Chapter 751: Retest (Thanks to 'S Shu' for sending Gao Chongguang 10 Oscars)

Chapter 751: The Re-Examination

(Thanks to “S Redemption” for gifting Gao Chongguang ten Oscars.)

Not long after Zhang Yu sealed away the memories of Exam Ancestor and returned to his normal state, he sent a message to Le Mulan.

Zhang Yu: Come over. I’ll give you 100 spirit coins.

Le Mulan: Send the money first.

Zhang Yu silently cursed inwardly. This sect selection exam really turned people into ghosts. Whatever happened to that old Le Mulan—the one who’d help without demanding spirit coins?

Zhang Yu: [100 spirit coins]

But after receiving the 100 spirit coins, Le Mulan still didn’t come.

When Zhang Yu asked again, she replied: Send another 100.

Zhang Yu fumed, “What the hell… This guy’s asking more than even Exam Ancestor’s avatar did! Has he overdosed on Exam Ancestor memories?”

“At this rate, who knows how many spirit coins—and how much time—I’ll waste…”

So Zhang Yu activated his backup plan, prepared earlier. He was certain this method would bring Le Mulan running.

Moments later, as the room door swung open, Le Mulan burst in, barely able to contain herself: “Zhang Yu? Is it true? You’re really letting me take it for free? Self-service within an hour? As much as I want?”

Before him stood Le Mulan, eyes sparkling like stars, practically trembling with eagerness to get her hands on whatever he’d promised.

Zhang Yu sighed with resignation and flicked a finger against her forehead.

Instantly, every trace of Exam Ancestor’s memories within Le Mulan’s mind was sealed away.

Watching her eyes gradually clear, Zhang Yu knew she’d returned to normal.

Coming to her senses, Le Mulan looked at Zhang Yu, her face flushing crimson with shame. “I—I can pay! I never meant to freeload!”

You idiot… Zhang Yu thought. Even after recovering, this Kunxu native still seemed a bit off.

He merely shook his head and reassured her gently, “You were just influenced by Exam Ancestor’s memories—nothing more than wild thoughts. Don’t worry about it.”

…

Inside a quiet meditation chamber, Kuang Tianqing trained furiously, seizing every moment.

“I’ve surely passed the preliminary round! Now comes the re-examination and the interview.”

“I must join the sect and escape that dung heap below once and for all.”

To Kuang Tianqing—who possessed countless years’ worth of Exam Ancestor experience—everything beneath the eleventh floor was pure filth. Every second spent there made him nauseous.

He longed to enter the Heaven Demon Sect. Only there was his true home.

Just then, the meditation chamber’s door suddenly swung open.

Seeing Zhang Yu stride into his room, Kuang Tianqing was startled. “How did he open my door?”

He’d completely forgotten he’d given Zhang Yu the room’s access code and permissions.

In the next instant, his vision blurred—he found himself clutched in Zhang Yu’s palm, then felt a finger press firmly against his brow.

With a furious roar, Kuang Tianqing struggled to resist.

But how could a mere Golden Core cultivator possibly oppose Zhang Yu, who had already reached Nascent Soul?

A chill spread from his brow, and wave after wave of Exam Ancestor memories began vanishing from his mind.

As those memories faded, his struggles slowly ceased.

After a long while, when Kuang Tianqing finally regained awareness, he’d already deactivated all alarms from his body’s artifact framework and the room’s defensive talismans.

Gazing at Zhang Yu before him, he smiled faintly and extended an invitation: “Would you like to cultivate together—dual cultivation, I mean?”

Zhang Yu answered by activating the Hell Soul-Washing Scripture once more, unlocking Kuang Tianqing’s vast store of past-life memories.

It turned out that, to pass the preliminary exam, Kuang Tianqing hadn’t only absorbed massive amounts of Exam Ancestor memories—he’d also asked Zhang Yu to temporarily seal away most of his own past-life recollections, leaving only a tiny fragment intact to prevent conflicting memories from clashing.

After all, Exam Ancestor’s memories aligned entirely with the current ideology of the Heaven Demon Sect, whereas Kuang Tianqing’s original past-life memories bore the deep imprint of ancient beliefs. The two clashed violently.

Now, with his past-life memories fully restored, Kuang Tianqing’s expression changed abruptly. Recalling his recent invitation to Zhang Yu, a wave of revulsion surged through him.

