Chapter 752: Retest Ends

Chapter 752: The Retest Concludes

Upon completing the initial martial combination and obtaining the martial art dubbed "Martial One," Zhang Yu discovered that it belonged to a martial diagram set named "Formless Performance."

Though the exact effects of this "Formless Performance" remained unknown to him, a speculation could not help but arise within his heart.

"Based on my prior experiences, the arts within a martial diagram set either share compatible natures, or possess some inherent underlying connection, perhaps even originating from the inheritance of the identical sect, or developed by the very same person."

"Then..."

Zhang Yu looked at the lines of light screens before him, thinking to himself, "Could it be that all ten sets of martial arts in this test belong to this Formless Performance martial diagram set?"

As this train of thought surged slightly through his mind, his various mental faculties continued to think at high speed, relying on his own martial dao and cultivation art experiences to attempt to identify the fragments of martial arts in the light screens before him, then trying to complete the combinations, and finally judging them through the Plume Book.

Every piece of content within the one hundred light screens was firmly memorized in Zhang Yu's mind; at this moment, he felt as though his brain was a high-speed computer, wildly calculating the combinations of one cultivation art after another.

Not long after, information on the second cultivation art surfaced directly before Zhang Yu.

"Martial Six, as expected... it also belongs to the Formless Performance martial arts."

Seeing yet another new martial art belonging to the same martial diagram set, Zhang Yu was completely certain that the ten sets of martial arts before him should all belong to this "Formless Performance" martial diagram set.

"Looking at it this way, these ten sets of martial arts are closely linked, or perhaps... just like the Mountain-Moving Divine Might of Heaven Kunlun, they were split from the very same martial art."

...

"The Formless Performance is a world-shaking martial discipline created by the Master of the Hall of All Laws."

Lu Xuanzhi, acting as the examiner, watched the testing screens while thinking to himself, "The Formless Performance is one of the martial arts created by the Master of the Hall of All Laws after comprehending the Daoist Canon, reading through all the martial arts under heaven, and deducing the origins of the martial dao."

"And the greatest characteristic of this martial discipline is its ability to simulate all martial arts under heaven, even bringing forth new ideas from the old to unleash a power greater than the original."

Lu Xuanzhi lamented in his heart, "It was precisely because of this that the Formless Performance was once considered the most malevolent and wicked martial discipline under heaven, one that should least exist."

"The day this martial discipline came into the world, it triggered a lightning tribulation, causing the currency markets and stock markets to crash repeatedly, leaving countless martial dao research experts wailing as they went bankrupt in an instant and perished beneath the lightning tribulation."

"Fortunately, however... the Formless Performance is a world-shaking martial discipline that can only be truly cultivated to success by comprehending the Daoist Canon; such a high threshold significantly reduced its hazard."

"Later, the Formless Performance was split into ten parts; while the threshold for cultivation was greatly reduced, its power also plummeted rapidly, and though it could still simulate the martial arts of the world, it could at most unleash thirty to forty percent of the original power."

"But even so, being able to simulate any martial art under heaven allows this discipline to still be counted as an immortal sect martial art, and it is moreover a commonly used martial art of the Law Imperial Pavilion."

Lu Xuanzhi understood in his heart that when the Law Imperial Pavilion approved martial dao cultivation arts, if they had cultivators practice every single set of arts before verifying them, the efficiency would be far too slow.

Therefore, simulating martial arts through the Formless Performance to complete verification became the method with the highest cost-effectiveness.

Now, these ten commonly used martial arts within the Law Imperial Pavilion had become the difficult problem used to test the examinees.

And as time flowed on, the examinees within the projections before Lu Xuanzhi's eyes also revealed their varying qualities during this test.

Lu Xuanzhi's gaze swept over Perfected Lord Xuanshu, only to see this sect examinee from the tenth layer looking irritable at this moment, the light screens before him combining back and forth, constantly splicing into one martial art after another.

Yet in the eyes of Perfected Lord Xuanshu, these martial arts seemed to have become dazzling streaks of camouflage, as if no matter how they were mixed together it was right, and nothing was wrong.

"This seems to be right."

"But arranging it like this also seems to be right?"

"Why? Why is it that no matter how I arrange them, they all feel right?"

Watching Xuanshu tear apart a newly and correctly combined "Martial Eight" to assemble it into an incorrect version once more, Lu Xuanzhi thought to himself, "The lower realm is just the lower realm; with an unsettled state of mind and insufficient aptitude, even when given an opportunity, you are useless."

