Chapter 401: The Students of the Artifact Refining Department

Gongshu Jin followed Zhang Yu and Ye Xingli as they entered the restaurant for the gathering.

The moment they stepped inside, the aroma of food reached Gongshu Jin. Seeing the numerous buckets of rice on a nearby table, he couldn't help but marvel at Mo Shangjin's extravagant display of wealth.

Zhang Yu, standing nearby, also glanced at the table and felt an intense hunger pang. After all, he hadn't eaten in a long time, having spent all his time studying, working overtime, and cultivating.

Just then, a young woman approached them.

The young woman wore only a tank top and shorts, revealing a significant amount of skin! However, distinct splicing marks were visible on her limbs and joints. From Zhang Yu's eye implants, he could even discern numerous structural lines intentionally projected onto her body, along with the brands and models of various Dharma Bones. It all seemed designed to highlight the Dharma Bones on her body, constantly communicating that many parts of her body were not flesh and blood, but artificial Dharma Bones.

Zhang Yu glanced at the ranking above her head, thinking, '15th in the Artifact Forging Department, then? And all her Dharma Bones are from one brand!' He secretly speculated, 'A loyal user of Myriad Dao Crafters, then.'

Upon reaching Ye Xingli, the young woman smiled sweetly and said, 'Senior Sister.'

Ye Xingli, standing beside her, introduced, 'This is Feng Tingting, my junior sister...'

'Tingting, this is Zhang Yu from the Civil Engineering Department!'

Feng Tingting turned to Zhang Yu, and seeing the number 'Civil Engineering 95th' above his head, she paused for a moment. 'What? Civil Engineering 95th?' What an unfamiliar and distant rank. Feng Tingting couldn't recall the last time she'd spoken with a student of that caliber; it felt like years ago. Had he not been introduced by Ye Xingli, she might have just dismissed him.

With another quick scan from her eye implants, Feng Tingting precisely gathered information about Zhang Yu's Dharma Bones.

'Time-Defying Demonic Eyes, a three-year-old model. Including depreciation, the estimated current price is 25.5 Spirit Coins, but he's only...' She silently marked '12.75' above Zhang Yu's head, which represented the estimated value of his Dharma Bones.

Feng Tingting was an extreme Dharma Bone purist. She would quickly scan the Dharma Bones on a person's body, query their prices, and thus determine their Dharma Bone 'net worth.' This was one of Feng Tingting's ways to assess a person's importance, a common practice among many in the Artifact Forging Department. To Feng Tingting, this was both normal and effective. How else could one quickly differentiate between the superior, the inferior, and the non-human?

Feng Tingting firmly believed: 'The future era belongs to Dharma Bones!'

'Dharma Bones are a cultivator's true body!'

'The process of cultivation, so-called, involves continuously earning money, learning, and enhancing magical power to gradually replace one's outdated flesh and blood with advanced Dharma Bones!'

'The number of Dharma Bones a cultivator possesses indicates their degree of evolution on the path to immortality! In this era, anyone without a single Dharma Bone is considered disabled.'

After assigning Zhang Yu an 'evolution level' of 12.75, Feng Tingting's gaze shifted to Gongshu Jin, who was standing behind him.

'No overall department ranking?' Feng Tingting turned to Ye Xingli and asked, 'Senior Sister, is this a new soul cultivator you've recruited? Why is he still alive?'

Ye Xingli shook her head. 'Who buys a living soul cultivator?'

'This is Gongshu Jin, a Civil Engineering student. Don't mind his lack of a departmental ranking; he's only a sophomore, so his overall score is still relatively low.'

Hearing this, Gongshu Jin, who was standing nearby, lowered his head in shame. Since entering the gathering, seeing students with departmental rankings above their heads everywhere, he felt like a cockroach from the sewers, utterly out of place. Especially standing next to Ye Xingli and Feng Tingting, juxtaposed against their high-value Dharma Bones, Gongshu Jin felt acutely ugly.

Feng Tingting nodded, marked '151' above Gongshu Jin's head, and thought, 'Though he lacks a departmental ranking, his 'evolution level' is acceptable!'

'However, there isn't a single Myriad Dao Crafters Dharma Bone on his entire body.' Feng Tingting shook her head inwardly. In her view, not choosing Myriad Dao Crafters as a Dharma Bone brand essentially meant heading in the wrong direction on the path to immortality. After all, as a leading mega-corporation and a long-term partner of the Artifact Forging Department at Ten Thousand Law University, Myriad Dao Crafters had always been Feng Tingting's benchmark for excellence—the most advanced and 'immortal' Dharma Bone enterprise, representing the correct path of evolution towards immortality.

'Myriad Dao Crafters is the Dharma Bone enterprise that truly masters core technology; other companies like Heavenly Crafts and Vajra Profound Creations just rely on marketing!'

After a quick glance at Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin, Feng Tingting's attention returned to Ye Xingli and the '1' above her head. Gazing at Ye Xingli's four-digit Dharma Bone valuation, Feng Tingting felt she was truly radiant.

