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

Chapter 523 Gaining Some Fame (Thanks to 'cuivie' for the generous donation)
Spirit world.

Inside the weapon crafting department classroom.

Unlike the Civil Engineering Department, the Weapon Forging Department has many courses that are accelerated and completed in classrooms in the Spirit Realm.

This allows students in the weapon crafting department to have higher learning efficiency, but it also requires them to pay higher tuition fees.

However, for students who can study weapon crafting, the high tuition fees are the least significant expense among the many costs associated with the program.

The day's magic transmission course had just ended when Zhang Yu stood up in the spirit world classroom and walked towards the instructor.

The instructor for this course is known as the Nine-Forging Master. He graduated with a doctorate in the Refining Department of Wanfa University and successfully stayed on as a faculty member. At just over 50 years old, he is considered a young and promising talent wherever he goes.

Like most teachers and students in the weapon-refining department, Master Jiuduan also judges people by their physical remains first.

After all, in the path of weapon crafting, wealth is paramount, and in the eyes of the Nine Forging Master, wealth is the most important criterion for selecting talent in the weapon crafting system.

The best way for students in the weapon crafting department to discern wealth is naturally by looking at the magical artifacts on the other person's body.

In order to make it easier for him to identify his students, he would make notes on each student he taught and display them in his eye, so that he could manage them more effectively, both in the real world and in the spirit world.

For example, the many students in this class right in front of us.

Su Yunni, the top student in her class, whose entire body was made of high-end materials from the Wan Dao Craftsmanship Sect, shone with a faint purple light in the eyes of the Nine Forging Master. To him, this kind of student was a minor elite. Whether it was laboratory chores or outsourced projects for the weapon refining company, he could pull her over and she would get to work. She was a top-notch ox or horse.

On the other side, Zi Yunzhen, who ranked fourth in the class, was also using the Wan Dao Jiang Zong weapon, but it was a basic model, which gave off a faint blue light in the eyes of Jiu Duan Zhenren.

In his view, such students were much more mediocre and often needed some instruction before they could work. However, they were hardworking and willing to endure hardship, making them suitable for doing some troublesome, dangerous, dirty, and tiring work, which was of some use.

Students who secretly use a few second-hand artifacts or mid-range brand artifacts are usually only a handful in a class of the weapon crafting department.

In the eyes of Master Jiuduan, they were a green expanse, considered consumables among students. Their greatest contribution to the weapon-refining industry was their consumption during their studies. Despite having no potential to study weapon-refining, a few of them would enroll every year.

As for those who are covered in low-level magical remains, or even those who have no magical remains except for their eye remains, True Immortal Nine Forging can basically only see them outside of the weapon forging department.

In the eyes of the Nine-Forged True Man, it was all gray and black; the lower the total value of the body's physical remains, the darker it appeared.

There are a lot of people like this in the university town, and they are becoming less and less valuable as the population grows every year.

In the eyes of Master Jiuduan, these black people were similar to walking wet garbage, the only difference being that throwing them into the landfill would incur a fine.

Even the Nine-Forged Immortal sometimes had to admit that the Netherworld University did a better job in this regard. They would regularly clean up the low-end population in the university town to prevent the "wet garbage" from running around everywhere.

This behavior is like pouring medicine into a river, effectively ensuring the price environment for people, preventing the low-end population from becoming too cheap due to oversupply, preventing human life from becoming too cheap, and allowing the poor to live with more dignity.

At this moment, as Zhang Yu walked over, a large gray-black shadow appeared in the eyes of the Nine-Forged True Man.

"Zhang Yu?"

The name of the other person immediately appeared in the mind of Master Jiuduan. This student from the Department of Civil Engineering, who only had one eye skeleton that he had used for four years, was more impressive to him than any other student. He belonged to an unknown category in his eyes.

According to the classification standards of the Nine-Forged Immortal, Zhang Yu should be considered wet waste.

However, considering the common sense that there is no wet waste in the weapon refining system, and the other party's achievements, Zhang Yu should be considered an individual.

