Chapter 439

The chaos caused by the Spirit Brew Coin lasted for several days in Myriad Methods City.

But perhaps because university life was too fulfilling, or perhaps because people had too many issues to worry about, the turmoil in the university town gradually subsided after a few days.

The streets were still filled with bustling crowds, the construction sites were still bustling with activity, and all the scars left on the city by the financial storm had been hastily repaired through overtime work.

The entire university town was as busy as ever; whether on people's faces or in the streets... not a single trace of the financial storm could be seen.

This even gave Zhang Yu the illusion that the financial storm had never arrived.

Only when Zhang Yu looked at the exit messages in the class group and the reduced number of members could he truly feel that none of this was an illusion—the financial storm had not only come but had also taken many people from the material world to the spirit world.

Just then, a message arrived in the Songyang hometown group, saying that Hu Yuntao's memorial service had begun.

Zhang Yu tapped it open and saw Hu Yuntao's black-and-white avatar appearing on his ocular interface, saying, "Everyone, sorry to bother you, and thank you for coming to my farewell gathering."

"I was born in the protective breeding base of Songyang City on the First Layer; at 18 I was admitted to Hongta High School, at 20 I was admitted to Tianyao University. I toiled all my life, and in the end, I did not leave peacefully—it was full of pain, regret, and unwillingness."

"They say the first year after death is the most important year. I hope that if any of you have business, you might take care of me..."

Listening to Hu Yuntao's speech, Zhang Yu shook his head with a sigh. This was no longer the first spirit-world memorial service he had attended.

Usually, the deceased themselves presided, reminiscing about the past and, while at it, promoting their soul cultivation services to fellow townspeople and classmates, hoping for more work opportunities after death.

"The Dao of immortality is unpredictable."

Watching these events unfold, Zhang Yu could only secretly warn himself to be extremely cautious on the path of immortality and never to participate in coin speculation without reliable insider information.

Arriving at the construction site, he continued to work part-time while cultivating the Dragon Vein Perception Method.

Through these days of tempering at the construction site, Zhang Yu had pushed this martial art to level 19.

After he had been working for a while, Feng Tingting sent a message: Zhang Yu, have you heard? Your department's Ping Han is staying at Hehuan University working to pay off his debts.

Zhang Yu had already blocked Ping Han, so he truly didn't know about the other party's situation.

Hearing what Feng Tingting said now, Zhang Yu asked curiously: What kind of work can he do at Hehuan University?

Feng Tingting sent a photo: [Yin Artifact]

No way... Zhang Yu cursed in his mind, Why the hell are you sending me this? Harassment, right? Is there no sense of boundaries between classmates?

But Feng Tingting's next sentence shocked Zhang Yu.

Feng Tingting: This is Ping Han.

Zhang Yu: Huh?

Feng Tingting: He posted this on his Moments; didn't you see it? He's even going to participate in the next Dharma Assembly.

Zhang Yu: What exactly happened?

Feng Tingting: After the high-intelligence spirit incident, Hehuan University lost a large number of artifact spirits.

Feng Tingting: And there was also a growing distrust of high-intelligence artifacts.

Feng Tingting: So, after a new batch of yin artifacts was produced, they recruited a bunch of soul cultivators to temporarily serve as artifact spirits.

Feng Tingting: That's Ping Han.

Feng Tingting: To be precise, [Yin Artifact] this is Ping Han.

Zhang Yu looked at the circled part in the image and was stunned: Huh?

Feng Tingting: This is a high-level yin artifact—how could Ping Han handle it alone?

Feng Tingting also reminded him: Oh, and by the way, Ping Han is borrowing money from everyone now. Don't lend him any—he can't pay it back.

Feng Tingting: If he hasn't redeemed his physical body by the time the Great Ten ends, he probably won't be able to graduate.

Feng Tingting: At that point, he might have to go the 'undergraduate-to-vocational' route.

Zhang Yu knew that the so-called 'undergraduate-to-vocational' route was a joke, referring to players who couldn't graduate from the Top Ten and ended up getting a college diploma—after all, for many vocational colleges, even the rejects from the Top Ten were talents they desperately wanted.

After closing the conversation with Feng Tingting, Zhang Yu felt even more wistful, once again grateful that he hadn't fallen into the trap of the Spirit Brew Coin out of momentary greed.

Ji Yuanshu looked at the repayment reminders constantly popping up on his ocular interface and slowly collapsed onto the ground.

"I can only keep asking the evil god for help."

"The evil god must have a way to save me."

Just as he was thinking about what to do next, several notifications appeared before him. Before he could even read them, shouts came from outside the door.

Looking at the patrol officer outside the door, while he was still confused, he heard the other party say, "Have you been contacting this person online?"

Seeing the content projected by the other party, Ji Yuanshu's heart sank, because the avatar was exactly that of the evil god he had been contacting in the spirit world.

Just as Ji Yuanshu thought his worship of the evil god had been caught, he heard the patrol officer in front of him say, "This person is suspected of fraud under the guise of recruiting followers for an evil god. There are over a hundred victims."

"This time, it was because the Qiongjiang Coin crash exposed his tracks."

