Chapter 702: Zhen Zhen's Daoist Name, Understand? Applause! (Thanks to 'Deputy Director Li')

Chapter 702: Zhenzhen’s Dao Name, Applause for Those Who Understand (Thanks to “Deputy Director Li” for the Alliance Patronage)

In the corridor of the Research Society,

Amidst a blaze of searing light, a brand-new Tianri Huangshen slowly began to take form.

Master Xianyin gave a slow nod and said, “I’ve nearly finished forging the skeleton. The final touches are now yours to complete.”

After carefully instructing Bei Wufeng, Yan Qianji, and others once more, Master Xianyin departed from the laboratory.

After all, as a Nascent Soul True Lord—and especially since assuming the post of university president following the Magnetic Pole Ascension—he had also taken on the role of Head of the Artificer Department. His days were packed with endless affairs, his schedule overflowing with responsibilities.

Had it not been for Zhang Yu’s repeated invitations, Master Xianyin would never have personally intervened to forge a magical artifact.

Once Master Xianyin had left, Yan Qianji suddenly furrowed his brow and asked, “Where’s Jin Jun? Where did he go?”

Jin Jun and Yan Qianji had both been assigned to the Tianri Huangshen project.

To Yan Qianji, this assignment felt like blatant self-serving under the guise of official duty—they’d essentially become private slaves crafting artifacts solely for Zhang Yu.

What irked him even more was that Jin Jun, as a full-time employee, constantly dumped tasks onto him, an outsourced worker, while spending his days fawning over Zhang Yu.

Now, even during such a crucial final stage, Jin Jun hadn’t shown up at all. Yan Qianji’s resentment swelled.

Hearing Yan Qianji’s sharp question, Bei Wufeng nearby flickered his gaze inwardly. “Is he asking me?”

Bei Wufeng knew well that everyone in the lab was aware of how close Jin Jun and he were—after all, they’d been senior and junior disciples long before joining the lab.

With that thought, Bei Wufeng offered a faint smile and replied, “He probably got caught up in something.”

“Busy? What could possibly be so important that he’d skip the final assembly of the Tianri Huangshen?” Yan Qianji snapped. “Master Xianyin just laid out so many critical points, yet Jin Jun—the so-called project lead—wasn’t even here to hear them! What happens if something goes wrong later?”

He then turned toward Zi Yunzhen standing nearby and asked, “Xiao Zi, do you know where Jin Jun went?”

Zi Yunzhen, once Zhang Yu’s classmate in the Artificer program, had recently become a legitimate Golden Core True Person following the issuance of new credentials after the Great Upheaval of Heaven and Earth.

But seeing Yan Qianji’s haughty demeanor, she couldn’t help but feel disdainful. “This guy… still thinks he’s the peerless prodigy disciple of a Divine Transformation elder.”

She scoffed inwardly—Who does he think he is, calling her “Xiao Zi”? They were both Golden Core cultivators now, yet he seemed utterly oblivious to the difference between full-time staff and outsourced labor.

“Does he still think we’re back in school, where everything hinges on grades? This is the workplace now—rank, salary, benefits… In what way does he measure up to me?”

Thus, Zi Yunzhen chose not to answer. Instead, she turned to her former classmate and current colleague, Su Yunni, and said, “It’s about time. Let’s head to the Medicine Hall for our dose.”

At the mention of the Medicine Hall, embarrassment surged through Yan Qianji.

As an outsourced worker, he had neither the clearance nor the benefits to receive medicinal treatments there. Even staying in the office or lab to take his medicine violated protocol—he’d be chased out by administrative staff, forcing him to sneak doses alone in corridors or stairwells every day.

Each time he watched full-time employees march off together to the Medicine Hall without sparing him a glance, humiliation gnawed at him.

Just then, Bei Wufeng stepped in to ease the tension, smiling gently as he said, “Yunzhen, where did Jin Jun go? Call him along to the Medicine Hall too.”

Only then did Zi Yunzhen reply, “Ah, Jin Jun… Earlier, he blocked all the assistants from entering the True Lord’s office. He insisted on reporting the completion of the Tianri Huangshen himself—to deliver the good news personally.”

Yan Qianji frowned. “Couldn’t he just send a message? Does he really need to run over in person? Today’s tasks aren’t even finished yet…”

Bei Wufeng glanced at him and thought silently, “You were truly spoiled rotten as a Divine Transformation disciple.”

Through their recent close interactions, Bei Wufeng had come to realize that Yan Qianji was someone wholly absorbed in technical work, still clinging stubbornly to the privileges of his past status as a top-tier disciple—unable to adapt to his new reality.

Because of this, Bei Wufeng sensed clearly that within the entire lab, Yan Qianji was the least popular outsourced worker, getting along poorly with nearly everyone.

