Chapter 557: Celestial Monsters Come Begging
Myriad Laws University City, 671st floor.
At the newly opened construction site, a golden figure soared into the sky — Zhang Yu’s Level 20 Heavenly Sun Radiance God.
With its military-grade performance unleashed, the Heavenly Sun Radiance God’s power had become overwhelmingly vast. Zhang Yu dared not test it in the laboratory, fearing it would damage the equipment and instruments.
Instead, he brought the Heavenly Sun Radiance God to the University City’s summit for testing, simultaneously using it as a promotional stunt to pave the way for its future commercialization.
During the time Zhang Yu was refining the Level 20 Heavenly Sun Radiance God, he also completed the Artifact Refinement Department’s final exams.
However, as these were only the final exams for the first semester of his fourth year, while his overall score had improved, his departmental and university-wide rankings remained unchanged.
This was because every student ranked ahead of him had also performed exceptionally well on their final exams.
Zhang Yu understood that without the boost from competitions or a Military Certificate, his rankings would likely only improve after the end of each academic year, when the graduating Tenth-Year Students left and a new cohort of Tenth-Year Students entered.
At that moment, above the 671st floor, the five-meter-tall Heavenly Sun Radiance God stood in mid-air, its golden flames surging violently. Even hundreds of meters away, one could feel the searing heat radiating from it.
To Zhang Yu, the Heavenly Sun Radiance God felt like an extension of his own body. With a mere thought, the puppet shot forward like a meteor, tearing through the atmosphere and shattering the sound barrier in layers as it continued to accelerate.
Simultaneously, Zhang Yu sensed the Heavenly Sun Radiance God’s chest cavity blazing with intense heat, each second unleashing a torrent of Magic Power to power its movements.
After the puppet’s Magic Power Core fully unlocked its military-grade capabilities, it transformed into the Eternal Sun Star Core’s power source. Not only did it possess a Magic Power capacity of 15,000 units, but its output reached the Foundation Establishment Limit every second.
This overwhelming power resulted in a dramatic enhancement of all performance aspects, including flight speed, flame temperature, and operational efficiency.
In the next instant, the Heavenly Sun Radiance God swept across the construction site with a golden, flaming arc, engulfing vast swaths of debris in its wake.
Amidst the intense burning of golden flames, construction debris instantly transformed into wisps of blue smoke.
Strands of Magic Power were extracted from the smoke, converging into the Eternal Sun Star Core within the puppet.
This was the Eternal Sun Radiance Flame, a capability unlocked when the Heavenly Sun Radiance God unleashed its military-grade performance. By incinerating matter, it refined Magic Power to replenish its own reserves.
“With this, not only does it gain waste disposal capabilities, but it can also continuously replenish Magic Power into the Eternal Sun Star Core, granting it exceptional endurance.”
“Combined with its ultra-low-latency communication technology…”
Zhang Yu inwardly marveled, “Even for long-term remote operations, the Heavenly Sun Radiance God can handle it with ease.”
In that moment, Zhang Yu seemed to envision the puppet earning him money daily after its deployment.
The next instant, as Zhang Yu’s thoughts shifted, the Heavenly Sun Radiance God’s body was completely engulfed in golden flames. Its armor and skeletal structure, originally composed of high-strength materials, transformed into layers of radiant fire.
“Unleashing its military-grade performance has significantly enhanced the effects of its Fire Evasion techniques as well.”
Parameters related to the Heavenly Sun Radiance God appeared in Zhang Yu’s Bionic Eye: “Currently, 85% of the entire body can be temporarily transformed into Eternal Sun Radiance Flame.”
“Not only have its speed and combustion efficiency skyrocketed again, but…”
The humanoid golden flame in mid-air suddenly shifted, transforming into a massive hand that scooped up piles of bricks and stones.
The flame then morphed into a fiery dragon, swirling through the sky to transport cement to a distant location.
Throughout these rapid transformations, the flame’s temperature remained strictly controlled, causing only slight heating to any materials it touched.
Zi Yunzhen, observing nearby and recording the scene, secretly marveled: “Such remarkable heat containment! After the military-grade Heavenly Sun Radiance God undergoes Fire Evasion transformation, not only can its size and shape be freely altered, but the Eternal Sun Radiance Flame can also solidify into any form, with both shape and temperature under precise control.”
“This thing could adapt to any environment and perform any task.”
Zi Yunzhen thought enviously, “If I had a military-grade puppet like this working for me every day, earning me money, I’d be living the dream!”
The other workers on the construction site were both startled and fearful, thinking to themselves, “Another one trying to steal our jobs.”
After conducting a series of tests, Zhang Yu felt confident: “The Heavenly Sun Radiance God can handle both construction work and artifact refinement.”
“Then I need to plan carefully.”
If he had obtained the Heavenly Sun Radiance God a year or two earlier, Zhang Yu would have focused its efforts solely on artifact refinement.
But the situation had changed. Construction projects were booming across University City as Myriad Laws University entered a major infrastructure expansion phase. With the Heavenly Sun Radiance God working alongside the other members of Zhang Yu’s company, they could generate substantial profits.
Moreover, while working on construction sites, the Heavenly Sun Radiance God could simultaneously handle waste disposal. By charging for waste removal and burning construction debris to extract Magic Power, it could replenish its own energy reserves.
