Inside the dormitory, Le Mulan cautioned, “Wait, I haven’t squeezed it all out yet.”

Zhang Yu said, “Isn’t that enough?”

Le Mulan replied, “No, every drop is money; I must squeeze it all out.”

Zhang Yu asked, “Is it okay now?”

Le Mulan said, “Let me try squeezing a bit more.”

As Le Mulan exerted a slight force, a few more streams of blood shot from her fingertips into Zhang Yu’s mouth.

Only then did Le Mulan nod. “The potion should all be out. How do you feel?”

Zhang Yu pursed his lips and replied, “Not bad. The medicinal properties feel gentler than before.”

Ever since Le Mulan began learning self-production drug techniques, she had started manufacturing medicines within her own body. From then on, Le Mulan’s blood, sweat, saliva, and even her mana gradually became infused with traces of the newly produced medicinal power.

Especially after Zhang Yu cultivated with his Fiery Sun Dharma Vein alongside Le Mulan’s Deep Cold Dharma Vein, the medicinal power contained within Le Mulan’s body underwent various marvelous changes. During this period, Le Mulan began experimenting with the internal generation of various potions. With his powerful physique and drug tolerance, Zhang Yu became Le Mulan’s best experimental subject. Of course, Zhang Yu wasn’t at a disadvantage. After all, Le Mulan spent a lot of money buying raw materials for each batch of medicine, and most of the final products ended up in his stomach.

As Zhang Yu was testing the medicine, a message from Yu Xinghan appeared in his eye-socket display.

Yu Xinghan: Someone’s offering 3 spirit coins to cultivate together.
Yu Xinghan: Are you taking it?

Zhang Yu had to admit, upon hearing the figure of 3 spirit coins, he felt a momentary flicker of temptation. However, that fleeting temptation was quickly replaced by anger.

“Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu, how could you let Kunxu alienate you like this?”
“Not everything can be sold for money.”

Zhang Yu: Stop asking. I won’t sell it for any amount of spirit coins.
Yu Xinghan: Got it. At least 50 spirit coins, right?
Zhang Yu: You damn idiot, can’t you understand? I won’t sell it for any amount of spirit coins!

Yu Xinghan truly couldn’t understand, as he couldn’t imagine anything that couldn’t be sold for some amount of spirit coins. Was there anything that expensive in this world? Turning to check the group chat, Yu Xinghan decided to promote his platform’s massage services first.

At the construction site on the 668th level.

With the completion of the 667th level, the entire Myriad Laws University City had now reached the 668th level. Zhang Yu’s Ground-Suppressing Seal floated in mid-air, from which an invisible energy field emanated. Wherever the energy field passed, large sections of the ground were vibrated and leveled. The swirling dust that had risen into the air was also progressively solidified within the invisible energy field, as if frozen in mid-air.

Simultaneously, Mo Tianyi’s voice came from within the Ground-Suppressing Seal: “What a powerful magic item!”
Mo Tianyi: Zhang Yu, you’re really rich now. Can you even afford to use a Level 20 magic item?

Zhang Yu smiled faintly. “It’s alright.”
“How is it? Can you control it?”

Mo Tianyi: No problem.
Mo Tianyi: Don’t worry, Zhang Yu. You’ve given me the chance to be your artifact spirit. Even if I have to expend my entire spiritual calculation pool, I won’t let you down!

Zhang Yu said, “No, no, no, there’s no need to risk your life. How can you earn money if you’re risking your life?”

Mo Tianyi: You’re right. We soul cultivators have no more lives to risk. The more we risk, the more we lose.

Meanwhile, the Azure Cloud Gathering Pouch floated nearby, injecting azure sand into the Formless Warrior. Zhao Tianxing mused to himself, “Zhang Yu gave the Level 20 Ground-Suppressing Seal to Old Mo to operate?”
“Indeed, in Zhang Yu’s heart, I’m still a latecomer, not as good as a true soul cultivator, am I?”

Zhao Tianxing, who had originally been very excited and proud to become the artifact spirit of the Azure Cloud Gathering Pouch, now looked at the Level 20 Ground-Suppressing Seal operated by Mo Tianyi and instantly felt that the Azure Cloud Gathering Pouch he was controlling seemed rather shabby.

Just then, Zhang Yu extended his hand and tossed out the Level 20 Earth Fiend Bottle. “Old Zhao, try this.”

Zhao Tianxing replied delightedly, “Alright!”

The Earth Fiend Bottle gently swirled, drawing in all the swirling dust, then refined it into concrete, which was then poured into the designated target area.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “With Old Zhao and Old Mo acting as the artifact spirits for the Earth Fiend Bottle and the Ground-Suppressing Seal, I can confidently control the Grand Unity Golden Liquid Pill and the Formless Warriors myself. At most, I’ll only need to slightly manage the Azure Cloud Gathering Pouch.”

With the sophomore year final exams approaching, Zhang Yu’s mind wasn’t on them because he was absolutely confident and had no need to worry.

“If I continue to secure first place in the final exams, I’ll be able to cultivate the third of the Seven Civil Engineering Techniques and master the Minor Triple Convergence.”
“After that, the military license exam will be in October.”
“With my current accumulation, will it be enough to pass the military license exam after mastering the Minor Triple Convergence?”

Zhang Yu turned to look at his Feather Scroll. Nearing his third year, he was now immensely powerful. In terms of basic stats, besides his Level 20 physical strength and 1000 units of mana, both of which had reached the Foundation Establishment limit, there were other factors. His Dao Heart had also reached Level 19 (55.3), and it would certainly reach Level 20 before the military license exam. Furthermore, his mana quality had steadily increased, now reaching a full 195, just 5 shy of the Foundation Establishment limit. His Qi transmission rate had also reached 99, and the maximum transmission distance for Qi was 100 meters, both reaching the Foundation Establishment limit.

