Chapter 27 (2/2)

And as their speed rose continuously, they even felt like their primordial spirits were about to leave their body, and endless secrets and knowledge were about to open up to them.

“Enter the Tao! I feel like I’m about to enter the Tao!”

“The secrets of the Heavenly Tao are revealing themselves to me!”

“If I can enter the Tao, even if I fail this test, I can come back again next year! It’s a good deal!”

The applicants looked ecstatic.

“Liu Bai, eliminated.”

“Song Zhong, eliminated.”

“Charles, eliminated.”

As these applicants had run faster and faster, they quickly had used up their strength only to be tragically eliminated.

Witnessing them get eliminated one after another, Zhou Bai smiled with glee.

At first, he had thought that they would be running for three or four hours before they could get down to 300 people, but as more and more people sped up, more and more of them exhausted their strength. Almost everyone except Zhou Bai had sped up more or less to increase their primordial spirit power.

In little more than 10 minutes, only 300 applicants remained on the track.

Without caring whether it was healthy or not, Zhou Bai immediately collapsed to the ground gasping for air.

Jing Xiu looked around her, noticing that most of the eliminated applicants had used up all their strength. An expression of contemplation flashed across her face.

Lu Chongyang looked at everyone and said, “I just told you, the three main codes of Tao practice: You must not face the Heavenly Tao directly, you must not let your primordial spirit separate from your body, and you must not be greedy for advancement. Did you all forget?”

“The Heavenly Way is indeed a talisman for testing willpower, but running on it won’t actually increase your primordial spirit power. That’s only an illusion. Including the separation of the primordial spirit toward the end, they’re all just illusions.

“But faced with the madly increasing temptation of power and knowledge, none of you were able to resist. Instead, you pursued power and unknowingly became immersed in desire. You even forgot the goal of the test itself.

“This is just an illusion formation. On the journey of practicing Tao, the temptations you’ll face are 10 times that of the Heavenly Way.

“Although most of you did not pass today’s test, I hope that in your future journey of Tao practice, you will remember the three main codes of Tao practice and take every step with caution. Even if the Heavenly Way really could increase your primordial spirit power, you must not be greedy for advancement.”

The eliminated applicants all looked ashamed for being so intoxicated by the power and pleasure of increasing Primordial Spirit Value.

Lu Chongyang shook his head and then, in the next moment, his expression became one of approval. “But there is one applicant here who never sped up for the purpose of increasing his Primordial Spirit Value at all, and he put his whole heart into the test. Let us applaud his iron will. Zhou Bai, you are probably the highest scorer in the second round. Congratulations.”

Lu Chongyang then led the others in applause as they all followed his gaze to look at Zhou Bai, still lying on the ground, with deep respect.

Jing Xiu walked over to Zhou Bai, gazing at him with admiration. “Brother Zhou, at first I thought you couldn’t keep running because your will wasn’t strong enough. I was too dull; you must have understood the true purpose of this test at the start of the race.”

“The will to run is secondary. What the teachers of Donghua Tao Academy truly value is the willpower to resist the temptation of power and knowledge. That’s what’s most important on the path of practicing Tao. You’re amazing!”

Zhou Bai sighed, saying, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” He looked at her and waved his hand. “There are many obstacles on the path of practicing Tao. I’m just a few steps ahead… It’s nothing.”

“Brother Zhou is being too humble. My dad always said the cream of the crop is found at Donghua Tao Academy and that there are many people who are more talented than me. He was right… Brother Zhou is so much better than I am.”

Zhou Bai sighed again. “These are useless… Jing Xiu, can you help me walk to the next examination site?”

“Huh?”

Zhou Bai propped himself on Jing Xiu, cursing in his mind, “F*ck, my legs are weak from running.”

Christina suddenly piped in, “It’s your fault you’re always lying on the couch. You’re about to turn into a potato.”