Chapter 174: Endless Zen of Seasons

When Zhang Yu first began to comprehend the Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen, he had absolutely no understanding of this cultivation art; he merely regarded it as an enhanced version of the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi, a more efficient body‑tempering martial art that could train the flesh more effectively.

But after he had forced himself through the entire technique in a clumsy, half‑baked manner, he had already developed his own understanding of this body‑tempering martial art.

Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen Level 1 (0/10)

Scenes of cultivating Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen flowed through his mind, and all the mistakes encountered during cultivation and the memories born from them surfaced in his thoughts.

All this made him feel as if he had experienced the entire process of cultivating Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen from Level 0 to Level 1 in just an instant.

It was only after this round of cultivation that he realized this body‑tempering martial art was vastly different from the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi.

But Zhang Yu did not immediately report to the examiners to prove that he had already mastered Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen.

“Too abrupt, too high‑profile.”

“Being high‑profile without strength… that’s just asking for trouble.”

Zhang Yu believed that anyone who saw him looking clumsy and inexperienced on his first try, yet extremely proficient and fully at home on his second try, would inevitably feel suspicious and wonder if he had cheated.

And as someone whose potential had been awakened by an evil god, Zhang Yu did not want to arouse the curiosity of those orthodox gods.

So he began his second round of practice.

In his mind, he recalled the cultivation experience that had just emerged—the experience from 0 to 1.

Zhang Yu pretended to be still unskilled and started this second round of cultivation.

However, compared to the first round, he already had a certain posture.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu’s mind was constantly flooded with the subtleties of Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen and the differences between this body‑tempering martial art and the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi.

First, he needed to condense a strand of Longevity Dharma Power.

Then Zhang Yu sat cross‑legged on the ground; as he twisted his upper body backward and touched the ground with both hands, his internal organs also squeezed and exerted force against each other during the twist.

“Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen consists of forty‑nine postures; each posture trains a different part of the body, honing every inch of flesh, blood, bones, and internal organs throughout the body.”

“And when infused with Longevity Dharma Power, it can expel the waste and impurities left in the body after training, purifying the flesh while accelerating the body’s recovery.”

The next moment, as the Longevity Dharma Power surged into his internal organs, Zhang Yu felt a soothing relief in the organs that had just been exercised.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: “If the forty‑nine body‑tempering postures are like autumn’s harshness, representing the wear and tear of the physical body…”

“Then the Longevity Dharma Power is like spring’s burgeoning, meant for the repair and regrowth of the body.”

“One is spring, one is autumn; one gives life, one brings death—and between life and death, the physical body is nourished and grows ever stronger.”

In particular, Zhang Yu could understand that with each cycle of Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen, the medicinal toxins and elixir residues accumulated in the internal organs would be gradually expelled.

Now Zhang Yu had deeply understood Kunxu’s immortal path.

As the saying goes, thirty percent training, seventy percent eating, and the remaining ninety percent all depend on how you take medicine.

On the immortal path, taking medicine is as normal as eating and drinking.

But whenever medicine is taken, impurities and even toxins inevitably remain.

And Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen, while training, expels the impurities and toxins from the body, slowly repairing the damage that drugs have caused to the body.

In this way, even at the same level of physical strength, a strong practitioner who has cultivated Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen will inevitably be healthier, with more abundant blood and qi, and will have higher limits in both physical endurance and explosive power.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: “What a divine skill! Truly a divine skill!”

“If it weren’t so expensive and so difficult, Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen would truly be the holy body‑tempering skill of high school.”

“With this Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen, pushing my physical strength to Level 10 next will naturally be a smooth process.”

At the same time, Zhang Yu began the third round of practicing Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen.

This time, following the cultivation experience in his mind, he improved his performance again, becoming more skilled and his movements more standard.

…

Huang Zichou, who was observing Zhang Yu, raised an eyebrow and said, “This Zhang Yu is improving very quickly. He has only practiced Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen three times, and he already looks quite decent.”

At the same time, the detection patches on Zhang Yu’s body continuously uploaded various data regarding his physical strength and dharma power circulation.

After comparing this data with the standard data for the first level of Spring‑Autumn Endless Zen, Huang Zichou arrived at a result.

"The data Zhang Yu is currently showing, compared to the normal operation data of Endless Spring and Autumn Zen Level 1, has a physical compatibility of about 36% and a dharma compatibility of about 15%."

Another minor god nodded inwardly as he watched: "Indeed, his talent exceeds the ordinary."

"But for now, it's only a superficial resemblance."

"The key to Endless Spring and Autumn Zen lies in the coordination of the longevity dharma and the forty-nine forms, which involves the connections between various parts of the body and the metabolism of the five viscera and six bowels—it's not that simple..."

Huang Zichou also knew that learning the movements could be fast, but the internal flow of force and dharma power was not that simple.

This was also evident from the results showing Zhang Yu's physical compatibility at 36% and dharma compatibility at 15%.

But as Zhang Yu continued to practice for the fourth and fifth rounds, Huang Zichou's face grew increasingly astonished.

In particular, while watching his movements, Huang Zichou kept monitoring the various data transmitted from the detection patches on Zhang Yu's body.

