Chapter 565: Infiltrating the Sect?

Chapter 565: Infiltrating the Sect?

After Zhang Yu finished discussing the gift-giving with Magnetic Pole Monarch, the latter inquired about his preparations for the design competition.

Magnetic Pole Monarch: What do you plan to design? Have you found a direction yet?

Zhang Yu: I am currently observing junior college students alongside my senior sister...

Zhang Yu then explained how he was gathering intelligence on junior college students, intending to craft a product tailored to the market of junior college and lower-tier school students.

Listening to Zhang Yu, Magnetic Pole Monarch frowned slightly and replied: It certainly has potential in terms of commercial viability.

Magnetic Pole Monarch: But you must realize that there are no junior college students among the judges.

Magnetic Pole Monarch: If your design reeks too strongly of the "junior college" style, the judges may not necessarily buy it.

Zhang Yu: I understand.

Zhang Yu: From what I have gathered, the students themselves do not like that "junior college" stigma either; I will make adjustments in that regard.

Magnetic Pole Monarch: As long as you are aware of it, that is fine.

Magnetic Pole Monarch: Once you have the blueprints, you can send me a copy; I will help you vet them.

Magnetic Pole Monarch: Although you can enter and even win the competition with just the blueprints, including a physical product makes it easier to stand out and catch the judges' eyes.

Magnetic Pole Monarch: Of course, that requires the necessary artifact-refining skill; if you don't have time to forge a quality piece after finishing the design, don't bother sending the product.

Under Magnetic Pole Monarch's guidance, Zhang Yu gained a clearer understanding of the essentials for the design competition.

Over the next few days, Zhang Yu received an increasing number of daily video logs from junior college students.

As the Taiqing Realm accelerated, the daily lives of these students unfolded before Zhang Yu's eyes.

Shattered earth, collapsed teaching buildings, and ruined campuses appeared in his view, making him feel as though he had arrived in a war zone.

In one student's ocular recording, he even witnessed a flying sword descending from the sky to strike their campus.

According to the students, such thunderous sounds of flying swords were frequent occurrences above the school.

They had grown accustomed to diving into underground bunkers the moment the sonic booms echoed.

"Are junior colleges so heavily impacted by the war?"

Zhang Yu couldn't help but recall his past experience in civil engineering at junior colleges: "It's far more intense than it used to be."

Beyond the clouds of war hanging over every campus, Zhang Yu also saw the financial scars left by the battles of Nascent Soul cultivators: half-sold academic buildings, campus land repurposed for factories, and forcibly demolished dormitories...

Under the shadow of war, the spread of various demonic cults within the colleges seemed to be intensifying.

Although Zhang Yu did not see a single cultist, the constant anti-cult propaganda, inspections, and advertisements in the students' perspectives made the tension palpable.

More than once, Zhang Yu watched as students walking on the street were subjected to surprise inspections; those out during work or class hours were particularly suspected of being cultists.

Rumors of factories shutting down due to attacks also trickled out—some blamed rival schools, others blamed cultists seeking to disrupt operations. With such chaotic information, the truth remained obscured.

War, demonic cults, the aftermath of financial crises—these factors combined to skyrocket the pressure on junior college students.

"Medicine prices have gone up again."

"Sigh, the principal said the pharmaceutical plants must prioritize the needs of the giant corporations above; the supply for our own faculty and students has been slashed."

Giant corporations... Zhang Yu had heard of them before.

These were massive enterprises headquartered on the 7th to 10th levels of the Kunxu, with a vast portion of their business serving the Ten Great Sects.

In some respects, their status surpassed that of the Ten Great Universities, and compared to ordinary companies, they existed on an entirely different dimension.

While their primary duty was to serve the sects, this inevitably impacted the 1st to 6th levels of the Kunxu.

Though their headquarters were on the higher levels, they maintained numerous subsidiaries on the lower levels, managing import-export trade or participating in local commerce.

If their first goal was to serve the sects, their second was the frantic pursuit of profit, resources, and production—for only then could the first goal be met.

As the videos cycled, Zhang Yu reached the last daily log for the day.

The student, Shui Haiyu, hailed from a junior college under the University of Ten Thousand Dharmas called Shanhai Vocational University.

In the video, he was signing up for a club with great anticipation.

"Hello? Is this the Dual Cultivation Club?"

"Can it really boost my grades?"

"Alright, sign me up."

...

At the end of March.

Zhang Yu sighed quietly as he looked at his account.

"Sigh, over 100 spirit coins gone just like that."

Not long ago, Magnetic Pole Monarch had taken him to a reception room in the Spirit Realm to meet several judges, where he presented the prepared spirit coins to each of them.

Fortunately, Zhang Yu's monthly income was substantial, so this expenditure of 100 spirit coins did not delay his artifact-refining plans.

The entire process of handing over the money was swift, rapid, and simple. To Zhang Yu, there was almost no small talk—just introductions followed by the exchange of funds.

