Chapter 20: Enlightenment

Two identical chills, two identical countdowns—after multiple attempts, Zhang Yu discovered that these two ritual forces were pushing in different directions.

One stopped counting down after he breathed in spiritual energy.

The other stopped counting down after he comprehended the Celestial Martial Diagram.

Zhang Yu immediately became more certain that one of these two countdowns was fake.

"It must be the effect brought by the Celestial Martial Diagram."

"Confronting the terror in my heart... so it reproduces the ritual force's oppression on me?"

"But unexpectedly, the ritual force reproduced by the Celestial Martial Diagram contradicts the real ritual force on me."

Yet between the two ritual forces, which one was fake?

"Is it the one that stops counting down after I breathe?"

"Or is it the one that stops counting down after I comprehend the Celestial Martial Diagram?"

Zhang Yu leaned more toward the latter, but he couldn't decide lightly.

The price of choosing wrong was death.

"Which side should I pick?"

Listening to the ever-changing countdown in his mind, Zhang Yu's thoughts were entangled and he couldn't make a decision for a long time.

"Since I can't choose, then I just won't choose."

His gaze sharpened as he made a decision: "I'll treat both countdowns as real."

Right then, Zhang Yu sat down cross-legged on the spot, began circulating the Heaven-Cycle Qi Gathering Technique, and breathed in the spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

As the countdown in his mind went on, from ten to five to three, Zhang Yu stood up again, looked toward the Celestial Martial Diagram, and tried to comprehend the martial art contained within it.

And so, driven by both countdowns simultaneously, Zhang Yu alternated between the Heaven-Cycle Qi Gathering Technique and comprehending the Celestial Martial Diagram, advancing back and forth.

Meanwhile, in the painting exhibition, people gradually began to notice Zhang Yu's strange behavior.

The Songyang City director of Xianyun Group watched Zhang Yu with curiosity and said, "This kid breathes one moment, then stands up to comprehend martial arts the next—what is he looking at?"

Li Xuelian, standing by, also glanced at Zhang Yu and said thoughtfully, "It looks as if someone is forcing him to breathe."

"Perhaps it's out of real-life reverence for some teacher."

Just then, they saw Zhang Yu change his action again. He stopped breathing and began practicing the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening.

It turned out that Zhang Yu had suddenly realized something: the countdown that stopped after he breathed might not be forcing him to breathe, but rather forcing him to follow the path of studying, cultivating, taking college entrance exams, and working to earn money.

So he started trying to see if he could practice martial arts while looking at the Celestial Martial Diagram at the same time.

After all, his Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening had long become muscle memory. If he could practice martial arts while comprehending the Celestial Martial Diagram, he could focus most of his attention on the diagram.

Because his main goal at the moment was to comprehend the martial art on the Celestial Martial Diagram.

After this attempt succeeded, he began to think that practicing while comprehending was still too troublesome, so he simply took out his phone and tried browsing through the study materials on it while looking at the Celestial Martial Diagram.

Finding that browsing materials was also fine, he simply played the study materials aloud from his phone and comprehended the Celestial Martial Diagram while listening to the content.

Watching Zhang Yu breathe, practice martial arts, and study all at once, Li Xuelian sighed sincerely, "This kid must have an extremely strict teacher behind him, constantly forcing him to work hard, even becoming a figure of immense fear in his heart."

"Now we'll see whether he can break through mentally under layers of pressure..."

But before Li Xuelian could finish her words, Zhang Yu actually moved away from the Celestial Martial Diagram, ran straight to the buffet table, grabbed a large plate of seafood, returned to the diagram, and started eating while comprehending.

Because he suddenly remembered that eating should not be blocked by the ritual.

Watching this, Li Xuelian said in slight surprise, "Oh? Breaking through so fast—under layers of pressure, he directly adopted a 'slacking off' mindset? This allows him to face his inner terror and continue comprehending the martial art in the diagram."

"Perhaps even he hasn't realized that, without knowing it, he has already overcome his fear, passed the test of this diagram, and is now acting normally in all things."

Seeing a security guard about to step forward and stop Zhang Yu, Li Xuelian waved her hand to dismiss him. She was now quite curious about how much Zhang Yu could comprehend from the diagram.

And while eating lobster and looking at the diagram, Zhang Yu gradually began to see clearly what kind of martial art the figure was practicing.

"Looks like a set of punches?"

The fist technique itself was not complicated. After watching it several times, Zhang Yu had a vague concept of it, but when he looked at his Feather Script, he found no change at all—clearly, he had not truly learned this martial art, let alone mastered it.

Based on his experience learning the basic high school sword technique and the Cyclical Qi Gathering Method, for a martial art like this, he should have been able to see it once and have it display at level 0 on the Feather Script.

"What's wrong?"

Just then, Lian Tianji let out a loud laugh and said with a confident expression, "I have fully comprehended the martial art within. It is indeed an exquisite palm technique."

But before his voice faded, Qian Shen, not far away, spoke up and said, "What palm technique? It's clearly a leg technique."

