Chapter 349: A Zhen's Future, Finals Approaching, Mentor Selection

Faced with Le Mulan's attitude of seizing the time, Zhang Yu nodded to show his approval.

After all, college students, especially those from Wanfa University, are indeed pressed for time and need to make good use of every moment.

With a single palm strike, he pressed his palm against Le Mulan’s back, and a stream of icy-cold magical power was injected into her body.

Since it came from the same Deep Frost Vein, Le Mulan found it increasingly easy to absorb Zhang Yu’s magical power.

But the chill from their combined magical power quickly accumulated, causing a visible layer of blue-purple to appear on Le Mulan’s face.

Zhang Yu understood that if this continued, the training session wouldn’t last much longer before it had to end.

Otherwise, forcing it further would severely frostbite her, and after paying for medical treatment and resting, her progress in the immortal path would take a huge step back.

How could Zhang Yu, who still expected Le Mulan to unlock the second level of the Deep Frost Vein, accept such an outcome?

So, feeling her body temperature dropping rapidly, Zhang Yu had no choice but to activate his qi and blood, pressing a palm radiating intense heat against her other side.

“Zhang Yu, don’t just rub my back—the rest of me is freezing too.”

Feeling her trembling body leaning against him, Zhang Yu could only change positions to better raise her temperature.

At that moment, he felt as if he were holding a soft mass of snow, icy yet smooth and slippery.

Suddenly, he frowned and said, “Don’t wiggle or rub against me, or I’ll stop touching you.”

Le Mulan immediately stopped swaying her waist, nodded obediently, and said through chattering blue-purple lips, “Mm.”

Outside the door, Xuange was quietly listening to the commotion inside the dormitory.

On ordinary days, his impression of Le Mulan was that she was always cold and aloof, ignoring the classmates around her, with a rather unsociable personality.

Especially after she became a Foundation Establishment elder, the attitudes of her classmates toward her immediately changed—mere Qi Refining juniors all started thinking about dual cultivation.

In response, Le Mulan became even more distant, pushing people away.

Xuange often saw her treat classmates as if they were air, as if she couldn’t hear or see the Qi Refining kids.

But now, eavesdropping outside the door, Xuange felt he had discovered another side of Le Mulan.

“Dual cultivation really molds a person,” Xuange sighed. “Classmate Le Mulan has been forged into having two faces.”

…

In the following days, Zhang Yu continued his repeated attempts at the union of soul and flesh.

That day, as he opened his eyes in the spiritual realm, he once again recalled his identity this time.

Zhang Yu was an experimental subject raised in a laboratory.

From a young age, he had practiced the Broken Ox Sacrifice Mind Technique, just to increase his endurance so the lab could collect more data.

But on the very first day of his official work, he found that the lab staff hadn’t arrived.

Instead, a group of people he had never seen before, wearing uniforms, opened one cage after another and released all the experimental subjects.

“Because the lab illegally had underage experimental subjects practice the immortal path, all responsible personnel have been arrested.”

“Next, your fate will be decided based on your cultivation level…”

Because Zhang Yu’s cultivation was too low, he was protected by the Mortal Protection Law, released from the lab, and granted freedom.

Completely ignorant of the world, Zhang Yu wandered aimlessly through society. Possessing nothing… the only thing he had was the Broken Ox Sacrifice Mind Technique imprinted in his mind.

Stealing things, snatching food, working illegal jobs… He practiced the mind technique over and over until one day he could keep it running even while sleeping, allowing him to sleep peacefully without fear of cold or pain.

But the very next moment, the entire world suddenly froze.

Zhang Yu looked up in bewilderment and saw two figures walking toward him, radiating boundless divine power.

“High-intelligence artifact spirits achieving union of soul and flesh—it looks like that’s no longer a problem. Now we just wait for the formal experiment in the material realm.”

“Let’s retrieve him first. Don’t let him escape into the spiritual network.”

“As for the formal experiment in the material realm, heh… if we can’t lower the cost of high-intelligence artifact spirits, no amount of talk will help.”

“We can only blame those soul cultivators for being too cheap—much more useful than any artifact spirit.”

…

Zhang Yu took off the Spirit Interface Mask again and thought to himself, "This time it feels like a high-level tool spirit breakthrough, doesn't it?"

"Why does it seem like this high-intelligence tool spirit breaks through much more easily than a person?"

He shook his head, striving to grasp the lingering sensation in his mind.

Time came to that evening, and Zhang Yu initiated a communication with Bai Zhenzhen as usual.

"Yu," Bai Zhenzhen said with a grin, looking at Zhang Yu. "I've got good news—I'm coming to Wanfa University next semester."

Zhang Yu's eyes lit up with surprise. "Really? You have time to come?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Mm, I'm participating in the University Flying Sword Competition next semester."

"This year's Flying Sword Competition is being held at Wanfa University."

