116: Chapter 116 Everyone here is trash!

On the martial arts arena, laughter and curses blended together.

Su Ming stood solitary before the shield machine, surrounded by flashing camera lights and an overwhelming wave of contempt.

Once his wild remarks, which overturned the Federation's centuries-old Source Energy system, were uttered, the scene completely spiraled out of control.

"Anyone who relies on external objects is on a crooked path. To Cultivate the Physical Body without relying on external things, pushing through everything with pure physical strength—this is the only true path for human evolution."

"And what I, Su Ming, pursue is... Sanctification of the Physical Body!"

These words exploded into the crowd, inciting not awe, but even more boiling, raucous laughter.

The first to lose it were the group of ordinary candidates in the preparation area; a wind-attribute youth who had just received one and a half stars laughed so hard he crouched on the ground, pounding the floor, while his companions supported each other, laughing until tears streamed down.

"Sanctification of the Physical Body???"

"Is he performing a new type of crosstalk?"

"Laughing to death! Can't even measure Source Energy, so he starts spouting heresy?"

"And 'crooked path'? Since ancient times, Source Energy talent has been the orthodoxy of martial arts! He is truly beyond saving!"

"A useless person who doesn't even have an F-rank, yet he dares to mock the entire martial arts system? How arrogant and ignorant!"

The live stream comments were even crazier than the scene itself, scrolling so fast that individual messages were impossible to read; one could only catch sporadic high-frequency words: madman, clown, trash, laughing to death.

"Sanctification of the Physical Body, my foot. Has he been reading too many novels?"

"Without even Source Energy, he can only brag about the Physical Body to compensate; it's a form of cyber spiritual victory."

"I suggest the Federal Mental Health Center send someone to pick him up, thanks."

Su Ming stood beside the shield robot.

The shadow cast by the two-meter-tall metal giant covered him, making his lean, black-armored figure appear even more slender.

In the eyes of all the candidates, mentors, and school officials, this was not some martial arts truth at all, but purely the impotent rage and stubborn sophistry of a failure.

On the observation deck, Associate Professor Zhou from Imperial Capital University furrowed his brows tightly, his eyes filled with mockery and impatience.

He had taught martial arts for decades and seen countless Geniuses and mediocrities, but he had never seen such a clown who couldn't measure a shred of talent yet brazenly claimed to overturn the Foundation of martial arts.

The term 'grandstanding' wasn't enough to describe it; this was simply a blasphemy against martial arts.

"Principal Ma Aiguo, is this the student from your Jiangcheng No. 1 High School? Truly an eye-opener!"

Associate Professor Zhou turned his head, his tone bone-chillingly cold.

Principal Ma Aiguo's old face turned livid with anger, and he slammed his hand on the armrest, making the teacup beside him jump.

"Absurd! Pure nonsense!"

The old principal's voice echoed across the observation deck, filled with heartache and grief.

"Martial arts Cultivation uses Source Energy as the base and talent as the root; this has remained unchanged for eternity! A mere youth, unskilled in his craft, dares to discuss the Dao and grandstand! This is a great humiliation for my Jiangcheng No. 1 High School!"

His fingers trembled with anger.

Today, his old face had been completely lost to the entire Federation.

He endured it when the test paper was torn in the morning.

He endured it when he couldn't measure Source Energy and suffered public social death in the afternoon.

But now, he was directly denying the Source Energy system?

Where does that put all the Awakeners in the Federation? Where does it put the talent of the thousands of candidates on and off the stage?

Homeroom Teacher Wang Jianguo beside him, like a hyena smelling blood, immediately leaned forward, pointing at Su Ming with an extremely severe tone, ready to pass judgment on him right then and there.

"Su Ming! You have publicly disrupted exam order and despised the orthodoxy of martial arts! You possess not a shred of Source Energy; you don't even qualify as a competent Awakener!!"

He cupped his hands in the direction of Chief Examiner Li Feng: "Chief Examiner Li, I suggest we immediately terminate this candidate's testing qualification and give him a zero for this round! Let him get off the stage!"

As his voice fell, there was an uproar of approval from below the stage.

Zhao Kuo's lackeys took the lead in applauding, howling as if it were the New Year.

The live stream comments were instantly flooded with "give him a zero."

However, in this boiling martial arts arena, a few people did not laugh.

Ye Xiao scratched his short, crew-cut hair, his face full of question marks.

Physical Body... Sanctification? Is this some kind of flashy talk from a new school of thought?

He felt his brain couldn't keep up.

Shen Qingci's hand had unconsciously gripped the corner of her clothes.

What on earth does this guy want to do?

Chu Yao's eyes darted around, observing Su Ming on the stage with great interest, as if watching a grand drama that no one could have scripted.

Among the mentors present, only Tie Moshan, who had the style of a Body Cultivator, leaned his massive body slightly forward, actually seriously considering Su Ming's words.

"Not relying on external objects... only Cultivating oneself..."

A strange light flashed in his cloudy eyes.

Lang Qingyun from Eastern Lingyun Academy leaned back in his chair, biting on a Source Energy refreshing stick, chewing it with a clicking sound.

