Chapter 643: Modification (Thanks to 'Emperor Tianheng' for gifting Bai Zhen Zhen 10 Oscars)

Chapter 643: Reforging (Thanks to 'Emperor Tianheng' for gifting Bai Zhenzhen ten pairs of silk stockings)

Zhang Yu had long harbored ideas for the reforging of the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk.

Yet ever since he set his sights on the Ten Great Tournaments and transferred to the Artifact Refining Department, he had pursued one military-grade power after another, leaving himself not a moment of respite, so that even today he lacked the opportunity, time, and resources to modify the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk.

Fortunately, with the academy's backing now, and the lavish lineup of no fewer than seven Nascent Soul True Lords from the Artifact Refining Department, Zhang Yu could finally give free rein to his ambitions and undertake the reforging of the husk.

Thus, after concluding his call with True Lord Anzhen, Zhang Yu summoned forth blueprint after blueprint of the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk from his Eye Husk.

Alongside these were the schematics he had purchased from the Grand Archive, all of which were husk blueprints of great reference value for the Seven Absolutes.

"First, I shall use the Spirit-Rhyme Artifact Core to merge the blueprints and expand the potential of the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk."

"Then, I will employ the Exploitation of the Works of Nature to alter the designs, steering the husk precisely in the direction I desire."

If the blueprint merging of the Spirit-Rhyme Artifact Core was akin to Zhang Yu scattering a vast field of seeds and thoroughly awakening their latent potential to yield a myriad of fruits, some superior and some inferior.

Then his subsequent use of the Exploitation of the Works of Nature would be the culling of the finest, most pleasing fruits to craft the exact dish he craved.

As blueprint after blueprint was generated, altered, deleted, and sifted, Zhang Yu's inspiration was fiercely consumed, and his Dao Heart began a steady decline.

...

Within a certain laboratory at the Myriad Methods University.

True Lord Xianyin was presiding over an artifact refining experiment.

Just then, the projection of True Lord Anzhen materialized directly before him, saying, "True Lord Xianyin, the academy has a mission that requires your full cooperation; I must trouble you to set aside all your current affairs for the time being..."

True Lord Xianyin frowned and replied, "Understood. Give me three days to finish this set of experiments at hand."

True Lord Anzhen said gravely, "My apologies, True Lord Xianyin. The matter is of grave importance and the urgency is extreme; you are required to immediately drop everything at hand to carry out this mission."

Hearing this, True Lord Xianyin said in dissatisfaction, "What mission could be so urgent? Do you have any idea how many spirit coins this current experiment has cost? To halt it rashly would mean all the spirit coins invested so far are wasted..."

True Lord Anzhen offered no explanation, merely projecting a directive from a Deity Transformation Divine Lord, and said, "This is the Headmaster's order."

"If the experiments here cannot be stopped, then halt the projects elsewhere."

"In short, within three hours, you must spare the power of at least one avatar to execute this mission."

With a sigh, True Lord Xianyin said helplessly, "This matter had best be as urgent as you claim."

Thus, moments later, True Lord Xianyin had arrived in a Spirit Realm conference room.

Upon entering, he found that besides himself, six other True Lords were present, including True Lord Beihai, True Lord Yuanmo, True Lord Jindeng, and True Lord Dongming.

Seeing this, True Lord Xianyin's heart sank, wondering what matter could possibly summon so many Nascent Souls from the Artifact Refining Department all at once.

The Nascent Soul cultivators exchanged glances, and a torrent of information was swiftly passed back and forth through the Spirit Realm.

"Why are you all here? Do you know what this is about? Are we going to war?"

"I heard the higher-ups are preparing for a conflict, but they surely wouldn't send us to fight, would they?"

"Perhaps they are preparing some secret weapon."

"Could it be that the Heavenly Demons or the Netherworld have some technology they want us to decipher together?"

Just as the seven Nascent Souls were privately chatting and exchanging intelligence, their confusion growing by the moment, the figure of True Lord Anzhen materialized once more; he looked at the assembly and said, "You have all been summoned today for one purpose alone: to reforge a set of Dharma Husks."

"What you are about to see are the original and newly revised design blueprints for this husk."

"This husk has not yet been made public, so I ask that none of you disclose it."

Upon seeing the name Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk, True Lord Xianyin frowned, and upon noting that the blueprints were for the Foundation Establishment version, his frown deepened profoundly.

"You called all seven of us together just for a corporate-grade husk at the Foundation Establishment realm?"

At this moment, it was not only True Lord Xianyin; the other Nascent Soul True Lords present also felt a surge of intense dissatisfaction.

Yet as they continued to read through the blueprints, the dissatisfaction in their eyes gradually gave way to surprise and astonishment.

"This style..."

"Was it designed by Ciji? Is she the one in charge of this project?"

"Hiss... with these modifications, are they aiming for military-grade?"

After a long while, seeing that the Nascent Soul True Lords present had mostly finished reading, True Lord Anzhen continued, "Esteemed colleagues, the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk to be reforged next belongs to Zhang Yu, a student of the Artifact Refining Department."

"This is the academy's way of supporting him in achieving outstanding results in the Ten Great Tournaments; it concerns the honor of Myriad Methods, and the Headmaster attaches great importance to it, so I ask you all to devote your utmost care."

True Lord Xianyin mused inwardly, "Is it for the Ten Great Tournaments? No wonder they asked Ciji to design it... wait, she has long been in secluded cultivation; this husk was likely designed a long time ago. Ciji probably didn't do it for the tournaments, but had these blueprints prepared for her own disciple long ago."

