Chapter 517: Dragged into becoming a Soul Cultivator
True Monarch Thunder Pole resembled polished crystal, with no trace of flesh or blood visible on his body. This was because nearly ninety-nine percent of his flesh had been replaced with magical artifacts.
Countless spiritual energy circuits snaked across the ground and walls, converging on him to transmit vast amounts of spiritual energy and information. Layers of Formation radiance enveloped him, obscuring the finer details of his form.
Legend had it that True Monarch Thunder Pole remained perpetually seated in his office, rarely venturing outside. Instead, he roamed the Spirit Realm through his consciousness, projecting his presence across various locations.
To Zhang Yu, his motionless posture made him resemble a temple deity more than a living being.
Zhang Yu knew that True Monarch Thunder Pole belonged to the Magical Artifact Faction of the Artifact Refinement Department, a school Feng Tingting had once described as “ancient relics.” They viewed flesh and blood as outdated, condemned Bionics as heretical, and insisted that the future advancement of the Immortal Dao lay in the complete transformation of humanity into magical artifacts.
Zhang Yu reserved judgment on this doctrine. After all, his understanding of the Immortal Dao and artifact refinement was still insufficient to assess its merits.
What truly worried Zhang Yu was: “Could this True Monarch Thunder Pole harbor prejudice against physical bodies?”
Zhang Yu recalled the instances of discrimination he had encountered since joining the Artifact Refinement Department, whether due to his status as a Civil Engineering Student or because of his unaltered physical body.
“In the Artifact Refinement Department, the Bionic Faction discriminates against those with original physical bodies. Those with more Bionics look down on those with fewer, and those with expensive Bionics scorn those with cheaper ones. The Magical Artifact Faction, however, discriminates against both Bionics and physical bodies alike.”
“Could True Monarch Thunder Pole be withholding my project payment because of discrimination?”
Just as these thoughts flooded Zhang Yu’s mind, True Monarch Thunder Pole spoke.
Though his glass-like face showed no movement of his lips, vibrations in the air formed words that echoed in Zhang Yu’s ears.
“Zhang Yu, is it? What brings you here?”
Zhang Yu offered a polite smile. “It’s about the project payment…”
“I told you not to come bothering me about that again, didn’t I?” True Monarch Thunder Pole said coldly.
“True Monarch,” Zhang Yu explained, “our company is small and has tight cash flow. I’m currently covering my employees’ salaries out of my own pocket…”
“Which construction firm isn’t making ends meet?” True Monarch Thunder Pole replied flatly. “What makes you so special? If you can handle the work, do it. If not, leave.”
Zhang Yu paused, wondering how to subtly reveal his status as True Monarch Magnetic Pole’s disciple without offending the man further. Before he could act, True Monarch Thunder Pole continued, “I know you’re True Monarch Magnetic Pole’s newly accepted disciple.”
“But here, everyone — no matter who they are — must abide by the rules.”
Zhang Yu began, “Martial Uncle…”
True Monarch Thunder Pole interrupted, “Who told you to call me ‘Martial Uncle’? I don’t stand for such personal connections here. That’s exactly what’s wrong with Myriad Laws University.”
With that, a cold snort like a thunderclap erupted in Zhang Yu’s ears, leaving him momentarily dazed.
True Monarch Thunder Pole continued, “Everything here follows procedure. You’ll receive every penny you’re owed, of course.”
“Alright, if there’s nothing else, you can leave now. Don’t linger and disrupt my work.”
Zhang Yu stormed out of the office, his face dark with frustration. Is True Monarch Thunder Pole being genuine? he wondered. Does Kunxu really have such a rigidly impartial leader?
Should I ask Master for help?
Zhang Yu shook his head. Before understanding the full situation, he decided to hold off on any rash actions. After all, he had no idea what kind of relationship True Monarch Magnetic Pole and True Monarch Thunder Pole shared, nor whether True Monarch Magnetic Pole had any vested interests in this matter.
When it came to gathering information, Zhang Yu’s first thought naturally turned to Zhang Pianpian, followed by Feng Tingting from the Artifact Refinement Department, and finally Senior Sister Ye Xingli.
Shortly after sending his inquiries, responses began popping up on his Bionic Eye.
The first reply came from Feng Tingting.
Feng Tingting: “You didn’t actually go there in your original physical body, did you?”
Zhang Yu: “Yeah, you know I only have this physical body. What else would I wear?”
Feng Tingting: “True Monarch Thunder Pole is notorious in the department for being an old stick-in-the-mud, one of the most staunch proponents of the Magical Artifact Faction.”
Feng Tingting: “Even a stray dog passing by his class would have to wear a magical artifact collar.”
Feng Tingting: “You think he’d take kindly to you showing up in just your physical body?”
Reading Feng Tingting’s reply, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “True Monarch Thunder Pole really is a body-discriminating bigot.”
Just as Zhang Yu thanked Feng Tingting for the warning, she messaged again: “Zhang Yu, when are we going to rent a laboratory together and do some artifact refinement? Sigh, ever since I switched to Civil Engineering, the Artifact Refinement Department has been giving me the cold shoulder…”
Looking at Feng Tingting’s reply, Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. He and Feng Tingting were likely the two people most often viewed with prejudice in the Artifact Refinement Department.
Just then, Ye Xingli sent him a message.
Ye Xingli: “Did you pay him?”
Zhang Yu: “Pay him?”
Ye Xingli: “Seriously, I can’t tell if the Civil Engineering Department spoiled you too much or if you’re just hopelessly clueless.”
Ye Xingli: “The so-called Artifact Refinement Department is just a few floors and some laboratories. Money still needs to be earned separately.”
Ye Xingli: “With so many projects and so much work, who gets priority? Who gets more or less? How do we divide it?”
