Chapter 308: Mortality Rate and Morbidity Rate

A large area of ruins was cleared and the ground was leveled, after which many temporary shelters were constructed with the combined effort of numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Zhang Yu was assigned to a six-person room. As he moved his luggage in, he saw Che Yufei, a white-haired student, and another student, a demon hybrid, whose face was covered in bristles.

Seeing Zhang Yu, Che Yufei smiled and said, "First-year? I’m Che Yufei, a sixth-year student."

He then pointed to the demon hybrid beside him and introduced, "This is Shi Yunxiang, a fourth-year student."

As he spoke, Che Yufei shoved a handful of Dao Heart buffering capsules towards Zhang Yu: "Want some?"

Zhang Yu shook his head, smiling slightly, "These are too addictive; I don't really take them."

Despite his exceptionally high tolerance for medicine, Zhang Yu rarely took Dao Heart buffering agents.

Che Yufei paused, giving Zhang Yu a strange look, seemingly surprised that a university student—especially one from the Civil Engineering Department—would not take such pills.

Shi Yunxiang, standing nearby, grabbed the buffering capsules from Che Yufei’s hand and took them, then advised in the tone of an experienced person, "Kid, when I was a first-year, I also thought, like you, that after all the hardships in high school, I wouldn’t be afraid of anything anymore."

"Heh…" He sneered, feeling a stimulating sensation spread through his brain from the capsule, and added contentedly, "But once the project officially begins, you'll realize that all the suffering and exhaustion in high school were nothing compared to university."

"You really can't get through it without taking some of this stuff."

Zhang Yu didn't retort or argue; after all, Shi Yunxiang's advice was well-intentioned. Zhang Yu simply genuinely disliked taking Dao Heart buffering medications.

Seeing Zhang Yu's attitude, Che Yufei and Shi Yunxiang said nothing more. In their opinion, in a few days, the new student would be so worn out that he might end up taking more Dao Heart buffering medicine than they did.

Soon, the other students assigned to the six-person room arrived. Zhang Yu observed that Che Yufei, the sixth-year, was the oldest among them.

Four of them were from the second layer, Zhang Yu was the only one from the first layer, and another student was from the third layer.

After brief introductions, there was no further conversation. Each person either studied, practiced breath regulation, or went outside to cultivate their techniques.

After walking around outside for a bit, Zhang Yu asked, somewhat confused, "Are there no restrooms here?"

Che Yufei chuckled, looking at him, thinking, 'He truly is a tender first-year student.' He said aloud, "You haven't undergone modification? Or installed a dharma-body? No matter…"

He pointed outside and said, "Isn't the construction site basically one big restroom? Just find a secluded spot outside and do your business wherever you like."

After a period of rest, everyone gathered for their first dinner at the construction site.

Zhang Yu looked at the list of medicines displayed in his ocular dharma-body. Each entry detailed its effects and side effects, with affected body parts highlighted on an adjacent anatomical model.

There was the Heart-Burning Pill, which increased qi and blood circulation speed and enhanced muscle training, but its side effect was increased heart burden, with long-term use easily leading to cardiovascular diseases. A large red area was marked on the heart region of the anatomical model.

There was also the Yin-Sha Corroding Marrow Pill, which increased the coldness of spiritual power but eroded bones and marrow, with long-term use potentially causing anemia, fever, or even leukemia.

Additionally, there was the Tendon-Corroding Liver Meridian Powder, which tore and reshaped meridians to increase the flow rate of spiritual power, but it could cause liver strain and lead to bacterial and viral infections in the body.

Zhang Yu also noticed that with each drug he selected, numbers would change beneath the anatomical model.

Sudden death probability: 0.06Leukemia probability: 0.012Sepsis probability: 0.034

Zhang Yu understood: these were calculations of the risks after taking the selected medicines.

Every subsequent day, as he increased his medicine intake, the probabilities of various diseases and death would continuously rise.

Fuji, looking through Zhang Yu's dharma-body, also saw the drug selection interface and remarked, "Quite thoughtful, aren't they? They want you to avoid harming just one part of your body. Instead, they encourage you to exploit yourselves as evenly as possible to live longer."

"The Civil Engineering Department is still quite humane; this one service alone significantly increases students' lifespans."

After Zhang Yu selected a five-drug combo package, his medicinal meal was delivered shortly.

Che Yufei, seeing Zhang Yu consume so much at once, couldn't help but say, "Freshman, take it easy."

Zhang Yu smiled slightly and replied, "It's fine, I have a strong tolerance for medicine."

Che Yufei shook his head dismissively. Which student who could get into Myriad Arts University would have a low tolerance for medicine?

He thought to himself that Zhang Yu would learn his lesson after just one visit to the infirmary.

Zhang Yu first switched his Chain Law Diagram set to the University Saint Body, then swallowed the medicines. He immediately felt a surge of scalding medicinal power spread from his lower abdomen, surging through his limbs and bones, impacting his internal organs, muscles, and skeleton like raging waves or a torrent.

Feeling his entire body growing hot, Zhang Yu felt as if a ball of fire was about to burst from his chest.

He thought to himself, 'What potent medicine.'

So Zhang Yu immediately went outside the room and began cultivating the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen to digest the medicinal power.

