Chapter 535: Feathered Boy and Unemployed Old Man

Chapter 535: The Feathered Child and the Destitute Elder

Dull, thunderous booms erupted from the depths of the University City, echoing like a series of subterranean explosions.

Feeling the ground tremble beneath them, the occupants of the dormitory watched their expressions shift in rapid succession.

As students of the Civil Engineering Department who had successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, everyone present understood the terrifying structural integrity of this University City and the sheer scale of its anti-explosion and seismic defenses.

In the past, even when they exerted their full strength, it was often difficult for them to affect one floor from another.

The intensity of the current tremors suggested that the source was far from ordinary.

Zhang Yu looked down at the floor, as if peering into the unfathomable depths below, and thought to himself, "Something extraordinary is happening down there."

Just then, everyone’s ocular implants flickered in unison, and Yu Xinghan remarked, "The Spirit Realm is back online!"

But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, they realized that while the connection appeared restored, it was virtually unusable.

Simultaneously, the head of a boy with red lips and white teeth manifested within their vision.

The boy spoke: "Greetings to everyone within the Wanfa University City."

"I am a Spirit Transformation Sovereign of the Feathered Sect; you may call me the Feathered Child."

"My visit to Wanfa University is to engage with you all and pass down the orthodoxy of my Feathered Sect."

The onlookers were struck with profound shock.

"Spirit Transformation? The Feathered Sect actually has a Spirit Transformation master?"

Zhang Yu felt a surge of alarm: "How could these cults seize control of the Spirit Realm here at Wanfa University? Where are the Chancellor and the True Gods? Where have they all gone?"

Fu Ji’s tone turned grave: "With the Ten Great Conflicts underway, it is no surprise these two demonic sects found an opening. But to act so brazenly... to cause such a commotion, there is almost certainly someone pulling the strings behind them."

"Someone behind them?" Zhang Yu sighed, as if seeing an invisible hand reaching down from the upper echelons of Kunxu, stirring the chaos.

The next moment, Zhang Yu found a file pushed to his ocular implants, densely packed with the doctrines and information of the Feathered Sect.

The Feathered Child continued: "What joy is there in life? What suffering in death? To toil for a lifetime is inferior to shedding the withered husk and being reborn through reincarnation."

"All who wish to believe in my Feathered Sect shall enter the cycle once more; in the next life, you may be born into an immortal womb and hold immortal status."

"Seek not longevity, only the next life."

Suddenly, the Feathered Child’s head seemed to be crushed away by an unseen force, and an elderly man with a face full of smiles appeared in their vision.

"I am the Destitute Elder of the Destitute Sect."

Instantly, everyone received another file filled with the doctrines of the Destitute Sect.

Zhang Yu hurriedly deleted it, just as he had done with the Feathered Sect’s materials.

Then, the Destitute Elder spoke: "Studying, working, borrowing money, repaying loans—do you really expect to break through your cultivation boundaries? In the end, won't you just suffer your whole life? Perhaps a Spirit Transformation master breathes out today, or blinks tomorrow, and all your life's efforts are erased."

"Even if you have money left over, what is the use? Is it not just to extend your life or pay for Spirit Realm traffic, all of which is handed over to the Heavenly Court?"

"The fruits of your lifetime, the value you produced, have all been stolen by the Heavenly Court! By the Ten Greats!"

"Today, I offer you a chance."

"For the next hour, the Spirit Realm inside and outside the University City will be severed; no True God will be able to monitor anything."

"The Feathered Child and I will suppress all interference; for this hour, you may do whatever you wish."

"Spirit pills and precious medicines? Are they not right there in the shops?"

"Artifacts and spiritual remains? They are waiting for you in the factories."

"My followers will ransack the entire University City."

"Those who want a different way of life, those who want an opportunity, come along."

"Join us in the looting, and take back everything the Heavenly Court has seized from you, everything those immortals have swindled from your hands... take it all back!"

Watching the laughing Destitute Elder in his vision, Zhang Yu felt a strange, surging impulse, as if he wanted to follow the man’s words and rush out of the dormitory...

Zhang Yu quickly recited his mental cultivation technique, suppressing the urge, his expression growing increasingly solemn.

He turned to look at the others, noticing that everyone’s face carried a hint of temptation, which they were struggling to suppress.

"If what this Destitute Elder says is true, then the next hour will likely..."

In a normal Wanfa University City, Zhang Yu believed that even with such incitement, most would have firmly suppressed their impulses.

But here and now, after the economic crisis of recent days, countless people had long harbored deep-seated resentment.

There were countless others... who were barely surviving, standing on the brink of bankruptcy.

Wanfa University was currently like a massive powder keg, and the actions of the Feathered Sect and the Destitute Sect—severing the Spirit Realm, distributing materials, and inciting the school—were like a spark falling into the fray. "If the True Gods truly cannot monitor us, many will likely take the risk..."

