After Zhang Yu sent a message that he also planned to participate in the competition, Bei Wufeng on the other side seemed to hesitate for a moment before replying.

Bei Wufeng: Junior, you’re not joking with me, are you?
Bei Wufeng: If you think the price isn’t enough, we can discuss it further.
Bei Wufeng: I am very sincere.

Zhang Yu: Apologies, Senior.
Zhang Yu: I genuinely want to participate in the Top Ten League.

Bei Wufeng: The military competition of the Top Ten League?
Zhang Yu: The military competition of the Top Ten League.

Seemingly sensing a serious attitude in Zhang Yu’s words, Bei Wufeng’s tone changed.

Bei Wufeng: The school team currently has 10 members, with 3 from the artifact refining department: Yan Qianji, myself, and Ye Xingli.
Bei Wufeng: If you want to join the team, it seems you want to replace Ye Xingli? Or me?
Bei Wufeng: According to the rules, you would challenge Ye Xingli or me, and if you win, you push someone out.

Seeing Bei Wufeng’s words, Zhang Yu was at a loss for how to respond.

Bei Wufeng: Haven’t you considered it? To represent the school in the Top Ten League’s military competition, you must at least reach our level.
Bei Wufeng: Although the official competition is in September, the registration deadline is in July. It’s February now, which means you have about five months to catch up to us.
Bei Wufeng: Do you think you can reach our level in five months?

Zhang Yu knew that Bei Wufeng’s words were well-reasoned. He believed that most students would be persuaded by them.
Even Zhang Yu himself, if not for the “Immortal Sect Cultivation Method Selection” opportunity, probably wouldn’t be in such a hurry for this year’s Top Ten League.
But to increase his chances of joining a sect, Zhang Yu was willing to try his best.
Moreover, he knew he wasn’t without a chance.
After years of accumulation on the Immortal Path, with various cultivation methods, chain method diagrams, Dao Seeds, wealth, and connections, his cultivation efficiency was increasing, and his speed of becoming stronger was accelerating. He was now entering a period of rapid growth.
So, facing Bei Wufeng’s interrogation, Zhang Yu replied: I want to try.

Looking at Zhang Yu’s reply, Bei Wufeng couldn’t help but laugh.
“Lying seems unnecessary, and too easily exposed.”
“So… this guy actually thinks so?”
Looking at the message from the other party, Bei Wufeng felt only arrogance, a sense of meaninglessness.
“Ye Xingli and I… seem to have been underestimated.”
“Does this guy think our achievements are so easily surpassed?”
Shaking his head, Zhang Yu’s rating in Bei Wufeng’s mind plummeted at this moment.
However, since his previous words failed to dissuade the other party, he didn’t want to waste more time entangled in this issue.
But Bei Wufeng didn’t give up; after all, Tianri Huangshen was a military-grade puppet he had long planned to lease.
As early as last year, when Jin Jun was preparing to refine Tianri Huangshen, Bei Wufeng had already made an agreement with this junior brother to lease his Tianri Huangshen for the Top Ten League to perfect his own system.
During Jin Jun’s refining of the prototype machine, Bei Wufeng also provided much help, such as funds, connections, helping to suppress Zhang Yu’s strategy, or even providing Jin Jun with the news of Zhang Yu’s registration for the review.
After all, as Jin Jun was his junior brother, Bei Wufeng naturally hoped that Jin Jun could defeat Zhang Yu and strengthen their faction.
But such help was limited. Now that Jin Jun had failed, Bei Wufeng naturally couldn’t help him suppress Zhang Yu; instead, he shifted the transaction target to Zhang Yu and established a cooperative relationship with him.
And facing Zhang Yu’s inexplicable choice, Bei Wufeng decided to try a different approach.

Bei Wufeng: Then if you fail to be selected for the school team in July, how about you lease Tianri Huangshen to me for the Top Ten League?
Bei Wufeng: If you’re not satisfied with the price, we can still discuss it then.

Zhang Yu: Okay.

Bei Wufeng: I hope we can sign a contract to ensure that you prioritize lending it to me then.

Just as Zhang Yu was about to agree, Fu Ji reminded him, “Zhang Yu, since we’re signing a contract, why don’t we add some requirements?”

Zhang Yu asked, “What requirements?”

Fu Ji said, “Since you have to lend your military-grade Dharma artifact to the other party if you can’t participate in the Top Ten League, shouldn’t the other party also lend you their Dharma artifact if they can’t participate in the Top Ten League?”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up, seemingly quite moved by Fu Ji’s suggestion.
He hadn’t thought of this before. Now that he knew students like Bei Wufeng participating in the Top Ten League had a way to borrow Dharma artifacts, he could naturally apply the same.
If he could borrow the other party’s military-grade Dharma artifact, it would obviously be a huge help for him to participate in the Top Ten League.
But he still hesitated and said to Fu Ji, “Bei Wufeng just helped me suppress the Tianyao matter. Would it be bad if I say this to him? Will I offend him?”

