Dao Arts and Practical Combat

Dao Arts and Practical Combat

Freehand Fighting Level 2 (0/20) → Freehand Fighting Level 3 (0/30)

In an instant, the fifteen moves of Freehand Fighting became increasingly refined in his mind. Even the subsequent variations of each move and the transitions between them became incomparably clear.

The circulation of magical power in every move had become instinctive as well. Zhang Yu felt that if he struck with a move now, the magical power within his body would seem to transform on its own, naturally flowing into his hands and feet.

"The Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method's Passive Breathing Technique also played a part in this process."

As Zhang Yu sensed the circulation of magical power within his body, he could feel that because his magical power was constantly traveling through Various Places in his body, wielding Freehand Fighting had become much more effortless.

He could not help marveling at how greatly the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method aided beginners. It benefited not only breath circulation and body tempering, but even practical martial arts.

But the exam was about to begin, and Zhang Yu had no time for further reflection.

After circulating his breath for a while and recovering some stamina, he headed for the examination hall.

The first exam that afternoon was the Dao Arts Exam, while the second was the Martial Dao practical combat exam.

The Dao Arts Exam mainly tested the recognition and use of Talisman Arts.

After all, those in the Qi Refining Realm had yet to master true Dao Arts. They could only activate Talisman Arts through their knowledge and magical power, so the Daoist Arts Class curriculum for all three years of high school was basically related to Talisman Arts.

A talisman was a spell, while a register was a Talisman Book. So-called Talisman Arts were secret methods by which people communicated with deities and wielded Divine Power.

Inside the computer room.

Zhang Yu sat before a computer in the examination hall, silently reviewing all sorts of knowledge regarding Talisman Arts.

Not far away, Zhao Tianxing hurriedly flipped through his textbook, repeatedly memorizing knowledge points he feared he might forget.

Bai Zhenzhen lay on the desk taking a short nap, seemingly not the least bit nervous about the coming exam.

Just then, a bell rang. The students placed everything unrelated to the exam on the desks at the front of the classroom, then returned to their examination seats.

A moment later, the computer screens before them flickered slightly, and their test papers appeared.

Question One: Which of the following Talisman Arts belongs to the spells of Wanxing Sitong Great God of the Ministry of Transportation?

Relevant information instantly surfaced in Zhang Yu's memories.

The Ministry of Transportation was one of Kunxu's Eight Divine Departments. It oversaw all roads, air routes, and sea and river transport within Kunxu, and held the authority to inspect transportation throughout the realm.

Wanxing Sitong Great God was an Orthodox God in the Ministry of Transportation responsible for urban roads. Zhang Yu remembered that one of His authorities seemed to be recording surveillance data from every city road and vehicle...

Through spells, one could borrow Wanxing Sitong Great God's power and access all manner of surveillance within city roads—knowing three hundred years in advance, with not a single detail omitted.

Once the memory flashed through his mind, Zhang Yu continued reading the options below.

There were four options, roughly like these:

A,!★,°:.☆(￣▽￣)/:.°★.

B,(o>ε(o>ｕ(≧∩≦)(￣ー￣)X(^▽^)

C,))▍)*)(((`)

D,~o(▽｀o)=▊=▋=▍

"All four options are the beginnings of spells. Judging from their style, they all belong to Orthodox Gods of the Ministry of Transportation... Heh heh, trying to mess with my head right off the bat?"

"It should be option D, the Vehicle Surveillance Talisman, right?"

After thinking it over, Zhang Yu selected D. Then the next multiple-choice question appeared.

"Among the following spells, which one is not a Report Talisman?"

Zhang Yu froze slightly. "Report Talisman? We never learned that. Another question beyond the syllabus?"

Frowning, he casually chose one that looked plausible, then turned to the next question.

He finished all the multiple-choice questions one by one. Next came fill-in-the-blank questions and answer questions, and the difficulty rose sharply.

For example: "Write a Physical Examination Talisman inviting Healthy Spring Growth Great God of the Ministry of Health to inspect whether there are any tumors in your stomach or intestines."

And: "What spell can be used to swiftly subdue three ordinary people without magical power thirty meters due north? Please draw the spell. The following are the detailed data of the three ordinary people and the surrounding environment..."

"Damn it... can't I just knock three ordinary people flat myself? Why use a spell?"

Just as Zhang Yu was sweating profusely while writing out a Detention Talisman, he heard the scrape of a chair being dragged.

Looking up, he saw that his classmate He Dayou had already finished his paper and was preparing to leave.

Zhang Yu remembered that He Dayou had ranked third overall in last month's Monthly Exam. Like Qian Shen, he was obscenely rich.

But unlike Qian Shen, who focused on scores, He Dayou loved flaunting his wealth and had basically never interacted with Zhang Yu.

Handing in his paper early like this was one way of showing off.

That was because Talisman Arts was a subject where one truly had to throw money at it to achieve anything. It was the exam that most clearly marked the dividing line between the poor and the rich.

Many people even called spells the language of the rich.

Specifically, drawing spells allowed one to mobilize the power of the Eight Divine Departments and accomplish all manner of incredible things. The Eight Divine Departments were also often called the Eight Divine Departments of Orthodox Gods.

But schools only taught the most basic methods of drawing spells. To learn more advanced spells, including many unavailable at school, one had to purchase Talisman Books.

Beyond their expensive purchase price, Talisman Books also involved membership fees, top-ups to worship gods, Faith Levels, and all manner of costly expenses.

