Chapter 447: Obtaining the Five Absolutes

The chaos caused by the Nectar Coin lasted for several days in Myriad Law City. However, perhaps due to the demanding university life or the sheer number of issues people had to address, the unrest in University City gradually subsided after a few days.

The streets were still bustling with crowds, and construction sites remained vibrant with activity. The various scars left by the financial storm on the city had been repaired through tireless efforts. The entire University City seemed as busy as ever, with no trace of the financial storm visible on people's faces or in the streets. This even gave Zhang Yu the illusion that the financial storm had never occurred.

Only when Zhang Yu saw the exit notifications in his class group chat and the reduced number of members could he truly feel that none of this was an illusion. The financial storm had not only arrived but had also taken many people from the material world to the spirit realm.

Just then, a message from the Songyang Hometown group appeared, announcing the start of Hu Yuntao's memorial service. Zhang Yu tapped it open and saw Hu Yuntao's black-and-white avatar appear on his eye-skull, speaking: "Everyone, I apologize for disturbing you and for asking you to attend my farewell service." He continued, "I was born on the first layer, in the Songyang City protected breeding base. At 18, I got into Red Tower High School, and at 20, I entered Heavenly Demon University. I worked hard my entire life, but my end was not peaceful; it was filled with pain, reluctance, and regret." He then added, "They say the first year after death is the most important. I hope you'll consider me if you have any business opportunities..."

Listening to Hu Yuntao's speech, Zhang Yu shook his head with a sigh. This was not the first spirit realm memorial service he had attended. Typically, the deceased would host it themselves, reflecting on the past and, incidentally, promoting their soul cultivation business to fellow townsfolk and classmates, hoping for more opportunities in the afterlife. "The path of immortality is unpredictable," Zhang Yu mused. Witnessing these events, he could only secretly caution himself to be extremely careful on the path to immortality. He decided never to participate in speculative activities like currency trading without reliable inside information.

He returned to the construction site, continuing to work while cultivating the Dragon Vein Sensing chapter. Through the daily tempering at the site, Zhang Yu had advanced this martial art to Level 19.

After some time working, Feng Tingting sent a message: "Zhang Yu, have you heard? Ping Han from your department is staying at Joyful Union University to work off his debt." Zhang Yu had already blocked Ping Han and was unaware of his situation. Hearing what Feng Tingting said, Zhang Yu asked curiously, "What kind of work can he do at Joyful Union University?" Feng Tingting sent a photo: [Yin Device]. *What the hell?* Zhang Yu cursed internally. *Are you sending me this? Is this harassment? Is there no sense of boundaries between classmates anymore?*

But Feng Tingting's next sentence shocked Zhang Yu.

Feng Tingting: "This is Ping Han."

Zhang Yu: "Huh?"

Feng Tingting: "He posted this on his Moments. Didn't you see it? He's even participating in the next Fellow Cultivator Conference."

Zhang Yu: "What exactly happened?"

Feng Tingting: "After the incident with the high-intelligence spirit implements going berserk, Joyful Union University had a massive shortage of spirit implements."

Feng Tingting: "And a distrust of high-intelligence spirit implements also arose."

Feng Tingting: "So, after a new batch of Yin Devices was produced, a group of soul cultivators were recruited to temporarily act as spirit implements."

Feng Tingting: "This is Ping Han."

Feng Tingting: "To be precise, *this* [Yin Device] is Ping Han."

Zhang Yu looked at the circled part of the picture, astonishment filling his mind: "Huh?"

Feng Tingting: "This is a high-level Yin Device. How could Ping Han possibly operate it by himself?"

Feng Tingting then added a warning: "Oh, and Ping Han is currently looking for people to borrow money from. Don't lend him any; he won't be able to pay it back."

Feng Tingting: "By the end of his tenth year, if he hasn't redeemed his physical body, he probably won't be able to graduate."

Feng Tingting: "At that point, he might have to take the 'bachelor-to-associate' path."

Zhang Yu knew that the so-called "bachelor-to-associate" path was a mocking term for students from the Top Ten universities who couldn't graduate and ended up settling for an associate's degree. After all, many vocational colleges eagerly sought even those talents rejected by the Top Ten. After closing his conversation with Feng Tingting, Zhang Yu felt even more regret, once again grateful that he hadn't fallen into the Nectar Coin trap due to a momentary lapse of greed.

Ji Yuanxu slowly crumpled to the ground, staring at the constant repayment reminders flashing in his eye-skull. "I can only keep seeking help from the Evil God," he muttered. "The Evil God must have a way to save me." Just as he pondered his next move, several notifications appeared before him. Before he could read them clearly, a voice called from outside his door. He saw patrol officers standing there. As doubt filled his mind, he heard one of them say, "Have you been contacting this person online?"

Ji Yuanxu's heart sank as he saw the projected image—the avatar was precisely the Evil God he had been contacting in the spirit realm. Just as Ji Yuanxu thought he had been caught for his belief in the Evil God, the patrol officer in front of him stated, "This person is suspected of fraud, luring believers under the guise of an Evil God. There are hundreds of victims."

