Chapter 421: Each Displaying Divine Skills

Chapter 421: Each Showing Their Unique Talents

Though the students were filled with discontent, an exam was, after all, an exam.

Thus, when the test officially commenced, everyone brought out their true skills, giving their all on the construction site to strive for the best possible results.

Li Xiao tilted his head back and downed the mixed concoction in his hand, feeling the Calamity Blood Powder, the Fissure-Origin Blood-Burst Pill, and the Hundred-Calamity Heart-Devouring Gu... transform into surges of violent medicinal power coursing through his limbs and bones.

Bang!

His heart began to beat violently, so fast that Li Xiao felt as if a drum were being played inside his chest.

"Body! You must hold on!"

Li Xiao knew that consuming such fierce drugs in one go placed an immense burden on his body.

But he knew even better that he had few choices left on this examination field.

"Compared to wealthy heirs like Gongshu Jin or Ji Yuanshu, or the deep-rooted heritage of someone like Ying Xin, Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, and Che Yufei are the ones I can actually learn from."

"But I cannot learn from everyone; I can only learn what suits me."

Over the past year, Li Xiao had seized every fragmented moment to click ads, hunt for coupons, sponge resources from acquaintances, and beg for guidance from top students... accumulating potential bit by bit, solidifying his foundation.

In terms of martial arts techniques, he didn't obsess over a dizzying array of divine skills; he stuck to one single technique that could both temper his physical body and be used for labor, finally pushing it to level 20.

As for his Dharma-Skeleton, he saved on the big expenses, usually wearing either second-hand gear or low-end brands like Extreme Tiger, only renting high-end equipment for critical junctures.

On an important occasion like today's final exam, he had to take even more potent "tiger-wolf" drugs to stimulate the potential hidden within his body.

"The path of immortality is about the accumulation of small drops in daily life, and erupting at the critical moment."

The next instant, Li Xiao’s mana and blood surged again, having pushed his War-Demon Life-Extinction Technique to level 5.

Hoo!

As he exhaled, Li Xiao could even smell a faint scent of blood in his breath.

"Is this how Zhang Yu feels when he fights with his life on the line?"

Bang!

With a forceful stomp, he left a trail of afterimages, guided by the exam task projected in his ocular skeleton, and charged toward his work station.

Nearby, Tu Lishan watched this scene and recorded in his ocular skeleton: "Li Xiao has been down-to-earth this past year, finding his proper place. Although he is just a construction worker now, as long as he keeps paying me his referral fees in the future, what harm is there in letting him work on this site for a lifetime?"

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yu Xinghan was slowly limbering up, massaging his muscles and opening every joint and bone to reduce wear and tear through a thorough warm-up.

As he looked at his exam task, he muttered to himself: "Garbage transport? That doesn't really mesh with the Dharma-Skeleton I'm using today."

Yu Xinghan knew that the Dharma-Skeleton, as a practitioner's bodily artifact, had a crucial impact on one's strength.

And whether one was equipped with a Dharma-Skeleton suited to the task during work had a massive effect on efficiency.

He thought for a moment, then sent requests for help to his massage client groups and Zhang Yu’s backup dual-cultivation group, hoping to borrow a few compatible Dharma-Skeletons, promising massage coupons in return.

Before long, a courier delivered several pieces of gear, which Yu Xinghan swapped on one by one.

Watching Yu Xinghan start working with calm composure, Tu Lishan thought: "This kid Yu Xinghan has developed quite a network over the last two years. This talent for leveraging platform resources to pry open personal resources..."

Yu Xinghan: Teacher Tu, the two new technicians today have huge pecs and arms thicker than my head. Do you want me to save them for you?

Tu Lishan: How many times do I have to tell you? Don't message me during work hours.

Yu Xinghan: Understood, understood. Then after the exam, I'll bring them to wait for you on the second floor.

Looking at the coupons the other party had sent, Tu Lishan shook his head: "Little Yu is from the first layer, after all; he’s still too rustic."

Tu Lishan turned his gaze toward Ying Xin, thinking: "The heritage of six generations of civil engineers is finally being fully unleashed by her. It seems the Ying family is determined to make a push upward this generation."

Ying Xin, relying on her profound mana cultivation, was equipped with a full six sets of Dharma-Skeletons. Her mana surged within her like roaring beasts, frantically devouring her energy.

Though the burden was immense, Ying Xin could feel her strength skyrocketing! It was surging! Exploding! Like a wild horse breaking free, constantly trying to escape her conscious control.

But the next moment, as she injected her will into the Dharma-Skeletons, the roaring power gradually stabilized.

Seeing the synchronization rate recover and feeling the consciousness entering her gear, Ying Xin exclaimed in surprise: "Grandpa! Grandma! Didn't you say you were working overtime? Why are you here taking the exam with me?"

Grandpa, Grandma: Silly child, the overtime we mentioned was working overtime to help you with your exam.

Great-Grandfather, Great-Grandmother: Ying Xin! We are here to lend you a hand too!

Great-Great-Grandfather, Great-Great-Grandmother: Father and son working overtime! The construction site is one big family! We're here too!

Under the bond of shared blood, the consciousness of the six family members perfectly matched Ying Xin's Dharma-Skeletons and physical body, causing her synchronization rate to soar, quickly reaching the 150% level.

