You dare to cultivate without money?! Chapter 580 - 521: Gaining Some Fame

Spirit Realm.

Inside the classroom of the Artifact Refining Departnt.

Unlike the Civil Engineering Departnt, many courses in the Artifact Refining Departnt are accelerated in the Spirit Realm classrooms.

This allows students of the Artifact Refining Departnt to have higher learning efficiency, but it also requires them to pay higher tuition fees.

However, for those who can study in the Artifact Refining Departnt, the expensive tuition is already the most insignificant expense among the many costs in the departnt.

The Mana Conduction class had just ended on this day when Zhang Yu stood up in the Spirit Realm classroom and walked towards the instructor.

The instructor for this session was called Master Jiu Duan, a doctoral graduate of Wanfa University’s Artifact Refining Departnt, who successfully stayed at the university and was just over 50 years old; wherever he went, he was considered young and promising.

Like most teachers and students in the Artifact Refining Departnt, Master Jiu Duan first examines a person’s Magic Remains.

After all, on the path of Artifact Refining, financial resources reign supre. To Master Jiu Duan, wealth is the most important criterion for selecting talent in the Artifact Refining Departnt.

And the most discerning thod for Artifact Refining Departnt students to gauge financial capability is naturally to observe the Magic Remains on others.

To facilitate differentiating among students, he makes notes on each student he teaches, displaying them in his eye remains, allowing for more effective managent both in reality and in the Spirit Realm.

Take, for instance, the many students in this class.

The top student of the class, Su Yuni, entirely clad in high-end versions from the Ten Thousand Dao Craftsman Sect, faintly glows with purple light in the eyes of Master Jiu Duan. For him, such students are minor elites, useful for both laboratory chores and outsourced projects at artifact companies, akin to premium livestock.

On the other side, the fourth in the class, Zi Yunzhen, though also using the Ten Thousand Dao Craftsman Sect items, only has the basic versions. In Master Jiu Duan’s eyes, such students emit a faint blue light.

To him, these students are much more diocre, often needing guidance to be productive. Nonetheless, they are willing to endure hardships, suitable for troubleso and dangerous dirty work, and thus useful.

Among the students who secretly use a few second-hand Magic Remains or mid-range brands, there are typically only a few in any given class in the Artifact Refining Departnt.

They appear green in Master Jiu Duan’s eyes, regarded as consumables among the students, with their greatest contribution to the artifact refining industry being their tuition expenses, admitting each year despite lacking potential in the Artifact Refining Departnt.

As for those with completely low-end Magic Remains, or even none besides eye remains, Master Jiu Duan usually only encounters them outside the Artifact Refining Departnt.

To him, they are a mass of gray-black color, with the total value of their Magic Remains being darker the lower it is.

University City has a large population of such people, becoming increasingly worthless as the population grows each year.

In Master Jiu Duan’s eyes, these black-colored people are akin to walking wet garbage, with the sole difference being the fine incurred for discarding them in a landfill.

Sotis, Master Jiu Duan has to admit that Nether University handles this better by periodically cleaning up the low-end population within University City, preventing these wet garbage from running amok.

Such actions are like pouring dicine into a river, effectively maintaining the price environnt for people, preventing the low-end population from becoming too cheap due to excessive numbers, preserving the dignity in the value of human life.

At this mont, as Zhang Yu approached, a large gray-black shadow appeared in Master Jiu Duan’s eyes.

"Zhang Yu?"

Master Jiu Duan imdiately recalled the student’s na—a student from the Civil Engineering Departnt, with only a four-year-old eye remains, yet more morable than any other student, categorized in an unknown classification in his eyes.

According to Master Jiu Duan’s classification standards, Zhang Yu should be considered wet garbage.

But following the rule that there’s no wet garbage in the Artifact Refining Departnt, coupled with the other’s performance, Zhang Yu should be considered a person.

This made Zhang Yu seem like a mysterious unknown species, leaving a deep impression on Master Jiu Duan.

He heard Zhang Yu say, "Teacher, I would like to request so ti off."

Master Jiu Duan asked, "Why?"

Zhang Yu explained, "I plan to work on the Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine. I need to spend more ti in the lab to study and accumulate experience and skills in this area."

Zhang Yu truly didn’t want to spend more ti in class since he had not only learned the related content early on, but also deeply mastered it through artifact refining skills.

The Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine was indeed his upcoming target, which Zhang Yu considered the best excuse for leave, just like a Civil Engineering Departnt student taking leave to work on a construction site.

Hearing this, Master Jiu Duan frowned slightly and said, "You want to work on the Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine? Aspirations are good, but the path of Artifact Refining requires a solid foundation; Mana Conduction is the basic course of artifact refining. You should focus on mastering your current coursework first..."

A student who only transferred from the Civil Engineering Departnt two months ago claiming to work on the Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine? To Master Jiu Duan, wasn’t this nonsense?

If he agreed so casually, would he not be regarded as a fool?

Zhang Yu anticipated this and promptly sent over the data of his crafted Magic Treasure, the Yin Yang Shield.

He knew that no amount of verbal explanation could match showcasing the results.

The Yin Yang Shield could convert between the Raging Fire Shield and the Mysterious Ice Shield modes, further enhanced by him, best reflecting his knowledge in Mana Conduction.

Initially unimpressed with the Magic Treasure data sent over, Master Jiu Duan beca increasingly surprised after reviewing it further.

Master Jiu Duan: "Did you truly craft this?"

In Master Jiu Duan’s view, the Yin Yang Shield resembled the level of a senior student in the Artifact Refining Departnt, with certain data demonstrating Zhang Yu’s excellent grasp of knowledge related to Mana Conduction.

