Chapter 704: Sharp Critique, Junior College Reversely Conquers the Top Ten

Chapter 704: A Sharp Critique—The Tech School Rebels Against the Ten Greats

In the spirit realm, Zhang Yu watched the live demonstration of the Heavenly Demon University press conference. He saw various items scaled down, drawn into the Heavenly Demon Secret Treasury, and then swiftly categorized and arranged together.

The Master of the Sinister Lotus spoke on stage, "There has long been a massive, painful issue regarding the retrieval protocols of spatial equipment."

"Items ranging from one hundred, two hundred, or even five hundred cubic meters—how can anyone effectively and quickly manage a sea of possessions so vast?"

"When retrieving an item, must a user browse through everything every single time just to find a specific target?"

"When you need to take medicine on the battlefield, when your superiors demand work materials, or when you are drawing upon immortal cultivation resources during study or practice... must you really waste several minutes rummaging through a mountain of items to find what you want to release?"

"According to the data we have collected, the average duration for a single retrieval across all spatial equipment currently on the market is roughly one minute and thirty-three seconds."

"And the average person retrieves items fourteen point five times a day."

"Thus, every user of spatial equipment wastes one hundred and thirty-three hours a year rummaging through their personal space. What a staggering waste of time!"

"To solve this problem, my team and I ultimately decided... item retrieval requires only a single key."

"Which is to say, from among thousands of items, extracting a designated object from the Heavenly Demon Secret Treasury requires pressing but one button."

"From selecting the item, to loading the spatial expansion, to the final extraction, the entire process takes only three seconds."

Demonstrating as he spoke, the Master of the Sinister Lotus continued, "The ability to achieve such a one-key lightning collection and release function relies entirely on our university's independently developed and innovatively created quasi-artifact-spirits. They can effectively achieve automatic recognition, registration, stacking, and organization of items, automatically uploading the data to the spirit realm..."

"The ultimate utilization of space and time will help you go further on the path of the immortal dao, allowing you to live one hundred and thirty-three hours longer than others every year."

"Next, I will introduce the trading system of the Heavenly Demon Secret Treasury..."

In the subsequent demonstration by the Master of the Sinister Lotus, the Heavenly Demon Secret Treasury connected through the spirit realm to confirm transaction details.

Immediately following this, two wristband-like Heavenly Demon Secret Treasuries touched slightly, and a transaction progress bar lit up.

When the progress bar finished filling, it signified that the designated item had leaped from one Heavenly Demon Secret Treasury to another.

Simultaneously, the spirit realm network completed the transfer of spirit coins.

The Master of the Sinister Lotus said, "With just a gentle touch, whether it is a personal transaction involving one or two dharma treasures, or a bulk commodity trade of hundreds or thousands of tons, the transfer of goods can begin effortlessly, achieving a transfer speed of ten cubic meters of items per second."

"Trading has never been this simple..."

Watching the press conference, Zhang Yu had to admit that the Heavenly Demon Secret Treasury did indeed bring astonishing convenience and possessed an incredibly powerful competitive edge.

When the question-and-answer segment arrived, someone below asked a sharp question, "Do quasi-artifact-spirits refer to soul cultivators?"

The Master of the Sinister Lotus shifted his gaze. All kinds of information about the inquirer, even recent transfer records and receipt histories, surfaced within his ocular implants. Just as he expected, such a sharp question was indeed asked by someone sent by a competitor.

To this, he smiled faintly and said calmly, "Quasi-artifact-spirits are not soul cultivators. Our quasi-artifact-spirits are elites selected layer by layer from various realms of Kunxu. After technological conversion, they form highly intelligent spirit realm lifeforms."

Cradling the Heavenly Demon Secret Treasury in his hands, the Master of the Sinister Lotus sighed with emotion, "And our spatial management fee... charges only zero point zero five spirit coins per cubic meter of items per month. For that, elites who have fully received an immortal dao education, possess a university diploma, spent over twenty years growing, and owe debts exceeding one hundred spirit coins will serve your personal space twenty-four hours a day..."

Heavenly Saint Artisan watched the Heavenly Demon University press conference, feeling a profound sense of threat.

He thought to himself, "The Underworld... the Heavenly Demon... each one arrives with furious momentum."

Clearly, the entry of Heavenly Demon University's new product made the already bloody market battles even more brutal.

