Chapter 567: Half-Dharma Remnant Affordable Luxury (Thanks to 'Renwu Dingwei Gengchen Bing')

Chapter 567: Semi-Artifact Luxury (Thanks to 'Renwu Dingwei Gengchen Bingzi' for the 1.5 Alliance Leader sponsorship)

The magical artifact designed by Ye Xingli was named the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument.

After conducting extensive surveys among vocational college students, Ye Xingli came to a profound realization: it was a trend among these students to consume soil and stones.

Just as many students at the Ten Thousand Dharma University would swallow cement blocks to suppress their digestive systems while taking pills to meet basic bodily needs—either to prevent their overly potent digestion from harming their own bodies or to compensate for the atrophy caused by prolonged food deprivation—vocational students elsewhere achieved the same effect by consuming rocks and dirt.

Unlike the university town of Ten Thousand Dharma University, the sheer number of vocational institutions, combined with environmental constraints and a lack of technology and funding, made soil and stone far more accessible than edible cement.

However, compared to the more scientific and healthy edible cement, eating dirt and rocks carried significant side effects. It placed a heavy burden on gastrointestinal motility, forcing vocational students at the Qi Refining stage to expend precious energy on peristalsis, which not only added to their physical strain but often reduced their efficiency during work.

Thus, Ye Xingli designed an artifact that processed soil and stone before consumption, effectively easing the digestive burden while adding a variety of flavors.

At this very moment, as Zhang Yu activated his Heavenly Craftsmanship, a deluge of knowledge and technique surged through his mind. With each spark of inspiration, a brand-new blueprint began to take shape in his heart, strictly adhering to his requirements for cost reduction.

Naturally, Zhang Yu did not simply draw the design and hand it to Ye Xingli. Instead, he replied: "Senior Sister, I have an idea."

Zhang Yu: "If we modify it like this, do you think we could lower the cost a bit?"

Although Zhang Yu only provided a rough direction without detailing the specifics, Ye Xingli found herself greatly inspired after reviewing it.

In particular, Zhang Yu’s optimization focused on cost-cutting without compromising her core design philosophy, and Ye Xingli was well aware of how critical cost was in the vocational student market.

Ye Xingli: "Junior Brother, your suggestion is very useful. [Fist bump] [1 Spirit Coin]"

Over the next few days, Ye Xingli and Zhang Yu discussed the matter from time to time, jointly perfecting the design of the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument.

Finally, as the blueprint was finalized, Zhang Yu saw a Dao Seed named "Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart" manifest upon his Feather Book.

Seeing this newly replicated Dao Seed, Zhang Yu felt a surge of joy and immediately began to quietly sense the abilities contained within.

"Hmm? So, Senior Sister is a master of 'stitching' designs together? No wonder I felt some parts of the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument's blueprint looked familiar."

In Zhang Yu’s view, the Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart was a blueprint-fusion ability capable of merging any two artifact-refining blueprints to generate a new one.

However, the result of the fusion was not guaranteed to be positive; it could take the essence or the dross, making the choice of blueprints crucial.

For instance, fusing two flying sword blueprints was more likely to yield a superior result.

But if one were to fuse a flying sword blueprint with the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument, it would easily result in a useless blueprint that excelled at neither.

Furthermore, this fusion clearly had its limits. It did not mean that by merging every artifact blueprint on the market, one could possess the functions of all artifacts.

If one kept adding new blueprints, the original elements would gradually be lost.

It was like a hard drive; it could only hold so much. Once the capacity limit was reached, adding new data required deleting the old.

For example, if two speed-oriented flying swords were fused, one might design a sword that combined their advantages and flew even faster.

But if one then fused in a siege-type flying sword blueprint, the new design might gain siege capabilities, but its speed would inevitably drop.

In short, the fusion of the Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart was not a panacea; it required careful selection of blueprints and consideration of the artifact's inherent immortal and physical limits.

Moreover, this fusion process consumed one's own inspiration.

Once inspiration was exhausted through repeated use, not only would one be unable to perform fusions for a period, but the brain would also become stagnant, devoid of any innovative thought.

Zhang Yu mused to himself, "Performing a few fusions a month should be fine."

He then sensed the promotion requirements for the Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart and thought, "A Level 2 Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart requires designing 10 Foundation Establishment-level artifacts?"

"I don't have the time for that right now. I'll deal with it later."

With the Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart in his possession, Zhang Yu felt increasingly confident about the upcoming design competition and immediately began a new round of work.

A flash of light crossed his eyes, and design blueprints began to surface one after another.

Among them, besides the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument designed by Ye Xingli, were blueprints for an external digestive system, anti-wear power boots, and disposable artificial skin.

These designs were all things Zhang Yu had gradually modified using Heavenly Craftsmanship over the past month while surveying the vocational students.

After all, each activation of Heavenly Craftsmanship required burning his Dao Heart, making it unsuitable for massive, one-time operations, so Zhang Yu had spread the work out over the month.

