Chapter 750: The Re-examination Ends
After successfully combining the first martial art and obtaining the technique known as “Martial One,” Zhang Yu discovered that it belonged to a Chain Method Diagram Set called “Formless Martial Art.”
Although he still didn’t know the effects of this “Formless Martial Art,” a suspicion couldn’t help but rise in his mind.
“Based on my previous experience, the cultivation arts within a Chain Method Diagram Set either have compatible affinities, share some intrinsic connection, or even originate from the same sect’s lineage or were developed by the same person.”
“In that case…”
Zhang Yu gazed at the light screens before him, thinking to himself, “Could it be that all ten martial arts in this test belong to the Formless Martial Art Chain Method Diagram?”
As this thought flickered through his mind, his consciousness continued to race, drawing upon his vast experience in the martial dao and cultivation arts to identify the martial art fragments on the light screens. He then attempted to combine them, verifying his results with the Feather Book.
Zhang Yu had memorized all the content from the 100 light screens. At this moment, his brain felt like a high-speed computer, frantically deducing one martial art combination after another.
Soon after, information about the second cultivation art appeared directly before Zhang Yu.
“Martial Six… As expected, it also belongs to the ‘Formless Martial Art’ set.”
Seeing another martial art from the same Chain Method Diagram Set, Zhang Yu became completely certain that all ten martial arts in this test belonged to the “Formless Martial Art” set.
“It seems these ten martial arts are closely related. Perhaps… they were even dismantled from a single, complete martial art, much like the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power.”
“Formless Martial Art is a world-shaking martial art created by the Hall Master of the Myriad Laws Palace Hall.”
As the senior examiner, Yun Zhiguang watched the test screen, thinking to herself, “The ‘Form-Manifesting Martial Art’ was one of the martial arts the Hall Master of the Myriad Laws Palace Hall created after studying the Dao Repository, reviewing all the martial arts in the world, and deducing the origins of the martial dao.”
“The greatest feature of this martial art is its ability to simulate any martial art in the world, and even innovate upon them, unleashing power far greater than the original.”
Lu Xuanzhi sighed inwardly, “It is precisely for this reason that ‘Formless Martial Art’ was once considered the most vicious, most evil, and most forbidden martial art in existence.”
“The day this martial art came into existence, it triggered a Thunder Tribulation that caused a cascade of meltdowns in the crypto and stock markets. Countless martial dao research experts wailed in agony as they were bankrupted in an instant, dying under the tribulation’s wrath.”
“Fortunately… ‘Formless Martial Art’ is a world-shaking martial art that can only be truly mastered by comprehending the Dao Repository. This incredibly high threshold greatly reduced its potential for harm.”
“Later, ‘Formless Martial Art’ was dismantled into ten parts. While this significantly lowered the cultivation threshold, its power also plummeted. Although it could still simulate any martial art in the world, it could only unleash thirty to forty percent of the original’s power at most.”
“Even so, the ability to simulate any martial art in the world still qualified it as an Immortal Sect Martial Art, and it became a commonly used technique in the Edict Pavilion.”
Lu Xuanzhi understood that if the Edict Pavilion required cultivators to personally master every martial dao technique for verification, the process would be far too slow.
Thus, using the Formless Martial Art to simulate and verify martial arts became the most cost-effective method.
Now, these ten commonly used techniques from the Edict Pavilion had been repurposed as a challenging test for the examination candidates.
As time passed, the candidates in the projection before Lu Xuanzhi began to show their varying calibers in the test.
Lu Xuanzhi’s gaze swept over True Monarch Profound Excellence. He saw this Sect Examination Candidate from the Tenth Layer was currently restless and impatient. The light screens before him constantly rearranged, piecing together one martial art after another.
But in True Monarch Profound Excellence’s eyes, these martial arts had become a dazzling camouflage. It seemed that no matter how he combined them, they all looked correct, with no apparent errors.
“This seems right.”
“But arranging it this way also seems right?”
“Why? Why does every combination I try feel correct?”
Watching Profound Excellence dismantle a correctly assembled “Martial Eight” only to reassemble it into an incorrect version, Lu Xuanzhi thought to himself, “Lower Realm Natives are Lower Realm Natives after all. Unstable temperament, insufficient aptitude. Even when given an opportunity, you’re useless.”
