The seemingly empty stadium was, in fact, filled with the collective thoughts of countless people, thanks to the spirit world and the live broadcast.

Su Yanyang was also watching the competition, thinking to himself, “This battle between the two financial prodigies will simply come down to who has more money. Either way, it’s bound to make more people buy Qiongjiang Coins.”

He then looked at Ji Yuanzhu, who was standing beside Ping Han, and thought, “He truly intends to transfer to the finance department; his appetite for risk is certainly significant.”

Just then, Su Yanyang overheard Zhang Yu and Ping Han’s conversation. Listening to Zhang Yu once again deny his involvement in cryptocurrency trading, a hint of suspicion crossed Su Yanyang’s face.

“Is this guy telling the truth or just bluffing?”

Behind Ping Han, Ji Yuanzhu stood with four other teammates.

Observing Ping Han confront Zhang Yu, Ji Yuanzhu had actually considered leaving the team after Ping Han joined.

However, he quickly realized something crucial: “Who wins or loses this battle no longer matters!”

Both sides involved had invested in Qiongjiang Coins. Regardless of the outcome, this battle would only add fuel to the fire, undoubtedly boosting Qiongjiang City’s popularity even further within Wanfa University.

Upon this realization, Ji Yuanzhu’s first action was to invest all his remaining wealth into Qiongjiang Coins with 100x leverage.

Having used up his last bit of immortal cultivation potential, Ji Yuanzhu knew he could no longer switch to another team, as he had no money left to buy a substitute spot elsewhere.

“It doesn’t matter now. As long as Qiongjiang Coin brings in a huge profit this time, I can slowly recover my overall score!”

“Competitions happen every year, but opportunities this good for making money don’t come around often!”

Many people harbored similar thoughts, until Zhang Yu, during his conversation with Ping Han, declared that he wasn’t involved in cryptocurrency speculation…

Zhang Yu himself felt somewhat helpless about the rumors that had been circulating for days.

“I have no idea who the hell started spreading rumors that I was speculating in Qiongjiang Coins, let alone with 100x leverage!”

Recalling Director Gao’s request, Zhang Yu simply raised his voice and shouted, “The value of Qiongjiang Coin is unstable, overly dependent on market confidence, and concentrated too heavily in the hands of Hehuan University, making its price easily manipulated!”

“I wouldn’t touch such a high-risk investment!”

“Ping Han, I advise you to cash out now while you’ve made money and leave the market early, so you don’t go bankrupt again!”

“Qiongjiang Coin has been rising for so long; the risk is becoming increasingly high!”

Upon hearing Zhang Yu’s loud warning, Ping Han had not yet responded, but the spirit world was already in an uproar!

Someone immediately spent money to project lines of text directly above Zhang Yu.

“Qiongjiang Coin has fluctuated for years, and you never warned us. Now that everyone’s making money, you come out with warnings?”

“If you’re not involved in crypto, what are you talking about? Can you please refrain from speaking ignorantly about subjects you don’t understand?”

“It’s a tragedy for Wanfa University that someone like this actually holds a military certificate.”

“Seven Emotions Coin has skyrocketed without any mention of risk, but Qiongjiang Coin has only risen for a short while, and you’re already warning about risks?”

“Does Zhang Yu dare to disclose his holdings?”

If the students watching had been chatting and laughing moments before, the spirit world now transformed into a raging storm. Countless malicious thoughts converged on Zhang Yu, as if threatening to tear him to pieces.

Zhang Yu looked at the lines of text appearing above his head, then at the information continuously appearing in his vision, and shook his head helplessly.

Fu Ji chuckled, “Stepping on the brakes now, you’re bound to get yelled at!”

Zhang Yu replied, “It doesn’t matter. Director Gao asked me to do it, so I’ll just give a warning. Their insults can’t harm me anyway!”

In stark contrast, as Ping Han extended a hand, most of the insults in the spirit world immediately ceased.

With one finger, Ping Han pointed at the coin price chart floating above his head, and with the other, at the Qiongjiang Coin price displayed on his chest. He then declared, “Just as Zhang Yu was spouting nonsense, our Qiongjiang Coin increased by another 0.01 spirit coins!”

“Oh!”

Countless cheers erupted throughout the spirit world!

Ping Han spread his arms wide, as if embracing the void, and stated confidently, “Everyone, when Qiongjiang Coin was at 0.1 spirit coins, some people didn’t believe it would ever rise!”

“At 1 spirit coin, people said it was going to crash!”

“Even at 10 spirit coins, many still advised me to quit!”

“But the facts have proven them all wrong!”

“We’ve been winning so far, and we will continue to win.”

As Ping Han finished speaking, the projection displaying how to join his investment guidance group behind him brightened considerably.

The cheers in the spirit world grew even more intense!

Above Ping Han, a flood of messages, projected by cheering spectators spending money, appeared.

“Qiongjiang Coin to 10,000 spirit coins!”

“Go, Ping Han! Shut that jinx up!”

“I want to see Zhang Yu beaten to his knees.”

In an instant, the tide turned dramatically. The audience’s support for Ping Han was matched only by their fury towards Zhang Yu.

Soon, the attacks on Zhang Yu escalated into attacks on his entire competition team.

Che Yufei, Shi Yunxiang, and the others also watched the various pieces of information rapidly flashing in their visual displays.