Bai Zhenzhen's projection walked over, leaned close to Zhang Yu, and beamed. "Then we, mother and son, can finally meet again."

After happily ending the call with Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen grew even more eager for the Flying Sword Competition to arrive.

…

The next day, Zhang Yu logged into Hammer Heart Residence again.

Opening his eyes this time, he looked at the many Qi Refining cultivators in long robes before him, knowing he was leading them to demand their wages.

He took a casket from his sleeve, opened it, and revealed several golden pills inside.

"After the Divine Thunder Sect split during the sect war, the weapons of its army spread everywhere. These are the Taiyi Heaven-Shaking Thunderclaps among them."

"Those Daoist officials sent by the Ten Thousand Laws Sect impose crushing levies on us. Only with these Heavenly Thunders can we save face, can we blast out all the bitterness in our hearts."

"Everyone chip in, and I'll find you a supply source. As long as you have enough spirit stones, what magic treasure can't you buy?"

Urged on by Zhang Yu, various magic treasures and flying swords that had circulated from the army were equipped into everyone's hands.

One Taiyi Heaven-Shaking Thunderclap killed the Daoist official in the government office, and a great battle erupted.

Zhang Yu fell to the ground in the first wave of fighting.

After a long while, he ended his feigned death state, abruptly opened his eyes, and secretly slipped away from the battlefield.

Zhang Yu found his superior and reported, "Mission accomplished. Where's the next job?"

Zhang Yu was a weapon merchant, traveling through the territories of various sects. Where there was war or rebellion, he directly sold weapons.

If there was no war, he relied on his outstanding ability to incite uprisings and wars, freely selling the cultivation methods, magic treasures, and flying swords that had leaked from various armies.

His motto was: What the enemy opposes, we support; what the enemy supports, we take a thirty percent cut.

And in this era, before the network was born and the system of orthodox gods was not yet developed, his business thrived.

There were many people like him; everywhere in the world there were great wars and uprisings.

But Zhang Yu understood that behind all wars and all uprisings were merely the wills of immortals.

Later, when the immortals decided to cease war, the regulations for military-grade power were born, and Zhang Yu felt it was increasingly difficult to make money and that he himself was growing more dangerous.

Finally, during moments of anxious rest and sleep, he unknowingly pushed his mental method to the realm of unity of spirit and flesh.

…

Zhang Yu took off the Spirit Interface Mask, recalling the scenes of charging at sect Daoist officials, and felt the mental method in his mind stirring more and more.

"Seems like I've made a bit more progress."

And recalling the experiences within the simulation, Zhang Yu had only one sentiment: "Immortals don't care about uprisings or rebellions."

"Even the uprisings themselves were created by them, and the data from wars can be sold."

In the following days, Zhang Yu continued his daily journey of unity of spirit and flesh.

Although after each session he could feel improvement, and the white ox visualized in his mind grew more vivid, as if about to come alive, he felt he was getting closer to unity of spirit and flesh, yet always seemed to be missing just a little bit.

Just that little bit.

…

Time flew to August.

There was less than a month left until the final exam.

It was on this day that a righteous god suddenly contacted Zhang Yu, asking him whether he had chosen his advisor, as the end-of-year deadline was approaching.

Zhang Yu was naturally prepared for this.

After the high school foundation-building exam at the first level, as the winner, he had the right to designate an advisor at the university.

The advisor during the university years represented the faction the student would belong to in the university, affecting the student's entire development path through undergraduate, master's, and doctoral studies.

Zhang Yu was naturally very cautious about this, especially since he wanted to switch to the Artifact Refining Department, making the choice of teacher even more important.

He had also consulted Zhang Pianpian about this.

Zhang Pianpian told him, "If your goal is to transfer to the Artifact Refining Department in your junior year, then of course, the stronger the advisor, the better."

"Although the Artifact Refining Department and the Civil Engineering Department have a decent relationship, if you want to successfully transfer after breaking into the top 20 of the whole department, a strong advisor can reduce a lot of trouble."

"But the stronger the advisor, the higher the demands on the student. The Artifact Refining Department is a flagship major, so the strong advisors there have even higher requirements."

"Plus, with your situation of transferring from the Civil Engineering Department..."

"At first, they have to accept you as a student due to the rules, but they probably won't give you a warm welcome."

"The worst-case scenario when choosing an advisor is picking one who won't cooperate. If the other party is unwilling to teach you, even if they accept you as a student, it's meaningless—instead, it just makes you lose the opportunity to receive genuine guidance from an advisor."

"I think if you want to switch departments, you should take it slow—wait until after you graduate from Civil Engineering and switch during the graduate entrance exam."

Zhang Yu knew what Zhang Pianpian said was very correct; in terms of transfer success rate, the graduate exam clearly had the highest success rate.