Meanwhile, the Destitute Elder’s figure vanished, and the Spirit Realm fell into silence once more.

The students in the dormitory found that no matter how they tried, they could no longer connect to the Spirit Realm.

Yu Xinghan licked his lips and said hoarsely, "Is that demon telling the truth? Will the Spirit Realm be cut off for an hour?"

Shi Huaiyu stated firmly, "Impossible! Neither the three Spirit Transformation Sovereigns nor the many True Gods inside and outside the school would allow such a thing. They must be on their way to support us; the Spirit Realm should recover soon."

Shi Yunxiang gritted his teeth, revealing his sharp fangs, and mused, "But this Feathered Child and the Destitute Elder seem to be Spirit Transformation masters themselves, don't they? If they could ascend to that level under the very noses of the True Gods, it suggests they possess some method to contend with them."

Xiao Qingxuan added, "It is also possible they are some Spirit Transformation master with a legitimate license in disguise."

Yu Xinghan sighed, "The school’s three Spirit Transformation masters are currently participating in the Ten Greats League, clashing with the masters of other universities."

"Combined with the severed Spirit Realm, I fear they cannot return quickly. Even if a portion of their power returns, can it be blocked by the Feathered Child and the Destitute Elder?"

They debated back and forth, yet could reach no satisfying conclusion.

Whether it was the Feathered Child, the Destitute Elder, or the school’s three Sovereigns, all were too far removed from them; the intricacies of their struggle and the shifting situation were beyond their understanding.

Just then, Fu Ji whispered in Zhang Yu’s mind, "It might be true. Even if not for a full hour, perhaps forty or thirty minutes; such technology exists in this world."

"However, looting is likely not the primary goal of the Feathered Child and the Destitute Elder."

"After all, the truly important assets of Wanfa University are heavily guarded and cannot be breached in a moment."

"Even if one could seize those important items, they would be difficult to use without the proper authority, and impossible to decipher without a complete laboratory system."

"The true purpose of this raid... is likely proselytization."

Fu Ji analyzed, "If they simply mass-messaged their doctrines to everyone, the True Gods could regain control and monitor the students, preventing most from reading them."

"But once the Spirit Realm is cut off for a period, there is no telling how many will seize the opportunity to peruse the materials of the Feathered and Destitute sects."

"Especially during this raging economic crisis, many will be all the more easily drawn to them."

"If they commit crimes while the network is down, they will have already stepped halfway into these two demonic sects."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly; he could already foresee that after this event, the number of secret cultists or casual believers in the University City would grow significantly.

Just then, another tremor shook the floor, as if an earthquake were rattling the University City.

Yu Xinghan exclaimed, "Has it begun? The looting by the followers the Destitute Elder spoke of?"

Shi Huaiyu looked at Zhang Yu and asked, "What should we do? Do we stay in the dormitory, or go out?"

The others turned to Zhang Yu as well, having unconsciously come to view him as their backbone.

Fu Ji said, "No matter how much these two demonic Sovereigns stir up trouble, and no matter who is behind them, the University City will eventually return to the control of the True Gods and the original order. It is only a matter of time."

"What you must do now is ensure your own survival until this storm passes."

Zhang Yu’s mind raced, turning the situation over with frantic precision.

If he were to follow the counsel of the Magnetic Pole Sovereign and his sister, Zhang Pianpian, he ought to remain within the dormitory, hiding until the world returned to its natural order.

Yet, Zhang Yu mused, "My master and sister’s warnings were predicated on the assumption that the Spirit Realm would function normally; no one could have foreseen the descent of the Demonic Sect’s Soul Formation masters, nor the catastrophic collapse of the Spirit Realm here in the University City."

"The professors remaining in the city are likely locked in a desperate struggle against those two demonic titans."

"Without the Spirit Realm, this dormitory is stripped of its defenses. To cut costs, the building itself possesses no inherent protection; it relies entirely on the grace of the Spirit Realm and the deterrence of the righteous deities."

"If I stay here, even if attacked, no deity will descend to save me. Can I truly call this place safe?"

"But to venture out..."

Just then, a sharp rapping at the door drew every eye toward the entrance.

From the corridor came the voice of Mo Shangjin: "Zhang Yu, are you in there?"

"We intend to leave this place and rendezvous with the professors at the Civil Engineering offices. Will you join us?"

Opening the door, Zhang Yu found Mo Shangjin standing there with a group of students from the Civil Engineering department. Xiao Yunjie, Gongshu Jin, and Ma Xuan were among them, though Su Yanyang was conspicuously absent.

Zhang Yu exchanged a glance with Yu Xinghan and Xiao Qingxuan, then joined Mo Shangjin’s ranks, setting off together toward the Civil Engineering faculty wing.

Mo Shangjin remarked, "The anti-gravity conduits are already theaters of war, far beyond our capacity to intervene. We shall take the secluded magneto-magnetic passages instead."

(End of chapter)