The crowd gasped. Students assumed Bai Zhenzhen had succeeded.
But Li Xuelian sighed, looking at her. "To learn nine martial arts in such a short time — your talent is one in ten thousand."
"But it still falls short of my father's requirements."
A ripple passed through the crowd. Some exhaled with relief. Others exchanged startled glances.
Zhao Tianxing thought, *That wasn't enough? What kind of monster is Starfire True Person looking for?*
Bai Zhenzhen secretly exhaled. She hadn't expected to trigger the painting's response — for a panicked second, she'd nearly blurted out a refusal of Starfire's apprenticeship on the spot.
*Good thing I didn't say it. That would've been mortifying. I knew something was still missing.*
After her attempt, a few more students tried performing all nine techniques. None triggered the painting.
Lian Tianji — brimming with confidence — didn't step up again. He was thinking hard, searching for what they were all missing.
The hall fell quiet. No one else stepped forward.
Just as Li Xuelian was about to conclude the event, Zhang Yu walked up — holding his phone.
Her interest piqued. *After watching so many fail, he still has confidence. Perhaps he's found something.*
Then her brow furrowed.
Zhang Yu was playing a video on his phone — a recording of Bai Zhenzhen performing the nine techniques. He was copying her movements from the screen.
And he was stiff. Awkward. Each move a clumsy approximation of Bai Zhenzhen's fluid execution. The gap between them was painfully obvious.
Zhao Tianxing watched from the crowd, scalp tingling, toes curling so hard they could carve an apartment in the floor.
*Stop, Zhang Yu! This is too humiliating! You're being treated like a clown!*
Zhang Yu couldn't hear Zhao Tianxing's thoughts. He didn't care what anyone in this exhibition thought of him.
He performed each technique — all nine — methodically, following the video, one move at a time.
And as the final movement ended, something shifted.
A torrent of experience, sensation, and understanding flooded his mind. The Celestial Combat Painting rearranged itself in his perception. He felt as though he'd performed these techniques ten thousand times.
The nine martial forms began to dissolve in his mind, replaced by nine distinct intents — flickering, formless, yet unmistakably present.
*It's not about the moves.*
*The Celestial Combat Painting tests intent, not technique.*
*The cultivator must practice the forms while grasping the intent within them — the killing intent to shatter armies, the unyielding will to fight through nine deaths, the courage to charge forward without hesitation.*
*Nine martial arts. Nine intents. Together, they forge the Dao Heart.*
*This isn't a combat technique or a body-forging method. It's a martial art that tempers the Dao Heart through martial intent.*
It was a Heart Method that raised Dao Heart level.
Martial Intent — a term coined by the Ten Great Sects, encompassing sword intent, fist intent, blade intent, and all such martial forces. Its most basic function was to strengthen the spirit, fortify the will, and thereby elevate a cultivator's Dao Heart.
And a Golden Core True Person like Starfire could leave his Martial Intent embedded in a painting, influencing the minds of all who viewed it.
Zhang Yu's presence shifted. Killing intent, fighting spirit, courage, valor — waves of fearsome energy radiated from him, on the verge of condensing into true Martial Intent.
The painted man grew sharper, gaining vivid color, becoming almost real. His eyes locked onto Zhang Yu with visible interest.
The crowd noticed. This was by far the strongest reaction the painting had shown all night.
Lian Tianji, Qian Shen, Bai Zhenzhen — all stared, thinking the same impossible thought.
*Is he actually going to succeed?*
Then it stopped.
The energy condensing within Zhang Yu shattered and dispersed. The Martial Intent that had been on the verge of forming evaporated.
Words appeared on the canvas: *Heavenly talent, but one move short.*
Zhang Yu's face showed no surprise. He'd already seen why.
On his Feather Book, a new entry had appeared:
**Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art — Level 0 (1/1)** **Requirements: 8.3/8 Mana, 0.85/0.8 Physical Strength, 1/3 Dao Heart Level**
Unlike every technique he'd learned before, this one had requirements across three categories — not just mana and physical strength, but Dao Heart.
*To master this, I need to perform all nine martial forms — fist, palm, leg, and so on — AND meet thresholds: 8 mana, 0.8 physical strength, and Level 3 Dao Heart.*
*I meet the other requirements. But Level 3 Dao Heart...*
His own Dao Heart was Level 1.
He'd been stopped at the final step.
*This Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art — it's a technique that condenses Martial Intent, using that intent to fortify the will and temper the Dao Heart. But it requires Level 3 Dao Heart to even begin.*
*Level 3... that's not something a first-year student three months into high school could achieve, is it?*
---
Li Xuelian's eyes sparkled as she watched Zhang Yu's failure.
She'd never expected any first-year to succeed. But from the security company's files, she knew this was Zhang Yu — a Songyang High first-year.
*To reach this step — truly a heavenly talent.*
She reviewed his performance in her mind. *His movements were stiff, his forms clumsy. But he grasped the intent. That means he values meaning over form — he saw through to the essence of the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art before anyone else.*
*Remarkable. I nearly missed it.*
*Father will gain another fine disciple.*
She'd checked the attendees' backgrounds beforehand. Any student capable of mastering the painting's technique would either come from a prominent family or be a second or third-year already under contract — neither would seek Starfire's apprenticeship.
Finding someone who could master the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art on the spot was always unlikely.
But that didn't mean no one could become Starfire's disciple.
If a first-year could withstand the Martial Intent's assault, learn all nine forms, and comprehend the nature of Martial Intent — even without completing the technique — that was unmistakable proof of genius. A year from now, they'd surely master it. And right now, they were young enough, unbound enough, to sign a contract.
That failure to complete the technique? Not a weakness. A negotiation advantage when drawing up the apprenticeship contract.
She smiled at Zhang Yu.
"Young man, although you couldn't fully master the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, you've already grasped its essence. Given time, mastery is inevitable."
"I'll speak with my father about accepting you as his disciple."
The crowd erupted.
Lian Tianji pulled out his phone and covertly photographed Zhang Yu. He needed to find out who this security guard really was.
Qian Shen stared, screaming internally. *Impossible! A 550 — recruited by a Golden Core True Person? I must be dreaming. The painting is still testing me!*
Bai Zhenzhen watched Zhang Yu ascend, feeling profoundly wrong.
*Yu's... cheating? No. He actually did it.*
Watching her childhood companion — who'd always been beneath her, who'd shared her debts and her struggles — suddenly soar past everyone, including herself, felt deeply disorienting.
*It's not that I don't want him to succeed. If he'd cracked the top ten, even the top five — as long as he stayed below me — I'd have celebrated. But now he's surpassed everyone. Including me.*
But Bai Zhenzhen's mind, ever pragmatic, was already pivoting.
*Once Zhang Yu signs with a Golden Core True Person, he'll attract investment. I need to milk him for all he's worth. Borrow money. Lots of it.*
Then she paused, frowning.
*Wait. Starfire True Person had half his cultivation confiscated and was optimized by a major sect. No resources, no backing. If Zhang Yu really joins him, he'll be a beast of burden for life.*
*Never mind. I should warn him. Can't let my brother get blinded by the words "Golden Core."*
Zhao Tianxing stood frozen, mind blank. Then he remembered how he'd tried to pull Zhang Yu away, how he'd silently screamed at him to stop.
*Too humiliating. He's a real genius. When I was thinking those things, he must have seen me as a clown.*
As students swarmed Zhang Yu — wanting his contact, asking about the painting, requesting photos — Li Xuelian stepped aside and dialed her father.
"Dad? I found a remarkable prospect here in Songyang..."