Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yu requested leave to prepare a Heavenly Sun Brilliant God prototype, and his Two Forms Yin-Yang Shield impressed Nine-Tempering True Person. As Zhang Yu realized he might compete with Jin Jun for the next Military Certificate, Jin Jun checked his Golden Core score and displayed his powerful Dharma Skeletons.

• Zhang Yu asked Nine-Tempering True Person for leave to work on the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God prototype and showed him the Two Forms Yin-Yang Shield he had crafted.
• Nine-Tempering True Person praised Zhang Yu’s work and invited him to join his laboratory, but Zhang Yu declined.
• Zi Yun Zhen overheard the conversation and doubted Zhang Yu could make the prototype, while his plans spread through the Artifact Crafting Department.
• Ye Xingli demonstrated the Vacuum Tribulation Diagram and warned Zhang Yu that Jin Jun planned to finish a Heavenly Sun Brilliant God prototype in the next academic year.
• Zhang Yu realized he could finish in the same period as Jin Jun and might compete with him for the Military Certificate.
• Jin Jun checked his Golden Core simulation score of 158 and displayed the golden Dharma Skeletons he had crafted or enhanced.

Jin Jun tried to recruit Zhang Yu to help refine a Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine, offering him double pay and access to the project data. Zhang Yu declined and openly declared that he planned to refine his own prototype in his fourth year, setting up a direct competition with Jin Jun.

• Jin Jun searched for skilled assistants and contacted Ye Xingli to invite Zhang Yu to join his project.
• Zhang Yu refused Jin Jun's invitation through Ye Xingli, saying he wanted to follow his own pace.
• Jin Jun visited Ye Xingli's laboratory and offered Zhang Yu double pay and the full project data, but Zhang Yu still declined because he had too much to do.
• When Ye Xingli suggested Zhang Yu might be focusing on the design competition, Zhang Yu clarified that he had already decided to begin refining his own Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine.
• Zhang Yu told Jin Jun he expected to complete his prototype in his fourth year and would compete with him directly, leaving the laboratory stunned as Jin Jun laughed.

Jin Jun displayed the funding, technical work, and expert endorsements he had gathered for his Heavenly Sun Brilliant God project, while Zhang Yu kept to his own training despite the pressure. At the end of June, Zhang Yu completed all eight techniques for Artifact Forging Prodigy and unlocked its second-layer improvements to forging quality and success rate.

• Jin Jun revealed that he had raised 642 Spirit Coins for his project and presented Dharma Treasure parameters and expert evaluations to demonstrate his preparation.
• Jin Jun invited interested people to submit résumés, then left the laboratory as Zhang Yu returned to his practice.
• Word of the encounter spread through the Artifact Crafting Department, where Su Yun Ni and Zi Yun Zhen suspected it was a publicity stunt for Jin Jun's project.
• Zhang Yu continued cultivating his artifact-forging techniques for a month, despite feeling pressure from Jin Jun's preparations.
• At the end of June, Zhang Yu completed his eighth technique and discovered that Artifact Forging Prodigy greatly improved the quality and success rate of his work.

Zhang Yu found a way to help Magnetic Extremes True Lord's Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton research while hoping to copy her Dao Seed, then completed his Artifact Forging Prodigy cultivation and left to study Heavenly Sun Brilliant God's blueprints. Jin Jun learned Zhang Yu had only just begun studying the designs and laughed at the delay.

• Magnetic Extremes True Lord warned Zhang Yu that his contest with Jin Jun could draw scrutiny and complicate her Spirit Transformation evaluation.
• Zhang Yu suggested testing a biomimetic Yang Dharma Skeleton, and Magnetic Extremes True Lord agreed to use his data rather than alter his body.
• Zhang Yu completed the Five Thunder Refinement Method at Level 20, bringing Artifact Forging Prodigy to its final layer.
• Zhang Yu told Ye Xingli he was leaving the laboratory to study Heavenly Sun Brilliant God's blueprints in the Taiqing Realm.
• Zi Yun Zhen told Jin Jun that Zhang Yu had left to study the blueprints, and Jin Jun laughed that Zhang Yu was only starting now.

