Chapter 221: Divine Spiritual Root

Previous Foundation Establishment exams had never had spectators. In Zhang Yu’s view, this was to protect the students’ information and prevent their situations from being known to the outside world.

“But what does this situation mean?”

“Are they going to announce the exam results to the entire world?”

Zhang Yu frowned, looking at the spectator stands, and suddenly noticed that the people in the stands were a bizarre collection of figures: there were cartoon characters, video game characters, and even someone who looked like an emoji. Only a few had the appearance of real people.

Are they watching remotely through the network?

Not long after Zhang Yu arrived at the examination venue, Ye Lingxiao also appeared. When he saw the spectators in the stands, he, too, was momentarily stunned.

At the same time, the voice of the righteous god Huang Zichou was transmitted directly into the ears of Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao.

“There is no need for you two to be nervous. These spectators are all from various universities on the second layer of Kunxu; they are not people from the first layer.”

“After observing your competition, they will report back to their respective schools and departments. When you apply to university in the future, they will offer you better terms.”

“This is an opportunity the Divine Department has specially arranged for you, allowing you to shine in this final examination hall so that you will have more opportunities for development when you ascend to the second layer in the future.”

As for whether being watched like this would affect the candidates’ performance, that was not a consideration for Huang Zichou and the other gods.

What kind of expert isn’t watched?

Let alone being watched, participating in live streams, shooting commercials, giving speeches, being cyberbullied… experiencing all sorts of major events under countless gazes and maintaining mental stability to calmly exert one’s strength—these were all qualities an Immortal Dao expert must possess.

If a candidate became too nervous due to the crowd’s gaze, to the point of performing poorly and ultimately losing the Foundation Establishment certificate, it only meant that their aptitude and talent were still insufficient.

Hearing Huang Zichou’s words, both Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao felt a jolt of excitement.

Zhang Yu felt he understood now; this was like admissions officers from the upper layers coming down to select outstanding talent, wasn’t it?

Then if I manage to snatch the Foundation Establishment certificate in this exam, will several of the Ten Greats try to recruit me at the same time in the future? And offer me even better conditions?

At this thought, Zhang Yu grew even more excited. As the blood surged through his body and his temperature rose, his anticipation for the upcoming exam intensified.

Huang Zichou looked at the clearly more invigorated expressions of Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao and thought, This benefit is indeed for you.

But it’s also a chance for us to sell some tickets, open a betting pool, and recoup some of our costs.

These two kids were too much of a drain in the last round; they used up a lot of the exam budget.

Huang Zichou then continued to speak to the two of them. “In addition to this benefit, the winner of this exam will receive a 3 million yuan interest-free loan, their choice of one expert-grade cultivation technique, and the opportunity to designate a professor upon entering university.”

“The loser will also receive a 3 million yuan interest-free loan, one expert-grade cultivation technique, and bonus points for future Foundation Establishment exams.”

After hearing this, Zhang Yu thought, Designate a professor?

Zhang Yu had heard from Fu Ji that after entering university, choosing the right professor was extremely important.

On the second layer of Kunxu and above, for the vast majority of people, one’s sect and master were more important than one’s family background.

Zhang Yu glanced at Ye Lingxiao beside him and saw his slightly agitated expression, knowing that this must be an excellent reward. Otherwise, a wealthy person like him wouldn’t be so excited.

Next, Huang Zichou explained the rules for the final round of the Foundation Establishment exam.

“This final round of your Foundation Establishment exam consists of three trials.”

“The focus of the test is not just on your current strength, but also on your potential after you establish your foundation. The goal is to select which of you two is more qualified to establish a foundation first…”

While Huang Zichou was explaining the rules of the examination hall.

In the spectator stands, two emojis were having a conversation.

A smiling emoji said, “See him? That’s Ye Lingxiao. When you are assigned to the first layer next month to oversee the Oasis Group’s operations, this Ye Lingxiao will assist you within the group.”

Next to the smiling emoji was a laughing-crying emoji, who replied, “Oh? So that means this Ye Lingxiao is going to win the Foundation Establishment certificate today, right?”

The smiling emoji nodded and said, “The average intelligence and learning ability of the students on the first layer are indeed a bit lacking, but it’s not entirely devoid of talent. This Ye Lingxiao is not bad.”

“Moreover, the Ye family behind him has some influence on the first layer. He’s not from some small, impoverished family, so he understands the rules.”

“When he represents the Ye family to assist you, you must remember…”

The smiling emoji was halfway through its sentence when it was interrupted by the laughing-crying emoji.

“Mom, I know, don’t worry. I will be courteous to my subordinates and treat them well. I won’t bully them with my authority.”

The smiling emoji sighed upon hearing this and said, “I’m not afraid you’ll bully them; I’m afraid you’ll be deceived by them.”

“Son, you are just too soft-hearted and tend to be too good to your subordinates.”

