Chapter 394: The End |
Spiritual Realm arena.
As Zhang Yu and Xiao Qingxuan swiftly suppressed Su Yanyang in a flurry of motion, many Earth-Wood Department instructors wore looks of surprise—they hadn’t expected this outcome at all.
Tu Lishan thought, “Zhang Yu’s Xuanhuang Mountain-Suppressing Seal has reached this level in just three months?”
Lang Yougong mused, “Did something go wrong with Su Yanyang’s Law Husk? Was it Zhang Yu’s doing? And what technique was that?”
Director Gao thought, “Magneto’s really taught him quite a bit. Looks like that 30 spirit coins were well spent.”
True Lord Magneto reflected, “That flying sword was crafted using the style of Extreme Sentiment Swordsmanship.”
“To my knowledge, Wen Wuya isn’t a disciple of the Seven Sentiments Lord.”
“Old Gao... don’t tell me he has connections with both Nascent Soul cultivators at Heavenly Sword Sect University? Did he defect from Wanfa and sell out the university?”
Director Gao: Thanks, really appreciate the help this time.
Meanwhile, Director Lin watched Su Yanyang and Xiao Qingxuan fighting neck-and-neck on screen and suddenly felt that Ji Yuanshu’s loss hadn’t been so unjust after all.
“That Zhang Yu kid clearly received guidance from an expert, has support from multiple sides, and his talent far surpasses his peers.”
Director Lin thought, “It seems the War Faction is seriously backing him—they’ve invested a lot of effort.”
Recalling Ji Yuanshu’s accusations that the War Faction was targeting him, Director Lin muttered, “Maybe Ji Yuanshu wasn’t entirely wrong. It’s possible he got caught up in the War Faction’s support for Zhang Yu.”
“And I originally wanted Ji Yuanshu to block Zhang Yu’s path... Looks like I underestimated both Zhang Yu and the War Faction.”
…
During the time Xiao Qingxuan held Su Yanyang at bay, Zhang Yu had already dashed toward the scattered construction materials, flung aside by the shockwave.
Tu Lishan narrowed his eyes—he knew the match was reaching its turning point.
Su Yanyang, playing defense this round, had to use the prepared materials to construct a fortress.
And many of those materials couldn’t be refined on-site.
Tu Lishan thought, “Which means, if the materials disappear, it’ll be a huge problem.”
And how could materials vanish from a worksite so completely they couldn’t even be found?
Every Earth-Wood teacher present thought the same thing.
“That brat Zhang Yu... he’s about to eat them, isn’t he?”
Tu Lishan muttered inwardly, “At this point, even if he returns to help Xiao Qingxuan double-team Su Yanyang, they can’t win quickly. He might as well use the time to destroy the building materials and sabotage the completion rate.”
Just as expected, Zhang Yu’s muscles swelled—his body expanded under the Mountain-Moving Sutra’s influence—and he devoured a handful of materials in one bite.
But his body froze immediately after. Blood gushed from his nose and mouth. His flesh spasmed violently, bruising into shades of green and purple.
Tu Lishan thought, “Poisoned? Su Yanyang poisoned the materials?”
Lang Yougong pondered, “Probably poison that doesn’t affect construction but activates after ingestion?”
“Well played.” Wei Huai smiled faintly. “All construction materials should be laced with poison.”
“Su Yanyang clearly learned from the last match and came prepared.”
Zhang Yu stopped eating more. He realized that even if he could withstand the toxins, trying to resist the poison while continuing to eat was just too taxing.
Instead, he swept his Martial Qi around him, using it to process the materials on the spot—transforming them into jagged ruins and half-built remnants.
Tu Lishan’s eyes lit up. “Nice! He’s using the enemy’s materials to create a shoddy construction!”
“Once building materials are used, they can’t be easily reclaimed. Some can’t even be reused at all.”
Lang Yougong added, “Not only that—Zhang Yu’s integrating those broken structures into an array, reinforcing the shoddy construction. It’ll be even harder to dismantle and reclaim.”
…
In the arena.