Feeling the consciousness of her family flowing through her, Ying Xin smiled: "Family! I understand your intentions, and I feel your support... Let's go!" With a boom, Ying Xin shot forward. As her arms shook, the hand-mounted Dharma-Skeletons sprayed out spiraling energy like roaring tornadoes, sweeping toward the prepared concrete and lifting gray dragons of material into the molds.

On the other side, Gongshu Jin took a step, and waves of mysterious yellow energy swept out, attaching to the steel scattered across the ground and lightening its weight again and again.

Since last year's civil engineering competition, Gongshu Jin had obtained the Mysterious Yellow Mountain-Suppressing Seal, one of the Seven Wonders of Civil Engineering.

Once he obtained this long-coveted technique, Gongshu Jin devoted himself entirely to it, and had now pushed it to level 17.

The moment the seal was unleashed, it covered the entire construction site beneath his feet, raising building materials into the air as if they had entered a zone of zero gravity.

The reduced weight of the materials caused Gongshu Jin's efficiency to soar; a casual wave of energy could roll up large sections of rebar for operation.

Seeing his salary rising steadily, firmly ranking second in the class, a smile curled on Gongshu Jin's lips.

But the next moment, seeing Ji Yuanshu catching up, Gongshu Jin’s gaze hardened.

On another site in the distance, Ji Yuanshu had seven credit cards arranged in a seven-star formation in his mind, with waves of fortune surging back and forth, reaching an extreme intensity.

"With the fortune of my Seven-Star Life-Borrowing, even if I can't beat Zhang Yu, I have enough to sweep everyone else in the class."

Meanwhile, Gongshu Jin had swapped out his Dantian Dharma-Skeleton.

Gongshu Jin usually didn't buy second-hand gear, simply because second-hand items, having been used by the previous generation, were often heavily worn, had unpredictable defects, and were embarrassing to use.

But the Dantian Dharma-Skeleton he had swapped in this time was a second-hand piece that cost more than a new one.

This was because the owner of this gear had been Mo Shangjin.

This Dantian Dharma-Skeleton, meticulously maintained and adjusted by Mo Shangjin, was not only in perfect condition but also perfectly complemented the Mysterious Yellow Mountain-Suppressing Seal, boosting the technique's power by over twenty percent.

It even contained the soul-cultivator that Mo Shangjin had been using.

Feeling the skilled operation of that soul-cultivator within the gear, and the way the gear and the seal complemented each other, Gongshu Jin laughed: "The Dharma-Skeleton and soul-cultivator that Senior Mo spent years tuning are indeed excellent."

Soul-cultivator: I'm a new hire this year.

Gongshu Jin was slightly stunned: "Aren't Senior Mo's soul-cultivators all ones he's used for years?"

Soul-cultivator: No, he just keeps buying new ones.

Soul-cultivator: But don't worry, the handover from the previous person was done very well.

Gongshu Jin soon felt that the other party was right. With the coordination of the Dantian Dharma-Skeleton, his Mountain-Suppressing Seal performed stably, his efficiency climbed step by step, and he firmly held onto second place in the class.

Watching this, Tu Lishan nodded slightly, thinking: "This kid Gongshu Jin is truly lucky. While Ji Yuanshu is merely borrowing fortune."

"The difference is clear; the outcome is already decided."

Just then, Director Gao sent him a message: How is Zhang Yu doing?

Tu Lishan did not reply, but instead recorded Zhang Yu's performance on the exam field and sent it to Director Gao.

Zhang Yu stomped his foot, and the mysterious yellow energy swept across the entire field.

Then, infused with the essence of the Taiyi Golden Elixir, the aura surging from his body became streaked with gold, rising like pillars of celestial flame and unleashing a terrifying force that accelerated the pouring of concrete at a staggering pace.

Within Zhang Yu’s palm, the Earth-Fiend Bottle spewed forth swirling cyclones, continuously gathering raw materials from the site to refine the concrete with relentless efficiency.

Simultaneously, the golden jade disc hovering behind Zhang Yu flared with brilliant radiance, its scorching solar energy and frigid lunar essence working in tandem to calibrate the site’s temperature and humidity, hastening the concrete’s setting.

From time to time, a beam of light would erupt from the jade disc, inducing rapid thermal shifts to temper the building materials.

Beyond its basic luminescence, the golden jade disc could condense light into thunder, unleashing strikes akin to cannons of pure energy.

When powered by base mana, these cannons triggered spiritual turbulence to cause explosive impacts.

When imbued with solar mana, they transformed into searing heat rays of extreme intensity.

When reinforced with frigid mana, they became freezing beams that plunged temperatures to absolute depths.

Possessing such formidable strength and an arsenal of potent artifacts, Zhang Yu firmly held the top spot in the class, leaving every student who witnessed his performance in awe.

"Zhang Yu is so wealthy! And so powerful!"

"He wasn't this rich before; it just goes to show how much potential our Civil Engineering department holds!"

"He deserves his place in the top hundred of the entire faculty; his earning efficiency is at least triple my own."

No one considered Zhang Yu’s reliance on artifacts to be an unfair advantage, just as no one would begrudge the use of a Dharma-skeleton.

Moreover, in the eyes of all present, spiritual coins were an intrinsic part of one’s strength—to be wealthy was, in itself, to be powerful.

(End of chapter)