Chapter 306

On the way back to the dormitory, Zhang Yu kept experimenting with various combinations of gravity multipliers.

In the end, he settled on the custom mode.

Since his physical exertion was low during daytime classes, he used a full-body 20x gravity boost, which pushed his body to its limit without causing injury—a mode he called the daytime study mode.

For his work at the construction site, he used a 10x gravity mode, plus 12x, 15x, and 18x on certain stronger body parts, which he called the nighttime work mode.

Zhang Yu understood that as his physical strength increased, he would gradually raise the gravity multipliers, always striving to stay as close to the limit as possible.

…

In the blazing flames, Zhang Yu felt his muscles and tendons gradually degrade under the high temperature, his powerful physique slowly turning to ash.

Under the crushing pressure, he felt his bones and joints shatter inch by inch, his whole body gradually ground into a mess.

Amid the intense agony, he sensed blood flowing from his seven orifices, his organs decaying and withering, as he slowly marched toward death.

In the classroom, Zhang Yu snapped awake, lifted his spirit-world interface mask, and saw in his eye socket that there were still 10 seconds before class started.

Zhang Yu took a deep breath, forcing himself to recover from the mental ordeal just experienced in the spirit world.

By purchasing the monthly spirit-world service at Hammerheart Residence, along with the consciousness acceleration function, Zhang Yu could experience over a dozen deaths during each break.

Under that extreme pressure of death, he could feel his level-20 Crippled-Ox Relinquishing-Heart Mind Technique wildly spinning, tempering his Dao heart again and again.

"Damn it… spending money just to suffer."

Zhang Yu's account balance: 7.3 Spirit Coins.

…

Dao heart, mana, physical strength, spirit root fusion, mana quality…

With the support of Spirit Coins, Zhang Yu could feel his strength surging once more.

He couldn't help but sigh—money really was great.

A month and a half passed in an instant. By the end of October, Zhang Yu's Dao heart had reached level 12 (51.5%), his mana was 379.3, and his physical strength was 12.01.

Furthermore, his spirit root fusion had reached 80%, giving him stronger control over mana and physical power, and increasing the efficiency of body tempering and mana refinement.

His mana quality, after repeatedly digesting high-quality mana, had reached 127%, allowing him to feel that his mana was more durable when using martial arts, and the power of his chi energy had also increased.

With such rapid improvement in his basic stats, Zhang Yu's ranking rose again over this month and a half—from seventh to fourth.

Now only Ying Xin, Gong Shu Jin, and Ji Yuan Shu stood ahead of him.

And with all-around enhancements, along with Zhang Yu gradually revealing a higher-level body-tempering technique, his work efficiency at the construction site naturally improved.

When he returned from the site that day, the Spirit Coins he had earned that night amounted to 0.049.

"0.049 per day, 1.47 per month."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Still too slow. I need to speed up."

Even though his strength was growing rapidly and he was earning more Spirit Coins, Zhang Yu knew he had spent even more during this month and a half.

Now only 2.69 Spirit Coins remained in his account.

"Income and expenses are still unbalanced."

"But I can make it to next month."

"If I take out a loan then, I should be able to last another month or two, right?"

"By then, I should be about ready."

Apart from the improvement in basic stats and the increase in daily wages, Zhang Yu's biggest gain was the Earth-and-Wood Saint Body.

Over the past month and a half, at the construction site he had not only poured concrete but also done rebar tying, formwork filling, and material moving.

During this period, by switching tasks and searching for suitable body-tempering techniques, he had pushed three more techniques required for the Earth-and-Wood Saint Body to level 20.

Along with the previously mastered Earth-Eating Divine Skill, War Demon Life-Sacrifice Technique, and Limitless Shock Zen, he finally gathered six techniques for the Earth-and-Wood Saint Body.

