Gongshu Jin followed behind Zhang Yu and Ye Xingli as the three of them entered the restaurant for the gathering.

As soon as they stepped inside, the aroma of food wafted into Gongshu Jin’s nostrils. Looking at the large buckets of rice on the tables not far away, he couldn’t help but marvel at Mo Shangjin’s extravagance.

Zhang Yu, standing nearby, glanced at the tables and felt his stomach rumble with hunger. After all, besides daily studying, overtime work, and cultivation, it had been a long time since he had eaten a proper meal.

Just then, a young woman approached them. The young woman was wearing only a small vest and shorts, revealing a large amount of skin. However, visible seams could be seen on her hands, feet, and between her joints. From Zhang Yu’s ocular implants, he could even see the numerous structural lines deliberately projected onto her body, along with the brands and models of various Dharmic Artifacts she wore. All of this seemed designed to highlight the Dharmic Artifacts on her, constantly conveying that many parts of her body—her hands, her feet, and other areas—were not flesh and blood, but Dharmic Artifacts.

Zhang Yu glanced at the ranking above her head and thought, “So, 15th in the Artifact Forging Department?” Zhang Yu also noticed that all the Dharmic Artifacts on her body were from the same brand. He silently speculated, “A loyal user of Myriad Dao Crafters?”

As soon as the young woman approached Ye Xingli, she smiled sweetly and said, “Senior Sister!”

Ye Xingli, standing beside her, introduced, “This is Feng Tingting, my junior.” Then, “Tingting, this is Zhang Yu from the Civil Engineering Department.”

Feng Tingting turned to look at Zhang Yu and paused slightly when she saw the number “95th in Civil Engineering” above his head. “Wait… 95th in Civil Engineering?” What an unfamiliar and distant number. Feng Tingting recalled that the last time she had conversed with a student of that caliber was several years ago. If it weren’t for Ye Xingli introducing him, she would have wanted to dismiss him outright.

Then, with a quick scan from her ocular implants, Feng Tingting accurately gathered information about the Dharmic Artifacts on Zhang Yu’s body. “Temporal Worn Demonic Eye, a model from three years ago. Including depreciation, the estimated current value is 25.5 spirit coins, but he only has one…” She silently marked “12.75” above Zhang Yu’s head, which represented the total value of his Dharmic Artifacts.

Feng Tingting was an extreme proponent of artifact augmentation. Quickly scanning the Dharmic Artifacts on a person and looking up their prices to determine their artifact net worth—this was one of Feng Tingting’s methods for assessing a person’s importance, and a common practice for many in the Artifact Forging Department. To Feng Tingting, this was both normal and effective. How else, she reasoned, could one quickly distinguish between superiors, inferiors, and non-humans?

Feng Tingting firmly believed: “The future era belongs to Dharmic Artifacts. Dharmic Artifacts are a cultivator’s true body. The process of cultivation, so-called, is to continuously earn money, study, and enhance one’s spiritual power, gradually replacing the outdated flesh and blood of one’s body with advanced Dharmic Artifacts. The number of Dharmic Artifacts a cultivator possesses represents their degree of evolution on the path of immortality. Those who lack even a single Dharmic Artifact on their entire body are considered disabled in this era.”

After marking Zhang Yu with an evolution level of 12.75, Feng Tingting then looked at Gongshu Jin, who was behind Zhang Yu. “No overall department ranking?” Feng Tingting turned to Ye Xingli and asked, “Senior Sister, is this your newly recruited spirit familiar? How is he still alive?”

Ye Xingli shook her head and said, “Who buys a spirit familiar that’s still alive? This is Gongshu Jin from the Civil Engineering Department. Don’t be surprised that he doesn’t have an overall department ranking; it’s because he’s only a sophomore, and his cumulative score is relatively low.”

Gongshu Jin, standing nearby, lowered his head in slight shame upon hearing this. Ever since entering this gathering place, with students constantly passing by, each with an overall department ranking above their heads, he felt like a cockroach from the sewers, so out of place here. Especially standing next to Ye Xingli and Feng Tingting, contrasted with their bodies full of high-value Dharmic Artifacts, Gongshu Jin felt utterly hideous.

Feng Tingting nodded at the explanation, marking “151” above Gongshu Jin’s head. She thought, “Although he doesn’t have an overall department ranking, his evolution level is decent. But his entire body… he doesn’t even have a single Dharmic Artifact from Myriad Dao Crafters?” Feng Tingting shook her head internally. In her view, not choosing Myriad Dao Crafters for Dharmic Artifacts essentially meant evolving in the wrong direction on the path of immortality. After all, as a top-tier corporate giant and a long-standing partner of Myfa University’s Artifact Forging Department, Myriad Dao Crafters had always been, in Feng Tingting’s mind, the most superior, cutting-edge, and truly immortal-path Dharmic Artifact company, representing the correct direction of evolution for the path of immortality. “Myriad Dao Crafters is the Dharmic Artifact company that truly holds core technology. Other companies, like Heavenly Artificer or Vajra Mystic Forge, are merely relying on marketing.”