However, the performance of the Reincarnated Being, True Monarch Martial Village, on the other side, greatly surprised Lu Xuanzhi.
He saw that the light screens were neatly categorized and arranged. He had already completed the assembly of all ten martial arts and was now writing his report, describing and evaluating each one.
As True Monarch Martial Village wrote, he thought to himself, “Hmph, the martial arts selected for this test are likely the dismantled version of the Edict Pavilion’s ‘Formless Martial Art’.”
“If I hadn’t known about this martial art from my time with the Higher Ups, I would have been lost after discovering that various combinations seemed to work.”
“But once you know that the Edict Pavilion’s martial art is used to simulate and verify all martial arts in the world, and that these ten sets are the Ten Great Categories of martial arts, then combining and deducing them becomes much simpler.”
Relying on the knowledge from his previous life and the martial arts accumulated over two lifetimes, True Monarch Martial Village finally completed the combination and deduction of all ten martial arts.
Although he was uncertain about a few parts of the mental cultivation techniques, he was confident that his performance was undoubtedly the best among all candidates from the First to Tenth Layers.
“I have accumulated knowledge over two lifetimes solely for the Sect Examination. In terms of effort and depth of accumulation, who in this Examination Field today can compare to me?”
“This Lower Realm Native is performing quite well,” Lu Xuanzhi judged as he reviewed True Monarch Martial Village’s (anonymous) answers. “He correctly assembled 8 of the 10 cultivation arts, with only minor errors in the combination of two mental cultivation techniques.”
The reason Lu Xuanzhi identified the candidate who correctly answered eight martial arts — True Monarch Martial Village — as a Lower Realm Native was simply because, when compared to Zhang Yu…
“This person completed all ten cultivation arts without a single error.”
Watching Zhang Yu’s performance, Lu Xuanzhi thought, “And he finished an hour early. This kid must be a Reincarnated Being, right? And…
Damn it, did he get the questions leaked to him beforehand?
In Lu Xuanzhi’s view, unless the test content was leaked, how could a Reincarnated Being possibly finish so quickly? And with 100% accuracy?
In Lu Xuanzhi’s understanding, Reincarnated Beings sent to the Lower Realm were failures eliminated by the Higher Ups, far inferior to Heavenly Chosen like himself who had entered the sect through legitimate examinations.
However, no matter how useless a Reincarnated Being was, they still came from the Higher Ups and were certainly far superior to the natives of the Lower Realm.
But this current result seemed far too blatant to Lu Xuanzhi.
Especially when he thought of the other Lower Realm native who had answered 8 questions correctly, he became increasingly convinced that the Reincarnated Being was specifically sent to prevent that candidate from entering the sect.
“This score would probably be enough to secure first place in the re-examination even in the Higher Realm.”
“If not for this score overshadowing everything, the other Lower Realm native who answered 8 questions correctly would likely have been first in the re-examination.”
“Those bastards from the Higher Ups have gone too far! Leaking questions, arranging someone to suppress a rival… If this cheating gets exposed, won’t I be held responsible?”
Though he grumbled inwardly, Lu Xuanzhi knew that, logically and emotionally, he couldn’t prevent this candidate from achieving a perfect score.
Just as Zhang Yu smoothly completed his test…
In another examination field, Yu Xinghan was participating in the re-examination for the Martial Arts Pavilion.
The Martial Arts Pavilion was the department within the Myriad Laws Sect specifically responsible for martial arts research and development.
This was the path Yu Xinghan had finally chosen after extensive research, combining intelligence from Zhang Yu and True Monarch Starfire, his Sect Examination Memories, and his own strengths.
At this moment, the test content was simple: he had to read a specially modified martial arts manual placed before him and point out its errors.
After briefly reviewing the manual, Yu Xinghan began practicing the martial art on the spot. As he cultivated, he used the Third Eye in his mind to observe himself, monitoring his own cultivation process.
In an instant, every wisp of Magic Power flowing through his body, every subtle movement of his muscles and vital energy, appeared clearly before him.
This was an advanced application of the Third Eye Mystic Power that Yu Xinghan had developed. By observing himself, he could constantly adjust for problems during cultivation and repeatedly rehearse in his mind to accelerate his training speed.
But beyond that, the most crucial aspect for Yu Xinghan right now was the Third Eye Mystic Power’s new function.
