Chapter 347: Intense Hauling

Chapter 347: Furious Hauling

Tu Lishan looked out over the crowd and said, "You now have fifteen minutes to prepare. Use them wisely to consider your next moves."

Zhang Yu stared at the blueprint manifesting within his ocular husks. Harnessing his dual consciousness, linked in perfect sync, he rapidly constructed a mental image of the finished structure.

"This is... a bunker, isn't it?"

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "The inherent design of a bunker is built entirely around withstanding a barrage of assaults."

"At the same time, this is almost certainly a hint. It implies that the ten waves of attacks following construction are related to warfare."

At this thought, Zhang Yu sighed internally. "Another element of war? It seems quite a few souls in the Civil Engineering Department truly believe the academy wars are escalating, so much so that even the examinations are a continuous preparation for battle."

He scrutinized the anatomy of the entire bunker, pondering its critical vulnerabilities and weighing his own advantages. "With my construction efficiency, completing this bunker within three hours poses no challenge."

"The key lies in driving the structural strength to its absolute peak, enabling it to endure more strikes and retain a higher level of integrity once the onslaught subsides."

"Is there a way to push my advantages to their absolute limits?"

While Zhang Yu was lost in contemplation, Li Xiao stared at the blueprint within his ocular husks. A sharp gleam flared in his eyes; he already had his answer.

"The crux of the matter is the material."

Li Xiao thought to himself, "I must craft this bunker using the highest quality materials possible. The superior the material, the greater the fort's ultimate durability. Even with the same level of construction efficiency, it yields twice the result with half the effort."

"Therefore, materials reign supreme."

The moment the realization struck, Li Xiao began mentally selecting materials according to the blueprint's specifications, ranking them in order of importance.

"Since materials are paramount, victory or defeat in this examination will actually be decided within the first half-hour of resource gathering."

"The competition then will undoubtedly be ferocious. I must surpass everyone else and claim the finest stock."

With this final thought, Li Xiao filtered through his options once more, isolating the three most vital materials.

Fifteen minutes dissolved in the blink of an eye. Almost the exact millisecond Tu Lishan announced the commencement of the exam, Li Xiao shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.

Yet, even though his heart burned like a roaring furnace, his vital energy surging violently through his meridians, and his legs cleaving the air beneath him like massive axes as he accelerated to his absolute peak...

He could still only watch helplessly as two silhouettes, resembling twin comets, tore through the atmosphere. Trailing supersonic sonic booms that rumbled like thunder, they swept past him and plunged headfirst into the construction material zone.

They were Ji Yuanshu, spearheading the charge, and Zhang Yu, hot on his heels.

Just as the two entered the materials zone one after the other, Gongshu Jin's form blurred. Dragging a long vapor trail behind him, he gave chase, entering the zone as the third contestant.

Watching figure after figure snatch the lead away from him, Li Xiao felt a twinge of anxiety, yet he did not panic. He had fully anticipated this outcome.

In his mind, he quietly crossed out the top three materials on his list and immediately directed his gaze toward the fourth and fifth.

"The highest-ranked materials will inevitably spark a brutal fray. I stand little chance of outracing them."

"Instead of forcing a confrontation, it is better to set my sights on the tier just below..."

However, after scanning the area, a shadow of astonishment crept into Li Xiao's eyes. "What is going on?"

"Why is there only mystical steel from grade five to grade ten?"

"Where is the mystical steel above grade ten?"

"And why are the other materials also... so low-end?"

"Could it be that this exam intends for us to complete the bunker using these low-grade, or even defective, materials?!"

As Li Xiao stood paralyzed by surprise, Ying Xin unleashed a shockwave of astral energy, sweeping up a massive haul of low-grade steel.

She showed not the slightest hint of surprise regarding the poor quality of the construction matter.

"It was explicitly stated that this is a practical test. How to minimize costs, how to cut corners—such as using inferior materials to forge a high-quality structure—would naturally be part of the evaluation."

The astral energy around Ying Xin coiled like a dragon, hoisting dozens of tons of building supplies before she bolted toward her designated plot.

Simultaneously, a series of sonic booms detonated near her ears once more.

Ying Xin looked up to see Ji Yuanshu leading the vanguard with Zhang Yu close behind. The astral energy surrounding the pair billowed like a gathering tempest, carrying a storm of construction materials along as they shot through the air.

Witnessing this display, Ying Xin sighed inwardly at the chasm between herself and the two frontrunners, but she swiftly adjusted her mindset. "They are not my rivals."

"My objective is fourth place in the class."

Meanwhile, observing the frantic movements of the students hauling materials back and forth, Tu Lishan murmured with deep feeling, "The immortal path is an internal cultivation of minor transit; civil engineering is an external labor of grand hauling. One internal, one external; one concealed, one revealed. They pull upon each other, embodying the profound mysteries of the immortal path."

In a flash, half an hour elapsed. As Tu Lishan declared the gathering phase over, Ying Xin gazed at the mountains of supplies on her plot, a faint, satisfied smile gracing her lips.

In truth, according to the blueprint's criteria, the materials she had transported during this half-hour far exceeded what the construction required.

But the crowd soon understood the reason behind her excess.

The moment Tu Lishan announced the beginning of construction, Ying Xin let out a low shout. Billows of high-temperature astral energy radiated a scorching force that distorted the atmosphere, enveloping the massive pile of steel before her.

As the intense heat shrouded the metal, Ying Xin struck out with her palm. Amidst a succession of sharp crackles and snaps, arcs of lightning astral energy bombarded the heated steel, tempering and reshaping it anew.

"If high-quality materials are absent, one simply reforges them on the spot."

