Chapter 531: Soul Ring and Tiangong Kaiwu (Thanks to 'Water Passing Tooth Decay')

Chapter 531: Soul Rings and the Creation of Heaven (Gratitude to 'Water-Damaged Teeth' for the alliance sponsorship)

Within the Taiqing Realm.

As all things accelerated in their rotation, Zhang Yu split his essence into four, tirelessly refining one magical treasure after another within the illusion.

Blessing Relic: Level 20.

Watching the treasure finally reach the twentieth level, Zhang Yu exhaled a faint sigh of relief before immediately diving into the study and practice of the next artifact.

Regardless of how the world outside crumbled under the clashes of the Soul Transformation Lords, Zhang Yu remained holed up in his dormitory, submerged in the Taiqing Realm, silently honing his craft.

The affairs of the Soul Transformation stage were too distant; even if the world were to shatter and the elements were to be reforged, it was beyond his control.

All Zhang Yu could do was quietly accumulate his strength, ensuring he had a few more possibilities regardless of what the future might hold.

Back in his room, Zhang Yu withdrew from the Taiqing Realm, removed his spiritual interface mask, and stretched his body, which had remained motionless for over a dozen hours, to stir his stagnant blood.

At that moment, a bottle of pills was tossed over by Yu Xinghan: "The medicine is here; this is your share."

Yu Xinghan grumbled, "Prices have hiked again. These profiteers are truly capitalizing on the disaster. I heard even excrement has gone up in price—damn it... it’s a pity I didn’t join the Dark Manure-Thieving Guild."

Zhang Yu swallowed the entire bottle of pills, feeling the medicinal power surge within him, and thought to himself: "Sigh, seven-tenths full."

Unsure of the future, Zhang Yu intentionally saved his spirit coins every day to prepare for potential emergencies.

A moment later, Le Mulan returned with a large bag of medicine and said, "The department is starting to ration supplies. This is the last time I’ll be able to get such a bulk discount."

Having finished his medicine, Zhang Yu did not rush back to the Taiqing Realm to continue his craft.

He digested the medicinal energy while scrolling through the messages flickering in his ocular implants, gathering intelligence on the current situation.

Though he spent his days immersed in the Taiqing Realm, he still set aside time to monitor the world, lest he remain ignorant of the shifting tides.

"Are the Soul Transformation Lords still clashing?"

"Beyond the Ten Thousand Dharma, Heavenly Sword, Hehuan, and White Bone Universities, the Soul Transformation Lords of the Nether and Vajra Universities have also entered the fray."

"It is truly... a tangled mess."

Zhang Yu shook his head helplessly, noticing a flurry of activity in the hometown group chat.

Looking at the row of dimmed avatars in the chat, Zhang Yu sighed.

Under normal circumstances, as long as the ocular implant remained active, a user should be online twenty-four hours a day.

In the past, many in the group had stopped speaking, but their avatars had remained lit.

But now, many soul cultivators, having lost their jobs and unable to make ends meet, had frozen their consciousnesses to maintain basic existence at the lowest possible cost, turning their avatars into offline gray.

Song Hailong of Immortal Soldier University: Selling second-hand high-end Extreme Tiger Dharma remains, 90% new, DM if interested.

Xiong Wenwu of Sky Demon University: Anyone need a mount? I have work experience, my body has undergone mount-modification surgery, and it comes with a spinal-interactive saddle.

Hu Yuntao: You lost your job?

Xiong Wenwu of Sky Demon University: (╯▽╰) The boss’s assets shrank; they laid off half the mounts.

Lan Ling of Mountain and River University: Sigh, when will this crisis end?

Lan Ling: [Photo]

Lan Ling: Just lost my job, came back to find my dorm room demolished.

Lan Ling: If this keeps up, I’ll just kill myself. I won’t even let the True Gods take my soul; I’m not paying back a single cent of debt.

Lian Tianji of Hehuan University: Don't talk nonsense. Do you want to get the group banned?

Zhang Yu saw the photo of Lan Ling living amidst the ruins.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed; he noticed something strange about Lian Tianji’s avatar. He clicked on it and saw that the Lian Tianji in the photo had grown much heavier.

Zhang Yu: Are you alright?

Lian Tianji: What could be wrong with me?

Lian Tianji: Oh, you mean the pregnancy?

Lian Tianji: I passed the selection and was admitted into the school’s pregnancy experiment. Now I get free medicine every day and a decent subsidy. This crisis hasn't really affected me much (∩_∩)

Feeling the cheerfulness in Lian Tianji’s tone, Zhang Yu thought: "My fellow countrymen from the first layer... they are truly becoming more and more like the locals of the second layer."

Meanwhile, Lan Ling, who had just been complaining in the group, received a message from Zhou Chechen of Tianhai University.

Zhou Chechen: Lan Ling, what do you think about the 'Double-Rest' practice?

Looking at the message from his former high school student council president, Lan Ling lashed out: Are you out of your mind? You dare touch the Double-Rest?

Zhou Chechen: A little bit won't hurt.

Lan Ling: Old Zhou, just hold on a bit longer. The Ten Great Leagues will be over soon, and the Soul Transformation Lords will stop.

Lan Ling: If you touch the Double-Rest, your life is finished.

...

After scanning the group messages, Zhang Yu checked a message from Director Gao.

Director Gao: Xiao Qingxuan has nowhere to stay recently. Can you arrange for him to squeeze into your dorm for a while?

Zhang Yu naturally had no objections.

After all, the 30-square-meter luxury dormitory he currently occupied was arranged by Director Gao.

