Chapter 228: The Third Stage of the Physical Body
In the audience section.
The civil engineering representative from Myriad Laws University, Husky Head, watched the results of the stage and nodded in satisfaction.
“Excellent, excellent. Ye Lingxiao is sharp and adapts well to physical changes. If he gets fitted with office-use bionics in the future, he’ll be a prime candidate for Feng Shui and formation array design. Working 48-hour days should be no problem for him.”
“Zhang Yu’s body is progressing even faster than his Dao heart, which means his body is better than his brain. He’ll definitely be a natural at digging ditches on a construction site. He won’t need many bionics, either; he can just serve as an all-purpose body cultivator. Not only is that better than a magical treasure, but crucially, his food expenses would definitely be cheaper than magical treasure rental fees.”
At this, he couldn’t help but smile. “One for design, one for construction. These two are destined to become the twin stars of my civil engineering department.”
He was already growing impatient, wanting to recruit them both.
He thought to himself, Market competition is fierce these days. On one hand, the bankruptcy, demonic corruption, and sudden death rates for civil engineering students are rising year after year, so there’s a constant shortage of capable students. On the other hand, those demonic beasts from Heavenly Demon University are engaging in low-price competition, and the department’s profits keep dropping.
If these two are properly nurtured, they’ll surely surpass those ox demons, horse demons, dragon demons, and elephant demons, and help me make a lot more money…
As for why he prioritized current students over graduates, it was obvious: graduates’ salaries were too high. They just weren’t as cost-effective as students.
Beside him, the Cat Head from the finance department heard Husky Head’s musings and nodded slightly. “Those two are indeed not bad.”
“Although they’re not rich enough, so their Immortal Dao foundation is a bit lacking.”
“But in the grand scheme of the Heavenly Dao, there’s always a glimmer of hope for one to climb the path of the Immortal Dao.”
“Their Immortal Dao foundation might be a little weak, but that means their borrowing potential is very high.”
“If they get into Myriad Laws, you can send them to me. I can help them set up a student loan.”
After a pause, the Cat Head added a word of caution, “However, I can see that quite a few people here are interested in them. If you split your bet evenly between the two, you might not get either.”
“You’d be better off concentrating your budget and focusing on one of them to increase your chances of success.”
Husky Head looked thoughtful. “You have a point…”
The Cat Head asked curiously, “So which one are you going to focus your budget on?”
Husky Head smiled faintly. “Ye Lingxiao, of course. Between the two, he’s the stronger one at the moment.”
“Besides, he’s already a senior and will be enrolling in six months. We can put him to use right away.”
“As for that Zhang Yu… his college entrance exam isn’t until next year. We can worry about him next year. There’s no rush.”
While the two representatives from Myriad Laws University discussed their future arrangements, the Smiling Face emoji turned to her son. “See? Was I wrong? Isn’t Ye Lingxiao the more useful one?”
“His low synchronization rate with the bionics clearly shows that Zhang Yu’s brain isn’t as sharp as Ye Lingxiao’s.”
“You could actually see that from the last stage. After all, poverty limits one’s perspective, and he lacked that kind of training from a young age…”
The Laughing-Crying Face next to her nodded distractedly, thinking, So what if he’s not as good as Ye Lingxiao? Can’t I just have them both?
Anyway, I can only use Ye Lingxiao for half a year. Zhang Yu still has a year and a half until university. It’s perfect timing for him to take over as our high school poster boy after Ye Lingxiao leaves.
Meanwhile, Huang Zichou had nearly finished explaining the rules for the third stage.
Zhang Yu processed the details of the final test in his mind. So I have to compete with Ye Lingxiao using a Dragon-Binding Rope to test our physical performance under various hazardous conditions?
High temperature, low temperature, high pressure, potent toxins, strong acids, strong alkalis, extreme gravity…
In the examination room for this final stage, Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao would be subjected to a random sequence of different hazardous environments.
Under such drastically changing conditions, even their powerful physiques would be in mortal danger.
Huang Zichou reminded them again, “The cost of treatment after the exam is sponsored by the Wan Quan Medical Insurance Company. The moment you feel you can no longer hold on, press the alarm device immediately, and I will safely transport you out for medical care.”
“I must remind you again, the high-risk environments in this stage, with their rapid changes, have the potential to kill you.”
“So, the instant you feel you can’t endure, surrender.”
“If you die in the examination hall, we will not be held responsible for this exam, and you will not receive any compensation…”
To make this point crystal clear, Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao, under the watchful eyes of the five righteous gods, both signed a contract. They pledged that regardless of whether they were disabled, grievously injured, or killed in the final stage—no matter the harm suffered—they would not pursue liability, demand compensation, or disclose the events to the public…
Looking at the densely packed lines listing potential injuries, followed by the extensive list of rights they were waiving, Zhang Yu felt the danger of the next stage more acutely than ever.
But having come this far, Zhang Yu had no intention of backing down. He just wondered, But this whole ‘you could die’ part… is that just a deliberate tactic to pressure us?
