Chapter 311: Advanced Civil Engineering Sacred Physique (88)

Chapter 311: Superior Class - Civil Engineering Sacred Physique (88)

Zhang Yu was a freshman in the Department of Civil Engineering, as well as a master of construction site survival. For the past several months, he had been on a quest for wild delicacies hidden within these sites, risking his life without a second thought just to taste the freshest, most delectable, and rarest ingredients.

A few days ago, he had boarded a flying vessel, traveling thousands of miles across the sky to arrive at this perilous, post-war ruin.

Across this expanse of over a thousand acres lay the residual Dharmic power of Golden Cores, the still-flickering remnants of active formations, and all manner of hazardous, polluting materials that could wound a man invisibly—dangers beyond imagination.

Scorching heat, sudden explosions, and creeping diseases all menaced his life, threatening to shatter the defensive walls of his mind.

Should Zhang Yu be severely crippled by these hazards, he would be carted off to the accompanying medics, bringing an abrupt end to his current venture.

Yet what kept him most on guard were not these lethal threats born of the wilderness, but rather the other predators who shared his hunger.

Those upperclassmen from the Civil Engineering Department—stronger, older, and far more seasoned than he—could easily snatch food right from under his nose.

To evade competition from his own kind, Zhang Yu had no choice but to traverse even greater distances, seeking precious ingredients that grew in places untouched by human footsteps.

At this very moment, he walked through the ruins with measured steps, his Three-Eyed Divine Ability operating at full capacity as he guarded against the slightest rustle in his surroundings.

Billowing shrouds of cloud mist drifted around his figure as his gaze swept across shattered building materials, unidentified components, and ruptured equipment.

From time to time, he would pick up pieces of material glinting with a metallic luster or strange tools of unknown utility, examining and identifying them before tossing them back to the ground.

In these perilous ruins, food was always hidden away in the most obscure, forgotten corners.

Suddenly, Zhang Yu's gaze sharpened; he seemed to have spotted something.

With a sudden surge, his Formless Cloud Astral Qi transformed into spirals of concussive force, snapping a cylindrical object straight up to him.

It appeared to be a specific module from a puppet assembly line.

The Abyssal Corrosion Membrane contained within boasted acid resistance, high-temperature tolerance, and impact resilience—the very delicacy of the factory floor that Zhang Yu had long been tracking down.

Caressing the inner lining of the cylinder, Zhang Yu used the knowledge and experience gathered over the past few days to identify it; before long, a smile bloomed on his face, and he began meticulously preparing this gift of nature.

With a light flick of his index finger, the Green Silk Flying Sword wrapped around his digit suddenly activated, carving a flash of sword-light through the cylinder and slicing it into dozens of pieces.

After that single strike, the green strand coiled back around Zhang Yu's index finger, its divine luster completely faded, requiring a full day and night of gathering spiritual essence to recover.

Gathering the fragments from the ground after careful selection, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Thank goodness for the Green Silk Flying Sword Ah Zhen gave me. Otherwise, even if I found these materials, processing them myself to hide or swallow them would take an immense amount of time."

Opening his mouth, Zhang Yu swallowed the fragments of the Abyssal Corrosion Membrane in a single gulp.

Though the hunger in his core was agonizing, Zhang Yu did not rush to switch to his University Sacred Physique and execute the Soil-Eating Divine Art to digest the food in his belly.

For he understood that in this wilderness where danger lurked everywhere, he would be left utterly vulnerable if he committed all his energy to digestion.

Thus, Zhang Yu merely stored the Abyssal Corrosion Membrane in his stomach for the time being, intending to process the day's harvest all at once after clocking out.

A short while later, Zhang Yu found a length of piping, which required the full force of three Green Silk Flying Swords to slice open.

"Grade 15 Spiritual Dharma Secret Steel, a weakened variant of Grade 20 Secret Steel, yet it still took three strikes to breach."

"As expected, I am still a long way from being able to digest Grade 20 Secret Steel."

Swallowing the shards of Grade 15 Secret Steel, Zhang Yu mused, "Just like the Grade 20 Secret Steel, I'll store it away first. Once I've reinforced my stomach and intestines with the Abyssal Corrosion Membrane, I'll use this Grade 15 Secret Steel to strengthen them further. Then, I can try tackling the Grade 20 Secret Steel..."

