Chapter 161: True Sacrifice Heart Method

Outside the illusion realm.

Song Xu watched this scene with great surprise: "You say Zhang Yu cultivates the Remnant Ox Sacrifice Body and Mind Technique?"

Mo Tianyi also found it strange and said, "Zhang Yu registered this technique, and boss, look—he has turned into a severely ill worker, persisting on the assembly line. Isn't that exactly the effect of the Remnant Ox Sacrifice Body and Mind Technique?"

Song Xu rubbed his chin, puzzled: "Isn't this technique meant for the lowest-class poor to cultivate? To let them work more, spend less on treatment, and demand less compensation—it's a trash technique for trash people to cultivate."

"Is Zhang Yu trying to use this technique to elevate his Dao heart?"

"Isn't he afraid that the more he trains, the more he'll align with this technique, eventually becoming a useless waste who only knows how to take beatings, never fight back, and swallow all insults day after day?"

"On the other hand, this Bai Zhenzhen..." Song Xu evaluated, "Her Cold Soul Ice Heart Technique is gaining deeper understanding in this scenario, and she is sure to shine brilliantly in the examinations in the future."

Just as Song Xu and Mo Tianyi were making their comments, the scene inside the illusion realm changed once again.

On the assembly line.

With Bai Zhenzhen's confidence soaring, after a series of maneuvers, she squeezed every last ounce of work out of the workers.

Under these circumstances, Zhang Yu felt the hope in his heart gradually fade, and the pain all over his body burned like fire, making it impossible for him to concentrate on work any longer.

"It hurts so much..."

Zhang Yu didn't want to keep hurting.

And he knew that for the Remnant Ox Sacrifice Body and Mind Technique to continue taking effect and suppress the pain in his heart, he needed at least a glimmer of hope.

Even if it was just the small hope of getting off work early.

So he stepped forward, looked at Bai Zhenzhen and said, "Boss, I'd like to ask for leave today."

Bai Zhenzhen's gaze swept over, and when she saw Zhang Yu's face, a flicker of emotion suddenly passed through her.

After hearing that Zhang Yu's reason for asking for leave was due to injury and pain, Bai Zhenzhen nodded slightly and sighed, "You don't want to work overtime?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, Bai Zhenzhen said, "It seems you really have worked hard."

Then Bai Zhenzhen looked at everyone present and asked, "Who else wants to refuse overtime like him?"

Seeing the crowd looking eager but afraid to speak out, Bai Zhenzhen asked again, "Look at all of you, so timid—you listen to whatever I say and do whatever I tell you? I hire people, not machines."

"If you have any requests, step forward and tell me. Be a little braver."

Seeing employees stepping forward one after another, including Zhang Yu, expressing they didn't want to work overtime, Bai Zhenzhen smiled with satisfaction: "Very good. By refusing the factory's arranged work, you are all fired."

Bai Zhenzhen turned to the secretary beside her and said, "It's just the right time to bring in a batch of new graduates. Replace all these old and sick ones, and don't pay them a single cent in compensation..."

Under the operation of the Cold Soul Ice Heart Technique, all the workers before Bai Zhenzhen had turned into nothing but chips, waiting for her manipulation to increase profits.

With her maneuvers, the technique ran more smoothly, and her Dao heart became as solid as a rock, unbreakable.

On the other side, upon hearing these words, Zhang Yu felt only darkness engulf his heart completely—all hope, along with the loss of his job, was utterly extinguished.

When all hope is stripped away by someone, what should he do?

How can he find hope at all?

How can he continue to suppress the piercing pain in his body?

Watching this scene, Song Xu sighed, "The Remnant Ox Sacrifice Body and Mind Technique is just too trashy. Why would anyone choose such a technique?"

"Letting one's thoughts understand and align with this technique... what use is it?"

"It's completely holding him back."

Mo Tianyi, however, sighed, "But enduring all the way like this really does have the effect of tempering the Dao heart, doesn't it?"

"Zhang Yu, being poor and not qualified to get into the Top Ten academies, just like us... often has no choice but to endure."

He said with a sense of empathy, "Compared to fighting, compared to resisting... isn't enduring the only choice the poor can make?"

