Calamity of Tomorrow - Chapter 33: Divine Maps

After Zhou Bai left his dorm, he was about to look for Jing Xiu so they could go to class together.

A figure waited in front of him.

Zhou Bai squinted and saw a man with a piercing gaze. He searched through his memory and recognized him to be one of the five judges during the third round of the entrance exam.

Xing Jun nodded at Zhou Bai and cracked an unnatural smile. “You probably recognize me. My name is Xing Jun. I’m a teacher at Donghua Tao Academy and a practitioner in the fifth realm. You got first place in the entrance exam. I voted for you.”

Fifth realm? Then he has a Degree of Taoification above fifty percent? Zhou Bai went blank for a second, then nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

“No need to thank me. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a student with as much potential as you. Here is my contact information; you can find me if you have any questions in the future.

“Good luck. I have high hopes for you.”

The two talked for a bit, then Zhou Bai left. He recalled what Xing Jun said and thought, Was he…cozying up with me? Winning me over?

He didn’t have more time to think because Jing Xiu waved at him from a distance. “Brother Zhou! I’m over here!”

The Tao academy was efficient as usual. There was no opening ceremony, and there was no encouragement or advice for these distinguished students.

They started teaching Tao practice in the first class.

Sun Yuzhen, Xing Jun, and Lu Chongyang stood in front of the 600 students.

……

Sun Yuzhen, who wore a ponytail, waved. “In Donghua Tao Academy, no matter what class you are in, you get instructed according to your progress. However, there is a test every two months. Students who cannot pass the test will be expelled.

“All right, students whose Primordial Spirit Power is below ninety-nine, follow me.”

The majority of the 600 students left. Then, Xing Jun said, “Zuo Dao, you come with me.”

After Zuo Dao left, there were still 24 people remaining, including Zhou Bai. They were all students with a Primordial Spirit Power of 99.

Lu Chongyang said with a kind expression, “You’re all people whose Primordial Spirit Power has reached ninety-nine. When your Degree of Taoification is zero percent, ninety-nine is already the limit.

“In your future lessons, I will instruct you on entering the Tao—that is, increasing your Degree of Taoification. This will allow your Primordial Spirit Power to break through the limit of ninety-nine points and continue to increase.”

Everyone present was thrilled. Zhou Bai was even more excited. He had more than 1,000 points in his auxiliary system that he hadn’t used. He was waiting to break through that limit.

Lu Chongyang said, “In ancient times, the Heavenly Tao was gentle and mysterious. Back then, as long as practitioners trained their primordial spirits wholeheartedly and increased their Degree of Taoification, they could obtain divine skills that could churn the seas.

“But nowadays, the Heavenly Tao has distorted, and Spark has become polluted. Practicing Tao is hundreds, thousands of times more dangerous than in the past. Only training your Primordial Spirit and Degree of Taoification is anywhere near enough.”

Lu Chongyang said, “Because every increase of Degree of Taoification increases your synchronization with the Heavenly Tao, the more you raise it, the more deeply affected you are by the distorted Heavenly Tao. To lower this risk, you need strong primordial spirit power, as well as a strong will and body.

“Your primordial spirit powers have reached the limit that you can reach as of now, so I won’t teach you new breathing methods or techniques for increasing primordial spirit power.”

Lu Chongyang continued. “From now on, your main task is to increase your willpower and physique. And the best way to increase willpower and physique is to choose a Divine Map to practice. This will be your opportunity to enter the Tao.”

Zhou Bai thought to himself, Divine Map? He had seen a Divine Map in his auxiliary system before, but never practiced it. He could finally start now.

He saw Lu Chongyang use his primordial spirit power. Nine pictures appeared before everyone. Six of them were pictures of a knife, a spear, a sword, a bow, an ax, and a rune. The other three were of the sky, the earth, and a human.

Lu Chongyang said, “Some of you might have heard of it; others might not have. I’ll explain it to everyone.