He exhaled deeply, then looked at Zhang Yu with profound gratitude. “Thank you, Zhang Yu.”

“Once we’re both in the sect, if you ever need anything, just say the word.”

Zhang Yu reminded him, “Until the Exam Ancestor trials are truly over, try not to interact with others. Someone might notice something strange about you—and we don’t need unnecessary complications.”

…

When Zhang Yu arrived at Yu Xinghan’s room, he found him rigid as stone, frozen in place, struggling as though bound by invisible chains.

The moment Zhang Yu pressed a finger to Yu Xinghan’s brow to begin sealing the Exam Ancestor memories, a figure slowly emerged from behind him—wrapping its arms around Yu Xinghan from the back, taking control.

This figure bore Yu Xinghan’s exact likeness. Zhang Yu recognized it instantly as the clone cultivated through the Myriad Transformations Self-Mastery Profound Art.

Aside from Kuang Tianqing, Zhang Yu had also taught this forbidden technique to Bai Zhenzhen, Yu Xinghan, and Le Mulan while managing their Exam Ancestor memories—allowing them to secretly cultivate it, though each progressed at a different pace.

This dark art enabled the creation of clones. Beyond aiding cultivation and drastically accelerating training speed, these clones could also coordinate with Zhang Yu’s Hell Soul-Washing Scripture, making the handling of Exam Ancestor memories far more manageable.

Just moments before Zhang Yu’s arrival, Yu Xinghan had restrained his own clone to prevent it from spiraling out of control and causing trouble.

And as his mastery of the Myriad Transformations Self-Mastery Profound Art deepened, his ability to suppress such Exam Ancestor clones would only grow stronger.

Watching Yu Xinghan successfully reclaim control of his clone with his help, Zhang Yu asked, “Do you remember what you reviewed for the Exam Ancestor trial?”

Yu Xinghan: “I don’t remember.”

Zhang Yu: “Do you recall how many years you spent reviewing?”

Again, Yu Xinghan shook his head. “No memory of that either.”

Zhang Yu smiled slightly. “Then it seems everything’s fine.”

“Just remember—for the next little while, avoid contact with outsiders as much as possible.”

At that, Yu Xinghan’s body trembled slightly, and a true clone emerged from within him.

Scanning the clone with his Third Eye Technique, he could perceive every subtle flow of spiritual energy, every surge of protective qi within its form.

Simply observing his clone’s martial practice under the Third Eye’s guidance made him feel himself advancing.

Thinking of the new abilities his third eye had recently unlocked, Yu Xinghan felt brimming with confidence for the upcoming re-examination.

Meanwhile, after reminding Yu Xinghan of the next steps, Zhang Yu left the room and headed toward Bai Zhenzhen’s location.

He’d saved her for last precisely because she was the least likely among them to lose control.

Indeed, when Zhang Yu entered Bai Zhenzhen’s room, he saw her Exam Ancestor clone tightly bound and sprawled facedown on the floor—while Bai Zhenzhen herself sat squarely atop it, waiting patiently for his arrival.

Spotting Zhang Yu, she patted the clone’s shoulder and said, “Yu-zi, hurry up and seal her memories! I can’t take this lunatic anymore!”

From beneath her, the Exam Ancestor clone shouted, “Yu-zi! Save me! I want to reverse my sterilization surgery and cultivate properly with you! She won’t let me!”

“She’s too childish—she won’t survive long in the sect! I’m your best ally! We’ll dual-cultivate like mad every day, then sell our bloodline offspring—that’s the true path of immortality!”

“No! Don’t erase all the Exam Ancestor knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years! I’d rather forget everything else—but not this!”

As the clone thrashed and pleaded, Zhang Yu sealed away all traces of Exam Ancestor memories within it. In the end, the clone fell once more under Bai Zhenzhen’s complete control.

Bai Zhenzhen let out a relieved sigh. “Now the preliminary exam should be smooth sailing, right?”

Zhang Yu nodded. “Get ready for the retest as quickly as possible.”

As he spoke, Zhang Yu had already wrapped his arms around Bai Zhenzhen from behind. His Spirit Root gave a faint tremor and slipped into her dantian.

Feeling True Spirit Root and Feather Spirit Root intertwining within her dantian, filling her lower abdomen with warmth, Bai Zhenzhen let out a soft hum. “Are you sure you don’t need your Feather Spirit Root for the retest?”