Song Xu looked at Zhang Yu in the illusion realm and murmured, "Keep enduring? But when will there be an end to it?"

"No wonder he eventually couldn't take the pressure and signed under a rich patron."

"It’s a good thing you didn’t invest too much in him back then."

"A man like that is poor to the core—he even chose a worthless cultivation method. He’s simply not worth the investment."

But just then, the changes within the illusionary realm left the two of them faintly astonished.

……

Zhang Yu stood frozen in place, feeling all hope vanish completely.

Amid the employees’ lamentations and Bai Zhenzhen’s commands, he could faintly make out something else.

"Are those the voices of the protesting workers outside?"

"A protest?"

A faint gleam seemed to flash in Zhang Yu’s eyes as this thought struck him.

At the same time, the cultivation method that had been barely turning in his mind began to show signs of circulation again.

The crippled ox envisioned in Zhang Yu’s mind had been stuck deep in a quagmire, halted because it saw no hope.

But in that moment, as Zhang Yu’s thoughts shifted, a cold light seemed to emanate from the broken horns of the crippled ox.

"The only hope left is to fight."

"When all hope has been extinguished, when only darkness lies ahead, when prayers bring no solace… then I must use these broken horns to fight for justice and carve out a glimmer of hope on my own…"

At that instant, a sudden epiphany flashed through Zhang Yu’s mind.

"The Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life Heart Mantra is not a martial art meant to suppress pain in order to work menial jobs."

"Its original purpose was to care for disabled cultivators and alleviate their suffering."

"But the deeper philosophy embedded in this cultivation method is to fight desperately even in a hopeless situation—to struggle for the last sliver of hope!"

"Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life, Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life… this is the true essence of sacrifice, not forcing oneself to work at the cost of one’s health."

At this moment, the Level 10 Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life Heart Mantra seemed to undergo a subtle change, circulating with increasing intensity in Zhang Yu’s mind.

Zhang Yu felt his understanding of the Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life Heart Mantra deepen once again.

With a roar, he charged at Bai Zhenzhen and shouted, "I’ll fight to the death!" Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu’s familiar face, frowned, and retreated, while Yu Xinghan and the other security guards rushed toward Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu soon became entangled in battle with Yu Xinghan and the other guards.

Although Zhang Yu was weaker than the group, he was utterly fearless, repeatedly launching life-risking attacks and trading blow for blow, forcing the many guards to fall back step by step.

After all, medical expenses could be reimbursed, but if a person died, no amount of medical money would help.

In particular, Zhang Yu felt that the more he faced such desperate odds, the more his power surged.

Under the operation of the Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life Heart Mantra, a portion of the potential hidden deep within his body seemed to be unleashed beyond its normal limits at this moment, making him grow stronger with each fight.

The effects of the Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life Heart Mantra far exceeded its previous performance.

Seeing that Zhang Yu had temporarily forced the guards back with his life-for-life tactics, the remaining workers began to stir restlessly.

Bai Zhenzhen, watching Zhang Yu as he fought, felt her emotions waver once more, and the Cold Soul Ice Heart Mantra seemed to encounter an obstruction.

She sensed that, at this moment, a trace of reluctance had arisen in her heart.

(Note: This line appears to be garbled or a typo in the original; translating as-is: "There is not a single mistake in the content being read.")

At this moment, a thought surged within her: she did not want to see Zhang Yu continue being beaten down like this.

And as Bai Zhenzhen’s resistance to the mantra grew, the deduction of the Cold Soul Ice Heart Mantra by the true spiritual root in her dantian changed accordingly.

……

Watching this scene, Song Xu clicked his tongue in wonder: "What’s going on? Under the circulation of the Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life Heart Mantra, Zhang Yu can still fight for his life like this."

Mo Tianyi asked in confusion, "Could it be that the Crippled Ox Sacrifices Life Heart Mantra has some hidden mystery?"

But soon, something even more astonishing happened to Mo Tianyi.

As Zhang Yu led the workers in a fierce struggle against the security guards, Bai Zhenzhen eventually stopped the conflict, announcing that the employees would receive additional benefits and a pay raise.

