Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

"The assessment begins."

Hector calmly nodded to one of the technical priests beside him.

A buzzing sound, not belonging to this dimension and filled with malice and madness, suddenly and unexpectedly exploded in the deepest part of the souls of all the trainees!

The long-awaited storm of inner demons has arrived!

That wasn't just noise.

It was a... spiritual tsunami, composed of billions of shattered souls, the dying cries of countless civilizations, and the alluring whispers of ancient beings lurking beyond dimensions!

In an instant, the myriad aspects of human nature were revealed without a doubt!

A young descendant from one of Terra's oldest noble families suddenly saw before his eyes the scene he both longed for and feared most.

He saw that he had successfully passed all the tests and become the Dao Master's most prized disciple.

He held supreme power and returned to the family that had once regarded him as "useless".

He saw that his brothers, who had once despised him, and his elders, who had once ignored him, were kneeling at his feet like the most humble servants, kissing his boots.

He saw countless amounts of money, countless beautiful women, and countless powers and honors that he could never obtain in his entire life, surging towards him like a tide!

A morbid smile, filled with obsession and ecstasy, appeared on his face. His already fragile Dao heart, consumed by desire, offered no resistance whatsoever to this "beautiful dream" tailor-made for him, and he utterly succumbed.

The force field cushion beneath him suddenly became incredibly bright, emitting a piercing alarm that signified "out of control"!

A silver, ghostly figure appeared beside him in an instant. It was a silent nun. Without the slightest hesitation, she extended her hand, clad in a silver power gauntlet, and gently pressed it against the back of the student's neck.

The student's ecstatic smile froze instantly. He felt as if all his bones had been removed, and he collapsed limply to the ground. Then, the silent nun dragged him, like a tattered sack, into the darkness.

The first one is eliminated.

Then, the second, the third...

A student from a family of fanatical believers in the Empire's truth saw before him a "deity" radiating supreme brilliance and imbued with a sense of "holiness" and "order."

The "deity" promised him that if he abandoned the heretical doctrines of the monastery, which were full of "variables" and "ambiguity," and embraced absolute "reason" and "logic" again, he would be granted eternal "truth."

The student struggled.

But in the end, his heart, which had long been imprisoned by dogma, could not resist the temptation from "authority".

He chose to kneel down.

Then, his soul was completely torn apart by the sinister power behind that illusion of "god," a power filled with paradoxes and lies.

Another girl from a war-torn orphanage saw her parents, who had died in a war, before her.

They smiled, opened their arms to her, and called her back to that warm "home" where there was no more pain or separation.

The girl cried.

She reached out, trying to embrace that long-lost warmth. Then, her soul was gently swallowed up by that "love" constructed from Nurgle's "mercy," a love filled with decay and stagnation.

A series of silent yet incredibly brutal battles were simultaneously unfolding in the hearts of every trainee.

However, some people did pull through.

A middle-aged veteran, who was once a centurion in the Imperial Army, witnessed before his eyes the bloodiest urban warfare he had ever participated in.

He saw his most trusted comrade-in-arms right beside him being blown to pieces by an Ork rocket.

He saw himself being overwhelmed by an endless, green tide of enemies, his gun long since exhausted, leaving only a cold bayonet.

Fear and despair, like an invisible giant hand, gripped his throat tightly!

But he did not break down.

He simply closed his eyes slowly.

He remembered the words his mentor had said when imparting the "Rock Solid Mind Method".

"Your bodies are a furnace. Don't be afraid the flames will burn you. All you have to do is stand firm!"

"Roar--!!!"

A roar, suppressed for centuries and filled with iron will and indomitable spirit, erupted from the depths of his throat!

He did not try to escape that bloody hell.

He chose... to charge!

He used the trauma of war, enough to drive any mortal mad, as the most intense "furnace" to forge his Dao heart. He transformed the endless sorrow stemming from the loss of his comrades into the most solid "rock" to protect the long-vanished position behind him!

