In the waiting area, Jiu Tianliu looked at Zhang Yu and said, “Junior, didn’t you say you’d collect intel for me?”

Zhang Yu smiled and replied, “Senior, why bother with intel when directly defeating the opponent is so much more decisive? Anyway, you won’t need to fight Ying Mingchi next.”

Jiu Tianliu looked straight at Zhang Yu. “Indeed. Next… it will be you and me competing.” Jiu Tianliu gazed deeply at Zhang Yu, articulating each word: “Junior… do you want to defeat me?”

At this moment, Zhang Yu no longer held back. With each victory and a growing list of achievements, Zhang Yu’s confidence in speaking grew stronger. Especially this victory against Ying Mingchi, which signified that his overall strength had reached the top tier among schools, giving him the right to contend with the best from other institutions.

“Senior…”

From then on, whether facing Jiu Tianliu or the post-match reporters, Zhang Yu, for the first time, expressed his ambition to the world, letting his voice be heard by all.

“I want to take first place.”

“Dao Qiankun Senior has already left.”

“In this year’s Top Ten League, there’s no one I’m willing to place on the throne anymore.”

“Since that’s the case, I’ve decided to defeat all my opponents myself.”

“I want to ascend the throne and become the strongest of the ten schools.”

Following Zhang Yu’s declaration, countless echoes resonated throughout the Lingjie.

A Yaoyi lamented in pain, “Why did Zhang Yu win? Seeing him win is worse than eating me alive!”

A fan of Jihu asked, “Why do I think Zhang Yu is the most undeserving among the top eight competitors?”

Students from the Refinement Department were studying Zhang Yu’s physical strength, while students from the Breeding Department were discussing Zhang Yu’s creation of dragon beasts. Many others were estimating how much infringement compensation Zhang Yu would have to pay after this battle.

Some Yaoyi insisted on the theory of human-demon common origin, arguing that Zhang Yu had utilized the Yaoyi bloodline within him to defeat Ying Mingchi and become one of the top eight competitors.

As for Zhang Yu’s comment section, it was overrun by all sorts of people, a chaotic mess. Many not only hurled insults but also sent Zhang Yu various threatening private messages.

Tianyao University, Jihu Company, and Ying Mingchi also successively moved to sue him for insulting Yaoyi, insulting Jihu, and infringing on the use of dragon blood. At this moment, Zhang Yu truly felt himself at the center of a storm, under the spotlight, with countless people and events seeking him out.

However, due to this popularity, the fee for the next match skyrocketed, quickly breaking the 200 Lingbi mark.

An Zhenzhen Jun also contacted him after the match, saying, “The school’s legal team will handle the lawsuits for you; it won’t waste your time or energy. You don’t need to worry about it for now, just focus all your energy on the competition.”

“However, you need to prepare for the infringement compensation yourself. If you don’t have enough Lingbi, you can borrow from the school.”

Zhang Yu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the benefits of having Wanfa University as his backer.

Zhang Yu asked, “What about the outcome of my next battle with Jiu Tianliu…?”

An Zhenzhen Jun replied, “For the next battle, the school will not heavily support either of you for now. Instead, whoever wins, we will support that person to fight against Kuang Tianqing.”

Zhang Yu’s heart settled upon hearing this. The school not continuing to support Jiu Tianliu, but letting them compete against each other, was already a very good outcome for him.

With one week of preparation time left, Zhang Yu still had many things to do. His physical injuries needed to recover, the damaged Qijue Fahai needed repair, and other items such as Tianri Huangshen, Taihao Shenglü Feijian, and Bishui Jinjingjia all required maintenance. Then there was the combat copyright for dragon blood, which Zhang Yu also hoped to acquire, as it would be a significant boost to his strength. Besides this, he also needed to go to the Lingtang to accompany Dao Qiankun, hoping to copy Daozhong from him.

