Chapter 6: Freedom

“Damn it!”“Damn it!”“Damn it!”Thud! Thud!

In the dark concrete room, accompanied by low grunts and impacts, Zhang Yu finally completed the second round of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, enduring intense pain throughout his body.

He collapsed onto the ground with a thud, gasping for air.

Feeling his hands and feet still trembling slightly, Zhang Yu knew his body had reached its absolute limit; every muscle and sinew in his entire body refused to move.

But in this state, the chilling sensation and the voice in his mind returned.

“Damn it!” Zhang Yu cursed inwardly. “I’m already at my limit!”“I really can’t train anymore!”“I have class tomorrow!”

But no matter what he said or how he explained, the countdown continued without pause or hesitation. Seeing the countdown nearing its end, Zhang Yu cursed and stumbled back to his feet to continue training.

Normally, most people find it difficult to push themselves to their true limits when exercising alone. It’s usually only under the supervision and strict demands of a master, teacher, or coach that one can repeatedly train to their limit. This was true for Zhang Yu as well; if he were alone, he probably would have been too tired to move after one or two rounds of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms and would have simply rested. But the ritual’s power acted like a relentless coach at this moment, constantly watching him and threatening him with death, urging him to train without the slightest slack.

The third round...The fourth round...The fifth round......all the way to the tenth round!

Under the repeated threats of the ritual’s power, Zhang Yu completed the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms a full ten times! During this period, the pain in his body progressed from tearing agony to sharp, needle-like stabs, eventually dulling into numbness. He even felt as if his hands and feet were disappearing. Simultaneously, every bit of spiritual energy within him was forced out, continuously flowing into his damaged muscles and tissues.

After completing these ten rounds, Zhang Yu felt as if his entire body, both muscles and spiritual energy, had been completely drained, like a dishrag wrung thousands of times, with not a single drop left. At that moment, Zhang Yu just wanted to lie on the ground, unwilling to move an inch. To his relief, the voice that had been hounding him like death itself did not sound again, seemingly convinced that he had truly given his all and reached his limit this time.

During the recent training, Zhang Yu had also begun to understand the characteristics of this ritual power. “This thing is a bit like a mindless AI; it doesn’t have true intelligence, but just operates according to certain rules…” Zhang Yu had seen similar things in movies, TV shows, and news from Kunxu. Powerful magical artifacts contained artifact spirits, which were like artificial intelligence, possessing a certain level of wisdom to handle various issues. Some even had intelligence comparable to humans.

At this moment, having confirmed that the ritual power was no longer forcing him to train, Zhang Yu could finally relax and experience the upgraded effects of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms. Yes, right after Zhang Yu completed the tenth round of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, he felt that this martial art had leveled up. In that instant, his knowledge and understanding of the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms became much deeper. Many details he had previously overlooked or not fully understood suddenly appeared in his mind like a flash of lightning. On the Feather Scroll, the original ‘Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 1 (0/10)’ had changed to ‘Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 2 (0/20)’.

“I only need to practice 20 more times to raise the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms to Level 3?”“If I keep training like this, won’t I quickly reach Level 10 for the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms?”Zhang Yu knew that in the Qi Refinement realm, martial arts and Daoist techniques could only be cultivated up to Level 10. “By then, even without acupuncture treatments or medicinal supplements, my training results wouldn’t be inferior to Bai Zhenzhen’s... No, they might even far surpass hers.”“If this continues, it’s not impossible to become first in the class for physical strength in the future.”

Thinking this, Zhang Yu felt a surge of excitement, and his whole body didn’t feel as painful anymore. “Terrifying! My potential is truly terrifying. Once activated by the evil god, I’m practically destined to soar.” Carrying beautiful visions of the future, Zhang Yu, whose body had been pushed to its limit, gradually succumbed to drowsiness and fell asleep without realizing it.

He slept until 5 AM the next morning, waking up instinctively, just as he had countless times before. But today, his limbs were stiff and sore all over, and even opening his eyes was incredibly difficult. Although Zhang Yu was awake at this moment, he had no desire to get up. He just wanted to sleep a little longer, even if it was on the concrete floor of an unfinished building.

“Five more minutes... just five more minutes of sleep...”

