Chapter 354: Competition Decided, Taiqing Talisman

Chapter 354: The Tournament Decision, and the Talisman of Supreme Clarity

After a prolonged silence, Ma Xuan finally sent a reply to Cong Na: No need to replace him.

Ma Xuan: We are the main force anyway. Ji Yuanshu’s position being a little stronger or weaker won't make much of a difference.

Ma Xuan: Besides, Zhang Yu hasn't trained with us for so long. Rebuilding that tacit understanding would be another tedious chore.

Ma Xuan: Let's stick with Ji Yuanshu.

Though Ma Xuan had listed a string of reasons, he knew in his heart that his decision to keep Ji Yuanshu had nothing to do with any of them.

Gazing at the ranking chart, Ma Xuan thought to himself, The old director’s life is drawing to a close...

Ma Xuan was well aware that within the Civil Engineering Department today, power was divided between Director Lin of the Pacifists and Director Gao of the Militants.

As for the true head director of the Civil Engineering Department—the leader of Ma Xuan's own faction—his expenses had exceeded his income for the past decade or so, rendering him gradually unable to afford the immense cost of life extension. His days were truly numbered.

The Finance Department can provide the old director with a loan.

Ma Xuan pondered, For the sake of this loan, the old director, who originally remained neutral, has decided to side with the Pacifists.

Ma Xuan understood perfectly well that compared to the individual grades and rankings of students, the department's political alignment carried far greater weight.

Just then, Cong Na replied: If that's the case, Zhang Yu might leave the team, right?

Ma Xuan: Then there is nothing to be done.

...

Inside a one-hundred-square-meter suite on the 450th floor.

As Ji Yuanshu read the message Ma Xuan had sent to the tournament team group, his internal organs could not help but tremble violently.

He tried desperately to suppress the sensation, but it proved entirely uncontrollable. Finally, with a sharp cough, he spat out a large mouthful of blood, and the vital aura permeating his body weakened at an unbelievable speed.

At this very moment, with the publication of the results, he was no longer the undisputed number one in the minds of the people.

The public's faith in him was rapidly evaporating, and the fortune suppressed within his mind broke free and scattered in all directions.

Even the fortune he had originally possessed—the confidence people used to place in him as a student of the sixth floor—began to dissipate in massive quantities.

Feeling the shift of fortune within his body, Ji Yuanshu thought bitterly, These fools... a few beautiful words from me, and they harbor expectations of me that far exceed my actual strength.

And the moment I fail even once, they cannot wait to trample me into the dirt, constantly downgrading their estimation of my capabilities.

Ji Yuanshu let out a cold laugh, knowing that whether it was fortune or the human heart, it was always like this—either excessively overestimated or excessively underestimated, with an objective evaluation never truly existing.

Yet, feeling the backlash currently tearing through his body, a wave of bitterness still surfaced on Ji Yuanshu’s face.

Back then, he had flaunted his power, guided public perception, and gathered fortune. Under the blessing of that fortune, the circulation of his mana had grown smoother, his Dao heart more flawless, and even the vitality and blood of his physical body had become more vibrant; even his intellect and memory had been enhanced to varying degrees.

Now, with the backlash of fortune, not only were these blessings gone, but the circulation of his mana had become sluggish, his physical reflexes were somewhat dull, and his intellect and memory had suffered varying degrees of decline.

It was as though his entire condition had plummeted into an abyss overnight.

But this was not the most terrifying part.

Ji Yuanshu attempted to circulate his internal cultivation techniques, only to find that the methods he once mastered with effortless ease were now riddled with errors, consistently out of sync.

Techniques originally at level 15 or 18 could now only exert the efficacy of level 10, or even level 8.

All of this meant his strength had suffered a severe regression.

It will take at least a month or two to gradually recover.

It will delay quite a few classes, and it will also delay the improvement of my fundamental data...

