The brief exchange between Zhang Yu and Wuying had already caused the ground to crack layer by layer with each collision. Terrifying power twisted and pulverized the earth with each strike, turning it into plumes of dust that shot skyward, scattering in all directions and gradually covering the entire battlefield.

Several bursts of blood mist erupted from Zhang Yu’s body, and though he was repeatedly gravely wounded, he managed to endure thanks to the formidable defensive power of his Earth and Wood Holy Body.

“Oh?” Wuying grew increasingly surprised watching this scene and remarked with some unexpectedness, “It seems it’ll take me a bit more time to subdue you without killing you!”

Zhang Yu’s gaze was profound, his entire being like a silent abyss. He knew that a Foundation Establishment cultivator had no chance of defeating a Golden Core cultivator. It was like a Qi Cultivation cultivator fighting a Foundation Establishment cultivator; the gap between the realms was simply too vast. Even in terms of basic stats, the opponent far surpassed him, and with the Golden Core’s special techniques, Zhang Yu would have even less chance of victory. A few instant collisions had only confirmed this for Zhang Yu.

“I have to use the Divine Root, or I won’t last much longer!” This was a choice with no retreat. The surrounding dust continued to spread wildly under the control of the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power, layering over the battlefield.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “If I’m going to use the Divine Root, I should use the pervasive dust and inner energy for maximum concealment. Although the Spirit Realm is currently disconnected and I haven’t detected any surveillance through the Evil God’s detection ritual, there are still so many people and eyes watching. So, even if I use the Divine Root, I must conceal it as much as possible!”

At the same time, his next combat plan was already set in his mind. He would use the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power to control the sand and dust formed from the pulverized ground, combine it with his inner energy and the Divine Root, and maneuver against the opponent as much as possible. Simultaneously, he would focus on destroying the surrounding environment to create an opportunity to retreat.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “After all, I’m better at construction and environmental modification than fighting a Golden Core!” Meanwhile, structural blueprints flashed through Zhang Yu’s mind—all the construction details he had memorized while participating in the building of levels 666, 667, 668, and so on. Although the current floor was different, Zhang Yu knew that the general structure of each level of University City was the same. In his eyes, many weak points on this battlefield were immediately apparent.

“As long as I create a chance for retreat, once everyone scatters, I’ll be even more flexible on my own!”

Just as Zhang Yu resolved to activate the Divine Root after his internal struggle, the bystanders were deeply moved, seeing him persist in a desperate, unyielding fight against the Golden Core cultivator. Yu Xinghan gritted his teeth, forcibly controlling his fear of the Golden Core demon cultist. As he watched Zhang Yu still fighting desperately, he felt admiration, envy, and a sense of shame for his own fear.

“Where does this guy get his guts? He’s also Foundation Establishment, yet he dares to stand alone in front of us. Isn’t he afraid of death?” There was no Spirit Realm support now; if they died, they were truly dead, their souls scattered. At this moment, Yu Xinghan seemed to see again the figure who had directly confronted General Manager Wang during a live broadcast—equally resolute and fearless.

At the same time, within the few moments of their engagement, Yu Xinghan quickly grasped the current situation. “As long as one person joins the demon cult, everyone else will either be silenced, or join too! It’s either death or joining the cult; this Golden Core expert from the demon cult… won’t give us any other choice!”

“So, do we join the cult? Do we abandon all our past efforts and struggles to join the demon cult?” Yu Xinghan was a thousand times unwilling! He had paid so much, spent so much money, and risked everything to get to this point. How could he possibly join the demon cult now?

Just then, Zhang Yu’s voice came through the layers of dust: “Next, I’ll try my best to create some opportunities. When you find a chance, run!” As he spoke, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Once you all run, I’ll have fewer reservations about using the Divine Root…”

Everyone who heard these words was shaken. Yu Xinghan paused slightly, looking at the figure blocking the demon cult’s Golden Core, and something seemed to ignite within him. The next moment, a roar echoed in his mind: “Damn it, I’ll go all out!”

Relying on the enhancement of his Six-Eyed Divine Vision, Yu Xinghan learned any martial art exceptionally quickly. When he massaged senior students from the Civil Engineering department, or members of the competition team like Shi Huaiyu and Su Yanyang, he discovered that with the microscopic perception of his Six-Eyed Divine Vision, he could sense the wear and tear on their muscles and spiritual power. As his Six-Eyed Divine Vision continued to upgrade, and with his repeated experiences of these senior students’ physical changes after overtime, coupled with his usual continuous observation, he found that he seemed to gradually learn the martial arts they possessed, even the cultivation techniques that Yu Xinghan himself was originally unqualified to learn. He carefully hid this secret, daring not to reveal it to anyone.

Until this very moment, watching Zhang Yu still fighting a bloody battle, Yu Xinghan activated his long-hidden trump card! With a change in his hand seals, the Small Tri-Combination was suddenly activated! Amidst the pervasive dust, the earth surged violently with a deafening roar, coiling towards Wuying like an enraged dragon!

Shi Huaiyu was the first to react. As a senior civil engineering student who had mastered the Small Tri-Combination years ago, she was extremely familiar with its movements. Almost the instant Yu Xinghan activated it, Shi Huaiyu looked at him in utter astonishment. She hadn’t expected Yu Xinghan to have secretly mastered the first three of the Civil Engineering Seven Absolutes, nor that he would dare to use them in public! Even though the Spirit Realm was disconnected, even though they were cornered by the Golden Core demon cultist, and even though Zhang Yu, who stood in front, was so dazzling, she thought, “This is an infringement!”

