Chapter 612: Student Zhang Yu, Do You Have Anything to Say?
“Ten Thousand Spirits Magic Power: Driving Kunxu, Driving the Immortal Dao, Driving Heaven’s Will.”
As Dao Qiankun’s promotional slogan echoed across the heavens and earth, he, as a shareholder of the Ten Thousand Spirits Magic Power Production Group, conjured a sky full of black Yin Lightning with one hand and roaring white Yang Lightning with the other. In the next instant, the two forces violently collided.
With the clash of Yin and Yang Lightning, the incandescent lightning solidified into a tangible form, descending from the sky like a pillar of light that pierced through heaven and earth.
This was the military-grade daoist art from Myriad Laws University’s Dao Techniques Department: the Bipolar Primordial Magnetic Divine Light Cannon.
As the pillar of light descended, fine electric arcs surged wildly within a kilometer radius. Even these aftershocks caused every combatant on the battlefield to feel a tingling numbness throughout their bodies, with sparks crackling from their hair.
Facing the full force of the lightning pillar, Kuang Tianqing’s heart sank.
She had just endured a series of intense battles and hadn’t had time to rest or recover.
In contrast, Dao Qiankun had long since recuperated in the sky and had even been waiting in that position to charge his daoist art.
This utterly impossible level of output in a one-on-one duel amplified the effectiveness of Dao Qiankun’s strike to an extreme degree.
Yet Kuang Tianqing had no choice but to defend with all her might, knowing that direct confrontation was her only option.
Kuang Tianqing activated her Heavenly Demon Void Art, Cursed Heaven Myriad Demon Throne, and every cultivation art and military-grade Bionic she possessed, pushing them to their absolute limits.
In the next moment, Kuang Tianqing’s figure was engulfed by the pillar of light, but the strike drained her Magic Power and Gang Qi to near depletion.
The power she had borrowed from her teammates through dual cultivation, already weakened by the earlier fierce battle, was now completely exhausted under the oppressive force of Dao Qiankun’s attack.
Simultaneously, she sensed Zhang Yu’s remaining flying swords and Sword Pills encircling her, channeling bolts of lightning to further amplify the power of Dao Qiankun’s strike.
A sudden realization flooded Kuang Tianqing’s mind: “That Immortal Scum! Did he foresee this before his death?”
“He must have conspired with Dao Qiankun… He deliberately left this escape route open, specifically positioning Dao Qiankun to block it…”
“Zhang Yu!!!”
In the next instant, Kuang Tianqing’s body was completely consumed by the lightning pillar, vanishing into the blinding white light that filled the sky.
Dao Qiankun’s control over this daoist arts attack was clearly masterful. As the lightning pillar dissipated, the structures below remained virtually undamaged, collapsing back together with a thunderous boom, completely engulfing Kuang Tianqing’s figure.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Zhang Yu gradually awoke from the darkness.
“Huh?”
At first, he felt disoriented, but as his consciousness cleared, he began to recall the events leading up to his loss of consciousness.
“I was fighting Kuang Tianqing…”
“Am I dead?”
“Is this the Spirit Realm?”
“Have I… become a Soul Cultivator?”
Just as these thoughts raced through his mind, a voice reached his ears: “You’re awake?”
Zhang Yu forced his eyes open, recognizing the familiar sky above.
He lowered his gaze, surveying the surrounding ruins, and murmured, “I’m not dead?”
Looking up again, he saw Dao Qiankun, Jiutian Liu, Yan Qianji, Ye Xingli, and other powerful figures from various academies standing beside him, all staring down at him.
Cang Shenyu of Vajra University said, “I gave you emergency treatment.”
“Even though you used the False Death Life Stake, you still managed to survive. You were incredibly lucky.”
Zhang Yu’s muddled mind gradually cleared, and more memories flooded back.
“That’s right. I used a False Death Life Stake.”
Zhang Yu had first seen a False Death Life Stake used by Che Yufei during the Civil Engineering Competition.
Later, he learned that workers used these stakes as temporary substitutes for Living Stakes to deceive quality control inspectors. It was a trick not taught in Civil Engineering textbooks, something teachers tacitly avoided mentioning.
Though the death was simulated, Zhang Yu knew that under Kuang Tianqing’s final, ferocious assault and Dao Qiankun’s strike, his chances of survival had been slim.
Especially after completely devouring Kuang Tianqing, only the two of them remained in the small, sealed space.
If Kuang Tianqing were to tamper with his corpse… Zhang Yu shuddered at the thought of how unlikely his survival would be.
“I’m actually still alive?”
A flicker of surprise sparked in Zhang Yu’s heart. He had already resigned himself to resurrection, which would cost a considerable sum in Spirit Coins. Even if someone offered to sponsor him after the competition… wouldn’t it be better to simply give him the money directly, rather than waste it on his resurrection?
Zhang Yu lifted his head and surveyed the surrounding ruins. “Where’s Kuang Tianqing? Where did she go?”
He glanced at his own body and hurriedly inquired, “She didn’t do anything to my corpse, did she?”
Dao Qiankun smiled faintly and pointed to a nearby hole in the ground, saying, “She retreated.”
Zhang Yu paused, slightly stunned. “Retreated? But… she didn’t retaliate against me before leaving?”
Jiutian Liu sighed. “Kuang Tianqing may appear arrogant and unruly, but she’s always been remarkably rational.”
“Just as she said, ‘Where money flows, Heaven’s Will follows.’ If she’s acting on Heaven’s behalf, she must follow the direction of wealth accumulation.”