"When we searched his chat records, we found that you had also been tricked..."

Ji Yuanshu gradually couldn't hear clearly what the other party said next; only one phrase echoed in his mind: "Fraud? Tricked?"

"Impossible! I performed the ritual and gained luck!"

"How could it be fraud?" Just as Ji Yuanshu was in shock, the patrol officer continued, "Do you have time? Come back with us to give a statement."

When he came out of the investigation bureau, Ji Yuanshu's mind was still in a daze, with the patrol officer's words repeatedly surfacing in his thoughts.

"This fraudster was a finance major graduate with no background or resources. He turned to fraud to make money."

"We've recovered some of the stolen funds, which will be returned to you. Keep it safe."

"Go back, study hard, work overtime, and stop having unrealistic dreams. Evil gods are all made-up urban legends. Don't believe in that stuff."

Looking at the partially returned stolen funds, Ji Yuanshu felt the whole process was like a dream.

But with this small sum of spirit coins, he no longer had to be a soul cultivator and could barely continue being human—though he'd have to live as a true pauper.

Yet regarding the entire incident, Ji Yuanshu still felt a strong sense of wrongness, as if he were a pawn in some grand scheme. But everything before him was shrouded in a layer of fog, making it impossible for him to see what was really happening.

Ping Han: "Brother Yu, I was wrong!"

Ping Han: "Please forgive me."

Ping Han: "I'm kowtowing to you right now! Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Ping Han: "Please lend me some money..."

Listening to the apology voice message Ping Han sent from another account, Zhang Yu helplessly shook his head and silently chose to block him.

He had heard that Ping Han was now borrowing money from everyone, even the Qi Refining freshmen.

Just then, Zhang Yu heard laughter beside him. Turning his head, he saw Yu Xinghan with a look of happiness mixed with lingering fear.

Before the Qiongjiang Coin crash this time, Yu Xinghan had made a small profit of 12 spirit coins and managed to withdraw in time, escaping unscathed.

Seeing Zhang Yu's gaze, Yu Xinghan couldn't help but say, "Snatching spirit coins right under the nose of a Nascent Soul Cultivator and running off—how thrilling."

He sighed, "But if it happened again, I probably wouldn't dare."

Zhang Yu shook his head: "Be careful yourself. It's best to stay away from this stuff."

Shortly after, Zhang Yu arrived at the construction site on the 669th floor and saw Director Gao.

Director Gao said, "The seven civil engineering tests I've set for you are very simple. Just complete this floor within one hour."

Hearing Director Gao's request, Zhang Yu couldn't help but marvel at how absurd the backdoor arrangement was—finishing one floor in an hour counted as passing?

But since it was him taking the backdoor, that was fine.

After easily passing the test arranged by Director Gao, Zhang Yu was granted the fifth ultimate civil engineering technique: Turning Ground to Steel.

This was a technique that could temporarily enhance the strength of mud and sand—even turn earth into soldiers—using mana and qi force.

In addition, Zhang Yu also gained the purchase qualification for a magical artifact called Earthquake Steel Wave, a magical artifact specifically designed to complement Turning Ground to Steel.

Not interested in the purchase qualification, Zhang Yu asked another question: "Teacher, can I buy the blueprint for this magical artifact?"

Director Gao: "Blueprint?"

Zhang Yu said, "I was thinking... if I directly ask a classmate from the Artifact Refining department to help me forge this magical artifact, would it be much cheaper?"

Director Gao nodded slightly and said, "Alright, but you can only purchase the permissions for small-scale private custom orders; large-scale commercial production is not allowed..."

But halfway through saying this, Director Gao laughed and shook his head—how could Zhang Yu possibly engage in large-scale commercial production?

Zhang Yu looked at the blueprints he had purchased and thought to himself, "These involve three forging techniques I haven't mastered yet, so I can't directly learn the content of these blueprints for now."

Although Zhang Yu did not plan to equip a magical skeleton, he was still very interested in mastering the blueprints and production capabilities of this magical skeleton.

On one hand, it was to later remodel this magical skeleton into a magical artifact to complement his Seven Ultimate Arts of Earth and Wood.

On the other hand...

"If I really encounter some critical moment where I need to boost my combat power..." Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Then I can temporarily equip a magical skeleton to temporarily enhance my combat power—that's not impossible either."

"At worst, after using it, I can just reattach the removed body parts."

After Director Gao granted Zhang Yu the technique of Turning the Earth into Steel, he nodded with satisfaction and said, "I've already spoken with another professor. Next month, you will be arranged to undergo another one of the Seven Earth and Wood tests. As long as you succeed, you can cultivate the Sixth Ultimate: Kneading Earth into Gold."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu couldn't help but nod excitedly. Unknowingly, the day when he would gather the complete Heavenly Kunlun's Mountain-Moving Divine Power was drawing closer and closer.

Director Gao then continued, "Next month, you will follow Mo Shangjin to participate in the inter-school league."

"However, two guys on Mo Shangjin's team, due to the Nectar Coins issue, have seen their value plummet. They sold a lot of magical skeletons and are no longer strong enough to continue competing."

"I'm selecting people to fill in. If you have any recommendations, you can tell me."