Chapter 175: Exam Passed

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yu Xinghan glanced at Zhang Yu's departing back and then stopped caring.

Only because at this moment he had more important matters.

After the god of the Health Ministry descended with divine power to reverse his sterilization surgery, Yu Xinghan initially didn’t feel anything different about himself.

He returned to the examination hall and began practicing the Heavenly Fiend Qi Technique.

But as he cultivated, with the circulation of mana and the refinement of strands of pure yang fiend qi, Yu Xinghan gradually felt his whole body growing hot and his mind becoming unsettled.

And what made Yu Xinghan even more at a loss was that silhouettes of beautiful women began uncontrollably emerging in his mind.

There was Bai Zhenzhen, Yue Mulan, Zhang Pianpian, and various female classmates he had seen at White Dragon High School, even the girls from Xiandu who were present today…

These graceful figures appeared and disappeared, like endless distracting thoughts, causing Yu Xinghan to gradually become restless, and his control over the fiend qi weakened slightly.

Until finally, all the silhouettes vanished together, leaving only the last one.

It was precisely the daughter of Starfire True Man, Yu Xinghan’s senior sister, Li Xuelian.

As Li Xuelian's figure appeared, Yu Xinghan suddenly realized that this senior sister of his was actually very beautiful, and she exuded a mature allure that made his breathing even heavier.

The hundred-year age gap and her identity as Starfire True Man’s daughter… just thinking about it made him a little excited.

Seeing that the pure yang fiend qi was about to spiral out of control, Yu Xinghan suddenly snapped back to his senses: "No!"

"How could I be defeated by Li Xuelian?"

He bit his tongue, then began recalling Zhang Yu, Song Hailong, Chu Qiuhe, and Xiong Wenwu in his mind.

Especially Song Hailong—Yu Xinghan found that every time he thought of him, the heat in his body diminished somewhat, allowing him to continue cultivating the Heavenly Fiend Qi Technique.

…

On the other side, Bai Zhenzhen was completely absorbed in mentally practicing the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art; she hadn’t even heard about Zhang Yu completing his exam.

At this moment, her face was flushed red, and her rapidly operating brain emitted layers of heat, giving off waves of white steam.

And in Bai Zhenzhen’s mind, there was another Zhang Yu imagined by her, surrounded by boundless Formless Cloud Fiend Qi, locked in battle with her.

As the sword techniques of the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art were executed one by one, Bai Zhenzhen’s figure grew faster and faster, more and more fleeting, shuttling through the Formless Cloud Fiend Qi with layers of electricity, like a lightning bolt tearing through the clouds, gradually ripping an opening in Zhang Yu’s defense.

Finally, with a rumbling thunderclap, Bai Zhenzhen defeated the Zhang Yu in her mind.

And at that moment, she also understood that this was because she could no longer find any flaws in her own sword strike, so the ‘Zhang Yu’ she simulated had lost.

At the same time, a sword intent rose within her mind, and all the sword techniques of the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art flowed through her heart one by one, as if she had practiced them thousands of times.

"Intent precedes thought, the sword follows the will… this is the true mystery of the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art."

"The sword techniques themselves are not important; what matters is the refined Sword Without End Intent."

Bai Zhenzhen felt that with the refinement of this Sword Without End Intent, she could graft any sword technique into the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art, and could even create new sword techniques on the spot to counter an opponent's moves.

"The techniques of the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art… can actually be infinite."

"As long as they are empowered by the Sword Without End Intent, one can freely execute sword techniques, graft them, and even create techniques to break others'."

"The Sword Without End Intent is the key. It’s just that mediocre individuals need to repeatedly practice tens of thousands of sword techniques, turning all possibilities into instinct, before intent can precede thought and the sword follow the will."

"But for a genius like me, I only need to comprehend the sword intent itself, and I will naturally master the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art."

Bai Zhenzhen smiled confidently, but when she looked around, she found that many of the students present had disappeared. She later learned that they had each successfully cultivated their chosen martial arts and gone to the lounge to rest.

"Huh? Yu Xinghan still hasn't succeeded?"

Bai Zhenzhen looked toward Yu Xinghan, only to find his face flushed red; he quickly turned his head away, as if he were very afraid of her.

"What's he up to?"

Just then, Huang Zichou came before Bai Zhenzhen and said, "I have already sensed your Sword Without End Intent. The exam is over. Go rest in the side room."

…

As time passed, two hours were nearly up, and the number of students remaining in the hall grew smaller and smaller.

When Yu Xinghan, pale-faced and looking utterly drained, finished cultivating the Heavenly Fiend Qi Technique,

only a few students were left in the entire hall.

Huang Zichou glanced at the time, then at Li Tongyun, who was still trying, and said indifferently, "There is one last minute left."

Li Tongyun cultivated even more desperately, but still couldn't succeed.

When the exam time ended, she quickly said, "I did it, examiner, I really did it..."

Huang Zichou ignored her, directly swept divine power, and was about to drag Li Tongyun, whose face was ashen, along with several other failed candidates out.

And Li Tongyun understood that with the complete failure of the Foundation Establishment exam, she would soon become company property.

A moment later, the remaining candidates all returned to the exam hall.

Yun Jing came over to Ye Lingxiao and asked, "Did you cultivate a ten-star difficulty technique?"

Ye Lingxiao said indifferently, "The Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art."

Yun Jing curled his lip. The other had left the field five minutes earlier than him, so Ye Lingxiao had clearly won this round.

Ye Lingxiao was not surprised by this. From the moment he spent an hour and a half mastering the Ten Thousand Swords Without End Art, he was certain he would be first in this round.

Yun Jing thought to himself, "Hmph, when it comes to martial cultivation, I really am inferior to him."