Zhang Yu studied Karma Relic designs to learn technologies for building Heavenly Sun Brilliant God, while Magnetic Extremes True Lord advanced his Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton experiments using a Dharma Skeleton modeled on Zhang Yu. Feng Yuhan then trapped Zhang Yu in a lockdown and demanded his key organs, leaving Zhang Yu cut off from help.

• Zhang Yu used the Taiqing Realm to study Karma Relic blueprints and practice forging them, aiming to master technologies for Heavenly Sun Brilliant God.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord showed Zhang Yu a level 11 Yang Artifact Dharma Skeleton that could stir the blood essence of the Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton, then examined Zhang Yu for possible design improvements.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord reminded Zhang Yu to apply for a project loan to study Heavenly Sun Brilliant God.
• Feng Yuhan sealed off a thousand-meter area around Zhang Yu, stopping Spiritual Energy and Spirit Realm communications.
• Feng Yuhan demanded Zhang Yu voluntarily surrender key organs for laboratory management, but Zhang Yu refused and found he could not contact anyone, even with his Spirit Realm Mask.

Zhang Yu refused to surrender his organs for 300 Spirit Coins, holding to the boundary he had set despite the pressure from Feng Yuhan and Magnetic Extremes True Lord. He returned to artifact forging and advanced toward the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God as tensions rose ahead of the Top Ten League and a financial crisis struck University City.

• Zhang Yu contacted Zhang Pianpian through the Taiqing Realm, and she warned him not to reveal the channel or alert Magnetic Extremes True Lord.
• Feng Yuhan offered Zhang Yu 300 Spirit Coins for the rights to his organs and threatened his project loan when he refused without his master's consent.
• Gao Chongguang intervened with Heaven Kunlun Mountain Moving Divine Power, breaking Feng Yuhan's restraints and forcing him to withdraw.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord also asked to keep Zhang Yu's organs for 300 Spirit Coins, but Zhang Yu declined and offered to provide something better after advancing his cultivation.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord took Zhang Yu back to the laboratory, where he continued forging artifacts and she advanced the Yang Artifact Dharma Skeleton to level 30.
• By early September, Zhang Yu had mastered nearly half the prerequisite Dharma Treasure blueprints, while tensions over the approaching Top Ten League grew and a financial crisis struck University City.

Su Yun Ni remained first in her class despite Zhang Yu matching her exam score, while the new academic year and Top Ten League brought rising costs, financial strain, and increasingly brutal military competitions. Zhang Yu watched Bai Zhenzhen win her Sword Combat and saw her later clash fiercely with a Nascent Soul disciple from White Bone University.

• Su Yun Ni saw that she had retained first place, but Zhang Yu had earned the same exam points while leaving early, prompting her to prepare for the Design Competition.
• Zhang Yu read the Songyang Fellow Villagers Group, learned about graduate job difficulties and the Top Ten League, and invited Zi Yun Zhen to join a future project as his assistant.
• Zi Yun Zhen learned that her neighbor had died by suicide after losing money in stocks, then turned her attention to the Ten-Schools Sword Duel.
• Bai Zhenzhen complained about the increased insurance costs, then became excited while messaging Zhang Yu and released dangerous Sword Qi around her teammates.
• After learning project funds were delayed, Zhang Yu used his savings to pay some employees and watched Bai Zhenzhen defeat her opponent in the Sword Combat.
• Zhang Yu saw casualties rise across the Top Ten League and watched Bai Zhenzhen enter an especially fierce battle against a Nascent Soul disciple of White Bone University.

Bai Zhenzhen killed a Spirit Transformation disciple after winning their match, sparking clashes between Divine Lords that spread into a major financial crisis. Fu Ji explained how the conflict could trigger the Four Disasters of Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire, while Zhang Yu tried to protect his remaining income and Spirit Coins.