Zhang Yu replied, “The retest in two weeks assesses professional competence. I applied to the Yufa Pavilion, which specializes in reviewing and verifying cultivation manuals—it doesn’t require combat ability.”

“On the other hand, you applied to the Tianjian Sect’s Xuntian Platform, whose purpose is to confront, transform, and absorb heavenly tribulations. Combat will surely feature heavily in your practical exam.”

“With both Feather Spirit Root and True Spirit Root working together, your chances of success will only increase.”

Bai Zhenzhen gave a slight nod. She knew Zhang Yu was right, so she accepted the Feather Spirit Root without protest and began silently cultivating, determined to astonish everyone during the professional test of the retest.

As for the preliminary exam? They were supremely confident—they would surely pass.

Under the combined influence of dual spirit roots and the *Myriad Transformations Self-Mastery Profound Art*, Bai Zhenzhen’s cultivation progressed at a staggering pace, improving almost by the hour.

The next day, the preliminary results appeared—and confirmed their confidence was well-founded. Among those who passed were Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, Yu Xinghan, Le Mulan, and Kuang Tianqing. All five had cleared the first round.

Beyond them, several other students and teachers from their cram school also passed, including Starfire True Lord and Wang Yin, drawing endless attention—and envy—from peers and instructors alike.

Elsewhere, Yun Zhiguang glanced at the news and shook her head slightly. “What a pity.”

In her view, Zhang Yu must have used some unorthodox, even sinister methods to pass the preliminary so quickly. Even if he managed to enter the sect later, his future potential would surely be greatly diminished.

Besides, Yun Zhiguang doubted he could pass the subsequent retest and interview.

“After all,” she murmured, “the Yufa Pavilion is a highly sought-after position. Someone’s already applied this time, hasn’t he?”

The person she referred to was a reincarnated disciple from the 10th Layer—a pre-selected candidate from within the sect—who had also chosen the Yufa Pavilion.

...

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, Zhang Yu and the others had cut off nearly all contact with former classmates and teachers, devoting themselves entirely to preparing for the retest.

Now, as the retest officially began, the scenery before Zhang Yu shifted, and he found himself inside a spirit-realm classroom.

He sat down at his desk and looked at the exam paper laid out before him—unsurprised.

He knew this was the written portion of the first half of the retest. He’d simulated this exact scenario countless times before.

Flipping open the test booklet and scanning the questions on immortal cultivation techniques, Zhang Yu exhaled softly and began answering.

He understood that this written exam measured his comprehensive accumulation of knowledge in the Dao of Immortality.

After all, the Yufa Pavilion handled approvals for cultivation manual copyrights—an immense domain encompassing virtually every known method. Its members specialized in fields covering nearly all current research areas of the Myriad Methods Sect.

“Perhaps once I’m in,” Zhang Yu mused, “I’ll only handle approvals for basic-level martial arts.”

“But during the exam, they expect me to know everything—martial arts, Daoist spells, artifact forging, talismans… It’s like building rockets for the test, only to tighten screws on the job.”

The written exam was vast and fiendishly difficult. Even with Zhang Yu’s high-quality foundation in cultivation manuals, he found it grueling.

Yet he remained unperturbed. He knew this was intentional—the extreme difficulty was meant to differentiate candidates’ overall capabilities and push them to their limits. It was normal not to answer every question.

From high school Qi Refinement to his current Master-level Nascent Soul stage, Zhang Yu had mastered over a hundred martial and Daoist techniques.

Each one had been painstakingly cultivated through expenditure of money, lifespan, sweat, and relentless effort—now firmly etched into his mind.

As he worked through the exam, memories of practicing each technique surfaced vividly, recalling countless nights and days of bitter training.

And now, after nearly a decade of such accumulation, all that effort surged forward like a tempest, propelling him toward entry into the sect.

When the written exam ended, the scenery before Zhang Yu flickered, and he returned to reality.

Following the guidance of the spirit-realm projection, he arrived at another examination hall.

Here, he would face the second half of the retest: the practical assessment—the true crux of the entire process.

Yet the content of the practical varied per candidate. Until it began, Zhang Yu had no idea what he’d be tested on.

“No matter what,” he thought, glancing around the empty room, “the practical will assess skills directly relevant to actual work in the Yufa Pavilion. I should be fine.”