Mo Tianyi grew even more puzzled: "Is this something the Cold Soul Ice Heart Mantra can do?"

Song Xu said, "Changes in one's thoughts naturally lead to changes in how one interprets and understands one's mental cultivation method."

"The deeper your understanding of a mental cultivation method, the stronger its effect becomes."

"But in reality, for a person's thoughts to change and their understanding of the cultivation method to deepen, it often takes a great deal of time spent pondering and experiencing."

"The existence of the illusory realm in the spirit world accelerates this process through various scenarios."

"Judging by the performance of these two, they have both gained a deeper understanding of their respective cultivation methods."

"After this trip to the illusory realm, the two will surely have more steadfast Dao hearts, and their cultivation methods will become even more powerful."

As he spoke, Song Xu saw that the illusion was changing once again.

…

With the increase in wages and improvements in benefits, the entire factory began operating again.

Although Bai Zhenzhen still calmly managed everything in the factory, she could sense that her current calm was different from her previous calm.

If the earlier calm could be described as callous calculation that discarded emotion,

then now Bai Zhenzhen's calm was infused with her own humanity, no longer blindly chasing success and victory.

"So this is… doing what must be done even knowing the impossibility, doing what one wants to do."

For instance, at this moment she did not want to be an enemy to Zhang Yu opposite her; so even if profits decreased, even if she faced greater risks, she would calmly accept it and continue to carry on.

In that instant, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly gained a much deeper understanding of the Cold Soul Ice Heart Art.

"Suppressing emotions, calculating everything coldly based on gain and loss, success and failure, orienting everything toward success—that is not true calm, but merely the suppression of humanity."

"Only by being able to accept failure serenely, and by fearing nothing in order to carry out the convictions in one's heart, can one truly pursue the essence of the Cold Soul Ice Heart Art…"

At that moment, she felt like an assassin holding a small dagger; even if the chance of success was slim and the risk of death was great, she would still calmly thrust that sword.

Feeling the Cold Soul Ice Heart Art circulate in her heart with an unprecedented effect, Bai Zhenzhen found the scene in her mind crisp and clear, and her heart grew more and more resolute.

She could sense that as her understanding of the Cold Soul Ice Heart Art deepened, the power of this mental cultivation method grew stronger.

The greater the risk she faced and the lower the chance of success, the calmer she felt, and the more her mind, body, and magical power became alive.

Then, along with Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, she watched as the factory, due to wages being too high and benefits too generous, ultimately saw costs rise, and under pressure from other factories, completely shut down…

…

Watching this scene, Mo Tianyi felt something in his heart and murmured, "Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, their intentions are good."

"If it hadn't been for Zhang Pianpian forcing them to sign, and with your guidance, boss, they might truly have had a faint hope of being accepted into the Top Ten."

Song Xu said calmly, "But as with every poor person's situation, no matter how good the ideas, without the guarantee of wealth, everything is but flowers in a mirror and the moon's reflection in water; in the end, they will be eliminated by this world."

Mo said, "But from what I've seen in this illusion, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen's thoughts are very close to ours."

"Maybe if we directly ask them, they will tell us the secret to their rapid growth, and help us poor folks break out a path…"

The poor helping one another, breaking through the net the rich have cast—this had always been the principle Song Xu taught Mo Tianyi, and what the members of the Poor People's Alliance firmly believed.

It was under this principle that they gave all the support they could to Song Xu, hoping he would become the first to break the sky, and in the future lead them all to charge into the firmament.

Hearing this, Song Xu shook his head and said, "An illusion is, after all, an illusion."

"No matter what they think in their hearts, in reality they have ended up as dogs of the rich. We cannot trust them too much."

"I'll use my own method."

"They should be continuing to restart the illusion and keep tempering their Dao hearts, right?"

"Notify me when they come out."

After waiting like this for more than two hours, Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, and Yu Xinghan were finally about to exit.

Meanwhile, in a certain basement in reality,

Song Xu was kneeling with a mask on, amidst a strange ritual.

He thought to himself: "Zhang Yu is about to leave the illusion. Prepare to activate the ritual and find his evil god."