Chapter 401: Students of the Artifact Refinement Department
Gongshu Jin followed Zhang Yu and Ye Xingli into the gathering’s dining hall.
The moment they stepped inside, the aroma of food wafted into Gongshu Jin’s nostrils. Seeing the buckets of rice piled on the nearby tables, he couldn’t help but marvel at Mo Shangjin’s extravagant generosity.
Zhang Yu glanced at the feast and felt his stomach rumble with hunger.
After all, he had been so focused on studying, working overtime, and cultivating that he hadn’t eaten a proper meal in ages.
Just then, a young woman approached.
She wore only a small tank top and shorts, leaving much of her skin exposed.
Yet visible seams marked the joints of her limbs, and Zhang Yu’s Bionic Eye could even discern the deliberately projected structural lines across her body, along with the brands and model numbers of her various Bionics.
Everything about her seemed designed to emphasize her Bionics, constantly reminding others that her hands, feet, and many parts of her body were not flesh and blood, but Bionics.
Zhang Yu glanced at the ranking above the girl’s head, thinking, “Fifteenth in the Artifact Refinement Department?”
He also noticed that all her Bionics were from the same brand.
“A loyal customer of the Myriad Paths Artisan Group?” he wondered inwardly.
As the girl approached Ye Xingli, she greeted her with a sweet smile, “Senior Sister!”
Ye Xingli introduced them, “This is Feng Tingting, my junior sister.”
“Tingting, this is Zhang Yu from the Civil Engineering Department.”
Feng Tingting turned to look at Zhang Yu, her expression shifting slightly when she saw the number “95” above his head, indicating his rank in the Civil Engineering Department.
“Wait… 95th in Civil Engineering?”
What a foreign and distant number! Feng Tingting couldn’t recall the last time she’d spoken to a student of that caliber — it must have been years ago.
If Ye Xingli hadn’t introduced him, she would have dismissed him outright.
Her Bionic Eye scanned Zhang Yu, instantly gathering detailed information about his Bionics.
“Time-Worn Demonic Eye, three-year-old model. Accounting for depreciation, current estimated value: 25.5 Spirit Coins. But he only has one…”
She silently marked Zhang Yu’s head with a 12.75, representing the value of his Bionics.
Feng Tingting was an extreme Bionicist.
Quickly scanning a person’s Bionics and checking their prices to determine their Bionic worth was one of Feng Tingting’s methods for assessing a person’s importance, a common practice among many in the Artifact Refinement Department.
To Feng Tingting, this was perfectly normal and effective. How else could one quickly distinguish between the upper class, the lower class, and those who weren’t even human?
Feng Tingting firmly believed: “The future belongs to the age of Bionics.”
“Bionics are a cultivator’s true body.”
“The process of Immortal Cultivation is simply about constantly earning money, learning, and enhancing one’s Magic Power to gradually replace one’s outdated flesh with advanced Bionics.”
“The number of Bionics a cultivator possesses reflects their level of evolution on the Immortal Dao.”
“In this era, someone without a single Bionic is considered disabled.”
After marking Zhang Yu with an evolution level of 12.75, Feng Tingting turned her attention to Gongshu Jin, who stood behind Zhang Yu.
“Not even ranked in the Overall Department Ranking?”
Feng Tingting turned to Ye Xingli beside her and asked, “Senior Sister, is this your newly recruited Soul Cultivator? How is he still alive?”
Ye Xingli shook her head. “Who would buy a living Soul Cultivator?”
“This is Gongshu Jin from the Civil Engineering Department. Don’t let his lack of an Overall Department Ranking fool you — he’s only a second-year student, so his overall score is still relatively low.”
Hearing this, Gongshu Jin lowered his head in shame.
Ever since entering the gathering hall, he had been surrounded by students with Overall Department Rankings displayed above their heads, making him feel like a cockroach in the sewer, utterly out of place.
Standing beside Ye Xingli and Feng Tingting, whose bodies were adorned with high-value Bionics, Gongshu Jin felt even more inadequate, his own appearance seeming utterly drab and unremarkable in comparison.
Feng Tingting nodded, marking Gongshu Jin with the number 151. “Though he lacks an Overall Department Ranking, his evolutionary progress is passable,” she thought.
“But… he doesn’t have a single Myriad Paths Artisan Group Bionic on his entire body?”
Feng Tingting shook her head inwardly. In her view, choosing any Bionic brand other than Myriad Paths Artisan Group was essentially evolving in the wrong direction on the Immortal Dao path.
After all, as a top-tier conglomerate and a long-standing partner of the Artifact Refinement Department at Myriad Laws University, the Myriad Paths Artisan Group had always been Feng Tingting’s ideal Bionic company — the most advanced, cutting-edge, and Immortal Dao-aligned firm, representing the correct evolutionary path of the Immortal Dao.
“The Myriad Paths Artisan Group truly masters the core technology of Bionics. Heavenly Craftsman and Vajra Profound Creation are just marketing hype.”
After glancing at Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin, Feng Tingting turned her gaze to Ye Xingli, noticing the “1???” above her head.
Seeing the four-digit Bionic price tag, Feng Tingting felt Ye Xingli radiating an extraordinary brilliance.
“After all, it’s a body worth over a thousand Spirit Coins. How could it not be beautiful?”