Immortal Armaments, the Underworld, the Heavenly Demon... before anyone realized it, advertisements for the products of these three schools had spread everywhere, filling everyone's eyes, as if even the spirit realm itself was about to be obliterated by them.

Various subsidies and discounts emerged in an endless stream, leading to more and more people owning spatial equipment across major universities.

Meanwhile, the Magnet Divine Lord, who originally sat high upon the throne, now seemed to appear precarious in the eyes of the public under the challenge of the three schools.

Yet despite the noise and chaos of the outside world, Zhang Yu merely skimmed through it from time to time, refocusing his attention on his cultivation.

Particularly regarding the cultivation of the Three Realms Ten Directions Great Void Absolute Barrier, Zhang Yu knew that as long as he continued to push the level of this immortal gate Daoist technique, he could master more spatial technology, lead future technological directions, and influence the trajectory of the ten great universities as well as the entire war.

Imperceptibly, with the passage of time, Zhang Yu pushed the Three Realms Ten Directions Great Void Absolute Barrier to level twenty-five.

On this day, as he continued his cultivation, he received a message from Feng Tingting.

Feng Tingting (Sincerity accepts all kinds of business cooperation): True Lord, thank you for your guidance, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to land this advertisement.

Looking at the video link sent by the other party, Zhang Yu found it to be an advertisement video about the Great Void Cloud Cache.

Zhang Yu knew that not long ago, Feng Tingting had begun working part-time as a political commentary streamer, occasionally posting videos to review news and talk about gossip.

In Zhang Yu's view, this was a rather suitable part-time job for Feng Tingting.

Zhang Yu: The Great Void Cloud Cache originally has a promotion budget every month. Your ability to get the advertisement is just because your conditions fit; it doesn't have much to do with me.

Feng Tingting was still full of gratitude, and then asked: True Lord, lately the people from Heavenly Demon, the Underworld, and Immortal Armaments have been too arrogant, slandering the Great Void Cloud Cache across the entire network. Should we make some videos to fight back?

Regarding what Feng Tingting spoke of, Zhang Yu also had some understanding.

During this period, the spatial products of the three schools—Heavenly Demon, Immortal Armaments, and the Underworld—competed against each other. After a period of slaughter, they seemed to have reached a tacit understanding, turning their spearheads one after another toward Wanfa and toward Magnet, wanting to drag this old elder brother down from the throne.

Next, Feng Tingting asked when the Great Void Cloud Cache could release its second-generation product, and Zhang Yu naturally deflected, saying he did not know.

Over the next few days, Zhang Yu saw quite a few related videos breaking out of their circles in the spirit realm.

In the videos, Heavenly Saint Artisan could be seen criticizing various performances of the Great Void Cloud Cache.

"Let me summarize my feelings after using the Great Void Cloud Cache for a week."

"The volume classification is far too crude, completely failing to consider the usage conditions of ordinary students."

"There isn't even basic partitioning within the space; spending half a day looking for something is completely normal."

"It claims to be able to deflect attacks, but the activation speed is too slow and the feel is too poor. It can almost only block the stiffest, most unvarying attacks that are easiest for you to dodge yourself..."

"How long has it been since the Wanfa side updated their product? I see their research into spatial technology has fallen behind, filled with the arrogance of a large corporation."

After listing the defects of the Great Void Cloud Cache one by one, he threw it into a trash can and picked up a Void Box from the side.

Aside from similar videos criticizing the Great Void Cloud Cache, various rumors concerning it were being spread around.

Wang Yin posted in his friend circle: I heard that the Great Void Cloud Cache secretly searches the items stored by users and then uploads the data to Wanfa University. Is this true?

Similar rumors quickly spread. Although Wanfa University tried its best to explain, some people still believed it, while others did not.

...

In the dark spirit realm, many cultivators of the Righteous Qi Alliance likewise participated in this feast of traffic.

In the video, True Lord Quantum Evolution picked up a Great Void Cloud Cache and commented, "The inspection of all personal spaces by the Ten Greats is an inevitability. Let alone Wanfa, even Heavenly Demon, the Underworld, and Immortal Armaments are absolutely the same; your data has definitely leaked all over the sky."

"Returning to the Great Void Cloud Cache itself, as a first-generation personal space product, it indeed possesses epoch-making significance. However, from the current perspective, it completely fails to match the products of the three schools of Heavenly Demon, the Underworld, and Immortal Armaments in terms of competitiveness."

"Over the past month, the market share of the Great Void Cloud Cache has been continuously eroded by the other three companies, and it will probably fall from its throne before long."