“You must remember one thing: these people below are like the dogs you used to keep. If you are too good to them, let them eat their fill, they will start to think they are truly your equals, get ideas they shouldn’t, and even want a seat at the table, want to bite you back.”

“You must learn to keep them hungry, to feed them with your own hands, to learn how to discipline them, to make them fear you.”

“Remember, you are going there to control them, not to make friends with them…”

Listening to the smiling emoji’s long lecture, the laughing-crying emoji didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“How have I been deceived?”

“Last time, after you used the legal killing certificate, you didn’t kill a single person and even paid those passersby so much money…”

The laughing-crying emoji said helplessly, “I don’t kill people in the first place. Look, have I ever killed anyone since I got my killing certificate?”

“That time, I was short on materials for a Daoist art and wanted to use the arms and legs of a few passersby for the spell. I only used the killing certificate to avoid any misunderstanding with the righteous gods. As for paying them afterward, that was just buying their flesh and blood…”

The smiling emoji sighed. “You still paid too much. Just a few arms and legs, yet you paid the price of a life.”

“If your father were here, he wouldn’t have wasted money like that. You are still too soft-hearted… Son, you have a legal killing certificate. You are not killing illegally; you are killing legally. You can get a discount when you pay compensation, especially since the ones you killed were unregistered individuals, which makes them even more worthless.”

“If you continue to be so wasteful, not even knowing how to use discounts and coupons, all the money our family has won’t be enough for you to squander.”

In the examination hall, Huang Zichou had finished explaining the content and rules of the first trial.

To test their physical potential, they would be temporarily granted a Divine Spiritual Root for this trial.

The Divine Spiritual Root, an item that surpassed the Human, Earth, and Heavenly Spiritual Roots, was considered a military-grade power, and until now, only the military and some special government departments had been able to use it.

Hearing that he would be able to temporarily use a Divine Spiritual Root in this exam, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but feel a stir of excitement in his heart.

“The standards for this Foundation Establishment exam really are high.”

“To be able to use a Divine Spiritual Root in the examination hall…”

The specific content of the assessment was to compare how much of the Divine Spiritual Root’s performance Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao could each utilize.

Zhang Yu thought, According to the proctor’s explanation, to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm, one needs to plant the spiritual root into the dantian. During the breakthrough, the spiritual root is transformed into one’s own new organ, propelling the sublimation of body and mind, and finally stepping into the Foundation Establishment realm…

Zhang Yu had known for a long time that to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm, besides a level-10 Dao heart and 60 points of magic power, the most important thing was a spiritual root.

And in Huang Zichou’s description, during the process of breaking through to Foundation Establishment and planting the spiritual root, the stronger the physical body, and the fewer hidden injuries, damages, imperfections, and even impurities and toxins within it, the more of the spiritual root’s performance one could unleash, and the stronger one’s power would be after the breakthrough.

Huang Zichou thought, Qi Refinement high school students often resort to unscrupulous means to improve their cultivation, using methods that tax their potential for quick results.

In this process, it is easy to accumulate too many hidden injuries and toxins in the body, damaging their potential and harming their foundation.

Often, two people who appear to have similarly powerful bodies may have vastly different achievements after Foundation Establishment for this very reason.

This Divine Spiritual Root trial is designed to test for this.

The reason for using a Divine Spiritual Root was that, in the righteous gods’ view, the upper limit of a Heavenly Spiritual Root was still a bit too low, and they worried it wouldn’t be able to measure the difference between the two contestants.

At that moment, two long black boxes were brought before Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao.

Zhang Yu opened his box and saw a black combat suit inside.

Huang Zichou introduced it, “This is an external spiritual root for military use, a Divine Spiritual Root combat suit. However, all extra functions have been removed, leaving only the most basic Divine Spiritual Root.”

“Once you put it on, the Divine Spiritual Root will enter your body and provide you with a continuous supply of magic power and stamina…”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu changed into the black combat suit; the black top and pants enveloped his entire body.

The next moment, he felt as if the suit had come alive, with countless tendrils seeming to connect to his skin, as if it were glued tightly to him.

Huang Zichou continued, “Channel magic power through this Divine Spiritual Root combat suit to activate the Divine Spiritual Root within.”

As Zhang Yu poured his magic power into the combat suit, the entire suit suddenly tightened, fitting even more snugly against his body.

At the same time, the spiritual energy in the air seemed to let out a deafening roar, surging toward him like a tsunami.

An endless amount of spiritual energy poured into the combat suit, and in the next moment, it was transformed into streams of pure magic power, merging with the magic power Zhang Yu had infused into the suit. It was like an external magic power circulation system, beginning to continuously replenish his magic power.

In addition, an unending stream of spiritual energy was converted into vital essence and injected into Zhang Yu’s body, replenishing his stamina.

In the span of a single breath, Zhang Yu felt his magic power and stamina restored to their peak states.

And on the cuff of his combat suit, the number 0.03% suddenly appeared.

This represented that he was currently utilizing only 0.03% of the Divine Spiritual Root’s power.