"If only this round tested practical combat in martial arts."

Watching Ye Lingxiao's indifferent expression, Yun Jing felt even more annoyed at failing to take first place.

Just then, Yun Jing suddenly spotted Zhang Yu not far away. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he asked again, "If it were you, in 32 minutes, what star-level technique could you master?" Ye Lingxiao was slightly startled, a figure flashing through his mind, and he said in surprise, "32 minutes?"

He thought for a moment and said, "A seven-star difficulty technique shouldn't be a problem."

"For eight-star, it depends on the specific technique."

Ye Lingxiao looked at Yun Jing: "So... what exactly are you trying to say?"

Yun Jing nodded in the direction of Zhang Yu: "That No. 55 mastered the eight-star difficulty Spring and Autumn Boundless Zen in 32 minutes."

Ye Lingxiao was slightly stunned and looked toward Zhang Yu.

At the same time, the rankings for this third martial exam appeared on the light screen.

First place: No. 23 (Ye Lingxiao)

Second place: No. 11 (Yun Jing)

Third place: No. 56 (Bai Zhenzhen)

Fourth place: No. 55 (Zhang Yu)

Seeing this ranking, Ye Lingxiao instantly realized Yun Jing wasn't lying.

No mistakes, first release, one content, one is reading!

He looked at Zhang Yu, extremely shocked inside: "32 minutes to master the Spring and Autumn Boundless Zen?"

The first thing Ye Lingxiao thought was: could he do it himself?

The answer was probably yes, but it would be extremely tight on time.

"So..." Ye Lingxiao thought to himself, "This No. 55's talent and ability in cultivating techniques are actually not inferior to mine?"

This was the first time Ye Lingxiao had encountered an opponent who could match him in this regard, aside from those of the Ye clan.

Yun Jing beside him smiled and said, "If this guy hadn't chosen an eight-star technique for some reason this time, his score might have been even higher than yours."

As a genius in technique cultivation—someone who learned it in one glance and mastered it in one practice—Ye Lingxiao felt he could guess part of the reason.

"Could it be that this No. 55 has already learned most of the ten-star and nine-star techniques, and the ones he hasn't mastered are all ones he doesn't like, so he just picked an eight-star one?"

Recalling No. 55's performance in the previous two exams—Dharma Power and Physical Body—Ye Lingxiao suddenly felt this was very likely.

"This guy doesn't care about ranking at all."

"Damn it, I only got fourth this time?! Is eight-star difficulty not hard enough?"

Zhang Yu looked at the rankings above and thought to himself, "A bunch of damn rich people. If only I were rich enough, I'd surpass every single one of you."

Zhang Yu then turned to look at Yu Xinghan behind him and asked, "Why are you always hiding behind me, kid?"

Yu Xinghan pressed on Zhang Yu's shoulder and said, "Don't move. Just help me block for a bit."

Bai Zhenzhen, who was beside him, poked her head over and said curiously, "Why are you looking at me so strangely? It's like the look those slackers in ordinary high school give."

Yu Xinghan said with a pained expression, "Don't mind me."

He pointed at Bai Zhenzhen and said, "Stay away from me!"

Yu Xinghan had never realized before that Bai Zhenzhen was actually so beautiful.

Although she still wasn't as good as Li Xuelian in his heart, she still made him flustered, especially as the pure yang righteous qi inside him grew more restless.

This feeling made him, who had always been extremely self-controlled, very uncomfortable.

Yu Xinghan sighed inwardly: "If I had known the reversal surgery would have such a huge side effect and add this enormous weakness for no reason, I wouldn't have chosen the Celestial Firmament Qi Art."

But Bai Zhenzhen said curiously, "Oh? Are you afraid of me getting close to you?"

Yu Xinghan nodded repeatedly and said, "Don't come near me."

Bai Zhenzhen reached out her hand and said, "500 for the no-disturbance fee."

Yu Xinghan's breathing grew heavier from anger: "Fine, fine, fine. I'll pay you back when we get back."

As the light screen appeared, displaying the rankings for the third exam, many people's gazes converged on Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

Dai Xingzhi looked at Zhang Yu and thought to himself: "Finished in 32 minutes, ranked fourth? That means he finished a high-star difficulty technique in 32 minutes? It probably isn't ten-star, or he would have been first."

But even so, Dai Xingzhi realized that Zhang Yu must possess an extremely terrifying ability to learn techniques.

"With an ability like that, and still able to grow to the point of coming to take the Foundation Establishment exam, he must be super rich."

"Indeed... this is just a rich guy who doesn't care about the ranking in this exam and just went through the motions."

"And that woman."

Dai Xingzhi looked at Bai Zhenzhen: "Being able to rank third in this exam shows her ability too."

"And this woman seems very familiar with contestant number 55. They must be rich kids hanging out together."

Thinking this, Dai Xingzhi's expression turned serious: "These two's real strength might not be much less than Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing."

"They're also strong contenders for the Foundation Establishment qualification certificate."

As the third exam ranking appeared, the total score ranking for the day was also announced shortly after.

First place, Ye Lingxiao, and second place, Yun Jing, were both without any suspense.

Then came Bai Zhenzhen in 14th place and Zhang Yu in 15th place.

Although Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were not highly ranked, in the eyes of many students, these two were out-of-town rich kids who hadn't gone all out, and their true strength was unfathomable.

Deng Bingding looked at the many students and said, "The top 20 stay. The rest are eliminated here. Prepare to leave."

Looking at the remaining twenty students, Deng Bingding nodded in satisfaction. According to her grading scale of ants, oxen, and humans, the level of these twenty in front of her was like having one foot already through the threshold of being human.