After Zi Yunzhen politely declined Zhang Yu, she saw he had sent another message.

Zhang Yu: “If you’re willing to join the project, you can ask me anything about the technical aspects of the Heavenly Sun Radiant God.”
Zhang Yu: “And if your magical artifacts have any issues, I can repair and maintain them for you for free.”

Zi Yunzhen wasn’t particularly interested in Zhang Yu’s first offer. While his artifact forging skills were impressive, how long had he been in the Artifact Forging Department? And how long had he been studying the Heavenly Sun Radiant God technology? Zi Yunzhen had previously watched Zhang Yu practice all sorts of messy artifact forging techniques in the lab. She found it hard to believe that he could master the Heavenly Sun Radiant God’s techniques after only a few months.

However, his offer of free artifact maintenance and repairs piqued Zi Yunzhen’s interest. She thought to herself, “I’ll join temporarily, let Zhang Yu fix a few of my worn-out artifacts, and then find an excuse to leave.” With that in mind, Zi Yunzhen accepted Zhang Yu’s offer. They agreed on a one-week trial period, during which Zi Yunzhen would participate in the project as Zhang Yu’s assistant. They would observe each other, and if it didn’t feel right, she could withdraw.

That day, as soon as Zi Yunzhen arrived at the lab, she received a file from Zhang Yu in her optical display. Zhang Yu said, “You have experience with alloy material processing, right? Your task for today is to perform the initial screening and refine the impurities from the alloy materials, according to the requirements in the file I sent you.”

Zi Yunzhen looked at the workload specified in the file and exclaimed, “I have to refine this much in one day?”

Zhang Yu nodded. “This is just the beginning. I have high expectations for you. Your work efficiency affects the progress of our entire project team. I hope you can push yourself and grow quickly…”

Watching him turn and leave, Zi Yunzhen thought, “You want me to prepare this many materials… can you even use them all?” She then looked at the few finished bone sections on the adjacent workbench and mused, “Is this all he’s completed? That’s far behind Jin Jun’s progress.” Zi Yunzhen shook her head. Despite her internal complaints, she dutifully began preparing the materials, planning to find an excuse to leave once Zhang Yu had repaired her artifacts.

Half an hour later, just as Zi Yunzhen finished preparing the second batch of materials, she noticed that most of the first batch she had prepared was already gone.

“Hmm?”
“Used so quickly?”

She paused, then couldn’t help but frown. “Surely it’s not all wasted?” In Zi Yunzhen’s opinion, Zhang Yu had only recently started forging the Heavenly Sun Radiant God, so using materials so quickly surely meant repeated failures. She turned to look at Zhang Yu’s workbench and saw streams of true fire rising, with a mass of milky-white material gradually taking shape within them. Simultaneously, the surrounding artifact forging equipment continuously emitted bursts of thunder-fire, which, under Zhang Yu’s control, etched magic circuits onto the material. Watching Zhang Yu’s incredibly skilled movements, Zi Yunzhen felt as if, in the blink of an eye, he was already close to completing the forging of that bone section.

“That fast?!” Zi Yunzhen was shocked by the scene. Looking at the new finished product next to him, she wondered, “It’s already done? How could it be so fast?” She recalled Su Yunni mentioning the forging of the prototype’s bone structure in their private chat group. “Jin Jun’s progress wasn’t this fast, was it?” Thinking of this, Zi Yunzhen couldn’t help but send a message to Su Yunni: “How long did it take you guys to completely forge one bone section back then?” Reading the reply, Zi Yunzhen thought, “Two or three hours?” She then looked up at Zhang Yu’s workbench and mused, “This is several times faster, isn’t it? Is this normal?” She couldn’t help but suspect that Zhang Yu’s forged puppet bones might have quality issues.

Over the next few days, Zi Yunzhen was even more astonished to find that as her proficiency increased and her material preparation speed grew faster, Zhang Yu’s artifact forging speed continued to accelerate as well. It turned out that Zhang Yu’s previous speed wasn’t his limit; it was her own material processing speed that was holding him back.

“Zi Yunzhen, not ready yet?”
“Hurry with the next batch.”
“I’m almost done here.”

Zi Yunzhen felt as if Zhang Yu was constantly whipping her from behind. Whenever she thought her material preparation speed barely met his requirements, his forging speed would increase a little more. Zi Yunzhen would then gasp, forcefully circulate her magic, and try her best to increase her speed again. She felt that as soon as she entered the lab, all her energy and thoughts were drained by Zhang Yu. Aside from the materials in front of her, there was no time to think about anything else.

After more than a week of working non-stop, Zi Yunzhen stared incredulously at the human-shaped skeleton in front of her and said, “It’s… finished?”

Zhang Yu nodded. “Yes, it’s a bit slower than I anticipated, but still pretty good.”

“Slower?” Zi Yunzhen thought to herself. “This is slow?!” She couldn’t help but look at her chat history with Su Yunni in her optical display again.

