Zhou Bai's Will of Steel

After running for a full five minutes, Lü Chongyang said calmly, "Five minutes are up. The elimination phase begins."

At those words, everyone's expressions tightened. Five seconds later, the wristband on one girl's hand turned red.

"Eliminated." With a sweep of his Primordial Spirit Power, Lü Chongyang directly swept the eliminated girl off the track.

Everyone instantly grew tense. To avoid being the slowest runner, those who had been running at the lowest speed all began to accelerate.

The moment he sped up, Zhou Bai felt as though his entire body had been encased in cement. "I can't do this anymore. I'm about to collapse..."

When had Zhou Bai ever experienced exercise this grueling? He was practically among the first group unable to hold on.

Beside him, Jing Xiu's steps remained steady, not a trace of weakness visible in her eyes. She analyzed inwardly, There are two ways to be eliminated. One is to exhaust your stamina and become unable to run, in which case you'll be eliminated.

The other is that every five seconds, the slowest person will be eliminated.

You can't be the slowest, so you have to speed up. But blindly accelerating will consume stamina, while going too slowly might mean being eliminated after capsizing in a gutter.

Jing Xiu considered the strategy for this test. Not too slow, but not too fast either. Run at a steady, moderate pace. If I find myself getting too slow, adjust and accelerate appropriately, maintaining a balance between stamina and speed...

As she thought, Jing Xiu wanted to see what Zhou Bai beside her was planning, only to find him with distorted movements, already struggling to hold on.

Her expression turned a little strange. Frowning as she sensed him getting slower and slower, she could only say helplessly, "I'll go on ahead. Do your best."

For long-distance running, maintaining an even pace was the most energy-efficient method. Repeated acceleration and deceleration would only drain stamina faster, making it harder to endure in this test.

Zhou Bai kept slowing down, his steps staggering. Jing Xiu could not possibly slow down with him.

Watching Jing Xiu gradually pull away, Zhou Bai ran slower and slower. Every muscle and every nerve felt as heavy as a thousand jun, and he could only watch as one examinee after another passed him.

Suddenly, he felt an icy gaze sweep over him.

"Too slow. Eliminated."

Zhou Bai's heart jolted. He hurriedly looked at the wristband on his hand and found that it had not turned red. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and turn to the side, where a slightly chubby boy had been eliminated.

Startled by that, Zhou Bai sped up again. He kept thinking, No, I can't be eliminated.

Thinking of the destroyed underground base, the dead Alice and Dr. Zhuang, as well as the Auxiliary System on his body, his gaze gradually sharpened. "It's not that I'm too arrogant... but with the Auxiliary System, perhaps I'm the person in this world with the greatest hope of saving humanity. I can't be eliminated here."

But after running for a while, Zhou Bai slowed down again, feeling as though his body were about to fall apart. No way, I can't hold on at all!

Compared to someone like Zhou Bai, who struggled constantly at the edge of elimination, those with the strongest wills, who ran at the front and possessed the best physical constitutions, were far more composed.

Moreover, as they continued running, they gradually felt wisps of Spiritual Machine flow into their bodies, only to be expelled again through their movement.

With each inhalation and exhalation of Spiritual Machine, their Primordial Spirit Power actually seemed to be growing.

That sensation became stronger and stronger, and the faster they ran, the more intense it became. Unable to resist, the examinees began accelerating, excitement appearing in their eyes.

Watching the examinees on the track run faster and faster, Zhou Bai wore a speechless expression. "These lunatics. You'll run yourselves to death sooner or later."

"Hm? That's not right." Zhou Bai's expression tightened. "Why do I feel like my Primordial Spirit Power has increased?" But when he checked the Auxiliary System, he discovered that his Primordial Spirit Power had not increased at all.

"It didn't increase? Forget it, whatever. It's already hard enough for me to pass this test. I'd better lie down and add points later. Adding points by running doesn't suit me."

More and more examinees continued accelerating, delight appearing in their eyes.

I can feel my Primordial Spirit Value still rising!

Sixty... seventy... My Primordial Spirit Value is rising so fast! Is it because of my talent?

This feeling! I feel like my Primordial Spirit Value is about to break through 99!