“Back then, everyone revolved around him. Now that roles have reversed, he still hasn’t learned how to navigate it.”

Meanwhile, down another corridor, Jin Jun stood outside an office, quietly listening to rhythmic slapping sounds echoing from within.

He mused inwardly, “Master Zhuyi must be practicing again with Lady Baiyao. Truly worthy of being a True Lord—so diligent!”

The so-called Lady Baiyao was none other than Bai Zhenzhen’s registered Dao name upon reaching the Golden Core realm.

Ever since joining the institute, Bai Zhenzhen hadn’t been assigned any duties; her sole task each day was to cultivate alongside Zhang Yu.

If a regular employee spent work hours cultivating, Jin Jun would consider it laziness, recklessness, unfair competition.

But when someone richer, stronger, and above him—a Nascent Soul True Lord no less—did it, Jin Jun only felt awe at the might of Nascent Souls, mixed with envy and yearning.

“A True Lord is a True Lord—even during work hours, they can openly cultivate. Any ordinary employee doing that would’ve been fired long ago.”

Just then, the slapping sounds inside ceased. Jin Jun knew their cultivation session had concluded—the physical training noises had stopped.

Of course, those slaps were merely the sound of limbs striking air—what else could they possibly be?

After requesting entry and receiving permission, Jin Jun stepped inside and immediately reported the successful completion of the Tianri Huangshen.

Beside him, Bai Zhenzhen had already switched back to her original spiritual root. Drenched in sweat, she sat cross-legged on the floor, silently drawing in spiritual energy and circulating her power.

Listening to Jin Jun’s report, Zhang Yu gave a slight nod. “Not bad. You finished earlier than expected. Excellent work.”

Jin Jun hurriedly responded, “All thanks to your brilliant leadership and wise guidance, True Lord. We merely followed your instructions step by step.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Zhang Yu tapped his finger lightly, conjuring a data sheet into the air. “Jin Jun, this is your lab attendance record for the past month. Why is it so much worse than Yan Qianji’s?”

Seeing Jin Jun’s panicked expression, Zhang Yu sighed. “Jin Jun, as long as you focus on your work in the lab, I won’t treat you unfairly. From now on, stop hovering around me.”

“Go.”

Watching Jin Jun scurry away, Zhang Yu shook his head and turned toward Bai Zhenzhen.

Through their recent spiritual root exchanges, Zhang Yu could sense her cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds each day.

Clearly, bolstered by his own Nascent Soul–grade Feather Spiritual Root, Bai Zhenzhen had received immense stimulation—rapidly converting the latent potential forged through a year of life-or-death battles into tangible cultivation progress.

At the same time, as Zhang Yu looked at her, conditions for upgrading his Azure Lotus Sword Embryo to Level 4 appeared before his eyes:

“Nascent Soul realm… and nourishment from ten Level-40 cultivation techniques?”

Zhang Yu understood that gathering ten Level-40 techniques wouldn’t be difficult—the real challenge lay in Bai Zhenzhen reaching the Nascent Soul realm herself.

Yet given her recent explosive growth and sufficient resources, Zhang Yu believed her breakthrough wouldn’t take much longer.

In the next instant, a flash of light erupted before his eyes—a white sword qi crackling with lightning slashed straight toward him.

Amid a series of explosive clashes, Zhang Yu parried Bai Zhenzhen’s sword qi multiple times, each impact revealing its rapidly escalating destructive force.

“This is the evolutionary path of Ah Zhen’s True Spiritual Root.”

“Her attacks continuously adapt to her target, amplifying the power of her sword techniques and inflicting ever-greater damage on whoever she strikes.”

“At present, there’s no opportunity to test the upper limit of this power growth.”

Zhang Yu thought silently, “But if she’s given enough time and space to sustain her assault… even a Nascent Soul True Lord might fall beneath her blade.”

Withdrawing her sword qi, Bai Zhenzhen exhaled deeply and looked at Zhang Yu. “Yu-zi… you’re getting seriously tough these days.”

“The gap between us is huge now,” she sighed. “Even if you let me chop off your root, I doubt I could break through!”

Clenching her fists, she spoke with both pride and frustration, “It’s absolutely unbreakable!”

A chill ran down Zhang Yu’s spine. “Damn it… stop fantasizing about such dangerous things!”

Bai Zhenzhen tilted her head. “Dangerous? It’s perfectly safe! Even if my Extreme Emotion Sword Dao ever spirals out of control, I won’t have to worry about accidentally killing you.”

Then, unable to resist, she began eyeing him up and down, her hands wandering over his body. “Sigh… If I used your extra parts to forge a flying sword, it’d be incredibly hard and powerful.”

Zhang Yu quickly slapped her hands away. “I don’t have any ‘extra parts,’ okay?”