Beyond these basic stats, there was also Zhang Yu’s unique progress related to the Azure Lotus Sword Embryo. “The Azure Lotus Sword Embryo’s bonus to the Chain Dharma Diagram sets lies in its subtle adjustments, which are related to the time distribution of how I use various sets normally.”

Through his own repeated tests, Zhang Yu had a rough estimate of the Azure Lotus Sword Embryo’s ability to retain the effects of the Chain Dharma Diagram in its normal state. “The University Saint Body and Civil Engineering Saint Body were used the most in the first half of this year, and the Azure Lotus Sword Embryo can currently retain nearly 90% of their effects. Although the Martial Dao Saint Body was completed last, it has been used quite a lot in recent months, and the Azure Lotus Sword Embryo can already retain 50% of its effects. The Qi Pulse Flow is only used during mana recovery, so its usage time is probably the shortest. The Azure Lotus Sword Embryo can only retain 40% of its effects.”

Zhang Yu clenched his fist, observing the formless cloud Gang Qi in his palm, which gathered and dispersed at will, constantly changing. He thought to himself, “I… am very strong now.”

After once again confirming his strength, Zhang Yu secretly vowed, “I must obtain that military license.” His confidence grew more abundant and assured with each improvement and confirmation of his strength.

However, the first assessment Zhang Yu faced was not the final exams, nor was it related to the military license, but rather the artifact refining assessment given by Magnetic Pole True Monarch.

Inside the artifact refining laboratory.

Night Star Glass was grading Zhang Yu’s test papers. The test papers were the final exams for various subjects of the third-year artifact refining department this year. Magnetic Pole True Monarch had taken them out and assigned Zhang Yu to complete them, with Night Star Glass grading them. The more Night Star Glass graded, the more surprised she became.

“Zhang Yu is studying in the civil engineering department, and simultaneously studying the first three years of the artifact refining department’s curriculum?”
“Could Master be planning for him to transfer departments in his third year?”
“This…” Night Star Glass seemed to foresee troubling future scenarios: “Director Gao is going to go crazy.”

Thinking of this, Night Star Glass couldn’t help but hope that Zhang Yu’s test scores would be poor. But things did not go as she wished. The more Night Star Glass graded, the more she discovered that Zhang Yu’s mastery of the first three years of the artifact refining department’s curriculum had already surpassed that of most third-year students.

“He must have spent a lot of money on spiritual realm acceleration, Daoist spell multitasking, memory enhancement…” Night Star Glass thought to herself, “Then, what remains is to see his practical ability.” She understood that theory was one thing and practical skill another; what the artifact refining department valued most was naturally a student’s actual artifact refining proficiency. And the third-year final exam content naturally included various aspects such as material refinement, rune carving, and magic item forging.

This laboratory had been reserved by Magnetic Pole True Monarch for the entire night. Night Star Glass would supervise Zhang Yu as he completed each part of the final exam. She watched Zhang Yu freely temper materials, skillfully feeding raw materials into the True Flame Furnace and injecting mana to control the true fire within. She watched Zhang Yu, accompanied by several Formless Warriors, surround the refined materials and collectively construct mana circuits from various angles, displaying waves of precise operations.

The more Night Star Glass watched, the more astonished she became. “It’s only been about half a year since I last saw Zhang Yu refine an artifact, hasn’t it?”
“He’s actually made so much progress?”
“This guy’s artifact refining talent… is it really so much stronger than I expected?”

The last part of the exam was to choose one item from various magic items or magic corpses and refine it. Originally, students were supposed to prepare their own materials. However, Magnetic Pole True Monarch proactively provided the materials this time, entrusting Zhang Yu with the refinement. The magic item to be refined had, of course, been agreed upon by both parties long ago, and Zhang Yu had mastered the relevant refining techniques not long ago.

Zhang Yu looked at the materials in hand and thought, “Magnetic Pole True Monarch is truly generous.”

Night Star Glass sighed inwardly, “Alas, Master truly values Zhang Yu highly.”

And when Night Star Glass watched Zhang Yu successfully refine the materials into the Level 20 magic item, the Gold-Inlaid Jade Disk, she couldn’t help but sigh, “Master’s foresight is truly flawless.”
“I, however, failed to see that Zhang Yu was such a prodigy in artifact refining.”
“If he transfers to the artifact refining department in the future, it probably won’t be difficult for him to enter the top 10 of the entire department given enough time.”

Zhang Yu, looking at the Gold-Inlaid Jade Disk he had refined, asked, “So, this jade disk is…”

Night Star Glass replied calmly, “Master will pay you a processing fee of 3 spirit coins.”

Zhang Yu felt a slight disappointment, but he thought receiving a processing fee was quite good, considering the other party covered the material and venue costs.

Magnetic Pole True Monarch: Didn’t you say your disciple’s physical strength is Level 20, and the Yin-Yang Bracelet is useless to them now?
Magnetic Pole True Monarch: Gold-Inlaid Jade Disk.image file
Director Gao: You want to sell it to me? My funds are a bit tight lately.
Magnetic Pole True Monarch: I’m selling it to you at the material cost.
Magnetic Pole True Monarch: After all, we’ve been friends for so many years.
Director Gao: Magnetic Pole, you’re so good to me.

Inside the dormitory.

Looking at the Gold-Inlaid Jade Disk delivered by Director Gao, Zhang Yu asked with some uncertainty, “Is this… the one I refined?”
“Is this the reward Magnetic Pole True Monarch mentioned I’d get if I passed the second-year final exam?”

Fuji said, “Zhang Yu, Magnetic Pole True Monarch truly lives up to her reputation from the artifact refining department. Director Gao from the civil engineering department simply can’t outmaneuver her.”