"But the products of Heavenly Demon, the Underworld, and Immortal Armaments are merely optimizations and functional improvements built upon the foundation of the Great Void Cloud Cache."

"The intrinsic problem remains that the ten great universities have already hit a bottleneck in spatial technology."

"Simply because our Righteous Qi Alliance's technological blockade has already taken effect. After multiple rounds of internal purging and technological upgrades, neither Magnet nor the cultivators under her hand can easily steal our spatial technology to make progress anymore."

"Therefore, the Ten Greats can only enter stock competition once again, returning to a state of mutual involution among themselves. This is the systemic defect of the ten great universities, causing them to forever exhaust their strength in internal strife, forever dragging each other down."

"Even though they have been beaten to the third layer by us, they are still thinking about who earns more and who earns less. This is the fundamental defect of the Ten Greats, a fatal weakness they can never change."

"Before long, the internal strife over spatial products will affect the situation on the battlefield, thereby further accelerating the collapse of the Ten Greats..."

Browsing through the video quickly, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Truly, anything can be turned into the collapse of the Ten Greats."

He scanned the comment section beneath the video and found all sorts of messages calculating when the ten great universities would collapse and when the second to fifth layers would be completely occupied by the Righteous Qi Alliance.

After scanning the news of the dark spirit realm as usual, Zhang Yu's consciousness returned to the real world, and he threw himself into cultivation once more.

His "Three Realms, Ten Directions, Great Void Absolute Barrier" had unknowingly reached level 27.

...

Xianbing University.

Celebratory banner projections floated through the laboratory.

With a surge of Foundation Establishment cultivators purchasing Xianbing University’s Void Casket, its market share skyrocketed—already showing signs of overtaking Tai Xu Cloud Vault and claiming the top spot.

Looking at this month’s data, Qian Kui Immortal Lord could already envision the day when the Void Casket would reign supreme, establishing the most expansive personal spatial ecosystem and becoming an indispensable tool for every cultivator.

This vision brought a constant smile to Qian Kui’s face these past few days—a stark contrast to his perpetual scowl ever since Wanfa launched the Tai Xu Cloud Vault.

Today, he even announced to Tian Shenggong and others in the research team: “Everyone, thank you for your hard work patching bugs and rolling out updates.”

“You’ve earned yourselves half a day off—study, take exams, pick up side jobs… do whatever you like.”

Hearing they had half a day of freedom, the team members—who’d been cooped up in the lab for weeks—erupted with excitement.

Tian Shenggong exhaled softly, feeling the weight that had pressed down on him for so long finally begin to lift.

His eyes drifted to Zhang Yu’s profile picture in his contacts, and inwardly he mused: “Now it’s your turn to sweat.”

He imagined Zhang Yu right now—probably just as anxious and restless as he himself had been these past weeks, staring helplessly at shifting market data.

Then Tian Shenggong scrolled further and saw other posts flooding his feed.

A Tianmo University cultivator shared news that daily sales of the Tianmo Secret Vault had surpassed Tai Xu Cloud Vault, now ranking number one.

Another post from Youming University praised the Xuan Ming Pearl as the most widely used artifact on current battlefields.

...

Inside Youming University.

Wang Yin studied the latest report and let out a relieved sigh. “Mom, has our Xuan Ming Pearl finally secured its foothold?”

Beside him, Yin Quan Immortal Lord nodded. “Whether it’s our Xuan Ming Pearl, Xianbing’s Void Casket, or Tianmo’s Secret Vault—we’ve each carved distinct paths, built our own technological moats, and cultivated dedicated user bases.”

“The market once monopolized by Ci Ji alone has now been carved into pieces by our three institutions. Ci Ji must be writhing in agony.”

Wang Yin frowned. “But Ci Ji won’t surrender easily. She’ll strike back with her next product update.”

Yin Quan smiled faintly. “Let her update whatever she likes—we’ll simply update ours in response. Now that we’ve established solid ground, even if we lag slightly in spatial technology, as long as the three of us maintain product differentiation and deepen our respective moats, we’ll always stay competitive.”

“She’ll lose even more flesh to us yet.”

...

Third Layer of Kunxu.

Inside the research society near the Great Hollow.

Zhang Yu had just pushed his "Three Realms, Ten Directions, Great Void Absolute Barrier" to level 29—drawing ever closer to advancing this technique into the Nascent Soul realm.

