Chapter 460: Instant Breakthrough

Zhang Yu couldn't muster the slightest bit of resistance, and even his consciousness gradually lost the ability to think in that floating, blissful sensation, sinking into a half-awake, half-asleep state.

And with the commotion of his mana, the essence of his qi and blood within his body also began to stir restlessly.

The Nectar Maiden Forty-Eight thought to herself: "So weak, so weak, so weak! This person really is so weak!"

"First, let's eat up all your mana."

"Come out to me, all of it!"

The Perfected Lord of Magnetic Extremes had been observing the changes in Zhang Yu, and when she sensed that Zhang Yu's mana was almost uncontrollably surging toward the yin artifact, and even his qi and blood were gradually boiling, she prepared to intervene and suppress the yin artifact.

She knew that if this continued, once Zhang Yu's body completely lost control, it would probably not just be a loss of mana.

Going further... it could be knowledge, lifespan, or even memories and potential being devoured.

But in the very next moment, another change occurred.

Just as Zhang Yu, who had been indulging in that supremely beautiful and complete sensation, sensed that his body was about to completely lose control, a glimmer of clarity suddenly returned to his sea of consciousness.

The countless experiences of hard part-time work, the instinct to earn blood-and-sweat money silently day and night, the struggle to send Bai Zhenzhen to university one promotion at a time—all these deep accumulations of Zhang Yu's past years... erupted together in that instant.

That most instinctive, most pure thought... roared from within his heart: "Money!"

"Thirty spirit coins a session!"

"You haven't paid me yet!"

Driven by this instinct, he forcibly resisted the attraction of the Nectar Maiden Forty-Eight, refusing to hand over everything inside him for her to devour.

The Nectar Maiden Forty-Eight, noticing this, was unperturbed and slightly spread the light mist, intending to completely suppress his resistance.

But as the light mist spread and began to bind Zhang Yu's entire body, the Nectar Maiden Forty-Eight was suddenly startled.

The moment the light mist touched the green-thread flying sword on Zhang Yu's index finger, lines of information surfaced in the Nectar Maiden's heart.

"Seven Emotions Sword Dao... triggering the mutual non-interference list... must immediately cease operation..."

In an instant, the light mist, which had been churning violently, stopped.

Then the light mist began to move again, but this time it was reversing the mana absorption, returning all the mana it had just devoured.

Seeing this, the observation room was once again shaken.

Yan Qianji exclaimed in surprise: "The mana is flowing back! Mana is going back and forth—this is normal dual cultivation, not one-sided extraction."

Another teacher also remarked in surprise: "I thought Zhang Yu had some special talent that made the yin artifact go straight for harvesting, but instead it's normal dual cultivation? Why would this yin artifact voluntarily help Zhang Yu?"

And inside the laboratory, the Perfected Lord Tianzhang was also filled with many doubts: "That action just now... it should have been draining Zhang Yu's mana, right? But why did it suddenly stop and even return the mana? Is it really normal dual cultivation?"

Under the gaze of everyone—filled with confusion, curiosity, surprise, and shock—.

Just as the Nectar Maiden Forty-Eight returned everything she had devoured and released her control over Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu, who had been half-awake and half-asleep and only instinctively resisting, suddenly opened his eyes wide.

Roar!

With a violent shout, Zhang Yu's mana burst out explosively, and the terrifying divine power of the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain Movers spread out in all directions.

But in the next moment, as the surging force field sent waves of air turbulence everywhere, Zhang Yu suddenly snapped back to awareness, quickly suppressing his instincts and reining in the still-burgeoning divine power of the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain Movers.

However, just that single instinctive burst made the Perfected Lord Tianzhang's eyes light up.

He carefully examined Zhang Yu's data, comparing the just-released eruption of the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain Movers divine power, and simultaneously said in the research group chat: This Zhang Yu's just-released Heavenly Kunlun Mountain Movers divine power has reached a full Level 15, far exceeding his previous performance.

Perfected Lord Tianzhang: Could this be the effect of communicating with a Nascent Soul yin artifact?

One teacher said: But the problem is... why did it improve his cultivation in the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain Movers divine power? The Joyous Union University shouldn't have any accumulation in this area, right?

Another teacher said: Could the Nectar Deity be secretly decoding the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain Movers divine power?

While the many teachers and students were discussing among themselves endlessly, Yan Qianji suddenly said: Everyone, I wonder if you've heard a piece of news about the Civil Engineering Department earlier?

Everyone was taken aback. Who the hell would bother to listen to news about the Civil Engineering Department?

Yan Qianji naturally knew that no one would pay attention; if not for Feng Tingting occasionally gossiping with him, he wouldn't know about it either.

Yan Qianji: A while ago, many people in the Civil Engineering Department were speculating in Nectar Coins, and among them, a student named Ping Han was the most aggressive.

Yan Qianji: Later, when the Nectar Coin bubble burst, this Ping Han participated in the joint cultivation assembly at Joyous Union University.

Yan Qianji: In the end, he even became a soul cultivator of a yin artifact to repay his debts.

Yan Qianji: Ping Han was a senior student in the Earth and Wood department, having cultivated the Seven Ultimate of Earth and Wood to its peak.

Yan Qianji: And as everyone knows, the Seven Ultimate of Earth and Wood from the Earth and Wood department is the foundation of the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power.

A teacher exclaimed in shock: "You mean... the artifact spirit of this yin artifact in the lab is Ping Han? He just transferred his cultivation of the Seven Ultimate of Earth and Wood to Zhang Yu through dual cultivation?"