Clearing the ruins while collecting and processing ingredients in this manner, Zhang Yu soon reached the end of his shift.

Taking advantage of the moment when his classmates rushed off for massages, he buried his gathered ingredients inside a large, pre-dug pit.

Then, retrieving a portion of the Abyssal Corrosion Membrane, he switched to his University Sacred Physique, activated his Soil-Eating Divine Art, and poured his full strength into digesting this rare delicacy.

"A pity there is only the dish but no medicine."

Yet Zhang Yu knew one couldn't be too particular on a wilderness construction site. Shaking his head, he channeled his Dharmic power to vigorously digest the food within his belly.

Thread by thread, the Abyssal Corrosion Membrane was refined into his stomach, enhancing its resilience and resistance bit by bit, as if he were gradually cladding his internal organs in armor.

With every strand of membrane refined, his digestive capacity grew more potent, gradually resembling a massive millstone that ground down any sustenance entering his gut.

In the days that followed, Zhang Yu devoted himself fully to gathering and refining ingredients, clearing the ruins along the way.

In just over a week, relying on the peak Foundation Establishment digestive power granted by his University Sacred Physique and his level 20 Soil-Eating Sacred Art, he refined over ten spirit coins' worth of Abyssal Corrosion Membrane into his esophagus, stomach, and intestines, tempering the trio into an impregnable bastion of bronze and iron.

Thus, a few days before the ruins were completely cleared, he finally began attempting to digest the Grade 15 Secret Steel.

First, he expended seven Green Silk Flying Swords to carve a dozen metallic blocks into hundreds of minuscule fragments.

Next, Zhang Yu swallowed the shards, and the gluttonous Dharmic power condensed from his Soil-Eating Divine Art erupted forth, working in concert with his peak Foundation Establishment digestive capacity to tirelessly break down the Grade 15 Secret Steel.

Sensing the painstaking digestion as the Grade 15 Secret Steel shrank hair by hair, Zhang Yu went on to execute the Battle Demon Life-Sacrificing Art, temporarily boosting his physical body's intensity level by a full 1.0.

Instantly, his internal organs erupted like a volcano, unleashing an unimaginably violent force that, bolstered by his gluttonous Dharmic power, ground away at the Grade 15 Secret Steel like a colossal millstone.

Then, Zhang Yu activated his level 20 Limitless Vibrational Zen, utilizing high-frequency vibrations to further accelerate his digestive process.

Feeling the wisps of Grade 15 Secret Steel dissolve into his stomach, reinforcing its strength alongside the Abyssal Corrosion Membrane, Zhang Yu finally felt a spark of satisfaction.

"This Grade 15 Secret Steel already requires my absolute utmost just to be digested with great difficulty." "When I refine Grade 20 Secret Steel into my very bones, just what level of power will I reach?"

A few days later, with the ruins completely cleared, the construction site entered its second phase: building the workshops for the Dharma-Skeleton Factory.

And as the workshop construction commenced, the faculty and students of the Artifact-Refining Academy and the Department of Architecture began to arrive one after another.

Unlike the Civil Engineering Department, which used this as a means to train its students, this wilderness Dharma-Skeleton Factory project was merely a commercial endeavor for the Artifact-Refining Academy and the Architecture Department. Furthermore, since their responsibilities were primarily focused on design, supervision, and quality inspection, only a few of them showed up.

With the dangerous ruins cleared, Zhang Yu spent his days maintaining his University Sacred Physique, diligently executing his duties while striving to cultivate the techniques of his Civil Engineering Sacred Physique.

His progress in the Mountain True Form Chapter had previously slowed because he had to keep his Civil Engineering Sacred Physique techniques constantly active for safety; now, however, his cultivation speed advanced by leaps and bounds once more.

Under the operation of the Mountain True Form Chapter, Zhang Yu's body expanded by a full margin as he struck down palm after palm, securing the reinforcing steel bars before him one by one.

Watching the upperclassmen leaving the area, dimensional data manifested within Zhang Yu's ocular sockets as he called out a reminder, "1.3 millimeters won't do here; the specifications dictate it cannot exceed 1 millimeter."

On this day, he successfully pushed the Mountain True Form Chapter to level 10.

