Chapter 226: The Burden of a Bionic
When Zhang Yu, with the aid of the eye bionic, saw the true face of the examination hall for the first time, his initial reaction was that it might not be so bad to go without one and see fewer advertisements.
But as he took a closer look at the myriad light screens blanketing the floor and the various ads they displayed, he realized he had oversimplified things.
A massive amount of information about spiritual roots, bionics, and their prices flooded into his mind.
“A former Divine Spiritual Root? Can military-grade spiritual roots be downgraded and released to the civilian market?”
“And the prices of these spiritual roots and bionics… 4.99? 2.98?”
Seeing these prices, Zhang Yu’s first reaction was naturally one of shock.
“Did global prices shrink by a factor of ten million, with only my money remaining unchanged?”
But Zhang Yu quickly dismissed such a preposterous idea.
He then noticed the words “spirit coins” written after the prices in some of the advertisements.
Spirit coins? Is that the currency they use up here? It seems these spirit coins are incredibly valuable. You can buy a spiritual root for just a few of them?
At this thought, a slight sigh escaped him internally. These ads all over the floor alone contain a countless amount of information.
If I get into a university and don’t use an eye bionic, I won’t even be able to see the ads, let alone all the other useful information. The information gap between me and someone with an eye bionic would be immense…
If I were that poor, I probably wouldn’t even have a chance to turn my life around.
This mere tip of the iceberg was enough to make Zhang Yu realize the importance of the eye bionic.
But in the next moment, he suddenly felt a wave of discomfort in his eyes.
He instinctively reached for his eye sockets, only to feel nothing, his hand failing to obstruct his vision in any way.
That’s right, my perception of my eyes has been severed.
The sensation in my eyes right now is coming from the bionic… Is the bionic itself uncomfortable?
This disorienting mismatch, his fingers touching his eyes while his eyes felt nothing, made Zhang Yu profoundly uneasy.
It was as if his eye sockets were telling him that he no longer had eyeballs.
But his brain, his consciousness, insisted that he did have eyes—not only did he have eyes, but he was also hosting a pair of eye-type bionics.
The feeling of unease intensified when the bionic’s gaze swept in his direction, forcing him to look at himself lying on the surgical table from a third-person perspective.
It even seemed to deepen the discomfort emanating from his eye bionic.
Just then, two numbers materialized above Zhang Yu’s and Ye Lingxiao’s heads, indicating their current synchronization rate with the bionics.
Zhang Yu 97%
Ye Lingxiao 99%
At the same time, Huang Zichou’s voice was heard. “In the process of body tempering cultivation, as physical strength increases, a cultivator’s control over their body also rises. The bond between body and mind grows more intimate with each session of ascetic training.”
“When you become accustomed to the powerful physique you’ve built bit by bit, accustomed to this state of intimate connection between body and mind, any slight disharmony between the two will cause you discomfort.”
Zhang Yu nodded slightly in his mind. He knew that although this body had once belonged to the original Zhang Yu, a year of relentless ascetic training had made him completely accustomed to it. Through repeatedly pushing past his limits and practicing cultivation techniques, he had become inseparable from it.
Huang Zichou continued from the front, “The more closely body and mind are integrated, the more discord one feels after connecting to a bionic, which in turn lowers the synchronization rate.”
“And as the synchronization rate drops, you may experience various reactions like nausea, agitation, phantom pain, and hallucinations. Don’t worry, this is all normal.”
“Just like now; the original connection to your eyes has been severed and linked to the eye bionic. Your brain thinks your eyes are gone, but the bionic tells you they are there. Caught in this contradiction, your brain might determine that you are injured, and gradually begin to produce phantom pain…”
Meanwhile, in the righteous gods’ network, several examiners were evaluating the two candidates’ performance.
A minor god named Mu Guiyin commented, “Zhang Yu’s physical body is indeed powerful. But it is precisely because it is so powerful, and he relies on it so much, that it becomes harder for him to adapt after switching to a bionic.”
“In contrast, Ye Lingxiao has undergone various surgeries since he was in his mother’s womb. He has been modified countless times growing up and is long accustomed to sudden bodily changes.”
“And with his magic power at 100, given the Ye family’s resources, he must have experimented with numerous bionics. Though he eventually switched back to his own body after practicing with them, his acceptance of bionics is undoubtedly very high.”
Mu Guiyin sighed, “This is the difference in foundation. This gap will surely be further reflected in the synchronization rate data for this stage, keeping Ye Lingxiao’s rate consistently higher than Zhang Yu’s.”
“Of course, there is one more crucial reason why Ye Lingxiao will ultimately win…”
Hearing Mu Guiyin’s lament, Huang Zichou thought to himself, This Mu Guiyin fellow was strongly supporting Ye Lingxiao during the last stage as well.
Just how many shares in Oasis Group and the Ye family did this guy have people buy on the side?
Despite his internal grumbling, Huang Zichou had to admit that Mu Guiyin was right; Ye Lingxiao’s advantage in this stage was overwhelming.
After Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao had a moment to adapt to the Foresight bionic, Huang Zichou brought out the second bionic for this stage.