Although the force field futon beneath him was flashing wildly, the data line representing his mental state remained as resilient as the Terra Mountains standing tall in a storm. Despite the violent fluctuations, its core never wavered in the slightest!

He pulled through.

The viewing platform was already deathly silent.

Those imperial giants who initially thought it was just a farce full of "metaphysics" and "performance" were now speechless, shocked by the "purgatory" scene before them, which was full of the most real human struggles.

What they saw was no longer cold data, no longer empty philosophy.

What they witnessed was a living, breathing soul waging the most tragic and glorious... holy war on the battlefield of their own hearts!

Macado seemed to sense something; there seemed to be some kind of psychic connection between Hector and the so-called "array".

That thing... is it really a "torture space" created on Mars?

Or is that strange name actually the truth?

Finally, as the last grain of sand, representing two Terra time standards, slowly leaked from the timer, the sandalwood incense stick in the center of the training ground, lit by Hector himself and imbued with the meaning of "stillness," also burned out its last wisp of smoke.

The "Hundred Demonic Formations" slowly ceased functioning.

The darkness that had swallowed everything slowly receded like the receding tide. A gentle, vibrant light once again illuminated the scarred yet resilient platform.

Of the nearly one thousand elite disciples who entered the formation, only six hundred and seventeen remain.

A near 40% elimination rate is cruel, yet true.

Hector slowly rose from his seat.

He looked at the survivors, whose faces were all pale and their bodies were soaked in cold sweat, but whose eyes burned with an unprecedented, resilient light like tempered steel, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He knew that the first batch of true "sparks" that he had been waiting for, capable of carrying on his "Tao," had finally been born.

He slowly raised his hand, and his voice, full of authority and certainty, resounded throughout the entire training ground and throughout Terra.

"I declare."

"—From today onwards, you are the newly promoted members of the 'Intercepting Sect Academy'..."

"—A Qi Refiner!"

"I hereby bestow upon you the *Daozang: Refining Qi Scroll*. Practice diligently in its cultivation."

"I will serve the emperor and humanity with utmost loyalty!"

Chapter 199 The Sky-Covering Array

Without leaving any gaps or pauses, Hector's voice suddenly turned serious.

"'Qi Refining' is merely the starting point for Qi Refiners."

"The true path of 'seeking the Tao' is not just about 'guarding,' but also about 'advancing'! Today, the second stage of the great test—'advancing to the foundation'—officially begins here, at this moment!"

As soon as this statement came out, the whole audience was in an uproar!

The giants in the stands were also slightly taken aback. They thought that the Foundation Establishment Tribulation, or rather the sublimation ceremony, would be held in another location. After all, in addition to the Dao Heart Jade Talisman, Hector also needed to prepare an "environment" to help the Tribulation Transcender guide spiritual energy and conceal the brilliance of the soul in the subspace.

All eyes instantly focused on the fifty figures in the front row among the more than six hundred newly recruited Qi cultivators.

They were the first truly "elite" disciples of the Jiejiao Academy.

These are the fifty sparks that were first ignited and burned the brightest in this crucible of ideas.

Most of them were elites who joined the Dao Academy after its expansion. Before entering the Wenxinzhai, they were already well-known spiritual powerhouses throughout the empire, the most dangerous "cargo" on the black warship, and possessed a violent power within them that was enough to turn an asteroid into scorched earth.

Over the past year, they have used the "way of silence" to forcibly transform that self-destructive curse into a sharp sword that they can control.

Their true essence had already reached its peak of perfection under the guidance of the "Daozang·Qi Refining Scroll" and was ready under the guidance of the "Foundation Building Scroll".

Just one last step away, and the fish will leap over the dragon gate and transform into the sea!

Fifty figures slowly rose to their feet under the watchful eyes of the crowd. With steady steps, they stepped out from the crowd and sat cross-legged in the center of the white sand, forming a circular array full of profound meaning.

Hector ignored the turmoil outside. He simply walked calmly to the fifty disciples who were about to face their fateful test.

Behind her, Karen held a tray made of the simplest sandalwood.

