Chapter 424: The Military Certificate Exam Begins |
In the luxury dormitory—
Zhang Yu’s hands blurred into afterimages, his movements swift and precise as thunder and wind, tracing arcs across Le Mulan’s body.
Le Mulan felt a peculiar surge of mana injected into several of her meridians, temporarily severing her connection to her Law Husk.
At the same time, Zhang Yu occasionally channeled streams of Solar Flame Mana into her, advancing their joint cultivation.
While Zhang Yu was practicing the Magnetic Meridian-Severing Hand, he was also using it as an opportunity for mana training with Le Mulan.
Whatever Le Mulan gained from the process, Zhang Yu himself—despite having pushed his mana to the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment—was still able to use the clash between Solar Flame Mana and Frost Mana to temper his mana’s resilience, elevate its quality, and even boost the grade of Le Mulan’s Dao Seed.
Just then, the dorm door opened. Zhang Pianpian stepped in.
“Senior Sister.”
Zhang Yu turned his head, noting her rank—#32 in the Sigil Department. He thought to himself, “Her rank really is rising steadily.”
Her gaze drifted to Zhang Yu’s fingers poking and pressing Le Mulan, whose expressions shifted between furrowed brows and squirming discomfort.
She sent him a message: Zhang Yu, I’ve been watching you and Le Mulan for a while now.
Zhang Pianpian: Are you trying to dual cultivate with her?
Zhang Yu: Senior Sister, what nonsense are you spouting? We’re doing legit cultivation here.
Zhang Pianpian: Are you?
Zhang Pianpian: Because both of you have searched a lot of questions about how to dual cultivate.
Zhang Pianpian: And your search frequency’s been going up every month.
Zhang Yu: Just reading around! What's wrong with learning new knowledge?
Zhang Pianpian: Then why are you looking up things like “how someone with a primary gender of male engages in dual cultivation after surgery”?
Zhang Yu: Curiosity! I was just curious, damn it!
Zhang Yu: Searching something doesn’t mean I want to do it!
Zhang Yu: You wanna go look at Yu Xinghan’s history instead? Bet it’s even more outrageous!
Zhang Yu: Also—could you please pretend you can’t see our browsing history?!
Zhang Pianpian: Yu Xinghan? I haven’t checked in a while. His stuff is too weird.
Zhang Yu: Send it to me then.
…
Back in the dormitory—
Zhang Yu formed a hand seal, condensing his mana into a stream of true energy.
With a single finger pointed at the Groundfiend Bottle, the true energy surged out, scanning the artifact top to bottom.
Data and parameters on the Groundfiend Bottle instantly lit up before his eyes.
As he read them, Zhang Yu thought, “This Appraisal Technique really is incredible. It even integrates sigil and artifact refinement techniques.”
“Once activated, it connects to the Spiritual Realm Network and retrieves the latest artifact data. And even without the network, it can still analyze based on data stored in the ocular Law Husk.”
“Perfect for use alongside the Magnetic Meridian-Severing Hand.”
Zhang Yu understood that his Magnetic Meridian-Severing Hand required precise knowledge of the target’s Law Husk meridian interfaces to effectively seal them.
But memorizing the meridian layouts of every Law Husk was too time-consuming and inefficient.
Using the Appraisal Technique beforehand offered a much easier solution.
As Zhang Yu repeatedly practiced the Appraisal Technique, he glanced at a communication window nearby—where Bai Zhenzhen was silently practicing her sword technique.
Neither spoke. They simply trained and studied in silence, as if this quiet rhythm had become the norm.
Yet every time Bai Zhenzhen stole a glance at Zhang Yu during her breaks, a warm feeling stirred in her chest—like he was truly beside her—and an unconscious smile tugged at her lips.
Just then, Wen Wuya’s voice rang out from outside: “Zhenzhen! Time’s up! We need to go!”
Bai Zhenzhen turned toward Zhang Yu in the video window. “Yuzi, I’m heading out.”
Zhang Yu nodded. “Mm.”
At that moment, Le Mulan’s voice piped up beside him. “Zhang Yu, open your mouth. My new medicine’s coming in.”
Zhang Yu opened his mouth and mumbled, “Zhenzhen, see you tomorrow night.”
Bai Zhenzhen smiled gently. “Good luck on your Military Certificate exam.”
Zhang Yu: “Don’t worry. I’ve got this!”
As their connection ended, both returned to their routines.
…
Meanwhile, Su Yanyang had been gathering intelligence on Ping Han nonstop.
