458: Chapter 473 College Entrance Examination?

Within the canyon, a wind suddenly rose.

That wind surged from the Void Realm, silent and formless. It had no color, no temperature, and no direction, yet it made Lu Ming's pupils contract sharply.

Because this wind did not blow against the Physical Body.

Instead, it blew against the Divine Soul.

The Bi Wind Calamity targeted a Cultivator's Dao Heart. It did not harm the Physical Body or deplete mana; it directly brushed against the Cultivator's Divine Soul.

It sought to ignite all the obsessions, fears, and delusions within the Cultivator's heart, causing them to lose themselves in endless illusions and ultimately resulting in the destruction of their Divine Soul.

Lu Ming's body suddenly stiffened.

Countless images began to surface before his eyes.

Those were the things he feared most in the depths of his heart.

He saw his cultivation completely lost, turning back into that minor Cultivator struggling bitterly in the Southern Wilderness Region.

He saw the karma golden book vanish, the human emperor banner shatter, and all his trump cards, accumulations, and efforts turn into nothing in an instant.

He saw Taishu Yichen's true body descend, that sky-blotting Nascent Soul phantom striking down with a palm, crushing him into powder and turning him into fly ash that dissipated between heaven and earth.

No one remembered him, no one knew him; every trace of his existence was erased.

Images flowed before his eyes one after another, like a revolving lantern.

Every image was a fear from the depths of his heart.

Every image was enough to make an ordinary Cultivator's Dao Heart collapse.

But Lu Ming just watched quietly.

Watching those images flow before his eyes as if watching a movie that had nothing to do with him.

Fear?

Of course he had fear.

But he knew even better that fear was just an emotion, not reality.

Dao Heart Perfection did not mean being emotionless, but rather knowing emotions yet not being controlled by them.

Crucially, he knew that all of this was fake.

He saw through the tricks of the Bi Wind Calamity, his heart remaining calm.

Until...

Lu Ming felt a bout of dizziness, and the scene before him suddenly changed.

When he opened his eyes again.

What met his eyes was a pale white ceiling.

Fluorescent lights hummed lowly, their pale light illuminating the entire classroom.

A familiar smell permeated the air.

The smell of chalk dust, cheap paper ink, and the stench of sweat filling his nose.

It was sweltering.

In a June classroom, there was no air conditioning, only several old ceiling fans creaking overhead, stirring the thick air but bringing not a hint of coolness.

Something was dripping down his forehead, sticky.

His consciousness was in Chaos.

Just now... what happened?

He blinked with difficulty, his head feeling heavy as if filled with lead.

His neck was incredibly sore, and the back of his head hurt a bit.

Did I... fall asleep?

He slowly sat up, only then realizing he was slumped over a desk.

An exam paper was pressed under his face, a corner soaked with sweat and sticking to his cheek, making a soft "hiss" as he pulled it away.

An exam paper.

He looked down.

It was a mathematics exam paper.

Densely packed questions were printed neatly.

Functions, geometry, sequences... those familiar words entered his sight, yet they seemed to be behind a layer of mist, impossible to see clearly.

He flipped to the front.

The header read: "2026 National Unified Examination for Admissions to Ordinary Higher Education Institutions · Mathematics".

Lu Ming's pupils contracted sharply.

Wait—the Gaokao??

This is the freaking Gaokao!

Lu Ming stiffened instantly, his mind going blank.

Why was he here? He shouldn't be here!

But where... should he be?

His thoughts were a mess, countless blurry images surging in his mind.

Figures, light and shadows, golden sword shadows flying across the sky, a black ocean blotting out the sun, and a dark, eerie Netherworld World...

Those images were too real, yet too absurd, like a long and bizarre dream.

"Could it be that what I just did was a dream?"

Lu Ming looked blankly at his hands.

They were the hands of a young man, skin fair, knuckles distinct, no calluses, no scars.

Not the hands stained with the blood of countless Cultivators, but just the hands of a seventeen-year-old boy.

He slowly turned his palms over, looking at them, subconsciously forming several hand seals. He didn't know what they meant, but he felt he should know something.

However, nothing happened.

He looked down; he wasn't wearing dark green Daoist robes, but a faded white school uniform.

The school's name was embroidered on the chest, the cuffs were slightly frayed, and the collar was soaked with sweat.

Lu Ming's breathing began to quicken.