“Am I the only one from this layer who applied to the Yufa Pavilion? I wonder if anyone else from Layers 1 to 10 is competing for the same spot.”

As Zhang Yu pondered, the air before him rippled faintly, and spirit-realm projections materialized.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he read the exam instructions. “This is…”

First came a choice of testing specialization.

After a moment’s thought, Zhang Yu selected martial arts.

For him, martial arts were the area he knew best, had accumulated the most in, and found easiest to cultivate—surely his strongest suit.

Instantly, over a hundred translucent screens appeared before him, each displaying fragments of cultivation manuals.

Reading the adjacent rules, Zhang Yu realized: “They’ve taken ten martial arts manuals, split each into ten parts—so ten manuals become one hundred fragments, projected across these hundred screens.”

His gaze swept over the screens. Each contained a segment of a cultivation method.

His task, within six hours, was to reassemble these one hundred fragments into ten complete manuals—and write approval reports for each.

Understanding the rules, Zhang Yu wasted no time and stepped toward the screens.

“The first step of this exam—and the most critical—if missed…”

...

“If the first step is wrong, you’re eliminated on the spot.”

Lu Xuanzhi of the Myriad Methods Sect watched the test unfold through the spirit-realm network.

Like the preliminary, candidate identities in the retest were fully concealed, leaving Lu Xuanzhi unable to identify who was who.

As he observed Zhang Yu approach a screen and sign his name, Lu Xuanzhi gave a slight nod. “The first step is signing the contract—pledging that all cultivation content and copyrights encountered during this exam will be used solely within this exam.”

“Hmph. The Yufa Pavilion handles copyright approvals; its management of intellectual property is exceptionally strict. Anyone who fails to grasp this fundamental principle—who lacks even basic awareness of copyright protection—how could they possibly function within the Pavilion?”

Even as Zhang Yu signed, two projections vanished before Lu Xuanzhi—candidates who had begun reading the manuals without first signing the contract.

Lu Xuanzhi knew they’d been instantly disqualified.

Now, only three candidates remained in the Yufa Pavilion retest before him.

“All three chose the martial path?”

Lu Xuanzhi wasn’t surprised. Compared to the boundless complexity of Daoist arts, martial techniques were easier to study and accumulate—indeed, the field that produced the most cultivation experts.

His gaze drifted from Zhang Yu to another candidate.

...

Xuan Shu True Lord was a candidate from the 10th Layer.

Within his clan and sect, many elders had previously worked on outsourced projects for the Myriad Methods Sect.

Xuan Shu had grown up listening to their tales of sect life, cultivating all the way to Nascent Soul stage inspired by those stories.

As the saying went: *Ten years as an outsourcer, a lifetime bound to the sect.* Indeed, his entire clan emulated the sect’s lifestyle and cultivation methods.

As an expert in martial arts research, he’d long harbored one wish: to formally join the sect.

So when news of the sect’s entrance exam arrived, Xuan Shu was ecstatic. Without hesitation, he resigned from his position at a massive corporation and threw himself wholly into preparation.

Thanks to his prior foundation, he’d smoothly passed the preliminary and reached the retest.

But now, staring at the hundred screens before him—at the fragmented cultivation manuals within—Xuan Shu grew increasingly tense the more he read.

"Too difficult... the difficulty of these ten cultivation techniques is simply too high."

Particularly as a martial arts expert for a mega-corporation, Xuan Shu had reviewed countless techniques in his lifetime, and of one thing he could be absolutely certain: "Not a single one of these ten techniques is something I have ever learned before."

Staring at the contents of a light screen before him, Xuan Shu felt a pang of inner dread: "And... this is the content of a heart-method, isn't it? Why would a heart-method be mixed in here as well?"

He understood that when it came to martial heart-methods, if one did not personally cultivate them, they were among the most difficult techniques to verify, and if one did choose to cultivate them... they often tended to clash with one's own established heart-method.

"Is this truly the caliber of the Law-Governing Pavilion?"

At this thought, a flicker of regret inevitably flashed through Xuan Shu's mind: "Perhaps I should not have applied for this position."

On the other side, Lu Xuanzhi watched Xuan Shu's movements and shook his head: "He spent far too much time on the heart-method."

"A thing like a heart-method is either understood or it isn't; it is the type of technique that relies most heavily on innate talent and martial intuition, not something that can be pieced together through raw accumulation."

