Chapter 81: Grand Void Illusion – Education Network Special Zone

In the cultivation room,

the skylight opened, and sunlight converged onto the talisman sword at the center of the air, blazing and brilliant.

Unfortunately, after this, no matter how much Jiang Ding applied, he could never again obtain the conditions for celestial spiritual energy; unless he became a Qi Refining or Primordial Realm cultivator, the talisman sword’s refinement progress would still be faster.

“Hand Shaoyin Lung Meridian, 702nd branch (5%)”

“Hand Shaoyin Lung Meridian, 703rd branch (6%)”

……

As his cultivation of the “Eagle’s First Flight Sword Art” deepened, many tiny meridians could no longer be observed by an Inner Qi cultivator’s inner vision—he must rely on the cultivation room’s array-spirit computer to continue training for a while longer.

Even some smaller meridians could not be seen by Qi Refining cultivators’ spiritual sense, let alone Primordial Realm martial artists.

Outside Realm cultivators rarely studied such minutely detailed meridians; in a sense, they were useless, a waste of effort—even if left to break or clog, they had zero impact on cultivation advancement and no drawbacks whatsoever.

Only through continuous accumulation, with countless such useless fine meridians building up in orderly fashion, could they eventually form one of the highest technological achievements of the Immortal Sects—the prototype of an artificial Dao Body!

Over an hour later, Jiang Ding stood up; the bright glow of the talisman sword faded and flew into his sleeve.

Now, cultivation produced little sweat, so he didn’t need to bathe every time.

……

“Nineteen days until the final exam.”

On the podium, Hua Bing said: “Other subjects remain unchanged; the practical exam format has also been officially announced. The Rongcheng Education Bureau has applied to the higher authorities for connection support via the Grand Void Illusion technology—this practical exam will be held in the Grand Void Illusion—Education Network Special Zone.”

Equipment storage isn’t the issue; it’s that human souls are extremely complex and fragile, requiring a Jin Dan cultivator to guard them to ensure absolute safety—Rongcheng lacks such luxurious conditions.

“The practical event is tentatively set as a combat confrontation against the senior class of Rongcheng No. 7 High School.”

“This opportunity is extremely rare. Rongcheng is a small city; it cannot compare to first- and second-tier metropolises where high school students experience the Grand Void Illusion daily. Everyone must familiarize themselves thoroughly with this exam format.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom buzzed with excited murmurs.

“Monitor, isn’t Rongcheng No. 7 known for training martial artists? Won’t we just crush them? No challenge at all.”

Zou Xiyuan raised her hand to ask.

Qi Refining cultivators are vastly stronger than martial artists—they can even pilot tanks and high-caliber spiritual energy machine guns; there’s no way to compete.

“Nonsense!”

Hua Bing shot her a stern look: “No. 7 has only half our Qi Refining cultivators, and their average realm is lower—but this year, they produced a dual-element genius at Qi Refining Eighth Layer, the principal’s own grandson. I’d be the one getting crushed.”

“Also, those with martial talent vastly outnumber those with cultivation talent. We have only three classes; they have twelve. There are many Inner Qi cultivators among them, plenty at peak Inner Qi, and even several nearing the peak of ‘Eagle’s First Flight’ Inner Qi.”

She glanced at Sun Xiao and the others, who looked uneasy, and comforted them: “Don’t be like that. At the same realm, their academic scores are much worse than ours—we still hold the advantage in the Gaokao total.”

This is a gap in teaching resources, and also the result of deliberate screening—those admitted to Rongcheng No. 1 High School, barring special cases, never had poor academic records.

“In short, while confidence in victory is good, don’t underestimate the opponent.”

“Dismissed!”

……

Jiang Ding sidestepped a returning Type 62 tank and couldn’t help smiling at Li Junhao, who looked like a wilted eggplant.

“Don’t be like that—getting into the Grand Void Illusion isn’t great?”

“Great? What’s great about it?”

Li Junhao sighed: “I’ll just be cannon fodder. One stray bullet will send me packing. If I don’t get into the Daoist Studies department, I’ll have to find a way into a military industry school—after graduation, I’ll join the defense industry. That counts as military service.”

“That’s also a path…”

Jiang Ding smiled, about to say more, when suddenly he sensed a thread of hostility—he instinctively placed his hand on his sword hilt and turned toward the source, his smile vanishing.

The talisman sword in his sleeve trembled slightly, sensing his emotion.

Li Junhao felt a sudden chill, looked around in confusion, but found no source.

“Jiang Ding!”

A boy in No. 7 High’s uniform stared at them with cold eyes; his features vaguely resembled Jiang Ding’s, but his forehead was broader and his skin much darker, making his appearance ordinary.

Jiang Ding instinctively felt revulsion.

The other seemed equally hostile, coldly saying: “At the final exam, I’ll make you, a vile person just like your mother, realize how far you are from me—and regret what you did to my father.”

With that, he turned and walked away with haughty disdain.

“That person…”

Jiang Ding felt a faint surge of killing intent.

No matter how much an enemy cursed him, he never cared—even took pleasure in analyzing the flaws in their insults.

But!

This person named Jiang Jinxian!

“No, no—the Immortal Sects’ laws are strict; it can’t come to that…”

Jiang Ding took a deep breath, expelled the dark thoughts from his mind—no matter what, he shouldn’t let mere insults cost someone their life.

As for why the man held such feelings, he didn’t care, nor did he empathize.

It was merely the influence of his parents, from childhood onward.

Those two had not a single virtue to their name.

“Who is he? A lunatic!”

Li Junhao was baffled—he didn’t even know the guy, yet he came over and spouted nonsense.

“Probably some No. 7 kid coming to threaten us. Don’t know him.”

Jiang Ding replied offhandedly, walking toward the bus.

“No. 7? I heard the Grand Void Illusion uses real pain!”

Li Junhao turned pale.

……

In the courtyard,

a golden thread darted back and forth in the sunlight, dazzling and brilliant; beneath the radiant sword aura, the sword’s physical presence grew increasingly faint, sometimes nearly blurred.

“Using light to conceal, blurring the opponent’s vision—that’s precisely what the first level of the ‘Great Radiance Sword Art’ requires. The second level is spiritual sense concealment of the flying sword—only two levels total, corresponding to below and above Peak Inner Qi.”

“I’m still stuck at the introductory stage of the first level.”

After practicing the sword for a long time, Jiang Ding’s anger finally calmed. He swallowed a Ginseng Flower Calming Spirit Pill, feeling gentle spiritual power drawn by his inner force into the fine meridians of the Twelve Regular Meridians, then stepped out the door.

Only two pills remained—he’d used up five spirit pills, equivalent to fifty days of normal cultivation speed.

Even without new spirit pills, another ten or so days of cultivation would complete the Twelve Regular Meridians portion of the Great Circulation.

The next stage: break through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and connect new meridian circuits.

Today was the day Long Xiuyun, the “Ice Glass Immortal,” and Chen Xi, the “Qinghe Immortal”—two of the Four Great Beauties of the Jianghu—faced off on the arena. Jiang Ding wasn’t particularly interested.

Mainly because he’d experienced the cultivation speed of the hundred-year ginseng pill, he naturally wanted more. Long Xiuyun held far higher status in the Four Seas Trading Association than Long San—she likely had some channels.

Based on his understanding of the Four Seas Trading Association, they wouldn’t refuse to trade with him.

Besides, he wanted to see how Gong Caiyu was faring under Chen Xi—the imperial princess always struck him as a manipulative, fake sweet girl, not trustworthy at all.