Terror and Dao Heart

Terror and Dao Heart

"645... 644... 639..."

One classmate after another appeared before Qian Shen. He could not make out their figures, but he could clearly see the scores displayed above their heads.

"680, 690, 660..."

The scores above every head were so unattainably high, so brilliantly dazzling, that Qian Shen felt utterly ashamed of himself.

Standing before his classmates, he felt so wretched, so lowly, like some insignificant lackey.

"Standing among these people, I'm practically a bag of wet garbage."

"With my pathetic score of just over 600, I don't deserve to stand here. I don't deserve to speak to them, much less approach them..."

Before his eyes, the scores above the students' heads kept rising, and their figures grew taller along with them, becoming Giants that towered into the clouds. Gradually, he could see only their legs; even their faces had vanished from sight.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the exhibition, a drone belonging to Li Xingyu of Mangshan High School traced an arc through the air and slowly flew toward the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram.

But in the next instant, a crackling explosion rang out. The drone seemed to malfunction and landed crookedly on the ground.

"A Soul Cultivator from Mangshan High School, covered in contracts, should stop trying to join the fun."

Li Xuelian murmured softly, then withdrew her gaze from the drone and continued looking at the other students.

"What a pity. Nearly all the students trying this exhibition are first-years. Students in their second or third year would have a much better chance of mastering the Martial Arts in the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram."

"But it is only natural... The top students in their second and third years either do not meet the age requirements or are already bound by contracts. They cannot possibly come looking for another Master."

At that moment, the Songyang City director of Xianyun Corporation, glittering from head to toe in golden light, came to Li Xuelian's side and said with a smile, "The Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram truly lives up to being personally painted by Spark True Person. Its mysteries are extraordinary. I wonder what exactly it is testing?"

Li Xuelian did not answer directly. Instead, she said calmly, "The first trial of the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram tests one's Dao Heart."

"Those who cannot endure it are often forcibly driven back. Some may even be left with cracks in their Dao Hearts."

Zhao Tianxing felt the countless contemptuous and mocking gazes around him. His body could not help retreating again and again, moving out of the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram's range.

When he came back to his senses and looked at his surroundings, he finally understood that the 'entire venue watching him' and those 'contemptuous gazes' had merely been effects of the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram.

Realizing that he had failed the diagram's test, his face immediately flushed crimson. He hurried backward, terrified that someone might discover that a Security Guard like him had come here only to humiliate himself.

At the exhibition, Li Xuelian continued, "If one can pass the first trial, it will naturally temper one's Dao Heart."

"As for Dao Heart Levels, the vast majority of cultivators raise them through heart methods."

"Different heart methods require different mindsets to harmonize with them."

"For example, the Worshiping Gods Heart Method from Ancient Times requires its practitioner to possess incomparable devotion and absolute faith in the gods. The more devout one is, the more effective the Worshiping Gods Heart Method becomes."

"Then there is the Heavenly Diligence Heart Method of Ziyun High School. It requires practitioners to cultivate bitterly to the utmost extreme, integrating bitter cultivation into their instincts before they can unleash its greatest effect."

"And the Basic Heart Refining Method, which High School Students use as an introductory method, seeks a tranquil mind and focused spirit. It requires the mindset of silent endurance, where dripping water wears through stone."

"There are countless heart methods for improving the Dao Heart, some high-grade and some low-grade. But the key is whether the practitioner possesses a mindset that fits the method."

"Yet the mind is difficult to fathom. What a person truly thinks, whether they genuinely harmonize with a heart method—not even they themselves may be able to explain it clearly, let alone outsiders."

"Fortunately, the stronger one's Dao Heart, the stronger one's willpower. Thus, measuring Dao Heart Level through the strength of one's willpower and testing the effects of heart method cultivation became the simplest method."

"But the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram does not merely test the strength of one's willpower to determine the strength of one's Dao Heart."

"The Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram targets the Terror within one's heart. It strikes directly at the weak points of the soul, leaving no chance to resist with heart methods. What it tests is their most instinctive reaction."

"When confronting the weak points in their souls, only by promptly adjusting their mindsets can they make up for those inner flaws and pass the trial."

