Chapter 516

That day, Zhang Yu arrived at the laboratory of Archmage Magnetic Pole and, as usual, was participating in the research on the Nascent Soul Dharma Relic when he heard Archmage Magnetic Pole suddenly ask: "Are you going to compete head-on with Jin Jun for the Heavenly Sun Radiant God's military certificate?"

Clearly, the news had already reached her ears.

Zhang Yu nodded: "Yes."

Archmage Magnetic Pole thought for a moment and said: "Quite a few people are watching me, your master, right now."

"After all, I want to be evaluated for Nascent Soul, but many people don't want the Universal Law University to gain another Nascent Soul."

"Since you are my disciple, you will naturally be under their observation as well."

"When the time comes for you to participate in the review of the prototype machine, you will likely face no shortage of scrutiny, or even deliberate difficulties, and the demands on you will be harsher..."

Archmage Magnetic Pole carefully chose her words, explaining the subtleties to Zhang Yu.

For her, if Zhang Yu could successfully obtain the Heavenly Sun Radiant God, it might give her a slight boost in her Nascent Soul evaluation.

But if Zhang Yu made any mistakes during the review process that implicated her, it would instead become a burden on her Nascent Soul evaluation.

The worst-case scenario would be Zhang Yu resorting to cheating methods, such as commissioned refining or forgery, in order to surpass Jin Jun.

Although she didn’t think Zhang Yu would be so foolish, given the gravity of the matter, Archmage Magnetic Pole still intended to give him a proper reminder.

While obediently listening, Zhang Yu looked at Archmage Magnetic Pole’s chest, sensing the increasingly clear Dao Seed within her, and gazing at the four large characters 'Heavenly Works Unlock Wonders,' he gradually began to perceive the information contained within.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: "To replicate this 'Heavenly Works Unlock Wonders' Dao Seed, would I have to refine a grade-30 or higher magical treasure together with Archmage Magnetic Pole?"

He felt that this requirement was far higher than any previous Dao Seed conditions.

After all, with Zhang Yu’s current level of artifact refining, the highest he could achieve was only a grade-20 magical treasure.

"A grade-30 or higher magical treasure—you would need to be at the Nascent Soul stage to refine that."

"Will I have to wait until I break through to the Nascent Soul realm before I can replicate my teacher’s Dao Seed?"

Zhang Yu shook his head inwardly, feeling that this would be far too slow.

His mind turned, and he thought of another method: "What if I became her assistant, participating in her magical treasure refining project… Would that count as fulfilling the condition, and could I successfully replicate the Dao Seed?"

Zhang Yu thought it probably would.

So he began to inquire indirectly with Archmage Magnetic Pole, but soon discovered… there were no artifact refining projects for which he could become an assistant.

"The gap between my artifact refining skill and Archmage Magnetic Pole’s is simply too wide."

"Sigh, is there any way to directly participate in an artifact refining project without needing artifact refining skill…"

As Zhang Yu was pondering, he looked at the nearby Nascent Soul Dharma Relic and suddenly felt a spark of inspiration.

"Unless, just like now, I become a test subject in the project—become the very thing the project needs to use…"

Thinking this, Zhang Yu opened his mouth and suddenly said: "Teacher, does this Dharma Relic only have a Yin mechanism and no Yang mechanism?"

Archmage Magnetic Pole glanced at Zhang Yu: "What are you trying to say?"

From just now, she felt that this kid’s eyes were darting around, scheming something.

Zhang Yu said: "I was just thinking, Yin and Yang, the balance of Yin and Yang—that is the great Dao of dual cultivation."

"Wouldn't a Yang mechanism help drive the experiment further?"

Archmage Magnetic Pole: "You think I haven’t tried? Ordinary Dharma Relics are completely useless."

Zhang Yu stepped forward and said: "So we can’t use ordinary Dharma Relics!"

Archmage Magnetic Pole’s eyes flashed: "You mean… refining something from your body into a Dharma Relic?"

Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback and quickly said: "That’s not what I meant—I meant using mine as a reference…"

Meanwhile, Archmage Magnetic Pole muttered to herself: "Indeed, having only you as a test subject right now is too few, slowing down the entire project’s progress."

"If we could refine certain parts of your body into a Dharma Relic and then replicate it, the overall efficiency might increase significantly."

With that thought, Archmage Magnetic Pole smiled slightly and reached out to grab Zhang Yu, intending to take a look.

Zhang Yu quickly said: "Teacher! What if it fails? What if the changes in my body cause this Nascent Soul Dharma Relic to reject it?"

"Better to first use my data and a bionic approach, taking other materials to craft a Dharma Relic and try that."

Magnetic Pole True Lord thought for a moment, then said, "That makes sense."

Zhang Yu breathed a slight sigh of relief inwardly, thinking, "This way... I suppose it counts as refining a magic tool together with my teacher, right?"

…

End of July.

Inside Ye Xingli's laboratory, bolts of electricity flickered in Zhang Yu's palm as he used the Five Lightning Refining Method to draw mana circuits on the secondhand magic tool before him.

This Five Lightning Refining Method was exactly the tenth technique Zhang Yu had accumulated for his Artifact Crafting Prodigy.

As the final cycle of the technique completed, smoothly pushed by Zhang Yu to level 20, his Artifact Crafting Prodigy also reached its final tier.

Ultimate - Artifact Crafting Prodigy (10/10): The more artifact crafting production techniques you master and the higher their levels, the more efficient your artifact crafting becomes, up to a maximum doubling.

Zhang Yu's heart stirred: "Just in time for the upcoming Sun Emperor project, I'll be learning quite a few new magic tool blueprints."

"Then, the more blueprints I master, the faster my artifact crafting speed will be, further accelerating the future forging of prototype machines."