[Initial] Earth-and-Wood Saint Body (6/6): Vastly increased resistance to vibration, dust, poison, noise, pressure, cancer, radiation, pollution, high heat, low temperature, impact, slashing, piercing, and hunger. With a life that tough, you are a born saint for civil engineering—even suicide would take you a very long time.

Looking at the initial effects of the Earth-and-Wood Saint Body, Zhang Yu knew it could offset many side effects of civil engineering techniques, fighting off vibration sickness, pneumoconiosis, radiation sickness, noise-induced deafness, cancer, and the like.

"But... is it just to offset the side effects of the cultivation technique?"

"Although this Saint's Body seemed able to offset various side effects, for Zhang Yu, whose self-healing ability was already powerful, most of its resistances were currently useless. Instead, it would be better for him to continue using the University Saint Body to improve the efficiency of his cultivation practice."

"'Speaking of which, this Elementary Saint Body has so many resistances... Is there really any construction site that dangerous?'"

"Zhang Yu shook his head and swallowed the small piece of rebar that had poked out of his sleeve. With the operation of the Earth Devouring Divine Art and the super-strong digestive power provided by the University Saint Body, it quickly turned into nutrients that strengthened his bones."

"After eating this mouthful, Zhang Yu sighed: 'In this construction site, there are only cement bags to eat; it's really not easy to pick up other materials.'"

"..."

"In the following days, Zhang Yu continued to study hard during the day and work desperately at night. But one night... with a strong tremor, Zhang Yu felt the floor beneath his feet shake slightly."

"Although the tremor came and went quickly, it still surprised Zhang Yu: 'Is this... an earthquake?'"

"A moment later, Zhang Yu saw a reassurance notice in his Eye Shell, saying that a dangerous substance explosion had occurred in the underground layers of the University City, but with rescue measures underway, everything would soon return to normal."

"Just as Zhang Yu thought this was all just an ordinary accident..."

"Half an hour later, all the construction workers on Floor 666 were gathered together."

"The figure of Tulishan appeared in everyone's Eye Shell vision."

"They heard him say: 'Everyone, there is an urgent task that requires gathering personnel.'"

"'An accidental explosion has occurred in the underground layers. Now we need a group of workers to go there and carry out repair work.'"

"'This job is urgent and somewhat dangerous, but we are willing to offer five times the pay. It will last about half a month...'"

"Hearing about the five times pay, some people on site got excited, like Li Xiao, who clenched his fist, a look of eagerness appearing on his face."

"But others frowned and quietly stepped back, like Yingxin, who shook his head and thought to himself: 'The university is not a charity institution.'"

"'Five times pay... what exactly happened down there?'"

"Yuxinghan said hesitantly: 'Zhang Yu, should we go? Five times pay... one day equals five days of work, but giving so much... I feel like this isn't that simple.'"

"Zhang Yu thought for a moment and directly contacted Zhang Pianpian to ask about the situation."

"Zhang Pianpian replied: 'An explosion occurred in the underground pharmaceutical factory. The fire has been extinguished by several teachers working together, but there is considerable damage on site and a large amount of raw material leakage. They should be asking you to go and carry out repair work...'"

"After asking his sister about the situation, Zhang Yu looked at the registration notice that popped up, thought about the resistances brought by his Civil Engineering Saint Body, and finally chose to register."

"He said to Yuxinghan beside him: 'Don't rush to sign up first. Let me go down and check the situation first. If things look wrong, we'll withdraw.'"

"..."

"Twenty minutes later, Zhang Yu followed the direction guidance in his Eye Shell and arrived at the underground level 2 of the Wanfa University City."

"Not far away, he saw the gate broken, twisted, and lying crookedly on the ground."

"Behind it was a large stretch of rubble where the original shape could no longer be seen clearly."

"The figure of Tulishan appeared in the Eye Shells of many workers. They heard him say: 'Everyone, due to the explosion, the spiritual machine pathways inside the pharmaceutical factory are broken, and the formations are temporarily cut off. Once you go in, you will not be able to connect to the Spirit Realm Network.'"