Just then, an urgent news alert popped up in his ocular interface—Xianbing University was about to unveil its latest spatial product.

As a leader of the Research Society, Zhang Yu promptly received an invitation to the launch event.

Zhang Yu’s heart stirred. “Has the Jihu Spatial Pouch arrived?”

…

At the joint press conference held by Xianbing University and Jihu Corporation, the next generation of spatial products was officially unveiled.

Qiankui Immortal Lord held up a palm-sized case and declared, “This is the personal storage terminal—Void Casket—that we at Xianbing University have crafted for the countless cultivators of Kunxu.”

“To ensure everyone can enjoy the convenience brought by spatial technology, and so that all living beings may share in the blessings of immortal arts, on the very first day I began developing the Void Casket, I told my fellow True Lords on the team: I want every university student to afford one.”

“They fought me tooth and nail, pleading with me, insisting it was impossible—absolutely impossible—to drive costs down so low.”

“But after eighty-nine hours of meetings, one hundred fifty-one arguments, and twelve outright brawls, I finally convinced every last member of my team.”

“During that time, old friends walked away, teammates quit, and someone even tore off their ocular implants and broke down sobbing, warning me this path would lead us straight into bankruptcy—but I remained resolute. Even if the Void Casket earned not a single spirit coin, I was determined to make it happen!”

“I wanted the whole world to know: even if the first generation of Void Caskets made no profit, I’d still build it. And what about the second generation? You tell me—applause, please.”

Applause erupted instantly across the venue. Zhang Yu, attending remotely via Spirit Realm projection, couldn’t help but lift his hand slightly to clap along. Inwardly, he mused, “Making personal storage terminals accessible to everyone… that’s probably a good thing… right?”

Immediately afterward, technical specifications and service details of the Void Casket began flashing across holographic displays.

Qiankui True Lord continued, “To let even more people benefit from spatial technology, we’ve integrated an ad system into every Void Casket. Just watch ads daily, and you can activate your Void Casket for free.”

“Watch an ad, and you unlock free storage access. Watch once a day, and your stored items stay secure for another day.”

“For a device whose R&D cost exceeded a million spirit coins, we’re letting you store things forever—lifetime storage—just by watching ads!”

“Traditional spatial storage devices obsessively chase maximum capacity, blindly increasing the volume of compressible matter without considering that mass remains unchanged after compression. Many simply can’t bear the weight of such heavy loads.”

“In designing the Void Casket, we accounted for the limited carrying capacity of most users. Thus, we created a lightweight version that compresses no more than ten cubic meters—light enough even for Qi Refining cultivators to carry and use comfortably…”

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Wang Yin of Youming University watched the same launch event.

Staring at the final price tag—ten spirit coins, available only through installment payments—for the lightweight Void Casket, he felt a sharp pang of crisis.

“This Void Casket is clearly targeting the low-end market,” Wang Yin thought grimly. “They’re trying to corner the entire Foundation Establishment student demographic.”

Beside him, Yin Quan Immortal Lord analyzed quietly, “Wanfa University’s Tai Xu Cloud Vault was always priced so high only Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators could afford it. Foundation Establishment students could only drool from afar—and that market has been virtually untouched until now.”

“Now that the Void Casket has launched, it’ll likely sweep through the low-end segment in no time, becoming ubiquitous among Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

Kuang Tianqing studied the Void Casket’s specs and thought to himself, “To push this product, Jihu Corporation will probably pour insane amounts of money into advertising.”

Just as Kuang Tianqing predicted, massive Void Casket advertisements began blanketing battlefields across Kunxu’s second and even third layers.

When Zhang Yu gazed out from the Research Institute’s tower toward the center of the Great Hollow, he saw luminous projections filling the void—each displaying the sleek image of the Void Casket.

Across the Spirit Realm, websites and newsfeeds overflowed with content about the Void Casket.

Spirit Realm influencers and high-traffic streamers one by one received commercial deals from Jihu Corporation, launching coordinated promotional campaigns.

For instance, Zhang Yu spotted Tian Sheng Gong live-streaming, holding up a Void Casket and declaring, “For storage, I only trust the Void Casket.”

“They’re selling spatial products at cost—unlike Wanfa’s Tai Xu Cloud Vault, which is pure IQ tax, nothing but brand markup. Let fools with deep pockets buy that nonsense. Not me.”

The deluge of advertising sent shockwaves through universities and corporations alike, making them acutely aware of Xianbing University and Jihu Group’s aggressive advance.

Project teams at Tianmo, Youming, and other institutions suddenly felt the sting of competition, sensing an existential threat. They immediately accelerated their own R&D efforts, racing to launch competing spatial products and stake their claim in the burgeoning spatial ecosystem.

(End of Chapter)