Translator: CinderTL
"Activate the third-layer trial!" Jiang Ye murmured inwardly.
Whoosh...
The surrounding environment silently faded into darkness.
When Jiang Ye opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange, misty realm.
"Where am I?" Confusion clouded Jiang Ye's face.
Endless mist surged around him, its white tendrils billowing in all directions. Even the ground beneath his feet seemed to be composed of mist.
Suddenly, several lines of text appeared before him:
[Martial Dao Great Grandmaster, having reached the pinnacle, finds his path obscured by swirling clouds and mist. The conventional martial dao path has been exhausted!]
With no further road ahead, to advance further requires enlightenment of the Dao Technique!
What you envision becomes reality. Seek your own Dao Technique.
As the text faded, the surrounding mist grew even more turbulent.
"Enlightenment of the Dao Technique?" Jiang Ye frowned at the message. "Does this trial require me to achieve enlightenment?"
Is this some kind of mistake?
He had only just achieved his first breakthrough. How could they expect him to attain enlightenment already?
Shouldn't enlightenment be something reserved for the late stages of cultivation?
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Jiang Ye's expression turned peculiar.
According to the system's understanding, a Martial Dao Great Grandmaster already stood at the pinnacle of the Low Martial world.
If that's the case, then enlightenment might not be so unreasonable after all!
"So, I need to attain enlightenment to pass this trial?"
"But how am I supposed to comprehend the Dao?"
Jiang Ye stared at the final line of the subtitles, lost in thought.
What you imagine becomes reality; seek the Dao within yourself.
"What you imagine becomes reality?"
"Could it be..."
Jiang Ye mentally chanted, "Thunder!"
Whoosh!
The surrounding mist rapidly dissipated.
In an instant, Jiang Ye found himself in the midst of a vast expanse of heaven and earth, rolling thunderclouds looming before him.
Boom! Thunder roared, lightning flashed, and the sky crackled with electric energy.
"So that's how it works."
Jiang Ye's eyes lit up with understanding. "In this space, whatever I imagine manifests into reality?"
To comprehend a particular Dao, one simply needs to visualize its essence!
Jiang Ye gazed at the spectacle of thunder and lightning before him, a hint of helplessness flickering in his eyes.
He had indeed heard tales of peerless geniuses who could comprehend the Dao merely by witnessing the wonders of heaven and earth.
But he was no such prodigy. How could he possibly grasp the Dao simply by observing?
"Thunder is the Dao Technique I'm most familiar with," Jiang Ye thought to himself. "If I can't comprehend the Thunder Dao, what hope do I have for any other Dao?"
In all his years of cultivation, he had only mastered one art technique: the Eight Trigrams Thunderclap Fist.
But could he truly comprehend the Thunder Dao with just this one technique?
Far from it.
Yet, for now, Jiang Ye could only try his best.
Whoosh! With a thought, he teleported directly into the heart of the endless thunderclouds.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning crashed down, striking Jiang Ye.
Yet it struck only an illusion, causing Jiang Ye no harm.
"In this space, I am immortal," Jiang Ye murmured, silently pondering. "But I can still feel the sensation of being struck by lightning?"
Just moments ago, he had experienced a primal, trembling fear before the might of the heavens!
Could this sensation aid his enlightenment? He couldn't be sure.
But it would undoubtedly enhance the power of the Eight Trigrams Thunderclap Fist.
If Jiang Ye could replicate even a fraction of that heavenly might, the fist's destructive force would surely skyrocket.
A flicker of excitement flashed in Jiang Ye's eyes as he realized this.
Without hesitation, he immediately began to meditate and comprehend the Thunder Dao.
But he soon discovered he had been too naive.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, six hours had passed.
"How am I supposed to comprehend the Thunder Dao?"
Jiang Ye stood before the endless thunderclouds, a hint of frustration in his eyes.
Enlightenment remained far beyond his grasp.
He simply lacked the vision and power to comprehend the Dao Techniques of heaven and earth.
