Chapter 145: Assign Him Ten (Seeking monthly tickets)

At this moment.

Deng Bingding was watching the performances of various examinees in the Dao Heart test alongside four other lesser gods.

"All of you who have made it this far have also gone through countless assessments, big and small, so you should know that one of the most important points in an exam is often to figure out the examiner's intent and understand the main theme of the test."

"The same applies to us as examiners now—only by grasping the intentions of our superiors can we select talented individuals who will serve the Ten Great Sects and the Heavenly Court in the future."

Deng Bingding continued, "Our superiors have been very dissatisfied with the weaklings selected in recent years; the results of every assessment have been declining year after year."

"This reform is meant to ensure that those who rise from the lower ranks of Kunxu are people with ambition, desire, courage, the ability to withstand temptation and pressure, and the capacity to go further on the path of immortality."

"And among these, resisting temptation is the key to this round of testing."

Looking at the examinees on the screen, Deng Bingding added, "Take the illusions in this Dao Heart test, for example—wealthy people face temptations of even greater wealth; if one layer of temptation isn't enough, there's a second layer."

"It can be said that no matter who among these people eventually passes the Foundation Establishment exam, they will all inevitably encounter similar situations."

"So, you should all understand our scoring criteria now. One key factor is how much money each examinee can resist being tempted by."

"If an exceptionally outstanding examinee appears, reporting it upward would be a notable achievement."

Just as Deng Bingding finished speaking, the Merits Officer, Lesser God Huang Zichou, looked at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen in the illusion and said in surprise, "This year's exam actually has two poor students?"

Hearing the word "poor," the other lesser gods also looked over.

After all, seeing poor people in this Foundation Establishment exam was truly a rare occurrence.

Deng Bingding looked over as well and recognized the student she had registered earlier. She remembered his name was Zhang Yu, and he should be a first-year high school student from Songyang.

"An ant with seven hundred thousand in debt and a five-digit bank deposit."

Ant—that was Deng Bingding's evaluation of Zhang Yu.

This was not a derogatory term but came from an evaluation system in her mind.

Just as there are nine grades of gods and ten realms of immortality, in Deng Bingding's view, people could also be divided into different levels.

For instance, those without even a high school diploma were dust.

Those with a high school diploma and a deposit that barely reached five or six digits year-round were ants.

High school graduates at the peak of Qi Refining who could find a job were beasts of burden.

Only university graduates who could land a company job were barely considered people in Deng Bingding's eyes.

Now, looking at Zhang Yu's deposit, Deng Bingding had already marked him as a failure in her heart.

This wasn't Deng Bingding discriminating against the poor, but based on her many years of experience as a god...

"Although rich people may have already surpassed the poor in all aspects—magical power, physical body, martial arts, and talismans—they often win even more in the Dao heart."

That was Deng Bingding's experience. Based on the various exams and tests she had observed, the poor were inferior to the rich in every way.

Even if an extremely rare poor person managed to climb up, their biggest traits were often a low bribe price, asking for the least money, and working the most overtime.

On the other hand, rich people had been trained and honed since childhood, so...

"The richer you are, the stronger you are, the more pressure you can withstand, the higher your vision, the greater your ambition, and the better you can resist temptation—these are exactly the kind of cultivator candidates our superiors need."

"As for ants... sigh, if you have no money, why even cultivate in the first place?"

"If the companies weren't controlling the media channels and desperately tricking people into joining the rat race, they probably wouldn't be suited for cultivation at all."

Just then, Zhang Yu in the light screen had already woken up.

The air he breathed was also very fresh; every inhalation felt like countless tiny hands massaging his insides, nourishing every bit of his flesh and blood.

He found himself lying on a very, very soft bed, with an indescribable sense of relaxation all over his body.

He looked around and saw that he was in a room with particularly good sunlight, filled with various pieces of furniture that looked very expensive, though he had no idea how to use them.

Beyond the huge floor-to-ceiling glass window was a rolling sea of clouds.

Zhang Yu walked over and saw that within the sea of clouds were forests and lakes—and even a giant dragon breathing clouds and mist, soaring up from the clouds.

Surrounding the sea of clouds were countless skyscrapers and pavilions, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Huang Zichou said, "The wealthy person in the illusion said he admired him and wanted to host him."

"Mmm, he refused as expected."

"It's always like this at first—strong vigilance, very decisive."

Another minor god analyzed, "Even though with their cultivation and Dao-heart they can't detect it's an illusion, suddenly being taken to a rich man's house would certainly make them very cautious."