The Songyang City director of Xianyun Corporation's eyes flickered. "I understand. Starfire Senior wants a disciple with a flexible mind? Someone who, while practicing the Worshiping Gods Heart Method, can switch which gods they worship; someone who, while practicing the Heavenly Diligence Heart Method, can compete both in bitter cultivation and in lying flat?"

Li Xuelian nodded. "There are countless heart methods, and it is certainly good when one's mindset fits the method. But only those who can continually adjust their thoughts, adapt to environmental changes, and adapt to changes in their heart methods are true geniuses—unbound by their methods."

"Especially now, when the times are developing faster and faster. The Ten Great Sects influence every aspect of society, and the entirety of Kunxu is undergoing fierce change. If one's thinking cannot adapt in time, that simply will not do."

"For instance, in today's world, exams and scores are indispensable if one wishes to embark upon the path of Immortal Cultivation. They have long been woven into every cultivator's life."

"Thus, modern cultivators naturally cannot be without an obsession with exams and scores."

"Excellent scores, as well as an obsession with scores, can make a top student's will firm. That makes their Dao Heart Level easier to improve."

"But conversely, that is also a weakness of the soul. Beyond every person is another person; beyond every heaven is another heaven. Leading for a moment does not mean leading forever. Many top students are as confident when they rank near the top as they are inferior when they rank near the bottom."

"To overcome this weakness of the soul, cultivators must promptly adapt and transform their mindsets. That is the key to passing the trial."

"Previously, there was a student who repeatedly experienced scoring poorly on exams during the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram's trial. In the end, he overcame his Fear of low scores and tempered a Delusional Mindset."

Listening to the teacher announce the scores from the podium, Lian Tianji suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Since I have already become the worst student in the class, then I'll start over from the beginning!"

"From today onward, I am the most useless one—the worst student with the worst grades!"

"But now that I am a bad student, I also have the chance to surpass every last one of you and ascend to the throne of first place."

"I will definitely become first in the grade!"

As he defeated the Terror in his heart, he felt as though he had returned to the exhibition once more. The Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram before him also became clearer and clearer.

Li Xuelian continued, "Kunxu has the Upper 36 Layers aboveground and the Lower 18 Layers underground. Every layer is a world of its own. Whether human or immortal, all are divided into ranks of high and low. This hierarchy has seeped into every cultivator's bones and affected the deepest parts of everyone's thoughts."

"Previously, a student endured the oppression of countless people, layer upon layer, within the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram. In the end, he transformed and developed a Lying-Flat Mindset."

Qian Shen watched as the Giants whose scores far exceeded his own rose from the ground, growing ever taller until their faces could no longer be seen.

Only the scores above the Giants' heads continued increasing, radiating blinding brilliance.

He tried to catch up with them, but it was useless.

As the Giants grew increasingly absurdly tall and their scores continued to rise, his emotions shifted from nervousness to Fear, from Fear to despair, and finally to numbness.

He lay down on the ground and no longer looked at the Giants.

"Fine."

"I just won't chase after them." "As long as I can cultivate immortality myself, that is enough. Even if I cannot compare to anyone... as long as I can cultivate immortality, that is enough."

As if awakening from a great dream, Qian Shen opened his eyes where he lay. Looking at the exhibition and the Martial Arts Diagram before him, a trace of understanding appeared in his eyes.

At the exhibition, the Songyang City director of Xianyun Corporation listened to Li Xuelian's analysis and agreed. "Changes in thought cannot be separated from the influence of the times."

He guessed, "In today's society, everyone depends on loans. I imagine that must also be reflected in the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram's trials, correct?"

"Correct." Li Xuelian nodded. "There was once a student who faced the Terror of Immortal Path Debt Repayment in the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram's trial. In the end, she developed a Deadbeat Mindset."

Watching the Debt-Collecting Heavenly Thunder continuously brewing in the sky, Bai Zhenzhen crouched down in terror.

"Wait! I'll repay it!"

"I'll repay it, all right?!"

"Don't strike me!"

She hurriedly opened her phone and checked her accounts, wanting to see how much she owed and how much she could repay.