After days of relentless study, Jiang Ye remained utterly clueless.
"I won't be trapped here forever, will I?" His expression shifted slightly.
He couldn't return to the outside world until the assessment concluded.
If he were stuck here for weeks...
Missing the Cosmic Divine Path would be a minor setback, but delaying the College Entrance Examination would be a serious problem.
"I still have a week. No need to panic," Jiang Ye reassured himself, his inner turmoil gradually subsiding.
His formidable Martial Dao Will granted him the courage to face any challenge with composure.
Time flew by like an arrow.
Over the next few days, Jiang Ye remained in this spatial realm, tirelessly attempting to comprehend the Dao Technique.
During this process, his understanding of the Thunder Technique deepened significantly.
Yet, when it came to grasping the Dao itself, he remained utterly clueless.
In the blink of an eye, five days had passed.
Jiang Ye, who hadn't slept or rested, began to feel the strain.
"Comprehending the Thunder Dao is far too difficult," he murmured, watching the ceaseless flashes of lightning before him.
By now, his heart had grown as still as water.
If delaying the College Entrance Examination truly became inevitable, he could simply retake it next year.
The only downside was that being a retaker wouldn't look good on his academic record.
"Relax," Jiang Ye murmured, closing his eyes slightly.
After five consecutive days of enlightenment, his mental energy was completely drained. He needed proper rest and recovery.
With that thought, Jiang Ye's mind stirred.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, he found himself in a foot massage parlor.
Here, Jiang Ye's thoughts materialized instantly; every scene formed with a mere thought.
He lay back on the bed, picked up the tablet beside him, and began browsing the technicians. "I'll take number 2."
He didn't bother looking at their faces.
He wanted the thrill of a blind box.
If it didn't work out, he could always switch.
Moments later, the door slid open.
A stunningly beautiful girl in white lace stockings and a maid's uniform entered the room, carrying a bucket of hot water.
"Hello, sir. Technician number 2 is pleased to serve you," she said in a soft, sweet voice.
Jiang Ye stared in astonishment at the ice-cold beauty before him, who looked exactly like Chen Zilu.
He'd expected a random pick, but instead, he'd hit the jackpot right away—a bombshell of beauty.
Who could resist this?!
Soon, Chen Zilu began her service.
Just as Jiang Ye finished washing his feet and started the massage, he suddenly felt a jolt of energy.
"What's wrong?" Chen Zilu asked, tilting her head, a hint of confusion on her cold, beautiful face.
"Nothing. Carry on."
Chen Zilu lowered her head and continued massaging the acupoints on the soles of Jiang Ye's feet with her slender, delicate hands.
At that moment, Jiang Ye felt two distinct streams of energy rising from his soles as she massaged.
A warm, melting-snow-like energy surged upward from the Kidney Meridian, flowing along the Lesser Yin Meridian of the Foot, straight to the Baihui Acupoint at the crown of his head.
A cool, icy-pond-like energy welled up from the Yongquan Acupoint, reversing course along the Bladder Meridian, flowing upward.
The two opposing energies collided violently at the Guanyuan Acupoint.
"This is..."
"The energy circulation route from the Star Martial Advancement Method?"
Jiang Ye was astonished. "I'm just getting a foot massage, how did my cultivation start automatically?"
But realization quickly dawned on him.
Massage itself is a process of stimulating acupoints and meridians, promoting smoother flow of qi and blood.
He simply hadn't noticed it so clearly before.
Now that Jiang Ye had achieved his first breakthrough, his perception of his internal meridians had become far more acute.
That's why he immediately sensed the energy flow when Chen Zilu began massaging his feet.
"Heh."
Jiang Ye chuckled to himself. "Looks like foot massages are a form of cultivation after all."
"Foot Dao is Dao, technique is technique!"
"I should get more foot massages from now on."
A new insight stirred within Jiang Ye's heart.
But the very next moment, the surrounding scenery vanished like mist in the wind.
[You have completed the Enlightenment Trial.]
(End of the Chapter)