Chapter 27: Chapter 27: What’s with the Singing?
Yang Shen, like everyone else, was completely cut off from the outside world after putting on the helmet.
The helmet had powerful noise-canceling capabilities. Aside from the audio it played, you wouldn’t hear a thing, not even if Director Liang suddenly kicked the bucket right outside.
With his eyes also closed, he was plunged into darkness, and his sense of time quickly began to blur.
Yang Shen had no idea how long he’d been listening. He was just confused... ’How is this Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique just a bunch of old monks chanting? Where’s the Body Forging part?’
’Do I just imagine it into existence?’
’The Vajra Sect is a time-honored name, after all. It can’t be a complete scam, can it?’
Yang Shen sat in boredom. Since no one had told him to stop, he kept waiting. He was just going through the motions to get his parting gift and leave, anyway.
But as his sense of time blurred, he gradually grew bored...
So, he began trying to pick out the details in the audio.
The music in the helmet was complex. A "Hundred-Person Chanting" by a choir of old monks formed the main body of the track.
But if he listened closely, he could hear countless strange sounds hidden underneath.
Some sounded like meaningless buzzing, while others were like subwoofer-like tolls of a bell or the high-frequency screech of grinding metal.
If you were to filter out the Hundred-Person Chanting, all that would remain was a cacophony of nauseating noise.
Yet, when blended together, it all became much more harmonious. It was like monks in a noisy factory, praying to Buddha while tightening screws... at a very fast pace.
If that were actually happening, it would be a major breakthrough in productivity for the religious sector.
’And you know... the melody was surprisingly catchy. After a few listens, I could already hum along.’
He just had no idea what any of it had to do with Body Forging.
What he didn’t know was that the other "lucky students" around him were being eliminated at an astonishing rate.
The changes Cultivation had brought him were far more than just a "free source"...
If Yang Shen were in a normal "Cultivation World," he would have likely known this common knowledge long ago. But this was a mismatched system, so his only source of information to date was the small introductory section in the Qi Cultivation Guiding Technique.
It accounted for only about 5% of the entire text.
He wasn’t aware that Cultivation and Martial Arts were different. Even the first level of Qi Cultivation had the effect of Nurturing the Divine Soul.
In fact, in the long run, the Cultivation Side’s emphasis on the Divine Soul surpassed even that on the physical body. To a high-level Cultivator, the body was disposable, something that could be shed and replaced through possession or reconstruction, just like changing clothes.
And it seemed his body had automatically treated the Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique as a type of extremely weak "Divine Soul attack."
And Yang Shen’s Divine Soul had a certain resistance to it!
Since he had nothing better to do, Yang Shen decided to analyze the music’s content. He didn’t know any music theory, but he had a decent sense of rhythm. He replayed it in his mind, noting how the different noises repeated every few bars and whether their tones changed.
In the complete darkness, with only his sense of hearing active, Yang Shen inadvertently began to hum along...
And he thought he was being very quiet...
Meanwhile, in the outside world, only two testers remained: Yang Shen and Xu Bamboo.
The spectating underclassmen were buzzing with the excitement of watching a good show. ’As expected of the school’s certified "genius"!’ they thought. ’He’s lasted for so long!’
The third-year students from Class 6 had just finished P.E. Hearing there was a commotion, they crowded the doorway to peer inside.
When Huang Gang saw Yang Shen sitting up front, the center of everyone’s attention, he felt a knot of displeasure form in his stomach for some reason.
"Delusional... Yang Shen is only at the Bone Training stage. Does he really think he’s a genius? If he can master this so-called Fuyin Body Forging, I’ll tie my own hands and eat shit!"
Zhao Mengmeng, who was standing nearby, rolled her eyes. "More talk about eating shit... It’s not like the bathrooms have gotten any cleaner."
Ever since the last incident, Huang Gang’s credibility on the subject of eating shit had hit rock bottom.
Liu Yuankui, as wide as a door panel, also stood outside, frowning as he watched his student with apparent curiosity.
In contrast, Yang Shen looked as peaceful as if he were asleep, while Xu Bamboo was trembling from head to toe.
A flicker of light appeared in Manager Shi’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
During their many previous "promotional seminars," some top students from elite high schools had also managed to last for a long time.
For instance, one prodigy at the Late-stage Marrow Refining Realm, who was a contender for this year’s "Top Athlete Scholar," had endured the side effects for a full 40 minutes...
Unfortunately, as the timer hit the predetermined 30-minute mark, Xu Bamboo could take it no longer and ripped off her helmet.
Her face was pale as she gasped for fresh air.
"No... It’s unbearable... This Cultivation Technique is impossible for a novice Martial Artist to practice!"
Xu Bamboo shot a vicious glare at the Vajra Sect personnel, but it had no effect. They simply approached with smiles and offered some praise.
"You did great, miss!"
Xu Bamboo snorted and looked for Yang Shen. She’d assumed he had quit long ago, but she spotted him nearby, still wearing the helmet.
"Yang Shen? Yang Shen! You can’t learn this thing! It’s very dangerous!"
A staff member from the Vajra Sect immediately moved to stop Xu Bamboo from disrupting the test, but she leaped up, dodged past the young woman with a plastered-on smile, and went to remove Yang Shen’s helmet.
’With Yang Shen’s slight build, he could have gone into shock wearing that helmet and nobody would have even noticed!’
Panic seized Xu Bamboo’s heart!
A sudden gust of wind blew past as a hand with well-defined knuckles blocked her path.
The marketing manager of the Vajra Temple, Shi Haiyue, said coolly, "Miss, please don’t interfere. Otherwise, there could be unforeseen risks."