At that moment, members of both teams could feel the immense anger and hostility emanating from countless spectators.

Shi Yunxiang’s head felt a little numb. He thought, “Why did Zhang Yu have to provoke them?”

Yu Xinghan scanned the situation in the spirit world, murmuring to himself, “There are many signs of astroturfing here.”

The next moment, following the referee’s signal, both teams, who had been waiting at the entrance, advanced into the arena.

To cut costs for the increasingly intense competition, the previous two-half match format had been replaced by a single, continuous event.

Both teams would simultaneously engage in construction, offense, and defense, with their final building completion rates determining the winner.

Upon arriving at the construction site, Ping Han immediately told Ji Yuanzhu and the other four, “You four stay here and focus on construction. I’ll handle everything else on my own!”

Without waiting for a response from Ji Yuanzhu and the others, he instantly shot forward, rocketing towards Zhang Yu’s position.

Ping Han had no interest in bringing his teammates along. He wanted to utterly defeat Zhang Yu on his own, and by extension, Zhang Yu’s entire team.

He wanted to make sure the experts, professors, and school leaders saw clearly that he was the most deserving recipient of this year’s civil engineering military certificate.

Simultaneously, as he watched the group join requests constantly flashing in his visual display, he realized this was an excellent opportunity to promote both himself and his guidance group.

“Zhang Yu, thank you for criticizing Qiongjiang Coin!”

“Against such a powerful trend, your criticism will only further accelerate its growth, Qiongjiang Coin’s growth, and my own!”

Meanwhile, as Ji Yuanzhu watched Ping Han’s retreating figure, he felt the surging fortune of the universe gather around them—the ever-growing support of countless people!

He mused, “I’m merely Ping Han’s teammate, yet I’m already benefiting from so much fortune. If I were a true financial genius, or an entity like the Qiongjiang Divine Sovereign, how much fortune would I gain every single moment?”

When Ping Han arrived in the arena, he found Zhang Yu already standing there alone.

“Just you?” Ping Han said coldly.

“I alone am enough!” Zhang Yu replied calmly.

Zhang Yu knew this was also Director Gao’s intention.

If he still needed his teammates’ help to defeat Ping Han, how could he prove the true value of his military certificate?

Zhang Yu looked at Ping Han across from him, suspecting that his opponent had similar intentions.

Knowing that many people were watching the live broadcast, Ping Han deliberately raised his voice and declared, “Zhang Yu, everyone says you only beat me because you had a higher kill count on the military certificate exam!”

“Today, I won’t compete with you on construction; let’s just see who’s a better fighter!”

With that, Ping Han pressed his palms together, then unleashed a powerful strike.

The ground beneath his feet surged like a tsunami, rushing overwhelmingly towards Zhang Yu.

In response to Ping Han’s attack, Zhang Yu altered his palm formation and counterattacked with a Small Three Harmonies technique.

With a downward thrust of his palm, the overwhelming deluge of mud and sand seemed to be struck by an invisible hand, exploding with a thunderous roar and transforming into towering clouds of dust that billowed in all directions.

As soon as the intense battle commenced, their exchange began with a clash of Small Three Harmonies techniques.

The earth vibrated, and mud and sand soared skyward. Accompanied by thunderous roars, the center of the battlefield seemed like two colossal beasts tearing at each other, unleashing endless sandstorms that churned the world into chaos.

“Good!”

Ping Han roared, and the swirling dust was instantly blasted away.

“My special preparations for you weren’t in vain!”

“The money was well spent!”

Several streaks of light pierced through the dust, shooting directly towards Ping Han’s position.

Amidst crackling explosions, the streaks of light revealed a dazzling metallic sheen, coiling around Ping Han’s body like living entities.

“Armor?”

Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened as he recognized what Ping Han was wearing.

Armor was a type of equipment that had existed since ancient times, known to Zhang Yu, yet rarely seen in Kunxu.

This was because it was a magic artifact specifically designed for combat, with too narrow a range of application to be relevant to most people in Kunxu.

“That’s right,” Ping Han said coldly. “This Abyssal Armor is something I specifically prepared for this battle!”

Ping Han was now entirely encased in a thick layer of black armor, which glowed with the light of the Zhou Tianxing Gui, aligning with the body’s thirty-six meridians. As Ping Han’s magical power circulated within, streams of astral energy continuously surged forth.

At the armor’s connection points, faint patterns of coiled dragon tendons emerged, radiating streams of vital energy. Zhang Yu, observing this, understood that these structural elements of the armor, while adding to its bulk and weight, also indicated greater magic power reserves, more modular functions, and higher immortal power output—advantages that a mere human-sized cultivation body could not offer.

With a breath from Ping Han, streams of hot air spewed from his mouth, noticeably increasing the surrounding temperature.

Simultaneously, the coin price and trend chart, originally projected onto Ping Han’s skin, were now all adjusted to display on the exterior of his armor.

Seeing the coin price of 16.88 once again appear on Ping Han’s chest, cheers erupted throughout the spirit world. Countless people were rooting for Ping Han and for Qiongjiang Coin.

“Zhang Yu,” he taunted, “immortal money is the true path. Without speculating in coins, your innate money-making ability is inherently weaker than mine, and your immortal potential is capped lower. What right do you have to contend with me?”