs to Hammerheart Residence and must not be used for any commercial purposes."

"Would you like to begin your Journey of Spirit and Flesh Unification?"

...

Zhang Yu opened his eyes, a wave of confusion flashing through his mind.

"Who am I..."

Gradually, he remembered. His name was Zhang Yu, an employee at a Fahai factory in Tianya City.

The factory provided meals and accommodation. Work started at 8 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m., with a one-hour lunch break in between.

The cafeteria served three meals a day: eggs and milk in the morning, two to three meat dishes for lunch and dinner, and afternoon tea snacks.

Zhang Yu was accustomed to going to bed at exactly 9 p.m. every night, falling asleep in the dormitory to the soft music of a jukebox, then sleeping soundly until 7 a.m., greeting each new day with full energy.

After five days of work, the factory provided two days off.

During these two days, Zhang Yu would sometimes go hiking in the nearby mountains or go swimming, activities that brought him inner peace.

Recently, he had also developed a new fashionable hobby: surfing the internet in the factory's library.

However, this new pastime had attracted many interested workers, and Zhang Yu couldn't always secure a turn.

Life passed by uneventfully day after day, and Zhang Yu's greatest wish was to continue living like this until his retirement year, then spend the rest of his life peacefully with his pension, just like his father.

On this day, it was time for the annual physical examination.

Zhang Yu lay on the operating table, silently reciting the Remnant Ox Abandonment Body and Mind Technique in his mind, then felt the scalpel slide across his abdomen as the factory doctors extracted the "impurities" inside.

It was a tangled, root-like thing covered in strange tendrils.

Zhang Yu had overheard the doctors' conversations before; they seemed to call this thing a "spiritual root."

In any case, it wasn't something good. Every year after the physical examination, Zhang Yu and his fellow workers underwent surgery to remove the spiritual roots from their bodies.

However, whether it was because the thing was too tenacious or the surgery wasn't thorough enough, the spiritual root would grow back every year.

Zhang Yu was grateful that the factory covered their medical expenses, providing free physical examinations, treatments, and surgeries every year.

Just then, he overheard the doctors chatting again.

"Have you heard? the Nether Palace's artificially synthesized spiritual root technology has already hit the market."

"I heard. It looks like our factory won't last many more years. Sigh... farming can't compare to their industrialized production."

"Should we shave the fur?"

"Shave it. It's been hot lately, and the factory manager wants to save on air conditioning costs."

Zhang Yu watched as the fur on his body fell off and couldn't help but struggle.

"Why is he awake?"

"Increase the dosage."

In a daze, Zhang Yu only felt waves of pain from the wounds on his body.

He instinctively recited the Remnant Ox Abandonment Body and Mind Technique to resist the pain.

But as the years passed, his condition seemed to worsen. The factory doctors removed more and more parts of him, leaving him in so much pain every night that he couldn't sleep.

To get a good night's rest, he had no choice but to continuously recite the Remnant Ox Abandonment Body and Mind Technique, over and over again.

Finally, one day, when Zhang Yu was silently reciting the technique even in his sleep, he was able to temporarily forget the pain and sleep soundly.

...

"Damn it..."

Zhang Yu removed the spirit interface mask, recalling the recent experience in his mind, his eyes filled with a strange expression.

"So I was a demon descendant in a spiritual root farm, constantly being harvested. Because I was afraid of pain, I recited the Remnant Ox Abandonment Body and Mind Technique day and night, and ended up painfully achieving spirit and flesh unification."

Zhang Yu temporarily suppressed the myriad emotions in his heart, trying hard to recall the feeling of gradually turning the Remnant Ox Abandonment Body and Mind Technique into instinct during those days and nights of suffering.

"I think I feel something."

"But it doesn't seem like I've made any progress?"

Fuji looked at Zhang Yu's expression and said, "Techniques like this often feel ambiguous and vague."

"Don't overthink it. The more you think, the more confused you'll become. Just follow the steps and keep practicing. As they say, success comes naturally with effort."

Zhang Yu had heard similar words from his Dao Heart class teacher and naturally understood the reasoning. But recalling his experience in the spirit realm, he couldn't help but have some thoughts.

"That factory... seems like the old Kunxu, right? A Kunxu where the internet wasn't even widespread and spiritual roots still needed to be farmed."

"The company must have collected data on demon descendants in the farm who broke through to the spirit and flesh unification realm, then used that data as one of the references to generate the simulation environment."

"But the problem is..." Zhang Yu frowned slightly. "The Remnant Ox Abandonment Body and Mind Technique used to break through in the simulation wasn't the complete version I have in my mind."

"Could it be that I won't succeed?"

"Never mind. Hammerheart Residence said I can apply for a refund if I don't succeed. I'll just keep trying."

With that, Zhang Yu collected his thoughts and headed to the 667th floor to start today's work.

On the construction site, Formless Warriors flickered back and forth, twisting, cutting, and installing steel bars.

Of course, Zhang Yu wasn't using the Qi Vein Long Flow technique at the moment. Instead, he had chosen the University Saint Body, continuing to practice the ninth breathing technique.

Even so, Ying Xin, who was inspecting the work nearby, was still startled when she saw this. "It's only been a little over two months, but Zhang Yu's work efficiency has improved so much?"

"Using Gang Qi to maintain a human form for construction means his Gang Qi conduction rate, total mana capacity, and recovery have all significantly improved compared to before."