Xu Bamboo eyed Shi Haiyue warily. The man was dressed in a sharp suit, yet his Martial Arts Realm was incredibly high...
She wasn’t an idiot. She immediately turned to Director Liang on the stage. "Director Liang! There’s no way a novice can master this Cultivation Technique!"
Director Liang didn’t respond. He simply remained composed and glanced at his watch.
"4... 3... 2... 1..."
"Alright, the agreed-upon 30 minutes are over. Manager Shi, it’s time to stop."
He clearly wasn’t concerned about the student’s health.
’Is he just looking for overtime pay?’
’That’ll cost extra...’
Xu Bamboo immediately moved to take off the helmet again. Shi Haiyue hesitated for a moment but didn’t stop her this time. In his mind, if even Xu Bamboo from the Marrow Refining Realm had failed, there was no way this boy from the Bone Training Realm could succeed.
’Fist Intent... offers no advantage with this new technology.’
Just then, something strange happened...
Yang Shen started singing!
"Mmm~ mani papa hum... Mmm~ mani papa hum..."
COUGH! COUGH!
He probably had some phlegm stuck in his throat from not talking for so long.
"Namo Ami~ oh oh yeah... Namo Ami~ oh oh yeah..."
Like many people who wear headphones, Yang Shen was lost in the illusion that he was being quiet, completely unaware that his was the only voice echoing through the entire lecture hall.
Everyone looked at Yang Shen in astonishment...
Shi Haiyue was stunned. He had never seen a situation like this.
Of all the previous test subjects, those with realms that were too high were completely unable to accept the deeper information, and thus couldn’t perceive the truly effective special stimuli.
Those with lower realms, on the other hand, found their minds and bodies tormented to an unbearable degree.
’So what’s with this guy bursting into song?’
"Mmm~ mani bami hum... Mmm~ mani bami hum..."
"Namo Ami~ oh oh yeah... Namo Ami~ oh oh yeah..."
To enhance its "earworm effect," the Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique had a deliberately strengthened rhythm.
Combined with the high-tech helmet on his head and the cables that fanned out from it like a bundle of hair, Yang Shen’s performance could only be described as cyber-chanting.
Yang Shen’s singing grew smoother... more perfect. There was even a subtle resonance in his enunciation.
It was like a powerful musical performance had begun!
His singing had achieved a remarkably high degree of similarity to the music inside the helmet.
Suddenly, Xu Bamboo felt a headache coming on! Several of the "lucky students" nearby who had just finished the test also began to feel unwell.
The discomfort they had felt while wearing the helmets came rushing back. The rhythm of that strange music was forcibly reawakened in their minds, echoing across their cerebral cortices.
The girl who had dug her nails into her palm started crying, covering her ears. "Stop singing! Stop singing!"
But Yang Shen couldn’t hear a thing. He was still under the impression that he was being quiet. ’In a large lecture hall with hundreds of people, who could possibly hear me humming a little tune?’
The next to react were the ordinary, lower-realm students nearby. They had never worn the helmets or heard the real Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique, yet they still felt an inexplicable, unsettling sensation that wasn’t coming from their ears.
It was coming from their bodies...
It was as if... someone was touching their muscles and nerve nodes from inside their bodies...
Finally, as the faces of the hundreds of students in the lecture hall turned pale, Director Liang made his move.
The Director, a master at the Late-stage Innate Realm who had comprehended Fist Intent, flicked a finger through the air.
A pellet of air, seemingly solidified, flew dozens of meters across the room and struck Yang Shen’s helmet.
The force of the impact knocked the helmet off, revealing Yang Shen’s face.
Yang Shen looked up blankly at his surroundings. "Huh... is it over?"
Shi Haiyue whipped his head toward Director Liang, his voice tinged with fury. "Director Liang! He was on the verge of mastering the Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique! Why did you interfere at the critical moment?!"
Director Liang just glanced calmly at his watch. "You’re 38 seconds over time, Manager Shi. If you wanted to pay for an extension, you had plenty of time to speak up."
’I gave you your chance.’
Shi Haiyue was left speechless...
He didn’t have time to argue with Liang Shen. He immediately turned to Yang Shen, forcing an exaggerated, brilliant smile onto his face. "Young man! How are you feeling? Do you feel your Qi and Blood Value rapidly consolidating and strengthening your body?"
Yang Shen: ...
’Am I supposed to play along with your act? This is a total scam, isn’t it...’
’All I did was listen to music for half an hour.’
Director Liang’s calm voice came from a distance. "Yang Shen, just speak truthfully. Providing real feedback to the Vajra Sect is also part of the contract."
Yang Shen smacked his lips. "Actually, I didn’t feel any Body Forging effects... not a single one."
Shi Haiyue’s smile slowly faded.
Not far away, from the crack in the doorway, a certain student surnamed Huang, who wished to remain anonymous, let out a triumphant "I knew it!"
A staff member from the Vajra Temple trotted over. "Manager Shi... the equipment shows that over the last half hour, this young man Yang’s Qi and Blood Value, physical feedback, and neural signals... have all remained completely unchanged. It seems there really was no effect..."
Yang Shen nodded. "That’s right. I was just listening to the music. I got bored at the end and hummed a little... Oh, but really quietly. You guys probably didn’t hear me, right?"
No one answered him...
A few pale-faced students just cursed inwardly: ’You nearly sang us into the next life!’
Shi Haiyue gritted his teeth, his expression unreadable.
He clapped Yang Shen heavily on the shoulder. "Young man..."
"You’re quite musically talented, huh..."
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