After a brief thought, Zhang Yu felt that time was increasingly scarce, and Lingbi was spent faster the stronger he became. So, as soon as the match ended that day, he returned to the laboratory first to assign tasks to his assistants. Then, Zhang Yu left Tianri Huangshen as his avatar to preside over the work in the laboratory, while he himself plunged into the Lingtang, watching Dao Qiankun’s body, and simultaneously contacted Ying Mingchi to discuss the dragon blood copyright.

Ying Mingchi’s projection looked at Zhang Yu and said, “You want to buy combat copyright? Hmph, even if you buy it now, you’ll still have to pay the previous infringement fees.”

Zhang Yu said, “Just name your price first.”

Ying Mingchi replied, “300 Lingbi.”

Zhang Yu exclaimed in annoyance, “Are you out of your mind?”

Ying Mingchi calmly said, “For 300 Lingbi, I can package the breeding rights with it. You can cultivate them however you want.”

Zhang Yu frowned. “Still too expensive, and I’m only using it for combat; I’m not interested in breeding rights.”

Ying Mingchi said, “My true dragon bloodline is a truly awakened bloodline; you should know that it’s different from ordinary dragon blood. If you want a cheaper price, it’s not impossible.”

“Trade your blood for it. I want to buy your breeding rights.”

Zhang Yu refused without thinking. “No.” Zhang Yu then stated his conditions: “From now on, every product I create using your dragon blood will bear your name, indicating its origin. How about that?”

Ying Mingchi’s dragon eyes narrowed. “Oh?”

Zhang Yu continued, “I will defeat Jiu Tianliu, defeat opponent after opponent, and ultimately stand in the finals against Kuang Tianqing, and win the championship.”

“Don’t you want to see your name appear in the finals? Don’t you want to see your blood participate in the fight for the championship?”

Ying Mingchi suddenly laughed, “Zhang Yu, who said you discriminate against Yaoyi? I see you don’t discriminate against Yaoyi at all.”

Zhang Yu also laughed, “I don’t discriminate against Yaoyi, I only discriminate against Jihu Yao…”

The next moment, Ying Mingchi’s expression suddenly changed, and he said, “But all of this depends on you defeating Jiu Tianliu first.”

“You’re right,” Zhang Yu said. “So we should sign a tiered betting contract.”

“If I lose the next match, I’ll have to pay to buy your dragon blood copyright.”

“But if I win the next match…”

Ying Mingchi looked at the contract handed to him, which clearly stated that the cost of purchasing the copyright would decrease with each of Zhang Yu’s victories. If he fought Kuang Tianqing in the final match, the dragon blood copyright would only cost 30 Lingbi. If he defeated Kuang Tianqing, Ying Mingchi would even pay him 100 Lingbi in return.

Ying Mingchi sneered, “I have to pay you in return?”

Zhang Yu said, “Imagine a scene where a dragon made with your blood fiercely tramples Kuang Tianqing, humiliating her wildly.”

“Humans win with the dragon blood of Yaoyi—how does that news headline sound to you?”

Ying Mingchi had to admit, he was tempted. But he still didn’t believe Zhang Yu could defeat Kuang Tianqing.

“How about this, I won’t trick you,” Ying Mingchi said. “If you can make it to the finals, I’ll charge you 1 Lingbi for the copyright fee. But if you lose any match before the finals, you’ll have to pay 288 Lingbi to buy the full copyright of my dragon blood.”

“As for your infringement in this battle…” Ying Mingchi smiled. “If you can truly defeat Kuang Tianqing, then it will also be forgiven.”

After signing the betting contract, Zhang Yu let out a slight sigh of relief. While operating Tianri Huangshen in the laboratory, he had already started a live broadcast from the Lingtang. Zhang Yu could feel that as the Top Ten League continued, the intensity of the battles was increasing, and the consumption of Lingbi was also growing. Taking advantage of his current popularity, Zhang Yu wanted to earn more money to prepare for the upcoming matches.

