Chapter 572: Destined to Be Number One Among a Hundred Schools (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 572: Destined to be the Best of the Hundred Schools (Seeking Monthly Votes)

True Monarch Xuanyin’s gaze swept across the blueprints, noting the extensive use of materials derived from the demon-kin.

There were the sinews and bones of elephant demons, the viscera of rat demons, the stomachs of fish demons...

The design utilized biomimetic technology to fuse the traits of various demon-kin, resulting in a multi-limbed, multi-legged automaton.

The puppet’s body was studded with over a dozen disparate eyes, observing the surroundings from every angle in search of the target items.

Watching the puppet race across the testing ground with lightning speed, swallowing target after target, True Monarch Xuanyin remarked in surprise, "A massive stomach. Is it using its gut to store the cargo?"

True Monarch Xuepu of Netherworld University smiled faintly. "It is biological stomach-storage technology. We have designed fifty gastric chambers here, each capable of housing fifty items of different types and states."

"Combined with a muscular system modeled after elephant and whale demons, it can easily bear a weight of two hundred tons."

True Monarch Tianzhi, on the other side, asked, "With such high performance, can the cost really be compressed to ten spirit coins?"

True Monarch Xuepu explained, "With the explosive growth in the demon-kin population, the price of their biological materials has been falling for the past two years."

"The reason Zang Xingye designed it this way is clearly because he considered the lack of rights and the low cost of demon-kin materials."

"This allows him to achieve superior artifact performance at a much lower cost."

"Look at the non-biological material content in this artifact; it is less than one percent."

True Monarch Xuanyin had to admit that this design by Zang Xingye of Netherworld University was, thus far, the finest.

"Speed, load-bearing, detection... the capabilities are remarkably balanced."

True Monarch Xuanyin recalled the entry Zang Xingye had submitted to the previous design competition.

"Hmm, his performance here shows at least seventy percent of the prowess he displayed in that last entry."

"It seems there really wasn't much left for others to guide him on."

The more he thought about this, the more awkward True Monarch Xuanyin felt about the upcoming presentation of Zhang Yu’s work.

In the end, Zang Xingye received a high score of 420.

After a few more artifacts completed their simulated tests, the work of Guishengong from Heavenly Demon University took the stage.

As the simulation accelerated, a mass of volatile black mist drifted into mid-air.

Within the shifting black clouds, one could seemingly see ten thousand ghosts wailing, occasionally contorting into faces of terror, grief, and rage.

True Monarch Xuanyin noted, "Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technology."

True Monarch Nielian nodded slightly, satisfied. "Not bad. Guishengong has deep attainments in this field; he can temporarily refine the souls of mortals into artifact spirits, though the consumption is still a bit high."

"While mortal souls are easy to obtain, their quality is inconsistent, making it hard to standardize products and leading to the accelerated aging of the spirits. Most of our school's products do not use such inferior materials."

"However, for mortal souls, the highlight is their low price, which makes them just right for this application."

The black cloud boiled, and the next moment, it projected clusters of mist that soared into the high air.

True Monarch Xuanyin could see that the cloud was composed of a multitude of Formless God-Demons. This substance, existing between gaseous and liquid states, belonged to a class of puppets that could not only change shape at will but also act independently.

Observing the transformation of the black cloud, True Monarch Xuanyin analyzed, "By using a mortal soul to obtain a powerful spirit as a central control system, he can manipulate the cloud to split and act."

Watching the cloud constantly shift and divide, it was as if he were looking at a black army, with detachments sweeping the entire field.

Sentinels flew into the high air for reconnaissance, directing the troops to avoid lightning and fire while searching for targets.

Vanguard units headed to designated locations to retrieve items.

Transit units were responsible for receiving the goods and transporting them to the specified site.

"The speed is not the fastest, the load-bearing is not the strongest, but by relying on a powerful intelligent system, shape-shifting capabilities, and short-range communication between split units... he has mastered the entire field, wasting not a single drop of mana or time."

"This is achieving the most work at the lowest cost."

True Monarch Xuanyin sighed inwardly, "Worthy of being the key disciple nurtured by Heavenly Demon University; this first place is well-deserved."

At the same time, the work Guishengong had submitted in the previous competition surfaced in his mind.

True Monarch Xuanyin estimated, "His performance here shows at least eighty percent of the prowess of his last entry. This fellow really didn't rely much on his master after all."

As Guishengong’s work secured a high score of 452, Zhang Yu’s work finally appeared.

Watching the humanoid figure gradually emerge under the accelerated simulation, True Monarch Xuanyin thought to himself, "At least let it complete the basic functions..."

A crude humanoid figure fell to the ground with a thud, and then... it began to eat dirt.

The judges were taken aback. True Monarch Xuepu even laughed aloud, "Is it malfunctioning?"