"'So now I will send you the factory blueprints and your respective tasks.'"

"'Everyone, follow the markings on the blueprints and go to your respective target locations to carry out work...'"

"'Although the fire inside the plant area has been extinguished, there is still some danger. Everyone must be careful.'"

"'Also, everything in the pharmaceutical factory is confidential to the university and company. A confidentiality agreement must be signed...'"

"On the other hand, before entering the factory ruins, Zhang Yu had already switched his Chain Illustration to the Civil Engineering Saint Body. Looking at the various resistances on the Civil Engineering Saint Body, a sense of security rose in his heart."

"Next, he looked at the map while stepping into the pharmaceutical factory area. Watching the collapsed factory buildings and smelling the intense charred odor in the air after the fierce burning, he wondered what had exploded that could have such great power."

"Just then, Zhang Yu suddenly stared blankly at a wall, because there was a huge palm print on it."

"As he continued deeper, Zhang Yu discovered that the ruins were filled with palm prints, fist prints, sword marks, and the like."

"Zhang Yu exclaimed in surprise: 'This is an accidental explosion? The hell, someone was fighting here, weren't they?'"

"Fuji said: 'Hehe, it seems it wasn't an accidental explosion. Someone attacked this pharmaceutical factory.'"

"Zhang Yu was shocked: 'Attack? Who attacked this place? Can someone attack the pharmaceutical factory of Wanfa University City?'"

"Fuji: 'Who knows...'"

Just then, with a thunderous explosion, a wave of heat burst out not far away, engulfing several workers.

Zhang Yu watched as those few Qi Refining laborers were rapidly dried of moisture by the high temperature, their skin scorched, finally collapsing heavily injured.

At the same time, thick purple smoke rose from the site of the explosion.

Someone shouted, "The toxic substances from the pharmaceutical plant have leaked!"

Just as some workers were about to flee, a Foundation Establishment cultivator whose height had expanded to five meters snorted coldly and said, "What are you afraid of? Don't move; follow the plan to repair the site."

"As long as we repair the spiritual mechanism circuit and restore the factory area to the formation, the situation will soon be brought under control."

Under his command, the scene quickly stabilized, and Zhang Yu also joined in, beginning to clear the rubble.

Then Zhang Yu quickly discovered that the factory area was practically riddled with dangers everywhere.

Explosions and waves of heat kept occurring, and all kinds of toxic substances were leaking everywhere in the factory area like a pot of chemical soup.

Outside the factory area, Ying Xin thought to herself, "As expected, nothing good."

She had come down out of curiosity to see the situation, and thought, "I wonder if this five-times salary is even enough for medical expenses."

As the high temperature and toxic environment intensified, a large number of Qi Refining workers chose to withdraw first, followed by a small number of Foundation Establishment workers who also chose to give up.

Ying Xin watched Zhang Yu and Li Xiao, who, under these circumstances, were actually rushing in and out, continuously transporting materials and continuing to participate in the repair work. She thought to herself, "Layer one people… really desperate."

"But this is fundamentally gambling."

Ying Xin was dismissive of Zhang Yu and Li Xiao's desperate efforts. In her view, this kind of desperation was too degrading; it was the helplessness of being extremely poor. Anyway, she would definitely not participate in such dangerous work that might end up costing more than it earned.

However, thinking about the recent improvements in Zhang Yu and Li Xiao's rankings, a glimmer of understanding flashed in Ying Xin's eyes.

"In five months, Zhang Yu went from being around tenth to seventh, and now to fourth in the class… only one place behind me."

"It seems he, like Li Xiao, has also spent a lot of money."

"But Li Xiao has been unable to make ends meet for a while now, and is about to be unable to hold on."

Thinking of how Li Xiao had recently made various clumsy excuses to refuse her invitations to cultivate together, Ying Xin shook her head. "Now it seems… Zhang Yu is also about to break, which is why he's working so desperately to earn money."