Zhang Yu knew the match had reached its critical juncture. With a fierce roar, his muscles exploded again as he pushed War Demon Life-Draining Technique, Endless Spring and Autumn Meditation, Mountain-Moving Sutra—all his construction-boosting techniques—to their limits.
At the same time, a dozen Formless Golems manifested around him, forming a miniature construction crew that also got to work.
…
“So fast,” Tu Lishan marveled. “That kid Zhang Yu—when did he reach such high construction efficiency?”
Then the battlefield shifted again.
A teammate of Su Yanyang’s charged in.
While the teammate launched Martial Qi toward Xiao Qingxuan, Su Yanyang moved swiftly to intercept a flying Iron Coffin from the other side.
Several streaks of light burst forth—he instantly swapped out his Law Husk.
Soon after, Shi Huaiyu arrived, kicking up clouds of sand and dust to shield Zhang Yu.
Tu Lishan watched the flow of reinforcements converge on the center—Zhang Yu’s crumbling ruins—forming a tangled frontline of offense and defense.
And it wasn’t just physical combat. In the Spiritual Realm Network, the Soul Cultivators of both sides were also fighting for control of the arrays, using them to influence the battlefield.
Even though Tu Lishan leaned toward Zhang Yu’s side, he had to admit their disadvantage.
“This won’t last much longer,” Tu Lishan thought.
Wei Huai echoed, “Too poor... So many of them are broke, and they’ve just gone through brutal battles. They can’t hold out long—they’ll be forced to retreat soon.”
Tu Lishan: “Zhang Yu, can you go even faster?”
…
Zhang Yu, surrounded by the sounds of intense combat, activated his Multi-Threaded Thinking to the max—squeezing every drop of power and Martial Qi out of his body, working at the fastest speed of his life.
“Faster.”
“Faster!”
At this moment, Zhang Yu’s entire mind held only one thought: to consume the construction materials as quickly as possible.
He swapped out his Chain Diagram, replacing the mana-regenerating Mana Pulse Flowing Stream with Martial Saint Body.
No need for digestion, learning capacity, or mana recovery. He only wanted raw power to maximize his techniques.
And as the Martial Saint Body descended, every ounce of energy inside him and every force he unleashed became vividly clear.
Under the pounding, heating, shaping, and stirring of his flesh and Martial Qi, the materials responded like extensions of his limbs.
Suddenly, with the boost from Martial Saint Body, the power of his techniques surged again—his construction efficiency soared to new heights.
…
“He broke through again?”
Director Gao was stunned. “A full-spectrum breakthrough... A martial breakthrough, right on the worksite?”
“To break through mid-project... Just how much heart and soul did Zhang Yu put into this field?”
“He might change the entire Earth-Wood Department of Wanfa University.”
True Lord Magneto was equally shocked. “To reach a breakthrough under these circumstances... It’s like a swordsman achieving enlightenment mid-duel, or a blacksmith mastering a new craft while forging.”
“Without deep obsession, reverence, and love for the craft, this would be impossible.”
He began to wonder, “If he loves civil engineering this much, why does he want to transfer departments? Will he really transfer?”
“Wait... don’t tell me this kid and Old Gao scammed me together?”
Especially recalling that Director Gao had ties to two Nascent Soul Lords from Heavenly Sword Sect University, True Lord Magneto now saw him as more enigmatic than ever.
…
Meanwhile, many on the battlefield had reached their limits.
Red warnings flashed across Che Yufei’s ocular Law Husk—his projected repair costs and treatment bills were about to max out.
“That’s it for me.”
He posted a screenshot of the estimate in the competition group chat. “Sorry, everyone—I can’t go on.”
Shi Yunxiang did the same: “Crying emoji. I’m at my limit too.”
Shi Yunxiang: Should’ve worked more part-time gigs.
Shi Huaiyu’s ocular data kept showing the depreciation of his Ghost Kidney. He hesitated.
Zhao Tianxing messaged Zhang Yu privately: “Zhang Yu, I’m almost out of Spirit Coin balance in the Spiritual Realm.”
