Chapter 314: Final Exams

Chapter 314: The Final Exam

Inside the office.

Tu Lishan looked at Zhang Yu, whose hair had already turned completely white, and couldn't help but furrow his brow: "Are you sure you're okay?"

"If you drop dead from overwork during working hours and delay the project timeline, you'll have to compensate the damages."

Zhang Yu's hair had turned white due to extreme physical exhaustion and weakness; hearing Tu Lishan's reminder, he calmly replied, "I'll be fine, Teacher Tu. I know my own body very well."

"Besides, for a first-tier student like me, when a rare opportunity presents itself, I have to grasp it with everything I've got and fight tooth and nail. Otherwise, how will I ever stand out?"

"My recovery speed is very strong, and I believe my constitution can pull through this."

Sensing the unyielding determination in Zhang Yu's gaze, Tu Lishan felt a quiet sigh escape his heart. In his many years of teaching, he had seen far too many people willing to risk it all, but Zhang Yu’s attitude... made him feel a resolve that completely disregarded life and death.

At this moment, he made a definitive judgment about the youth before him: "This boy's resolve toward the Dao is so unbending that it is a rarity in all my life."

"If this were the ancient times of a few hundred years ago... he probably would have... died long ago."

"It is only because the immortal path is flourishing in this modern era..."

"In the future, he will either bankrupt himself and fall into eternal damnation, or he will rise steadily, pass the graduate exams, earn a doctorate, and climb his way up tier by tier."

"With a temperament like this boy's, there are only these two outcomes; there is absolutely no third possibility."

Yet Tu Lishan understood that the latter outcome was far too bleak and improbable, while the former carried a much higher probability—which also meant that the Civil Engineering Department's investment in Zhang Yu might prove difficult to recover.

Just then, a message from Director Gao materialized within Tu Lishan's ocular-prosthetic display.

Director Gao: "No need to stop him, but set an upper limit for him. At most 10 portions a day."

Tu Lishan understood that these medicines worked by squeezing the cultivator dry rather than strengthening their foundation out of thin air; exceeding 10 portions a day would do nothing but shave away his lifespan without any additional medicinal efficacy, which would be a sheer waste of spirit coins.

Tu Lishan: "But what if Zhang Yu dies..."

Director Gao: "We are the Civil Engineering Department of Wanfa University, not one of those ordinary universities or vocational colleges that only care about breaking even."

"Since he is this confident, what harm is there in giving him a chance to fight for his life?"

"I have never been stingy about giving students a chance to risk it all."

Seeing Director Gao's words, Tu Lishan felt deeply moved: "The director is still the magnanimous one, willing to risk a total loss just to let a student gamble with his life."

Tu Lishan looked at Zhang Yu and said, "As long as you know your own limits."

"Remember, the moment you feel something is wrong, stop immediately."

...

Thus, during the final two-odd weeks on the construction site, Zhang Yu began a daily frenzy of working overtime, consuming medicine, and cultivating.

Before and after taking the medicine, he would switch to the Civil Engineering Sacred Body, switch to the University Sacred Body when cultivating techniques, and choose which configuration of the Spell-Chaining Matrix to use depending on how heavy the workload was...

Particularly with the reinforcement of the Civil Engineering Sacred Body, the weaker his physical frame became, the more unscrupulously he could swallow the medicine and circulate his civil engineering cultivation methods, causing his growth speed to far surpass the past.

In addition to this, there was naturally no shortage of continuing to refine the No. 20 Secret Steel every day.

And in the eyes of the numerous students and teachers, it simply looked like this Zhang Yu was pushing himself far too hard, so close to his absolute limit that he seemed on the verge of collapse...

Che Yufei was profoundly shaken: "This guy, every time you think he's done for, he manages to keep fighting, and every time you feel like he's about to die, he survives yet another day... But if this keeps up, there will come a day when he can't hold on anymore. Just how much money does he owe?"

Tu Lishan thought secretly to himself: "With such an unyielding heart for cultivation, if he were a wealthy person, his future would truly be boundless. What a pity, what a pity; even if he clears this hurdle, his future lifespan will ultimately be severely diminished. Not to mention he is currently weakened to such a state; who knows what score he will even manage to get on this final exam."

Gongshu Jin had also heard more or less about the news regarding Zhang Yu, and had even witnessed Zhang Yu's weakened state on several occasions.

He also sighed softly in his heart: "It looks like... I misjudged him before? Zhang Yu is just an ordinary poor person from the first tier?"

"But given how he dealt with Wang Yin before, how could he be a regular poor person? Could it be that because of the pressure from the Netherworld University, this Zhang Yu was abandoned, and so he has now become impoverished?"