Just then, his gaze flickered—he’d received a message from his demonic descendant avatar.

His consciousness and Fuki’s swiftly converged in the Dark Spirit Realm, where they immediately came across news about Dazhuan True Lord.

“Dazhuan True Lord Encounters Top-Ten Collegiate League Competitor in Battle—Does His Victory Over Elite Students Represent Personal Triumph or the Collapse of Kunxu’s Educational System?”

The video showed Mu Qiansi—a robust, biologically female cultivator from Harmony University whom Zhang Yu had faced during the Top-Ten Collegiate League.

Opposite her stood a middle-aged man with a buzz cut and unremarkable features: Dazhuan True Lord of the Righteous Alliance.

“I once looked up to you elites of the Top-Ten universities,” Dazhuan declared. “But now… it’s your turn to look up to me.”

With that, Golden Core–level Mu Qiansi shuddered violently and was blasted backward.

She roared in fury, attempting to flee—but invisible forces yanked her back again and again.

“You lowly community college thug!” she spat. “If you’ve got guts, crush me with money—not brute cultivation power!”

Dazhuan scoffed. “Money… money… money… All you Top-Ten elites think about is money. You’ve strayed far from the true path of immortality.”

“Today, I shall overturn your so-called prodigies and show you what real genius—and true immortal talent—looks like.”

In the next instant, Mu Qiansi seemed crushed repeatedly by an unseen force.

Zhang Yu understood instantly: Dazhuan’s Nascent Soul was attacking her.

He thought to himself, “Nascent Soul versus Golden Core… how is that ‘overturning’ anything?”

On screen, Mu Qiansi struggled desperately while shouting, “You traitorous community college scum! If only I’d reached Nascent Soul, how could you possibly defeat me?”

Dazhuan sneered coldly. “You’re from a Top-Ten university; I’m from community college. Yet you’re stuck at Golden Core while I’ve ascended to Nascent Soul—doesn’t that prove who the real genius is?”

“I graduated from community college, yet I’ve utterly crushed you, an elite of the Top-Ten. Isn’t that precisely ‘community college overturning Top-Ten students’?”

Under Dazhuan’s relentless assault, Mu Qiansi’s body soon became a bloody, mangled mess. She screamed in agony, then suddenly cried out, “Wait! I surrender! I surrender!”

Dazhuan snorted disdainfully. “This is your vaunted Top-Ten? This is your so-called prodigy? Every Top-Ten student I’ve met folds at the last moment—none have the spine to fight to the death.”

“Unlike my Righteous Alliance cultivators—even Nascent Soul Lords face death calmly, resisting to their final breath.”

Zhang Yu felt no surprise at Mu Qiansi’s surrender. Expecting Kunxu natives to fight to the death in war was simply asking too much.

In the video, Dazhuan glared down at her and commanded, “Kneel.”

Mu Qiansi immediately dropped to her knees, bowing her head respectfully. “True Lord, I yield. You are the true prodigy—the genuine immortal genius. I am nowhere near your equal.”

A Top-Ten student—no less, one who’d competed in the Top-Ten Collegiate League—uttering such words on camera naturally ignited explosive attention across the Dark Spirit Realm.

Countless Righteous Alliance cultivators flooded the comments with jubilation, denouncing the injustice of the Top-Ten system and condemning the failures of the current immortal education structure. They celebrated Dazhuan’s victory and reveled in Mu Qiansi’s humiliation.

“I’ve watched this video ten times already—and it still feels amazing!”

“We community college students have finally risen up! Even web novels wouldn’t dare write something this satisfying—it’s absolutely euphoric!”

“Don’t stop! Don’t stop! Keep stomping her, insulting her, trampling her! I’m about to finish!”

In the video, Dazhuan laughed heartily and asked Mu Qiansi, “How does my strength compare to your Top-Ten elites?”

She hurriedly replied, “Naturally, Your Lordship is far superior.”

“And if I entered the Top-Ten Collegiate League,” he pressed, “could I sweep through all your prodigies?”

Mu Qiansi inwardly scoffed—the league only allowed Foundation Establishment cultivators; how could a Nascent Soul like him possibly compete?

But outwardly, without hesitation, she answered, “Yes.”

Dazhuan’s grin widened. “Oh? Really? Then how do I compare to Zhang Yu or Kuang Tianqing? You’ve faced them—you must know them well.”

Mu Qiansi quickly said, “How could they possibly be mentioned in the same breath as you?”