Mo Tianyi: I can hold out five more minutes.
Seeing his teammates faltering, Zhang Yu’s eyes filled with frustration. “We can’t lose now.”
He transferred 3 spirit coins each to Zhao Tianxing and Mo Tianyi, then sent a 15-coin red envelope in the group chat. His balance plummeted.
Zhang Yu: Just a little longer, everyone. We can still make top seven!
Yu Xinghan: [0.5 coins] That’s all I’ve got—hang in there!
Ying Xin: [1 coin] You’ve got this, everyone!
Gongshu Jin: [20 coins]
Gongshu Jin: If it’s not enough, I’ll borrow more. I’ve still got reserves.
Instantly, morale reignited. Che Yufei and Shi Yunxiang, who had just resigned themselves to losing, returned to the fight with renewed fervor.
Zhang Yu knew that most university students didn’t have much in savings. Even when they did, it was quickly converted into cultivation strength. Right now, everyone was burning through their spiritual potential.
Driven by this knowledge, the four white oxen in his mind roared. His mental techniques roared to life. His thinking, movements, and technique execution all surged again.
…
Back in the Spiritual Realm arena, many instructors were marveling at Zhang Yu’s performance.
But others noticed that even with Zhang Yu’s repeated breakthroughs and soaring construction rate, his teammates were already crumbling under Su Yanyang’s onslaught.
To them, Su Yanyang looked like a well-funded corporation, spending freely to crush Zhang Yu’s ragtag construction team.
Under such a financial onslaught, no matter how fast Zhang Yu worked, his fate seemed sealed.
Wei Huai commented, “No matter how skilled the individual worker, against overwhelming capital pressure, there’s simply no chance to fight back…”
But suddenly, seeing Che Yufei and Shi Yunxiang fighting like men possessed, Wei Huai frowned.
“Are they insane?”
…
Su Yanyang’s anger surged.
He hated this kind of battle—hated the unnecessary damage to Law Husks, hated the spiraling costs, hated the unpredictability of combat.
Especially since he couldn’t kill the enemy outright, every move felt constrained.
So from the beginning, he’d wanted to rely on superior construction skill to steamroll them.
Now he was being dragged into the mud, forced to brawl in chaos.
Su Yanyang sent an urgent command to his team’s Soul Cultivators via the array: “Clear the enemy’s Soul Cultivators in three minutes. Fail, and you get no pay.”
In the group chat:
Su Yanyang: What are you all doing?
Su Yanyang: As per team rules, whoever scores lowest this round pays 10 coins in fines, to be split among the rest.
With Su Yanyang's goading, their momentum surged. Their attacks grew fiercer.
Moments later, Shi Yunxiang was the first to be slammed into the ground by the Xuanhuang Mountain-Suppressing Seal.
…
In the Spiritual Realm.
Tu Lishan watched Zhang Yu’s teammates get taken out one by one. Even the Soul Cultivators were driven off. In the end, only Zhang Yu and Xiao Qingxuan remained.
Tu Lishan felt like he was watching the Earth-Wood Department get swept away by the floodwaters of capital—despite their all-out effort, their desperate labor, their lives poured into the project—it all still looked fragile and doomed.
But Zhang Yu and Xiao Qingxuan showed incredible tenacity.
The two of them, attacking and defending as one, dragged a massive load of building materials with them, retreating step by step, and held on for another ten minutes before finally being forced out.
Once Su Yanyang had cleared the field, his team didn’t even bother chasing Zhang Yu and Xiao Qingxuan. They immediately began dismantling the ruins and recovering building materials.
Especially the rare ones that couldn’t be refined on-site—many had been consumed by Zhang Yu’s sabotage, and reclaiming them took everything they had.
Then, as the match timer ran out, the final results appeared for all to see.
“Completion rate: 34%?” Su Yanyang muttered. “Impossible. How are we lower than them? I demand a retest...”
On the other side, Zhang Yu saw the result and felt weightless, his whole body relaxing.
“We should’ve made the top seven.”
“We’ve done everything we possibly could. The rest of the competition has nothing to do with us now.”