Yan Qianji: ...

Yan Qianji: That's not what I mean. The timing doesn't match. When Ping Han became a soul cultivator, these artifact spirits had already escaped.

Yan Qianji: What I mean is that during the Dual Cultivation Conference, Ping Han might have had his cultivation harvested.

Yan Qianji: At that time... perhaps this very yin artifact was used.

Yan Qianji: During the process of harvesting cultivation, the others might have been taken away by Qiongjiang Divine Lord, while the Seven Ultimate of Earth and Wood might have been left behind as useless impurities and residue inside this yin artifact.

Yan Qianji: And in the dual cultivation just now, it was transferred to Zhang Yu. This caused Zhang Yu's cultivation in the Seven Ultimate of Earth and Wood to increase, followed by a surge in his Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power.

Meanwhile, within the project team, a high-speed internal discussion was taking place.

Zhang Yu stood awkwardly under everyone's gaze, his mind in chaos.

He cursed inwardly: "Damn it... I'm never participating in this kind of experiment again."

Watching Tianzhang Zhenjun and Ciji Zhenjun beside him, their gazes flickering as they clearly communicated in the spiritual world, Zhang Yu had no idea what to say at this moment.

Tianzhang Zhenjun: Should I speak, or will you?

Ciji Zhenjun: I'm not familiar with the Earth and Wood students either. You can communicate with them.

The next moment, Ciji Zhenjun's figure vanished from the laboratory.

Then, Tianzhang Zhenjun looked at Zhang Yu with a piercing gaze and asked: "Student, can you sense for yourself? Has your cultivation in the Seven Ultimate of Earth and Wood greatly advanced? Is your Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power at a higher level?"

Just as Zhang Yu hesitated, unsure how to respond, a message from Zhang Pianpian appeared before him.

Zhang Pianpian: I'm sending this to you through the Taiqing Realm right now, so no one else can see it.

Zhang Pianpian: But whatever you do, don't reply to me. Ciji Zhenjun is monitoring this place right now; she can see it.

Zhang Pianpian: Next, you need to answer, "It seems so."

Zhang Yu nodded and said: "It seems so."

"Don't 'seems so.'" Tianzhang Zhenjun stared at Zhang Yu seriously. "Examine yourself carefully, then come back and tell me."

Zhang Pianpian: Your Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power is now at level 15.

Zhang Pianpian: A pleasant surprise.

So Zhang Yu pretended to circulate his energy, and as bursts of earthly sha gravitational force were released, his body hung upside down in midair.

The next moment, he said with a delighted expression: "My Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power seems to be at level 15!"

Tianzhang Zhenjun smiled and nodded, saying: "This is precisely the benefit to your cultivation from the dual cultivation with this newly developed yin artifact in our lab."

Zhang Yu rolled his eyes inwardly, but his face showed joy: "Such a good thing actually happened?!"

Upon hearing this exchange between Zhang Yu and Tianzhang Zhenjun, Ying Xin, Gongshu Jin, and Yu Xinghan widened their eyes instantly, feeling both shocked and envious.

In that brief moment, Yu Xinghan looked at the rhombus-crystal-shaped Nascent Soul yin artifact beside him and thought: "If I could make such great progress in just a short time, what's wrong with even installing a yin artifact?"

Sensing the change in his own thoughts, Yu Xinghan realized that his spiritual state in the path of dual cultivation had improved.

He sighed inwardly: "Indeed, as my master once said, the improvement of one's spiritual state often requires the tempering and accumulation of life experiences, not just relentless meditation."

Tianzhang Zhenjun said with a smile: "Indeed, this is a great thing."

"Normally speaking, under such circumstances, we would charge a fee."

Zhang Yu cursed inwardly: "Damn it... I cultivated my martial arts through my own hard work, and you want to charge for it?"

Tianzhang Zhenjun continued: "However, considering you are also a student of Wanfa University, we can waive the fee this time."

"Of course, the prerequisite is that you must continue to participate in the subsequent experiments."

Zhang Yu cursed inwardly: "Again?"

He forced a hint of hesitation onto his face, then shook his head and said, "Sorry, Teacher, I don't want to participate in this experiment anymore."

Tianzhang Zhenjun said in surprise, "Why? We're not charging you, and you can even improve your cultivation—why not join?"

Zhang Pianpian: Do as I taught you...

A lingering fear appeared on Zhang Yu's face as he said, "Teacher, I just lost control of my body and felt like I was about to die."

"I think this thing is still too dangerous. Let's just forget it."

Upon hearing the word "dangerous," Tianzhang Zhenjun thought to himself that he hadn't yet fully mastered this Nascent Soul Yin Artifact, which led to the uncontrollable incident.

A trace of embarrassment arose in Tianzhang Zhenjun's heart, but his face remained righteous as he said, "Are you doubting the school's latest technology? And with Ciji Zhenjun and me here, even if something unexpected happens, can't we handle it?"

Zhang Yu said, "But... if it's just once or twice, that's fine, but if I have to do it for free long-term..."

Seeing Zhang Yu's troubled expression, Tianzhang Zhenjun snorted coldly, "Are you trying to charge me instead?"

Zhang Yu said, "Based on last year's rates, I'd charge at least 25 spirit coins for one session. Now it should be at least 30 spirit coins."

Tianzhang Zhenjun said in surprise, "25 spirit coins?"

Zhang Yu said, "If you don't believe me, Zhenjun, you can ask Teacher Yin Jiurao from the Pharmacology Department—she was the one who bought it."