But the performance of the reincarnated soul on the other side, Perfected Lord Wuxiang, greatly surprised Lu Xuanzhi.

Rows of light screens were sorted and arranged together; he had unexpectedly already completed the combinations of the ten martial arts and was currently writing his report, describing and evaluating each martial art.

While writing, Perfected Lord Wuxiang thought to himself, "Hmph, the martial arts chosen for this test are likely the split version of the Formless Performance from the Law Imperial Pavilion."

"Had I not known of the existence of this martial discipline back when I was up above, I probably would have fallen into confusion after discovering that various combinations could all hold true."

"But as long as one knows that this set of martial arts from the Law Imperial Pavilion is used to simulate and verify the martial arts of the world, and that these ten martial arts divide the world's martial arts into ten major categories, then proceeding with the combinations and deductions according to this line of thought makes it far simpler."

Relying on the insights accumulated from his past life, combined with the martial arts accumulated across two lifetimes, Perfected Lord Wuxiang finally completed the combinations and deductions of the ten martial arts.

Although there were a few parts regarding the heart mnemonics that he was somewhat uncertain about, he believed his performance was absolutely the most outstanding one from the first to the tenth layers.

"My accumulation over two lifetimes was solely for the sect examination. In terms of the magnitude of sacrifice and the depth of accumulation, who else on this examination ground today can compare to me?"

"This lower-realm fellow didn't test too badly." Lu Xuanzhi judged in his heart as he looked at Perfected Lord Wuxiang's answer (under anonymous status), "Out of ten cultivation arts, he got eight right, with only slight errors in the combinations of two heart mnemonics."

And the reason he assumed Perfected Lord Wuxiang, who answered eight martial arts correctly, was a lower-realm person was simply because, compared to Zhang Yu on the other side...

"This person completed all ten cultivation arts without a single error."

Looking at Zhang Yu's performance, Lu Xuanzhi thought, "And he even finished an hour early. This kid must be a reincarnated soul, right? And..."

Did he fucking get the questions leaked to him in advance?

In Lu Xuanzhi's view, unless the questions had been leaked in advance, how could a reincarnated soul possibly complete the test so quickly? And with a one hundred percent accuracy rate?

In Lu Xuanzhi's cognition, the reincarnated souls who came to the lower realm were all failures eliminated by those above, far inferior to geniuses like themselves who had entered the sect through upright and fair examinations.

It was just that no matter how trash a reincarnated soul was, they still came from above, and would definitely be much more formidable than the natives of the lower realm.

But this current result, in Lu Xuanzhi's eyes, was simply a bit too shameless.

Particularly when he thought of the other lower-realm person who had gotten eight questions right, he felt more and more that the reincarnated soul was being used to block the opponent from entering the sect.

"Even if this score were placed up above, it would probably be enough to take first place in the retest."

"If not for this score pressing down, that other lower-realm person who answered eight questions correctly would probably be first in the retest."

"Those fellows up above are going too far—leaking questions, and arranging a suppression in advance. If this cheating gets caught, aren't I the one who has to take responsibility?"

Though secretly grumbling in his heart, Lu Xuanzhi understood that by all reason and protocol, he could not stop this examinee from taking a perfect score.

...

Just as Zhang Yu successfully completed his test.

In another part of the examination grounds, Yu Xinghan was participating in the retest for the Martial Performance Pavilion.

The so-called Martial Performance Pavilion was the department within the Sect of All Laws specifically responsible for the research and development of martial arts.

This was the direction of application Yu Xinghan had ultimately settled upon after repeated study, combining information provided by Zhang Yu and Perfected Lord Xinghuo, memories of the sect examination, and his own specialties.

And at this very moment, the content of this test was also very simple, which was to read through the specifically altered martial arts manual before him and point out the errors within it.

After reading through the manual, Yu Xinghan began to cultivate this martial art right on the spot; while cultivating, he observed himself with the third eye in his mind, monitoring his own cultivation process.

In an instant, every trace of flowing dharmic power within his body, and every trace of movement in his muscles and blood, surfaced clearly before him.

This was a deep application of the Three-Eyed Divine Ability that Yu Xinghan had researched; by observing himself, he could constantly adjust problems during cultivation and practice repeatedly within his mind to accelerate the speed of cultivation.

