Chapter 289: Like New, 99% Condition
Staring at his own na in ninth place on the leaderboard, with Zhang Yu just above him in eighth, Li Xiao felt the world go dark.
"How is this possible?"
"His growth rate increased again?"
"Just how much money did he borrow? How much did he mortgage?"
In Li Xiao's view, if a student's progress suddenly surged, there could only be one reason—they'd thrown in more Spirit Coins.
He muttered to himself, "Zhang Yu must’ve noticed my recent surge in cultivation and the Spirit Coin investnts I've made."
"So he must have spent even more than just to leap ahead in one go."
"I can't turn back now. It's too late for that."
With this in mind, Li Xiao slowly reached out and retrieved his own Law Husk.
He had made up his mind to sell off one of his ocular husks to get more Spirit Coins for cultivation.
Thinking of parting with the Tech Artisan Law Husk he’d only had for less than two months, a flicker of reluctance passed through his remaining eye.
Still, the Tech Artisan Law Husk had solid specs. Even using just one was enough for daily life.
"Once I make so money working construction, I’ll buy another one."
…
125th floor, dormitory zone.
Yu Xinghan eagerly tore into a freshly delivered package.
Zhang Yu, who was eating nearby, looked over and asked curiously, "Your senior sister sent you sothing?"
Yu Xinghan replied, "Nope. I bought it online."
He tore open the packaging, revealing an eyeball floating in maintenance fluid.
Zhang Yu asked, "An ocular husk? Why just one?"
Yu Xinghan grinned. "For over two months, I’ve been studying all the brands and models out there, trying to get the most cost-effective ocular husk that can et my daily needs."
"I've watched countless review videos and read tons of articles. I lurked in more than ten ocular husk discussion groups and combed through the secondhand market."
"At this point, I know all there is to know about model specs, performance, paraters, and market prices."
"And finally…"
Wearing gloves, Yu Xinghan carefully lifted the ocular husk from the fluid. "I found a hidden gem."
"A Tech Artisan Law Husk that's 99% like new. Since it was sold individually, the price was even lower."
"But judging by this model's specs, just one is more than enough for daily classes and cultivation."
Zhang Yu nodded, impressed. "I didn’t expect soone using a Fierce Tiger model to know this much about ocular husks."
Yu Xinghan snorted. "Hmph. Zhang Yu, even if you lucked into a Ti-Wrecking Demon Pupil, you should still study up on Law Husks. This kind of knowledge only helps, never hurts."
As he spoke, he swapped out his left eye for the newly acquired Tech Artisan Law Husk and marveled, "Wow, this thing is sothing else."
"The world looks so much clearer now."
But instead of confirming delivery and paynt, Yu Xinghan carefully removed the ocular husk again.
He pulled out a toolkit and began ticulously cleaning it before placing it back into the maintenance fluid.
Zhang Yu asked, "Why aren’t you using it? Is the quality no good?"
Yu Xinghan replied as if it were obvious, "This thing's too good to use all the ti. I’ll just use my Fierce Tiger model for everyday stuff."
"This one’s for class use only."
"Don’t want it to wear out too quickly."
He was determined to clean and maintain this ocular husk every day to extend its lifespan as much as possible.
After the al, Zhang Yu left the dorm as usual and headed below the 100th floor via a Magnetic-Channel.
To stay safe, Zhang Yu always chose different locations for body-refining training.
This ti, he went to a blind spot in the surveillance on the 94th floor. After swallowing a chunk of cent, he began cultivating the Soil-Eating Divine Technique.
A deep rumble echoed from his stomach. His digestive tract had turned into a pulverizer. As Gluttonous Mana surged, the cent was ground down into basic materials and redirected across his skin through his body’s internal channels.
This was the upgraded effect of the Soil-Eating Divine Technique at level 10. Not only could it strengthen muscle and tendon, but now it could also fortify the skin.
"But cent’s a bit too weak—it only makes my skin tougher. Use too much and it starts to reduce flexibility and explosive power."
"To really improve with this technique, I’ll need better body-refining materials."
But Zhang Yu had no intention of spending his own money on that.
"Guess I’ll wait until my next construction gig. Maybe I’ll find so good scrap material lying around…"
After another round of training, Zhang Yu finally pushed the Soil-Eating Divine Technique to level 20.
In that instant, his mind flooded with images—it felt like he’d spent years in bitter training. He had finally cultivated this technique to the Foundation Establishnt Realm's upper limit.
At level 20, in addition to enhancing skin and muscles, the technique now allowed him to fortify his bones using cultivation materials.
"Strengthening bones… That’s probably the real highlight of this technique."
With eyes closed, Zhang Yu reflected on the upgraded Soil-Eating Divine Technique. "After all, many high-strength materials aren’t suitable for flesh, but for bones…"
"It took over half a month of effort to finally complete this level 20 body-refining technique."