"A construction site, especially one on a battlefield, rarely enjoys an abundant supply of pristine materials. It is all about utilizing what is available on the ground."

Beholding Ying Xin's method of tempering her supplies, many students on the field felt a wave of shock, followed by sudden realization, which then turned into a profound despondency in their eyes.

Li Xiao also sighed quietly at the sight. "So she intends to reforge the building materials right on site? Is this the heritage of practical experience passed down through six generations of civil engineers?"

"But even if most classmates realized this, they wouldn't have enough time. The requirement it places on one's cultivation level is simply too high."

While Li Xiao was marvelling at Ying Xin's rich experience and deep cultivation, the ground beneath them suddenly shuddered violently.

"What is happening?"

At the same time, Yu Xinghan, who had been observing his peers, turned his head to look. He saw that Gongshu Jin had, at some unknown point, swapped out the mechanical husks on his arms.

Currently, his arms resembled two massive battering rams, crashing down toward the earth with a resounding boom.

Simultaneously, Yu Xinghan could see several other sets of mechanical husks arranged neatly behind Gongshu Jin, standing by for him to switch them out at any moment.

"Damned filthy rich bastard," Yu Xinghan muttered, his heart overflowing with envy. He harboured a fierce desire to strip those husks right off the man and don them himself.

Watching his rival's movements, Yu Xinghan thought, "Is he laying the foundation?"

Yet he quickly detected something amiss. Under the observation of his Three-Eyed Divine Ability, the spiritual essence in the air began to shift.

"This is... a fluctuation in the spiritual veins?" Yu Xinghan gasped in surprise. "There are spiritual veins inside this exam venue as well?"

"Of course there are." Sensing the shifting topography beneath his feet, Gongshu Jin sneered inwardly. "The exam grounds simulate a genuine battlefield construction environment. The subsurface naturally contains pathways of spiritual essence to replicate spiritual veins."

"Ordinary workers look at materials; excellent workers look at structure; but the true masters of the Civil Engineering Department look at formations."

"The bunker's structure and materials... are not the most vital components."

"The formations embedded within are the true core."

"As long as the formation is powerful enough, even a wall of common mud can withstand ten thousand troops, thunder, and wildfire."

"And to amplify the might of a formation, drawing upon the spiritual veins is paramount."

The pair of mechanical husks he had equipped were known as the Earth-Shaking Arms. Once infused with vital energy, they could unleash a level twenty Earth-Shaking Palm.

Furthermore, the shock-delivery structure integrated within the Earth-Shaking Arms, combined with the accumulated experience of countless previous users, ensured that the impact of his Earth-Shaking Palm vastly surpassed that of students who had painstakingly trained the technique to level twenty on their own.

"How could techniques forged through a single person's solitary trials ever compete with the mechanical husks and martial arts I purchased with spiritual coins?"

"Spiritual veins! Rise for me!"

Gongshu Jin's entire body of astral energy erupted like a raging blaze. In a single breath, he funneled it into his Earth-Shaking Arms. Passing through layers of shock-delivery structures, the energy transformed into visible, translucent ripples. Dragging distorted air and billowing dust in their wake, they slammed ruthlessly into the earth below.

With a deafening roar, a student's legs gave way beneath him, and he collapsed to the ground.

At the same time, the simulated spiritual vein underground shifted violently toward Gongshu Jin's construction site amid the intense tremors, greatly amplifying the power of his formation.

But just then, another tremor of equal force reverberated, pulling the spiritual vein in the opposite direction.

Gongshu Jin whipped his head around to see Ji Yuanshu also executing the Earth-Shaking Palm—and without the aid of any magical artifact, relying solely on his bare hands.

"The Earth-Shaking Palm at level 20?" Gongshu Jin thought in astonishment. "Has he already mastered it to level 20? And with greater power than mine? Is it because his base stats are higher?"

Yet Gongshu Jin sensed it wasn't just that.

In his observation, every palm strike Ji Yuanshu unleashed was executed with perfect precision—in strength, movement, and the flow of his inner energy—as if reaching the pinnacle of mastery.

It was as though the spiritual vein Ji Yuanshu guided was destined to be in that exact position, as if ordained by heaven itself. For Gongshu Jin to resist this would be to defy the will of fate.

After another exchange of clashes, Gongshu Jin felt a surge of bitter reluctance, yet he had no choice but to admit that in the contest to control the spiritual vein, he was completely outmatched.

On the other side, Ji Yuanshu remained indifferent.

Having thoroughly bested Gongshu Jin in their tug-of-war, he formed a Daoist hand seal. The surging fortune in his mind stirred slightly, and the divinely aided sensation of the Earth-Shaking Palm dissipated entirely.

But in the next moment, this fortune imbued his Cohesive Inner Energy, making its execution seem as if crafted by supernatural skill. Every ounce of strength, every thread of energy, flowed with impeccable precision.

His Cohesive Inner Energy was only at level 10, yet in that instant, it erupted with the effect of level 20.

Such was the terror of fortune-based Daoist arts. As long as Ji Yuanshu was willing to expend his fortune, he could bestow divine favor upon any of his techniques, unleashing the maximum effect achievable at his current realm.

Of course, this process consumed fortune. Once fortune was severely depleted or exhausted, not only would the power of his techniques fail to increase, but their effectiveness would even regress, riddled with frequent errors.

Yet at this moment, Ji Yuanshu was confident in his position as the top-ranked student in the class. His fortune was soaring, and he was riding a wave of auspicious luck. There was no chance of defeat in this battle, nor any possibility of exhausting his fortune.

(End of Chapter)