• Bai Zhenzhen broke through the White Bone University disciple's defenses, then killed him after the match was declared over, prompting a dispute and a clash between the Seven Emotions Divine Lord and the White Lotus Divine Lord.
• Further Divine Lord conflicts during the Top Ten League deepened the financial crisis, while Ye Xingli filmed videos to offset her shrinking assets and exchanged worried messages with Zhang Yu.
• Wen Wuya, Zhang Pianpian, Magnetic Extremes True Lord, and Director Gao suspended payments to Zhang Yu, leaving his 40 Spirit Coins from the Spirit Transformation Laboratory as his main income.
• Fu Ji explained that Spirit Transformation conflicts could trigger disasters of wind, water, earth, and fire through financial collapse, unemployment, shortages of Spiritual Energy, and social disorder.
• Xiao Qingxuan saw graduates competing for temporary construction work, while Ji Yuan Shu and Li Xiao joined a long queue at Huilong Garden to seek access to its Spirit Vein.
• Fu Ji advised Zhang Yu to hold onto his Spirit Coins, avoid unnecessary actions, and wait out the crisis.

As the Deity Transformation conflict and economic crisis worsened, Zhang Yu took in Xiao Qingxuan and Shi Huaiyu while continuing to refine Dharma Treasures in the Taiqing Realm. He then discovered that Magnetic Extremes True Lord's Tiangong Kaiwu Dao Seed had appeared in his Dao Seed Compendium, suggesting his master had advanced their jointly crafted treasure to Level 31.

• Zhang Yu kept honing his artifact-crafting skills and watched reports of the Deity Transformations fighting as unemployment and medicine shortages spread.
• Zhang Yu agreed to let Xiao Qingxuan stay in his dormitory and offered him a token job so his résumé would not be blank.
• Zhang Yu found Shi Huaiyu among people sheltering outside the Cemetery and brought her back to the dormitory without charging rent.
• Zhang Yu refined Self-Transformation Soul Rings to learn Spirit Realm technologies for remotely controlling Heavenly Sun Brilliant God.
• Zhang Yu discovered that he had copied Magnetic Extremes True Lord's Tiangong Kaiwu Dao Seed and suspected his master had raised their Dharma Treasure to Level 31.

Zhang Yu discovered that Tiangong Kaiwu could combine his knowledge with Magnetic Extremes True Lord’s accumulated expertise to redesign Dharma Treasures, but using it reduced his Dao Heart. Hoping to help his master advance toward Deity Transformation, Zhang Yu investigated the next upgrade requirements and then restored order at a chaotic construction site, where he saw Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang struggling.

• Zhang Yu used Tiangong Kaiwu to redesign an outdated Karma Relic, producing a blueprint with manufacturing costs reduced by roughly 32%, but the effort lowered his Dao Heart from Level 20 to level 19, 86%.
• While studying the blueprint, Zhang Yu realized Tiangong Kaiwu had drawn on Magnetic Extremes True Lord’s accumulated foundations, making him eager for his master to study and copy more Dharma Treasures.
• Zhang Yu visited Magnetic Extremes True Lord’s laboratory and learned that upgrading Tiangong Kaiwu to Level 2 required jointly refining artifact products above level 30; his master advised him to keep a low profile during the economic crisis.
• Director Gao asked Zhang Yu to restore order at the chaotic construction site on the 670th Layer, where unemployed graduates were obstructing work and causing losses.
• Zhang Yu used Heaven Kunlun Mountain Moving Divine Power to complete construction work and cow the workers into line, then spotted Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang waiting outside, both visibly worn down and struggling.

As the economic crisis worsened, Zhang Yu helped Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang by restoring Ying Xin’s Dharma Skeleton, arranging free lodging for them in his dorm, and having Xiao Qingxuan treat Shi Yunxiang. Meanwhile, the Top Ten League and clashes between Deity Transformations intensified, leaving the universities divided into two opposing camps as the crisis deepened.