Because the effort was distributed, although he consumed energy each time, his mental cultivation allowed him to recover, keeping his Dao Heart at Level 19 (83%).

The foundation of these blueprints came from the Great Library of the Ten Thousand Dharma University town, which Zhang Yu optimized via Heavenly Craftsmanship while conducting his surveys.

In his view, these artifacts were well-suited for vocational students, but they were not yet enough to secure a top spot in the design competition.

"Only by placing in the top 10 among a hundred schools can one be awarded a military certificate. If I miss this year, I have to wait for the next. I must produce something better."

"Since I have the Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart, I can try a few fusions to see if I can get a blueprint with more creativity and commercial value."

"If I succeed, I can then optimize it further through Heavenly Craftsmanship..."

As Zhang Yu activated the power of the Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart, he felt the blueprints for the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument and the external digestive system surge into his mind like two torrents, spiraling and crashing together.

The various artifact designs combined, eventually manifesting as a brand-new, golden-glowing blueprint in his mind.

"This is..."

Feeling the radiant new blueprint, Zhang Yu slowly read the name: "Artificial Feces Producer... Eat soil, excrete waste, the vocational student's best life partner..."

"Damn it!" Zhang Yu cursed under his breath. "How am I supposed to enter this into a competition? It’s too 'vocational college'—the judges will never pass this."

Zhang Yu shook his head and chose different blueprints to fuse. A moment later, another glowing blueprint appeared before him.

"College Student Skin? Too much of a vocational vibe."

Zhang Yu continued to fuse, and blueprint after blueprint emerged.

"Automatic Ad-Watching Machine? No technical substance."

"Hemorrhoid Cultivator... what kind of garbage is this?"

"College Student Simulator, lacks novelty."

As he activated the Spirit Rhyme Instrument Heart time and again, just before his inspiration was fully depleted, a blueprint finally appeared that satisfied him.

"Wind God Semi-Artifact Style Power Work Boots."

Although the blueprint described it as a "semi-artifact," it merely borrowed the aesthetic design of top-tier foot artifacts—such as streamlined contours, dynamic flowing lights, and a shimmer that mimicked a Spirit Realm projection.

Once the boots encased the entire foot and calf, the appearance made them look like a piece of foot-based artifact armor, carrying a sense of "light luxury" unique to college students.

"It has 'artifact' in the name, looks like an artifact, and feels like an artifact, but it's actually just a pair of boot-shaped magical items."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. He knew that vocational students were all at the Qi Refining stage with a mana cap of at most 100 points. After installing ocular artifacts, the burden of installing further artifacts would be too great for them.

Therefore, this design—which had the appearance of an artifact but wasn't one—would clearly be a direction vocational students would love in a world where artifacts were held in higher regard than the human body itself.

Beyond the appearance, the functional design also met the students' needs.

Through his surveys, Zhang Yu understood that vocational students were a marginalized group existing in large numbers on the second level but with little voice in the Spirit Realm; many large corporations ignored their needs.

Since vocational students relied on their physical bodies to move, train in martial arts, run errands, and work, and their institutions lacked convenient facilities like meta-magnetic or anti-gravity channels, their legs suffered severe wear and tear, and their shoes were easily damaged.

A durable, cost-effective shoe capable of handling complex terrain was exactly what they needed.

And if these shoes could reduce leg fatigue, all the better.

The power work boots Zhang Yu designed not only met these requirements but also incorporated the principles of the "Nine Heavens Cloud Sky Force," allowing for better power transmission, enhanced cushioning, and increased leg explosive power while reducing wear.

Additionally, they featured a jet-assisted acceleration mode and an overload mode that released lightning mana.

They were also equipped with a solar mana-charging mode, allowing them to replenish mana through sunlight. While the efficiency was extremely low, it was highly useful for vocational students.

Under these circumstances, as Zhang Yu once again activated Heavenly Craftsmanship to optimize costs, the price of these work boots was driven down even further.

"While maintaining the pinnacle of performance for the Qi-Refining stage, the cost has been driven down to its absolute minimum."

"Hmm... the only side effect is that prolonged use may result in overheating and electrical leakage."

Zhang Yu had hoped to optimize away this drawback, but even the Tiangong Kaiwu must bow to the limits of both physics and the Immortal Dao.

Should he manage to eliminate this flaw, it would inevitably lead to a degradation in aesthetics or a compromise in performance.

Zhang Yu simply abandoned the pursuit of further optimization and sent the blueprints directly to True Monarch Magnetic Pole, curious if she might have a solution.

Upon seeing the schematics Zhang Yu had sent, True Monarch Magnetic Pole replied: What is there left to optimize?

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: Afraid of heat and electricity? Just have the junior students take some painkillers.

After replying to Zhang Yu, True Monarch Magnetic Pole continued to study the blueprints, a complex expression flickering across her face.

(End of chapter)