Chapter 577: Latest Version of "Heaven and Earth Ruin Calamity Formless Mind Weapon"

Chapter 577: The Latest Edition of "The Formless Heart-Weapon of Heaven and Earth's Decay"

Wanfa University.

Inside the laboratory.

Jin Jun stared at Zhang Yu’s award-winning blueprints, a flicker of complex emotion crossing his ocular interface.

Following the conclusion of the design competition, the news of Zhang Yu’s victory had spread to an ever-widening circle.

Although Jin Jun had lost to Zhang Yu in their last direct confrontation over the Heavenly Sun Radiant God project, he had never abandoned the desire to catch up.

Now, holding Zhang Yu’s winning design, he harbored a secret urge to find fault.

Yet, after studying it repeatedly, Jin Jun was forced to admit to himself that his own level of expertise was insufficient to find any flaws or omissions in these schematics.

With this realization, Jin Jun exhaled softly and sighed, "If only I had taken first place in the design competition."

His assistant, standing nearby, curled his lip slightly, thinking to himself, "I wish it had been me."

The assistant mused that if he had taken first place back in the day, there was no telling who would be whose assistant now.

Meanwhile, the assistant glanced at his inbox, checking to see if there was a reply to the resume he had sent to Zhang Yu; he, too, wanted to jump ship from Jin Jun’s team to Zhang Yu’s project group.

...

As news of Zhang Yu’s victory continued to circulate,

within the Artifact Refining Department, more and more people began downloading Zhang Yu’s winning blueprints, driven by varying motives: envy, a desire to learn, a search for flaws, or analytical curiosity.

Zhang Yu, however, remained indifferent to the external buzz, focusing his undivided attention on the forging of the Taihao Sacred Law Flying Swords.

Just moments ago, he had finished a call with Bai Zhenzhen.

To Zhang Yu’s surprise, Bai Zhenzhen had not asked much about the Divine Transformation Dharma Remains, rendering the elaborate explanation he had prepared entirely useless.

At that moment, accompanied by a surge of true fire, the sword embryo before him began to take the definitive shape of a blade.

Before entering the design competition, he had already completed the first Level 20 Taihao Sacred Law Flying Sword. To complete the sword array, he still needed to forge eleven more.

Shortly thereafter, while still in the lab, Zhang Yu received his Class B Military Certification.

This time, however, there was no special instruction from the Magnetic Pole True Monarch; the entire process was handled with quiet discretion.

Beyond the military certification flickering in Zhang Yu’s own ocular interface, even the laboratory assistants around him remained unaware that, in this calm moment, Zhang Yu had achieved yet another leap forward.

With a flick of his mind, three military certificates manifested before him.

Gazing at them, Zhang Yu felt a profound sense of satisfaction from within, a feeling that his hard work over these university years had not been in vain.

"Time does not betray those who strive. Truly, heaven rewards the diligent."

Not long after the certificates arrived, Zhang Yu’s ocular interface flashed again; it was the Magnetic Pole True Monarch sending the electronic manual for "The Formless Heart-Weapon of Heaven and Earth's Decay."

Scanning the contents, Zhang Yu was pleased to see a new entry appear on his Feather Scroll: The Formless Heart-Weapon of Heaven and Earth's Decay, Level 0 (0/1).

"With my talent, my progress in this technique will surely be swift."

"But the essence of this artifact-refining art is Daoist sorcery; the cost of cultivation will be far from trivial."

Having scanned the manual, Zhang Yu understood the general framework of the technique.

To cultivate it, one must collect various forms of "calamity qi" from heaven and earth.

Some of this qi could only be gathered during natural disasters, while much of it required the occurrence of man-made catastrophes.

In ancient times, gathering such qi would have required massive orchestration, decades of time, and countless human and material resources.

But in the Kunxu of today, one simply had to buy it.

However, precisely because of the nature of modern Kunxu, "The Formless Heart-Weapon of Heaven and Earth's Decay" had been updated year after year. Its power grew ever more immense, requiring not only vast amounts of calamity qi but also an increasing array of auxiliary materials.

The more one invested during cultivation, the more miraculous the technique became upon activation, capable of invoking wind disasters, water disasters, fire disasters, and heart disasters.

Reading the descriptions in the electronic manual, Zhang Yu thought, "Wind disasters symbolize flow, capable of imbuing artifacts with ultra-high-speed spiritual realm throughput, or interfering with the spiritual flow of others' artifacts."

"Fire disasters symbolize energy, capable of bolstering an artifact’s mana, enabling rapid recovery, or even triggering an overload mode to multiply the artifact’s power."

"Water disasters symbolize the nourishment of all things, allowing ordinary grass, wood, bamboo, or stone to be temporarily transformed into artifacts."

"Heart disasters are the centerpiece of the recent updates, focusing on the interconnection of all things—the integration of heaven, earth, and artifact."

Zhang Yu flipped further, finding the roadmap for the technique beyond Level 20. It claimed to point directly toward the Level 80 realm, achieving total interconnection of heaven and earth, where atmosphere, spiritual energy, thought, and memory were all woven into one, creating a "Smart Kunxu" that could simulate worlds through the heart.

