Chapter 417: Rapid Progress, Foundation Establishment Limit, Snatching Food |
On the Magnetic Channel.
A female student suddenly blocked Le Mulan’s path. Staring at her with a serious expression, she said, “Le Mulan! Please dual cultivate with me!”
The surrounding passersby turned their heads at the sudden confession, curious eyes flicking between the girl and Le Mulan, thoughts varying wildly.
“Sigh, youth really is a wonderful thing. So much spare time to dedicate to cultivation.”
“Please don’t say yes! Everyone progress slower, okay? Give me fewer competitors!”
“They’re both Foundation Establishment cultivators… if only one of them could take me under their wing…”
Le Mulan looked at the girl and shook her head lightly, rejecting her without hesitation.
On her way back to the dorm, she encountered two more classmates—one who wanted to take pills together, and another proposing to run drug experiments. Both were turned down decisively.
Watching Le Mulan’s retreating figure enter the luxury dormitory, one of the rejected boys muttered, “So Le Mulan’s that rich, huh? No wonder she didn’t want to experiment with me.”
The boy turned around, surprised to see Yu Xinghan walking up. “And you are?”
“Yu Xinghan, Civil Engineering Department,” he replied coolly. “I dabble in dual cultivation, health practices, and wellness arts.”
“From what I’ve observed, you’re far from the only one who’s approached Le Mulan recently.”
“You’re all from the Pharmacology Department, right? You probably heard she possesses Specialized Mana, studied under Professor Yin, and learned self-sustaining pill-production techniques. That’s why you want to make progress with her help, right?”
The boy nodded, slightly impressed by how much this Civil Engineering student seemed to know.
Yu Xinghan gave a mysterious smile. “But compared to Le Mulan’s partner, she’s nothing special.”
Seeing the doubt on the boy’s face, he added, “Zhang Yu is something else entirely.”
“Rumor has it a Nascent Soul disciple once traveled all the way from Heavenly Sword Sect University just to cultivate with him.”
“Even your Pharmacology professor, Professor Yin, once shelled out a full 25 spirit coins just to purchase his… seed.”
“And besides Le Mulan, your classmate Xuange also broke through repeatedly under his guidance…”
Yu Xinghan sighed. “This man has an extraordinary talent for dual cultivation. He might singlehandedly change Wanfa University’s lack of a Dual Cultivation Department and fill that niche.”
The boy’s eyes lit up. He had indeed heard whispers about Professor Yin’s recent research breakthroughs—and both Le Mulan and Xuange had shown noticeable progress lately.
Yu Xinghan leaned closer. “Want me to add you to the group chat? It’s all people aiming to get into that dorm room. We share the latest updates there.”
“Count me in!” the boy replied without hesitation.
Once added, he saw a stream of messages from the seven or eight members already inside.
“Can’t imagine how good Le Mulan has it in that dorm right now.”
“Ugh, I’m so jealous of her!”
“She probably leaped on Zhang Yu the second she walked in. Fast-tracking the Immortal Path!”
“I’ve given up hoping to cultivate with Zhang Yu. I’d settle for a session with Le Mulan.”
“I’d settle for Xuange, honestly.”
“Even dual cultivating with Xuange would be like indirect cultivation with a Nascent Soul disciple…”
Yu Xinghan: Have any of you tried throwing money at Zhang Yu?
Yu Xinghan: Don’t forget—here in Kunxu, there’s nothing money can’t buy.
“But we’re broke!”
“A rich guy living in a luxury dorm like Zhang Yu… what chance do we have of buying his time?”
Yu Xinghan: Name your price. I’ll see what I can do.
Yu Xinghan: No group deals.
…
Inside the luxury dorm.
Zhang Yu and Le Mulan sat facing each other, palms pressed together. Each was channeling their mana—Frost Abyss Technique for Zhang Yu, Solar Qi Field for Le Mulan—into the other’s body.
Zhang Yu had previously assisted Xuange using his Frost Abyss Technique, but Xuange hadn’t fully activated her Solar Qi Field back then, limiting the effectiveness.
Now that Zhang Yu had truly copied the Dao Seed for the Solar Qi Field, their joint cultivation with opposing elemental mana produced drastic changes.
Frost and fire mana clashed and intertwined, surging back and forth through their bodies, tempering their meridians and refining their mana. Gradually, their mana circulation and conversion speeds increased significantly.
Especially under the constant impact of these opposing forces, Zhang Yu felt his mana become more balanced, supple, and harmonized—exhibiting a newfound resilience.
This resilience further enhanced his Protective Qi Barrier, which kept improving subtly with each session.
The intensity, quality, and control of his mana all saw accelerated development.