But aside from this, what was most important for the current Yu Xinghan was the new function of the Three-Eyed Divine Ability.

After obtaining the further elevation of potential brought by Lady Blessing, Yu Xinghan's Three-Eyed Divine Ability had begun a new transformation, possessing even greater power after the metamorphosis.

At this moment, under the observation of his third eye, his mastery over the execution of this martial art grew more and more refined, gradually entering the correct path, and then one flaw after another surfaced within Yu Xinghan's eyes.

Perceiving the flaws of various martial arts through observation—this was the new ability of the Three-Eyed Divine Ability.

Of course, this ability to observe flaws was also related to Yu Xinghan's own cultivation realm and martial dao accumulation.

After all, with his cultivation at the Golden Core realm, if he were to observe a Nascent Soul or Deity Transformation stage cultivator executing martial arts, restricted by conditions such as power, speed, and dharmic power, it would naturally be relatively difficult to observe any flaws.

And if it were a type of martial art that he had absolutely no understanding of, the difficulty of observing the flaws within it would correspondingly rise.

Conversely, the lower the target's cultivation realm and the more he understood the type of martial art being executed, the higher the efficiency of finding flaws would be.

At this very moment, Yu Xinghan was employing the profound technique of self-contemplation to seek out flaws within this martial art.

In his view, the more readily a flaw surfaced, the likelier it was an error deliberately embedded in the manual.

Watching Yu Xinghan point out one mistake after another, the examiner silently mused, “This candidate… not only has he identified every planted error, but even exposed inherent weaknesses in the original martial art? Could he be a reincarnated soul?”

…

In another examination hall, Kuang Tianqing was undergoing the Heart-Demon Peak’s final trial for the Heaven-Devouring Sect.

Amidst layers upon layers of illusions, he had to battle his inner demons and conquer the nightmares haunting his heart.

One after another, figures emerged before Kuang Tianqing—eight in total—encircling him completely.

Each of these eight was towering and immensely powerful, each astonishingly skilled and unnervingly patient, each bearing their own unique, peerless techniques, glaring at Kuang Tianqing like ravenous beasts.

Meanwhile, Kuang Tianqing himself had unknowingly transformed into an exquisitely beautiful young woman.

Gazing at those familiar faces closing in around him, Kuang Tianqing seemed to relive the days when he trained under the Eight Great Nascent Soul masters—the memories filled him once again with unbearable pain and crushing humiliation.

“This time,” he whispered, “I will defeat you all my own way and utterly vanquish these heart-demons.”

Watching the battle between the furious, blushing maiden and the Eight Nascent Souls, the examiner was inwardly stunned: “This fellow…”

“Why is his heart-demon trial so simple?”

“Is this even a proper heart-demon test?”

“Could he be a reincarnated soul? Was this arranged from above?”

…

On the Sword Sect’s examination ground,

Bai Zhenzhen appeared as if transformed into a white comet, darting fearlessly among rows of puppets.

“Yu Zi…”

Feeling the Feather Spirit Root within her belly, Bai Zhenzhen thought silently, “Yu Zi still remains inside me—I can still sense the warmth of his spirit root.”

Each time this thought arose, her Extreme Emotion Sword Qi surged anew.

Simultaneously, the dual blessings of True Spirit Root and Feather Spirit Root manifested upon her, making each successive sword strike stronger than the last, while also allowing her to absorb a portion of incoming attacks to heal her wounds.

At first, the examiner dismissed Bai Zhenzhen’s performance.

“Extreme Emotion Sword Dao? Is there still anyone in the lower realms cultivating this art? Her mental state must be unstable.”

But soon, he noticed something unusual about her.

Puppets that had barely been scratched by her earlier strikes were now being torn apart by her sword qi without her even realizing it.

“Her strikes grow stronger with every swing—she’s constantly adjusting her sword qi based on her opponent, seeking weaknesses and striking precisely at the puppets’ most vulnerable points. Judging by the results, she’s actually found them.”

“She’s also highly resilient to damage.” “Her Extreme Emotion Sword Qi flows endlessly and erupts steadily—her mental state seems perfectly stable. Of course—it makes sense. She passed the preliminary round, which means she truly loves the sect and must have mastered the newly developed method for channeling Extreme Emotion Sword Qi from the upper realms.”

“It seems this one must indeed be a reincarnated soul sent from above.”