It could be said that aside from being divided according to a cultivator's realm and level, the most important foundation for the spells offered by Talisman Books was money. Only by spending enough money on a Talisman Book could one obtain a high enough Faith Level, unlock more permissions, master more advanced spell-drawing methods, and gain access to all kinds of different spells.

Only after meeting those prerequisites did one qualify to painstakingly study and practice spells—for instance, one-on-one spell conversations with the Eight Divine Departments of Orthodox Gods, spell error correction guided by Orthodox Gods, or spell optimization while practicing under divine guidance... Of course, such painstaking practice was equally expensive.

It could be said that learning Talisman Arts outside school was a process built entirely by piling up money.

And throughout this process, if one violated the rules laid down by the Eight Divine Departments of Orthodox Gods—such as privately passing on spells or using spells to violate Sect laws—one would be punished. At best, one paid a fine; at worst, one lost everything.

Whenever Zhang Yu learned spells in Daoist Arts Class, he could not help sighing that this was an absolutely unfair and unjust subject. It was the best way for the rich to farm points in the Gaokao, the subject most capable of widening the gap between them and the poor. No wonder it was called the language of the rich.

But Zhang Yu had also heard Zhou Tianyi say that Talisman Arts were not even the most expensive part of Dao Arts.

Many Dao Arts that could only be learned after Foundation Establishment required enormous sums of money, enough to leave even a university student buried in massive debt.

After barely enduring the Dao Arts Exam, Zhang Yu stepped out of the classroom and saw a large group gathered around He Dayou, comparing answers.

He Dayou smiled faintly and pulled out something resembling a jade tablet, then scribbled over it like a ghost drawing talismans.

As magical power rippled through his hand, a golden phantom slowly emerged from the jade tablet.

He Dayou smiled. "This is All-Knowing All-Questioning Great God's Answer Talisman. Ask Him whatever questions you have."

Many students who saw this cried out in amazement again, their gazes toward He Dayou filled with envy.

As Zhang Yu stared at the jade tablet in He Dayou's hand, Bai Zhenzhen's voice sounded beside him. "That's a Talisman Book, right? He even got it a jade-colored skin. This guy must have been preparing to show off for ages, huh?"

Zhang Yu turned and saw Bai Zhenzhen beside him, indignant and so jealous that her whole body seemed twisted.

Zhang Yu asked, "How did you do?"

Bai Zhenzhen said unhappily, "How else could it have gone? At least a quarter of it was spells we never learned."

"Twenty percent of the Gaokao was beyond the syllabus two years ago, and this year they're charging straight toward twenty-five percent? At this rate, when we take the Gaokao, will half the test be material they never taught? They really have no shame at all."

"I'd better not run into those filthy rich bastards in the practical exam, or I'll beat them into failing."

On the other side, He Dayou seemed to sense Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu looking at him. He turned around and smiled faintly at them.

Bai Zhenzhen instantly adopted an air of calm clouds and gentle breeze, giving him a slight nod.

A moment later, the next exam was about to begin. He Dayou headed toward the Martial Dao practical combat examination hall with several companions.

He Dayou was the sort of person who could write an elementary school essay titled My School Board Member Dad.

Because his father truly was a board member of Songyang High School.

But despite having been raised in silks and satins, he did not feel that his life had been easy. He was merely one among more than thirty children his father had produced.

Only after layers upon layers of assessments, repeated competitions, and repeatedly fulfilling family KPIs had he become one of only two high school students among those thirty-odd children, and one of only two immortal cultivators.

As for his other ordinary siblings, they had long since gone to work at their father's company to repay the debt of being raised.

"Although I'm the child of a rich family, what matters more is still my own hard work and talent in getting where I am today."

"I earned my father's investment through my own efforts. Why can't I flaunt my wealth?"

"Those poor ghosts spend all day blaming heaven and earth, thinking I got this far just because I have a rich father? What a bunch of childish, laughable fools."

With such thoughts in his heart, He Dayou had always looked down on those who were both poor and poor students.

And after entering Songyang High School as the son of a board member and gaining a deeper understanding of the school's many unspoken rules, he gradually began looking down even on poor students with good grades.

"No matter how good their grades are, it's only temporary. These poor people simply don't understand... from the moment they are born, they have no chance whatsoever to rise."

"Perhaps they and us have long ceased to count as the same species."

Holding such thoughts, He Dayou maintained his overall rank of third in the grade, flaunted his wealth now and then, and lived a peaceful school life while waiting for the day he entered a Top University.

Until one person's transformation shattered the calm in his heart.

Watching Zhang Yu grow increasingly hardworking over the past half month, even driving the entire class into a frenzy of competition, made him feel sick.

"This kind of poor ghost... counting his loan debts on his fingers every month, rushing off to work after school every day, earning a few hundred or a thousand in pocket change at a time, scrimping and saving in hopes of immortal cultivation, dreaming of becoming rich overnight and living forever."

"They have no idea what kind of people their Gaokao competitors really are."

"And yet they're still leaping about all over the school."

"Poor in the ugliest possible way."

He Dayou could not stand Zhang Yu's crazed diligence, as though hard work could let him defeat rich people like them.

Especially after hearing the rumor that Zhang Yu had been accepted as a disciple by a Golden Core True Person, the board member's son specifically used his connections to verify it.

After confirming that Zhang Yu had not become a Golden Core True Person's disciple, his Disgust for the boy reached its peak.

"He deliberately didn't clarify it. Is he trying to borrow a tiger's might by wearing its skin?"

So, he intended to use the practical exam to teach this poor ghost a lesson and make him recognize his true place.

(End of Chapter)