Thanks to this recent intense training, all his stats had seen noticeable improvents.
His Dao Heart had reached level 11 (73.8%), his Mana hit 300.6, and his physical strength rose to level 11.12.
"With the University Saint Body and a level 20 technique, I’m improving fast."
Still, rembering Zhang Pianpian’s warning, Zhang Yu kept his progress hidden so that his overall growth wouldn't stand out too much in class rankings.
"Breaking past 300 Mana… Technically, I can equip a second Law Husk now."
"But I’ll hold off…"
He thought to himself, "Law Husks are way too expensive. Better to follow Xinghuo Zhenren’s plan—keep refining my body and prep for transferring into the Artifact Refining departnt."
Besides study and training, Zhang Yu had also done his howork on the transfer process.
"The latest I can switch departnts is the third academic year. If I miss that window, I can’t switch at all."
"I need to earn enough money and build up my body-refining stats within three years."
…
The next day.
Dao Heart class.
Teacher Feng Jiu, still in her phoenix form, lectured just as she had on the very first day—calm and chanical, like reading off a script.
As she swept her gaze across the students, glowing line graphs of their Dao Heart progress popped up in her eyes.
"Ji Yuanshu—top Dao Heart in class, no anomalies."
"Gongshu Jin—second in class, no anomalies…"
"Li Xiao—accelerated Dao Heart progress, marked as loan-promotion target. Added to pre-sale database."
"Zhang Yu—initially stable Dao Heart progress. Sudden spike a month ago, then stabilized again. Marked for observation…"
She sorted the student data and sent it to the depths of the Spiritual Realm, then continued teaching without a ripple in her expression.
…
Mana class.
Li Mingbo kept most of his attention on the upper-tier students in the front rows.
But whenever his gaze swept past Zhang Yu in the back, he always paused a little longer.
The main reason? Zhang Yu hadn’t used his discount coupons on the Mana Treasure platform—not to buy Mana, not to sell it either.
Secondary reason? The kid’s progress in Mana had been solid—now in the class top ten. A standout student.
"Still can’t tell if he’s loan-fueled or just naturally gifted."
At least from Zhang Yu’s outward behavior, he couldn’t tell. Unlike Li Xiao, who twitched at the corners of his eyes every so often—clearly distracted by push notifications from his ocular husks.
Sotis, one second he'd be focused in class, the next his face would twist in horror.
Coming from the sa floor, Li Mingbo knew the signs all too well.
"That kid took out so serious loans."
…
Body-refining class.
Lang Yougong nodded as he looked at Zhang Yu. "Your strength training has been progressing well. Keep it up."
"And don’t neglect your Spirit Root fusion either."
Seeing this student—who had mastered the level-20 Endless Spring and Autumn ditation and wielded the Ti-Wrecking Demon Pupil—Lang Yougong was more certain than ever that he had exceptional backing. That would explain the rapid progress and rising ranks.
After getting more pointers, Zhang Yu suddenly asked, "Teacher Lang, Yu Xinghan's having so trouble improving his Spirit Root fusion. Could you give him a few tips?"
Yu Xinghan shot Zhang Yu a grateful look, then turned to Lang Yougong with a hopeful gaze.
Lang Yougong blinked, his wolf ears twitching slightly. "Xinghan, if you’ve got a question, just ask. I’m your teacher—of course I’ll help."
As Lang Yougong guided Yu Xinghan through each movent, Zhang Yu quietly activated the Ti-Wrecking Demon Pupil, capturing every motion in ultra-clear 128 fras per second.
He thought, "Now I can guide Yu Xinghan myself and help him boost his Spirit Root fusion. Then I’ll be able to copy his Dao Seed’s Tri-Eye Divine Ability."
anwhile, Lang Yougong’s ocular husk peered through flesh and muscle, into Yu Xinghan’s eyes. A strange thought crossed his mind: "Wait… Aren’t those husks a matching pair with Li Xiao’s?"
"Are they… sharing a set? That close?"
…
That night, after finishing up with the Soil-Eating Divine Technique, Zhang Yu began practicing the second Technique of the Earth-Wood Saint Body: a Foundation-level Technique called War Demon Life-Draining Technique.
This Technique was born for battle. It could awaken latent physical potential and forcibly reverse Mana flow to stimulate the body beyond its natural limits, unleashing strength far beyond normal.
During this process, the user could explode with overwhelming might, crushing ten enemies with one strike. But because the body couldn’t truly endure such power, it ca at a steep cost: torn muscles, shattered bones, ruptured organs—and worst of all, a drain on the user’s lifespan.
In modern tis, this once-lethal combat Technique had found new purpose—used by Earth-Wood cultivators to work themselves to death on construction sites.
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