Huang Zichou said, "But this house has free spirit veins, elixirs, and restorative food—such a poor person would definitely stay to take advantage..."

"Mm? He actually asked to lower the spirit-qi concentration?"

Another minor god also said in surprise, "He refuses the restorative dragon meat and actively orders synthetic food?"

"What is this poor man thinking?"

In the illusion we saw—

Zhang Yu didn't even look at the large table of delicacies in front of him.

Especially after the servant beside him explained that nearly every dish on the table was made from various powerful demonic beasts, even flood dragons.

This made Zhang Yu even more afraid to eat; he only asked them to prepare some synthetic food for him, so he could eat with peace of mind.

Zhang Yu was terrified that after he ate, the host would demand payment and bankrupt him.

After all, he only had a little over ten thousand yuan in his pocket, yet he was in the upper district of Xiandu City.

How to describe this feeling... It was like appearing in the enemy jungle with just a sliver of health—he felt every step was terrifying, and he might accidentally go broke.

Thinking this, he immediately asked them to lower the spirit-qi as much as possible, preferably turn it off.

Listening to the minor gods' discussions around her, Deng Bingding spoke up, "You guys are usually in contact with too many rich people and know too little about the poor at the bottom."

"He's just scared."

"Afraid that if he takes an extra breath or eats an extra piece of meat, he'll have to pay and go bankrupt."

Go bankrupt from taking an extra breath or eating an extra piece of meat?

Hearing this, the minor Merit Officials were slightly stunned—they really hadn't seen such a thing in a long time.

After all, people this poor generally weren't worthy of interacting with them, nor of appearing in such a high-consumption place.

Deng Bingding continued, "But this is only temporary. The poorer someone like this is, the easier it is for them to fall once they start satisfying their desires."

"A long time ago, there was a poor peasant who climbed up to the second tier. He grudged food and grudged clothes, dared not buy this, dared not use that."

"In the end? Heh. A mere second-tier city citizen identity destroyed his resolve to keep advancing on the path of immortality."

"No way around it—these poor people's lives are too cheap, too easily satisfied. Stopping them from climbing further is far, far easier than stopping the rich."

Meanwhile, inside the light screen, Zhang Yu encountered more temptations.

... In the illusion—

The medicine room had all kinds of top-grade elixirs available for free use.

The spirit-root room had three types of cultivation Heavenly Spirit Roots, said to be at Zhang Yu's disposal.

The training room had a Yellow Turban Warrior that could serve as a sparring partner.

The twelve flying swords beside it were also available for him to play with freely.

Zhang Yu took a deep breath, struggling to suppress the surging desires within him.

Inside the office—

The minor god Huang Zichou sighed, "He's almost unable to hold on."

"During these days in the illusion, he kept confirming over and over whether it was truly free."

"Once you confirm it's really free, you can't help but start using these cultivation supplies."

Please…you…collect_(!)

"Yes, both sides need to sign a contract confirming that everything is free for him to use for two months."

Just as Huang Zichou spoke, he saw Zhang Yu in the illusion already raise the concentration of spiritual energy in the room.

…

In the illusion.

Another day passed, Zhang Yu took a bite of the dragon steak, felt the juice explode in his mouth, and gradually revealed a satisfied smile.

He grabbed a syringe nearby and jabbed a needle into his arm.

Then he had someone continue to raise the spiritual energy concentration.

…

In the office.

Watching Zhang Yu's performance in the illusion, the minor gods present sighed one after another.

"Too easily bought," Huang Zichou said. "Doesn't he know 'free' is the most expensive? Once he sinks deeper, he'll never be able to leave these things behind."

Deng Bingding beside him didn't speak. In her view, this was perfectly normal—paupers at this ant level had too shallow a perspective and easily fell into temptation.

As the days passed in the illusion on the light screen, watching Zhang Yu eat meat more fiercely, inject drugs more heavily, and toy with flying swords and spirit roots joyfully, Deng Bingding knew he was completely hooked.

Just then, Huang Zichou beside her exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, this kid hasn't even been sterilized? Isn't he just making things harder for himself?"

…

In the illusion.

Zhang Yu, who had absorbed too much spiritual energy and clogged his meridians, lay fallen on the ground, momentarily unable to move.

"Sir, you've absorbed too much spiritual energy lately. Your meridians are blocked, and your muscles are out of control."

