CHAPTER 229: VICTORY LIES IN THE THIRD TRIAL

During the break while the video buffered, Huang Zichou spoke up to avoid the awkward silence. “Once you both make it to university,” he said, “and get your Law Husk implants, or purchase a flying sword or other artifacts, you’ll need to pay close attention to details like these.”

“Before you leave home each day, check your equipment balance, whether the services are renewed, whether the ads are cleared, and if your installment payments are up to date…”

Huang Zichou rattled off the list like he’d given this lecture a dozen times. “Every year, some university student has their exam day ruined because of issues like this. A single oversight, and their performance tanks, dragging down their GPA.”

“Consider today your early warning…”

Zhang Yu muttered to himself, “Yeah, no kidding. I’ll remember this forever. Once I’m in college, I’ll triple-check everything before every exam.”

Meanwhile, Ye Lingxiao thought to himself, “Isn’t everything on auto-renew and auto-pay? What’s there to check…? Oh, right. Poor people might run out of balance. How tragic.”

About a minute later, the Sword Tomb finally resumed normal operation. Under the control of both Zhang Yu and Ye Lingxiao, it began moving again.

But that feeling of friction in Zhang Yu’s mind hadn’t faded. In fact, the discomfort in his eyes seemed to be worsening.

At the same time, now that the Sword Tomb had reconnected, the synchronization rates displayed above their heads shifted once more.

Zhang Yu: 90%

Ye Lingxiao: 95%

These percentages reflected their overall synchronization with all the Law Husks installed. Clearly, once the Sword Tomb’s neural signals were active again, both of their rates had dropped.

Zhang Yu frowned. “The gap just widened again…”

Meanwhile, on the internal network of the Righteous Gods, Mu Guiyin commented, “Besides their cultivation foundation, the biggest difference between them lies in their Dao Heart.”

“Ye Lingxiao already reached Level 10 Dao Heart last year, while Zhang Yu’s only at Level 8 now.”

“Though this trial is focused on the physical body, the Dao Heart is the cornerstone of a cultivator’s entire path. Its influence touches every aspect of one’s being—how could it not affect the body as well?”

“That disparity alone means Zhang Yu has no chance of winning this round.”

Another Righteous God sighed. “Ye Lingxiao’s had time to stabilize his Level 10 Dao Heart. He’s able to fully command his physical body. His ability to adapt to physical changes has been tempered under that 10-level Dao Heart.”

“Only through that kind of day-in, day-out training, constantly pushing the limits of the body and recalibrating after every transformation, can one stay ahead.”

Huang Zichou didn’t echo them aloud, but in his heart he agreed. Zhang Yu’s Dao Heart was lagging behind, and he’d simply had too little time to cultivate.

He thought to himself, “Zhang Yu has one year less of training than Ye Lingxiao. For his physical body to even come close is already impressive. A weaker Dao Heart is expected.” R̃á𝐍ÒᛒËS̈

“The physical trial in the Foundation Establishment exam has always been dominated by candidates with Level 10 Dao Heart, 100 Mana, and Level 10 physical strength.”

“Who would’ve guessed a kid like this would show up this year? Level 8 Dao Heart and still made it to the final round of the Foundation Establishment exam.”

Even as he pondered this, Huang Zichou didn’t let it interrupt the flow of the exam. With a wave of divine power, he summoned the third and final Law Husk for this trial.

It was a spine, glowing faintly with strange blood-red light, twisting through the air like a pale dragon circling around Huang Zichou—almost alive.

“This,” Huang Zichou explained, “is a corporate-grade Law Husk manufactured by Dragon Soul Workshop, known as the Flood Dragon Spinal Core.”

“Specialized in dragon-type Law Husks, Dragon Soul Workshop has long crafted them from various dragon-based materials. This Flood Dragon Spinal Core is considered a classic among spinal Law Husks.”

“Once implanted, the extended dragon tendons greatly enhance a cultivator’s physical capabilities. At the Foundation Establishment stage, it provides an approximate boost of +1 level to physical strength.”

“Embedded within is also a dragon-type Dao Technique: the Dragon Might Technique. When activated, it unleashes a wave of spiritual suppression. Any cultivator within a hundred meters with less than Level 20 Dao Heart will struggle to circulate their Heart Technique…”

Zhang Yu’s heart tightened. “Damn. A suppression field? No… a suppression on Heart Techniques.”

This was his first real encounter with the power of a Dao Technique. Back in high school, so-called Dao Technique classes had just been charm and sigil lectures—he’d never seen a true Dao Technique in action.