• Zhang Yu found Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang struggling to survive, then gave them magical power and told Shi Yunxiang to keep his meat rather than sell it.
• After learning that Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang had nowhere to live, Zhang Yu invited them to stay in his dorm for free despite Fu Ji’s objections.
• Zhang Yu repaired part of Ying Xin’s Dharma Skeleton, and Xiao Qingxuan offered to treat Shi Yunxiang without charging him.
• Zhang Yu and his roommates watched the Top Ten League and analyzed a clash between Tian Yan Shenjun and Spiritual Insight Divine Lord.
• As more Deity Transformations joined the fighting, Zhang Yu sensed two opposing university alliances forming while the Financial Storm worsened and jobs and Spiritual Energy became scarce.
• Zhang Yu continued studying Dharma Treasure blueprints in the Taiqing Realm.

As the crisis at Ten Thousand Laws University worsened, Zhang Yu struggled to secure medicine for himself and those around him while continuing his studies. After a Deity Transformation battle killed Ji Yuan Shu through its aftershock, a sudden Spirit Realm outage and earthquake left Zhang Yu fearing the disaster had spread across the university.

• Jin Jun stayed in his laboratory to advance the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God, while Su Yanyang, Xiao Yunjin, Li Xiao, and Ji Yuan Shu sought help or food from Zhang Yu.
• As supplies and services became restricted, Li Xiao sought a Finance Department card, and Zhang Yu borrowed money for Su Yanyang before searching for medicine through Li Xuelian and Yin Jiurao.
• Yin Jiurao supplied Zhang Yu with medicine in exchange for precious material, and Zhang Yu shared the medicine with his roommates, Li Xiao, and Ji Yuan Shu.
• A Deity Transformation battle caused disasters across a thousand-mile radius, and its aftershock dismantled Ji Yuan Shu's body and swept his soul into the Spirit Realm.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord, Director Gao, and Zhang Pianpian warned Zhang Yu to stay in the dormitory as the crisis escalated.
• While Zhang Yu and the others watched Dao Qiankun battle Kuang Tianqing, Spirit Realm services suddenly froze, their devices lost access to the Spirit Realm, and the dormitory began shaking violently.

Zhang Yu and the other students witnessed the Feather Transformation Cult and Unemployed Cult seize control of the Spirit Realm and announce a one-hour looting spree across University City. Zhang Yu resisted Unemployed Elder’s words, but feared the city’s students and residents would be tempted to join the plunder.

• University City shook with powerful booms from below, and Yu Xinghan announced that the Spirit Realm had reconnected, though it was almost unusable.
• Feather Transformation Boy appeared in the students’ Eye Remains, claimed to be a Deity Transformation Divine Lord, and distributed the Feather Transformation Cult’s doctrines.
• Fu Ji suspected that the demonic cults had exploited the conflict among the Top Ten and might have powerful backing.
• Unemployed Elder appeared, condemned the Heavenly Court and the Top Ten, and promised that the Spirit Realm would collapse for an hour while his followers plundered University City.
• Zhang Yu deleted the Unemployed Cult’s material and suppressed the urge to join the plunder, then saw that the others had also struggled against the temptation.

As University City descended into chaos, Li Xiao and Shadowless tracked down Zhang Yu and tried to force him into the Unemployed Cult. Shadowless revealed his Golden Core strength and badly wounded Zhang Yu, who faced a choice between exposing his hidden Divine Spiritual Root and being captured.