The three question marks following the “1” indicated that Ye Xingli’s Bionic had been self-modified, making its precise value difficult for Feng Tingting to estimate.
In Feng Tingting’s eyes, this added a touch of mystery to Ye Xingli’s supreme beauty, enhancing the breathtaking allure of her form.
Besides Feng Tingting, other students from the Artifact Refinement Department soon began approaching the hall.
Students, each bearing their Artifact Refinement Department ranking above their heads, swarmed around Ye Xingli like moths drawn to a flame.
Upon their first glimpse of Ye Xingli, these Artifact Refinement Department students immediately began taking photos.
Their Bionic Eyes functioned like precision measuring tools, meticulously analyzing every subtle change in Ye Xingli’s physique. They scrutinized her as if she were a work of art, recording every difference from their previous observations.
Every fluctuation in her parameters was meticulously documented, deemed crucial data by these students.
As the eighth-ranked student in the Artifact Refinement Department, Ye Xingli was surpassed in overall score almost exclusively by Tenth-Year Students.
She represented the pinnacle of artifact refinement skill among the department’s students.
To these students, her body served as an exemplary model for observation and learning.
Soon, a flurry of messages began exchanging between the Artifact Refinement Department students and Ye Xingli.
Artifact Refinement Department Student A: “[0.1 Spirit Coin transferred] Senior Sister, is my project recommendation letter still okay?”
Artifact Refinement Department Student B: “[0.1 Spirit Coin transferred] Senior Sister Ye, I’d like to join Professor Wang’s Project Team. Do you think you could help me?”
Artifact Refinement Department Student C: “[0.1 Spirit Coin transfer] Senior Sister Xingli, have the seniors finalized the team assignments for next year’s Artifact Refinement Competition?”
Someone also turned to Feng Tingting, asking: “[0.05 Spirit Coin transfer] Senior Sister Feng, do you have any second-hand Bionics from Senior Sister Xingli in stock?”
Feng Tingting: “Not yet, but I’ll let you all know when they’re available.”
As a role model for many Artifact Refinement Department students, second-hand Bionics that had been used, refined, and adjusted by Ye Xingli were naturally highly sought after.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin, standing nearby, were unconsciously ignored by the students.
Zhang Yu watched the students’ gazes meet, exchanging what seemed like endless communication without a word. He knew they were chatting privately.
Feeling like he couldn’t join the conversation, Zhang Yu patted his stomach and prepared to go eat.
“Senior Sister Ye, I’m going to grab some food first.”
After greeting Ye Xingli, Zhang Yu turned and headed toward the dining table.
Seeing Zhang Yu leave, Gongshu Jin quickly followed. He always felt deeply uncomfortable around students ranked in this Ace Department.
Just then, a commotion erupted.
“There are rules at the dining table. The first dumpling must be swallowed whole as a sign of respect to everyone.”
“Exactly! We can’t let the dining table culture passed down by our ancestors end with us!”
Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin looked up to see a group of Civil Engineering students engaged in a food-eating contest at the dining table.
Watching the upperclassmen devour plate after plate of rice-filled dumplings, Gongshu Jin gasped inwardly. He was astonished by the sheer volume of food these senior Civil Engineering students could consume.
“Food consumption capacity reflects the strength of one’s digestive system,” Gongshu Jin mused. “And the strength of one’s digestive system represents both financial and physical prowess — a manifestation of Immortal Dao Potential.”
He understood that food-eating contests were a way for individuals to showcase their Immortal Dao Potential.
“Will I be dragged into these contests too?” Gongshu Jin wondered, glancing at the seniors massaging each other and popping pills on the other side. That scene seemed more appealing to him.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted as he noticed a familiar figure among the massaging seniors.
“Is that… Yu Xinghan?”
Watching Yu Xinghan introduce the masseuses to the seniors, Gongshu Jin thought to himself, “Yu Xinghan joined his mentor’s massage platform and became a manager?”
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu was already approaching the dining table with a smile.
A senior grabbed Zhang Yu as soon as he saw him. “You’re Zhang Yu, right? Making it into the top seven in the Departmental Competition is impressive!”
“Come on, let’s have a round!”
Watching Zhang Yu devour three plates of dumplings without any visible reaction, the Civil Engineering seniors marveled.
Nearby, Su Yanyang glanced at Zhang Yu without a word, then silently clinked bowls with Ma Xuan and finished his own.
Compared to Zhang Yu, Su Yanyang was more concerned about Xiao Yunji and another senior Civil Engineering student named Ping Han.
“The Military Civil Engineering Certificate exam typically only admits one person per session.”
“For next October’s Military Certificate Examination, Xiao Yunji and Ping Han will likely be my biggest rivals.”
As for Zhang Yu… although he had surpassed Su Yanyang in the recent competition, Su Yanyang believed Zhang Yu’s individual strength was still inferior to his own. He doubted Zhang Yu would even have a chance to shine in next year’s Military Certificate Examination.
“Zhang Yu is probably aiming for the Military Certificate three years from now.”
“Three years… that’s too late for me.”
Su Yanyang thought to himself, “Next year is my best opportunity.”
“But to secure the Military Certificate, I must defeat Xiao Yunji and Ping Han.”