…

In the Re-testing Hall of the Ling Su Pavilion, Wanfa Sect,

a test assessing medicinal formulation skills was underway.

Candidates were required to develop a medicine using only the raw materials provided on-site, according to the given prompt.

Today’s prompt read: “Medicine That Is Not Medicine.”

Upon seeing this, Le Mulan’s heart stirred: “‘Medicine that is not medicine’—so they want us to create health supplements?”

Health supplements—the crown jewels among pharmaceuticals—could yield enormous profits at minimal cost, a dream pursued by countless students and faculty in the College of Medicine.

Le Mulan never expected the Ling Su Pavilion’s re-test would begin with such a difficult challenge.

“And none of the provided materials are labeled… meaning we must experiment ourselves to determine their properties?”

She instantly realized yet another layer of difficulty: she had to concoct a supplement that wouldn’t kill anyone, using only what was available.

“The lower the cost and the fewer the side effects, the higher the score.”

“Moreover, the supplement must actually work.”

When the test concluded, the examiner swallowed each candidate’s creation one by one. Within his body, his spiritual power and arcane essence functioned like a vast factory, meticulously extracting, analyzing, recording every medicinal property before rendering judgment.

“Slightly better than shit.”

“Worse than shit.”

“Even worse than shit-after-shit…”

The more he tasted, the more irritable he grew: “You bunch of lower-realm beasts—even the shit I casually drop is more nutritious than your so-called medicines!”

Just then, after swallowing yet another concoction, his eyes suddenly lit up: “Hmm? What’s this?”

Streams of analytical data regarding the medicine flooded his vision. After hours of verification, the examiner arrived at a conclusion that astonished even himself.

…

Back in Zhang Yu’s chamber, Le Mulan spoke uneasily: “During the re-test, I ingested raw materials to test their properties—and one herb unexpectedly increased my spiritual power and triggered its transformation.”

Zhang Yu nodded. He had been intermittently aiding Le Mulan in strengthening her spiritual power, hoping to enhance her Deep Frost Meridian.

He hadn’t anticipated, however, that a sudden accident during the exam would cause her Deep Frost Meridian to undergo transformation right then and there.

And this transformed meridian left even Zhang Yu feeling a flicker of shock.

“The evolved Deep Frost Meridian doesn’t merely extend lifespan through spiritual power—it can also infuse that power into food or medicine, taking effect when consumed by others.”

“And flesh long nourished by the Deep Frost Meridian…”

Zhang Yu gazed at Le Mulan before him and thought silently, “has itself become a life-extending treasure. Even a single drop of her bodily fluids could rejuvenate another.”

After a moment’s reflection, he asked, “Do you think they’ll notice?”

Le Mulan shook her head. “I’m not sure. I tried my best not to leave behind any trace of spiritual power or bodily fluids, but the transformation happened so abruptly—I’m afraid I might have made a mistake.”

Until they could confirm her current condition, Zhang Yu had no choice but to keep Le Mulan close, instructing her to focus solely on cultivation and report any anomalies immediately.

A day later, the re-test results were officially announced, sending shockwaves through Levels One to Ten.

…

“How… is this possible?”

Wu Xiang True Lord stared at the two names on the interview shortlist—at Zhang Yu ranked first and himself second in the re-test scores—and felt a storm of fury and disbelief rage within him. “Zhang Yu? How could he possibly score nearly 20% higher than me?”

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

“I’ve accumulated strength over two lifetimes—how could I lose to someone with merely ten years of cultivation?”

“There’s foul play! Undoubtedly a conspiracy!”

“Zhang Yu must have cheated!”

Though both had advanced, the gap in their scores made Wu Xiang True Lord feel threatened—for the Imperial Law Pavilion offered only one spot.

He had staked everything on this chance to join the sect; he could not tolerate even the slightest possibility of failure.

Thus, a faint glint flickered in his eye sockets as he secretly contacted the sect disciples dispatched to the lower realms.

He would never allow anyone to jeopardize his spot in the sect.

Meanwhile, Examiner Lu Xuanzhi stared at the list of candidates who had advanced to the interview round, momentarily stunned.

“Zhang Yu? From Layer One? Scored high enough in the Third-Tier Exam Hall?”

“The one who perfectly combined ten sets of martial techniques back then… was him?”

Lu Xuanzhi was shocked—not by Zhang Yu’s results or talent, for in his eyes someone from Layer One simply couldn’t achieve such a feat.