Zi Yunzhen asked: “How long did it take you guys to complete the forging of the skeletal system back then?”
Su Yunni: “About a month or so.”
Su Yunni: “The speed was mainly because Senior Brother Jin Jun hired several senior students to assist him.”
Su Yunni: “But in pursuit of speed, a lot of materials were wasted.”
Su Yunni: “Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

Zi Yunzhen replied: “I’m working on a project with Zhang Yu.”
Zi Yunzhen continued: “Just curious about the differences between the two sides, just asking casually.”
Su Yunni: “Zhang Yu’s side definitely can’t compare to Senior Brother Jin Jun’s. Don’t be discouraged. If a spot opens up here, I’ll recommend you to Senior Brother Jin Jun.”

Meanwhile, Zi Yunzhen focused her gaze on the human-shaped skeleton before her, noticing the dense network of magic circuits within, pulsating with golden magical radiance. With each flash of light, the bones seemed to flicker between solid and ethereal, with faint sparks of fire appearing and vanishing.

Zhang Yu said, “Next, you’ll help me complete the tests. If there are no quality issues, we’ll proceed with forging the nervous system.”

Watching these bones successively pass strength tests, high-temperature tests, and magic conductivity tests, and then transform into streams of fire under Zhang Yu’s control… Zi Yunzhen’s astonishment grew. She stared at the scene in disbelief. If she hadn’t personally watched Zhang Yu forge these bone sections one by one over the past period, she would have suspected that he had hired someone else to do it. Unbeknownst to her, Zi Yunzhen had quietly forgotten her original plan to leave after a week.

“Zhang Yu… he might actually surpass Jin Jun, pass the Heavenly Sun Radiant God assessment first, and secure the military certification.”
“Even if he doesn’t beat Jin Jun, going through the Heavenly Sun Radiant God project with Zhang Yu should still be beneficial.”
“And if he does defeat Jin Jun…”

Thinking of herself and Zhang Yu, two senior students, defeating Jin Jun and securing the military certification, with all the resulting experience, prestige, and resume points, Zi Yunzhen couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. At this moment, Zi Yunzhen had made up her mind to stay and diligently learn under Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu looked at Zi Yunzhen’s serious face beside him, seemingly having anticipated this outcome. He had long foreseen that Zi Yunzhen’s initial participation in the project would not be sincere. However, Zhang Yu was confident he could persuade her. After all, he was also an artifact forging student and understood their thoughts and intentions very well. Compared to earning money, what they truly desired was to quickly accumulate experience, hone their artifact forging skills, and gain valuable project experience… And all of that could be achieved under his tutelage. Zhang Yu thought to himself, “I probably won’t need to give Zi Yunzhen a raise now; she’ll stay here anyway.”

So, in the following period, Zhang Yu continuously pushed Zi Yunzhen to advance the forging of the prototype machine. Zi Yunzhen’s daily work hours gradually increased from 14 hours to 16, then 20, and finally became a non-stop 24-hour state. Witnessing the rapid progress of the project, Zi Yunzhen didn’t mention overtime pay or a salary raise to Zhang Yu.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. By mid-November, Zi Yunzhen looked at the prototype machine, which was now beginning to take on a human shape, still feeling a trace of shock. “The first assembly is almost complete in just over a month?” Zi Yunzhen checked her chat history with Su Yunni again and thought, “It seems Jin Jun’s side is also close to completing their first assembly.” Although both projects were nearing similar stages of completion, Zi Yunzhen knew there was a difference between their “completion.” Zhang Yu’s catching-up speed was terrifying.

“But why has Zhang Yu been going out so often these past couple of days?” Zi Yunzhen couldn’t help but think, “This is a critical moment! How can you be distracted?! Hurry up, completely surpass Jin Jun in one go, and secure that military certification quickly. That’s the right way!” Thinking of this, Zi Yunzhen felt it necessary to mention it to Zhang Yu and tell him to focus.

Meanwhile.

Outside the Research Department office.

Zhang Yu sat on a waiting chair, a hint of impatience gradually appearing on his face. After a long wait, he was finally called in by Feng Yuhan, who unhurriedly said, “Young man, why are you so impatient?”

Zhang Yu frowned and replied, “Teacher Feng, I’ve been busy with my current project…”

Feng Yuhan waved a hand to stop him. “No matter how important your project is, can it be more important than the school’s project? Don’t you know how much the principal values the Divine Manifestation Bone project? Next, you need to fully cooperate with the project team’s inspection. Put aside anything else you’re working on for now.”

Zhang Yu stared at Feng Yuhan and suddenly said, “Teacher Feng, are you targeting me?”

Feng Yuhan smiled slightly. “Why would a teacher like me target a student like you?” He waved his hand dismissively. “Go on, and don’t forget to cooperate well with the work schedule sent to you. If you delay the school’s matters and the principal blames you, even your teacher won’t be able to protect you…”

Watching Zhang Yu’s retreating figure, Feng Yuhan could, of course, sense his dissatisfaction, resentment, and anger. But in his view, what did a student’s dissatisfaction matter? After bottling it up for a while, they would naturally process it.