Chapter 700: The Extreme Tiger Space Pouch Arrives
In the corridor of the Research Association, a brilliant burst of fiery light heralded the gradual emergence of a brand-new Heavenly Sun Radiance God.
True Monarch String Tone nodded slowly. “I’ve completed the skeletal framework. The remaining finishing touches are up to you.”
After carefully instructing Bei Wufeng, Yan Qianji, and the others, True Monarch String Tone departed from the laboratory.
As a Nascent Soul True Monarch, especially after Magnetic Pole’s promotion to principal, String Tone had also assumed the position of Department Head of the Artifact Refinement Department. His days were filled with countless responsibilities.
Had it not been for Zhang Yu’s persistent invitations, True Monarch String Tone would never have personally undertaken the refinement of this magical artifact.
After seeing String Tone off, Yan Qianji suddenly frowned. “Where’s Jin Jun? Where did he go?”
Jin Jun and Yan Qianji had been assigned to the Heavenly Sun Radiance God project together.
In Yan Qianji’s view, this was nothing more than a corrupt scheme to benefit Zhang Yu personally. They had become mere private slaves, refining magical artifacts for his personal use.
What truly infuriated Yan Qianji was Jin Jun’s habit of pushing tasks onto him, the outsourced worker, while Jin Jun, a full-time employee, spent his days fawning over Zhang Yu.
The fact that Jin Jun hadn’t even shown up for today’s crucial finalization work only deepened Yan Qianji’s resentment.
Hearing Yan Qianji’s accusation, Bei Wufeng’s eyes flickered. He thought to himself, “Is he asking me?”
Bei Wufeng knew everyone in the laboratory was aware of his close relationship with Jin Jun. After all, they had been fellow disciples before joining the lab.
With a faint smile, Bei Wufeng replied, “He’s probably busy with something.”
“Busy? What could be more important than finalizing the Heavenly Sun Radiance God?” Yan Qianji snapped. “True Monarch String Tone just explained so many critical points, and the project leader missed it all! What happens when problems arise later?”
Turning to Zi Yunzhen, who stood nearby, Yan Qianji asked, “Little Zi, do you know where Jin Jun went?”
Zi Yunzhen, a former classmate of Zhang Yu in artifact refinement, had recently become a legitimate Golden Core True Person following the issuance of new credentials after the Great Upheaval.
Watching Yan Qianji’s aloof demeanor, Zi Yunzhen couldn’t help but scoff inwardly. “This guy… still thinks he’s a Spirit Transformation disciple, the top artifact refiner.”
“Little Zi?” Zi Yunzhen thought darkly. “Since when did you get to call me that? We’re both Golden Core cultivators now, but you clearly don’t understand who’s a full-time employee and who’s just a contractor.”
“He still thinks this is school, where everything’s about grades?” she mused. “This is the workplace now. It’s about rank, salary, benefits… and you can’t compete with me in any of those.”
Ignoring Yan Qianji, Zi Yunzhen turned to Su Yunni, her former classmate and current colleague. “It’s almost time. Let’s go to the Medicinal Hall for our medicine.”
The mention of the Medicinal Hall brought a wave of embarrassment to Yan Qianji’s face.
As a contractor, he lacked the privileges and benefits to access the Medicinal Hall. Even taking his medicine in the office or laboratory was against regulations, and he’d be chased away by administrative staff. This left him with no choice but to sneak his medicine in corridors, stairwells, and other secluded spots.
During these moments, watching the full-time employees flock to the Medicinal Hall in groups, completely ignoring him, filled Yan Qianji with humiliation.
Just then, Bei Wufeng stepped in to ease Yan Qianji’s awkwardness, smiling as he said, “Yunzhen, where’s Jin Jun? Let’s call him to join us at the Medicinal Hall.”
Zi Yunzhen replied, “Jin Jun? Oh, he stopped all the assistants from going to the True Monarch’s office earlier. He insisted on delivering the good news himself — to report the completion of the Heavenly Sun Radiance God project.”
Yan Qianji frowned. “For something like that, couldn’t he just send a message? Why bother going in person? The day’s tasks aren’t even finished yet…”
Bei Wufeng glanced at Yan Qianji, thinking to himself, “You were truly spoiled as a Spirit Transformation disciple.”
Through their recent close interactions, Bei Wufeng had come to realize that Yan Qianji was a man wholly focused on technology, still clinging to his former status as a Spirit Transformation disciple, unable to break free from that mindset.
This was precisely why Yan Qianji was the most unpopular outsourced employee in the entire laboratory, barely on good terms with anyone.
“He used to have everyone revolving around him. Now that the tables have turned, he still hasn’t learned how to handle it.”
Meanwhile, in the corridor on the other side, Jin Jun stood outside the office, silently listening to the rhythmic slapping sounds emanating from within.