He remembered!

His name was Lu Ming, seventeen years old, a third-year high school student.

Today was the day of the Gaokao. He had reviewed until three in the morning last night and woken up too early this morning. He was so tired during the math exam that he fell asleep at his desk.

Then he had a dream.

A very, very long dream.

In the dream, he had transmigrated to the Cultivation World and began his rise after accidentally obtaining the karma golden book.

He fought all the way from the Southern Wilderness Region to the Profound Spirit Domain, his cultivation progressing from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, then breaking through from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core. Finally, at Golden Core Perfection, he refined three Laws, becoming unprecedentedly powerful.

In the dream, he was a chess player stirring up storms, the greatest mastermind hiding behind the scenes, and an existence who had even exchanged blows with a Nascent Soul True Monarch from afar.

But now, he looked down at the puddle of saliva on the exam paper that hadn't dried yet, his mouth twitching slightly.

The exam room was terrifyingly quiet, with only the rustling of pens across paper and the creaking of the ceiling fan.

The surrounding students were all buried in their work, no one noticing him.

Sunlight from outside shone through the glass, casting a bright patch on the floor where dust motes drifted slowly in the beam.

Everything was so real.

So real that he couldn't distinguish which one was the dream.

Was it that world of cultivation? Or was it him, taking the Gaokao in this sweltering classroom?

He raised his hand and pinched his thigh hard.

"Hiss~"

Pain! It hurt!!

That sharp, stinging pain traveled along his nerves to his brain, as clear as could be.

Could the pain in a dream be this real?

He wasn't sure, but in the dream, he seemed to have been injured and bled as well.

Those sensations of pain had once been just as real.

Moreover, he remembered the face of every person he had met so clearly, and every detail of every battle was vivid in his mind.

He could even recall the spiritual energy fluctuations of those Divine Abilities and Spells, and feel the profound rhythms of those Law powers.

Lu Ming looked out the window, his eyes somewhat dazed.

That world was too real.

But if that world was real, where was he now?

Turning his head, he looked blankly at everything around him.

The classroom, the desks, the exam papers, the students buried in their work beside him.

All of this was equally real.

Who exactly was he?

Was he the Lu Ming who commanded the winds and clouds in the Immortal Realm, whose cultivation had already reached Golden Core Perfection with three Laws added to his person?

Or was he just a high school student who had become confused from dreaming in the Gaokao exam room?

He couldn't tell, he really couldn't tell!

He couldn't distinguish which was reality and which was illusion.

He couldn't tell who he was or where he was.

Seventeen years of memories and hundreds of years of memories collided, tore, and entangled in his mind like two ropes twisted together that could never be untied.

Lu Ming's breathing became more and more rapid, his palms began to sweat, and his heart pounded wildly.

Fear.

Not the fear of being on the line between Life and Death when facing a powerful enemy.

But a fear originating from instinct.

Like having worked so hard for so long, having fought with his life to reach today.

Only to be told in the end that none of it had happened, that it was all just a grand dream, a hallucination born from a seventeen-year-old boy's excessive mental pressure while facing the Gaokao.

Lu Ming's hands were shaking.

He felt something draining from his body, like sand slipping through his fingers, impossible to grasp.

But they were fading bit by bit, becoming blurry, becoming illusory.

Just like those images in the dream, they were dissipating.

No, it absolutely cannot be like this.

Lu Ming had a premonition that when he forgot everything, he would truly lose everything.

But those images were getting further and further away, more and more blurry, as if separated by a thickening mist.

He couldn't grasp them!

Fear surged up like a tide, gradually drowning his consciousness.

Just as Lu Ming's consciousness was about to sink completely, at the moment it was to be swallowed by that Chaos.

A speck of golden light suddenly lit up in the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

That golden light was small and weak at first, but it was like a firefly in the dark, piercing through layers of mist to reach the depths of his Soul.

No matter how the surrounding Chaos surged, it could not extinguish it.

And as time passed, this speck of golden light grew brighter and brighter.

That was—the karma golden book!

Lu Ming's whole body shook.

He remembered.

The karma golden book was the Golden Finger he had brought with him when he transmigrated.

It was his greatest secret, his very foundation, and something that would never disappear no matter what.

If that world was fake, how could the karma golden book appear in his Sea of Consciousness?

Fake.

Everything is fake.