• Zhang Yu and Mo Shang Jin knocked out a wave of cultists, but Golden Core combat between Tu Lishan and a black-smoke figure scattered their group, leaving Zhang Yu with Yu Xinghan, Le Mulan, Xiao Qingxuan, Shi Huaiyu, and Shi Yunxiang.
• Li Xiao led Shadowless to Zhang Yu's dormitory and gave him information about Zhang Yu; Shadowless used surveillance footage to find Mo Shang Jin and abducted him after defeating him.
• Li Xiao revealed his resentment toward Zhang Yu and joined Shadowless in pursuing him, while blaming Zhang Yu for not helping him and Ji Yuan Shu more.
• Shadowless sealed off the streets and invited Zhang Yu and his companions to join the Unemployed Cult, offering access to cultivation techniques, including Military Grade techniques.
• Zhang Yu rejected the offer and attacked Shadowless with his full strength, but Shadowless revealed his Golden Core power, broke Zhang Yu's armor, and wounded him severely.
• As Shadowless continued attacking, Zhang Yu considered using his hidden Divine Spiritual Root to escape, knowing it would reveal his secret to his companions.

Zhang Yu and the others fought Shadowless, a Golden Core Demon Cultist, while the Spirit Realm remained disconnected. As Zhang Yu vanished into the smoke, Xiao Qingxuan swallowed a Golden Core and revealed that he could match Shadowless's realm.

• Zhang Yu realized he could not defeat Shadowless through direct combat and planned to use dust, terrain, and the Divine Spiritual Root to create an escape opportunity.
• Yu Xinghan, inspired by Zhang Yu, activated Small Three Harmonies and urged the others to fight rather than surrender to the Demon Cult.
• Shi Huaiyu joined Yu Xinghan and unleashed Heaven Kunlun Mountain Moving Divine Power against Shadowless.
• Zhang Yu combined his strength with theirs to strike Shadowless, but Shadowless broke free and injured Zhang Yu's right arm.
• Zhang Yu disappeared into the smoke as Xiao Qingxuan swallowed a golden pellet and revealed his Golden Core pressure to Shadowless.

Xiao Qingxuan, Zhang Yu, and their allies joined forces to kill Shadowless and Li Xiao, though Zhang Yu was badly injured and needed treatment. After discovering an unscathed black bead in Shadowless’s remains, Zhang Yu touched it and was drawn with Fu Ji into an unknown space before three enormous evil figures.

• Xiao Qingxuan, Yu Xinghan, Shi Huaiyu, Ying Xin, and Shi Yunxiang drove Shadowless into a pit and used the building’s Magical Power Circuit to trap and attack him.
• Zhang Yu replaced his injured arm with Mo Shang Jin’s Hand Skeleton and struck Shadowless with Heaven Kunlun Mountain Moving Divine Power, helping the group destroy Shadowless with electromagnetic power.
• Le Mulan and Xiao Qingxuan treated Zhang Yu, and his life force stabilized as he switched back to the Civil Engineering Sacred Body.
• Shi Huaiyu killed Li Xiao and pulverized Shadowless’s charred corpse, finding an intact black bead among the remains.
• Zhang Yu took the bead and, with Fu Ji, entered an unknown space in the Spirit Realm, where three enormous evil figures turned to face them.

After Zhang Yu and Fu Ji entered the Dark Spirit Realm through Shadowless’s pearl, Fu Ji posed as one of its founders while meeting three Evil Gods who were discussing Ten Thousand Laws University. She left the Evil Gods reconsidering their targets and implied Feng Yuhan was the best person to approach at the university’s laboratory.

• Fu Ji identified the pearl as a means of entering the Dark Spirit Realm and told Zhang Yu she could use it to contact Evil Gods.
• Fu Ji brought Zhang Yu into the Dark Spirit Realm, where they met three Evil Gods gathered around a round table.
• Fu Ji claimed to be the Fortune God, a founding god of the Dark Spirit Realm, and learned the Evil Gods were discussing Ten Thousand Laws University.
• Fu Ji revealed that the university’s 666th Layer held Physical Bodies belonging to the Myriad Transformations Divine Lord and that the Nectar Divine Lord’s Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton was being studied at the university.
• When the Evil Gods discussed targeting an experiment subject, Magnetic Pole, or Tian Zhang, Fu Ji dismissed those choices and suggested Feng Yuhan as the best target at the laboratory.

