Chapter 563: Infiltrating the Sect?
After instructing Zhang Yu about the gift-giving arrangements, True Monarch Magnetic Pole inquired about his preparations for the Design Competition.
True Monarch Magnetic Pole: “What kind of design are you planning? Do you have a direction in mind?”
Zhang Yu: “I’m currently working with my senior sister to survey Junior College Students…”
Zhang Yu explained his plan to gather information on Vocational Colleges and create a product tailored to the Junior College and Lower College Student markets.
As Zhang Yu spoke, True Monarch Magnetic Pole frowned slightly and replied: “Commercially, it certainly has potential.”
True Monarch Magnetic Pole: “But you must remember that there are no Junior College Students among the judges.”
True Monarch Magnetic Pole: “If your design is too heavily focused on Vocational College culture, the judges may not appreciate it.”
Zhang Yu: “I understand.”
Zhang Yu: “From my research, Junior College Students themselves dislike being stereotyped. I’ll adjust my design accordingly.”
True Monarch Magnetic Pole: “Good that you’re aware of that.”
True Monarch Magnetic Pole: “Once you have a design draft, send it to me. I’ll review it and offer feedback.”
True Monarch Magnetic Pole: “While submitting just the design is enough to enter and even win the Design Competition, including a physical prototype will make your entry stand out and impress the judges.”
True Monarch Magnetic Pole: “Of course, you’ll need the artifact refinement skills to pull that off. If you don’t have time to refine a high-quality prototype after finishing the design, don’t bother submitting one.”
Under True Monarch Magnetic Pole’s guidance, Zhang Yu gained a deeper understanding of the key aspects of participating in the Design Competition.
Over the following days, Zhang Yu received an increasing number of daily life videos from junior college students.
As the acceleration within the Supreme Clarity Realm intensified, the daily lives of these students unfolded before Zhang Yu’s eyes.
Shattered landscapes, collapsed teaching buildings, and ravaged campuses filled his vision, making him feel as if he had been transported to a war zone.
Through one student’s Bionic Eye perspective, he even witnessed a flying sword descending from the sky, hurtling toward their campus.
According to the students, similar flying sword Thunderous Resonances frequently echoed above their campuses.
They had grown accustomed to immediately seeking refuge in underground bunkers whenever the Thunderous Resonance sounded.
“Are vocational colleges really this heavily impacted by the war?” Zhang Yu wondered, his mind drifting back to his days working on civil engineering projects at vocational colleges. “It’s far more intense than before.”
Beyond the war’s shadow looming over the colleges, Zhang Yu also witnessed the lingering financial scars left by Spirit Transformation cultivators’ magical battles: half-sold teaching buildings, campus land repurposed for factories, forcibly demolished dormitories…
Under the shadow of war, the spread of various Demonic Cults within the Vocational Colleges seemed to intensify.
Though Zhang Yu never encountered a single Demonic Cult member, the constant anti-Demonic Cult propaganda, inspections, and advertisements seen through the eyes of Junior College Students made the tense atmosphere palpable.
He had witnessed Junior College Students being subjected to sudden street checks multiple times, especially those found walking around during work or class hours, who were immediately suspected of being Demonic Cult members.
Rumors of factory attacks causing shutdowns circulated frequently. Some blamed rival colleges, while others claimed the Demonic Cults were responsible, seeking rest. The conflicting information obscured the truth.
The war, the Demonic Cults, and the lingering effects of the financial crisis… all these factors combined to drastically increase the pressure on Junior College Students.
“Medicine prices have gone up again.”
“Sigh, the Principal said the pharamaceutical factory must prioritize supplying the Giant Corporations first, so the potion production for our school’s faculty and students will be reduced.”
Giant Corporations… Zhang Yu had heard about them before.
These were massive enterprises headquartered on the Seventh to Tenth Layers of Kunxu, their vast business operations primarily serving the Ten Great Sects.
In some respects, these Giant Corporations held even greater prestige than the Ten Great Universities, existing in an entirely different dimension compared to ordinary companies.
While their primary mission was to serve the sects, their operations inevitably impacted the first six layers of Kunxu.
Though headquartered on layers 7 through 10, they maintained numerous subsidiaries on layers 1 through 6, overseeing import-export trade for each layer or engaging in local business ventures.
If serving the sects was their primary objective, their secondary goal was to aggressively accumulate wealth, resources, and production capacity — for only through such means could they fulfill their primary mission.
As Zhang Yu scrolled through the videos, he reached the final Junior College Student’s daily life entry for the day.
The student, named Shui Haiyu, attended Mountain and Sea Vocational College, a junior college affiliated with Myriad Laws University.
In the video, Shui Haiyu was eagerly signing up for a club.
“Hello? Is this the Dual Cultivation Club?”
“Does it really improve your grades?”
“Alright, I’ll sign up.”
Late March.
Zhang Yu sighed inwardly as he looked at his account.
“Ah, over 100 Spirit Coins gone just like that.”
Not long ago, True Monarch Magnetic Pole had taken him to the Spirit Realm’s reception hall to meet several judges, to whom he had presented the prepared Spirit Coins.