Jiutian Liu gestured toward a tunnel that had been dug several meters deep. “Even after Brother Dao’s final strike severely depleted her energy, she never gave up.”
“Look at the tunnel’s direction — it’s likely the first thing she started digging after being trapped. She was trying to tunnel back to the battlefield to turn the tide of battle.”
“Even with your corpse lying nearby, she didn’t waste a single second messing with you. Instead, she immediately prioritized returning to the battlefield.”
“However, the extraordinary structural integrity of the surrounding buildings still posed a significant challenge for Kuang Tianqing. Coupled with her already severely depleted power, each few meters of progress cost her considerable time.”
“During her absence, the battlefield’s balance of power shifted. Without Kuang Tianqing’s interference, we systematically eliminated the elite students from the Four Heavenly Demon Schools.”
“After capturing several students in succession, the remaining students from the Four Heavenly Demon Schools began to scatter and flee. Following up with pursuit and capturing several more, we prepared to regroup and jointly suppress Kuang Tianqing.”
At this point, Yan Qianji walked to another underground tunnel and analyzed, “Kuang Tianqing likely detected the changing battlefield dynamics through the Four-School Group’s surveillance network.”
“Realizing that even her return couldn’t turn the tide of battle and that she might even face encirclement, she quickly changed her strategy.”
Yan Qianji’s Bionic Eye scanned the tunnel’s data, continuing his analysis: “Judging by the excavation marks, her change of heart was swift and decisive.”
“She still didn’t waste any more time on you. She quickly determined her retreat direction and began digging.”
“Of course, this was also because she believed you were already dead.”
Zhang Yu nodded inwardly, understanding that for Kuang Tianqing, it was better to prioritize retreat than waste time taking revenge on Zhang Yu’s corpse.
Otherwise, if Dao Qiankun surrounded her with his forces, it would cause immense damage to both her physical body and Bionic.
And if captured, it would be a catastrophic blow to her reputation.
Even so, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but marvel at Kuang Tianqing’s composure and decisiveness. He could almost picture her seething with frustration, suppressing the urge to desecrate his corpse, and frantically digging through the earth…
Just then, Zhang Yu suddenly asked, “Is the competition still going on?”
Ye Xingli nodded. “It’ll be over in a few minutes.”
Zhang Yu immediately shouted, “Kuang Tianqing!”
“You’ve lost again!”
“This is the second time you’ve fled when facing me!”
“Do you hear me, Kuang Tianqing?!”
With Zhang Yu’s furious roar, a visible sonic wave erupted from his mouth, reverberating across the heavens and earth.
The instant after his shout, a sharp pain shot through his weakened body, the strain on his internal organs forcing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.
Yet, Zhang Yu deemed it all worthwhile. By seizing this final live broadcast moment to unleash that roar, he could greatly boost his popularity and traffic, amplifying his victory and enhancing his Immortal Dao Potential.
Having survived this battle, Zhang Yu understood more clearly than ever that to catch up with Kuang Tianqing and Dao Qiankun, he needed to seize every opportunity — every moment, every shred of a chance — to earn money and grow stronger.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “And… that cunning old fox might be lurking nearby right now, waiting for a chance to ambush me.”
Several kilometers away, Kuang Tianqing, who was observing the battlefield, heard Zhang Yu’s distant, thunderous roar. The icy glint in her eyes grew even more sinister.
Originally, she had stayed behind hoping for an opportunity — perhaps the students of the four Myriad Laws Schools, complacent in their apparent victory, would let their guard down, allowing her to free prisoners or kidnap someone.
But she never expected that, just as the competition was nearing its end, Zhang Yu would suddenly shout out:
“Immortal Scum…”
In that instant, Zhang Yu’s priority on Kuang Tianqing’s “must-devour” list surged dramatically, now second only to Dao Qiankun.
In Kuang Tianqing’s eyes, Zhang Yu had become her dark history, a stain on her reputation, a roadblock hindering her investment value, advertising potential, and Immortal Dao Potential.
Zhang Yu… had become her enemy on the path.
Only by devouring him could she fully recover her losses.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield:
The forces of Celestial Monsters University and Pill Cauldron University stood locked in a tense standoff.
A student with a dragon’s head and human body glared at the Pill Cauldron University students before him, snarling, “You scum… you’ve been holding us back this whole time. Are you satisfied now?”
His opponent smirked. “Human infighting? Monsterfolk should stay out of it.”
In the blink of an eye, the final minutes of the competition came to an end.
Streams of divine light descended, whisking the students and captives back to their northern encampment.
Kuang Tianqing had barely landed on the mountain peak when holographic projections rained down from the sky, banners of various news media surrounding her.
A monsterfolk reporter asked, “Kuang Tianqing, hello. I’m a reporter from Peng Sect Immortal News. Do you have any comments on your two escapes from Zhang Yu?”
Kuang Tianqing’s face darkened. Too lazy to answer, she turned her head to the other side.
A human reporter asked, “I’m from Patrolling Heaven Records. Student Kuang, what are your thoughts on the Civil Engineering Department?”
“Fuck this,” Kuang Tianqing muttered through gritted teeth, ignoring all the projections as she strode away.
The reporters then swarmed Dao Qiankun, who had arrived shortly after.
Seeing the projections crowding around him, Dao Qiankun waved weakly to Zhang Yu, who was behind him. “Come over here, Zhang Yu.”
Feeling the incessant flashes of light and the sea of staring projections, Zhang Yu suddenly grew nervous.
At the same moment, a reporter asked, “Student Zhang Yu, do you have anything to say?”