Chapter 408: Temptation of the Refining Department

Inside the bedroom.

Le Mulan reminded, "Wait, I haven't squeezed it all out yet."

Zhang Yu said, "That should be enough."

Le Mulan: "No, every drop is money. I have to squeeze it dry."

Zhang Yu asked, "Is it okay now?"

Le Mulan said, "Let me try squeezing a bit more."

As Le Mulan exerted a slight force, several more streams of blood shot out from her fingertips and injected into Zhang Yu's mouth.

Only then did Le Mulan nod: "The medicine should all be out now. How do you feel?"

Zhang Yu smacked his lips and said, "Not bad. It feels like the medicinal properties are gentler than before."

Ever since Le Mulan started learning self-produced medicine techniques, she began producing medicine inside her own body.

From then on, Le Mulan's blood, sweat, saliva, and even her magical power gradually carried traces of the newly produced medicinal power.

Especially after Zhang Yu started cultivating using the Blazing Sun Dharma Pulse together with Le Mulan's Deep Freeze Dharma Pulse, the medicinal power contained in Le Mulan's body underwent all sorts of mysterious changes.

During this period, Le Mulan began experimenting with the generation of various medicines inside her body.

And Zhang Yu, relying on his powerful physique and capacity for carrying medicine, became Le Mulan's best test subject.

Of course, Zhang Yu definitely wasn't losing out, since Le Mulan spent a lot of money buying raw materials for each batch of medicine, and most of the finished product ended up in his stomach.

Just as Zhang Yu was testing the medicine, a message from Yu Xinghan appeared in his eye socket.

Yu Xinghan: Someone offered 3 spirit coins to cultivate together

Yu Xinghan: Are you taking it?

Zhang Yu had to admit that when he heard the number 3 spirit coins, he felt a moment of temptation.

But soon, that hint of temptation was replaced by anger.

"Zhang Yu, oh Zhang Yu, how have you been twisted this much by Kunxu?"

"Not everything can be sold for money."

Zhang Yu: Don't ask, I'm not selling for any amount of spirit coins

Yu Xinghan: Got it, at least 50 spirit coins, right?

Zhang Yu: Are you fucking kidding me? Can't you understand human speech? I'm not selling for any amount of spirit coins

Yu Xinghan really couldn't understand, because he simply couldn't imagine anything that wouldn't be sold for any amount of spirit coins. Was there really anything that expensive in this world?

Turning to look at the group chat, Yu Xinghan decided to first promote the massage service on his own platform.

At the construction site on the 668th floor.

With the completion of the construction on the 667th floor, the entire Wanfa University City had reached the 668th floor.

Zhang Yu's Earth-Suppressing Seal floated in midair, releasing an invisible force field.

Wherever the force field passed, large swaths of ground were shaken and leveled.

And the billowing dust that originally rose into the sky was layered and frozen in place within the invisible force field, as if suspended in midair.

At the same time, Mo Tianyi's voice came from the Earth-Suppressing Seal: What a powerful artifact

Mo Tianyi: Zhang Yu, you're really rich now. Can you even afford a level 20 artifact?

Zhang Yu smiled faintly: "It's okay."

"How is it? Can you control it?"

Mo Tianyi: No problem.

Mo Tianyi: Zhang Yu, don't worry. Since you gave me the chance to be your artifact spirit, even if I have to exhaust my spirit world calculation pool, I won't embarrass you.

Zhang Yu said, "No, no, no. There's no need to risk your life. If you risk your life, how will we make money?"

Mo Tianyi: You're right. As Soul Cultivators, we have no lives left to gamble—the more we risk, the more we lose.

Meanwhile, the Azure Cloud-Gathering Cloak floated in midair, pouring Azure Sand into the Formless Colossus.

Zhao Tianxing thought to himself: "Did Zhang Yu hand over the level 20 Earth-Suppressing Seal to Old Mo to operate?"