Physical compatibility 58%, dharma compatibility 33%.

Physical compatibility 69%, dharma compatibility 56%.

"He's improving so fast."

"It's like every time he practices, he's reborn, as if an ordinary high school student had trained for months."

"Is Zhang Yu's talent really this terrifying?" At the same time, Zhang Yu's rapid progress quickly drew the attention of the other minor gods, and even Deng Bingding.

A minor god exclaimed in surprise: "The sixth round... physical compatibility 87%, dharma compatibility 79%?"

Huang Zichou said, "And his movements are getting faster and faster; both his body and dharma power are actively adjusting themselves."

"This shows that during the practice, he is very clear about where his problems are and where his mistakes lie, and he knows how to adjust to the correct path."

"Especially, he never repeats a mistake after correcting it—such control over his body is astonishing."

"Does he really have no dharma skeleton? No special bloodline?"

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu had already started his seventh round of practice.

And this time, from the very first form of Endless Spring and Autumn Zen, Zhang Yu's physical compatibility and dharma compatibility were both 100%.

As he then performed the second form, third form, fourth form... one by one, neither physical compatibility nor dharma compatibility ever dropped again.

After completing all forty-nine forms of Endless Spring and Autumn Zen, the gods looked at the data showing 100% compatibility and knew that Zhang Yu had succeeded.

Not a single mistake, no misplaced effort—every detail was flawless!

He had completely mastered Endless Spring and Autumn Zen Level 1.

Just as the gods were astonished, Deng Bingding asked calmly, "How much time?"

Huang Zichou quickly replied, "32 minutes and 15 seconds."

At the same time, Zhang Yu raised his hand to the examiners and said, "Examiner, I'm done."

Then, under everyone's gaze, he stated calmly, "I've mastered it."

Seeing Huang Zichou approaching, Zhang Yu said respectfully, "Examiner, do you need me to demonstrate it again?"

Huang Zichou shook his head: "No need. We've already received your data—there's no problem. Go rest in the lounge over there; don't affect the other students in the exam hall."

So Zhang Yu walked into the lounge nearby, relieved inwardly: "This should mean I've passed today's round of exams, right?"

Thinking this, Zhang Yu, who had been tense all along, felt as if he had suddenly let out a breath. He collapsed into a chair, wanting nothing more than to rest.

The past months of training, the relentless hard work, the fatigue accumulated day after day... all seemed to find a moment to relax at this point.

At that instant, Zhang Yu just wanted to rest well today, preferably not start preparing for the second round until tomorrow.

But he had just sat down, barely settled, when a chill surged in his heart.

Hearing the countdown from the ritual, Zhang Yu sighed helplessly.

"This stupid thing."

After sitting for another five seconds, Zhang Yu slowly stood up and resumed practicing Endless Spring and Autumn Zen.

And Zhang Yu's success and departure naturally affected the other examinees at the scene.

It's like seeing someone hand in their exam paper early during a test; many students present inevitably had mixed thoughts.

Dai Xingzhi watched Zhang Yu's disappearing back and thought to himself: "Only a little over half an hour has passed? He finished that quickly? Could it be a three-star or four-star difficulty technique?"

Ye Lingxiao also checked the time and thought: "32 minutes? Did he deliberately choose a low-star difficulty technique?"

Without thinking too much about it, he continued to focus on his own cultivation of the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art.

Like Dai Xingzhi and Ye Lingxiao, the vast majority of students simply assumed that Zhang Yu had chosen a lower-star technique, since that seemed the most likely reason to them.

But on the other side, as Yunjing watched Zhang Yu's disappearing back, a number of 1.55 million floated across his Dharma Skeleton's eyes.

This was the judgment of his Dharma Skeleton's eyes on Zhang Yu's cultivation technique when Yunjing had just glanced at him.

"A technique worth 1.55 million?" Yunjing's mind stirred, and basic information about the Spring Autumn Endless Zen surfaced.

"Spring Autumn Endless Zen, according to my recent memory, is a technique rated as eight-star difficulty by the Orthodox Gods."

Yunjing's gaze sharpened, and he exclaimed inwardly: "32 minutes, and he actually mastered an eight-star difficulty technique?"

"Can I do that?"

Yunjing made a quick estimate, and the answer emerged in his mind.

"I cannot."

"This guy's martial arts ability is stronger than mine?"

"But he specifically chose an eight-star body-refining martial art? If he had chosen a ten-star technique, or even a nine-star one, he probably could have succeeded."

"In this exam, the difficulty coefficient is more important than time. Does he have no interest at all in competing for first place?"

Yunjing simply could not understand.

Especially as a top student from Xiandu, he had never stopped pursuing the first place since childhood.

The behavior of No. 55 (Zhang Yu) seemed utterly bizarre to him.

"Clearly having the chance to compete for first, yet he gives up on his own? Why?"

Yunjing shook his head, temporarily suppressing his doubts, and continued to focus on the cultivation of the All-Encompassing Myriad Forms Palm, but ultimately his concentration was still slightly affected by Zhang Yu's behavior.