He thought to himself, “True Monarch Blazing Light must be cultivating with True Person White Radiance again. As expected of a True Monarch — truly diligent.”
The so-called True Person White Radiance was the Daoist name Bai Zhenzhen had registered upon reaching the Golden Core Realm.
Since joining the Research Institute, Bai Zhenzhen had been assigned no specific tasks. Her sole daily duty was to cultivate alongside Zhang Yu.
If a regular employee spent work hours cultivating, Jin Jun would consider them lazy, courting death, and engaging in unfair competition.
But when someone wealthier, stronger, and his superior — a Nascent Soul True Monarch — did the same, Jin Jun only felt the awe of the Nascent Soul Realm’s power, along with envy and longing.
“A True Monarch is a True Monarch,” he mused. “They can cultivate openly during work hours. Any ordinary employee would have been fired long ago.”
Just then, the slapping sounds inside the office ceased. Jin Jun knew this meant their cultivation session had ended, as the physical training noises had stopped.
Those slapping sounds were naturally the sound of flesh striking the air — what else could they be?
After making a request, Jin Jun entered the office as the door opened and immediately reported the completion of the Heavenly Sun Radiance God.
Beside him, Bai Zhenzhen had already switched back to her Spirit Root and sat cross-legged on the floor, drenched in sweat, silently practicing her breathing technique to circulate spiritual energy and Magic Power.
Zhang Yu listened to Jin Jun’s report and nodded slightly. “Excellent. You finished ahead of schedule. You’ve done well.”
Jin Jun quickly replied, “All thanks to True Monarch’s brilliant leadership and skillful guidance. We merely followed your instructions to the letter.”
“Oh? Is that so?” Zhang Yu tapped his finger, summoning a work data report. “Jin Jun, this is your laboratory attendance record for the past month. How is it so much lower than Yan Qianji’s?”
Seeing Jin Jun’s panicked expression, Zhang Yu sighed. “Jin Jun, if you focus on your work in the laboratory, I won’t neglect you. From now on, stop hovering around me.”
“You may leave.”
Watching Jin Jun hastily retreat, Zhang Yu shook his head and turned to Bai Zhenzhen.
Through the Spirit Root exchange operations, Zhang Yu could sense Bai Zhenzhen’s cultivation progressing by leaps and bounds each day.
The Nascent Soul-Tier Feather Spirit Root had clearly provided Bai Zhenzhen with a tremendous stimulus, rapidly converting the potential she had been forced to unlock through relentless combat over the past year into tangible cultivation progress.
As Zhang Yu turned his gaze toward Bai Zhenzhen, the conditions for upgrading the Azure Lotus Sword Embryo to the 4th-tier appeared in his vision:
“Nascent Soul Realm, followed by nourishment from ten level 40 cultivation arts?”
Zhang Yu understood that nourishing the sword embryo with ten level 40 cultivation arts wouldn’t be difficult. The key was for Bai Zhenzhen to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.
However, considering her recent rapid progress and the abundant resources at her disposal, Zhang Yu was confident that Bai Zhenzhen’s breakthrough wouldn’t be long in coming.
In the next instant, a flash of light and shadow filled Zhang Yu’s vision as a white sword qi crackling with thunderlight slashed toward him.
Amidst a series of explosive clashes, Zhang Yu exchanged blows with Bai Zhenzhen’s sword qi multiple times. With each collision, he felt the sword qi’s destructive power increase by severalfold.
“This is the direction A-Zhen’s True Spirit Root is evolving toward.”
“Her attacks continuously adapt to her target, constantly enhancing the power of her sword techniques to inflict ever-greater destruction.”
“For now, there’s no opportunity to test the limits of this power growth.”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “But if she has enough time and space to launch a sustained assault, she might even be able to kill a Nascent Soul True Monarch.”
Withdrawing her sword qi, Bai Zhenzhen exhaled deeply and looked at Zhang Yu. “Yu Zi… this guy is getting tougher and tougher.”
“The gap between us is huge now.”
Bai Zhenzhen sighed. “Even if I tried to cut off your root, I don’t think I could!”
Clenching her fists, she said with a mix of satisfaction and frustration, “I just can’t cut it off!”
A chill ran down Zhang Yu’s spine. “You damn… stop bringing up such dangerous topics!”
“What’s dangerous about it?” Bai Zhenzhen retorted. “It’s perfectly safe! Even if my Extreme Emotion Sword Dao goes out of control in the future, I won’t have to worry about accidentally killing you.”
With that, she couldn’t resist eyeing Zhang Yu up and down before running her hands over him. “Sigh, if we could make flying swords out of your extra parts, they’d be incredibly tough and strong.”
Zhang Yu quickly slapped Bai Zhenzhen’s hand away. “I don’t have any extra parts!”