Unfortunately, Zhang Yu’s total mana had already hit the Foundation Establishment cap of 1000 units. That stat couldn’t rise any higher.
…
July.
Zhang Yu joined a war fortress construction project.
The site straddled the boundary between two technical colleges. Upon arrival, Zhang Yu saw a massive brawl breaking out among college students.
He could instantly tell they were tech college students—because the words “Tech College Student” hovered above their heads. Some talisman expert had placed a Display Sigil on the battlefield. All students from lower schools had their affiliations displayed unless they paid to hide them.
Zhang Yu didn’t join the fray. After all, he was only being paid for construction, not combat.
Still, he couldn’t help but sigh. “Is tech college always this chaotic now?”
He posted a screenshot in the project group. Che Yufei replied: “Hasn’t tech college always been this way?”
But just as Zhang Yu had built half the fortress, a Foundation Establishment student from one of the 36 lower academies came blazing in, charging straight for the incomplete structure.
Zhang Yu called out calmly, “Wait until I’m done building. You can charge it then. I won’t stop you.”
His logic: if the guy destroyed it after it was completed, he could get paid for a second build.
The attacker ignored him, barking, “Out of my way!”
Zhang Yu sighed. The contract required him to defend the construction site during work hours.
“Sigh… more unpaid overtime.”
With a thunderous boom, the student shattered the sound barrier, accelerating repeatedly and drawing closer by the second.
In the next instant, a massive hand slammed into his face and stopped him cold.
The sheer impact and opposing force made his body tremble violently, locking up his muscles.
But his Hand Law Husk didn’t stop—launching punch after punch, each brimming with fierce Protective Qi Barrier, pounding Zhang Yu’s body.
His face. Shoulders. Chest. Abdomen. Every blow triggered faint threads of white mist.
Zhang Yu stood unmoving. Not even his head flinched under the barrage.
After more than half a year of training, Zhang Yu’s physical strength had reached Level 20—the upper limit of Foundation Establishment.
In addition to his Level 20 body, he had bones reinforced with 20-grade Spiritsteel Alloy, layered defensive Techniques, the Martial Saint Body’s parry and leverage powers, a Martial Saint-enhanced Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force, his Protective Qi Barrier, and partial benefits from the Greenlotus Sword Embryo, which gave him aspects of the Earth-Wood Saint Body.
With so many buffs stacked up, the opponent’s hand-enhanced punches felt like a gentle breeze.
Then, Zhang Yu extended a finger. A wisp of cloud formed at his fingertip and shot toward the attacker’s abdomen.
Boom!
The twelve punches the opponent had just thrown detonated within the cloud-like Qi blast, slamming back into his own body.
Under Zhang Yu’s precise control, the force compressed his internal organs into chaos.
As the attacker’s body shook violently, his throat worked—and Zhang Yu sniffed faintly, then turned him toward the side.
The student vomited a fountain of half-digested rice, spraying it everywhere.
Watching, Zhang Yu thought, “So those schools really do serve a full meal before battle.”
As the vomit scattered, nearby Qi Refinement laborers erupted in cheers and rushed forward to scavenge the mess.
“Wow! It’s real rice!”
“So this is what rice smells like? Amazing!”
“Idiot, that’s rice soaked in Foundation Establishment bodily fluids. Incredibly nutritious—premium cultivation rations. Of course it smells great!”
Even as half-digested slop, anything from a Foundation Establishment cultivator had immense value. A single bite would take a Qi Refinement worker ages to digest.
Zhang Yu tossed the groaning attacker aside and calmly returned to his cultivation.
…
August.
Inside the Artifact Refinement lab.
A thumb-sized metallic rectangle glowed faintly as Zhang Yu refined it. Its bronze mana circuits pulsed subtly with a mysterious luster—simple, unassuming, yet quietly profound.
This was a Ground-Stabilizing Seal—an artifact that generated a gravitational field when infused with mana.
The seal could flatten terrain, shake materials loose, and create a deep-sea-like suppression field within its range, ideal for defense or immobilization.
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “This Ground-Stabilizing Seal isn’t part of the Artifact Refinement exam syllabus, but it’s very practical.”
He’d asked Zhang Pianpian to buy the materials anonymously so he could refine it in secret.
As his Artifact Refinement knowledge grew, Zhang Yu didn’t plan to reveal every technique he’d mastered. Some artifacts he’d claim as his own work; others, he’d say were second-hand finds.
After several days of work, refining in multiple sessions, he finally completed the Level 20 Ground-Stabilizing Seal and stowed it away.
Looking at this newly mastered Level 20 artifact, a small smile crept across Zhang Yu’s face.
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