[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-no-money-what-cultivation":3,"chapter-no-money-what-cultivation-no-money-what-cultivation-chapter-31":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","No Money, What Cultivation?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},163380,323,"Chapter 31: Spirit World","no-money-what-cultivation-chapter-31",31,"\u003Cp>The Spirit World.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A spiritual realm jointly created by the ten major sects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the exam officially began, Zhang Yu felt his consciousness being pulled out of his physical body and transported to another world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A gentle breeze brushed through his hair, and his buttocks felt the hardness of sitting on a chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Zhang Yu opened his eyes, what appeared before him was an ordinary classroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the classroom sat dozens of students around his age, from various different high schools.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the Spirit World, a spiritual realm distinct from the real world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Spirit World could be called a real world, or it could be called a false world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Calling it a real world was because everything one experienced here could be indistinguishable from the real world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Calling it a false world was because all matter in this world did not exist in reality; it was like a dream, an illusion. Even everything seen, smelled, touched, and felt in this world could be artificially controlled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yu knew that at this moment his physical body was still lying on the bed at Songyang High School, but his consciousness had arrived in the Spirit World.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the surrounding students, he had been randomly selected from the many students taking the exam in Songyang City and placed in this classroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced at the classroom environment; anyway, Zhang Yu couldn't tell any difference between this place and reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought to himself, \"I hope I don't get stuck in the exam halfway through and end up with the whole city's high school students trapped in a virtual game.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A place similar to a virtual internet world—that was Zhang Yu's understanding of the Spirit World after learning some information about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only difference was that Kunxu had achieved this using immortal cultivation technology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Zhang Yu also knew that his knowledge of the Spirit World was still too limited, and his understanding was definitely one-sided, but for now, it was enough for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front of everyone, a thin man wearing an owl mask stood behind the podium, looking at them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xingyu scanned the examinees before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next moment, in his own perspective, the number, name, and high school of each examinee appeared above their heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sigh, I hope this ends quickly so I can get off work early.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a soul cultivator from Mangshan High School, without a physical body and left with only a soul, Li Xingyu had long been accustomed to his daily life in the Spirit World.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of the special nature of soul cultivators, they didn't have to participate in the Dao Heart Exam and were instead grabbed by the teachers to serve as invigilators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking about the 45 hours of work he still had left today, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, as he was examining the examinees, his gaze focused and turned toward Zhang Yu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Him?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xingyu still remembered that at Li Xuelian's art exhibition that day, it was this security guard who stole the show, triggering the abnormal phenomenon in the Celestial Human Martial Arts Painting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"From Songyang High School?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Interesting. I'll record his exam process this time; maybe I can sell it to the principal as valuable research intelligence.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking a little notice, Li Xingyu stepped forward a few paces. With each step he took, several identical copies of himself split off. By the time he had taken ten steps, one Li Xingyu stood in front of every examinee present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This kind of spirit realm clone technique was already second nature to a soul cultivator like Li Xingyu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yu looked at the invigilator wearing the owl mask in front of him, speculating in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The strength of one's will is a manifestation of the Dao Heart. To determine the level of the Dao Heart, one usually tests the strength of the will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the Dao Heart Exam mainly tested will, at least at the Qi Refinement stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there were many different methods to test each person's willpower. To prevent examinees from conducting targeted training in advance and causing test errors, the specific content of each Dao Heart Exam was different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to what Zhang Yu knew, generally, the higher the specification of the exam, the more resources were invested in the Dao Heart Exam, and the more complex the exam content that examinees experienced in the Spirit World would be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, only more complex and diverse experiences could more accurately assess the examinees' condition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This time it's a monthly exam...\" Zhang Yu thought. \"Based on past experience, it shouldn't be too complicated.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, Li Xingyu extended his hand toward him, and as he opened his palm, revealed something like a phone in the center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Take it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, all the Li Xingyu spoke in unison: \"Today's Dao Heart exam content is very simple... pain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In the next sixty minutes, the controller in your hand can adjust the pain level on your body at any time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"During these sixty minutes, the higher the pain level and the longer you maintain it, the higher your ranking.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dao Heart exam scores based on ranking, so the specific score depends not only on your own performance but also on the level of other examinees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, the Dao Heart monthly exam in Songyang City scores according to the ranking of all high school students in the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the real college entrance exam, it scores according to the ranking of all exam takers on the first level of Kunxu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Also, if the pain level exceeds your tolerance and causes you to faint, your consciousness will immediately exit the spiritual world, and your score will be treated as zero.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After explaining the content of this exam, Li Xingyu pointed, and a ten-second countdown appeared in midair in the spiritual world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The timer starts after ten seconds.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yu looked at the controller in his hand that resembled a phone, and saw on its screen the display of Pain Level 0, Pain Level 1, Pain Level 2, Pain Level 3... The only two buttons on the controller represented up and down, allowing continuous adjustment upward or downward from Pain Level 0, changing the pain level he felt at any time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just looking at it made Zhang Yu feel like his whole body was already starting to hurt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which bastard came up with this exam topic? Doesn't the exam setter have a mother?