Shaking his head, Gongshu Jin understood that there were too many twists and turns in this; how could he, an outsider, ever guess the truth?

However, seeing Zhang Yu risking his life in such a manner only made Gongshu Jin sense the helplessness of the poor once again.

"Poverty... is truly terrifying. To stake one's very life on a place of such low value, yet still remain unable to catch up to us."

Gongshu Jin thought to himself: "Thank goodness I am rich."

The matter of Zhang Yu merely flashed through Gongshu Jin's mind; his true goal remained surpassing Ji Yuanshu in the final exam.

...

Late February.

Imperceptibly, time advanced to the day when the project reached its conclusion, which also marked the end of the final semester of Zhang Yu's first year of university.

Everyone packed their luggage, boarded the flying vessel, and embarked on the return journey.

"Adding these three months at the wilderness construction site, counting the time, it has already been 8 months since I came to the second tier."

The white-haired Zhang Yu stood at the bow of the ship, gazing down at the rapidly shrinking Dharma-Prosthetic Factory, deeply moved by the results he had achieved here over the past three months.

Not only had his Civil Engineering Sacred Body reached its ultimate form, but the Qi-Ocean Spiritual Root within his dantian had also achieved a 100% spiritual root fusion rate under the feedback of the Jade-Spirit Gu, once again enhancing his mana circulation, deployment, and absorption of spiritual energy.

And with the daily ingestion of all kinds of fierce medicines, the respiration of spirit stones, and the digestion of high-quality mana from the Mystic-Creation Sarira, Zhang Yu had also made massive strides in terms of his mana.

Now, his mana total had reached 546.8, while his mana quality had ascended to a level of 157%.

As for his Dao-Heart, because the internet fees on the construction site over the past three months had been far too exorbitant, resulting in a lack of connection to spiritual realm services, its growth had been somewhat slower, currently sitting at Level 13 (70.8%). His physical strength, driven by the circulation of various body-tempering cultivation methods and the reinforcement of violent medicinal power, had been forcibly pushed by Zhang Yu to a level of 14.39.

Just from the growth of these foundational attributes alone, Zhang Yu’s strength could be said to have undergone a leap-like upgrade, and his savings had also risen to 22 spirit coins through his work over these three months.

Yet none of these constituted his greatest harvest.

At this moment, all 206 bones throughout his body had been entirely refined with the No. 20 Spiritual-Law Secret Steel, giving him a skeleton that could be described as practically indestructible and unbelievably sturdy for the Foundation Establishment stage.

Sitting back inside the cabin of the flying vessel, Zhang Yu knew that for the foreseeable future, he probably wouldn't have another buffet-like opportunity quite this good.

"Even if another opportunity this good comes along, there's no need to gorge myself like this anymore."

Zhang Yu could feel that his body had grown somewhat numb to the medicine; the further into the final days he went, the worse the effects became.

His body was like a stalk of sugarcane that had been repeatedly squeezed for its juice by the medicinal power multiple times over, to the point where not a single drop of moisture could be extracted.

Zhang Yu thought secretly to himself: "Taking medicine from here on out... should require substances that heavily replenish nutrition and vital energy to strengthen my foundation."

He switched to the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo to enhance his self-healing capabilities, while simultaneously beginning to heal his injuries through physical vitalization.

Zhang Yu noted inwardly: "The bonus from the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo... has weakened by a few more fractions."

While treating his injuries, Zhang Yu mused: "After returning, the next objective for my technique cultivation should be to assemble the 'Continuous Flow of Qi Vessels' Spell-Chaining Matrix set."

During this period, due to constantly working on the construction site, he had lacked the focused time and environment required for breathing and respiration cultivation methods, which left Zhang Yu with no opportunity to push forward with the Continuous Flow of Qi Vessels after finishing his Civil Engineering Sacred Body training.

"In addition to the Continuous Flow of Qi Vessels, Jade Star Cold's Dao Seed needs to continue upgrading, as does Le Mulan's Deep Cold Dharma-Vein, and elder sister's Taiqing Talisman..."

As various future cultivation plans flashed briefly through his mind, a sharp glint finally entered Zhang Yu's eyes: "But before any of that, I still need to complete the final exam first."

Zhang Yu clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within his body and his unbreakable skeleton, thinking to himself: "I wonder to what extent I can achieve with my current state."

...

Wanfa University City, inside a dormitory on the 125th tier.

Zhang Yu looked around the empty room, knowing that everyone was busy with their own affairs and had not yet returned.

After sending a message to the group letting them know he had arrived home safely, Zhang Yu first rushed out to return the rented Mystic-Creation Sarira and Jade-Spirit Gu one by one.

Then, on his way back, he began reviewing the schedule for the final exams.