Red energy surged from the back of Ping Han’s armor. He accelerated, tearing through the air to appear directly in front of Zhang Yu.

Formless cloud energy spread around Zhang Yu, his entire body suddenly enveloped in swirling mists.

With a parry, Zhang Yu felt a terrifying force erupt from his opponent’s punch, sending him flying backward.

“Before the military certification exam, I prepared that set of magical artifacts to improve my construction capabilities.”

Originally, Ping Han’s power was already extraordinary due to the augmentation of his Dharmic Skeleton.

Now, he used his Dharmic Skeleton to propel the armor, and the armor in turn enhanced his Dharmic Skeleton and physical body. His strength surged explosively, and he shot out like a meteor, repeatedly blasting Zhang Yu away.

“But on the exam field, they said my kill count wasn’t good enough!”

With a loud hiss, Zhang Yu’s feet carved hundreds of meters of trenches in the ground. He looked up to see Ping Han unleashing another punch.

“Alright, if it’s combat power you want to compare, then I’ll switch to my combat gear. What do you have left to fight me with now?”

Amidst thunderous crashes, Ping Han transformed into a black lightning bolt, tearing through the air repeatedly as he attacked Zhang Yu.

“I possess the resilience and courage gained from countless bankruptcies, the insight and wisdom to see through the cryptocurrency market, the indomitable Dao heart forged over many years, and the sheer luck of the Qiongjiang Coin’s surge.”

“You lack my accumulated experience, the courage to trade cryptocurrencies, and the wisdom to discern the secret behind the Qiongjiang Coin’s rise. How can you possibly compare to me?”

Empowered by the Abyss Armor, he continuously unleashed surges of energy from all over his body, absorbing and expelling the atmosphere, completely enhancing Ping Han’s speed.

Concurrently, the energy expelled by the armor constantly changed color, manifesting as nine-colored energy. Each color represented a different form of damage, such as high temperature, low temperature, electromagnetic, cutting, or shock.

Furthermore, Ping Han’s spinal Dharmic Skeleton, leg Dharmic Illium, and hand Dharmic Skeleton each propelled him with Level 20 combat-style techniques, enabling him to fully unleash his current combat prowess.

With another clash of energies, Zhang Yu’s Formless Cloud Energy completely dissipated, revealing his true form beneath the mist: a humanoid figure encased entirely in golden armor.

“Zhang Yu, I am wealthier than you, better at making money than you, and possess greater immortal potential than you.”

“Whether it’s construction or combat, I, with my superior abilities, can simply change my fighting style and always remain above you.”

Ping Han roared, “Aren’t you going to surrender yet?”

At the same time, countless projected messages from spectators appeared above the arena, like countless voices shouting at Zhang Yu.

Surrender, surrender, surrender, kneel, surrender.

As if channeling the will of countless people, Ping Han’s fist crashed down on the golden armor, shattering the humanoid figure before him.

In the spirit realm surrounding the arena, Ye Xingli also projected an image, specifically to watch the duel between Zhang Yu and Ping Han.

Ye Xingli was very curious about the strength of Zhang Yu, a disciple highly valued by her master.

“Ping Han’s current strength is considerable; he should be at the peak level just below military-grade power!”

Ye Xingli thought to herself, “Zhang Yu just received his military certificate recently, so he probably hasn’t mastered military-grade cultivation techniques yet!”

“Both combatants are at a similar level in this fight, so I should be able to gauge Zhang Yu’s true foundation.”

Just as Ye Xingli was thinking this, another projection appeared beside her.

“Xingli, you’re here too?”

Hearing the voice, Ye Xingli turned her head, a smile appearing on her face as she looked at the emerging projection: “Senior Qianji!”

The metallic humanoid projection before her was Yan Qianji, the top student of the Artificing Department, who had mastered multiple military-grade powers.

He was also a direct disciple of a Divine Transformation Lord.

Appearing as a mechanical human in the spirit realm, Yan Qianji looked towards Zhang Yu and Ping Han, remarking with surprise, “Hmm?”

Watching Zhang Yu endure Ping Han’s attacks repeatedly, Yan Qianji commented, “Indeed, he’s a rare talent!”

He asked curiously, “For Zhang Yu, being purely physical, he either wants a custom-made Dharmic Skeleton or he’s selling his body. Which is it?”

Images of Zhang Yu practicing artificing techniques flashed through Ye Xingli’s mind, but she had no intention of revealing it. She merely said casually, “I’m not too sure about that.”

Yan Qianji stroked his chin and said, “Excellent natural treasures and earthly materials. I really want to try the effect of equipping him.”

“If he has any unused parts, let me know. I’ll buy them at a high price!”

Ye Xingli nodded, then asked, “Senior, have you been busy with the update project for the Heavenly Sun Illuminating God? What made you decide to come watch this match?”

Ye Xingli knew that the Heavenly Sun Illuminating God, as the Artificing Department’s military-grade Dharmic Skeleton, underwent continuous updates each year, constantly integrating new immortal techniques. This was how it maintained its military-grade rating in the Daoist canon directories of the Ten Great Sects.

Of course, any Dharmic Skeleton, based on its original framework, would eventually reach its design limit. Therefore, the Artificing Department was continuously developing newer and stronger Dharmic Skeletons.

Hearing Ye Xingli’s question, Yan Qianji explained, “This competition isn’t just about Zhang Yu and Ping Han, or even just the Civil Engineering Department’s affair!”

“After all, someone from the Finance Department has been hyping up this match!”

“The Finance Department?”