In his eyes, Ping Han had become the biggest obstacle in the upcoming Military Certificate exam—his greatest threat.
“This guy’s not just speculating on coins himself—he’s dragging others into it now?”
“A paid group offering crypto trading tips? Really?”
“He’s done for.”
Su Yanyang didn’t believe a Civil Engineering student like Ping Han could possess any real coin-trading skills. Even elite Finance students, armed with Fortune-Based Dao Techniques, struggled with this stuff.
To him, Ping Han just got lucky—hit a windfall.
“If it were me, I’d cash out now—take the 400+ spirit coins and never touch trading again.”
But Su Yanyang also knew not everyone had his decisiveness.
“Ping Han’s playing with Nectar Coins. Leverage as high as 10x or even 20x.”
Su Yanyang had studied Nectar Coin charts from recent years. He understood how wildly they could swing—massive gains or losses in moments, bankrupting people overnight.
“With his level of skill, he won’t last long.”
“He’ll probably blow up before the exam even starts.”
With that conclusion, Su Yanyang mortgaged his Law Husk to further boost his strength for the Military Certificate exam.
But as the test drew near, he was shocked to find that Ping Han not only hadn’t lost money—he was making more. A lot more, riding the Nectar Coin’s surge to bigger and bigger gains.
“How is this possible?!”
Staring at Ping Han’s daily profit screenshots, Su Yanyang spiraled from disbelief to rage, to regret, and finally into helplessness.
Seeing Ping Han profit like that hurt more than losing to Zhang Yu ever had.
Before he knew it… Ping Han had become the person he hated most.
…
In the medical bay—
Xiao Yunji lay surrounded by IV bags, powerful infusions pumping into her body to sustain her Law Husk synchronization rate.
“Just a few more days.”
“The Military Certificate exam is almost here.”
She was a descendant of a construction company executive from Floor 8, inheriting the family bloodline.
She and her siblings were bred for one purpose: to extend that executive’s life.
For many elites on Floors 7–10 of Kunxu, raising children during their peak immortal years was considered wasteful.
But once their potential waned and ascension became impossible, it was time to procreate and cultivate successors.
Especially as life-extending costs mounted—older cultivators needed more descendants to earn money, offer support, or even donate genetically compatible bodies.
Xiao Yunji had seen the worst outcomes—wealthy cultivators who drained their offspring’s blood to the last drop, dragging entire clans into ruin with them.
Thankfully, her own ancestor hadn’t gone that far.
Still, Xiao Yunji was determined to seize the Military Certificate.
Only by doing so could she keep receiving investment, keep climbing higher—instead of becoming a company drone, surrendering most of her income to the clan, and bleeding herself dry for her ancestor’s lifespan.
She gazed down at her cutting-edge shapeshifting Law Husk—specially designed for combat, able to abandon human form and reach powers far beyond a humanoid’s limits.
“Last year’s Civil Engineering competition was just the warm-up.”
“This time, paired with the technique I’ve trained for this moment, my power will be more than doubled.”
“Plus the six artifacts I borrowed through sponsorship deals…”
“This time—I’ll win that certificate!”
Just then, her brows furrowed. Another message from Ping Han.
“That guy again…”
Xiao Yunji wanted to block him so badly.
But she didn’t. After all, he was her biggest rival in this exam—any intel was worth keeping an eye on.
As she looked at yet another profit screenshot, her expression turned grim.
“More gains?”
His growing balance felt like watching his combat strength rise. The pressure Ping Han gave off was growing by the day.
…
October.
Unnoticed, the day of the Military Certificate exam had arrived.
In his dorm, Zhang Yu opened his eyes. His heart beat a little faster.
“It’s finally starting.”
Before he left, Le Mulan extended her hand. “I made this medicine just for you. Take it before you go.”
Yu Xinghan added, “Want me to help you warm up? Get your body loose before the test?”
As he walked down the Magnetic Channel, Zhang Yu checked his messages.
Bai Zhenzhen: Yuzi! Good luck! I believe in you!
Zhang Pianpian: Win, sure—but don’t draw too much attention.
Zhao Tianxing: Nervous ⊙﹏⊙
Director Gao: Do your best. I’ll be watching from the stands.
True Lord Magneto: It’s just the Civil Engineering Military Certificate. Don’t worry if you don’t pass. Just make sure your body stays intact.
One message after another flashed in his ocular Law Husk.
Zhang Yu felt like countless invisible hands were pressing gently against his back, guiding him forward—
Step by step, into the exam hall.