As the technique crossed into level 10, Zhang Yu felt that the expansion of his body was no longer just holistic; he could now expand his muscles and flesh locally.

"After level 10, can I cause localized swelling and expansion of my muscles?"

Sensing the new power of the technique, Zhang Yu glanced at the messages in the group chat and urged helplessly, "Are the blueprints from the Architecture Department still not here? Can someone press them? We've been waiting for nearly an hour."

After a hectic day and night of labor, it was finally time to clock out once more.

Ordinarily, Zhang Yu could not bear to carelessly waste access to the Spiritual Realm Network, nor could he bring himself to squander the equally expensive Sky-Patrol Flying Sword Network.

Yet at this very moment, Zhang Yu held the Profound Creation Relic, absorbing and exhaling the high-quality Dharmic power within it.

Simultaneously, he connected to the Spiritual Realm Network of the construction site to let Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Pianpian know he was safe, request class videos from Yu Xinghan, and send his regards to Le Mulan...

"Ah Zhen, those upperclassmen of mine went for massages again. Of course I didn't go. There are only six masseuses, working overtime day and night without even having time to bathe—I find it unsanitary."

Life on the construction site was so fulfilling that Zhang Yu felt like a piece of steel being repeatedly forged, constantly tempered amid high temperatures and immense pressure, advancing along the path of immortality with every passing second.

As half a month flew by, not only did his cultivation progress significantly, but he also grew increasingly familiar with the site, his construction experience becoming richer by the day.

Looking at the dimensions of the rebar in front of him, Zhang Yu said to Che Yufei beside him, "It's only off by two millimeters. I say it's close enough—it's not like we're forging an immortal artifact."

Che Yufei frowned, but just as he was about to speak, he saw a chunk of Grade 20 Secret Steel slipped into his hand. His eyebrows twitched slightly, and he subtly tucked it into his sleeve, murmuring, "Just this once. Don't let it happen again."

Seeing Che Yufei off, Shi Yunxiang, who stood to the side, asked, "Teacher Tu said in the group chat that the blueprints have been sent over?"

Zhang Yu replied, "Why wait for blueprints? I finished installing that level ages ago. How could those design folks possibly understand the situation better than us on-site workers?"

"It's time to clock out, I'm heading out first."

When Shi Yunxiang returned to his room, he found Che Yufei and the others all gathered there. He asked in bewilderment, "None of you went for a massage?"

Che Yufei said helplessly, "Those technicians haven't bathed in a long time. We all thought they were dirty, but Zhang Yu went anyway."

...

With a soft, muffled sound.

Zhang Yu dug open the soil pit he had buried and retrieved a piece of No. 20 secret steel.

Over the past few days, since Che Yufei and the others had stopped getting massages, Zhang Yu simply used the massage as an excuse to slip out for his daily feeding.

"Tomorrow, the technicians will bathe, so Che Yufei and the others will probably go back for massages to relax."

Zhang Yu looked at the No. 20 secret steel in his hand.

After strengthening his stomach and intestines with No. 15 secret steel, it was finally time to digest this No. 20 secret steel.

This precious material, used to protect the core parts of puppets, was as strong as some body parts of peak Foundation Establishment physical cultivators.

Not only was it explosion-proof and impact-resistant, but it could also evenly absorb martial energy.

Previously, when Zhang Yu tried cutting it with his green silk flying sword, he consumed the power of seven green silk strands in a day and could only barely cut off a palm-sized piece.

At this moment, Zhang Yu's mouth, stomach, and chest suddenly swelled up.

This was because, after advancing the Mountain and Peak True Form Art to level 20, he gained the ability to temporarily expand his esophagus, stomach, intestines, and other internal organs while circulating the technique.

And after cultivating the Mountain and Peak True Form Art to level 20 a few days ago, his Earth and Wood Sacred Body had finally reached the second layer.

Upper Tier - Earth and Wood Sacred Body (8/8): The consumption of lifespan during Foundation Establishment cultivation, feeding, and medication is greatly reduced. The Earth and Wood Sacred Body allows you to work until old age, forever on the path of labor.

"What a great sacred body. With this Earth and Wood Sacred Body, I can more recklessly circulate certain techniques and take life-shortening medicines."

"It's also fortunate that I've only spent at most a year of my lifespan during this time, leaving plenty more to burn."

(End of Chapter)