With this in mind, Zhang Yu made his decision: “For now, construction work will be the primary focus, with artifact refinement as a secondary task.”
Next, Zhang Yu planned to integrate the Heavenly Sun Radiance God into the company’s projects, collaborating with employees to enhance construction efficiency and speed.
As Zhang Yu left the construction site, he noticed an unusually large number of monsterfolk, many of whom were students from Celestial Monsters University.
“Why are so many Celestial Monsters University students here?” he wondered inwardly. He activated his Bionic Eye to search the Spirit Realm for answers and discovered that Civil Engineering Department group chats had been buzzing about the issue for days, but he had been too focused on artifact refinement to notice.
Feng Tingting: “It’s all the fault of those damn Finance Department bastards. They’re complaining about the high labor costs and worker shortages in Civil Engineering.”
Feng Tingting: “The murderous bastards are even importing workers from Celestial Monsters University!”
Zhang Yu felt a surge of anger. “How could they do something like this?” he demanded.
Zhang Yu: “Has the Civil Engineering Department protested?”
Feng Tingting: “Of course! Director Gao led a group to the Finance Department and slammed his fist on their table, but others talked him down.”
Feng Tingting: “And it’s not just foreign workers. The Finance Department is also importing cheap Living Stakes, beef, lamb, pork, chicken, fish… everything from Celestial Monsters University!”
Feng Tingting sighed, “Although Civil Engineering salaries have been reduced, the cost of construction materials has also decreased, and meat prices have plummeted. So many people are supporting the Finance Department now.”
Feng Tingting continued, “In the end, Director Gao activated the city’s Grand Formation and clashed directly with the Finance Department. He persuaded the university’s higher-ups that many critical facilities within University City still need to be built by our own Civil Engineering Department personnel, which preserved quite a few high-paying positions.”
Zhang Yu then turned his attention to other group chats, particularly the “Top 50 Students” group, hoping to find more information.
Jiutian Liu: “Importing labor and resources from the Celestial Monsters realm is an inevitable trend. It will lower costs, enhance our university’s overall competitiveness, benefit Myriad Laws University, and ultimately benefit the students.”
Jiutian Liu: “All of you in this group are the university’s Heavenly Chosen. You should strongly support this initiative.”
Jiutian Liu: “If you have any concerns, please discuss them with me privately. Do not spread rumors or negative opinions that could damage our reputation or strain relations with Celestial Monsters University.”
Jin Guangyuan, second-ranked in the Finance Department: “Senior Brother Nine Heavens is right. Strengthening ties with Celestial Monsters University is a policy established by the university’s leadership, and we should all fully support it.”
Zhang Yu watched the Finance Department students following Jiutian Liu, all enthusiastically supporting the policy, and thought to himself, “Are they opening up trade and markets to win over Celestial Monsters?”
Fu Ji said, “Tensions are simmering among the Ten Great Universities, barely suppressed by the Sect. Aside from the open competition of the upcoming Ten Greats League, the undercurrents of conflict will never cease.”
“On Myriad Laws’ side, they’ve allied with Immortal Soldiers, Heavenly Sword, and Vajra to oppose Heavenly Demon, Netherworld, White Bone, and Joyous Union.”
“Of the remaining two, Pill Cauldron University maintains strict neutrality, focused solely on whether their annual medicinal exports meet quotas and quality standards.”
“Only Celestial Monsters University wavers between alliances. If Myriad Laws can secure their support, they’ll gain a significant advantage in the Ten Greats conflicts.”
Zhang Yu thought, “If that’s the case, the Heavenly Demon and Netherworld factions… they’re probably trying to win over Celestial Monsters too.”
“The Ten Greats’ sole monsterfolk university has suddenly become the most coveted prize.”
“As for Myriad Laws, the Finance Department seems to be the main force driving the effort to win over Celestial Monsters University.”
Looking at the names in the top 50 group chat and listening to their discussions about the university’s strategic direction, Zhang Yu suddenly felt a surge of curiosity.
“I wonder which of these top 50 is a reincarnated Great Power? And are there any followers of Evil Gods or members of the Demonic Cults among them?”
Zhang Yu recalled the words True Monarch Magnetic Pole and Nine Heavens Glazed Capital had once told him.
The Sect’s positions were reserved for reincarnated Great Powers who descended from the Sects.
With the Ten Greats League being such a grand event this year, would these reincarnated Great Powers make an appearance? Or perhaps… they had already risen to the pinnacle of their respective universities, making participation in the Ten Greats League a natural progression.
“Could Dao Qiankun, the top student at Myriad Laws University, also be a reincarnated Great Power?”
Realizing he might have to contend with these so-called reincarnated Great Powers in the upcoming Ten Greats League, Zhang Yu felt a renewed urgency to enhance his own strength.
Just then, Zhang Yu received a distress message from Ying Xin.
Underground construction site.
A group of monsterfolk stood facing Shi Huaiyu and her companions, their eyes brimming with malice.
Shi Huaiyu, Ying Xin, and Xiao Qingxuan shielded Shi Yunxiang behind them, glaring fiercely at the monsterfolk.
A project manager from the Finance Department stepped between the two groups, scolding Shi Huaiyu and her companions: “What’s going on here? Didn’t I tell you to avoid conflicts with Celestial Monsters University students? Why did you provoke them?”