As the examinees felt their Primordial Spirit Values rise faster and faster, they ran increasingly quickly. The temptation of tangibly feeling their own strength soar madly was simply too great.

And as their running speed continued to rise, they even felt as though their Primordial Spirits were about to leave their bodies, as though countless mysteries and endless knowledge were unfolding before their eyes.

"Entering the Dao! I feel like I'm about to enter the Dao!"

"The mysteries of the Heavenly Dao have already revealed themselves before me!"

"If I can enter the Dao, then even if I fail this test, I can come back next time! It's not a loss!"

The examinees' faces were filled with mingled surprise and delight.

"Liu Bai, eliminated."

"Song Zhong, eliminated."

"Charles, eliminated."

As these examinees ran faster and faster, they soon exhausted their stamina and were miserably eliminated.

Watching the students get eliminated one by one, Zhou Bai's face bloomed with joy.

He had originally thought it would take three or four hours to eliminate enough people to reach three hundred. But as more and more people accelerated, more and more exhausted their stamina. Aside from Zhou Bai, nearly everyone had accelerated to some extent in order to raise their Primordial Spirit Power.

In a mere ten-odd minutes, the examinees had been reduced to only three hundred.

Zhou Bai no longer cared whether it was healthy or not. He instantly collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

Jing Xiu looked over the situation. Most of the eliminated examinees had nearly exhausted themselves to the point of collapse, and a thoughtful look flashed through her eyes.

Lü Chongyang looked at everyone and slowly said, "I told you earlier: the three great rules of cultivation are never face the Heavenly Dao directly, never let the Primordial Spirit leave the body, and never greedily rush for achievement. Have you forgotten?"

"The Heavenly Road is indeed a treasure that tests one's willpower, but running on it will not truly increase your Primordial Spirit Power. That was merely an illusion. Even the Primordial Spirit leaving the body later on was an illusion."

"But when faced with the temptation of power and knowledge soaring wildly, none of you held firm. Instead, you single-mindedly pursued power. You became drunk on desire without realizing it, even forgetting the very purpose of this examination.

"This was merely an Illusion Array. On the true path of cultivation, the temptations you encounter will be ten times those on the Heavenly Road.

"Although most of you did not pass this test today, I hope that on your future path of cultivation, you will remember the three great rules of cultivation and advance step by step, securing each foothold. Even if the Heavenly Road truly could increase Primordial Spirit Power, you must never greedily rush for achievement."

The eliminated examinees showed ashamed expressions, ashamed that they had been intoxicated by power without realizing it and controlled by the thrill of increasing their Primordial Spirit Values.

Lü Chongyang shook his head. The next moment, however, appreciation appeared in his eyes. "But there is one examinee here who, from beginning to end, never accelerated in order to raise his Primordial Spirit Value. He focused wholeheartedly on the examination. Let us applaud his will of steel. Zhou Bai, you should have achieved the best result in this second round of testing. Keep it up."

With that, he took the lead in applauding.

Following Lü Chongyang's gaze, everyone else also began clapping, looking admiringly at Zhou Bai sprawled on the ground.

Jing Xiu walked over to Zhou Bai's side and looked at him with admiration. "Big Brother Zhou, I originally thought you lacked the willpower to keep running. I was too dull-witted. You must have seen through the true purpose of this test from the very beginning, right?

"The willpower to run is only secondary. The will to resist temptations such as power and knowledge is what Donghua Dao School's teachers value, and what matters most on the path of cultivation. You're amazing!"

"Ah, it's not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning." Seeing how excited she was, Zhou Bai waved his hand. "There are many troubles on the path of cultivation. I merely took a few steps ahead. It's nothing."

"Big Brother Zhou, you're too modest. My dad said Donghua Dao School was a gathering of elites, with many people stronger than me. He really wasn't wrong. Big Brother Zhou, you're much stronger than me."

"Ah, they're all useless... Jing Xiu, could you help me to the next examination hall?"

"Huh?"

Supporting himself on Jing Xiu, Zhou Bai cursed inwardly as they walked, Damn it, my legs are completely weak from all that running.

Christina said, "Who told you to spend all day lying on the sofa? I think you're about to turn into a potato."