Fortunately, Zhang Yu’s monthly income was substantial, so this 100 Spirit Coin expenditure didn’t delay his artifact refinement plans.
The entire process of delivering the money was swift, efficient, and straightforward. In Zhang Yu’s eyes, there was hardly any small talk — just meeting the person, introducing himself, and handing over the coins.
Zhang Yu even suspected that these Nascent Soul True Monarchs serving as judges might have arranged for artifact spirits to handle the receptions, given how streamlined their coin-collecting procedures were.
“I wonder how many contestants gave them money in this Design Competition.”
“If more than ten did, wouldn’t each judge get several hundred Spirit Coins?”
The thought of the judges earning so easily filled Zhang Yu with envy.
However, he quickly dismissed these distractions and focused his attention on the experiment bench.
Today was the day Zhang Yu would officially begin refining the Great Sky Sacred Law Sword Formation.
This military-grade magical artifact consisted of a sword formation composed of twelve flying swords, combining advanced flying sword techniques with the profound mysteries of formations.
Without the Feather Book’s enhancements and the accelerated progress granted by the Supreme Clarity Realm and his status as an Artifact Refinement Prodigy, Zhang Yu doubted he could have even started refining it within another year.
Unlike before, now that he had practiced the blueprints for each preliminary magical artifact to Level 20, the various techniques related to the Great Sky Sacred Law Sword Formation had become deeply ingrained in his mind.
“First, the first flying sword.”
Zhang Yu planned to refine the first Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Sword, then gradually refine it to Level 20.
Once he mastered the Level 20 techniques, repeating the refinement process for the remaining eleven Level 20 flying swords would be much simpler.
His Magic Power surged within him, and under his control, True Fire began to boil. Simultaneously, the sword embryo materials he had purchased were firmly locked in place on the experiment bench by the electric arcs emitted from the artifact refinement equipment.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu drew over the Level 3 spiritual energy that his assistants had cleansed and purified.
Spiritual energy also had levels. Refined and purified spiritual energy played various roles in spellcasting and artifact refinement.
However, Zhang Yu naturally didn’t have time for such tasks; Zi Yunzhen and Su Yunni handled them.
As the sword embryo gradually unfolded, Zhang Yu began imbuing it with Spirit Realm Restrictions.
“The communication technology of the Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Sword is crucial. It’s the key to transmitting Sword Intent within the sword formation and severing the Spirit Realm in the future…”
In the following days, Zhang Yu devoted most of his energy to refining the Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords, aside from his daily routine of watching Junior College Student videos and gathering related information.
But one particular event pulled him away from his sword refinement work.
Dark Spirit Realm.
Fu Ji and Zhang Yu’s projections sat on chairs, facing the Joy God, who had a thousand feet and a thousand hands. “Oh? You want my help?”
“Hmph, haven’t I helped you more than once already?”
“And what did I get in return? Vague scraps of information, offered without sincerity. Why should I help you again?”
Over the past few months, Fu Ji had been communicating with the Evil Gods, gathering information about their current situation, strategies, and trends, while also building trust with them.
The Dark Spirit Realm, with its safe zone characteristics, provided a basic communication space where Evil Gods could interact without immediately resorting to violence.
Previous collaborations and exchanges had established a foundation of trust between Fu Ji and the Joy God.
Fu Ji was keenly interested in the Evil Gods’ plans and whereabouts.
The Joy God, in turn, was equally intrigued by Fu Ji’s arrangements and influence at Myriad Laws University, repeatedly hinting that he wanted her to join their schemes.
However, whenever Fu Ji pressed for details about their plans, the Joy God would always laugh and change the subject.
Yet, through repeated probing and exchanges, the Joy God increasingly sensed Fu Ji’s vast experience. Her casual references to legendary figures like the Evil God Kings made him realize the Fortune God’s unfathomable depth, as if she knew the secret histories of every Evil God King by heart.
Today, sensing the time was right, Joy God said, “Fortune God, haven’t you always wanted to know our plans?”
Fu Ji and Zhang Yu’s hearts quickened, their ears perked up as they listened intently to his next words.
Joy God continued, “To show our sincerity, I’ll reveal a bit more before asking for your help. Our target is to locate the reincarnations of Great Powers within the sects.”
Fu Ji’s heart skipped a beat. “Divine Monarch Jade Nectar?”
The thousand eyes on Joy God’s thousand hands and feet seemed to narrow, revealing a hint of a smile. “Exactly. Divine Monarch Jade Nectar has secretly transferred cultivation for countless reincarnated Great Powers. The Five Taxes of Heavenly Beings they’ve evaded amount to astronomical sums.”
“The sect disciples involved could shake the Ten Great Sects to their core, even making Immortals frown.”
“But our goal isn’t to help the Immortals fight corruption, of course.”
“Our true aim is to use Divine Monarch Jade Nectar to uncover the list of reincarnated Great Powers, along with their secret cultivation transfers and tax evasion ledgers.”
Fu Ji’s heart jolted. “You intend to blackmail these reincarnated Great Powers? To infiltrate the sects?”
“Such audacity.”
“But you can’t achieve this alone.”
“There must be higher-ranking Evil Gods above you, right?”
“And someone within the sects must be aiding you. Who is it?”