On the tray lay fifty "Standard Dao Heart Jade Talismans," freshly made from the production line of the "Silent Cellar."

Each jade talisman is warm and smooth, as if imbued with life, radiating a calming, moon-white halo. The black and white Tai Chi symbol on it flows slowly under the simulated heavenly light, seemingly containing the most primal "harmony" and "balance" of the universe.

“This item is called the ‘Jade Talisman of the Dao Heart’,” Hector’s voice carried a hint of solemnity. “It is the crystallization of the wisdom of my ‘Intercepting Sect’s Dao Academy’ and the sage Alkan of Mars. It cannot fight against your inner demons for you, nor can it bear the heavenly tribulation for you. It is merely an ‘anchor point’.”

"One that can hold onto that last bit of clarity of mind for you in this impending storm that is enough to tear your souls apart."

He personally distributed jade talismans to each disciple and whispered instructions on the key to calming the mind to them.

After distributing all the jade tokens, Hector gave no further instructions.

He simply raised his head slowly and looked up at the eternal blue sky of the training ground, simulated by ancient technology.

Then, he took one step forward.

Those were not the footsteps of ordinary people.

That step seemed to have stepped on some invisible string of laws that connected to the pulse of heaven and earth!

His figure, without the slightest energy fluctuation, rose slowly into the air like a falling feather, defying all the laws of gravity!

The entire training ground fell into a deathly silence in an instant!

Everyone's attention was completely drawn to the godlike figure suspended in mid-air!

"Regardless of whether you can advance to the Foundation Establishment stage or not."

Hector's voice slowly drifted down from the heavens, like the most fundamental law of the universe making its most majestic declaration in this small space.

"Today, I will show you all what the goal of your cultivation after Foundation Establishment is: the 'Golden Core'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his simple gray monk's robe fluttered and rustled even without wind!

A massive surge of spiritual energy, enough to make all the imperial giants present tremble, a golden core power purely constructed of "order" and "harmony," erupted from his body like an awakened primordial dragon!

With Hector's own Golden Core Universe at its core, a peculiar "force" was quietly taking shape, subtly stirring the primordial power belonging to the planet Terra!

"Boom—Rumble—Rumble—"

The entire performance hall, and even the entire Wenxinzhai, began to tremble violently!

On the viewing platform, Makado's ancient eyes were filled with surprise and astonishment.

Waldo, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard, instinctively gripped the Guardian Spear in his hand, a spear powerful enough to slay gods and demons.

They could clearly feel a vast and boundless torrent of energy, drawn from the deepest core of Terra by an invisible will, rushing towards this small sky garden like surging underground magma!

Hector hovered in mid-air, slowly raising his hands as if he were holding up the entire world.

He spoke softly, as if issuing a decree of creation.

In an instant, centered on him, with the fifty disciples about to undergo tribulation as the nodes, and with the entire Wenxinzhai's earth veins as the foundation—

A massive array, invisible to the naked eye yet undeniably real, covering the entire area, suddenly took shape!

That was not any known energy shield.

That is a more ancient and more fundamental "law"!

At that moment, all the spectators felt their "connection" with the outside world being gently but ruthlessly severed by an invisible yet unstoppable force!

"This formation is called 'Covering the Sky'."

Hector's voice rang out again, providing a "scientific" explanation for the imperial giants whose minds had long been paralyzed by the "miracle" before them.

"It is a 'Wide-Area Geller Field Resonance Technology' that my 'Intercepting Sect Academy' and the Martian sage Alkan have jointly developed over the past year, based on reverse engineering research of the dark technology creation 'Area of ​​No Light'. Its core is not 'defense', but 'concealment'."

"The simultaneous breakthrough of fifty powerful Qi cultivators, the moment they completed the first stage of the Small Heavenly Circuit, the 'ripples' caused by their soul light in the subspace were enough to attract all the hungry subspace 'predators' from several star fields."

"And this formation can temporarily 'hide' the light of their souls from the long river of 'fate,' securing for them the most precious light, free from any external interference..."

"—'Sublimation' time."