Yu Xinghan, however, paid no attention to how many people noticed his mastery of the Small Tri-Combination at that moment. Instead, he bellowed, “What are you all staring at? There’s no Spirit Realm, no surveillance! If you don’t fight with all you’ve got now, do you really want to join the demon cult?”

Shi Huaiyu gritted her teeth, staring fiercely at the demon cult’s Golden Core, and fumed internally, “Damn it, I’m unleashing it on you!” Shi Huaiyu’s hand seals changed, and she unleashed a palm strike from a distance towards the Golden Core demon cultist, who was enveloped by the pervasive dust! In an instant, surges of Earth Fiend Gravity slammed down, pulling Wuying tightly as if with an invisible giant hand!

As a seventh-year student, a disciple of Earth Force Mountain, and one of the top-ranked members of the competition team, Shi Huaiyu, following Zhang Yu’s departmental transfer, gradually became one of the key cultivation targets for the Civil Engineering Department’s War Faction. With five first-place finishes in her class and a second trial after the Civil Engineering Seven Trials loosened up, Shi Huaiyu successfully mastered the last of the Civil Engineering Seven Absolutes this year!

And in the process of cultivating this last Civil Engineering Absolute, day by day working at the construction site, Shi Huaiyu gradually discovered the connections between the Seven Absolutes! With daily practice and application, those connections grew tighter and tighter. When she came to her senses, a wisp of Earth Fiend Gravity had already risen within her. Shi Huaiyu hurriedly dispersed it, fearing that any of this would be discovered. Without a military permit, she dared not attempt to activate any Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power. But as she continued cultivating the final Absolute, the feeling of things falling naturally into place never faded. Shi Huaiyu could only endure, repeatedly interrupting the integration between the various techniques of the Civil Engineering Seven Absolutes within her.

Yet the power of the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power did not weaken; instead, it continuously increased as the cultivation level of her last Civil Engineering Absolute improved. She could feel this improvement but dared even less to activate it, at one point even stopping the cultivation of the final Absolute. Shi Huaiyu knew she possessed talent, but this talent did not help her situation. She could still only compete with the Civil Engineering Seven Absolutes, work with them, and do overtime. It was as if a stifling feeling had been building in her chest, making Shi Huaiyu constantly feel suffocated even within the 670-story University City. For this, she worked, did overtime, speculated in the market, and traded stocks, hoping only to get rich quickly, to obtain a military permit soon, and to escape this suffocating feeling. But the arrival of the economic crisis made her feel even more suffocated.

And now, at this very moment, with Shi Huaiyu’s roar, she unleashed the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power within her body with no reservations, exploding with full force! Violent Earth Fiend Gravity blasted towards the opponent, as if to release all the pent-up frustration, anger, unwillingness, and fear in her heart in one go!

“Hmm?” Sensing that his body was affected by two streams of Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power, Wuying’s gaze unexpectedly turned towards Yu Xinghan, Shi Huaiyu, and the others. At the same time, he saw Shi Yunxiang and Ying Xin dash out with a whoosh, frantically digging into the ground on both sides!

“Besides two who want to run, the rest actually want to confront me head-on?” Wuying scoffed. “You can’t even make basic judgments about strength. How did you get into the Top Ten universities?”

Amidst a thunderous roar, the ground stirred up by Yu Xinghan had already coiled around Wuying like a massive dragon. Seeing Yu Xinghan’s move, Shi Huaiyu unleashed her full power. Seizing the moment Wuying was controlled, Zhang Yu let out a long cry, enveloped in golden and blood-red inner energy, and once again activated Mountain-Shifting Hercules! And the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power that Zhang Yu had accumulated during the battle suddenly erupted from his Nine Thunder Cloud-Empty Force!

He unleashed both palms simultaneously: one rooted in Nine Heavens Cloud-Empty Force, crowned with a white comet representing the Zenith Star Ten Phases. The other hand was propelled by pure Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power, stirring up Earth Fiend Gravity to devour everything, transforming into a pitch-black domain.

Nine Heavens Mountain-Shifting — Comet Bombardment, Star Dust Bind.

Amidst the earth-shattering roar, Yu Xinghan and Shi Huaiyu felt the power restraining Wuying suddenly shatter! Wuying’s head snapped back under Zhang Yu’s strike, and his entire body suddenly recoiled backward! One step, two steps, three steps… He stopped, brushed off the dust from his clothes, and calmly said, “So, this attack should have made you understand the disparity, right? The gap between Golden Core and Foundation Establishment is not something you can break! Can you properly consider joining the cult now?”

As he spoke, Wuying pointed a finger at Zhang Yu’s right arm once more! With a bang, a large cloud of blood mist burst forth, and Zhang Yu felt the bones in his arm crack! But the next moment, just as Wuying was about to make another move, he found Zhang Yu’s figure vanish into the dust, causing him to lose all sensation of his presence.

“Hmm?” He was startled, “What kind of movement technique is this? Or is it the function of a magic artifact or spell?”

Just as Wuying was about to dispel the pervasive dust, an astonishing aura forced him to turn his head. In Xiao Qingxuan’s eyes, flashes of dormitory life from recent days, Zhang Yu’s figure blocking the Golden Core demon cultist, and the successive bursts from Yu Xinghan and Shi Huaiyu, kept appearing…

He murmured to himself, “Sigh, that ancient old ghost’s values are starting to influence me again! Damn it… I must be crazy! I shouldn’t have kept that Golden Core you gave me!” As he spoke, a golden pill had already been swallowed, and terrifying spiritual pressure abruptly erupted from within his body! Surging inner energy completely enveloped his figure, making his face indistinguishable.

Sensing Wuying’s gaze, Xiao Qingxuan calmly said, “I almost forgot! I seem to be a Golden Core cultivator too!”