True Monarch Xuanyin frowned and hurriedly checked the blueprints to see if it was indeed a failure.

But someone was faster than him. True Monarch Nielian of Heavenly Demon University said calmly, "It is not a malfunction; this puppet is specifically designed to eat dirt."

As he spoke, the humanoid puppet shuddered and birthed a palm-sized puppet.

Once the small puppet landed, it burrowed into the nearby thicket.

True Monarch Xuepu was startled; he rushed to check the blueprints, then exclaimed in surprise, "This is a... simple production line? Eating dirt to birth puppets? By consuming different materials, it manufactures small puppets?"

True Monarch Shisui of White Bone University remarked, "But the performance of these small puppets seems a bit too weak..."

Before he could finish, as the humanoid puppet swallowed stones, a small stone man was soon birthed.

At the same time, True Monarch Shisui saw the latter part of the blueprints, and the more he read, the more astonished he became: "Besides the mother machine, there are eighteen types of puppets? He designed eighteen different types of puppets?!!"

In the blueprints before them, there were design specifications for eighteen types of puppets, ranging from large to small, including refining techniques, required materials, and functional parameters...

Meanwhile, the small mud-man that had just run out returned, clutching a cluster of ore, which it delivered to the mother machine.

As the ore was swallowed, a third type of puppet was soon manufactured.

Seeing this, True Monarch Xuanyin gradually understood: "This kid... he confirmed the materials available on-site and designed eighteen types of simple puppets that could be refined using those very materials."

"The materials required for these eighteen puppets range from simple to complex, their performance gradually strengthens, and their collection capabilities grow ever more efficient."

While they spoke, a sword-shaped puppet made of metal was birthed by the mother machine.

Though it flew slowly, the judges could see that it was indeed crafted using flying sword technology.

Furthermore, as the number of puppets increased and more materials were collected, the production rate grew.

Soon, puppets with four limbs crawling like hounds appeared, applying biomimetic artifact technology.

Then, the puppets combined and transformed, gaining larger sizes and higher performance—this was the artifact’s modular assembly technology.

Watching Zhang Yu’s mother machine evolve from a lone unit into a squad, and then into an army, True Monarch Xuanyin felt increasingly surprised.

What surprised him most was not the design philosophy, but the breadth of knowledge reflected in it.

True Monarch Xuanyin thought, "Eighteen types of puppets, almost eighteen different technical directions, covering the specialties of several different schools."

At the same time, he heard True Monarch Tianzhi sigh, "Such profound foundations. To not only master so many refining techniques but to maturely apply them in practice—this is already far beyond the level of a student."

True Monarch Xuanyin smiled slightly and looked at True Monarch Shisui of White Bone University. "True Monarch Shisui, what is your take?"

True Monarch Shisui paused, remembering that many True Gods were recording the session, and immediately became serious, offering a fair and earnest critique: "The technique is very solid, and the design level is full of ingenuity. Using the most inferior materials, he has achieved the performance limit of what is possible."

There was one thing he kept to himself: at his own level, in the same environment and at the Foundation Establishment stage, perhaps... he could do no better than this.

True Monarch Xuanyin turned to True Monarch Xuepu and asked, "And what do you think?"

True Monarch Xuepu watched the puppet army gradually sweep the field and muttered, "To think we misjudged this. A senior student who has mastered such a wealth of techniques and could design eighteen types of puppets within six hours... truly a brilliant and talented individual."

At the end of it all, True Monarch Bloodfall suddenly broke into a laugh, realizing that he was not the only one who had misjudged the situation; surely, those above who had devised this test had not foreseen this either.

Bloodfall mused to himself, "To think that Zhang Yu’s previous entry was not only free of ghostwriting, but likely did not even represent the full extent of his capabilities."

Meanwhile, True Monarch Sin-Lotus remarked coolly from the other side, "His technique is not merely solid; his mastery over cost-efficiency has reached its zenith."

"These makeshift puppets degrade rapidly; I suspect they will be completely spent once this trial concludes."

"He has calculated the potential of his materials and design to their absolute, breaking limit."

"In the realm of artifact design, this boy stands unrivaled among all the academies."

The assembled judges felt a jolt of shock upon hearing these words.

A sudden thought surged within True Monarch Bloodfall: "Can a mere senior student truly achieve this through talent alone?"

"I heard Magnetic Pole is researching the Dharma remains of the Nectar God-Monarch, and this Zhang Yu is the test subject who already yielded breakthroughs in cultivation techniques."

"Now, his artifact crafting has advanced by leaps and bounds... could it be..."

Bloodfall’s heart trembled: "Has True Monarch Magnetic Pole achieved a breakthrough?"

As he pored over the intricate details of Zhang Yu’s blueprints, the sense of familiarity grew stronger with every glance: "It bears the unmistakable mark of Magnetic Pole."

(End of chapter)