'After all, a body worth over a thousand Spirit Coins is bound to be beautiful.' The three question marks following the '1' indicated that Ye Xingli's Dharma Bones had been self-modified, making their exact valuation difficult for Feng Tingting to assess at her current level. To Feng Tingting, this imbued Ye Xingli with a subtle air of mystery alongside her supreme beauty, making her physique even more captivating. Soon, other students from the Artifact Forging Department in the hall began to approach, drawn to Ye Xingli.

Students, each with their Artifact Forging Department ranking displayed above their heads, converged around Ye Xingli like moths to a flame. Their first action upon seeing Ye Xingli was to take photos. Their eye implants functioned like precise measuring tools, meticulously gauging Ye Xingli's physical changes. Like art connoisseurs, they documented every difference in her physique since their last observation, recording changes in various parameters. To them, this was all crucial data.

As the 8th-ranked student in the Artifact Forging Department, Ye Xingli's overall score was surpassed almost exclusively by senior students. Ye Xingli represented the pinnacle of artifact forging among the department's students. Her body itself served as an excellent model for observation and study.

Immediately after, streams of information flowed back and forth between the Artifact Forging Department students and Ye Xingli.

Artifact Forging Student A: '0.1 Spirit Coins transferred! Senior Sister, is my project recommendation letter alright?'Artifact Forging Student B: '0.1 Spirit Coins transferred. Senior Sister Ye, I want to join Professor Wang's project team. Do you know if there's a way?'Artifact Forging Student C: '0.1 Spirit Coins transferred. Senior Sister Xingli, have the seniors decided on the groupings for next year's Artifact Forging competition?'

Someone also looked at Feng Tingting. '0.05 Spirit Coins transferred. Senior Sister Feng, are Senior Sister Xingli's two-handed Dharma Bones in stock yet?'

Feng Tingting replied, 'Not yet, I'll let you know when they are!'

As a role model for many Artifact Forging students, the two-handed Dharma Bones that Ye Xingli had used, tempered, and adjusted were naturally highly sought after by many in the department. Meanwhile, Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin, standing nearby, were subconsciously ignored by these Artifact Forging students.

Zhang Yu observed their silent exchange of glances, which nevertheless seemed to convey an infinite amount of communication, and realized that the Artifact Forging students were privately chatting. Feeling unable to join the conversation, Zhang Yu patted his stomach, ready to get some food.

'Senior Sister Ye, I'm going to grab something to eat first!'

With a brief farewell to Ye Xingli, Zhang Yu turned and headed towards the dining table. Seeing Zhang Yu turn to leave, Gongshu Jin quickly followed, always feeling uneasy around students with top-tier departmental rankings.

Just then, a commotion erupted.

'The dining table has its rules: the first plate must be swallowed whole. It's a sign of respect for everyone!'

'Exactly. We can't let the dining table culture passed down by our ancestors die out with our generation.'

Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin looked up to see a group of Civil Engineering students engaged in an eating challenge at the table. Watching the senior students devour plate after plate of rice-filled dumplings, Gongshu Jin gasped. The appetites of these senior Civil Engineering students were truly terrifying.

'Eating capacity signifies the strength of one's digestive ability, which in turn represents an individual's financial and physical capabilities—a manifestation of immortal potential!' Gongshu Jin understood that this eating challenge was a way for individuals to showcase their immortal potential.

'I hope I won't be roped into one of these eating challenges myself.' Gongshu Jin glanced at the senior students getting massages and taking pills on the other side, feeling that area was more suited for him. Suddenly, his gaze fell upon a familiar figure beside the seniors receiving massages.

'Is that... Yu Xinghan?' Watching Yu Xinghan introduce masseuses to the seniors, Gongshu Jin secretly thought, 'Yu Xinghan must have joined his mentor's massage platform and become a manager.'

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu approached the dining table with a smile. As soon as a senior student spotted Zhang Yu, he pulled him aside. 'You're Zhang Yu, aren't you? Making it into the top seven in the departmental competition this time—that's impressive!'

'Come on, come on, grab a plate.'

Watching Zhang Yu swiftly finish three plates of rice dumplings without any apparent discomfort, the Civil Engineering seniors all expressed their admiration. Not far away, Su Yanyang looked up and glanced at Zhang Yu. Without a word, he silently clinked his bowl with Ma Xuan, and they each emptied theirs.

Compared to Zhang Yu, Su Yanyang was currently more focused on Xiao Yunxian and another senior Civil Engineering student named Ping Han. The Military Civil Engineering Certificate exam usually admits only one person per sitting.

Su Yanyang thought to himself, 'For the military certificate exam next October, Xiao Yunxian and Ping Han will likely be my biggest rivals. As for Zhang Yu... although he surpassed me in this competition, in my judgment, his individual strength certainly isn't as great as mine, and he won't be a factor in next year's military certificate exam!'

Zhang Yu is probably aiming for the military certificate exam three years from now.

'Three years from now, I'll have graduated!' Su Yanyang thought to himself, 'Next year is my last chance! And only by defeating Xiao Yunxian and Ping Han can I obtain the military certificate!'