“Ever since the Heavenly Tao distorted, countless predecessors sacrificed themselves to extract, refine, and organize the knowledge from the millions of distorted, evil bits of knowledge. They compiled them into Divine Maps, which are shortcuts of Tao practice.

“There are eleven realms to Tao practice. You choose a corresponding Divine Map in every realm, which lasts throughout your practice and allows you to improve continuously.”

As he said this, Lu Chongyang magnified the nine Divine Maps, “The nine Divine Maps before you are the nine basic Divine Maps that you can choose in Primordial Realm, when your Degree of Taoification is between zero percent and nine percent.

“Which Divine Map you choose out of the nine will determine your path for Tao practice in the future. The Divine Maps that you can choose in later realms will also differ completely.

“Everyone can choose only one basic Divine Map in their whole life. They cannot practice anything else. Therefore, you must choose carefully. Now, I’ll explain the differences between these nine Divine Maps…”

Zhou Bai was listening to Lu Chongyang’s narration when Christina, who had been balled up previously, said in his mind, “Zhou Bai, choose the Sword Map.”

“Why?” asked Zhou Bai. “I wanted to ask you before. In my auxiliary system, the Divine Map is Deva Nine Disasters. Can I still practice other Divine Maps?”

“No, you can’t practice any other Divine Maps,” shouted Christina. “But I remembered, and I can practice them. And my Divine Map equals your Divine Map. If I practice it, then it’s the same as you practicing it.”

“Is it true?” Zhou Bai looked dubious. “That sounds incredible.”

“Of course it’s true!” Christina promised. “Why would someone as cute as me lie to you?”

Zhou Bai didn’t agree with Christina immediately. He decided to choose after he listened to Lu Chongyang’s lesson.

He heard Lu Chongyang describe the special characteristics and future directions of the nine basic Divine Maps. Then he explained the method of practice for the Divine Maps.

“Each Divine Map is not just a mere drawing. It’s the fruit of the collaborative effort of deities in Paradise and distinguished human practitioners. They expended enormous amounts of energy and resources to condense the knowledge of the Heavenly Tao.

“Only in sacred lands for practice like Donghua Tao Academy can we provide a Divine Map to every student.

“Even these nine basic Divine Maps are worth tens of thousands in the outside world. These Maps cannot be bought with money because they represent the door to entering the Tao.”

As he said this, Lu Chongyang made a Knife Map float out. The next moment, the Divine Map became scattered light spots. Then the light spots swirled and formed into a Divine Map again.

“After injecting the Divine Maps into your cognitive seas, they will combine with your primordial spirits and turn into Taiyi Discs. After you inject primordial spirit power into the Taiyi Disc, you can…”

Hearing Lu Chongyang’s detailed narration, Zhou Bai finally understood how you practice with Divine Maps. It was indeed a simplified method of practice. It saved a lot of time for the practitioners.

It was like allowing the practitioners to run on a set path. They just had to choose different Divine Maps in every realm and improve according to the Divine Maps.

The class gradually listened to Lu Chongyang’s narration. Finally, it was time to choose their Divine Maps.

The other students had been practicing Tao for years. They knew more or less the importance of Divine Maps, and most had already chosen a Divine Map to practice.

Lu Chongyang pulled out the Divine Maps and injected them into the students’ cognitive seas one by one. Then he sat with his legs crossed and eyes shut, sensing the changes in their cognitive seas.

Only Zhou Bai looked at the nine Divine Maps before him with an expression of contemplation.

In the end, when Zhou Bai was the only one who hadn’t made a decision, Lu Chongyang looked at Zhou Bai and smiled kindly. “What’s wrong, Zhou Bai? You still haven’t decided which one to choose?”

Zhou Bai recalled the descriptions of the Divine Maps, “Best for slaughter, speed is its specialty…”

“Teacher, I choose the Sword Map.”