After his potential was further enhanced by Fu Ji, Yu Xinghan’s Third Eye Mystic Power began a new transformation, gaining even more powerful abilities.
Under the observation of his Third Eye, his mastery of this martial art grew increasingly refined, gradually falling into place. Then, one by one, flaws began to appear in his vision.
Perceiving the flaws in various martial arts through observation — this was the new ability of his Third Eye Mystic Power.
Of course, this flaw-detecting ability was also related to Yu Xinghan’s own cultivation and accumulated martial arts knowledge.
After all, with his Golden Core Realm cultivation, if he tried to observe a Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation cultivator performing a martial art, limitations in power, speed, and Magic Power would naturally make it difficult to spot any flaws.
Similarly, if he encountered a type of martial art he knew nothing about, the difficulty of detecting its flaws would increase accordingly.
Conversely, the lower the target’s cultivation and the more familiar he was with the martial art being used, the more efficient he would be at finding flaws.
At this moment, Yu Xinghan was using the advanced technique of self-observation to search for flaws in this martial art.
In his view, the more easily a flaw appeared, the more likely it was an error in the manual itself.
Watching Yu Xinghan point out one error after another, the Examiner thought to himself, “This candidate… not only has he identified all the deliberately planted errors, but he’s also pointed out the original martial art’s inherent defects? Could he be a Reincarnated Being?”
In another examination field, Kuang Tianqing was undergoing the Heart Demon Peak re-examination for the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Within layers of Illusionary Realms, he had to fiercely battle his Heart Demon and conquer the nightmares in his mind.
One after another, figures materialized before Kuang Tianqing, eight in total, surrounding him completely.
Each of these eight figures was towering and immensely powerful, each a master of astonishing skill and incredible patience. Each brought their unique ultimate techniques, staring at Kuang Tianqing like savage beasts.
And Kuang Tianqing himself, without realizing it, had transformed into an incomparably beautiful young woman.
As the familiar faces surrounded him, Kuang Tianqing seemed to recall the days he received guidance from the Eight Great Spirit Transformation masters — memories filled with immense pain and humiliation.
“This time, I will defeat you in my own way and completely overcome this Heart Demon.”
Watching the beautiful young woman fight the Eight Great Spirit Transformation masters with a face full of shame and indignation, the Examiner was inwardly shocked. “This guy…”
“Why is his Heart Demon trial so simple?
“This counts as a Heart Demon?
“Could he be a Reincarnated Being? Is this an arrangement from The Higher Ups?”
In the Heavenly Sword Sect’s examination field.
Bai Zhenzhen transformed into a white comet, weaving through a horde of Puppets.
“Yu Zi…”
Feeling the Feather Spirit Root in her belly, Bai Zhenzhen thought to herself, “Yu Zi is still inside me. I can still feel the warmth of his Spirit Root.”
Every time this thought crossed her mind, her Extreme Emotion Sword Qi surged violently.
Simultaneously, the dual blessings of the True Spirit Root and the Feather Spirit Root manifested upon her. This not only made each of her sword strikes stronger than the last but also allowed her to absorb a portion of the power from incoming attacks to heal her injuries.
Initially, the Examiner was unimpressed by Bai Zhenzhen’s performance.
“Extreme Emotion Sword Dao? There are still people in the Lower Realm cultivating this martial art? Their mental state must be unstable.”
But soon, the Examiner noticed something unusual about Bai Zhenzhen.
The Puppets she had previously struggled to even scratch were now being torn apart by her sword qi.
“Each strike is stronger than the last. This means she’s constantly adjusting her sword qi based on her opponents, searching for weaknesses, and striking the Puppets’ most vulnerable points. Judging by the results, she’s actually succeeding.”
“Her resilience is also impressive.”
“The Extreme Emotion Sword Qi is relentless and stable in its output, which suggests her mental state isn’t as problematic as I thought. Right, she passed the preliminary examination, so she must be a Sect Devotee. She’s likely mastered the new Extreme Emotion Sword Dao cultivation method developed in the Upper Realm.”
“It seems this girl must be a Reincarnated Being arranged by The Higher Ups.”
In the Myriad Laws Sect, within the Spiritual Purity Pavilion’s re-examination field.
A test of pharmaceutical development skills was underway.
The candidates had to use the materials provided on-site to develop a medicine based on the given topic.