Dazhuan stepped lightly on her head, then asked with a pleasant smile, “Kuang Tianqing is merely a Golden Core Master—indeed beneath my notice.”

“But I hear Zhang Yu has already broken through to Nascent Soul. Do you think he measures up to me?”

Mu Qiansi rushed to reply, “Not at all! He only reached Nascent Soul because Wanfa University threw resources behind him—propped up by capital, not merit. How could that compare to your self-made ascent through sheer talent and relentless cultivation?”

Dazhuan laughed. “Good! Zhang Yu—did you hear that? If we meet on the battlefield, you’d best retreat three miles. Otherwise, don’t blame me for showing no mercy as I overturn you—the so-called number-one undergraduate of the Top-Ten.”

“Of course, you may challenge me anytime. Just name the time and place—I’ll be waiting.”

Though Mu Qiansi knew Zhang Yu had long since become a graduate student—not an undergraduate—she certainly wasn’t about to correct Dazhuan now.

In the video, Dazhuan’s laughter grew even more triumphant. His sequence of humiliating Mu Qiansi, then belittling Kuang Tianqing and Zhang Yu, sent the video’s popularity soaring—it became mandatory viewing for every community college student in the Dark Spirit Realm.

After all, barely over a year had passed since the Top-Ten Collegiate League, whose spectacle had gripped the entire realm. Zhang Yu and Kuang Tianqing, as the pinnacle figures of university students, were household names among community college cultivators.

Trampling Zhang Yu underfoot and pummeling Kuang Tianqing with fists—such fleeting fantasies had probably crossed the mind of every junior college student at least once.

Thus, the video’s popularity surged, even spreading into the Spirit Realm itself, circulating among junior college students and even lower-tier academy pupils.

Watching the footage, Fu Ji couldn’t help but say, “Well? Want to go challenge him?”

Zhang Yu replied indifferently, “Who has time to waste on such nonsense?”

“And this video…” Zhang Yu thought inwardly, “is practically on par with those cheap web dramas—textbook provocation, pure propaganda. Most likely meant to rile up the righteous cultivators of the Alliance. Who’d actually fall for it?”

…

Tianmo University.

Kuang Tianqing, fresh from celebrating his triumph at the Tianmo Secret Vault, listened to the words spoken by the so-called Junior College True Lord in the video and let out a cold laugh. “Pathetic provocation.”

With that, he logged the incident into his personal archive.

“I’m not the same Kuang Tianqing as before—why would I hold a grudge over something so trivial?”

“It’s merely fodder for my Heart of Hatred technique. I’ll keep it recorded for now.”

He mused further: “If Zhang Yu himself had said those words, fine—I’d pretend I never heard them. After all, he carries memories from past lives as an immortal; he’s useless as fodder for my Heart of Hatred.”

“But some stinking junior college brat… excellent, excellent… perfect nourishment for my cultivation.”

Meanwhile, Huahuan University swiftly issued an official statement regarding Mu Qiansi, declaring her a disgrace to the school’s honor, accusing her of betraying the Ten Great Academies, expelling her from the rolls, and ordering the seizure of her assets.

Beneath Mu Qiansi’s social media accounts, messages flooded in—people scrambling to snatch up secondary Daoist titles, hawking spare spirit-skeletons and backup magical treasures.

Watching all this unfold, Zhang Yu felt as though Mu Qiansi, having surrendered to the Righteous Alliance, was already a corpse—left behind in the camp of the Ten Great Academies, her very existence swiftly disassembled, recycled, and erased without a trace.

…

Time flowed onward. Regardless of the chaos outside, Zhang Yu finally pushed the *Grand Void Barrier of the Three Realms and Ten Directions* to level 30—just one final step away from reaching level 31 and attaining the Nascent Soul realm with this technique.

At the same time, Bai Zhenzhen had returned briefly to her alma mater because of matters concerning Tianjian University.

As a former Core Formation disciple, she stood before the vice-chancellor’s office—and waited nearly two hours before being granted entry.

The vice-chancellor activated a projection, giving Bai Zhenzhen no chance to speak, and issued a direct order: “The academy must consolidate resources to advance the next generation of sword-forging. The swords stored in the Sword Repository are institutional assets—they cannot be left to gather dust any longer.”

“Considering you were once a Disciple of the Seven Emotions, I’ll allow you to keep three blades from the repository. Go ahead and open it.”

(End of Chapter)