Chapter 694: Zhenzhen Dao Name, Understanding Applause

Inside the corridor of the research institute.

Amid a blazing flash of fiery light, a brand-new Celestial Solar Emperor gradually emerged.

True Lord Xianyin nodded slowly and said, "I've mostly completed the framework. I'll leave the finishing work to you."

After giving further detailed instructions to Bei Wufeng, Yan Qianji, and the others, True Lord Xianyin left the laboratory.

After all, as a Nascent Soul True Lord, and especially since Ciji had been promoted to principal, True Lord Xianyin had also taken over the position of head of the Artifact Refining Department, making his affairs extremely busy, handling a myriad of matters daily.

If not for Zhang Yu's repeated invitations, True Lord Xianyin would never have personally come to refine a magic artifact.

After seeing off True Lord Xianyin, Yan Qianji suddenly frowned and asked, "Where is Jin Jun? Where did he go?"

Jin Jun and Yan Qianji had both been assigned to the Celestial Solar Emperor project.

And in Yan Qianji's view, this was entirely a task of benefiting private interests at public expense, and they had become nothing more than private servants refining a magic artifact for Zhang Yu.

But what made Yan Qianji even more dissatisfied was that Jin Jun, as a regular employee, always pushed tasks onto him, the outsourced employee, while spending all his time buttering up Zhang Yu.

Thinking that Jin Jun hadn't even shown up for such an important finishing job today, Yan Qianji felt increasingly displeased.

Hearing Yan Qianji's questioning, Bei Wufeng's eyes flickered, and he thought, "Is he asking me?"

Bei Wufeng understood that everyone in the laboratory knew Jin Jun was closest to him, after all, they had been fellow disciples before entering the lab.

Thinking this, Bei Wufeng gave a faint smile and said, "He might be busy with something."

"Busy? What could be so important that he'd neglect the finishing work on the Celestial Solar Emperor?" Yan Qianji said angrily. "True Lord Xianyin just explained so many key points, but he, as the person in charge, didn't hear a single one. If problems arise with the project later, what then?"

Having said that, Yan Qianji turned to Zi Yunzhen beside him and asked, "Xiaozi, do you know where Jin Jun went?"

Zi Yunzhen, once a fellow artifact refining student with Zhang Yu, had now become a legitimate Golden Core True Person after the issuance of credentials following the great upheaval in the world.

But seeing Yan Qianji's condescending attitude, she felt quite dismissive inside: "This guy... still thinks he's the top artifact refiner and an incarnation divine disciple."

Zi Yunzhen thought to herself, "Who said you could call me Xiaozi? We're both Golden Core now, but don't you have any idea who's a regular employee and who's an outsourced employee?"

She thought, "Still think we're back in school? Everything depends on scores? Now this is the workplace—compare job ranks, salaries, benefits... which one of those can you beat me at?"

So Zi Yunzhen didn't answer, but instead turned to her former classmate, now colleague, Su Yunni, and said, "It's about time. Let's go to the pharmacy to take our medicine."

Mentioning the pharmacy made Yan Qianji feel a surge of embarrassment.

Because as an outsourced employee like him, he had neither the permission nor the benefits to take medicine at the pharmacy; even taking medicine in the office or lab was against regulations and would get him kicked out by administrative staff, leaving him no choice but to sneak his medicine in hallways and stairwells every day.

Every time like this, seeing regular employees flocking to the pharmacy in groups while no one paid him any attention made Yan Qianji feel deeply awkward.

Just then, Bei Wufeng came to Yan Qianji's rescue, smiling and saying, "Yunzhen, where is Jin Jun? Call him to go to the pharmacy together."

Only then did Zi Yunzhen respond, "Jin Jun? He stopped all the assistants from going to the True Lord's office earlier, saying he wanted to go alone to report the good news to the True Lord—that the Celestial Solar Emperor was completed."

Yan Qianji frowned and said, "Couldn't he just send a message for something so trivial? Did he have to go in person? Today's tasks aren't done yet..."

Bei Wufeng glanced at Yan Qianji and thought, "You really were spoiled when you were an incarnation divine disciple."

Through close contact over this period, Bei Wufeng had gradually come to understand that Yan Qianji was someone who focused solely on technical matters, was used to the identity of an incarnation divine disciple, and had never moved on from it.

That was precisely why he could sense that in the entire laboratory, Yan Qianji was the most unpopular outsourced employee, with poor relationships with almost everyone.

"After all, back then everyone revolved around him. Now that the situation has turned around, he still hasn't learned how to handle it."

Meanwhile, on another corridor, Jin Jun was outside the office, silently listening to the continuous slapping sounds coming from within.

He thought to himself, "True Lord Zhuyi is training with White Sun True Person again, right? As expected of a True Lord—so diligent."

The so-called White Sun True Person was the registered Dao name Bai Zhenzhen adopted after entering the Golden Core realm.

And ever since Bai Zhenzhen entered the research institute, she hadn't been assigned any tasks; her only daily task was to cultivate together with Zhang Yu.

If a basic employee used work hours to cultivate, Jin Jun would think they were slacking off, asking for trouble, and engaging in unfair competition.

But when it was someone richer and stronger than him, a Nascent Soul True Lord who was his leader, Jin Jun only perceived the formidable power of the Nascent Soul from it and felt admiration and longing.

"A True Lord is a True Lord—he can openly cultivate during work hours. An ordinary employee would have been fired long ago."

Just then, the slapping sounds inside the office stopped. Jin Jun knew the training session inside had concluded, so there were no more sounds of physical cultivation.

The slapping sounds were naturally the sound of flesh striking the air—what else could they be?

After submitting the request, as the office door opened, Jin Jun entered and immediately reported the completion of the Tianri Huang Spirit.

Bai Zhenzhen, who had already switched back to her spirit root, was sitting cross-legged on the ground, drenched in sweat, silently breathing in spiritual energy and circulating her mana.

Zhang Yu listened to Jin Jun's report and nodded slightly, saying, "Not bad. You finished earlier than expected. You did very well."

Jin Jun quickly said, "It's all due to your wise leadership and proper guidance, True Lord. We just followed your instructions."

"Oh? Is that so?" Zhang Yu tapped his fingertip and flicked out a piece of work data. "Jin Jun, this is your lab attendance record for the past month. How come it's so much worse than Yan Qianji's?"

Looking at the panicked Jin Jun, Zhang Yu sighed and said, "Jin Jun, as long as you work hard in the lab, I won't treat you badly. From now on, stop hovering around me."

"Go."

Watching Jin Jun hurry away, Zhang Yu shook his head and turned his gaze to Bai Zhenzhen.

Through the process of exchanging spirit roots during this period, Zhang Yu could sense that Bai Zhenzhen's daily cultivation was progressing by leaps and bounds.

Clearly, with the boost from his Nascent Soul-level Feather Spirit Root, Bai Zhenzhen received tremendous stimulation, rapidly converting the potential forced out by her battles over the past year into cultivation base.

At the same time, when Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen, the conditions for upgrading the Green Lotus Sword Embryo to level 4 appeared in his eyes.

"Nascent Soul realm, and then the nourishment of ten level-40 techniques?"