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

Zhang Yu said, "Teacher, I would like to ask for a leave of absence for a while."

Master Jiuduan asked, "Why?"

Zhang Yu explained, "I plan to build a prototype of the Heavenly Sun God. I need to spend more time in the laboratory to learn and make more preparations and accumulate technical expertise in this area."

Zhang Yu really didn't want to spend more time in class, since he had already learned the relevant content and had mastered it deeply through weapon crafting techniques.

The prototype of the Heavenly Sun God was indeed his next target, and in Zhang Yu's view, it was the best reason to ask for leave, just like the Civil Engineering Department taking leave to work on the construction site.

Upon hearing this, Master Jiuduan frowned slightly and said, "You want to create a prototype of the Heavenly Sun God? It's good to have ambition, but the way of weapon crafting requires a down-to-earth approach. The transmission of magical power is a fundamental course in weapon crafting. You should focus on mastering your current courses first..."

A student who transferred from the Civil Engineering department two months ago, saying he wants to build a prototype of the Heavenly Sun God? In Master Jiuduan's opinion, isn't this just nonsense?
If he just agrees to it so easily, wouldn't he be seen as a fool?

Zhang Yu had anticipated this, and quickly sent over the data of the magic weapon he had refined, the Yin-Yang Shield.

He knew that no amount of verbal explanation was as effective as seeing tangible results.

The Yin-Yang Shield, a magical artifact, can transform into two defensive modes: the Fire Shield and the Ice Shield. After being enhanced by him, it best reflects his mastery of the art of magical power transmission.

Upon seeing the data on the magical artifact sent by the other party, Master Jiuduan initially didn't take it seriously, but after looking at it for a while, he raised an eyebrow and became more and more surprised.

Nine-Forged Immortal: "Did you really refine this?"

In the eyes of Master Jiuduan, the Yin-Yang Shields were at the level of a senior student in the weapon-refining department, and some of the data also showed that Zhang Yu had an excellent grasp of the knowledge related to the transmission of magical power.

"Alright then." Master Jiuduan smiled slightly and said, "Are you currently involved in any projects? Would you be interested in coming to work with me?"

At this moment, Zhang Yu was exceptionally marked with a layer of purple light in the eyes of the Nine Forging Master, making him a top-notch ox or horse that could be pulled in to work and make money for him. "I don't have much time lately." Zhang Yu naturally shook his head at this. In recent days, he had also learned a lot of information about the weapon forging department from Ye Xingli.

He knew that joining this kind of teacher's laboratory meant being constantly driven by the other party in exchange for guidance and opportunities for cultivation.

As for the salary, it might not even be as much as what you earn transporting garbage on a construction site.

Zhang Yu had his own cultivation plan and money-making intentions, so he didn't need to do this. To him, the other party's teachings were not as effective as practicing a few more times on his own.

Master Jiuduan nodded and smiled, "Alright, feel free to contact me anytime if you're interested. You're always welcome."

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

Zi Yunzhen, however, deliberately stayed behind to listen to the conversation between Zhang Yu and Jiu Duan Zhenren after seeing Zhang Yu walk towards Jiu Duan Zhenren.

Seeing how much Master Jiuduan valued Zhang Yu, she was secretly astonished: "This Zhang Yu... is getting more and more powerful."

Since Zi Yunzhen became Ye Xingli's assistant, she has seen Zhang Yu practicing weapon-refining techniques in the laboratory from time to time, and has also watched Zhang Yu master several weapon-refining techniques one after another.

Zhang Yu explained this as the influence of the Nascent Soul Dharma Body, which made Zi Yunzhen so envious that her eyes turned red.

"I can also practice dual cultivation, and I can change my gender!"

Unfortunately, Zi Yunzhen also participated in the test but was not favored by the Nascent Soul Dharma Body.

As Zhang Yu's weapon-refining skills improved and his reach expanded, he received more and more weapon-refining orders, gaining a little more fame among the weapon-refining students.