And today’s test topic was: Medicine is Not Medicine.
Looking at the topic, Le Mulan’s heart stirred. “Medicine is Not Medicine… Does that mean we’re supposed to develop a health supplement?”
Health supplements, one of the crowns of the pharmaceutical world, often yielded immense profits from minimal costs. They were the coveted goal of countless students and teachers at the Pharmacy Institute.
Le Mulan hadn’t expected the Spiritual Purity Pavilion’s re-examination to start with such a difficult topic.
“And none of the materials on-site are labeled. Does that mean… we have to determine their medicinal properties through trial and error?”
Le Mulan instantly understood another layer of difficulty: they had to use the provided materials to create a health supplement that wouldn’t kill anyone.
“The lower the cost and the fewer the side effects, the higher the score will likely be.”
“On top of that, we have to ensure the supplement has practical effects.”
When the test concluded, the Examiner would consume each candidate’s creation one by one. His Magic Power and Bionic Body, like a massive factory, would collect, analyze, and record the medicinal properties within each concoction before he delivered his judgment.
“Slightly better than shit.”
“Worse than shit.”
“Even worse than shit’s shit…”
The Examiner grew increasingly agitated as he tasted each concoction. “You Lower Realm beasts! The shit I casually crap out is more nutritious than the potions you’ve made.”
Just then, after swallowing another potion, his eyes suddenly lit up. “Hmm? What’s this?”
A flood of data on the potion’s analysis appeared before his eyes. After several hours of verification, the Examiner reached a conclusion that astonished him.
Back in Zhang Yu’s room, Le Mulan spoke anxiously, “During the re-examination, I ingested some of the materials to test their properties. One of them actually increased my Magic Power and even caused it to transform.”
Zhang Yu nodded. He had been periodically helping Le Mulan enhance her Magic Power to upgrade her Profound Cold Meridian.
He just hadn’t expected an accident to cause her Profound Cold Meridian to level up right in the middle of the Examination Field.
The Profound Cold Meridian’s upgrade to the 3rd-tier even left Zhang Yu feeling a trace of shock.
“A 3rd-tier Profound Cold Meridian doesn’t just allow its Magic Power to further extend one’s lifespan; it can even infuse Magic Power into food and medicine, taking effect when others consume them.”
“And the flesh and blood nourished by the Profound Cold Meridian over a long period…”
Zhang Yu looked at Le Mulan and thought to himself, “…become Treasure Medicines capable of extending lifespan. Even a single drop of her bodily fluids would be enough to rejuvenate someone.”
After a moment of thought, Zhang Yu asked, “Do you think they’ll find out?”
Le Mulan shook her head. “I’m not sure. Although I did my best not to leave any traces of Magic Power or bodily fluids, the upgrade happened so suddenly. I’m afraid I might have made a mistake.”
Uncertain of the current situation, Zhang Yu could only have Le Mulan stay by his side and focus on her cultivation, telling her to report any problems to him immediately.
A day later, the results of the re-examination were officially announced, stirring up a storm across layers 1 to 10.
“How… is this possible?”
True Monarch Martial Village stared at the two names on the interview shortlist. Seeing Zhang Yu ranked first in the re-examination scores and himself second, a wave of shock and anger surged through him. “Zhang Yu? How could his score be nearly 20% higher than mine?”
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”
“How could my two lifetimes of accumulation lose to his mere ten years of cultivation?”
“Foul play! This is definitely foul play!”
“This Zhang Yu must have cheated!”
Although both had made the shortlist, the score gap made True Monarch Martial Village feel threatened. There was only one position available.
True Monarch Martial Village had gambled everything on this Sect Examination. He absolutely could not accept even the slightest possibility of failure.
A glint flashed in his Bionic Eye as he contacted the sect disciple who had descended to the Lower Realm for this occasion.
He would not let anyone jeopardize his spot in the sect.
Meanwhile, Examiner Lu Xuanzhi stared at the interview shortlist, momentarily stunned.
“Zhang Yu? From the First Layer? He took the exam in the Third Layer’s Examination Field?”
“The one who perfectly combined ten sets of martial arts… was him?”
Lu Xuanzhi was shocked, but not by Zhang Yu’s score or talent. In his view, someone from the First Layer simply couldn’t achieve this.
“Who? Who helped him cheat?”