"This kid is kind of interesting."

The voice was not loud and was drowned out by the clamor.

Ying Wuhen remained silent, simply taking out his terminal and typing something rapidly with his fingertips.

At the entrance of the martial arts arena, Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng, who had just arrived with the merit point approval slip, happened to witness Su Ming's earth-shattering remarks.

His head was buzzing.

Is this the kind of thing one can say in front of tens of millions of people?

With five thousand candidates present, a single spit from each of them could drown you!

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng subconsciously broke into a cold sweat, his gaze sweeping over the dense crowd, the words 'Tongyuan Association' flashing through his mind.

This kid is painting a target on his own face.

But what truly made him uneasy was not Su Ming's wild talk.

It was Su Ming's state when he said those words.

There was no bluffing, no outward bravado masking inner weakness.

That calmness was the statement of a fact that had already been verified.

And he... happened to be a witness to that fact.

...

Outside the examination hall. In the old district of Jiangcheng, at the Spark Scrap Yard.

In an office on the first floor, a holographic terminal was broadcasting the college entrance exam live.

Shen Hongyuan leaned back in his leather chair, staring at the floating live broadcast screen in front of him.

On the screen, the image of Su Ming being besieged by thousands of people was constantly being enlarged.

The sound of mockery came from the speakers, echoing in the empty office.

The moment that sentence, "Anyone who relies on external objects is on a crooked path," clearly entered his ears—

This top-tier Federation powerhouse, who had been trapped at a top-tier Bottleneck for decades, suddenly shuddered.

His whole body froze in place.

Those eyes, which had been cloudy for years, instantly burst forth with a scorching light.

The Cultivation shackles that had plagued him for half his life and kept him awake at night shattered in this moment.

Everything suddenly became clear!

"Not relying on external objects... the Physical Body as the base..."

Shen Hongyuan closed his eyes, and two lines of cloudy tears slid down silently.

It wasn't sadness. It was that the Bottleneck had shattered, the things that had weighed him down for half a lifetime were suddenly gone, and his body couldn't handle this kind of release.

He opened his eyes, the cloudiness swept away, replaced by a clarity that was almost burning.

"An Epiphany," he muttered. "Truly an Epiphany!"

The words of a 'waste' mocked by thousands had now become the sound of the Dao for one person's Epiphany!

It had forcefully pierced through the ceiling of a top-tier powerhouse who had been stuck for half a lifetime!

Shen Hongyuan slumped back into his chair, staring at the boy on the screen who was being besieged, and suddenly smiled.

In his smile, there was relief, emotion, and something different from before.

"Brat..." The tone of these three words had changed!

...

Inside the exam hall. The spit of the entire crowd was still flying at Su Ming.

Zhao Kuo felt he had waited for the most satisfying opportunity of his life.

The moment of Su Ming's social death was the moment of his own deification.

He jumped out of the preparation area, his Tier 2 Fire-type Source Energy surging, lava patterns appearing on the edges of his dark red battle armor, his voice raised to the maximum:

"Su Ming! Stop playing god and acting like a ghost here!"

He pointed at the figure on the stage with hands in his pockets, his face full of mockery.

"You're a complete piece of trash, and because you can't measure any talent, you spout heresy to get attention? Besides having a stiff mouth, what else do you have?!"

The lackeys coordinated seamlessly, collectively jeering.

"Exactly! If you have the ability, talk with your fists!"

"You don't even have Source Energy and you're still bragging!"

The live stream comments reveled in unison.

Su Ming remained standing beside the shield, motionless.

The wave of noise was so loud it felt like it would flip the dome of the entire martial arts arena.

Everyone was waiting for him to retreat in a sorry state, tuck his tail, and roll away, putting a long-awaited period to this farce.

Facing this mountain-shaking, tsunami-like malice, Su Ming finally raised his head.

The movement was slow, very casual.

That pair of indifferent eyes swept over Zhao Kuo, who was baring his fangs and brandishing his claws below the stage, revealing undisguised, extreme disdain in their depths.

The disdain one would have for a bug.

His tone was lazy, yet sharp and bone-chilling.

"You trash."

These simple four words were captured by the microphone and spread across the entire venue.

"Who the f*** are you talking about?!"

Zhao Kuo was furious, the Lava Earth Fire within him rising uncontrollably.

Su Ming did not give him a chance to continue screaming.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the entire venue, passing over all those mocking, ridiculing, and angry faces, enunciating every word.

The voice was not loud, but through the amplification Source Array, it shook the entire examination hall and resounded in every corner of the live broadcast room.

"Not just you."

Su Ming paused.

"What I said—"

"Everyone here, those who rely on Source Energy and are trapped by talent..."

The curve of his mouth stretched to the limit.

"Are all... trash!"

Under the dome of the alloy martial arts arena, it was as if someone had pressed the mute button.

The comments from the tens of millions of online viewers froze for a full three seconds.

The whole scene, completely, exploded!

(I can provide two more chapters as a bonus for the fans today! Everyone, please enjoy!)