After a long while, Ma Xuan finally replied to Cong Na, “No need to replace him.”

Ma Xuan continued, “We are the main force anyway. Whether Ji Yuanxu is a bit stronger or weaker in this position, it won’t make much of a difference. And Zhang Yu hasn’t trained with us for so long, so re-establishing team chemistry would be another troublesome matter. Let’s stick with Ji Yuanxu.”

Although Ma Xuan gave a string of reasons, he knew in his heart that not replacing Ji Yuanxu was not for any of those reasons.

Looking at the ranking chart, Ma Xuan thought to himself, “The old dean’s lifespan is almost exhausted…”

Ma Xuan knew that in the Civil Engineering Department, Dean Lin of the Peace faction and Dean Gao of the War faction were the most influential figures.

As for the actual dean of the Civil Engineering Department, who was also the leader of Ma Xuan’s faction, his funds had been insufficient for the past decade or so, gradually making him unable to afford the expenses of extending his life. His lifespan was, in essence, nearing its end.

“The Finance Department can provide the old dean with a loan.”

Ma Xuan thought to himself, “For the sake of this loan, the old dean, who originally stood on neither side, has now decided to side with the Peace faction.”

Ma Xuan understood in his heart that compared to individual student achievements and rankings, the departmental alignment was far more important.

Just then, Cong Na replied, “In that case, Zhang Yu might leave the team, right?”

Ma Xuan simply said, “Then there’s nothing we can do.”

***

Inside a 100-square-meter suite on the 450th floor.

Ji Yuanxu looked at the message Ma Xuan sent in the competition team chat, and his insides couldn’t help but tremble.

He tried hard to suppress it but couldn’t, finally spitting out a large mouthful of blood with a soft *poof*. His vital energy then weakened at an incredible speed.

At this moment, with the announcement of the results, he was no longer considered the top student.

People’s confidence in him continuously dissipated, and the fortune that had been suppressed in his mind scattered and fled.

Even the fortune he originally possessed—the confidence people previously had in him as a six-level student—began to dissipate significantly.

Feeling the changes in the fortune within his body, Ji Yuanxu thought to himself, “These guys, if I just say a few nice words, they’ll have expectations of me that exceed my actual strength. But once I fail, even once, they’ll want to stomp me into the mud, and their judgment of my strength will constantly drop.”

Ji Yuanxu gave a cold laugh, knowing that whether it was fortune or human nature, it was always the same: either excessively overestimated or excessively underestimated, with no objective evaluation ever existing.

But feeling the backlash he was suffering internally at this moment, a bitter expression still appeared on Ji Yuanxu’s face.

Back then, when he flaunted his strength, swayed people’s hearts, and gathered fortune, under the blessing of fortune, his magical energy flowed more smoothly, his Dao heart became more flawless, even his physical vitality became more vigorous, and his thought processes and memory would improve to varying degrees.

Now, after the backlash of fortune, not only were these blessings gone, but his magical energy flow became sluggish, his physical reactions were somewhat dull, and his thought processes, memory, and other aspects also declined to varying degrees.

It was as if his entire state had suddenly plummeted to rock bottom.

But this was not the most terrifying part.

Ji Yuanxu tried to circulate the cultivation techniques within his body and felt that the techniques he had once mastered with ease now ran with constant errors, always out of sync.

The cultivation techniques that were originally at level 15 or 18 could only perform at level 10, or even level 8.

All of this meant his strength had suffered a severe regression.

“It will take at least one or two months to gradually recover.”

“It will delay many classes, and also delay the improvement of basic data…”

Many messages popped up in his eye-socket display from time to time, but Ji Yuanxu didn’t want to look at a single one.

He knew they were nothing more than sarcastic remarks and playful mockery from some, or perhaps the showing off and bragging of others.

But the message sent by Dean Lin, he had no choice but to read.

Dean Lin: “Let’s put the Finance Department matter aside for now. Next, focus on Civil Engineering. You must suppress Zhang Yu; don’t let him get first place again and learn the Seven Ultimate Arts. Also, in a few years, when he takes the military certification exam, you go and dislodge him.”

Seeing what Dean Lin said, Ji Yuanxu’s heart sank; he felt that his worst fear had come true.

“Am I not allowed to transfer to the Finance Department anymore?”

Even before Ji Yuanxu attended high school, he already knew his future goal was to get into Myriad Arts University, then learn the Three Ultimate Arts in the Civil Engineering Department, and then transfer to the Finance Department…

This was, so to speak, his life plan all along, a goal he had dedicated countless days and nights to and paid countless prices to achieve.

But at this very moment… this life plan had been completely overturned.

“Stay and study Civil Engineering?”

“Master, don’t you know what studying Civil Engineering means? It was you who told me not to wallow in the mud of Civil Engineering…”

Repeatedly looking at the message from Dean Lin, Ji Yuanxu seemed to sense the deep disappointment in his words.

In addition to that, he also read another meaning into it.

“Do you want me to stay in the Civil Engineering Department to obstruct Zhang Yu? To target Zhang Yu?”

Ji Yuanxu gave a bitter laugh, knowing that at this moment… he had transformed from a long-term investment into a short-term one.

Never before had he wanted someone to die so badly.

“Zhang Yu…”

But Ji Yuanxu understood that even killing Zhang Yu would be useless; only by fairly defeating the opponent and achieving a higher ranking with absolute strength could he possibly regain his Master’s attention.

“Defeating Zhang Yu is only the first step. I want to graduate as the top student in the entire department, then apply for graduate studies in the Finance Department, and get my life back on track.”