"This time, the Nectar Coin crash exposed his activities."

"When we searched his chat records, we found that you were also deceived..."

The officer's subsequent words became increasingly indistinct to Ji Yuanxu. Only one phrase echoed repeatedly in his mind: "Fraud? Deceived?"

"Impossible! I performed the ritual and gained good fortune! How could it be fraud?"

As Ji Yuanxu reeled in shock, the patrol officer continued, "Do you have time? Come back with us to make a statement."

When Ji Yuanxu emerged from the patrol station, his mind was still in a daze, the officer's words replaying endlessly. "This fraudster is a finance graduate, but with no background or resources, he resorted to scamming for money."

"We've recovered a portion of the stolen funds and will return them to you; keep them safe."

"Go back, study hard, work overtime, and stop dreaming unrealistic dreams. Evil Gods are just urban legends; don't fall for that stuff."

Looking at the partial refund of the stolen money, Ji Yuanxu felt as if the entire ordeal had been a dream. With this small sum of spirit coins, he wouldn't have to become a soul cultivator and could barely continue to live as a person, albeit a truly poor one. However, Ji Yuanxu still felt a strong sense of unease about the entire incident. It was as if he were a pawn in a larger scheme, but a thick fog shrouded everything, preventing him from understanding what had truly happened.

Ping Han: "Brother Yu, I was wrong!"

Ping Han: "Please forgive me."

Ping Han: "I'll kowtow to you right now! *Bang! Bang! Bang!*"

Ping Han: "Please, I beg you, lend me some money..."

Listening to Ping Han's apologetic voice messages from a different account, Zhang Yu shook his head helplessly and silently blocked him. He heard that Ping Han was now asking everyone for money, even first-year Qi Refining freshmen.

Just then, Zhang Yu heard laughter nearby. He turned to see Yu Xinghan looking both delighted and slightly scared. Before the Nectar Coin crash, Yu Xinghan had made a small profit of 12 spirit coins and managed to withdraw in time, escaping completely unscathed. Catching Zhang Yu's gaze, Yu Xinghan couldn't help but say, "It was truly thrilling to grab spirit coins and run under the very nose of a God Transformation Divine Lord!" He sighed, "But if it happened again, I doubt I'd dare." Zhang Yu shook his head. "Be careful yourself. It's best to avoid such things."

A moment later, Zhang Yu arrived at the construction site on the 669th floor and met Director Gao. Director Gao stated, "My civil engineering seven-skill test for you is very simple: just complete the current floor within one hour." Hearing Director Gao's requirement, Zhang Yu couldn't help but inwardly sigh at how outlandish this "backdoor" was. Completing one floor in an hour counts as passing? But since he was the one taking the "backdoor," there was no issue.

After effortlessly passing the test set by Director Gao, Zhang Yu was granted the fifth of the Civil Engineering Seven Skills: "Finger-to-Steel." This was a cultivation technique that allowed one to temporarily increase the strength of earth and sand, and even command earth to form soldiers, using magical power and spiritual energy. Additionally, Zhang Yu gained eligibility to purchase a magical bone artifact called "Shockwave Steel," specifically designed to complement Finger-to-Steel. Zhang Yu had no interest in purchasing the artifact itself, so he asked another question: "Teacher, can I purchase the schematic for this magical bone artifact?" Director Gao replied, "A schematic?" Zhang Yu explained, "I was thinking... if I asked a student from the Artifact Forging Department to forge this artifact for me directly, would it be much cheaper?" Director Gao nodded slightly and said, "That's fine, but you can only purchase permission for small-scale private customization, not large-scale commercial production..." Midway through his sentence, Director Gao chuckled and shook his head; how could Zhang Yu possibly engage in large-scale commercial production? Zhang Yu looked at the schematic he had purchased, thinking to himself, "It involves three artifact forging techniques I haven't mastered yet, so I can't directly study the contents of this schematic for now." Although Zhang Yu didn't plan to equip the magical bone artifact, he was very interested in mastering its schematic and production capabilities. One reason was to eventually modify this artifact into a magic treasure to complement his Civil Engineering Seven Skills. The other reason was... "If a critical moment arises and I need to boost my combat power..." Zhang Yu thought, "then temporarily equipping the artifact to boost my strength wouldn't be out of the question." "Worst case, I'll just reattach the stripped body parts after using it."

After granting Zhang Yu the Finger-to-Steel cultivation technique, Director Gao nodded in satisfaction. "I've already spoken with another professor. Next month, you'll be arranged for another of the Civil Engineering Seven Skills tests. If you succeed, you'll be able to cultivate the sixth skill, 'Turning Earth into Gold'." Zhang Yu couldn't help but nod excitedly at this news. Unbeknownst to him, the day he would gather the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Shifting Divine Power was drawing ever closer. Director Gao then continued, "Next month, you'll join Mo Shangjin to participate in the inter-school league."

"However, two members of Mo Shangjin's team saw their fortunes plummet due to the Nectar Coin. They sold many of their magical bone artifacts, and their strength is no longer sufficient to continue competing."

"I'm currently selecting replacements. If you have any recommendations, feel free to tell me."