Chapter 542

"How could Zhang Yu refine so fast?"

"Looking at the intelligence sent by Su Yunni, Jin Jun's first reaction was disbelief."

"Achieving this in just over a month? He really has no shame."

"At this moment, Jin Jun was extremely suspicious of the falsehood behind Zhang Yu's results."

"He had seen this kind of thing too often in many laboratories of the Artifact Refinement Department: some people were only barely qualified themselves, but they hired powerful assistants to do most of the work, pushing quality and speed to the limit, and finally signed their own names."

"Zhang Yu should have some skill, at least enough to refine a Level 1 prototype machine, but there is absolutely no way he could have achieved this with just two people in one month."

"He must have spent a large sum to hire a huge team for assistance."

"Jin Jun made a judgment in his heart: 'Only then could he have reached this level in just over a month.'"

"'Releasing news like this... is he trying to disrupt my morale?'"

"But Jin Jun had to admit that Zhang Yu had indeed stirred his emotions."

"He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, as a wave of mana circulated within his body, and a stable Dao heart gradually calmed each of his thoughts."

"Jin Jun understood that the key reason he was so easily agitated was that his investment this time was too large."

"'I have invested nearly half of my assets into this project. If the project fails, not only will it be difficult to recover the funds, but it will also be a huge blow to my reputation in artifact refinement.'"

"Whenever he thought that if he failed, others might add notes like 'the one defeated by a transferred civil engineering student' in communications, Jin Jun seemed to see that his loans, funding, and investments would become increasingly difficult to obtain, making his entire path of immortal cultivation a struggle."

"'I absolutely cannot admit defeat.'"

"No matter who was helping Zhang Yu behind the scenes, Jin Jun had no intention of admitting defeat."

"Especially since he understood that after the Level 1 prototype machine was completed, the next step would be to repeatedly improve it, gradually raising its grade."

"'At this stage, it comes down to Zhang Yu's own skill.'"

"'If his artifact refinement skill hasn't reached Level 11, no matter how hard he works or how much money he spends, he cannot raise the prototype machine's grade to Level 11.'"

"'If he seeks someone to refine it for him at this point, he will definitely fail the review.'"

"'And with my long accumulation of technical expertise in this area, based on the current tuning parameters, once this prototype machine is assembled, it can reach Level 5 in one go.'"

"'My subsequent improvements will definitely be faster than his.'"

"Thinking of this, Jin Jun gradually settled his mind."

"Of course, although he had settled his mind, Jin Jun did not intend to do nothing."

"'Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit. This project has cost me so many spirit coins and time—I refuse to accept failure.'"

"So that day, Jin Jun mortgaged his magical remains and organs, maxed out his loans, then used the spirit coins that arrived to lease more advanced artifact refinement equipment, and even hired a Golden Core-level teacher for one-on-one guidance, to give pointers and fill gaps during his refinement process."

"And besides speeding himself up, Jin Jun also planned to cause some trouble for Zhang Yu to slow him down."

"He sent a message."

"Jin Jun: Senior brother, I need to trouble you with something."

"..."

"Inside Ye Xingli's laboratory."

"Zhang Yu's surrounding earthly fiend gravitational force surged, already fixing the prototype machine in midair."

"At the same time, streams of mana shot from his hands, mixing with the material powder prepared by Zi Yunzhen beside him, and were injected into the artifact refinement equipment nearby, then turned into layers of restrictions that struck into the prototype machine."

"As the number of restrictions piled up, the prototype machine's high-temperature resistance was gradually strengthened."

"Zhang Yu knew that to raise the prototype machine's grade next, besides repeatedly stacking restrictions on the mana circuits inside and outside the machine to improve various performances, he also needed to optimize runes, temper materials, and raise the upper limit of the mana core..."

"And besides reinforcing basic attributes, additional functions needed to be installed."

"For example, to raise the current Level 1 prototype machine to Level 2, a new technique module must be added to give it fire control capabilities."

"Zhang Yu thought to himself: 'The Level 1 prototype machine already has interfaces for various functions. All I need to do is improve and add modules.'"

"'And to achieve this, my blueprint level must reach a certain point.'"

"He glanced at the 'Heavenly Sun Radiant God Prototype Machine Level 1 (6/10)' on the feather book."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Now, every time I thoroughly refine the prototype machine, not only does it enhance its base attributes, but it also advances the progress on the Feather Book by 2 points, boosted by my Refining Prodigy talent."

"Once I push the blueprint level to 2, I'll have enough technical skill to add the fire control function that only level 2 can possess to the prototype machine."

With this thought, Zhang Yu's movements in refining the prototype machine became even more swift. The magical power within his body and the materials around him poured relentlessly into the prototype machine before him, as if they cost nothing.