But he knew that under the pressure of the evil god ritual, he had to enter the Ten Great Sects, and he had to enter before the Ten Great Sects completely closed their passages—the sooner the better.

He needed to transfer to the Artifact Refining Department as early as possible, take the graduate exam as early as possible, and find a way into the Ten Great Sects as early as possible.

So, with Zhang Yu's insistence, Zhang Pianpian also helped gather information, and they finally decided to choose the Artifact Refining Department's Magnetic Pole True Lord as his advisor.

This was a Nascent Soul realm deputy director, and also someone who would likely become the director in charge of the Artifact Refining Department in the future.

It could be said that this was one of the most promising teachers in the Artifact Refining Department. With their support, as long as Zhang Yu's grades were sufficient, the transfer would not be a problem at all.

But such a big figure in the Artifact Refining Department naturally wouldn't care about a Civil Engineering student like Zhang Yu. If he were directly assigned through the righteous god, the Magnetic Pole True Lord would likely accept Zhang Yu in name only, leaving Zhang Yu in a situation where having an advisor was the same as having none.

But fortunately, Zhang Yu also found a good friend to lend a hand.

A message appeared in his eye socket display.

Deng Bingding: Zhang Yu, long time no see.

Through the merits gained at the first level, Deng Bingding smoothly reached the second level and obtained a brand-new position within the territory of Wanfa University.

After arriving at the second level for a while, Deng Bingding remained low-key for a period, observing and listening more while speaking less, constantly gathering information and confirming the situation. During this process, she became more certain of some guesses she had held in the past.

"Behind Zhang Pianpian might be a great god-level figure from the Ministry of All People."

"Zhang Yu should also belong to this faction, which is why he was assigned to break up the Phantom Nether Palace's actions at the first level."

"These two people are worth helping."

So, with Deng Bingding's help, Zhang Yu finally managed to add the Magnetic Pole True Lord as a friend through the spirit world network before officially designating an advisor.

Zhang Yu: Teacher, I don't know if Deng the Wandering God has told you about my situation.

Zhang Yu: I want to transfer to the Artifact Refining Department in my junior year, so I'd like to become your disciple.

After waiting for a long time, just as Zhang Yu thought the other party might not want to acknowledge him, the Magnetic Pole True Lord finally replied with an "Mm."

After waiting half a day with no further message coming through, Zhang Yu had no choice but to follow Fuji's advice and, with a pained heart, sent a red packet of 0.1 spirit coins.

The red packet was accepted instantly, and the Magnetic Pole True Lord's reply followed: I do not recommend you do this.

Zhang Yu had no choice but to call on Deng Bingding again.

This righteous god pulled the two of them into a group chat and said: I have a proposal.

Next, Deng Bingding laid out a plan that had been discussed with Zhang Yu earlier.

Deng Bingding: Director, I know the requirements for transferring into the Artifact Refining Department are very high, and I also know your own standards are even higher.

Deng Bingding: However, this kid Zhang Yu really does have talent.

Deng Bingding: How about this: after you assign a supervisor, you don't need to announce it publicly. No one will know he's your student. You just need to give him a little guidance.

Deng Bingding: If by his junior year he barely meets your standards, then he'll be your student.

Deng Bingding: If he doesn't meet your requirements by then, it'll be as if none of this ever happened.

Seeing that the other party still hadn't responded for a long time, Deng Bingding tapped Zhang Yu in the group chat.

Zhang Yu had no choice but to send another red envelope worth 0.1 spirit coins.

Lord Magnetic Pole: Interesting.

Lord Magnetic Pole: How about this: by the time you're a junior, if you can not only enter the top 20 of the Civil Engineering Department but also finish the first three years of the Tool Refining Department's curriculum and pass that department's junior-year final exam, then I'll acknowledge you as my student.

Zhang Yu's eyes lit up. As long as there were requirements and standards, things became much easier for him.

So, with Deng Bingding's help, Lord Magnetic Pole was temporarily designated as Zhang Yu's supervisor. However, Zhang Yu had never even met this supervisor face-to-face, and aside from the few of them, no one else at the university knew about it.

After the matter was settled, Zhang Yu thanked Deng Bingding again.

Deng Bingding declined Zhang Yu's red envelope and said with a smile, "For me, it was just a few words—a simple favor."

"Zhang Yu, keep up the good work."

"I'm sure you'll get into the Tool Refining Department and become Lord Magnetic Pole's disciple."

After temporarily securing a teacher, Zhang Yu continued to devote his energy to studying, cultivation, and part-time work.

As time passed and the final exam drew closer, Zhang Yu finally mastered the last layer of the Qi Meridian Eternal Flow.

Yu Xinghan's Three-Eye Divine Power also finally advanced to Level 2.

The state of Unity of Spirit and Flesh finally appeared before Zhang Yu, revealing more mysteries of the Residual Ox Body-Mind Technique.