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don't tell me this pain level includes levels like burning, cutting off the chicken, death by a thousand cuts...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our Songyang City's own little Saw, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thing Zhang Yu hated most was enduring hardship. What he hated even more than enduring hardship was someone forcing him to endure it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet ever since he came to Kunxu and embarked on the path of immortal cultivation, he had been constantly enduring hardship, gulping it down in mouthfuls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Zhang Yu felt utterly disgusted, and his resistance had reached a limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sensing this, Zhang Yu's gaze sharpened, and he thought to himself: \"But then again, as a high school immortal cultivation student, studying, practicing, and taking exams are my duty. If I endure more hardship now, I'll be able to earn more money later.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I love studying! I love exams!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After cheering himself up, Zhang Yu felt a little more encouraged, and the pain controller before him seemed a bit less objectionable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What is will? What is thought? What is the Dao Heart?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dao Heart teacher had said a lot: from ancient times to the present, some worship gods, some worship demons, some worship people... establishing various different thoughts, using different thoughts in conjunction with mental cultivation methods to elevate the Dao Heart and strengthen the will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Zhang Yu's understanding, will is the ability to tough out hardship; the stronger the willpower, the more hardship one can endure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And thought increases will—it is a way of thinking that tells oneself that enduring hardship now has benefits, thereby allowing oneself to endure even more hardship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Zhang Yu was using small thoughts to comfort and encourage himself, hoping to get a better score later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yu had many such small thoughts, as everyone does.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as for thoughts that can be truly and persistently implemented, that can form a system, Zhang Yu did not yet possess them, and the school's Dao Heart class had not been able to teach him either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That is something that each student needs to combine the textbooks, their own experiences, and their own cultivation methods... to ultimately establish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The strength of will displayed by immortal cultivators can be used to score their Dao Heart level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thoughts within an immortal cultivator's heart can, in conjunction with mental cultivation methods, raise the Dao Heart level and further strengthen the will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thought is the core, will is the manifestation, and mental cultivation is the method—the combination of these three constitutes a complete Dao Heart for an immortal cultivator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next moment, as the countdown in midair reached zero completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of the students present began operating their controllers. Some let out a miserable scream, some had twisted expressions, some sucked in a sharp breath...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Zhang Yu adjusted the pain level to 1, he felt as if a steel needle had pierced his palm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hurriedly activated the Basic Heart Refinement Method Level 1 taught in Dao Heart class, striving to stabilize his spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emptiness, nothingness, no-self... The Basic Heart Refinement Method is a mental cultivation method that stabilizes one's emotions, keeps one calm, and gradually enters a meditative state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through prolonged practice, the Dao Heart level rises like a boat with the tide, and willpower also grows stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Level 1 Basic Heart Refinement Method was a mental cultivation method that the original Zhang Yu had already learned before he came to this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because he had been busy all along improving his mana, physical strength, the Zhou Tian Qi Gathering Method, the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms, and the Scattered Hands, he had never had the chance to upgrade this mental cultivation method.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, as Zhang Yun activated the Basic Heart Refining Art, he gradually felt his heart calm down, and his tolerance for pain seemed much stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately increased the pain level to level 2.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiss!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yun felt as if his other hand had also been pierced by steel needles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, it remained bearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Zhang Yun raised the pain level step by step. When the pain level reached 37, he felt that thirty-seven steel needles had been driven through his hands and feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Zhang Yun’s face was contorted; no matter how hard he tried to circulate the Basic Heart Refining Art, he could not feel the slightest bit of calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Calm your mind! Calm your mind! Calm your mind!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quiet the heart, focus the spirit, silently endure, silently persist, dripping water wears through stone… The Basic Heart Refining Art required this very mindset to maximize its effects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also the norm for cultivating the Dao Heart; only when one’s own thoughts matched the heart art would the Dao Heart’s improvement be most effective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But all this talk of calming the mind, quieting the heart, focusing the spirit, silently enduring, silently persisting, dripping water wearing through stone… that whole approach simply didn’t suit Zhang Yun’s nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, all he wanted was to immediately! Right now! Kill the person who set this Dao Heart examination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Zhang Yun felt he had reached his limit, the content of the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art suddenly surfaced in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fist, palm, leg, spear, saber, sword…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Figure after figure suddenly emerged in his mind, carrying the killing intent to break through ten thousand troops, the unyielding fighting spirit of nine deaths without regret, the boldness to press forward without looking back… These things matched his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Zhang Yun’s Dao Heart level was insufficient to truly master the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>at this moment, merely recalling the intent within this martial art caused Zhang Yun’s heart to suddenly surge with momentum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was like a common soldier following behind a peerless general—seeing the general’s majestic bearing, his courage was renewed and his spirit invigorated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the agony of steel needles piercing through his body didn’t feel so unbearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A savage grin curled at the corner of his mouth: \"Once I climb up there, I’m definitely going to beat the bastard who set this examination until he begs for mercy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",2103,"2026-05-29T04:54:22.303Z","2026-06-01T04:29:11.989Z",1,"deepseek-v4-flash","4103cf3600e5f38cc3e4f8f58ae879104a2b3e60f46f9c6b0389b8def5274c25","no-money-what-cultivation-chapter-32","no-money-what-cultivation-chapter-30",711,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fno-money-what-cultivation-cover.jpg"]