"This is the first true difficulty of this trial."

Silently passing a death sentence upon True Lord Xuan Shu in his mind, Lu Xuanzhi's gaze shifted as another figure surfaced in his eyes.

...

True Lord Wu Xiang was a reincarnated soul hailing from the eleventh tier.

In his previous life, he had spent thirty years preparing for the Sect Examination, yet it had still ended in utter ruin.

It was solely because the competition for the Sect Examination was far too fierce; even though he had already pushed his talent, potential, and ability to their absolute limits, he still could not compete against those monsters at the top.

Thus, by a stroke of serendipity, Wu Xiang accepted a task arranged by his sect, reincarnating into the tenth tier of Kunxu, silently preparing for the Sect Examination from the very moment of his birth.

"Life can cycle through samsara, but the Sect Examination happens only once."

True Lord Wu Xiang understood that if he missed this Sect Examination, he might never again have the opportunity to enter the sect.

For the sake of this single examination, he had exhausted all the resources of his past life just to endow his current self with a staggering talent for martial arts.

For the sake of this single examination, he spent this life either cultivating martial arts or traveling the path of studying them, never working a single day since earning his doctorate.

Work, overtime, bonuses, salary, future prospects... everything was utterly abandoned by him.

And because it involved the grand design of the sect, True Lord Wu Xiang dared not reveal a single word of this to anyone.

The incomprehension of his family, the criticisms of his master's lineage, the alienation of his classmates... he bore it all alone.

There was only one goal in his heart... the Sect Examination!

Originally the pride of his family, he erupted into severe conflicts with both his clan and his mentors over the long years of preparing for the test.

"If you aren't going to work, what do you think you're doing?"

"Without earning money, what is the point of you breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage?!"

"If you don't go to work soon, I will dismantle your entire body and sell it off piece by piece."

Fortunately, relying on the assistance of several other reincarnated souls, True Lord Wu Xiang ultimately endured.

Yet the terrifying pressure of unemployment still weighed heavily upon his heart, making him more anxious with each passing year.

Particularly as time slipped away year after year and the legendary lower-tier Sect Examination showed no signs of commencing, True Lord Wu Xiang grew increasingly tense.

Until the moment the news of the Sect Examination was announced, True Lord Wu Xiang wept torrents of tears.

"Unemployed for sixty-six years, all for the sake of soaring to the heavens this very day!"

At this moment within the examination grounds, True Lord Wu Xiang's figure blurred into motion, pulling one light screen after another together.

Over these past years, he had simulated the Sect Examination every single day, simulated the work of the Law-Governing Pavilion every single day, and his mind contained the martial arts techniques he had mastered in his previous life.

His profound martial accumulation rendered these hundreds of light screens incomparably clear in his eyes; the content of every single technique and every single light screen was perfectly obvious.

"These ten techniques all emphasize intent over force, law over forms; there are almost no physical stances, but rather various distinct methods of channeling internal energy."

"The absence of forms makes it extremely difficult for others to differentiate between the techniques, but for me... it is no obstacle at all."

Watching True Lord Wu Xiang's rapid movements in discerning the techniques, Lu Xuanzhi nodded slightly: "The lack of forms for differentiation is the second difficulty of this exam; to combine techniques from various energy-channeling methods requires a profound understanding of martial energy circulation."

"But this is still not the most difficult part."

Lu Xuanzhi smiled faintly, thinking to himself: "The hardest part of this test lies in the fact that these ten sets of techniques were originally a single technique, forcefully dismantled into ten separate martial arts."

"Therefore, in theory, no matter how one combines the contents of these techniques, they can form a working version and can even be executed in the end."

"Yet only one specific combination is the version personally dismantled by the creator, the version of the highest performance."

"Let me see which of you comes closest to the correct answer."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the examination grounds, Zhang Yu had already memorized all the technique contents within the hundreds of light screens.

Then, relying on his own martial accumulation and the simultaneous deduction of sixteen thoughts, he continuously combined the contents of these techniques.

Finally, the name of a technique surfaced upon the Yu Scroll.

"Martial One?" Zhang Yu thought to himself: "What a strange name."

Then his gaze shifted once more, because behind this martial art, he saw the Chain-Method Diagram Set to which it belonged.

"Formless Martial Evolution?"

(End of Chapter)