"Could he really aim for first place in the class?" Thinking this, Ying Xin instinctively shook her head. "Impossible. Ji Yuanshu is too wealthy. No one in our class could possibly surpass him."

...

In a 100-square-meter suite on the 450th floor.

A notification from the Fortune Monitoring system popped up in Ji Yuanshu's Eye Skeleton.

Fortune had changed again. Zhang Yu's chances of winning had slightly increased during this period.

Ji Yuanshu checked the source of the fortune change and immediately saw Zhang Yu's recent work performance.

"Not bad progress."

"For a traditional civil engineering student, you're doing quite well."

"But unfortunately, civil engineering students only think about making progress on construction sites. They can never break free."

"The gap between us... is a difference in dimensions."

...

The next day after school, Zhang Yu embarked on a new Journey of Spirit and Flesh Unification.

When he opened his eyes, he remembered his identity.

He was Zhang Yu of Jingshui County, one of the four young masters who monopolized the county's seed, water, agricultural machinery, and banking businesses, collectively known as the Four Young Masters of Jingshui.

Zhang Yu owned the largest medicinal fields in the county, with hundreds of enslaved demon descendants under his command.

His greatest daily pleasure was watching the many enslaved demon descendants toil diligently in the vast, boundless medicinal fields.

His second greatest pleasure was hunting in the mountains.

One day, while hunting, he was surpassed by another wealthy young master and subjected to ridicule.

In low spirits, Zhang Yu returned to the county and purchased a magical artifact from a traveling merchant, produced by a major company in the city.

It was said that carrying it year-round could prolong life, sharpen the senses, and enhance agility—the most popular health-preserving artifact in the city.

Whether by coincidence or luck, in the next hunt, he emerged victorious, defeating all his opponents.

From then on, he became a firm believer in the health-preserving artifact, later purchasing large quantities and filling his room with them.

Years passed, and Zhang Yu felt his health deteriorating. During a medical examination, doctors discovered that his internal organs were completely permeated with earthly malevolent energy.

Over the next few months, his body rapidly wasted away. To halt the corrosion of the malevolent energy, his organs, eyes, and limbs were amputated one by one.

To withstand the physical and mental agony, he practiced the Remnant Bull Body-Mind Art, circulating its techniques day and night, hoping only to forget the pain.

Whenever he felt he could endure no more, the calls of his family would sustain him, urging him to persevere.

"Zhang Yu! Open your eyes and see—this is Dad's remittance information. Everyone is transferring money for your treatment. You must hold on!"

"Son, can you feel it? The family's savings are flowing to you endlessly! Don't underestimate the bonds of our family!"

"Hold on, brother! You've spent so much on treatment. Would you be willing to die and let all that money go to waste?"

Watching the fluctuations in his savings, Zhang Yu felt as though the hands of his family were pushing against his back, trying to pull him back from the brink of death.

Alongside his family, the hands of doctors also tugged at him, as if trying to drag him back to the world of the living.

But the pain was too much to bear.

Zhang Yu felt as though his flesh and bones had turned to mud, leaving only one thought: it would be better to die.

"How is the patient's condition?"

"Beyond saving."

"Keep him alive as long as possible. His family is paying so much—the entire hospital is profiting from him. Prolong it as much as you can."

"This case of earthly malevolent energy corrosion is also rare. Who knew it could cause such severe harm to the body?"

"Record his data as completely as possible until his death. We can sell it to the company later..."

Amidst the boundless pain, Zhang Yu gradually lost the ability to hear or see the outside world.

In the darkness, he could only circulate the Remnant Bull Body-Mind Art over and over, hoping to forget the pain and never wake to it again.

...

"Damn it..."

Zhang Yu removed the spirit interface mask once more, feeling a lingering phantom pain throughout his body.

"It hurts... so damn much."

"Because I practice the Remnant Bull Body-Mind Art, did they assign me this kind of simulation environment?"

"Will the upcoming journey of spirit-flesh unity all be like this?"

"Isn't there a normal way to break through to spirit-flesh unity with the Remnant Bull Body-Mind Art?"

Though his mind was filled with distracting thoughts, Zhang Yu forcibly suppressed them one by one, striving to recall the sensation of breaking through to spirit-flesh unity in the spirit realm.

He felt the white bull in his mind becoming slightly more animated, but there was still no sign of spirit-flesh unity.

Just then, Zhang Yu received a message from Tu Lishan.

Tu Lishan: Ji Yuanshu joined the team, and Ma Xuan replaced you with a substitute?

Zhang Yu: Yes.

Zhang Yu knew that Tu Lishan had originally recommended him to join Ma Xuan's team. The fact that Tu Lishan had received news about the competition team now clearly meant he was inquiring about the situation.

However, Tu Lishan wasn't here to stand up for Zhang Yu or anything of the sort—he was merely confirming the news.

Looking at Zhang Yu's reply, he thought to himself, "Ma Xuan belongs to the old director's faction. The old director has always remained neutral toward both sides. Is this move just Ma Xuan prioritizing competition results, or does the old director have other intentions?"

Back in the dormitory, moments later, a figure swiftly passed through the dormitory door and arrived beside Zhang Yu.

"Zhang Yu, let's make the most of our time."

Le Mu Lan hurriedly walked in and sat down in front of Zhang Yu.

(End of Chapter)