Zi Yunzhen thought to herself, "But he's only a junior in college, and he's already planning to build a prototype of the Heavenly Sun God? Isn't that taking a big step?"

Zi Yunzhen did not approve of Zhang Yu's choice.

"What cultivation techniques are passed on to the Nascent Soul Body depends entirely on luck. How could they possibly all help you achieve the Heavenly Sun Godhood?"

"He's clearly just lucky, but he actually thinks he's a genius at weapon crafting?"

As Zhang Yu and his teachers took leave one after another, more and more students in the weapon crafting department learned about his preparations for the prototype of the Heavenly Sun Divine Machine, which subtly enhanced his reputation.

……

In the laboratory.

Ye Xingli flicked her wrist and unfolded the Vacuum Calamity Transformation Diagram.

Within the space enveloped by this military-grade magical artifact, various data such as airflow, temperature, humidity, spiritual energy, and gravity changed under Ye Xingli's control, creating the experimental environment she needed.

As she did this, a magical artifact on the experimental table was gradually disassembled, revealing its internal structure.

On the other side of the laboratory, Zhang Yu, who was practicing weapon-refining techniques, suddenly frowned: "Such a strong, pungent smell, is this malevolent energy?"

Ye Xingli nodded and said, "This is a magical artifact used by the factory to purify the earth's evil energy, but it has a problem and has caused the evil energy to leak."

“Originally, a little bit of evil energy leaking out wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it happened to leak into the water pipes on the lower level of the university town, causing evil energy pollution.”

"Fortunately, the factory manager had a bright idea and quickly mixed his own sewage into the pipes, claiming it was a sewage leak. In the end, not only did he not have to pay compensation, but he also charged the poor people who took the water a sum of money for food."

Zhang Yu was once again certain of one thing: in Kunxu, you could never be poor, because even being fed excrement meant paying money.

While manipulating the Vacuum Calamity Transformation Diagram, Ye Xingli privately chatted with Zhang Yu: "I heard you asked your teacher for leave to prepare for the Heavenly Sun God? You haven't given up yet?"
Zhang Yu replied: Yes, I'm quite confident.

Seeing that Zhang Yu was still persisting, Ye Xingli didn't stop him, but reminded him: "If you really intend to continue, remember to find out who in the department is preparing to attempt the Heavenly Sun Godhood in the next few years."
Ye Xingli: Although it hasn't been officially stated above, the number of military certificates issued each year is limited. For the same type of military-grade magical artifact, such as the Heavenly Sun God, generally only one certificate is issued per academic year.
Ye Xingli: So everyone tries to make arrangements with the department beforehand to avoid conflicts.
Ye Xingli: [Jin Jun]
Ye Xingli: Jin Jun is going to finish refining the prototype of the Heavenly Sun God next school year, which starts this September. He's not in competition with you. He's my friend, so you can ask him any questions you have.

Hearing this, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Next school year?"

"It's almost June now, and there are only three months until September, when the next academic year will begin, and I'll be a senior."

"Everyone thinks that I'm now starting to prepare for the creation of the Heavenly Sun God, and that it will probably take several years to complete."

"But judging from my current progress, I can complete the prototype of the Heavenly Sun God next school year, which will put me in direct competition with Jin Jun."

"If he gets my military certificate using the Heavenly Sun God technique, then I'll have to wait until my fifth year..."

……

Inside the Spirit Realm Cave.

Jin Jun clicked on the Golden Core Direct Pointer and checked his Golden Core simulation score: 158312
Checking Jin Dan's simulated benchmark scores every day and seeing his daily progress has been a long-standing habit for Jin Jun.

Then his spiritual projection flashed and transformed into a figure over three meters tall, covered in golden magical remains.

Projections of various parameters continuously appeared on the outer shell of the Dharma Bodies, showcasing the power of these Dharma Bodies that he had personally crafted or that he had enhanced a second time.

As the master of the military-grade martial arts technique "Tai Xu Divine Weapon Strategy", his weapon-refining ability naturally far surpasses that of most weapon-refining students.

(End of this chapter)