Zhang Yu: “So, should I just transfer the money directly to True Monarch Thunder Pole?”
Ye Xingli: “True Monarch Thunder Pole is a man of integrity and adheres strictly to the rules. He would never directly accept money from you.”
Ye Xingli: “Bian Hao is True Monarch Thunder Pole’s student. Contact him instead.”
As Zhang Yu studied the business card Ye Xingli had sent, he thought, “After all this trouble, it still comes down to money.”
Zhang Yu added Bian Hao, explained his purpose, and after some discussion, received a link to a donation page.
“Public Benefit Laboratory?” Zhang Yu stared at the link, his anger flaring. “Ten Spirit Coins?!”
“Fucking hell… my total pre-tax project earnings are only a little over twenty Spirit Coins. After paying my employees and taxes, I’ll barely make a dozen Spirit Coins. And they want ten Spirit Coins upfront?”
Zhang Yu took a deep breath, suppressing his rage, and replied to Bian Hao, asking if he could donate less.
Bian Hao: “Junior Brother, I don’t decide how much people donate.”
Bian Hao: “Those who donate less get no priority.”
Bian Hao: “If you donate too little, I’m afraid your donation will be wasted.”
Bian Hao: “Ultimately, if you don’t do it, someone else will. If you don’t donate, plenty of others will.”
Zhang Yu couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Is this all just a race to the bottom?”
Staring at the donation link for 10 Spirit Coins, Zhang Yu mentally tallied his monthly finances again.
His current stable monthly income consisted primarily of a 40 Spirit Coin subsidy from the Laboratory, followed by 30 Spirit Coin reimbursements from True Monarch Magnetic Pole and Director Gao’s company, then over 10 Spirit Coins in loan repayments from his sister, and finally 10 Spirit Coins from Wen Wuya’s monthly subscription…
Originally, Zhang Yu had believed that the Civil Engineering project within the Artifact Refinement Department would also become a stable monthly income stream.
But now it seemed not only unstable but, after deducting this donation, the actual profit would be far less than he’d imagined.
As the numbers flickered across his Bionic Eye, Zhang Yu cursed inwardly. “Damn it! In the end, I can earn 40 Spirit Coins a month through scams, get 30 Spirit Coins reimbursed through connections, recover over 10 Spirit Coins from family loans, and rake in 10 Spirit Coins through rich people’s tips.”
“So after three years of painstaking effort in Civil Engineering, accumulating a wealth of techniques and magical artifacts, and hiring a team of employees, I end up earning the least?”
Zhang Yu even considered abandoning Civil Engineering projects in the Artifact Refinement Department.
But he knew that wasn’t feasible.
On one hand, his company had numerous mouths to feed. On the other hand, while his income was substantial, his expenses were equally high. Every extra bit of profit from Artifact Refinement Civil Engineering projects mattered greatly to him.
Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. “To cultivate the Artifact Refinement Prodigy set, I need to stack levels in artifact refinement techniques through sheer repetition.”
“Ugh, mastering ten artifact refinement techniques to Level 20 within a few months… that’s like cultivating ten daoist arts to Level 20…”
“Not even normal artifact refinement students spend money like this. I doubt many daoist arts students spend this much either.”
Zhang Yu knew that most artifact refinement students couldn’t possibly cultivate so many artifact refinement techniques like he did. They typically specialized in one area and hired others for specialized tasks.
It was just like when Zi Yunzhen had hired him to enhance the Five Elements Flags using the Dragon Vein Artifact Forging Manual.
“If it were just about burning money to gather Artifact Refinement Prodigy arts, I could manage. I’m earning enough now to cover that, and even save some Spirit Coins each month. But I still need to prepare for the military-grade magical artifact next.”
Zhang Yu knew that once he had finished cultivating the Artifact Refinement Prodigy arts, he would need to begin preparing for the initial refinement of the Heavenly Sun Radiance God prototype.
Refining this military-grade magical artifact prototype would be incredibly costly, from the preliminary technical preparations and material purchases to renting various equipment and laboratories.
Zhang Yu and Fu Ji had previously calculated the expenses, estimating a minimum of 300 Spirit Coins.
Considering potential losses and errors, the final cost could easily rise to 500 Spirit Coins.
And how many such projects ever stay perfectly within budget without overruns?
The more Zhang Yu thought about the upcoming expenses, the more he wanted to earn money.
“They say 1,000 Spirit Coins is enough to break through to the Golden Core stage, but if I want to win the Ten Greats League and enter a Sect, can an ordinary Golden Core possibly suffice?”
As Zhang Yu was deep in thought, his sister, Zhang Pianpian, replied with a message.
Zhang Pianpian: “True Monarch Thunder Pole has been dragging out project payments, bankrupting countless companies and creating hundreds of Soul Cultivators.”
Zhang Yu: “Is there no way to resolve this?”
Zhang Pianpian replied with a sigh: “If this were the ancient times, hundreds of years ago, I’d advise you to just let it go.”
Zhang Pianpian: “But in this modern era, as long as he remains within Kunxu and within the Myriad Laws University system, whether he’s at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage, he must abide by the rules.”
Zhang Pianpian: “Within the rules, he can crush you into silence.”
Zhang Pianpian: “But if he oversteps those boundaries, even as a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he will be struck down by lightning.”
Zhang Yu pondered this before replying thoughtfully: “Are you saying… he’s violated the rules?”
Zhang Pianpian: “I haven’t confirmed the specifics yet, but based on the available information, this man is definitely sitting on a major thunder.”
Zhang Yu: “Why do you say that?”
Zhang Pianpian: “Haven’t you wondered how the other companies, who spent even more money than you, managed to recoup their investments?”