Lu Xuanzhi knew he wasn’t the one who had helped Zhang Yu cheat, but as the chief examiner, it was impossible for him to extricate himself from this situation.
His face soured at the thought of being implicated in a Sect Examination cheating scandal.
“Sigh, you people are going to be the death of me.”
In an office at Myriad Laws University.
Yun Zhiguang stared at the final interview shortlist, the chill in her eyes deepening.
“Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, Le Mulan, True Monarch Starfire…”
Her gaze shifted, scanning the interview list for the Heavenly Sword Sect, where she saw Bai Zhenzhen’s name, and then the list for the Heavenly Demon Sect, where she saw Kuang Tianqing’s.
“Just for Myriad Laws University, four of them made it to the interview stage? If we add Bai Zhenzhen and the others…”
What surprised Yun Zhiguang even more was that Zhang Yu had far surpassed a Reincarnated Being in the re-examination.
In her eyes, regardless of how Zhang Yu had accomplished this, it proved he had the potential to defeat this Reincarnated Being.
“If all these people from the lower layers pass their interviews, and Zhang Yu eliminates his opponent, then not only will the number of successful candidates from the Second to Fifth Layers exceed five, but they’ll even outnumber the Reincarnated Beings?”
Yun Zhiguang could already imagine the Heavenly Court inevitably using this as a pretext to promote the Sect Examination.
“And my department will be the one that let the most slip through…”
At this thought, Yun Zhiguang could almost see herself being forced to take the blame.
“The sect will never allow these individuals to pass the interviews.”
“But I can’t just sit back and rely solely on the interviews to stop them…”
Yun Zhiguang refused to leave her fate in the hands of others. She decided to influence the situation in her own way.
Her gaze locked onto each name on the list, and detailed information materialized before her.
Complete files on Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, Le Mulan, and True Monarch Starfire appeared in her vision, meticulously listing every record related to the four.
Even their chat logs, transaction records, and surveillance footage from their time in the First Layer were displayed before her with perfect clarity.
“Yu Xinghan, a pauper who studied with Zhang Yu from the First Layer. After university, he shared a dorm with Zhang Yu, and now he’s an executive at Zhang Yu’s company.”
“Le Mulan, a similar case to Yu Xinghan. Beyond that… she was also Zhang Yu’s sponsor and seed client back in the First Layer.”
“True Monarch Starfire… Hmph, an old relic who was eliminated, yet he mentored Zhang Yu in Songyang City and helped him get into Myriad Laws University?”
In Yun Zhiguang’s view, the four finalists were all intricately connected, with Zhang Yu at the center. It was clearly a long-planned scheme to break through the Sect Examination and normalize it for the Lower Realm.
“Is it a Righteous God?”
“Or those University Faction members within the sect?”
The University Faction was also known as the Progressive Faction, though Yun Zhiguang would never call them that.
Yun Zhiguang knew that the cultivators in the Myriad Laws Sect who had graduated from Myriad Laws University had always sought to expand the channels for Lower Realm natives to join the sect, increasing the number of university graduates within its ranks.
But a moment later, Yun Zhiguang shook her head, realizing that dwelling on this was useless now.
“The simplest solution is to make Zhang Yu withdraw from the Sect Examination.”
With this thought, Yun Zhiguang decided to employ the simplest and most brutal method.
“Zhang Yu.”
“Give up the interview.”
Yun Zhiguang looked at Zhang Yu before her, stomped him to the ground with one foot, and then sat on him.
“If you agree to withdraw from the interview, I’ll marry you.”
Yun Zhiguang looked down at Zhang Yu with an arrogant expression. “Then, you can ascend to the 11th Layer through your familial status and gain the right to take the Sect Examination there.”
“This isn’t just my promise to you; it’s a promise the sect is willing to make.”
As she spoke, Yun Zhiguang leaned down, face-to-face with Zhang Yu. “Agree. Otherwise, even if you participate in the interview, the sect will never let you pass. Instead of making things ugly for both sides later, choose a dignified exit now.”
Zhang Yu felt the weight of her body pressing down on him, as if the sect’s pressure was crushing him.
He took a deep breath and asked, “And if I refuse?”
Yun Zhiguang sneered, her clothes bursting open one by one. “Then don’t blame me. It’s all for the sect. My apologies.”
Zhang Yu’s heart leaped in alarm. “Wait! What are you doing?!!”