Just then, an important news alert popped up in Zhang Yu’s Bionic Eye: Immortal Armaments University was about to unveil its latest spatial product.
As the leader of the Research Association, Zhang Yu received an invitation to the launch event.
A thought struck him: “The Extreme Tiger Space Pouch is finally here?”
At the joint press conference held by Immortal Armaments University and Extreme Tiger Company, the next-generation spatial product was officially unveiled.
Divine Monarch Thousand Puppets held up a palm-sized box and declared, “This is the personal storage terminal we at Immortal Armaments University have created for the billions of cultivators in Kunxu — the Void Box.”
“To ensure that everyone can enjoy the convenience of spatial technology, to share the benefits of Immortal Dao technology with all living beings, I told my team’s True Monarchs on the very first day of the Void Box’s development: ‘I want every university student to be able to afford a Void Box.’”
“They vehemently opposed me, trying to dissuade me, telling me it was impossible, absolutely impossible, that we could never reduce the cost to such a low level.”
“But after 89 hours of meetings, 151 heated debates, and 12 outright clashes, I finally convinced all my team members.”
“During this time, old friends left, team members resigned, and some even tore off their Bionic Eyes and wept hysterically, warning me that this approach would lead to losses. But I remained resolute. Even if the Void Box doesn’t turn a single profit, I’m determined to make it happen!”
“I want the world to know that even if the first-generation Void Box doesn’t make money, I’ll still produce it. So what will the second generation be like? Let me hear your applause!”
The press conference erupted in applause. Zhang Yu, who had descended in his Spirit Realm Projection form, couldn’t help but raise his hand and clap along, thinking to himself, “Making personal storage terminals accessible to everyone… that’s a good thing, right?”
Next, technical specifications and related services for the Void Box were projected one by one.
True Monarch Thousand Puppets continued, “To ensure more people can enjoy the convenience of Spatial Technology, we’ve integrated an advertising system into every Void Box. Simply watch an ad each day to unlock its storage capabilities.”
“Watch an ad, and you can open the Void Box for free. Store items for free. Just one ad a day grants you an extra day of storage.”
“For Void Boxes with over a million Spirit Coins in R&D costs, we’re letting you store items for free indefinitely! Lifetime storage!”
“Traditional spatial storage devices, in their relentless pursuit of maximum capacity, focused solely on increasing the volume of scalable materials. They failed to consider that mass doesn’t decrease when matter is compressed. Many people simply can’t afford to carry such heavy loads.”
“During the design of the Void Box, we considered the limited weight-bearing capacity of most people. To ensure everyone could lift and carry it, we introduced a lightweight version that can only shrink and expand up to 10 cubic meters of material, making it manageable even for Qi Refining stage cultivators.”
Meanwhile, at Netherworld University, Wang Yin was also watching the press conference.
As he saw the final price of the lightweight Void Box — 10 Spirit Coins, payable in installments only — he felt a strong sense of crisis.
Wang Yin thought to himself, “This Void Box is targeting the low-end market, aiming to monopolize all the Foundation Establishment students.”
Divine Monarch Nether Spring, standing beside him, analyzed, “Myriad Laws University’s Great Void Cloud Repository was already unaffordable for anyone below the Nascent Soul or Golden Core stages. Foundation Establishment students could only watch with envy, leaving the Foundation Establishment market virtually untapped.”
“Now that the Void Box has been released, it will likely rapidly dominate the low-end market and become widespread among Foundation Establishment students.”
Kuang Tianqing, observing the Void Box’s specifications, mused, “To promote this product, Extreme Tiger Company will probably pour massive amounts of money into advertising.”
As Kuang Tianqing had predicted, Void Box advertisements began appearing extensively across the battlefields of Kunxu’s Second and Third Layers.
When Zhang Yu looked through the Research Association’s building toward the center of the Grand Void, he could see beams of light projecting images of the Void Box into the void.
Meanwhile, Spirit Realm websites and news outlets were flooded with content about the Void Box.
One after another, Spirit Realm influencers and high-traffic streamers received commercial deals from Extreme Tiger Company and began promoting the Void Box.
For example, Zhang Yu saw Tian Shengong holding up a Void Box in his livestream, saying, “For storage, I only use the Void Box.”
“This is a spatial product being sold at cost. Unlike Myriad Laws’ Great Void Cloud Repository, which is pure ‘intelligence tax’ — just brand premium. Let the rich fools buy it if they want; I’m not.”
The overwhelming advertising campaign made schools and companies alike feel the immense momentum of Immortal Armaments University and Extreme Tiger Group.
The project teams from Heavenly Demon and Netherworld Universities were immediately spurred into action, sensing a significant threat. They accelerated their research and development efforts, aiming to launch their own spatial products sooner, seize market share, and accelerate the establishment of a spatial ecosystem.