Thinking of this, True Lord Xianyin felt all the more the high regard True Lord Ciji held for Zhang Yu.

And from the academy's assignment of the seven of them to reforge the husk for Zhang Yu, True Lord Xianyin also sensed the heavy weight of the higher-ups' support for the young man.

With these thoughts, the seven Nascent Soul True Lords present all adopted solemn expressions, their demeanor growing ever more earnest.

Seeing the seven Nascent Souls express their cooperation, True Lord Anzhen felt a slight sense of relief, and then summoned Zhang Yu to arrange the plans with the True Lords.

Although Zhang Yu had completed the new blueprints for the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk through his two great Dao Seeds and the accumulated knowledge of himself and True Lord Ciji, he was still insufficiently versed in the arrangement and coordination of multi-person artifact refining, as well as many of the new technologies applied in the designs.

But what Zhang Yu did not know, the seven True Lords on site were thoroughly adept at.

With their proactive cooperation, seven working groups were swiftly established according to their respective expertise, and each took on the reforging tasks for the seven components of the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk.

Zhang Yu watched as they adeptly rented a temporary accelerated conference room in the Spirit Realm, opened a Spirit Realm work group, and observed assistants and students expertly drafting plans, organizing design documents, and breaking down into subgroups to allocate tasks.

And this proficiency, stability, and efficiency gave Zhang Yu a profound sense of reassurance.

"Truly the elites of the Artifact Refining Department; tasks like this husk reforging are child's play to every last one of them."

"Before the battle with Tian Shengong begins, the reforging of the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk should be completed without a hitch."

After logging out of the Spirit Realm, Zhang Yu closed his eyes and peacefully immersed himself in the medicinal pool.

This medicinal pool was also specially requested by Zhang Yu from the academy, identical to the one Dao Qiankun had invited him to soak in before, capable of helping him rapidly restore his Dao Heart.

Besides this, the air was permeated with the fragrance of Spirit-Calming Incense, soothing Zhang Yu's mind and stabilizing his spirit and will.

The continuous use of the Exploitation of the Works of Nature had caused his Dao Heart to plummet directly to level eighteen, severely degrading his control over his own power and greatly affecting his strength.

In the time that followed, aside from soaking in the medicinal bath daily to restore his Dao Heart and keeping an eye on the reforging of the Seven Absolutes Dharma Husk, Zhang Yu controlled the Heavenly Sun Radiant God in his own laboratory to maintain and repair various magical treasures, preparing for the next battle.

But he could not soak in the medicinal bath twenty-four hours a day, so when he was not bathing, Zhang Yu would once again visit Dao Qiankun's spirit hall, keeping company with Brother Dao's remains and Dao Seed.

After several consecutive days had passed, on this particular day, as Zhang Yu gazed at Dao Qiankun's corpse before him, he could finally see the motionless Dao Seed that had never again vanished.

"Descendant of the Immortals."

Looking at this Dao Seed, Zhang Yu revealed a faint smile, striving to sense the replication requirements of this seed.

...

Just as Zhang Yu was diligently preparing everything he could for the next battle, Tian Shengong of the Immortal Armament University was equally busy in his own laboratory.

Adjusting the Dharma Husk, tuning the magical treasures, designing battle plans for the next clash, producing the puppets needed for the upcoming fight, Tian Shengong felt there was always an endless stream of work in his mind.

And unlike the flying ship laboratory Zhang Yu had rented.

Tian Shengong's laboratory was housed within the aerial fortress formed by his colossal puppet, allowing him to work at any time, and even to work while fighting.

However, as Tian Shengong worked in the laboratory today, his mind was constantly plagued by distracting thoughts, with chaotic and jumbled memories continually popping into his head.

"These memories..." Tian Shengong frowned and said, "They do not belong to the current me at all; I fear..."

Just as Tiansheng Gong was lost in thought, a connection prompt flickered across his ocular implant, signaling that the appointed hour for his joint broadcast with Zhang Yu had arrived.

Though his laboratory research was vital, and the strange new memories blooming in his mind were pressing, earning spirit stones through livestreaming to fund his cultivation remained an absolute priority on the immortal path.

Thus, Tiansheng Gong activated his visual feed to begin the broadcast, and moments later beheld Zhang Yu lounging in a mourning hall, his back resting against the Dao Qiankun as he streamed.

The very instant Zhang Yu came into view, Tiansheng Gong cut straight to the chase, demanding, "I hear you have been looking down on the Jihu brand?"

Zhang Yu hastened to reply, "I never said I looked down on Jihu; I merely pointed out that it is a budget brand, cheap and perfectly suited for vocational students and those of demon lineage."

Tiansheng Gong cursed silently in his heart, "You absolute fool... even if it is the truth, you cannot just blurt it out like that!"

Whether acknowledging the low price of Jihu or discussing its compatibility with vocational students and demon-blooded youths, Tiansheng Gong could only sense a veritable minefield of public relations disasters in every word.

Left with no choice but to pretend he had not heard a word, Tiansheng Gong launched into a tirade, shouting, "Damn it all to hell! What the absolute hell!"

"To look down on Jihu is to look down on our Immortal Armaments University, and to spit upon everyone who wields their products!"

"Tell me, did you take a payout from the Myriad Dao Sect? Or were you bought off by Vajra Mystic Forge, just to sabotage the reputation of Jihu?"

"Jihu is a brand devoted to performance and practicality, never indulging in artificial markups; it is only because the Myriad Dao Artisan Sect and Vajra Mystic Forge feel threatened, terrified of losing their exorbitant profit margins, that they have hired shills like you to smear the good name of Jihu..."

(End of Chapter)