Chapter 144: Chapter 127: Comprehension 2

“Mr. Li.”

Just then, a middle-aged man walked into the courtyard. He was dressed in simple cloth, his hair gathered up and fastened with a pin. His attire was plain, making him look like a poor scholar, with no visible signs of martial arts training.

In his right hand, two baoding balls spun.

Liu Wan hurried to greet him when he saw him enter.

His surname was Li.

He was playing with baoding balls.

Chu Lingguang immediately thought of someone: Li Dayao, the academy’s Mr. Da.

Guo Wei had specially prepared a pair of priceless baoding balls, carved from jade, for him to bring as a gift for Li Dayao—a way to curry favor by appealing to his hobby.

’It seems this is the man.’

He wondered what Li Dayao had done to deserve such reverence, that even a teacher like Liu Wan would have to bow his head to him.

Li Dayao gave a faint nod.

His eyes swept over the examinees learning the Breathing Technique. He walked silently to the side, sat on a stool, and watched them practice, all while spinning the baoding balls in his hand.

CREAK… CREAK…

A creaking sound echoed through the courtyard. At first, it sounded like a mouse gnawing on something. Then, the sound grew louder, like an old machine starting up.

The creaking became a grinding, which then swelled into the thunderous roar of rattling chains.

The examinees, who had been practicing the Breathing Technique and searching for that feeling of connecting heaven and earth, began to frown. Soon, their expressions turned savage, and their minds grew agitated.

“AHH!”

Eventually, some examinees shot to their feet, screaming and clutching their ears. As if they had lost their minds, they began to roll around incessantly on the ground.

Chu Lingguang was drenched in sweat.

That mind-scrambling sound, like an old machine running, was actually coming from the two baoding balls in Li Dayao’s hands.

He just sat there in the corner, continuously spinning the two balls. He must have found some special resonance point, for the sound of them colliding gradually climbed in intensity, eventually surging through the entire courtyard.

The examinees, deep in thought about how to find the feeling of connecting heaven and earth to activate the Day and Night Breathing Technique, were all driven to distraction by the cacophony.

Even Chu Lingguang, who was skilled in the Heart Guarding Skill, was breaking out in a cold sweat under the interference of that endless sound. He felt an impulse to jump up, flip his table, and roar at Li Dayao.

Eventually, he forgot all about finding the connection between heaven and earth and activating the Day and Night Breathing Technique. His entire focus shifted to fighting against the torturous sound.

BAM!

Chu Lingguang collapsed to the ground.

Nearby, Lin Longde’s eyes were bloodshot. He was rolling around on the ground, even slamming his head against it, before a man in black chopped him unconscious with the side of his hand.

“AHH!”

Yan Chengdu was breathing in a cross-legged position.

Finally, he lost control and let out a roar, trying to drown out the noise with his own voice, only to be kicked unconscious by another man in black.

Chu Lingguang trembled uncontrollably.

His fists were clenched tight.

His expression was savage.

A glimmer of light in his mind was about to be extinguished, but at the last moment, he seized it. It was like a flickering oil lamp, and he desperately tried to shield it, to hold onto that single ray of hope.

But a fierce wind rose all around.

In the end, that glimmer of light was extinguished.

Finally, Chu Lingguang could no longer stop himself from clamping his hands over his ears. His gaze fell upon the two rapidly spinning baoding balls in Li Dayao’s hands. He suddenly realized that this mind-shaking sound, which made it impossible to remain calm, was imbued with a kind of Potential Energy. This energy gave the colliding sounds a certain Penetration Power, much like a Sound Wave Technique, making one’s head swim.

It did not seem like a particularly profound form of Martial Arts.

But for Li Dayao to casually spin the baoding balls and generate oppressive Potential Energy that could disrupt every examinee’s mind, even driving them mad, was a testament to how powerful he truly was.

Slowly, the sound began to fade.

Chu Lingguang saw the baoding balls in Li Dayao’s hands slow down and finally stop spinning.

Li Dayao stood up from his stool and said to Liu Wan, “Record the results.”

“Yes, sir.”

Liu Wan nodded.

Li Dayao walked toward the courtyard exit. As he left, he glanced at the examinees. He had clearly seen each of their performances: who had lost their minds, and who had managed to hold onto that inner glimmer of light and continue searching for the key to connecting heaven and earth, not giving up on cultivating the Day and Night Breathing Technique amidst the interference.

Chu Lingguang noticed that as Li Dayao was leaving, his gaze lingered on him for a moment.

Feeling utterly drained as he sat on the ground, he looked around and saw examinees lying scattered everywhere, with tables and chairs overturned across the floor.

Even Yan Chengdu had been kicked unconscious by a man in black.

In his line of sight, less than half the examinees had remained conscious, sitting cross-legged on the ground like him when the sound disappeared.

Chen Jin, Gao Yimu, and Qi Shiwei were among them.

The rest of that group were basically all residents of the Inner Courtyard.

From the Central and Outer Courtyards, only five or six people in total had managed to endure.

Chu Lingguang hadn’t expected to be able to last until the end.

But under the interference of the sound, he too had forgotten to continue cultivating the Day and Night Breathing Technique and search for the secret to connecting heaven and earth. In the end, he had devoted all his energy to simply fighting the sound.

For someone who thought his Heart Guarding Skill was formidable, he didn’t seem to have gained any advantage.

Instead, he saw a figure in the corner, chest rising and falling, still in a state of cultivation.

Chen Jin and the others were also drawn to that figure.

It was a handsome young man, sitting quietly in the corner. It was a mystery how he had resisted the sound. He seemed uninterested in the state of the others, focused only on cultivating the Day and Night Breathing Technique. His goal was to find the feeling of connecting heaven and earth as soon as possible, and to generate a stream of Qi that could complete a full Circulation within his body.

Everyone felt ashamed of their own inferiority.

No one knew if the young man’s Heart Guarding Skill was simply that good, or if his Qi Power was just that abundant, allowing him to resist Li Dayao’s interference. Regardless, his performance was seared into everyone’s memory, and they all subconsciously began to see him as a powerful rival.

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