Chapter 25: Enlightenment

Two identical chills. Two identical countdowns. After repeated experimentation, Zhang Yu discovered that the pressure exerted by the two Rituals pointed in different directions.

One stopped counting down after he performed Active Breathing.

The other stopped after he began to study the Celestial Martial Diagram.

Zhang Yu was now increasingly convinced of one thing—one of these countdowns was fake.

“Probably a side effect of the Celestial Martial Diagram.”

“Confronting the fear in my heart… so it recreated the Ritual’s pressure?”

“Except I didn’t expect that the recreated Ritual pressure would contradict the actual one inside me.”

But between the two Rituals, which one was the fake?

“Is it the one that stopped after I performed Active Breathing?”

“Or the one that stopped after I started studying the Celestial Martial Diagram?”

Zhang Yu leaned toward the latter, but he couldn’t make the call lightly.

The cost of a wrong guess was death.

“Which one do I choose?”

Listening to the ever-shifting countdowns in his mind, Zhang Yu was locked in mental turmoil, unable to decide.

“If I can’t choose, then I won’t.”

His gaze sharpened as he made up his mind. “I’ll treat both countdowns as real.”

With that, Zhang Yu sat down cross-legged on the spot and began circulating the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique, drawing Spiritual Energy from the heavens and earth.

As the countdown ticked onward—from ten, to five, to three—Zhang Yu stood back up and turned toward the Celestial Martial Diagram again, attempting to comprehend the Martial Technique embedded within it.

Thus began his alternating cycle: when one countdown neared zero, he switched to the other. Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique, Celestial Martial Diagram. Over and over again, round and round.

Meanwhile, others at the exhibition began to notice Zhang Yu’s strange behavior.

The regional director of Xianyun Group in Songyang City watched curiously. “This kid keeps breathing one moment, then suddenly stands up to study Martial Techniques the next. Did he see something?”

Beside him, Li Xuelian also turned her gaze toward Zhang Yu. “It’s like someone’s forcing him to cultivate.”

“Maybe it’s out of fear for a particularly strict teacher in real life.”

At that moment, they saw Zhang Yu change his approach again. He stopped cultivating and began performing the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms.

He had just realized something—maybe the countdown that paused after his Active Breathing wasn’t urging him to cultivate per se, but pushing him down the path of studying, training, acing exams, and making money.

So he tried exercising while studying the Celestial Martial Diagram.

Fortunately, he’d long since drilled the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms into muscle memory. If he could watch the diagram while training, most of his focus could remain on comprehension.

After all, his main objective right now was to master the Martial Technique within the Celestial Martial Diagram.

When that worked, he tried something else—he pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his study materials while watching the diagram.

That also worked.

So he switched to playing his textbooks on speaker while staring at the Celestial Martial Diagram.

…

Watching Zhang Yu alternate between breathing, training, and studying, Li Xuelian couldn’t help but marvel. “This boy must have a terrifyingly strict teacher driving him to work this hard. That figure probably became the very embodiment of fear in his heart.”

“The question now is whether he can break through this pressure with his mind…”

Before she could finish her thought, Zhang Yu stepped away from the Celestial Martial Diagram and marched over to the buffet table, piling up a plate of seafood before returning to eat in front of the diagram.

Because he suddenly remembered—eating probably wasn’t something the Ritual would block.

Li Xuelian raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Oh? That’s a quick breakthrough. Has he already embraced a mindset of willful detachment? That kind of attitude might be the very key to overcoming inner fear and continuing to comprehend the diagram.”

“Perhaps even he doesn’t realize it, but somewhere along the way, he’s already conquered his fear. He’s passed the diagram’s test. Now he moves as if unburdened.”

When a security guard moved to intervene, Li Xuelian waved them off, her curiosity piqued. She now wanted to see how much Zhang Yu could glean from the diagram.

As Zhang Yu munched on lobster and studied the Celestial Martial Diagram, the figure within began to grow clearer.

“Looks like a set of fist techniques?”

The fist technique itself wasn’t complicated. After watching a few times, Zhang Yu formed a rough understanding. But when he looked to his Feathered Tome, there was no change. Clearly, he hadn’t truly learned the Martial Technique—let alone mastered it.

Based on his prior experience with the High School Basic Sword Technique and the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique, a Martial Technique like this should at least register as Level 0 after a glance.

