What’s the point of cultivating immortality if you don’t have money?.

Chapter 354 The Competition Decision, Taiqing Talisman

After a long while, Ma Xuan replied to Cong Na: No need to change it.
Ma Xuan: Anyway, we are the main force. Whether Ji Yuanshu is slightly stronger or weaker in the position, the difference is not significant.

Ma Xuan: And Zhang Yu hasn't trained with us for so long, so rebuilding teamwork will be a troublesome matter.
Ma Xuan: Let's go with Ji Yuanshu.
Although Ma Xuan gave a bunch of reasons, he knew in his heart that the reason he didn't replace Ji Yuanshu wasn't because of these reasons.

Looking at the ranking chart, Ma Xuan thought to himself, "The old director's life is coming to an end..."

Ma Xuan knew that in the Civil Engineering Department today, Director Lin, who advocated for peace, and Director Gao, who advocated for war, were the most respected.

As for the true head of the Civil Engineering Department, namely the leader of Ma Xuan's faction, he has been running out of money for the past ten years or so and is gradually unable to afford the expenses of prolonging his life. He is nearing the end of his life.

"The finance department can provide the former director with a loan."

Ma Xuan thought to himself, "For the sake of this loan, the old director, who originally didn't take sides, has now decided to side with the peace faction."

Ma Xuan understood that the department's alignment was more important than individual students' grades and rankings.

Just then, Cong Na replied: "In that case, Zhang Yu might leave the team, right?"

Ma Xuan: There's nothing we can do about it.
……

Inside a 100-square-meter suite on the 450th floor.

As Ji Yuanshu looked at the message sent by Ma Xuan from the competition team, his internal organs trembled uncontrollably.

He tried desperately to suppress it, but he couldn't. In the end, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his life force weakened at an incredible speed.

At this moment, with the results announced, he is no longer the number one in people's hearts.

As people's confidence in him waned, the fortune he had been suppressing in his mind also scattered and fled.

Even the luck he originally possessed, and the confidence people had in him as a sixth-level student... began to dissipate in large quantities.

Feeling the changes in the Qi within his body, Ji Yuanshu thought to himself, "These guys, if I just say a few nice words, they'll expect me to be stronger than them."

"And once I fail, they want to crush me into the mud, constantly lowering their assessment of my abilities."

Ji Yuanshu sneered, knowing that whether it was fortune or human nature, it was always like this: either overestimated or underestimated, there was never any objective evaluation.

But feeling the backlash he was experiencing, Ji Yuanshu's face still showed a bitter expression.

He used to flaunt his strength, guide people's hearts, and gather fortune. With the blessing of fortune, his magic power flowed more and more smoothly, his Dao heart became more and more flawless, and even his physical blood and qi became more active. Even his thinking and memory would be improved to varying degrees.

Now that the luck has backfired, not only have these blessings disappeared, but the flow of magical power has become sluggish, physical reactions have become somewhat dull, and there has been a decline in thinking, memory, and other aspects to varying degrees.

It's as if one's entire state of mind has suddenly plummeted to rock bottom.

But that's not the scariest thing.

Ji Yuanshu tried to circulate the internal energy techniques within his body, and he felt that the techniques that he used to master easily were now making mistakes and he was not in the right state.

Originally, level 15 and 18 techniques could only achieve the effects of level 10 or even level 8.

All of this caused his strength to decline significantly.

"It will take at least one or two months to gradually recover."

"It will delay many courses and also hinder the improvement of basic data..."

A lot of information kept popping up in his eyes, but Ji Yuanshu refused to look at any of it.

He knew it was nothing more than some people's sarcastic remarks, mockery, or simply some people's showing off and boasting.

But he had no choice but to read the message sent by Director Lin.

Director Lin: Let's put the finance department's matter on hold for now.
Director Lin: From now on, you should focus on studying civil engineering.

Director Lin: We must suppress Zhang Yu and prevent him from taking first place again. We must learn the Seven Wonders.

Director Lin: Also, when he takes the military certification exam in a few years, you should push him out of the race.

Upon hearing Director Lin's words, Ji Yuanshu's heart skipped a beat, realizing that his worst fears had come true.

"Are they not letting me switch to the finance department anymore?"

Long before Ji Yuanshu entered high school, he knew that his future goal was to get into Wanfa University, learn the three ultimate skills in the civil engineering department, and then transfer to the finance department...

This can be described as his life plan, a goal he has been trying to achieve day and night and at countless costs.

But at this moment... this life plan has been completely overturned.

"Stay and study civil engineering?"

"Master, don't you know what studying civil engineering means?"

"You were the one who told me not to stay stuck in the quagmire of civil engineering..."

Looking at the message sent by Director Lin repeatedly, Ji Yuanshu seemed to be able to sense the deep disappointment the other party had in him.

In addition, he also gleaned another meaning from it.

"You want me to stay in the Civil Engineering department to hinder Zhang Yu? To snipe Zhang Yu?"

Ji Yuanshu gave a bitter smile, knowing that at this moment... he had changed from a long-term investor to a short-term investor.

He had never before wanted someone to die so much.

"Zhang Yu..."

But Ji Yuanshu understood that even killing Zhang Yu would be useless. Only by defeating his opponent fairly and squarely and obtaining a higher ranking with absolute strength could he possibly regain his master's attention.

"Defeating Zhang Yu is only the first step."

"I want to graduate first in my department, then take the postgraduate entrance exam in finance, and get back on track in life." Feeling the weakness in his body, Ji Yuanshu murmured to himself, "But to achieve this, I need stronger support."