Ye Xingli asked in surprise, “Are they hyping up Qiongjiang Coin?”

Yan Qianji scoffed, “What can’t these financial vampires do?”

“As long as they can earn spirit coins, colluding with outside forces or selling out the school’s interests are trivial matters to them. Even a moment’s hesitation would indicate a flaw in their Dao heart!”

Beyond profit, Yan Qianji understood that this was also an extension of the school’s upper-echelon conflicts.

Yan Qianji mused, “Although Zhang Yu is a student of the Civil Engineering Department, he was personally selected by True Monarch Qiyun during the military certificate examination. If Ping Han were to immediately defeat Zhang Yu, whose reputation would that tarnish?”

Yan Qianji knew that even if Zhang Yu lost, the military certificate would absolutely not be transferred to Ping Han. This involved the procedures and authority of the school and even the Heavenly Court.

However, among the school’s higher-ups, especially in the eyes of the three Divine Transformation Rectors, True Monarch Qiyun would inevitably be perceived as having poor judgment and being unreliable.

And for the higher-ups of Wanfa University, sometimes a single impression can determine the success or failure of many matters.

Just as Yan Qianji spoke, a dazzling golden projection from the spirit realm appeared.

An ancient voice followed: “Brother Qianji, your misunderstanding of our Finance Department is too deep. How could we be the kind of people who sell out the school’s interests for spirit coins?”

“This time, with the surge of Qiongjiang Coin, we intend to lead the students of Wanfa University outside the campus to jointly reap profits from Acacia University!”

Hearing this, Ye Xingli turned her head and saw a projection appear before them: a figure in a golden robe, appearing ancient and frail, every inch of their skin revealing an image of extreme senescence.

Ye Xingli silently uttered the name: “Jiutian Liu, another Divine Transformation disciple!”

Ye Xingli knew that the true Jiutian Liu in the material world was not actually this old; this decrepit appearance was merely his spirit realm manifestation.

After all, the more one ages, the higher the cost of prolonging life. To appear old enough to be beyond the reach of ordinary people, to be old enough to transcend physical limits, was inherently a privilege and image of the wealthy; the poor could not live that long.

Jiutian Liu smiled amiably towards the arena and said, “I truly didn’t expect Junior Brother Zhang Yu to discourage everyone from investing in Qiongjiang Coin… Ah, if he loses now, I’m afraid the junior students’ investment enthusiasm will only surge even higher!”

Yan Qianji said indifferently, “Zhang Yu might not necessarily lose!”

Jiutian Liu looked at the figure in the arena, who was completely suppressed and ultimately exploded by Ping Han’s punch, and calmly said, “Is that so?”

“Brother Qianji, I wonder if you’re interested in a wager?”

Yan Qianji coldly replied, “I don’t gamble!”

At the same time, as Ping Han’s final punch landed with full force, the golden-armored figure before him suddenly disintegrated.

Although the golden armor formed by the Golden Elixir did not break, the humanoid figure inside was like a burst balloon, no longer able to support the armor.

As streams of energy dispersed from within, the golden armor slowly fell to the ground.

It turned out that what Ping Han had shattered with his punch was not Zhang Yu’s true body, but a Formless Warrior wearing golden armor!

The next moment, two more golden-armored figures burst from the ground, one after another, attacking Ping Han fiercely from two different directions.

Zhang Yu now possessed three Great Unity Golden Elixirs, which allowed him to use one golden-armored warrior to draw fire, then launch an assault with two more.

“Which one is real?”
“Which one is fake?”

Ping Han’s eye-skeleton scanned the two golden-armored figures, front and back, then scoffed, “It doesn’t matter!”

With a single-handed vertical palm strike, surging energy shot out from the armor’s palm-mounted vent, forming a scythe-shaped blade of energy.

The blade of energy then changed through nine colors in succession. After the nine energies superimposed, they finally transformed into a single verdant green.

“Zhang Yu, your ability to parry energy and redirect force is indeed formidable!”

“But your biggest weakness is that while you’re good at dealing with blunt force, you struggle with sharp cutting attacks…”

“Since you won’t surrender, then be defeated by me!”

The Level 20 Nine Heavens Azure Scythe activated.

This scythe technique, performed by Ping Han, was comprehended by a martial arts master through the ebbs and flows of the stock market.

It contained his understanding from years of stock trading, and even more, the essence of the cutthroat, bloodless battles of the financial market.

Upon seeing it, Ping Han felt this technique was perfectly suited for him, flowing incredibly smoothly when executed.

At this moment, this scythe technique was propelled by Ping Han’s physical body, Dharmic Skeleton, and armor simultaneously. The sharp, verdant scythe seemed to descend from the Nine Heavens, slashing down fiercely from above.

The concentrated energy carried unparalleled sharpness, possessing the profound ability to specifically pierce through other energies and even penetrate the body, utterly destroying the opponent’s spiritual power with each strike.

With the next strike, the verdant blade of energy descended. A single blow split the dust within a hundred-meter radius in two, bisected both golden-armored figures, and utterly shattered the energy within them.

As these two golden-armored warriors were destroyed, the ground beneath Ping Han’s feet violently shook.

Seizing the moment while the golden-armored warriors consecutively engaged Ping Han, Zhang Yu finally completed the first stage of crafting the Formless Spirit General!

At this moment, Zhang Yu stood atop a more than ten-meter-tall Formless Spirit General, which burst forth from the ground with a thunderous roar.

The Formless Spirit General let out a furious roar, and from its open mouth, a scorching beam of light burst forth, aiming to engulf Ping Han’s head.