But just as Zhang Yu wanted to stay in bed, a chilling voice echoed in his mind again. “Damn it!” Zhang Yu abruptly opened his eyes, listening carefully as the voice continued. After repeatedly confirming it wasn’t a hallucination, he grumbled and sat up.

At this moment, Zhang Yu suddenly realized that the situation might be more serious than he had initially imagined. “From now on, anything related to studying, cultivation, university entrance exams, work—anything related to studying, cultivating, working, and earning money to fulfill the second wish... I can’t slack off even a little?”“Twenty-four-hour supervision, huh?”

Full of weariness and fatigue, Zhang Yu hurried back to his rented room. Feeling greasy and sweaty, he quickly paid 323.4 for water, took a five-minute shower, and then rushed to the bus stop. Looking up at the display screen on the platform, Zhang Yu thought, “Is the next bus arriving in ten minutes?” Leaning against a pole, he secretly thought, “I’ll rest for a bit. Good thing that damn thing isn’t telling me to use this time to train.”

The moment Zhang Yu thought this, he regretted it. A chilling sensation surged from his heart, and the nightmare-like voice sounded again. “My god...” Zhang Yu cursed inwardly, “Is this thing monitoring my thoughts? As long as I think of a way to put in effort but don’t do it... it’s going to kill me?” So, amidst the countdowns, Zhang Yu, despite his exhaustion, began practicing the Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms, under the gaze of passersby who were surprised, confused, admiring, or indifferent. With the final punch, a sweaty Zhang Yu again collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Watching the bus approach in the distance, he felt immensely relieved: “Finally, it’s here.”

And to his delight, Zhang Yu even found a seat on the bus today. “Finally, I can get some proper rest.”“I’ll just doze off for a bit. It can’t possibly force me to train on the bus, can it? Unless it’s breathwork...”The moment he thought of “breathwork,” Zhang Yu had a bad feeling. Sure enough, the countdown sounded again, forcing Zhang Yu to practice the Basic Breathwork Method while riding the bus.

Practicing breathwork while commuting sounds simple and efficient, but even the old Zhang Yu had given up after a few attempts. One reason was the noisy environment on the bus, making it difficult to concentrate. The second, and most important, reason was how tired Zhang Yu was from waking up early every day. Having finally found a rare seat, he just wanted to doze off for a bit and couldn't muster the energy for breathwork. The few times he tried, he'd often start feeling drowsy and want to sleep after just a short while of breathwork. But now, under the coercion of the ritual’s power, Zhang Yu could only force himself to practice breathwork, struggling to absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth with each inhale and exhale, all while fighting off sleep.

At this point, he fully understood that the situation was far more serious than he had previously imagined. “This isn’t just ordinary 24-hour supervision; it’s constantly pushing me to my breaking point.”“As long as this thing is with me, all my laziness, slacking off, entertainment, enjoyment, relaxation... will be gone.”“No more weekends, no more holidays. My life will be devoid of pleasure. Every single second will be dedicated to studying, cultivating, working... until the second wish is fulfilled.”Zhang Yu unconsciously clutched his head: “I’ll become a complete learning machine, a workhorse, with no free time ever again. I’ll be a relentless striver my entire life... until this pressure completely breaks me!” He lamented inwardly, “If my life is going to be like this forever, what’s the point of achieving immortality and living for hundreds more years? Every extra year I live will just mean more years of suffering.”“Heavens above!”

The surrounding passengers all looked at Zhang Yu, who was clutching his head in agony. But Zhang Yu could no longer care about them. As the countdown for "Please abide by the ritual's agreement..." sounded again, he sat up straight once more, suppressing his inner sorrow, and continued to practice the Basic Breathwork Method.

But at the same time, a surge of determination gradually welled up within Zhang Yu. In fact, until this morning, Zhang Yu, who had arrived in this world, had felt a sense of confusion. While he had thought about getting into a prestigious university, joining a major sect, and achieving success in immortal cultivation, it was hard to say how much of that was influenced by the original owner's memories or simply his choice driven by life's inertia. Until this moment, Zhang Yu finally had a goal, something he was determined to accomplish no matter the setbacks. That was to become strong enough to completely remove this ritual power that was forcing him.

Zhang Yu wanted... freedom!