He had broken through the first realm, cultivated Protective Gang Qi, and even tested the capabilities of Gem Time Reversal, which could be described as a bountiful harvest.
Looking at the Dao School’s scripture volume 10 beside him, Zhou Bai wondered what effect it would have if he read it now with the power of the first realm, considering he had raised his Dao transformation degree to 10% using laziness value. Could he already be completely adapted, possibly allowing him to quickly increase his Dao transformation degree to 10.9%?
Thinking of this, he lay on the ground and decided to give it a try, picking up the scripture volume 10 to read.
At first, Zhou Bai didn’t notice anything special, but after a moment, a series of images suddenly flashed through his mind.
It was Dr. Zhuang’s demonic lecture, with demonic statues appearing one after another in front of him, and Dr. Zhuang’s voice seemed to echo in his ears once again.
Zhou Bai was shocked, not understanding why this was happening, as he had never experienced such a thing when reading the Dao School’s scriptures before.
As he continued reading scripture volume 10, demonic statues seemed to emerge around him, and dark hands reached out to grasp Zhou Bai’s body.
At the same time, with each line from the scripture Zhou Bai read, he felt as if a knife was chopping inside his mind, and as his headache grew more and more intense, he could no longer continue reading the scripture volume 10 and stopped.
After a long while, the stabbing pain in his brain gradually receded, and Zhou Bai looked at scripture volume 10 in shock, murmuring to himself, "What’s going on? Is there a problem with scripture volume 10, or is it me?"
He tried it again, but the result was the same; he could only read halfway before his brain felt so painfully pierced that he could not continue, as if the content of scripture volume 10 had become sulfuric acid that was harmful to his mind.
Zhou Bai was utterly confused and mentioned the issue to Christina.
"You’re saying that after you broke through to the first realm, reading scripture volume 10 feels harmful instead?" Christina said in surprise, "How could that be?" She paused to think and speculated, "Could it be something Dr. Zhuang did during his demonic lecture has started to take effect after your breakthrough to the first realm?"
Zhou Bai shook his head, "Who knows, but I did suspect those demonic statues from Dr. Zhuang’s class were not simple, and now it seems he left something in my body without my knowledge."
Zhou Bai helplessly said, "Does this mean I can’t read the Dao School’s scriptures anymore? Will I have to rely solely on laziness value to increase my Dao transformation degree?"
Christina responded, "Don’t rush to any conclusions. I feel Dr. Zhuang probably didn’t mean any harm, otherwise why would he sacrifice his own life to save you? Perhaps the secret lies within the coordinates he left behind."
After discussing for a while, unable to find a solution for the time being, they decided to put the matter aside for now. Since there was no way around it, if push came to shove, they would have to rely on laziness value to increase their Dao transformation degree.
Zhou Bai gave it a try and was relieved that breaking through the 10% barrier only required 10,000 laziness points; increasing by 0.1% still cost 1,000 points, which somewhat improved his mood.
Despite encountering unexpected difficulties, Zhou Bai wouldn’t indulge in self-pity or blame others, as that would be counterproductive to his cultivation.
He promptly set aside the issue of being unable to read the Dao School’s scriptures and prepared to sleep.
After all, he was utterly exhausted from staying up all night.
But before going to bed, Zhou Bai reminded Christina, "Tina, remember, to the outside world you are the one with the cultivation levels, your Primordial Spirit value, Dao transformation degree, and divine diagram."
This was a decision Zhou Bai had carefully considered.
After all, his true divine diagram was not the sword diagram, nor was it in line with any of the nine major divine diagrams; hence, it was not fit to be disclosed publicly.
Moreover, the various effects of his divine diagram and his cultivation progress were astonishing.
Keep in mind that most Dao School students only reach the first realm after five years upon graduation.
Those who step into the second realm before graduation are considered elite students.
Entering the third realm before graduation was to be recognized as a genius.
And stepping into the fourth realm before graduation was the highest record in history.
’As for the body’s defensive power, I could use innate talent, Body Refining Techniques, and divine bloodline as a cover, but this rapid cultivation progress is too suspicious and prone to unnecessary speculation.’
Upon hearing this, Christina casually said, "I know, hmph, with my own cultivation, I’m already a genius among geniuses.
Anyway, as long as this body is functional, it’s fine. You said 99% of your combat power is invested in the flesh shield attribute, and the rest is useless."
Zhou Bai proudly stated, "What do you know? The one who lasts till the end is the winner; flesh is the most important.
Now that I’m this sturdy, most of my peers at the same level can’t break my defenses; I’ve basically won 99% of the fight before it even starts, and I’m not afraid of being surrounded. Isn’t that thrilling?"
So Zhou Bai began to rest, and after Christina took over the body, she returned to her dormitory.
Seeing Elsa pounce on her, she used her Primordial Spirit power to directly roll her away.
"Silly dog, don’t pounce on me, you’re licking me all over my face with saliva, it’s so dirty."