Fu Ji said, “What’s good or bad about it? The path of immortality is either you stepping on others, or others stepping on you. Do you think it’s playing house? Everyone happy and united, and you’ll break through realms?”
“What if it offends someone, as long as it increases your chances of winning?”
“Besides, he’s right about one thing: if you want to join the school team in the future, the most likely scenario… is that you’ll push him or Ye Xingli out.”
“After all, Yan Qianji is the strongest in the artifact refining department, and the most challenging. Bei Wufeng and Ye Xingli, who are second and third, have similar strengths, so challenging them has the highest success rate.”
Fu Ji spoke eloquently, “And what he said is consistent with the information we’ve gathered. You’ll have a match with one of them, and if you win, you can replace them in the school team.”
“Do you want to push him out? Or Ye Xingli? With your personality, you’d definitely challenge the less familiar Bei Wufeng, so you’ll offend him anyway, won’t you?”
“Since you’re going to offend him anyway, you might as well make it clear now. You can also arrange for his military-grade Dharma artifact in advance, and at the same time, take advantage of his current disdain to set up a contract that is more favorable to us.”
“Otherwise, if you defeat him and then try to borrow his military-grade Dharma artifact, he might not necessarily lend it to you.”
Fu Ji finally said, “Zhang Yu, it’s not that you want to offend him, but that the conflict between you two is already inevitable, and the reason is simple… he’s blocking your path.”

Zhang Yu had to admit that Fu Ji’s words were very reasonable, leaving him no room to refuse.
“To increase my chances of entering a sect, I can only inconvenience you, Senior.”
However, Zhang Yu did not reply to the other party immediately. Instead, he turned to inquire with Ciji Zhenjun and Ye Xingli about some questions regarding the Top Ten League and the school team, especially concerning the borrowing of military-grade Dharma artifacts.
Only by understanding the situation clearly could he conveniently continue negotiations with Bei Wufeng.

Ciji Zhenjun: Bei Wufeng wants to borrow your military-grade Dharma artifact?
Ciji Zhenjun: You can also ask your Senior Sister if she wants to borrow it.
Ciji Zhenjun: Why must you lend it to your Senior Sister? Of course, you lend it to whoever offers you more money and better conditions.

Ye Xingli: Junior Brother, I have already gathered enough military-grade Dharma artifacts for the Top Ten League.
Ye Xingli: Lending me more would exceed my limit for controlling artifacts. Moreover, your Tianri Huangshen doesn’t quite fit the system I plan to build.
Ye Xingli (Poor Man Simulator): Thank you for your concern, Junior Brother [flower]. If you want to lease out Tianri Huangshen, don’t consider me.

After understanding the situation from his master and senior sister, Zhang Yu had a clearer idea about the matter.
“Indeed, even with the assistance of a soul cultivator, there’s a limit to the number of Dharma artifacts one person can wield.”
“And military-grade Dharma artifacts are more difficult to wield, so a person can use even fewer simultaneously.”
“Once the number exceeds the operational limit, it becomes difficult to control and even harder to fully unleash the Dharma artifact’s true potential. In the end, it’s barely better than nothing; it’s better to focus on wielding a few military-grade Dharma artifacts.”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “If I’m going to lease… the military-grade Dharma artifacts of the teachers have long exceeded level 20, not only are they difficult to wield, but they are also extremely expensive.”
“And students who obtained military certificates in previous years, after graduating from university, all went to the third floor of Kunxu to pursue graduate studies. Not only are their artifacts difficult to borrow, but many of them have probably already passed the Golden Core qualification exam, and their Dharma artifacts have also been upgraded to above level 20 as they entered the Golden Core stage.”
“As for military-grade Dharma artifacts from army channels, they are even more difficult to access.”
“So, in comparison, military-grade Dharma artifacts refined by current students in the university city are more suitable for leasing and use in competitions…”

After a thorough understanding, Zhang Yu had a much clearer grasp of the situation and immediately replied to Bei Wufeng: Senior, if I participate in the Top Ten League and you lose your eligibility, would I be able to borrow your military-grade Dharma artifact to compete?

Seeing Zhang Yu’s reply, Bei Wufeng couldn’t help but laugh again.
“This kid… has he made up his mind to challenge me?”
But Bei Wufeng wasn’t angry; instead, he saw an opportunity to profit.
“This Zhang Yu is even more arrogant than I originally anticipated.”
“Well then… let’s see if I can leverage his arrogance.”
“Hmm, I can also try to provoke him a bit.”

So Bei Wufeng replied: Okay.
Bei Wufeng: If you can challenge me and push me out of the school team, I’ll lend you my military-grade Dharma artifact for free.
Bei Wufeng: But conversely, if you ultimately lose and fail to participate in the Top Ten League, your Tianri Huangshen must also be lent to me for free.
Bei Wufeng: Do you dare?

Seeing Bei Wufeng’s reply, Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment, thinking to himself, “I want to win in the Top Ten League, I want to defeat the geniuses of various schools, how can I do it without a fight?”
“Let’s go for it.”

Zhang Yu replied: Okay, let’s sign the contract.

Bei Wufeng, having signed the contract, smiled contentedly, thinking, “Hehe, I didn’t expect the outcome to be even better than predicted. Free rental fees free up a budget for me, which I can use elsewhere to increase my chances of winning in the Top Ten League.”
Zhang Yu looked at the contract, his fighting spirit ignited: “I must win! If I lose, that’s a rental loss of 50 spirit coins a day!”