Fu Ji forced the three Evil Gods to leave Ten Thousand Laws University after offering them Feng Yuhan as a target, then secretly planned to use their new Dark Spirit Realm channel for future exchanges. After Zhang Yu united his companions to hide evidence of their battle, a giant hand abruptly restored order across University City and eliminated the retreating Demon Cult members.

• Fu Ji threatened to expose the Evil Gods to the Orthodox Gods unless they left Ten Thousand Laws University, and Xi Shen agreed to proceed with their plans while accounting for her.
• Fu Ji privately told Zhang Yu that she had ended the meeting before the Evil Gods uncovered her identity and that their encrypted Dark Spirit Realm channel could enable future intelligence and supply trades.
• Zhang Yu reassured his six companions that they would share the risks, then assigned them to clean the battlefield, check the bodies, and tend to Old Mo and his injured arm.
• Zhang Yu's companions worked together to conceal evidence, feeling a new sense of trust and belonging as Fu Ji recognized Zhang Yu's ability to build a close-knit group.
• Feather Transformation Boy and Unemployed Elder helped lead the Demon Cult's forces away from University City as its Spirit Realm and Research Department conflicts wound down.
• A giant hand restored the Spirit Realm Network and the Orthodox Gods, erased the city's chaos, and separated the bodies and souls of outside Demon Cult members as University City returned to order.

After the Spirit Realm was restored, Zhang Yu passed an Orthodox Gods inspection and answered questions about the demon-cult disaster, while Magnetic Extremes True Lord warned him that he would also face scrutiny. Zhang Yu and his companions cleared questioning, but the investigation continued across University City, leaving Mo Shang Jin under surveillance and Su Yanyang sent for anti-demon-cult training.

• Orthodox Gods began inspecting University City residents, and Zhang Yu and his companions passed the initial scan after preparing for it.
• Zhang Yu visited Magnetic Extremes True Lord, who tested his willingness to join the Unemployed Cult and then warned him about the coming investigation.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord told Zhang Yu that Feng Yuhan had fought off demon cultists at the Research Department, while he and Director Gao suspected an insider had helped the cults hijack the Spirit Realm.
• The Orthodox Gods questioned Zhang Yu, and he and six companions corroborated one another's account and were released without incident.
• Mo Shang Jin became a surveillance target, while Su Yanyang was suspected of demon-cult influence and sent to the Disciplinary Leave Class for anti-demon-cult training.
• Zhang Yu's departmental rank rose to thirty-eighth, and the Top Ten League reached its final conclusion.

Zhang Pianpian killed a Heavenly Devil University student, while Bai Zhenzhen fought a White Bone University student as the Top Ten League’s conflicts escalated. The Deity Transformation cultivators eventually stopped fighting and the crisis eased, but the next League would let winners choose their own Immortal Sect Technique, promising fiercer competition.

• Zhang Pianpian defeated and killed a Heavenly Devil University student in the Spirit Realm, stirring unrest.
• Bai Zhenzhen, worried about Zhang Yu after Ten Thousand Laws University City was attacked, fought a White Bone University student and overwhelmed him with crimson Sword Qi.
• Seven Emotions Divine Lord attacked after someone intervened to protect Bai Zhenzhen’s defeated opponent, and White Lotus Divine Lord fought back.
• Dao Qiankun reflected on his Golden Core breakthrough and resolved to train so he could match Kuang Tianqing next year, while Jiu Tianliu foresaw that higher powers would soon suppress the growing conflict.
• The Deity Transformation cultivators withdrew, the financial crisis and land disaster eased, and Orthodox Gods began suppressing cultists.
• Yan Qianji and Ye Xingli learned that the next Top Ten League would let winners choose an Immortal Sect Technique from the Daoist Canon Catalog.