Normally, Qian Shen, with a total score of 600, would never dare to speak loudly in front of someone with a total score of 670. But at this moment, having just undergone the tempering of his Dao heart through the Heavenly Man Martial Arts Diagram, his courage was at its peak.

And their words quickly drew opposition from others.

Someone argued, "No, no, no. What’s hidden in the Martial Arts Diagram is clearly a saber technique."

Someone else began indiscriminate mockery: "A bunch of blind people—it’s clearly a finger technique."

Bai Zhenzhen frowned slightly. What she saw was a sword technique.

Clearly, while Zhang Yu was eating and comprehending, more and more students had already finished their comprehension of the Martial Arts Diagram.

Lian Tianji, listening to the discussions, simply turned his gaze to Li Xuelian and asked, "Lady Li, could you tell us what martial art is actually hidden in this Martial Arts Diagram?"

Seeing everyone looking at her, Li Xuelian gave a slight smile and said, "I cannot disclose exactly what martial art it is."

"But let me give you a hint: there is a subtle mystery within the Martial Arts Diagram. If anyone here has truly mastered the martial art within, the diagram itself will show it clearly."

Everyone understood—this meant that whoever among them mastered the martial art in the diagram would have the diagram itself produce a prompt.

Thinking this, Lian Tianji stepped forward without hesitation.

!

Lian Tianji from Ziyun High School had always carried the absolute confidence of a child of destiny.

And after the recent trial, his self-confidence had swelled to a peak state. Now, as he made his move, he immediately performed the palm technique he had just comprehended from the Martial Arts Diagram.

As he moved, the sound of wind and thunder rang out, and surging force and killing intent erupted from his body, as if about to blast the entire exhibition hall away.

Zhao Tianxing, watching from afar, had been observing the results. Seeing this, a surge of admiration rose in his heart.

"Such high physical strength, such a terrifying palm technique—this is a combat-oriented killing martial art."

However, while Lian Tianji's physical strength was impressive among first-year high school students, many of those present were cultivators who had long graduated from high school. What surprised them more was the fluency of the martial art Lian Tianji had just performed.

Someone marveled inwardly: "Did he really just comprehend this palm technique from the Martial Arts Diagram? Every move is so practiced. The top students from Ziyun High School truly are geniuses among geniuses."

But when Lian Tianji finished performing the palm technique, the Heavenly Man Martial Arts Diagram remained completely still, with no reaction at all.

"How is that possible?" Lian Tianji refused to accept it. "I clearly mastered the martial art in the diagram. How can it not work?"

Qian Shen chuckled and walked up to stand before Lian Tianji. "I told you long ago, it's a leg technique."

Next, he too performed in front of the diagram the martial art he had comprehended. Although not as effortless as Lian Tianji's performance, his moves were still practiced and smooth.

Bai Zhenzhen watched this and frowned again: "This is a body-tempering martial art? Specialized for training the legs."

And as Qian Shen completed his final move, the Heavenly Man Martial Arts Diagram remained unmoving, showing no sign of change.

"How is that possible?"

Echoing Lian Tianji's words, Qian Shen also stared at the diagram in disbelief.

Then, one after another, students stepped forward to demonstrate the martial arts they had comprehended.

Twelve students, including Lian Tianji and Qian Shen, displayed a total of nine martial arts: fist, palm, leg, finger, claw, saber, sword, spear, and staff.

Among them, three students had comprehended martial arts that overlapped with others.

But after this round of demonstrations, not a single person had managed to provoke a reaction from the Heavenly Man Martial Arts Diagram.

Lian Tianji couldn't help turning to Li Xuelian and asking again, "Lady Li, with so many of us, is it really true that no one has succeeded?"

Li Xuelian did not answer, merely shaking her head slightly, a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

Just then, Bai Zhenzhen slowly stepped forward. Under everyone's gaze, she used her fingers in place of a sword and practiced a sword technique.

Although the technique was executed with unmatched sharpness, and every move of Bai Zhenzhen could be considered quite accomplished, after a few glances, those present lost interest.

After all, there had been two people who came forward earlier to practice martial arts and display sword techniques, but they did not cause any changes in the martial arts diagram.

But who would have thought that after Bai Zhenzhen finished performing this set of sword techniques, the style suddenly changed, and she used her hand as a blade to perform a set of blade techniques.

Then came fist techniques, palm techniques, leg techniques...

Zhao Tianxing exclaimed in surprise, "Did Bai Zhenzhen learn all the martial arts that everyone practiced earlier?"

Lian Tianji frowned as he watched, thinking to himself, "In such a short time, she could replicate all the martial arts demonstrated by everyone just by watching once. Which key high school's top student is this woman again?"

Watching Bai Zhenzhen, whose every move seemed as if she had trained hard for a long time, Qian Shen's mind was also swirling with thoughts.

On one hand, he was amazed that Bai Zhenzhen could perform all nine sets of martial arts; on the other hand, doubts kept rising in his heart: "Can it really work just by performing all nine sets of martial arts that everyone comprehended?"

At that moment, under everyone's astonished gaze, the man on the Heavenly Martial Diagram moved. He actually looked at Bai Zhenzhen with a smile in his eyes, and two characters appeared on the scroll.

Not bad.