86: Chapter 86 An Unbelievable Opportunity!

"Two: Repay resentment with uprightness, repay uprightness with righteousness."

"Repaying resentment with uprightness means a life for a life. This is common sense. If the victim seeks fairness, the authorities should act like a scale—impartial and unbiased, returning justice without adding or subtracting anything."

There was nothing to say about this point. It was the standard answer.

"Three: Repay resentment with resentment, repay resentment with the law."

"Using violence to control violence leads to an endless cycle of vengeance. If a victim falls into a frenzy of revenge and wishes to exact private punishment, then the law must bare its fangs. At this moment, the law is not for punishing evil, but for stopping losses. It must forcefully break the chain of hatred to prevent private lynching from running rampant in the city."

The last line was a summary.

"The Dao of governance lies not in the swiftness of killing, but in the balance of the heart."

Zhou Tianhao read these three points from beginning to end once more.

He discovered something.

The standard answer was "One ruler measures everyone." Zhou Yun's answer was "One ruler cannot measure everyone."

The standard answer sought the uniformity of the law.

Zhou Yun sought the balance of the human heart.

Two directions, two types of logic—from the root, they were not the same thing at all.

Then he saw the grader's comments.

The force of the red pen was heavier than on the previous two questions; the strokes were crooked, carrying obvious emotion.

"Absurd to the extreme! How can the law vary from person to person? Treating the majesty of the law as child's play, engaging in subjective idealism! Once this logic of 'paying money to buy peace' is implemented, it will inevitably lead to social and ethical chaos; if the punishment is unknowable, its authority cannot be measured! 0 points!"

Another zero.

Zhou Tianhao did not speak. He flipped to the fourth question. A red cross. Zero points. The fifth question. A red cross. Zero points.

The sixth question. A red cross. Zero points. The comment wrote "Incomprehensible."

For almost every question, Zhou Yun's answer was completely different from the standard answer.

He understood.

He understood why Zhou Yun's college entrance exam score was so low.

Strategy and Theory, the most important subject in the college entrance exam.

The exam duration was 6 hours, with a total score of 450 points!

But Zhou Yun scored zero on Strategy and Theory!

Yet, this wasn't because he didn't know the standard answer.

He clearly knew it.

But he just refused to write it!

Zhou Tianhao turned the pages one by one.

He looked at this long test paper for a long time.

So long that the tea had gone cold, Zhou Tiancheng got up to refill the pot, and when he returned, he was still looking at it.

Finally, he gently placed the test paper back on the table.

Then he left.

Zhou Tiancheng's attitude was already very clear.

He couldn't help.

Since that was the case, there was no point in staying any longer.

Zhou Tianhao walked to the door, pulled it open, and the night wind rushed into his face. He walked out of the villa and headed out along the stone path in front of the door.

After walking a dozen steps, he suddenly stopped.

He looked up.

The night sky was very clean; a few white clouds slowly slid past the edge of the moon, edged with a layer of silver by the moonlight.

He watched those clouds for a long time.

As he watched, a smile emerged on his face.

It was not a bitter smile, nor was it relief.

It was something very complex—pride and heartache mixed together, bitterness and relief twisted into one, all finally welling up into his eye sockets.

His eyes reddened.

"Ah Zhu..."

He said softly, his voice trembling, as if he were speaking to the clouds in the sky.

"Do you see it?"

"Little Yun, he..."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"He is exactly like you!"

The sixth day, early morning.

The Flower City parade ground was full of people.

More than forty thousand Professionals were lined up neatly in the center of the parade ground, facing the high platform.

On the high platform, Lei Lie radiated Silver Rank Dou Qi, holding the Green Wood Art in his hand, his voice like a booming bell:

"By the grace of Zhou Yun, the 'Green Wood Art' is being promoted publicly! From today on, all Professionals in the city may Cultivate this Cultivation Technique!"

He unfolded the Green Wood Art, circulated his Dou Qi, and began to demonstrate it move by move.

Cyan Spiritual Qi flowed along his Meridians, outlining a clear circulation path in the morning light.

He had been studying this Cultivation Technique for several days, had thoroughly understood it from beginning to end, and knew every key point and every node prone to error by heart.

Today was the first day of the official promotion, and he taught extremely earnestly, slowing down every movement by three times to ensure that the people in the last row could also see clearly.

More than forty thousand people below the platform practiced along with him.

With so many people, if they were ordinary people, those in the distance would never be able to see Lei Lie's movements clearly.

But because everyone was a Professional, this problem did not exist.

Old Dao and his five hundred men were mixed in the crowd.

After following along the first time, Old Dao's hands were trembling.

Not from exhaustion.

But from being scared.

"Green Wood Art."

Based on his actual experience, it was definitely a Bronze Rank Cultivation Technique!

Because it was clearly one tier stronger in effect than the Black Iron Rank Cultivation Technique he Cultivated!

And what was a Cultivation Technique?

No matter where it was, it was a core secret!

Among Wang Shuai's more than one thousand Professionals, fewer than ten had Cultivated a Cultivation Technique!

Even Professionals in the same city would not easily leak their Cultivation Technique to each other!

Unless the relationship was extremely close!

So, where would a City Lord ever distribute a Cultivation Technique to everyone?

Flower City would.

No money needed.

No oath of loyalty needed.

No confidentiality agreement to sign.

As long as you were a Professional of Flower City, you just had to stand on the parade ground and practice along!

This simply shattered his inherent perception into pieces!

Old Dao's subordinates were in a similar state.

At first, they thought the so-called "Cultivation Technique" was just fooling people.

But as soon as they practiced along a little, they immediately knew its true value.

Therefore, they learned extremely earnestly afterwards!

They were terrified of missing even half a movement or half a word!

For Professionals like them who had no Cultivation Technique, this was simply a huge Opportunity!

Finally, having learned the Cultivation Technique, they looked around with surging emotions.

To the left was a blacksmith from Flower City, to the right was a mason from Flower City; everyone was earnestly gesturing and muttering to themselves.

Unlike them, these Flower City people didn't seem to think there was anything special about this.

It was just like receiving meat, just like eating Spiritual rice, just like moving stones to earn wages.

In Flower City, good things were not hidden or tucked away; they were brought out and distributed.

Old Dao took a deep breath, suppressed all those messy thoughts, and honestly finished practicing the entire set.

The moment he finished, a warm Spiritual Qi rose from his Dantian, flowing through his entire body along the path guided by the "Green Wood Art."

The stagnant turbid Qi in his Meridians was washed away, and his limbs and bones felt as clear as if they had been soaked in warm water.

His strength—had increased again.

It increased once from eating Gold Rank Demonic Beast meat, once from moving stones, and now it increased again from practicing the Cultivation Technique.

In the three days he had been in Flower City, his strength had increased more than it had in half a year in Qing City!

After the five hundred men dispersed, a few people gathered around Old Dao, their faces filled with undisguised excitement.

"Boss! This Cultivation Technique is really good stuff! I feel like I'm about to have a Breakthrough!"

"Me too! My Meridians are more than a circle wider than yesterday!"

"Haha! Coming out this time was really the right choice!"

"Yeah! Who would have thought that we didn't complete the mission, but unexpectedly learned a Cultivation Technique?!"