The ultimate potential of the technique was not Zhang Yu’s immediate concern.

He was more interested in the cost of reaching Level 20.

Looking at the requirements, Zhang Yu muttered, "This technique updates quite diligently, and the cost of cultivation gets more expensive every year." He shook his head helplessly, calculating internally: "Cultivating the latest version of 'The Formless Heart-Weapon of Heaven and Earth's Decay' to Level 20 is even pricier than I expected—about 300 spirit coins."

Zhang Yu looked at the sword embryo nearby and thought, "These next eleven flying swords will cost me another 200-plus spirit coins."

At the same time, his ocular interface displayed a balance of 230 spirit coins.

"Between pushing the first Taihao Sacred Law Flying Sword to Level 20, buying blueprints for the design competition, researching college students, and hiring assistants... I’ve spent quite a bit, but fortunately, I’ve earned a fair amount too."

"I will finish the Taihao Sacred Law sword array first, then move on to 'The Formless Heart-Weapon of Heaven and Earth's Decay.' Let’s see..."

Zhang Yu calculated, "It’s May now. With my income of over a hundred spirit coins a month, I’ll definitely have enough for the technique before the Top Ten League in September."

"But if I could earn a little more..."

Zhang Yu knew that spirit coins had always been the primary bottleneck for his cultivation.

Even with his peerless talent, a lack of funds meant he had to cultivate in fits and starts, interrupting his progress to scrape together more money.

"As it stands, completing the sword array and the heart-weapon technique before September shouldn't be a problem."

Zhang Yu thought of the Azure Water Crystal Armor: "But whether I can complete another military-grade power depends on if I can earn even more."

Thinking of earning more, he recalled the blueprints in his possession. Judging by the enthusiasm of Mo Sha the True Man, the schematics should fetch a good price.

"I just wonder how much," he mused.

Just then, a message arrived from Mo Sha the True Man outside the lab.

Mo Sha: Student Zhang Yu, how about we add a profit-sharing arrangement on top of the patent fees?

Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened. "Interesting."

Zhang Yu replied: Tell me the specifics.

...

Meanwhile, outside the lab, Mo Sha the True Man felt a wave of relief upon seeing the reply.

He immediately began to draft a response with the utmost caution.

After all, Zhang Yu was tied to the performance metrics of the Investment Management Office and was under the close watch of the Taihe True Monarch; Mo Sha could not afford to be careless.

If Zhang Yu had asked him to take a double holiday, Mo Sha would never have dared.

But if he were asked to kill, he would certainly consider it.

And if he were asked to grovel before a college student, he would have to savor the taste of it.

Unfortunately, Zhang Yu had no such demands for him.

"Zhang Yu is not a man who is easily fooled."

Reflecting on his interactions with Zhang Yu, he mused, "Zhang Yu must have realized by now that his blueprints could fetch a handsome price."

True Monarch Mosha thought to himself, "In his eyes, the Investment Management Office is likely just one of many buyers, and he is waiting for the highest bidder."

True Monarch Mosha knew that True Monarch Yunyang of the corporate giant was currently desperate to negotiate the patent for Zhang Yu’s design.

If the two parties were to meet directly, the Investment Management Office would likely be sidelined, as they could never match the terms offered by a corporate behemoth.

"That is, of course, if we view the giant as our competitor."

"What if we were to shift the nature of our relationship?"

"Instead of competing against the giant, we align with Zhang Yu to confront them together."

True Monarch Mosha reasoned, "This would transform our transactional relationship with Zhang Yu into a partnership of shared interests."

True Monarch Mosha typed his reply: Student Zhang Yu, according to the latest intelligence I have gathered, the Wandao Group intends to purchase your blueprints.

True Monarch Mosha: However, as an individual student, the Wandao Group has countless ways to pressure you into a lower price.

True Monarch Mosha: Furthermore, the negotiation process will drain your time and mental energy.

True Monarch Mosha: My suggestion is this... let the university act as your sole agent to negotiate with the Wandao Group on your behalf.

True Monarch Mosha: We are confident we can secure a deal involving both patent fees and profit-sharing.

True Monarch Mosha: It is a win-win situation.

Seeing that there was no reply for a long time, True Monarch Mosha remained confident that Zhang Yu would eventually agree.

After all, according to the intelligence he had gathered, Zhang Yu was not only in dire need of money but was also an artificer who buried himself in the laboratory all day, too indifferent even to attend his own award ceremonies.

Within the University of Ten Thousand Dharmas, the Investment Management Office was the most qualified entity to negotiate with corporate giants; whether it concerned profit-sharing, litigation, or other tedious disputes, they were far better suited for the task than Zhang Yu.

In this regard, even Zhang Yu’s master, True Monarch Magnetic Pole, could not compare to them.

Zhang Yu would provide the patent, while they would provide protection, manpower, legal counsel, negotiation support, and other resources, working together to extract spirit coins from the corporate giant.

(End of chapter)