At the same time, he noticed that many students from the 'poor' class also began practicing cultivation after taking their medicines.

As he cultivated the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen, Zhang Yu felt the medicinal power surging back and forth within him. His muscles and bones showed signs of growth and development under the medicine's catalysis.

Simultaneously, Zhang Yu could feel his heart pounding fiercely, and subtle damage appearing in various parts of his internal organs.

He immediately focused all his mind on operating the 'Sacrificial Ox Body and Mind Art,' continuously using his body's activation to self-heal and counteract the side effects of the medicine.

While Zhang Yu and Che Yufei were diligently digesting their dinner, Gongshu Jin, on the other hand, was also having his first dinner at the construction site.

However, unlike the various potential-forcing, highly side-effect-laden medicines that Zhang Yu and his peers took, the medicines Gongshu Jin and his seniors consumed had undergone multiple layers of filtration, resulting in extremely low side effects. Furthermore, each was custom-tailored to their individual body conditions and cultivation techniques, protecting their bodies like precious treasures and accumulating their potential, all for the sake of a profound breakthrough after prolonged accumulation.

Naturally, this kind of one-on-one pharmaceutical service was extremely expensive.

Gongshu Jin looked out the window at Zhang Yu and the others cultivating their bodies, as if seeing a bottle with little water that was constantly being squeezed, trying to force out a few drops.

"Only those with insufficient potential need such stimulation, resorting to all means to squeeze out even a tiny bit."

Feeling his own body naturally strengthening under the effects of the medicine, Gongshu Jin thought to himself, "With sufficient potential, even if one does nothing... the potential will slowly overflow."

After dinner had been digested, a wave of divine power mixed with spiritual energy swept across the entire construction site.

Fuji's heart stirred, and she said, "The spiritual network has been set up."

Zhang Yu's ocular dharma-body flashed, receiving a network connection notification from Mount Tuli.

Then, everyone began their online class session for the day, following the construction site's schedule.

With the connection to the spiritual network, Zhang Yu felt a surge of joy, thinking to himself, "So the construction site can indeed get online after all."

However, the next moment, seeing the ten-times network billing, he cursed inwardly, "This is too expensive!"

Zhang Yu quickly sent a message to Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Pianpian to let them know he was safe, then asked Yu Xinghan for class notes and online course materials, before immediately disconnecting from the spiritual network.

The so-called online course materials were actually the video recordings of the day's lectures.

Zhang Yu and his peers were required to watch an entire day's worth of lectures at 10x speed, so they could quickly return to their cultivation and work at the construction site.

Watching the teachers' rapid speech and constantly flickering figures in the video, Zhang Yu absorbed the knowledge while thinking to himself, "This... actually seems quite good. It saves me a lot of class time."

"But did Yu Xinghan send me the wrong thing? Are these his own recorded class videos?"

Looking at the class videos Yu Xinghan had recorded with his dharma-body, Zhang Yu couldn't help but curse, "This guy... why does he always record Ying Xin? I want to see the teachers!"

Yu Xinghan, meanwhile, was watching the view count of his short videos, thinking to himself, "Is it always the videos of Ying Xin that get the most views?"

He mused, "Maybe next time I should film some massage parlor reviews?"

Just as Zhang Yu and Che Yufei finished their online classes and prepared to start working, Gongshu Jin's classes were just beginning.

Since their daily workload wasn't as heavy as Zhang Yu and his group's, Gongshu Jin and his peers had more time available for classes.

At that moment, Gongshu Jin's consciousness had already entered the depths of the spiritual realm to receive guidance from his teachers.

After paying extra, he not only received one-on-one guidance from the teachers, but his virtual spiritual realm classroom achieved over 99% realism, making it seem as if Gongshu Jin was receiving guidance face-to-face with his teachers in reality.

As Gongshu Jin continued to pay more, the entire teaching space's operation began to accelerate: first 2x, then 4x, eventually reaching 10x as Gongshu Jin's consciousness gradually adapted to the pace.

This meant that in this conscious space within the spiritual realm, he could experience ten times more time for learning than in the material world.

Gongshu Jin was accustomed to this; with money, time could also be accelerated, and time could be bought.

On the ruins, the students of the 'poor' class had already begun their first night's work – continuing to clear the debris.

According to the plan, they were to clear the entire factory site's ruins within half a month, preparing for the construction of a new factory.

A reminder from Mount Tuli appeared in Zhang Yu's ocular dharma-body: "This was formerly a puppet factory established by Shanhai University. After being attacked by several Golden Core realm criminals, all production lines were catastrophically destroyed."

Mount Tuli: "Although some time has passed, there might still be residual spiritual power from the Golden Core realm within the site."

Mount Tuli: "Furthermore, parts of the puppet factory's original protective formations and Feng Shui arrays might still be active."

Mount Tuli: "Also, some heavily polluting materials were used in the puppet manufacturing process, which require extreme caution to handle…"

Zhang Yu took a deep breath, circulating his spiritual power once, having already activated the 'Mountain True Form Scripture,' which caused his body to subtly swell.

He carefully walked through the ruins, activating his True Qi to pulverize fragments of broken walls and clear them away.