Zhang Yu, stiff and unable to move, thought to himself that he was truly a poor man suddenly come into wealth, unable to even adapt to a rich man's breathing environment.

But the next moment, a wet, soft sensation startled him awake.

He saw a young girl sucking at his fingers, as if they were in someone's mouth. Her soft tongue, like a spirit snake, wrapped around his fingertips, making it feel like something was coiling around them.

"You…"

A girl's voice came, saying, "Sir, please relax. Let me help you expel the blocked spiritual energy."

Zhang Yu felt as if some special medicine was being injected into his fingertips through her tongue. Along with the coiling sensation, his body gradually relaxed, making him feel light as if without any weight.

The girl said, "As a part-time cultivation cauldron companion, I've just absorbed the excess spiritual energy for you, established a mana cycle, and completed the breathing exercise for you."

…

In the office.

Huang Zichou shook his head and sighed, "Hopeless. This time he's totally hooked, right? So this high school freshman is useless—he should definitely be sterilized."

"Let him sink deeper. Once he can't live without these things, after the two-month free period ends, we'll continue to let him use this apartment and its contents for free, or give him some more. He might even directly agree to give up the Foundation Establishment exam."

Another minor god said, "Even if he doesn't agree at first, we can just add more chips, and it'll be about the same."

Huang Zichou looked at Zhang Yu's basic info and said, "After all, he's a freshman in high school. His determination for the exam is inherently less firm than a sophomore's. Plus, he comes from a poor background, so he's definitely more likely to fall."

"I think the maximum temptation he can resist is only about one or two hundred million."

On the other side, Deng Bingding had long been too lazy to watch the poor man's performance and directly looked at the sophomore examinees.

After all, in the Foundation Establishment exam, it was often the sophomores who ended up winning, while freshmen were just extras.

Especially the two top students from the Immortal Capital in this test, Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing—not only were they from famous families and extremely wealthy, but they were also exceptionally talented. They were the ones she was particularly optimistic about this time, thinking that if they performed exceptionally well, reporting it would be a credit.

"Yun Jing has already resisted temptation at the level of one billion."

Deng Bingding nodded slightly: "Ye Lingxiao is also good. Facing the temptation of 1.2 billion in assets, he still insists on taking the Foundation Establishment certificate and striving to go further on the path of immortality."

Huang Zichou beside her analyzed, "After all, these two know the difference in treatment for high school students with and without a Foundation Establishment certificate when they go up to the second layer."

"If you want to go further on the path of immortality, or even enter a sect rather than a company after graduating from university, the high school Foundation Establishment qualification certificate is an excellent stepping stone."

"And this is their last chance to take the high school Foundation Establishment exam, so they can definitely hold up better than first-year high school students."

At the same time, another minor god looked at the illusion around Zhang Yu and chuckled: "This kid isn't about to throw in the towel, is he?"

……

Inside the illusion.

Zhang Yu walked into the Furnace Cauldron Room, which she had not yet visited.

There, six women of various enchanting appearances—some petite, some voluptuous, some tall and slender, and some with features of demonic beasts—each with a different style, all looked at Zhang Yu simultaneously.

A young girl beside her introduced: "This is Ling Lü. Her body has been modified so that when you use her, she will drive the movement of your muscles and tendons, helping you complete body-tempering exercises..."

"This is Yun Xiao. She can draw in and absorb the medicinal toxins from your body, helping you eliminate the side effects of taking medication..."

"This is Xian Luo. She can secrete calming hormones, and through touch and licking, relieve your psychological stress..."

"Master, as long as you agree to withdraw from the Foundation Establishment exam, from now on we will all be your property."

Upon hearing about giving up the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate, Zhang Yu seemed to already sense that familiar chill and the power of the ritual. He quickly waved his hand and refused: "Get lost, get lost!"

"Don't come here disturbing my Dao heart!"

"Even if I die, I will never give up the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate."

……

In the office.

Huang Zichou exclaimed in surprise: "I can understand refusing, but refusing so resolutely?"

"A high schooler with such fiery temper, such vigorous blood and Qi—he hasn't been neutered yet and is at the peak of his desires—yet he can unhesitatingly refuse a chance to enjoy pleasure while getting stronger?"

Another minor god beside him said: "I get it! Is he a natural eunuch? So he doesn't need to be neutered? Or maybe he's naturally not attracted to women, which is why he can refuse so readily?"

Huang Zichou waved his hand grandly and said: "That's easy, just arrange ten handsome male Furnace Cauldrons for him and see."