"Alright then." Master Jiu Duan smiled slightly, "Are you currently involved in any projects? Are you interested in joining my side?"

At this mont, Zhang Yu was exceptionally marked with a purple glow in Master Jiu Duan’s eyes, categorized as premium livestock that could be directly put to work to generate inco for him.

"I don’t have much ti recently." Zhang Yu shook his head, having learned a lot about the Artifact Refining Departnt from Ye Xingli lately.

He knows that joining a teacher’s lab ans being driven by them endlessly in exchange for guidance and cultivation opportunities.

As for the salary, it might be less than what you earn from hauling trash at a construction site.

Zhang Yu has his own cultivation plans and money-making strategies and doesn’t need to do such things. To him, the other’s teachings are not as good as practicing more on his own.

Master Jiu Duan nodded, smiling, "Alright, if you’re interested, feel free to contact . My door is always open for you."

On the other side of the classroom, most of the students had disappeared after class.

Yet Zi Yunzhen purposely stayed behind to overhear Zhang Yu’s conversation with Master Jiu Duan.

Seeing how much Master Jiu Duan valued Zhang Yu, she secretly marveled, "This Zhang Yu... is becoming really impressive."

Ever since Zi Yunzhen beca Ye Xingli’s assistant, she often saw Zhang Yu practicing the Artifact Refining Technique in the lab and watched as he mastered several Artifact Refining Techniques successively.

Zhang Yu explained this as being influenced by the Divinity Transformation Remains, which made Zi Yunzhen envious with her eyes turning red.

"I can dual cultivate too, I can change gender!"

Unfortunately, Zi Yunzhen also took the test but didn’t receive the favor of the Divinity Transformation Remains.

And as Zhang Yu’s artifact refining skills improved, expanding his repertoire bit by bit, the orders he received started increasing, and he gained so fa among the students in the Artifact Refining Departnt.

Zi Yunzhen thought, "But he’s only a junior and already plans to create the Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine? Isn’t he taking too big a step?"

Zi Yunzhen wasn’t optimistic about Zhang Yu’s choice.

"The Divinity Transformation Remains impart techniques based on luck, how can they coincidentally help you complete the Heavenly Sun Divine?"

"Clearly, it’s just good luck, and you actually think you’re a genius at artifact refining?"

As Zhang Yu continued requesting leaves from the teachers, more students in the Artifact Refining Departnt beca aware of his preparation for the Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine, subtly adding to his reputation.

...

Inside the lab.

Ye Xingli flicked her hand, unfolding the Vacuum Doom Transformation Diagram.

The space under this military-level magic treasure changed—airflow, temperature, humidity, spiritual chanism, gravity... various data altered with Ye Xingli’s control, creating the experintal environnt she needed.

anwhile, a magic treasure on the experint table was gradually decomposing, revealing its internal structure.

On the other side of the lab, Zhang Yu, who was practicing the Artifact Refining Technique, suddenly furrowed his brow: "Such a strong, pungent sll, is this Evil Qi?"

Ye Xingli nodded and said, "This is the magic treasure used by the factory to purify Earth Evil Qi, but there’s a problem that caused Evil Qi leakage."

"A small leak of Evil Qi wouldn’t be much of an issue, but it got into the water pipes beneath University City, causing Evil Qi pollution."

"Fortunately, the factory director had a bright idea and quickly mixed his own sewage into the pipes, claiming it was sewage leakage, and not only avoided compensation but also charged the poor people who fetched water a fee for food."

Zhang Yu once again confird in his heart that you must not be poor in Kunxu because as a poor person, even being fed shit requires paying money in return.

anwhile, Ye Xingli continued controlling the Vacuum Doom Transformation Diagram while privately chatting with Zhang Yu: I heard you requested leaves from the teachers to prepare for the Heavenly Sun Divine? Still not giving up?

Zhang Yu replied: Yes, I’m quite confident.

Seeing that Zhang Yu was still persisting, Ye Xingli didn’t stop him, just reminded: If you really plan to proceed, make sure to inquire about who in the departnt plans to attempt the Heavenly Sun Divine in the coming years.

Ye Xingli: Though it hasn’t been officially stated, the number of military certifications issued each year is limited. For the sa type of military-level magic treasure, like the Heavenly Sun Divine, usually, at most one certificate is issued per academic year.

Ye Xingli: So everyone tries to notify the departnt in advance to avoid conflicts.

Ye Xingli: [Jin Jun]

Ye Xingli: Jin Jun plans to complete the Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine in the new academic year starting this September, and he’s not competing with you. He’s my friend, you can consult him if you have any questions.

Listening to this, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "The next academic year, huh?"

"Right now, it’s about to be June, and in three months it’ll be September, the new academic year will begin, and I’ll be a senior."

"Everyone thinks I’m starting preparations for the Heavenly Sun Divine now and will take years to complete."

"But according to my current progress, I’ll finish the Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine in the next academic year, which puts in direct competition with Jin Jun."

"If he uses the Heavenly Sun Divine to secure a military certificate, I’ll have to wait until my fifth year..."

...

Inside the Spirit Realm Cave Mansion.

Jin Jun opened the Golden Core direct interface, looking at his Golden Core simulation score: 158312.

Checking the Golden Core’s simulation score daily and witnessing his incrental progress has been Jin Jun’s habit for a long ti.

Next, his Spirit Realm projection flashed, transforming into a three-ter-high figure, covered entirely with golden magic remains.

Various paraters’ projections surfaced on the remains’ exterior, showcasing the prowess of these remains that he personally refined or reinforced.

As the master of the military-level technique "Strategy of the Supre Artifact," his artifact refining skills naturally surpass most students in the Artifact Refining Departnt.