“Something’s off…”

Just then, Lian Tianji burst into laughter, brimming with confidence. “I’ve fully grasped the Martial Technique within! It’s clearly a superb palm technique!”

But before he could finish, Qian Shen called out, “Palm technique? It’s obviously a leg technique.”

Normally, Qian Shen—whose total exam score was 600—would never speak so boldly in front of someone like Lian Tianji, whose score reached 670.

But after surviving the test of the Celestial Martial Diagram, Qian Shen was riding a surge of confidence.

The debate drew other reactions.

“No, no, it’s clearly a blade technique!”

“You blind fools—it’s a finger technique!”

Bai Zhenzhen furrowed her brows. To her, it was clearly a sword technique.

As Zhang Yu calmly ate and studied, more and more students began completing their interpretations of the diagram.

Lian Tianji turned to Li Xuelian and asked, “Ms. Li, do you know what the Martial Technique hidden in the diagram actually is?”

With everyone now looking to her, Li Xuelian smiled. “I can’t tell you what the technique is.”

“But I’ll say this—the Celestial Martial Diagram contains its own mysteries. If anyone here truly masters the Martial Technique, the diagram will give you a sign.”

Everyone understood. If someone succeeded, the Celestial Martial Diagram would react.

With that, Lian Tianji stepped forward without hesitation.

As a top student from Purple Cloud High School, Lian Tianji possessed absolute confidence. After passing the test just now, his self-belief had reached its peak. He immediately began performing the palm technique he had gleaned from the diagram.

His strikes stirred gusts and thunder, powerful force and killing intent erupting from his body, enough to shake the entire hall.

From a distance, Zhao Tianxing watched with awe.

“Such physical power… such terrifying palm strikes. This is a Martial Technique meant for real combat.”

While Lian Tianji’s strength was exceptional among first-years, there were many experienced cultivators at the event. What shocked them more than his power was how skillfully he executed the technique.

“Did he really just learn this from the diagram? Each move is flawless. Purple Cloud High students really are something else.”

But after Lian Tianji finished the set, the Celestial Martial Diagram remained motionless.

“What? That’s impossible!” Lian Tianji said, stunned. “I definitely mastered the technique!”

Qian Shen chuckled and stepped up. “Told you—it’s a leg technique.”

He proceeded to demonstrate the Martial Technique he believed was hidden in the diagram. Though less polished than Lian Tianji, his moves flowed smoothly.

Bai Zhenzhen watched with a frown. “This is a body-refining technique? Focused on leg training?”

But even after Qian Shen completed his demonstration, the Celestial Martial Diagram remained still.

“What?!” He echoed Lian Tianji’s disbelief.

One by one, other students stepped up to showcase the techniques they had derived.

Altogether, twelve students—including Lian Tianji and Qian Shen—demonstrated nine distinct styles: fist, palm, leg, finger, claw, blade, sword, spear, and staff.

Three techniques were duplicates, interpreted by different students.

Yet despite this parade of demonstrations, not a single one triggered a response from the Celestial Martial Diagram.

Lian Tianji turned to Li Xuelian again. “Ms. Li, not a single one of us got it?”

Li Xuelian simply shook her head, disappointment flickering in her eyes.

Then Bai Zhenzhen quietly stepped forward. Under everyone’s gaze, she mimed a sword with her fingers and began performing a sword technique.

Each move gleamed with sharp intent, and though her form was nearly flawless, the crowd quickly lost interest.

After all, two students had already tried sword techniques without success.

But then, the scene changed—Bai Zhenzhen switched styles, performing a blade technique with her bare hands.

Then fist. Then palm. Then leg…

Zhao Tianxing gasped. “She’s copying everyone’s techniques?”

Lian Tianji frowned. “She learned all nine just from watching? Which elite school is this girl from?”

As Bai Zhenzhen flowed from one form to the next with practiced grace, Qian Shen felt his thoughts spiral.

On one hand, he was amazed—she had replicated nine Martial Techniques.

But on the other… “Is that all it takes? Just string together the nine techniques?”

At that moment, under everyone’s astonished gaze, the figure in the Celestial Martial Diagram moved. It looked at Bai Zhenzhen with a warm smile.

And two words appeared on the scroll:

Well done.