"As expected, in Zhang Yu's eyes, I'm ultimately still a latecomer, not as good as a true Soul Cultivator, right?"

Originally, Zhao Tianxing had been very excited and proud to become the artifact spirit of the Azure Cloud-Gathering Cloak.

But now, seeing Mo Tianyi manipulating the level 20 Earth-Suppressing Seal, he suddenly felt that his own control of the Azure Cloud-Gathering Cloak looked rather shabby.

Just then, Zhang Yu reached out and tossed the level 20 Earthly Sha Bottle.

"Old Zhao, try this."

Zhao Tianxing said happily: "Got it."

The Earthly Sha Bottle gave a slight swirl, drawing in all the flying sand and dust, then refined it all into concrete, pouring it into the target position nearby.

Zhang Yu thought: "With Old Zhao and Old Mo as the artifact spirits of the Earthly Sha Bottle and Earth-Suppressing Seal, I can focus on controlling the Supreme Unity Golden Liquid Pill and the Formless Colossus, with just a bit of oversight on the Azure Cloud-Gathering Cloak."

With the sophomore year's final exams approaching, Zhang Yu's mind was not on them—because he was fully confident in his exams and had no worries.

"For the final exams, as long as I continue to take first place in my class, I'll be able to cultivate the third of the Seven Ultimate Civil Engineering Techniques and master the Small Three Harmonies."

"Then, in October, it'll be time for the Military Certificate exam."

"With my current accumulation, after mastering the Small Three Harmonies, will that be enough to earn the Military Certificate?"

Zhang Yu turned his head to look at Yu Shu. Approaching his junior year, his strength was formidable. In terms of basic stats alone, aside from reaching the Qi Condensation limits of level 20 physical strength and 1,000 units of mana…

His Dao Heart had also reached level 19 (55.3%), and before the Military Certificate exam, it would certainly reach level 20.

Moreover, his mana quality had been steadily climbing, now reaching a full 195%, just the last 5% away from the Qi Condensation limit. His Qi conductivity rate had reached 99%, and the maximum distance for Qi transmission had reached 100 meters, both already at the Qi Condensation limit.

Beyond his basic stats, there was also Zhang Yu's unique progress—the progress of the Green Lotus Sword Embryo.

"The Green Lotus Sword Embryo's enhancement effect on the Chain Diagram set lies in subtle, gradual adjustments, related to my usual distribution of time using various sets."

Through repeated testing on his own, Zhang Yu had formed a mental estimate of the Green Lotus Sword Embryo's data for preserving Chain Diagram effects in its normal state.

"I used the Great Learning Saint Body and Civil Engineering Saint Body the most in the first half of this year; the Green Lotus Sword Embryo can now preserve nearly 9% of their effects."

"Although the Martial Dao Saint Body was completed last, I've used it quite a bit these past few months; the Green Lotus Sword Embryo can now preserve 5% of its effects."

"The Qi Pulse Eternal Flow set is only used when recovering mana; the total usage time should be the shortest. The Green Lotus Sword Embryo can only preserve 4% of its effect."

Zhang Yu clenched his fist, looking at the Formless Cloud Qi that gathered and scattered at will in his palm, and thought: "Right now… I'm strong."

After confirming his strength once again, Zhang Yu thought: "I must obtain the Military Certificate."

His confidence grew stronger and more grounded with each boost and confirmation of his power.

However, the first assessment Zhang Yu faced was neither the final exams nor anything related to the Military Certificate—it was the artifact-refining assessment of the Magnetic Pole True Lord.

…

Inside the Artifact Refining Lab.

Ye Xingli was grading Zhang Yu's exam paper.

The exam paper comprised the final exam questions for all courses in the third year of the Artifact Refining Department this year. The Magnetic Pole True Lord had taken them out and given them to Zhang Yu to complete, with Ye Xingli to grade.

And the more Ye Xingli graded, the more astonished she became.