A pure white, yet strikingly lifelike, arm floated before Huang Zichou.
He introduced it, saying, “This is the professional-grade arm bionic from Heavenly Martial Group—Sword Mound.”
“As a veteran enterprise specializing in the research and development of combat bionics, this lightweight Sword Mound can be said to be a fusion of all the best features of previous generations, making it a very suitable bionic for Foundation Establishment cultivators.”
“Not only is it made from high-strength materials capable of withstanding the power clashes of Foundation Establishment cultivators, but after infusing it with magic power, it can also automatically convert that magic power into high-energy sword qi.”
“Furthermore, Sword Mound can store one level-20 sword art within it.”
“There are currently thousands of sword arts available in the Heavenly Martial Store. Simply place an order, download the art to Sword Mound, and install it to immediately possess a level-20 sword art.”
“With a single thought, Sword Mound can execute the sword art according to preset tactics, with combat assistance from the internal artifact spirit to correct the trajectory of the sword moves…”
As Huang Zichou was introducing Sword Mound, light screens lit up all around, displaying a user wielding Sword Mound and unleashing streams of sword qi.
Watching this, Zhang Yu thought to himself, Is this a bionic meant for the Foundation Establishment stage?
It can even store sword arts…
Zhang Yu felt with increasing certainty that wealth played an even greater role in the Immortal Dao at the university level.
However, he quickly pushed that thought aside. The immediate priority was this Foundation Establishment examination.
I wonder if these righteous gods chose a Foundation Establishment-level bionic because they were afraid a Qi Refinement one wouldn’t test us enough, or if it was just for advertising, instead of picking one that could be used at the Qi Refinement stage.
Zhang Yu understood that among professional-grade bionics, a Foundation Establishment one would certainly be stronger and have a greater burden than one for Qi Refinement.
It was similar to how an advanced Foundation Establishment cultivation technique was definitely more powerful and more difficult to cultivate than an advanced Qi Refinement one.
He secretly speculated, The burden from this Foundation Establishment bionic must be considerable.
As if sensing the two candidates’ concerns, Huang Zichou offered some reassurance, “Although Sword Mound is designed specifically for the Foundation Establishment stage, you will not be implanting the bionic this time.”
“Neither your blood circulation, muscle strength, nor your flesh and bones will be truly connected to the bionic.”
“You also won’t need to use magic power to maintain the bionic’s operation. There are no magic power requirements, nor are there side effects like rejection between materials and cells…”
“We are only temporarily connecting your neural signals to the bionic to simulate the feeling of having one. This allows for connecting the neural signals of multiple bionics, including those from the Foundation Establishment stage.”
Zhang Yu understood. This test was ultimately about challenging their bodies’ adaptability to unfamiliar bionics through a remote neural signal connection. It was still a long way from a true implantation, which was why they could connect to this Foundation Establishment-grade bionic.
A few moments later, after Huang Zichou had finished his introduction, he once again used the talisman from the Ministry of Health, just as before, to sever the connection between Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao and their right arms.
In that instant, Zhang Yu felt an emptiness below his right shoulder, no longer able to sense even the slightest trace of his arm.
However, this sensation only lasted for about ten seconds. Soon, Zhang Yu could feel the presence of a new arm.
He watched as the Sword Mound, levitating in mid-air under the effect of divine power, clenched its fist, bent its arm, and swung about… performing various actions according to his thoughts.
But the more he tried to adapt to the arm bionic, the more awkward he felt. Even Sword Mound’s movements seemed to have a slight delay, always a beat behind his intentions.
The next moment, Sword Mound came to a complete stop, refusing to budge no matter how Zhang Yu willed it.
Seeing this, Zhang Yu’s heart sank. Has my synchronization rate dropped so much that I can’t even maintain a connection with this bionic anymore?
Just then, a voice emanated from Sword Mound: “Your free trial has expired. Please watch a video to receive more time.”
At the same time, Zhang Yu noticed that Ye Lingxiao’s Sword Mound had also stopped and was issuing the same warning.
What the hell… Zhang Yu cursed internally. Are you kidding me? Pulling this during an exam? Do I really have to watch an ad now?
Nearby, Huang Zichou quickly explained, “We must have accidentally used up too much of the free time during previous tests.”
“For daily use, as long as you become a member of the Heavenly Martial Store, you can skip the ads.”
Zhang Yu watched as the man directed his explanation toward the audience seats.
So you’re not explaining to the candidates at all, just directly to potential customers, is that it?
And what the hell… your concern isn’t about the mishap during the exam, but about the product’s user experience.
Meanwhile, Huang Zichou was typing in the internal network, “Everyone, hurry and use the link I sent you to help watch the videos. If we each watch one, the rewarded free time will be enough for the exam.”
And so, the five righteous god examiners on site immediately let their minds drift, collectively watching videos through the divine power network.
As for simply paying for a membership? Who would foot the bill? What kind of expense would that even be classified as? How would it be reimbursed?
At that thought, the five righteous gods decided it was better to just patiently watch the videos.