After a quick glance at Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin, Feng Tingting shifted her gaze to Ye Xingli, who stood nearby, and to the “1???” above her head. Looking at the four-digit artifact net worth, Feng Tingting felt that Ye Xingli, standing before her, shone brilliantly. “After all, this is a body worth over a thousand spirit coins. How could it not be beautiful?” The three question marks after the number 1 indicated that Ye Xingli’s Dharmic Artifacts had undergone self-modulation, making their precise value difficult for someone of Feng Tingting’s skill level to appraise. In Feng Tingting’s eyes, this meant that while possessing supreme beauty, Ye Xingli also exuded a subtle air of mystery, making her body even more captivatingly alluring.

Aside from Feng Tingting, other students from the Artifact Forging Department immediately approached them in the hall. Students, each with an Artifact Forging Department ranking above their heads, flocked around Ye Xingli like moths drawn to a flame. Upon first seeing Ye Xingli, the first thing these Artifact Forging students did was take photos. Their ocular implants functioned like precise measuring tools, meticulously gauging the changes in Ye Xingli’s body, and recording the differences in her physique compared to the last time they saw her, as if observing a work of art. Changes in various parameters were all recorded; to them, these were important data.

As the 8th-ranked student in the Artifact Forging Department, most students with higher overall scores than Ye Xingli were practically tenth-year students. Ye Xingli could be said to represent the top-tier artifact forging skill among students in her department. For students of the Artifact Forging Department, her body served as an excellent model for observation and learning.

Immediately afterward, streams of information were exchanged back and forth between these Artifact Forging students and Ye Xingli.

Artifact Forging Student A: [0.1 Spirit Coin Transfer] Senior Sister, was there any issue with my project recommendation letter?
Artifact Forging Student B: [0.1 Spirit Coin Transfer] Senior Sister Ye, I’d like to join Professor Wang’s project team. Do you know if there’s a way?
Artifact Forging Student C: [0.1 Spirit Coin Transfer] Senior Sister Xingli, have the senior students finalized the groups for next year’s Artifact Forging competition?

Someone else looked at Feng Tingting and asked: [0.05 Spirit Coin Transfer] Senior Sister Feng, are there any second-hand Dharmic Artifacts from Senior Sister Xingli available yet?
Feng Tingting: Not yet. I’ll let you know when they are.

As a role model for many Artifact Forging students, second-hand Dharmic Artifacts that had been used, tempered, and adjusted by Ye Xingli were naturally sought after by many students in the department. As for Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin, standing to the side, they were subconsciously ignored by these Artifact Forging students. Zhang Yu watched as the two sides exchanged glances without a word, yet seemed to have an endless conversation, knowing that the Artifact Forging group was conversing privately.

Feeling that he couldn’t contribute to the conversation, Zhang Yu rubbed his stomach, ready to go eat. “Senior Sister Ye, I’m going to grab something to eat first.” After greeting Ye Xingli, Zhang Yu turned and walked towards the dining tables. Seeing Zhang Yu turn and leave, Gongshu Jin quickly followed him. He always felt very uncomfortable around these students who held top departmental rankings.

Just then, a burst of lively chatter reached them. “There are rules at the dining table: the first plate must be swallowed in one bite. This is a sign of respect for everyone.” “Exactly! We can’t let the dining table culture passed down by our ancestors end with us!”

Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin looked up and saw a group of Civil Engineering students engaged in a competitive eating ritual at the dining tables. Watching the senior students devour plate after plate of rice-filled dumplings, Gongshu Jin gasped inwardly, feeling that the appetites of these senior Civil Engineering students were more monstrous than the last. Gongshu Jin understood that this competitive eating was a way for individuals to display their immortal cultivation potential. “I hope I won’t be dragged into this competitive eating too?” Gongshu Jin glanced at the senior students on the other side who were getting massages and taking pills, feeling that place would be more suitable for him.

Suddenly, his gaze shifted, spotting a familiar figure next to the senior students getting massages. “Is that… Yu Xinghan?” Seeing Yu Xinghan seemingly introducing technicians to the senior students, Gongshu Jin wondered, “Has Yu Xinghan joined his mentor’s massage platform and become a manager?”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu had already approached the dining tables with a smile. A senior student immediately spotted Zhang Yu, pulled him aside, and said, “You must be Zhang Yu, right? You made it into the top seven in the departmental competition this time, impressive!” “Come on, come on, take a plate!” Watching Zhang Yu quickly finish three plates of rice dumplings without showing the slightest sign of discomfort, the Civil Engineering senior students all expressed admiration.

Not far away, Su Yanyang looked up and glanced at Zhang Yu. Without a word, he silently clinked his bowl with Ma Xuan and they each finished a bowl. Compared to Zhang Yu, Su Yanyang was more concerned about Xiao Yunji and another senior Civil Engineering student named Ping Han at that moment. “The Military Civil Engineering Certificate examination typically only admits one person at a time. For the Military Certificate examination next October, Xiao Yunji and Ping Han will likely be my biggest rivals.”

As for Zhang Yu… although he had won the competition this time, in Su Yanyang’s judgment, Zhang Yu’s individual strength was definitely inferior to his own, and he wouldn’t have a chance to perform in next year’s Military Certificate examination. “Zhang Yu is probably preparing for the Military Certificate examination three years from now.” “Three years from now… that’s too late for me.” Su Yanyang thought to himself, “Next year is my best opportunity. But only by defeating Xiao Yunji and Ping Han can I obtain the Military Certificate.”