"Zhang Yu is studying in the Civil Engineering Department while also covering the first three years' curriculum of the Artifact Refining Department?"

"Could Master be planning to have him transfer departments in his junior year?"

"This…" Ye Xingli seemed to foresee a series of unfortunate future scenes. "Director Gao will go crazy."

Thinking this, Ye Xingli almost hoped Zhang Yu would do poorly on the exam.

But contrary to her wishes, the more she graded, the more she realized that Zhang Yu's mastery of the first three years' Artifact Refining curriculum had already surpassed most third-year students.

"He must have spent a lot on spiritual realm acceleration, divine mind splitting, and memory enhancement…"

Ye Xingli thought: "Now, the remaining test will be his practical hands-on ability."

She understood in her heart—theory is theory, technique is technique—and naturally the Artifact Refining Department valued most the students' actual refining ability.

The content of the junior year final exams naturally also included various tasks such as material extraction, rune carving, and magical artifact forging.

Tonight, this laboratory had been reserved by Magnetic Pole True Lord for the whole evening, and Ye Xingli would supervise Zhang Yu as he completed each item of the final exam.

She watched Zhang Yu effortlessly quench and refine materials, skillfully throwing each raw material into the true-fire furnace and injecting his mana to control the true fire within.

She watched Zhang Yu, accompanied by several Formless Warriors, surround the refined materials and construct mana circuits from various angles, displaying wave after wave of delicate operations.

The more Ye Xingli watched, the more astonished she became in her heart.

"It’s only been about half a year since I last saw Zhang Yu refining artifacts, right?"

"He has already improved this much?"

"This guy’s artifact refining talent… was it actually far stronger than I expected?"

For the last exam, he had to choose one item from among many magical artifacts or Dharma Remains projects to forge.

Originally, the materials should have been prepared by the student themselves.

But this time, Magnetic Pole True Lord took the initiative to provide the materials, which were handed over to Zhang Yu for forging.

The magical artifact to be forged was, naturally, something both sides had agreed upon long ago, and Zhang Yu had also mastered the relevant refining techniques not long before.

Looking at the materials in his hands, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Magnetic Pole True Lord is really generous."

Ye Xingli thought to herself, "Ah, Master truly values Zhang Yu a lot."

When Ye Xingli saw Zhang Yu successfully forge the materials into a Level 20 Golden Filigree Jade Bi, she couldn't help but sigh, "Master’s vision is indeed flawless."

"I just didn’t see it—this Zhang Yu is actually such a prodigy in artifact refining."

"If he transfers into the Artifact Refining Department in the future, given time, it probably won’t be hard for him to enter the top ten of the department."

Zhang Yu, looking at the Golden Filigree Jade Bi he had just forged, asked, "Then this jade bi…"

Ye Xingli said calmly, "Master will pay you a processing fee of 3 Spirit Coins."

Zhang Yu felt a little disappointed inside, but getting a processing fee still seemed pretty good to him, after all, the material costs and venue fees were covered by the other side.

…

Magnetic Pole True Lord: Didn’t you say your disciple’s physical strength is already Level 20 and the Yin-Yang Bracelet is useless now?

Magnetic Pole True Lord: Golden Filigree Jade Bi.image

Director Gao: You want to sell it to me? My funds are a bit tight lately.

Magnetic Pole True Lord: I’ll sell it to you at material cost.

Magnetic Pole True Lord: After all, we’ve known each other for so many years.

Director Gao: Magnetic Pole, you’re so good to me.

…

Inside the dormitory.

Looking at the Golden Filigree Jade Bi that Director Gao had sent over, Zhang Yu said uncertainly, "This is… the one I forged?"

"Is this the reward Magnetic Pole True Lord mentioned—if I passed my sophomore year final, he would give me this?"

Fuki said, "Zhang Yu, Magnetic Pole True Lord really is from the Artifact Refining Department. Director Gao from the Civil Engineering Department can’t outplay her at all."