Numerous messages kept flashing within his ocular prosthesis, but Ji Yuanshu was unwilling to look at a single one.

He knew they were nothing more than the cynical mockery, playful taunts, or arrogant showing-off of others.

However, the message from Director Lin was one he could not afford to ignore.

Director Lin: Let the matters regarding the Finance Department rest for the time being.

Director Lin: From now on, focus entirely on your studies in Civil Engineering.

Director Lin: You must suppress Zhang Yu. Do not allow him to take first place again and learn the Seven Supremes.

Director Lin: Furthermore, when he goes to take the military certification exam in a few years, you are to go and crowd him out.

Reading Director Lin's words, Ji Yuanshu's heart skipped a beat, realizing that the thing he dreaded most had come to pass.

Am I not allowed to transfer to the Finance Department?

Long before Ji Yuanshu even entered high school, he knew his future goal was to pass the exam into Wanfa University, master the Three Supremes in the Civil Engineering Department, and then transfer to the Finance Department...

This could be described as his lifelong blueprint, the goal for which he had sacrificed countless days and nights, paying an immeasurable price.

Yet at this very moment... this life plan was utterly overturned.

Stay behind to study civil engineering?

Master, do you not know what studying civil engineering implies?

It was you who told me not to stay and wallow in the mire of civil engineering...

Staring repeatedly at the message sent by Director Lin, Ji Yuanshu could seemingly feel the deep disappointment in himself woven between the lines.

Beyond that, he deciphered another underlying meaning from the text.

You want me to remain in the Civil Engineering Department just to obstruct Zhang Yu? To sniper Zhang Yu?

Ji Yuanshu let out a bitter laugh, realizing that at this moment... he had been demoted from a long-term investment into a short-term one.

Never before had he desired a person's death so intensely.

Zhang Yu...

Yet Ji Yuanshu understood that even killing Zhang Yu would be useless. Only by defeating his opponent fair and square, achieving a higher ranking through absolute strength, could he possibly regain his master's esteem.

Defeating Zhang Yu is merely the first step.

I will graduate as the top student of the entire department, then take the postgraduate exam for the Finance Department, and return my life to its proper tracks. Feeling the weakness within his body, Ji Yuanshu murmured in his heart, But to reach that step, I need stronger assistance.

A decision gradually hardening in his mind, a strange dialogue box emerged within Ji Yuanshu’s ocular prosthesis.

Ji Yuanshu: The wish you spoke of, I accept.

Ji Yuanshu: Tell me how to perform the ritual.

...

On the construction site of the 667th floor.

The double-headed white bull within Zhang Yu's mind let out a thunderous roar, and his Boundless Heart Internal Dharma Body was abruptly propelled to level 11.

Sensing the slightly accelerated speed of his thoughts, Zhang Yu continued to divide his attention, checking the messages popping up in his ocular prosthesis while maintaining the circulation of his astral qi to perform his labor on the construction site.

Simultaneously, the mental cultivation technique in his mind operated continuously at the realm of unity between spirit and flesh, growing stronger step by step.

In the blink of an eye, the night passed. When Zhang Yu returned to the new dormitory, he discovered that apart from himself, no one else had arrived yet.

He first took his own portion of the prepared medicine and began to consume it. Not long after, he saw Yu Xinghan returning to the dormitory with a faint smile on her face.

Yu Xinghan spoke, "I have successfully apprenticed to a master!"

As a passer of the first-floor foundation establishment examination, Yu Xinghan possessed the same right to designate a mentor as Zhang Yu did.

However, just like the Magnetic Pole True Lord, the mentor chosen by Yu Xinghan also made a demand of him: his academic ranking must be within the top five of his class. If he failed to meet this requirement, even if Yu Xinghan designated him as his mentor, he would receive little guidance.

Thus, after the final grades were released yesterday, Yu Xinghan took his results to the mentor and finally succeeded in becoming his disciple.

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "What mentor?"