“Who? Who helped him cheat?”

Lu Xuanzhi knew he himself hadn’t aided Zhang Yu, but as chief examiner, there was no way he could extricate himself from this scandal. The thought of being dragged into an entrance-exam corruption case made his face twist in bitter dismay.

“Sigh… you’ve truly ruined me.”

…

Inside an office at Wanfa University,

Yun Zhiguang gazed at the final interview shortlist, her eyes growing ever colder.

“Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, Le Mulan, Starfire True Lord…”

Her gaze shifted again, scanning further down—to Bai Zhenzhen on Tianjian Sect’s interview list, and Kuang Tianqing on Tianmo Sect’s.

“Just from Wanfa University alone, four have made it to interviews? And if we add Bai Zhenzhen and the others…”

What surprised Yun Zhiguang even more was that Zhang Yu had far outperformed a Reincarnated Cultivator in the second round.

To her, regardless of how he’d done it, this proved Zhang Yu might actually surpass that Reincarnated Cultivator.

“In the worst-case scenario—if all these lower-layer candidates pass their interviews, six from the lower strata will enter the sects. And if Wu Xiang True Lord’s registered position clashes with Zhang Yu and gets eliminated… Wanfa Sect might end up accepting only four Reincarnated Cultivators at most?”

Yun Zhiguang could already foresee Heaven Court seizing this as ample justification to push for standardized sect exams.

“And I’d be the one who let the most slip through…”

At that thought, she could almost see herself shouldering all the blame in the future.

“The sect will never allow these people to pass their interviews—the worst won’t happen.”

“But I can’t just sit back and rely on the interview panel to stop them. I must act preemptively…”

Yun Zhiguang refused to leave her fate in others’ hands. She resolved to influence events herself.

Her eyes locked onto each name on the list, and detailed dossiers instantly materialized before her.

Files on Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, Le Mulan, and Starfire True Lord unfolded clearly in her vision, laying bare every record concerning the four.

Even their chat logs, transaction histories, and surveillance footage from Layer One appeared before her in perfect clarity.

“Yu Xinghan—a penniless wretch who studied alongside Zhang Yu since Layer One, shared a dorm with him in university, and now serves as a senior executive in Zhang Yu’s company.”

“Le Mulan—similar circumstances, plus… she funded Zhang Yu back in Layer One. An early seed client.”

“Starfire True Lord… Hmph. A washed-up old man who got eliminated, yet somehow guided Zhang Yu in Songyang City and helped him secure admission to Wanfa University?”

In Yun Zhiguang’s view, these four finalists clearly revolved around Zhang Yu, their connections intricate and deliberate—an orchestrated scheme aimed squarely at breaking through the sect exams and normalizing lower-world admissions.

“Could it be the Orthodox Deities?”

“Or those big factions within the sect?”

These so-called “University Faction” members were also known as the Progressives—but Yun Zhiguang would never deign to call them that.

She knew well that cultivators from Wanfa University had long sought to expand pathways for lower-world aspirants to join the sect, increasing the number of university graduates within its ranks.

Yet a moment later, she shook her head, realizing speculation was useless right now.

“The simplest solution is to make Zhang Yu withdraw from the sect exams.”

With that thought, Yun Zhiguang decided to employ the crudest, most direct method available.

…

“Zhang Yu.”

“Give up the interview.”

Yun Zhiguang looked down at Zhang Yu before her, pinned him firmly beneath her foot, then sat squarely atop him.

“If you agree to abandon the interview,” she declared haughtily, gazing down at him, “I’ll marry you.”

“You’ll gain entry to Layer Eleven through kinship ties—and the right to take the sect exam there.”

“This isn’t just my promise—it’s the sect’s offer to you.”

As she spoke, she leaned forward until her face hovered inches from his. “Accept it. Otherwise, even if you attend the interview, the sect will never let you pass. Better to choose dignity now than suffer humiliation later.”

Zhang Yu felt the crushing weight pressing down on him—like the full might of the sect itself bearing down upon his shoulders.

He took a deep breath and asked, “And if I refuse?”

Yun Zhiguang sneered. Her robes began bursting apart, piece by piece. “Then don’t blame me. It’s all for the sect—I apologize in advance.”

Alarmed, Zhang Yu cried out, “Wait! What are you going to do?!!”

(End of Chapter)