Zhang Yu even suspected that these Nascent Soul judges had arranged for artifact spirits to receive them, as their money-collecting process was far too procedural.

"I wonder how many other contestants have paid them off for this competition."

"If there are more than ten, wouldn't each of them be pocketing hundreds of spirit coins?" Thinking of how easily the judges made money, Zhang Yu felt a twinge of envy.

However, he quickly cast aside such distracting thoughts and focused on his workbench.

Today was the day Zhang Yu officially began refining the Taihao Sacred Law Sword Array.

This military-grade artifact consisted of a formation of twelve flying swords, incorporating both advanced sword technology and the profound mysteries of arrays.

Had it not been for the blessing of the Feathered Tome and the acceleration provided by the Taiqing Realm and his genius-level talent, he would not have been able to begin this task even in another year.

Unlike now, as he had practiced the blueprints for each prerequisite artifact to level 20, the techniques related to the Taihao Sacred Law Sword Array were deeply ingrained in his mind.

"First, the initial flying sword."

Zhang Yu intended to refine the first sword of the array, then proceed step-by-step until he reached level 20.

Once he mastered the level 20 technique, repeating the process for the remaining eleven swords would be much simpler.

He channeled his mana, and under his control, the true fire began to boil. Simultaneously, the sword embryo material on the workbench was locked firmly in place by the electric arcs emitted from the refining equipment.

On the other side, the third-grade spirit essence, purified by his assistants, was drawn over.

Spirit essence also had grades; refined and purified essence served various purposes during spellcasting and artifact refining.

Zhang Yu had no time for such menial work, so Ziyun Zhen and Su Yunni handled it all.

Watching the sword embryo begin to unfold, Zhang Yu started imprinting the Spirit Realm restrictions into it.

"The communication technology of the Taihao Sacred Law Sword is critical; it is the key to the sword array's ability to transmit intent and slice through the Spirit Realm..."

In the days that followed, aside from watching the daily logs of junior college students and gathering information, Zhang Yu poured almost all his energy into the refining of the swords.

But on this day, an event pulled him away from his work.

...

The Dark Spirit Realm.

The projections of Fu Ji and Zhang Yu sat upon their chairs, gazing at the thousand-legged, thousand-armed God of Jubilee before them. "Oh? You wish for my assistance?"

"Hmph, have I not aided you more than once already?"

"Yet, when it comes to the intelligence offered as payment, it is vague and lacking in sincerity. Why should I help you again?"

During this time, Fu Ji had frequently engaged with the Evil Gods, not only to gather information and grasp their current status, trends, and circumstances, but also to forge a deeper sense of trust.

The Dark Spirit Realm, by virtue of its nature as a sanctuary, provided a foundational space for the Evil Gods to converse without immediately resorting to bloodshed.

Previous collaborations and exchanges had established a baseline of trust between Fu Ji and the God of Jubilee.

Fu Ji remained deeply interested in the plans and whereabouts of the Evil Gods.

The God of Jubilee was equally intrigued by Fu Ji’s influence and arrangements within the Myriad Dharma University, often hinting that she should join their cause.

Yet, whenever Fu Ji pressed for the specifics of their grand design, the God of Jubilee would merely laugh and deflect.

However, through repeated probing and discourse, the God of Jubilee grew increasingly aware of Fu Ji’s seniority. Her casual mentions of the deeds of the Evil God Kings made him feel that this Goddess of Fortune was unfathomably deep, possessing an intimate knowledge of even the most guarded secrets of the Evil God Kings.

Today, sensing the time was ripe, the God of Jubilee spoke: "Goddess of Fortune, have you not always wished to know what we intend to do?"

Fu Ji and Zhang Yu felt a stir in their hearts, their ears pricking up to catch every word.

The God of Jubilee continued: "To demonstrate my sincerity, before asking for your help this time, I shall reveal a little more."

"Our objective is to lock onto the reincarnations of the Great Beings within those sects."

Fu Ji’s heart skipped a beat: "The Divine Lord of Nectar?"

The thousand eyes upon the thousand limbs of the God of Jubilee seemed to narrow into a smile: "Precisely. The Divine Lord of Nectar has secretly transferred the cultivation of countless reincarnated Great Beings; the Five Taxes of Heaven they have evaded amount to an astronomical figure."

"The sect disciples involved are enough to shake the Ten Great Sects and cause even the Immortals to furrow their brows."

"However, our purpose is certainly not to assist the Immortals in their anti-corruption efforts."

"Our goal is to use the Divine Lord of Nectar to uncover the roster of these reincarnated Great Beings, along with the ledgers of their illicit cultivation transfers and tax evasion."

Fu Ji was struck: "You intend to use this to blackmail these reincarnated Great Beings? To infiltrate the sects?"

"You possess immense audacity."

"But you cannot achieve this on your own."

"There are higher-ranking Evil Gods above you, are there not?"

"And there must be someone within the sects acting as your contact. Who is it?"