Several days passed in a flash, and Zhang Yu’s live stream was again banned for 24 hours due to a copyright bomb attack from anti-fans. He sighed, turned off the live stream, and looked at Dao Qiankun’s corpse before him. He noticed that the spiritual artifact’s phantom had appeared at some point and was watching him.

Seeing Zhang Yu stop, the artifact spirit spoke, “You’re still insisting on live streaming your cultivation during the competition break. Are you working so hard because you want to win the championship?”

Zhang Yu nodded. “Yes, Jiu Tianliu has a Huashen Master as his mentor and resources from the Finance Department. Kuang Tianqing has the support of people all over the world. To compete with them, I must seize every minute and every second.”

The artifact spirit said, “Not everyone in the world supports Kuang Tianqing. Even if all living people support her, the dead won’t.”

Zhang Yu paused slightly. “The dead? You mean soul cultivators?” Zhang Yu smiled. “Perhaps. I wonder if the longevity cultivation method can extend the lifespan of soul cultivators.”

The artifact spirit said, “Extending the lifespan of soul cultivators is possible, it is possible… but it’s also largely impossible…”

Zhang Yu shook his head, wondering how he had gotten into a conversation with a dim-witted artifact spirit, and refocused on his own affairs. At the same time, Zhang Yu could feel that the Daozhong on Dao Qiankun’s body had been appearing more and more frequently these days, almost completely manifesting before him.

While Zhang Yu was seizing the time to develop himself, Jiu Tianliu also did not stop his pursuit of becoming stronger. Feng Tingting, Mo Shangjin, Su Yanyang, Bei Wufeng, Jin Jun… regardless of whether they were from the Civil Engineering Department or the Refinement Department, almost all students who had interacted with or competed against Zhang Yu were contacted by Jiu Tianliu’s people to collect a large amount of information about Zhang Yu.

In addition, Jiu Tianliu invested massive resources into the Lingjie, not only increasing the hype for this battle but also furiously boosting his Qiyun. Countless famous internet celebrities and renowned teachers came forward one by one to predict that Jiu Tianliu would win, defeat Zhang Yu, and become one of the top four competitors. A large number of students began promoting Jiu Tianliu as the top financial student among the ten schools. Jiu Tianliu connected with Yaoyi, proclaiming his opposition to Yaoyi discrimination and his many Yaoyi friends, gaining widespread support from them. Jiu Tianliu’s master, Jinque Shenjun of Wanfa University, stated at an event that he was optimistic about Jiu Tianliu reaching the finals.

As more and more people supported him, believing he could defeat Zhang Yu and enter the top four, Jiu Tianliu’s Qiyun grew even stronger. Public polls showed that over 70% of people believed Jiu Tianliu would win this battle.

And when Jiu Tianliu stepped onto the battlefield, his Qiyun had reached an unprecedented intensity, with a faint blue light seemingly encircling his head and auspicious clouds gathering beneath his feet. At the same time, Jiu Tianliu’s name floated everywhere on the floating continent, all in his support.

In his peak state, Jiu Tianliu took a step, and the ground seemed to tremble from his imposing aura. On the projections of various universities, Jiu Tianliu’s image constantly appeared, playing his declaration of championship. On the arena, Jiu Tianliu pointed a finger to the sky, and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth gathered according to his will.

The live camera focused on him, and his battle screen and live broadcast data reached the top in popularity, saturated with countless internet trolls, ten times that of other competitors. On the arena, with Jiu Tianliu’s soft shout, the clouds parted, and countless beams of light enveloped him, his aura surging once again. Looking at Zhang Yu ahead, Jiu Tianliu, in his peak state, pointed a finger, unleashing an unprecedented immortal dao killing move.

This move had already surpassed the Foundation Establishment stage, an attack between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core. With this strike, he intended to utterly destroy Zhang Yu. He aimed to secure an undeniable, absolute victory in this match, progressing from one peak to the next, step by step towards the highest, and ascending the throne.