Elsa whimpered grievously.
In the next two days, Zhou Bai and Christina continued to hang around and study as usual. Time passed, and it finally came time for the special class’s internal assessment.
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...
In the vast, empty hall, more than twenty students had gathered at this moment.
Zhou Bai and Qian Wangsun stood together.
Zhou Bai’s gaze occasionally swept over several students and the rankings on the stele, his eyes shimmering with insight as if contemplating which student he should challenge.
By his side, Qian Wangsun laughed and said, "Look at Lu Wanzhen, she’s always throwing me amorous glances. She must be madly in love with me."
Following his gaze, Zhou Bai turned to look and saw the long legs belonging to the student ranked 5th in the 2nd realm—no, it was Lu Wanzhen—who was at that moment glaring at Qian Wangsun with eyes wide and full of murderous intent.
Zhou Bai was puzzled and couldn’t help asking, "Tell me, you get beaten up by her every day, don’t you hate her?"
Qian Wangsun replied, "You don’t understand, if you don’t really like someone, who would want to be beaten up every day?"
Zhou Bai: "..."
Just then, Zuo Dao also walked up to their side.
Seeing Zuo Dao’s bloodshot eyes, the thick dark circles beneath them, and his face pale as paper, Qian Wangsun was shocked, "Brother, how long have you been without sleep?"
Zuo Dao ignored Qian Wangsun and just stared intently at Zhou Bai, "Zhou Bai, I will definitely beat you today."
Christina commented, "I feel like this guy holds a really strong grudge." Thinking of Zhou Bai, who had already broken through the 1st realm, Christina couldn’t help but feel sorry for Zuo Dao, who might never catch up to Zhou Bai in this lifetime.
Jiang Ran also walked over to Zhou Bai’s side, this senior who had sparred with Zhou Bai, Zuo Dao, and Qian Wangsun two months before, was now smiling at Zhou Bai.
He chuckled and said, "Zhou Bai, what do you think? Are you planning to challenge my ranking this time?"
Zhou Bai glanced at him and casually said, "I have no plans to fight with you."
Jiang Ran touched the knuckle that once broke when he fought Zhou Bai and smiled faintly: "So you’re not planning to challenge anyone this time? That’s fine, after all, you’ve only been here for two months, it might be better to train a bit longer before challenging again."
Zhou Bai couldn’t be bothered to answer, Zhou Bai’s laziness level +1.
He naturally wouldn’t reveal now that his targets weren’t players of the 0th realm.
Over the past two days, he had been consolidating his cultivation and testing out his defensive power.
’The special class’s practical exams use a challenge system, where everyone can gain someone else’s ranking by defeating them.’
’Currently, fighting against the 0th realm would be a complete domination for me, and as for the 1st realm, most attacks likely couldn’t break through my defense.’
’The key is deciding who to challenge in the 1st realm.’
Zhou Bai’s eyes scanned over each of the contenders present.
The first person he looked at was a tall man with a square face and a beard; he was clearly in his twenties but looked as though he was in his forties.
"The 6th ranked Wang Ran, also the highest-ranking combatant in the 1st realm."
Qian Wangsun saw Zhou Bai assessing his surroundings and said, "Are you looking at Wang Ran? This guy is the strongest in the 1st realm of the special class. It’s said he’s on the Gong Tu path, and his Primordial Spirit value, Dao integration degree, and spiritual diagrams are nearly at the peak of the 1st realm, ready to break through at any moment. His chosen spiritual diagram in the 1st realm is Cavalry Diagram, I think.
The Cavalry Diagram is said to control the most soldiers among its peers. I heard he commands over a hundred soldier specters, including cavalry, archers, shield-bearers... tsk tsk, this guy is really rich."
"I also heard that because he looks too mature, he has never managed to get a girlfriend, but instead has many goddaughters, tsk tsk, should we call it happiness or tragedy..."
"No need to go on." Zhou Bai looked at Qian Wangsun with surprise: "But how do you know so much?"
"The Gong Tu path, collecting intelligence is part of the job," Qian Wangsun said with a smile. "Plus, we have to gather intelligence before challenging them later on. Want to know about anyone else? Just ask me."
Zhou Bai thought to himself, "I rushed to break through to the 1st realm so that I could challenge those in the 1st realm. But this Wang Ran seems quite formidable, and with over a hundred soldier specters, even if he can’t break through my defense, he could still trap me. Alas, my offensive power is still insufficient."
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At that moment, Christina energetically chimed in Zhou Bai’s mind: "Liu Bingxin! I want to fight Liu Bingxin!"
"Why?" asked Zhou Bai. "Isn’t she ranked a bit too high for you? She’s ranked 10th, you know."
Christina replied excitedly: "I’ve been training with swords with her for so long, do I not know her level? I can definitely beat her. Let that biased old man see how the student he’s spent so much effort on gets defeated by me; let’s see if he’s still biased!"
Zhou Bai: "...The jealousy of a cat, truly terrifying."
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