The classroom is fake, the exam paper is fake, the Gaokao is fake.

This scene that had frightened him for countless years was, from beginning to end, just an illusion woven by the Bi Wind Calamity.

The Bi Wind Calamity couldn't find the true fear in his heart, so it took a different path and staged this performance.

If Lu Ming really believed he was just a dreaming high school student and that his cultivation career was just an illusion.

Then he would truly be personally abandoning his Dao, his path, and his everything.

"What a malicious method; I almost fell for your trick!"

Lu Ming cursed inwardly and closed his eyes again.

Within the Sea of Consciousness, that ancient karma golden book floated quietly, its pages flipping slightly, emitting a warm and steady light.

That light was not dazzling or intense, but it was like an eternal lamp, illuminating every corner in the depths of his spiritual terrace.

That golden light dispelled the mist, dispelled the Chaos, and dispelled all the darkness trying to swallow his consciousness.

His thoughts began to clear.

Memories flooded back into his mind; he recalled the Daoist scriptures and runes he had studied, the hand seals and incantations from his battles, and the exhilarating flow of Law powers.

He remembered everything!

"In that case... it's time to go back!"

With a movement of his heart, Lu Ming suddenly opened his eyes.

That exam paper, those questions, that sweltering classroom, the students buried in their work—everything was rapidly fading, like mist evaporated by the sun, dissipating bit by bit.

He saw the light from the fluorescent tubes dim, the creaking of the ceiling fan grow distant, and the smell of chalk dust gradually vanish, drifting up toward the sky.

The entire world was collapsing.

But he was no longer afraid.

Because he knew that what was collapsing was not reality, but a cage.

He watched all this, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"Thanks."

He said softly.

These words were spoken to the karma golden book; this foundation of his life in the Cultivation World had ultimately saved him from peril once again.

For the favor of saving his life, he should say thanks!

And as his words fell, the entire world also began to shatter with a bang.

Within the canyon, Lu Ming abruptly opened both eyes.

In the depths of his pupils, a speck of golden light slowly dissipated.

Cold sweat soaked his back, his heart was still beating violently, and his breathing was as rapid as if he had just experienced an intense battle.

Lu Ming gasped for air, only recovering after a good while.

"Damn it!"

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice somewhat raspy.

"Gaokao."

He murmured to himself, the expression on his face too complex to describe.

"The thing I fear most is actually the freaking Gaokao!"

Lu Ming gave a bitter laugh, then shook his head.

Having lived for so many years, killed so many people, undergone so many tribulations, provoked a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and even plotted against the Heavenly Dao.

In the end, the thing that broke his defenses was actually an exam.

If this were told to others, they would probably laugh their heads off.

But he couldn't laugh.

Because at that moment just now, he really almost believed it.

Believed that world was real, believed his cultivation career was just a dream, believed he was just an ordinary high school student.

If the karma golden book hadn't awakened him at the last moment...

He didn't dare to think what the consequences would have been!

"This Bi Wind Calamity is truly malicious to the core."

He took a deep breath and slowly stood up.

Above the canyon, those dark red clouds suddenly dispersed, and a brilliant golden light fell from the Nine Heavens, enveloping Lu Ming entirely!

Within that golden light was an inexpressibly profound dao rhyme—the gift from heaven and earth to the one who had undergone the tribulation!

Inside Lu Ming's body, the three Laws simultaneously vibrated!

They resonated, cheered, and transformed!

The Tiangang Law became more solid, the Law of Wind became more agile, and the Yin-Yang Law became more profound.

Although his aura didn't skyrocket again, he felt as if he had faintly touched an invisible barrier.

Lu Ming closed his eyes, sensing it carefully.

That barrier was formless and immaterial yet truly existed, like an ocean hanging upside down above the Nine Heavens, vast and boundless, deep and bottomless.

Lu Ming tried to probe into it with his Divine Sense.

In an instant, an inexpressibly profound feeling enveloped him.

It was a sense of height, like looking up at the firmament and seeing only surging clouds, not knowing how many heavens were above.

It was even more a sense of vastness, like looking down into an abyss and seeing only surging undercurrents, not knowing how many depths were below.

It was not in the distance, but right at the end of his Dao, within reach yet far away.

It was hazy and indistinct!

Lu Ming understood in his heart that this was the threshold of the Nascent Soul.