As before, the moment came when Zhang Yu sensed his spine sever from his brain’s neural network.

This time, the disruption was far more intense. The spine governed nearly all bodily movement. Cut off from it, Zhang Yu instantly went limp on the operating table, paralyzed. A jolt of unease crept into his chest.

Several seconds passed, and then he could feel the spine again—but now it felt unfamiliar. It didn’t move his body. It just curled and twisted in the air according to his will, as if detached from his frame entirely.

Worse, Zhang Yu sensed his consciousness being drawn into the Flood Dragon Spinal Core. He felt like a white dragon swimming through the sky, riding a dream…

In the next moment, he snapped back to reality. “Close one,” he muttered internally. The spinal core had nearly hijacked his thoughts and induced hallucinations.

He thought grimly, “And this isn’t even a full implantation—just neural linkage. If I have to implant these things after Foundation Establishment, the burden’s way worse than I imagined.”

Maybe… he wouldn’t implant anything besides his eye Law Husk? Couldn’t he just use artifacts instead? Was full-body augmentation really necessary?

Zhang Yu had wondered the same before. Back then, Fu Ji had given him a blunt answer.

“Law Husks were invented by the same folks who make artifacts. They created them to crush the artifact market—forced a complete industry reform.”

“If you want to climb higher in Kunxu, you need to outperform everyone else. And once most people start using Law Husks to boost their specs and enhance their artifact output, if you want to keep up, you’ll have no choice but to get them too.”

As Zhang Yu struggled to adapt to the Flood Dragon Spinal Core, the husky-headed guy in the audience murmured, “That spinal core looks pretty good.”

Beside him, the Catheaded student furrowed his brows. “You interested? Then I suggest you don’t buy it.”

“Oh? You know something?”

Everyone knew the Finance Department kids were insanely well-connected—insiders to the bone.

The Cathead replied flatly, “You don’t need insider info. He just said it himself—specializes in dragon-based Law Husks. That means they’re not good with anything else. And if they call this one a ‘classic,’ that just means it’s outdated.”

“Plus, Dragon Soul Workshop’s had scandals. Their Law Husks have less than 5% actual dragon material. Mostly bone powder.”

“For a spinal core at that price? Probably just some beast parts. If there’s 3% actual dragon in it, it’s already a miracle. Likely from some farm-bred hybrid flood dragon.”

“These mass-produced units can’t use top-grade materials. If you’ve got the cash, you go custom.”

The husky-head sighed inwardly. “I’m broke, though.”

But he, too, lost interest in the Flood Dragon Spinal Core. “These Law Husks today—always cutting corners and overselling. If you don’t research them first, you’re just asking to be scammed…”

Meanwhile, synchronization data updated once more:

Zhang Yu: 79%

Ye Lingxiao: 86%

Zhang Yu whispered, “Did I lose?”

He wasn’t surprised. Deep down, he figured the culprit was likely his Dao Heart.

Despite the setback, Zhang Yu didn’t dwell on it. He’d already squeezed every last drop out of his body and mind this past year. This was his current limit.

Now all he wanted was to prepare for the final round—give everything he had to defeat Ye Lingxiao and secure the Foundation License.

Back in the Righteous Gods’ internal network, Mu Guiyin continued: “There are two ways to advance with Law Husks. The first is refining parts of your own body into Law Husks. The stronger your body, the stronger the result—and they’re naturally the best fit.”

“But that path is incredibly hard. Custom Law Husks cost a fortune. For most cultivators, it’s simply unaffordable.”

“So most people take the second path.”

“As their cultivation improves, they upgrade to stronger external Law Husks, slowly refining them into extensions of their body.”

“But if you can’t adapt to a newly implanted Law Husk, your cultivation stalls or even regresses.”

“And that’s just with human-form Law Husks. I’ve heard higher-level circles are experimenting with alien-form Husks.”

One of the junior gods interjected, “Those things are strong in same-level matches, but once implanted, you lose basic human form. Their compatibility with Immortal Dao techniques is way too low. After implantation, you can’t even cultivate anymore—completely defeats the purpose.”

Mu Guiyin steered the conversation back. “Anyway, Zhang Yu’s physical body is too strong, but his Dao Heart is too weak. He still can’t fully control his own flesh. So how can he hope to adapt to a new one?”

“Compare that to Ye Lingxiao—his performance shows he’ll adapt to Law Husks much faster after Foundation Establishment. He’s got a brighter future.”

With the second round concluded and Ye Lingxiao emerging victorious, Huang Zichou moved on to announce the content of the third and final trial.

This final challenge would decide who would earn the coveted Foundation License.