"800,000?!"

The moment she opened the first Lending Platform, Bai Zhenzhen's heart sank.

Then the 1.2 million debt on the second platform made cold sweat pour down her back.

2 million... 5 million... 8 million...

As the total amount of debt she calculated kept rising, the hand holding her phone gradually drooped limply.

A debt of eight million in full—such an enormous sum, for a High School Student, meant either a complete breakdown or...

Bai Zhenzhen suddenly lay down on the ground and shouted at the lightning in the sky, "Then go ahead and strike me to death if you've got the guts!"

"If you strike me to death, eight million will vanish into thin air."

Seeing that the lightning still had not fallen, Bai Zhenzhen continued, "Either strike me to death, and the eight million vanishes into thin air."

"Or help introduce me to some work. Once I earn money, I'll repay you."

As the heavenly thunder gradually dispersed, the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram reappeared before Bai Zhenzhen.

Watching the figure within it demonstrate Martial Arts, Bai Zhenzhen seemed to gain some insight.

At the exhibition, Li Xuelian sighed. "But whether it is delusion, lying flat, or being a deadbeat, they are merely states of using one's thoughts to resist pressure under immense strain. While they can temper one's will and Dao Heart to some extent, what happens in the future will ultimately depend on how they walk their path in reality."

"After all, this is merely the first trial of the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram—a threshold, nothing more."

She recalled when she had been in high school, when her father had also tested her Dao Heart.

At the time, the person she feared most had been her father. During the trial, she had been harshly oppressed by him, only to rise up in resistance beneath that crushing pressure and establish an Explosive Filial Piety Mindset. After awakening, she fiercely extorted Gold Coin from that old bastard, and her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds with each passing day.

Yet not long afterward, pressures from every facet of real society, along with her father's every action and movement, caused her to pick up her admiration and respect for him once more.

The Songyang City director of Xianyun Corporation beside her nodded slightly. He knew Li Xuelian was right: the effects brought by this kind of Dao Heart trial were only temporary.

After all, people's thoughts changed at every moment. How could the influence brought by a mere Dao Heart trial withstand the enduring influence of an entire society in the real world?

Li Xuelian continued, "After enduring the first trial and overcoming the Terror in one's heart, the true comprehension begins."

"And after passing the comprehension stage, whether one can ultimately master it is another matter entirely."

The director nodded, understanding that overcoming Terror, comprehending the Martial Arts Diagram, and mastering the Martial Dao were the three stages of comprehending the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram.

"Then looking at those present, how many do you think can master it?"

Li Xuelian looked over the many students present and shook her head. "I fear even one would be hard to find."

When Zhang Yu saw the figure in the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram gradually become clearer and watched it begin demonstrating a set of fist techniques, he suddenly felt a chill rise in his heart.

"Please abide by the Ritual Agreement. Work hard to fulfill your wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 10."

Zhang Yu froze slightly. "No... Isn't earnestly comprehending the Martial Arts Diagram right now part of studying hard and working toward getting into a good university?"

But the chill could not converse with him. It merely continued its countdown.

"Please abide by the Ritual Agreement. Work hard to fulfill your wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 9."

"Please abide by the Ritual Agreement. Work hard to fulfill your wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 8."

With no other choice, Zhang Yu sat down and tried circulating his breath to see whether he could stop the countdown.

As he began Breath Circulation, the chill gradually dissipated, and the countdown stopped as well.

"This idiot..."

Just as Zhang Yu circulated his breath while silently cursing this Ritual Power, another surging chill rose within his body.

"Please abide by the Ritual Agreement. Work hard to fulfill your wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 10."

Hearing this new countdown, Zhang Yu was stunned.

"No... I'm cultivating diligently."

"Why is there another countdown?"

"What the hell is wrong with this Idiot Ritual?"

Zhang Yu simply stopped his Breath Circulation to test it. He discovered that the surging chill and the countdown did not vanish. Instead, another new chill and countdown appeared.

Listening to two countdowns ring out repeatedly in his head, taking turns counting down, Zhang Yu finally understood what was happening.

"There are two countdowns?"

"Is one of them fake?"