As Ji Yuanshu gradually made up his mind, a strange dialogue box appeared in his eyes.

Ji Yuanshu: I have granted your wish.
Himegaki Kaname: Tell me how the ceremony should be performed.
……

On the construction site of the 667th floor.

The two-headed white bull in Zhang Yu's mind roared, and his Boundless Inner Dharma Body was suddenly pushed to level 11.

Feeling his thoughts racing even faster, Zhang Yu continued to multitask, checking the messages popping up in his eyes while simultaneously circulating his inner energy and working on the construction site.

At the same time, the mental cultivation method in his mind continued to operate in a state of unity between spirit and body, making him stronger step by step.

Before he knew it, the night had passed. When Zhang Yu returned to his new dormitory, he found that no one else had arrived yet, except for himself.

He first took his portion of the medicine and ate it. Soon after, he saw Yu Xinghan return to the dormitory with a slight smile.

Yu Xinghan then announced, "I have successfully become an apprentice!"

As someone who passed the Foundation Establishment exam, Yu Xinghan also has the same right to appoint a mentor as Zhang Yu.

However, like Magnetism True Lord, the mentor chosen by Yu Xinghan also made a requirement of him: his academic ranking must be in the top five of the class.

If Yu Xinghan fails to meet the other party's requirements, even if he designates the other party as his mentor, he will not receive any guidance.

So after the final exam results came out yesterday, Yu Xinghan took the results to the other party and finally successfully became their student.

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "What kind of mentor?"

Yu Xinghan said, "He is Professor Gong, who studies construction site health management."

"Huh?" Zhang Yu was surprised to hear this.

Construction site health management? There are actually researchers studying this? Is there any future in this field?

Yu Xinghan seemed to understand Zhang Yu's surprise and explained, "Professor Gong is a newly recruited professor."

"But this does not mean that engineering professors are weak."

"You should know that as the path of immortality becomes more and more prosperous, research in various disciplines is becoming more and more complicated and difficult. There are more and more sub-fields, and many research directions are very obscure, making it increasingly difficult to achieve results."

"The fact that he was able to forge the Golden Elixir and become a professor in this era only shows that his talent is even more terrifying than that of the Golden Elixir Masters of decades or hundreds of years ago."

"Hehe, and I am indeed interested in what he is researching."

Just as Yu Xinghan and Zhang Yu were chatting, Li Xiao called out to them from outside, wanting to come over and attend their first class of sophomore year together.

Yu Xinghan opened the door, looked at Li Xiao in front of him and was suddenly taken aback. Staring at the other's hands, he said, "You changed your Dharma Body?"

Li Xiao smiled and said, "Yes, I finally saved up some spirit coins and exchanged them for the Vajra Mystic Hand Relic."

"No..." Yu Xinghan questioned, "How could you afford a Vajra Mystic Forge? Is it a fake?"

Li Xiao said, "Why would I buy a fake? It's the Vajra Mystic Forge, the genuine Vajra Mystic Forge."

Looking at the message about the Dharma Body sent by the other party, Yu Xinghan said angrily, "Why are you so vain?"

"Why would you buy a Vajra Mystic Forge? Are you even capable of affording one? Are you planning a 0 down payment, 30-year installment plan? If you do this, people on the street will just think you're using a fake..."

Looking at Li Xiao's brand-name Fa Hai, Yu Xinghan felt that her good mood from the morning had been completely ruined.

But the next moment, looking at the contents of the information about the Dharma Body, Yu Xinghan suddenly laughed again: "Nine hands, huh?"

Yu Xinghan touched his chest, thinking to himself, "Damn, that scared me to death. I thought you were getting better too, and that your loan limit had increased."

He patted Li Xiao on the shoulder with a big smile and praised, "A used one is great. It's affordable and its performance is no worse than a new one."

"We college students should be thrifty and frugal. We should spend money when we should and save money when we should."

Just as Yu Xinghan and Li Xiao were chatting, Zhang Pianpian returned to her dormitory.

Zhang Yu glanced at the top of her head and discovered that the older sister, now a senior in college, had become the 44th ranked person in the Foundation Establishment stage of the Talisman system.

"My sister has improved again."

"But this probably still isn't her true strength, right? I remember she was supposed to control her score."

Zhang Yu could imagine that Zhang Pianpian would improve step by step, gradually making her way to the top of the department.

Then Zhang Yu looked at Zhang Pianpian's chest, observing the Dao Seed Taiqing Talisman on her chest.

Last night, his savings exceeded 56 spirit coins, finally giving him the opportunity to activate the Taiqing Talisman.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "It's time to have a talk with my sister."

So Zhang Yu sent Zhang Pianpian a message: Senior, are you short of money?
Zhang Pianpian: Why did you suddenly think of asking this?

Zhang Yu: You were ranked in the top 50 in the entire department before, but the place you lived and the things you used were very ordinary.

Zhang Yu: Have you been saving money and hoarding it for a major expense?

Zhang Pianpian wasn't surprised, after all, this wasn't a difficult conclusion to reach. She simply replied casually: What? You want to borrow money from me?
Zhang Yu: I have 56 spirit coins now, how many do you need?
Zhang Pianpian was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting that Zhang Yu had saved up so many spirit coins without using them.

This is an enormous sum of money for college students, enough to cause brothers to turn against each other and fathers and daughters to become enemies.

Zhang Pianpian looked intently at Zhang Yu and sent him a message: "You don't need it yourself? Are you willing to lend it to me?"

　Asking for monthly ticket
　　
　
(End of this chapter)