Yu Xinghan replied, "Professor Gong, who specializes in construction site health management."

"Ah?" Zhang Yu was taken aback.

Construction site health management? Was there really research on such a thing? Could it have any future?

Yu Xinghan seemed to understand Zhang Yu's surprise and explained, "Professor Gong is a newly appointed professor."

"But that doesn’t mean he’s weak."

"You have to understand, as the path of immortality grows more prosperous, research in various fields has become increasingly complex and difficult, with more and more specialized areas. Many research directions are quite obscure, and achieving results has become harder."

"For him to achieve the Golden Core in this era and become a professor only shows that his talent is even more terrifying than those Golden Core masters from decades or centuries ago."

"Heh, and besides, I’m genuinely interested in what he studies."

While Yu Xinghan and Zhang Yu were chatting, Li Xiao called out to them from outside, specifically coming to join them for their first class of sophomore year.

Yu Xinghan opened the door and, seeing Li Xiao, suddenly paused, staring at his hands. "You changed your magic skeleton?"

Li Xiao smiled and said, "Yeah, I finally saved up enough spirit coins and got the Diamond Profound Creation hand magic skeleton."

"Wait..." Yu Xinghan questioned, "How can you afford Diamond Profound Creation? Is it a fake?"

Li Xiao replied, "Why would I buy a fake? It’s Diamond Profound Creation, the genuine one."

Looking at the magic skeleton information Li Xiao sent, Yu Xinghan exclaimed angrily, "Why are you so vain?"

"What’s the point of buying Diamond Profound Creation? Are you someone who can afford to use it? Did you get it with zero down payment and a 30-year installment plan? If you do this, people will just think you’re using a fake..."

Seeing Li Xiao’s branded magic skeleton, Yu Xinghan felt his good mood from the morning vanish.

But the next moment, as he read the details of the magic skeleton information, Yu Xinghan suddenly laughed again. "It’s ninth-hand."

Yu Xinghan patted his chest, thinking to himself, "Damn, you scared me. I thought you’d also improved and your credit limit had increased."

With a broad smile, he patted Li Xiao’s shoulder and praised, "Ninth-hand is good—affordable to use, and the performance isn’t much worse than new."

"As college students, we should value frugality and thrift, spending where necessary and saving where possible."

While Yu Xinghan and Li Xiao were talking, Zhang Pianpian also returned to the dormitory.

Zhang Yu glanced at the top of her head and noticed that his senior sister, now a fourth-year student, had risen to 44th place in the Foundation Establishment realm of the Talisman Department.

"Sister has improved again."

"But this probably still isn’t her true strength, right? I remember she likes to control her scores."

Zhang Yu could imagine that Zhang Pianpian would continue to improve step by step, gradually advancing to the top of the department at a moderate pace.

Then Zhang Yu looked at Zhang Pianpian’s chest, observing her Dao Seed—the Taiqing Talisman.

Last night, his savings had finally exceeded 56 spirit coins, giving him the chance to activate this Taiqing Talisman.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "It’s time to talk to my sister."

So he sent Zhang Pianpian a message: Senior Sister, are you short on money?

Zhang Pianpian: Why do you suddenly ask?

Zhang Yu: You were already in the top 50 of the department, but your living conditions and belongings are quite ordinary.

Zhang Yu: Have you been saving up for some big expense?

Zhang Pianpian wasn’t surprised by this, as it wasn’t a difficult conclusion to draw, and casually replied: Why? Do you want to lend me money?

Zhang Yu: I have 56 spirit coins now. How much do you need?

Zhang Pianpian was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Zhang Yu to have saved so many spirit coins without using them.

For a college student, this was undoubtedly a huge sum, enough to turn brothers against each other and fathers and daughters into enemies.

Zhang Pianpian looked deeply at Zhang Yu and sent a message: You’re not using it yourself? You’re willing to lend it to me?

Seeking monthly votes.

(End of chapter.)