Since the director hadn't revoked the room when he transferred to the Artifact Refining Department, Zhang Yu certainly wouldn't refuse a temporary favor.

The next day, a travel-worn Xiao Qingxuan arrived at the dormitory. Seeing the debt figure on the man, Zhang Yu was startled and asked: "15,000? How did your debt grow so much?"

Xiao Qingxuan replied indifferently: "It’s an economic crisis, a minor tribulation sweeping through the five layers of Kunxu from two to six. Many companies in the Civil Engineering Department ran into trouble, so they assigned me to take on the debt."

Xiao Qingxuan sat cross-legged, breathing in and out to recover his mana, feeling a sense of relief.

Listening to his words, Zhang Yu was filled with curiosity—both about how one 'takes on debt' and what benefits Xiao Qingxuan could possibly gain from being a debt-bearer.

Or rather, what kind of benefit would make Xiao Qingxuan willing to take on such a burden?

At least from Zhang Yu’s perspective, he saw no amazing benefits; in fact, with the economic crisis, Xiao Qingxuan didn't even have a place to live.

Over the next few days, Zhang Yu noticed Xiao Qingxuan was constantly looking for work.

Xiao Qingxuan: "I’ve graduated, after all. If I can't find a job, it will be a massive stain on my resume."

Xiao Qingxuan frowned: "I’ll probably never find a formal job again."

Zhang Yu glanced at the debt figure on him, thinking that it was already hard enough to find work, and even harder now with the unemployment wave.

Zhang Yu said casually: "Why don't you hold a position in my company? I can only pay you 0.0001 spirit coins, just for the sake of it."

Xiao Qingxuan said happily: "That works, as long as my resume isn't empty."

After a moment's thought, Xiao Qingxuan looked at Zhang Yu earnestly: "There isn't much I can do for you, but if your company needs someone to take on debt in the future, you can come to me. My life is cheap; a little more debt doesn't matter."

Not long after Xiao Qingxuan moved in, Zhang Yu received a message from Tu Lishan.

Tu Lishan: Zhang Yu, can you provide shelter for Shi Huaiyu for a while?

Tu Lishan: She lost everything speculating on coins, and with rent hikes, she’s been wandering outside for nearly a week.

Tu Lishan had helped him often, and Shi Huaiyu was a former teammate from his competition days; Zhang Yu naturally would not refuse.

Following Tu Lishan’s guidance, he descended into the depths and arrived at the entrance of Huilong Garden.

From afar, he saw a crowd resembling refugees gathered outside the cemetery, huddled together and breathing rhythmically, desperate to catch a stray wisp of spiritual essence drifting from within.

"Zhang Yu?" Shi Huaiyu looked up at him. "Do you have nowhere to stay either?"

She shoved through the throng with effort. "Come, come, I still have a spot right here."

Seeing Shi Huaiyu’s disheveled, soot-stained appearance, Zhang Yu felt as if he were looking at a stray cat that had been wandering for far too long. "Teacher Tu Lishan sent me to bring you away," he said. "If you don't mind, you can squeeze into my dormitory."

Shi Huaiyu leaped up instantly, following happily at Zhang Yu’s heels.

"Zhang Yu, don't you worry," she chirped. "Once the coins I bought bounce back, I’ll break even, and then I’ll pay you the rent."

"It’s fine," Zhang Yu replied casually. "No rent needed. Times are hard; we should help each other out whenever we can to weather the storm."

Shi Huaiyu stared at him in shock, as if stunned that anyone in this world would refuse rent.

"It’s one thing that Xiao Qingxuan is so poor he can’t even afford a meal," Fuxi grumbled in dissatisfaction, "but why on earth wouldn't you take rent from Shi Huaiyu?"

Looking at Shi Huaiyu’s worn-out prosthetic arms, their paint peeling away, Zhang Yu replied to Fuxi internally, "Forget it. It’s not that much money anyway."

"That’s because you haven't raised the price!" Fuxi retorted. "If you’re going to charge rent, you should charge the current market rate—or at least make her sign an IOU!"

Zhang Yu ignored her, leaving Fuxi seething with frustration at his lack of ambition.

Once back in the dormitory, Shi Huaiyu immediately sat cross-legged to meditate, and as she felt her mana gradually returning, a look of relief finally washed over her face.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu donned his spiritual interface mask and resumed his own cultivation.

Within the illusion, his four figures flickered back and forth, refining an artifact known as the Soul Ring of Self-Transformation.

This artifact, originating from the Celestial Demon University, was a staple in the human body rental market.

Once embedded into a human, the Soul Ring allowed for the remote manipulation of a physical vessel via the spiritual realm, while precisely relaying all sensory input—sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and consciousness—back to the user.

It was said that many soul cultivators used this to inhabit temporary bodies, and numerous technique laboratories employed it to test the circulation of new arts on experimental subjects.

The Soul Ring itself was of little use to Zhang Yu, but the spiritual network communication technology it contained—particularly the aspects involving remote mana control and sensory transmission—was essential for the Heavenly Sun Radiant God.

With these technologies, he could control the Heavenly Sun Radiant God over vast distances via the spiritual network, operating it as if it were an extension of his own body.

Just as Zhang Yu was deep in his practice, he suddenly felt a tremor from the Dao Seed Registry within his Feather Scroll.

His gaze sharpened as he checked the registry, realizing he had successfully copied the Magnetic Pole Monarch’s Dao Seed: The Exploitation of Heavenly Works.

A surge of joy flooded his heart. "It’s done!"

"Has the Master finally upgraded the artifact we refined together to level thirty-one?"