If we misjudge and find ourselves on the brink of death, in a danger that exceeds our limits, will the righteous gods really not save us?
Knowing Kunxu’s track record, creating an exam this dangerous… it actually seems possible.
Meanwhile, Huang Zichou was thinking to himself, Lord Deng is truly a sixth-rank High God. This examination item is comprehensive, the results will be irrefutable, and we can also sell the test data on peak Qi Refinement bodies under various conditions. Truly killing two birds with one stone.
But what seemed incredibly dangerous to Zhang Yu was only one part of the test.
Within this hazardous environment, he and Ye Lingxiao would stand on a high platform, each holding one end of a Dragon-Binding Rope.
The so-called Dragon-Binding Rope, as Huang Zichou had just explained, was a long chain forged from high-strength materials, rumored to be a type of restraining device once used to imprison great dragons.
Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao would each grip one end of the Dragon-Binding Rope. The first to pull their opponent off the platform would win the examination.
If either of them let go of the rope, it would also be an immediate loss.
And, of course, whoever could not withstand the high-risk environment would also be declared the loser.
Huang Zichou stated, “This stage tests not only your vitality and physical resilience in a high-risk environment, but also your physical strength and the potential your body can unleash under such extreme pressure.”
“And the key to it all is this high pressure.”
“Compared to the road that lies ahead, high school may have been your last chance to relax…”
What the hell… Zhang Yu cursed internally. In what universe is high school relaxing?!
Huang Zichou continued, “Once you enter university, you will have truly set foot on the Immortal Dao. In those ten years of university, you will not have a single moment to relax. The pressure you face will only grow greater with each passing year.”
“Sudden death, bankruptcy, dropping out, demonic corruption… all manner of threats will relentlessly assail you, forcing you to unleash your potential.”
“The focus of this stage is to test what kind of potential you can display under various high-pressure situations…”
“You will now have a half-hour rest period to recover from the exertion and effects of the first two stages.”
“In half an hour, the final stage of the examination will officially begin.”
Just as Huang Zichou announced the half-hour break, Zhang Yu suddenly asked, “Examiner, will the drugs in the medicine cabinet still be available during this half hour?”
Huang Zichou was momentarily taken aback by the question.
In the internal network, a righteous god immediately voiced their opposition.
Mu Guiyin said, “The match hasn’t even officially started. What’s the point of eating? It’s just an unnecessary increase to the budget.”
As the minor gods began to object, Huang Zichou remained silent. After all, spending extra money was a great enemy of the righteous gods; anyone who supported it would surely become a target of public criticism.
But just then, Huang Zichou received a message from Deng Bingding.
Lord Deng? She’s asking me to support making the drugs available? Huang Zichou stared at the message, stunned for a second, but then decisively spoke up, “Exam drugs should be taken before the exam, shouldn’t they? I see no problem with it.”
As the minor gods began to argue, they eventually turned their gazes to Deng Bingding. As the ultimate arbiter, the sixth-rank righteous god made her decision. “Mu Guiyin has a point (thumbs up), but Zichou is also right (thumbs up).”
“I think we’ll make the drugs available for the 15 minutes before the exam.”
At this, Deng Bingding smiled slightly and added, “The sponsor also mentioned that they’ve rarely seen someone enjoy taking drugs as much as Zhang Yu. They can sense a kind of hunger for drugs from him. They particularly like his enthusiasm and are willing to donate another batch of alchemical enhancers to let Zhang Yu have his fill.”
So, after a 15-minute rest, as the medicine cabinet opened, Zhang Yu quickly walked over, grabbed a large bottle of potion, and chugged it down.
At the same time, his Technique-Chaining Diagram had already switched into the High School Sacred Body state, and his ability to handle and metabolize the drug load was pushed to the absolute limit of the Qi Refinement stage.
Zhang Yu felt the consumed drug explode into a roaring medicinal force within him, and moments later, waves of medicinal toxins began to converge on the ‘Zen’ character on his chest.
Excellent. I’ll use this chance for free drugs to continue accumulating medicinal toxins over the next fifteen minutes…
On the other side, Ye Lingxiao approached the medicine cabinet and only took a few combat drugs for increasing explosive power and restoring stamina and energy, planning to consume them just before the test began.
For him, there was no shortage of drugs in his daily life. Consuming too many before the exam would only divert his focus to digestion and add an extra burden to his body.
Then, Ye Lingxiao touched the Spirit-Splitting Elixir (Dao-Dissolving Sustained-Release Capsule) he had brought with him and thought, I’ll take this right before the exam. With dual-track thinking, combined with my bloodline’s potential, I will use my strongest state to win this match. That should make the university representatives offer even better recruitment terms.
Having reached the final stage, Ye Lingxiao had no hesitation about going all-out from the very beginning.
The only thing giving him pause was whether his strongest state was achieved with one, or two, Spirit-Splitting Elixirs.
On this point, the laboratory had not reached a definitive conclusion before he left for the Foundation Establishment examination today.
Taking two might make me stronger, but it could also have unforeseen consequences.