Feeling the weakness within his body, Ji Yuanxu muttered to himself, “But to achieve this, I need stronger assistance.”

Gradually making up his mind, a strange dialogue box appeared in Ji Yuanxu’s eye-socket display.

Ji Yuanxu: “I agree to the wish you spoke of.”

Ji Yuanxu: “Tell me how to perform the ritual.”

***

At the construction site on the 667th floor.

The two-headed white ox in Zhang Yu’s mind roared, and his Immeasurable Heart Inner Dharma Body was abruptly propelled to Level 11.

Feeling his thought processes speeding up even more, Zhang Yu continued to multitask, checking the messages that popped up in his eye-socket display while simultaneously circulating his Gang Qi and working at the construction site.

At the same time, the mental cultivation technique in his mind continued to operate at the Spirit-Body Unification realm, becoming stronger step by step.

In the blink of an eye, a night passed. When Zhang Yu returned to his new dormitory, he found that he was the only one there.

He first took his share of the combined medicine and ate it. Soon after, he saw Yu Xinghan return to the dormitory with a faint smile.

Yu Xinghan then said, “I successfully found a master!”

As a pass-holder of the first-level Foundation Establishment exam, Yu Xinghan also had the same right to choose a mentor as Zhang Yu.

However, like Magneto True Monarch, the mentor Yu Xinghan chose also made a request of him: that his academic year ranking must be within the top five of his class.

If he couldn’t meet the mentor’s requirements, Yu Xinghan wouldn’t receive any instruction, even if he designated that person as his mentor.

So, after the final exam results came out yesterday, Yu Xinghan took his results to the mentor and finally successfully became his disciple.

Zhang Yu asked curiously, “Who is your mentor?”

Yu Xinghan replied, “It’s Professor Gong, who researches construction site health management.”

“Huh?” Zhang Yu was surprised to hear that.

Construction site health management? People actually research this kind of thing? Is there a future in this?

Yu Xinghan seemed to understand Zhang Yu’s surprise and explained, “Professor Gong is a newly appointed professor. But that doesn’t mean Professor Gong is weak. You should know that as the Immortal Dao develops and prospers, research in various disciplines also becomes more complex and difficult, with more and more subdivided fields. Many research directions are very obscure, and it’s becoming harder and harder to achieve results. The fact that he could forge a Golden Core and become a professor in this era only shows that his talent is even more terrifying than those Golden Core True Masters from decades or centuries ago. Heh heh, and what he researches genuinely interests me.”

Just as Yu Xinghan and Zhang Yu were chatting, Li Xiao called out to them from outside, having specifically come to attend the first sophomore class with them.

Yu Xinghan opened the door and, looking at Li Xiao in front of him, suddenly paused slightly. Staring at his hands, he asked, “You changed your magical prosthetics?”

Li Xiao smiled and said, “Yes, I finally saved up enough spirit coins and replaced them with Vajra Profound Craft’s hand prosthetics.”

“Wait…” Yu Xinghan questioned, “How can you afford Vajra Profound Craft? Is it fake?”

Li Xiao said, “How could I buy fakes? These are Vajra Profound Craft, genuine Vajra Profound Craft.”

Looking at the prosthetic information he sent, Yu Xinghan angrily said, “Why are you so vain? Why buy Vajra Profound Craft for no good reason? Are you someone who can afford Vajra Profound Craft? Is it 0 down payment and 30-year installments? If you do this, people on the street will just think you’re using fakes…”

Looking at Li Xiao’s brand-name prosthetics, Yu Xinghan felt his good mood for the morning vanish.

But the next moment, looking at the content of the prosthetic information, Yu Xinghan suddenly laughed again: “Oh, it’s ninth-hand.”

Yu Xinghan patted his chest and thought to himself, “Damn it, you scared me to death. I thought you were doing well too and your loan limit had increased.”

He patted Li Xiao’s shoulder with a beaming smile and praised, “Ninth-hand is good; it’s practical to use, and its performance isn’t worse than new ones. As university students, we emphasize frugality and saving. Spend when you should, save when you can.”

Just as Yu Xinghan and Li Xiao were chatting, Zhang Pianpian also returned to the dormitory.

Zhang Yu glanced at the top of her head and found that his elder sister, now a senior, had become the 44th-ranked student in the Talisman Department’s Foundation Establishment realm.

“Sister has improved again. But this probably isn’t her true strength, right? I remember she needs to control her scores.”

Zhang Yu could imagine that Zhang Pianpian would likely continue to improve like this, repeatedly entering the top ranks of the entire department at a relatively moderate pace.

Next, Zhang Yu looked at Zhang Pianpian’s chest, at her Dao Seed Grand Pure Talisman.

His savings exceeded 56 spirit coins last night, and he finally had the chance to activate this Grand Pure Talisman.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “It’s time to talk to my sister.”

So Zhang Yu sent a message to Zhang Pianpian: “Senior Sister, are you short on money?”

Zhang Pianpian: “Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

Zhang Yu: “Before, you were already ranked in the top 50 in the whole department, but your living situation and the things you used were all quite ordinary. Have you been saving money all this time to spend on some major item?”

Zhang Pianpian was not surprised by this, as it wasn’t a difficult conclusion to reach. She just replied casually, “What? You want to lend me money?”

Zhang Yu: “I currently have 56 spirit coins. How much do you need?”

Zhang Pianpian was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Zhang Yu to have saved so many spirit coins without using them.

For a university student, this was absolutely a huge sum of money, enough to cause brothers to turn against each other and fathers and daughters to become enemies.

Zhang Pianpian looked deeply at Zhang Yu and sent a message: “You don’t need it yourself? You’re willing to lend it to me?”