Chapter 493

As the airship streaked across the sky, it arrived above Immortal Soldier University.

Zhang Yu looked down at the abyss below, stretching thousands of meters in diameter with no visible bottom. He could faintly see numerous light clusters sparkling at its lowest depths, said to be the factories deep beneath Immortal Soldier University. Around the abyss, the rock walls also shimmered with countless lights, and buildings emerged directly from them, seemingly reaching for the sky. The massive cavern was filled with structures built into and extending from the rock faces.

At that moment, lines of malevolent energy pollution forecasts appeared in Zhang Yu's ocular artifact. Zhang Yu gazed at the Nine Nether Abyss below, thinking that Immortal Soldier University’s malevolent energy pollution was indeed the most severe he had encountered among all the universities he had visited.

Upon disembarking from the airship, everyone quickly rented magical artifacts that could protect them from malevolent energy pollution. Otherwise, they would be restricted to a small number of fixed areas within Immortal Soldier University. After leaving the airship docking platform, a massive Extreme Tiger advertisement appeared before them.

Mo Shangjin exclaimed, "Immortal Soldier University is the birthplace of Extreme Tiger. It's said to have been co-founded by several Divine Transformation disciples. In its early days, it only recruited wealthy individuals, and thanks to its money-driven corporate culture, it developed rapidly, becoming a renowned enterprise at Immortal Soldier University."

As Zhang Yu walked, he noticed that students everywhere were wearing Extreme Tiger brand ocular artifacts, making his group feel like outsiders. Zhang Yu sighed, "It seems every student at Immortal Soldier University uses the Extreme Tiger brand."

Mo Shangjin said, "It's rumored that 3 out of every 10 people at Immortal Soldier University work for Extreme Tiger, and the school primarily procures Extreme Tiger brand artifacts." He added, "Price is also a significant factor. You can check the artifact platform here; Extreme Tiger brand items are sold very cheaply."

Zhang Yu casually looked around and indeed found them to be much cheaper than the Extreme Tiger brand items at Myriad Law University. He couldn't help but consider buying a batch to take back and sell. However, after calculating the taxes, Zhang Yu decided against it. He then noticed that there were many high-end Extreme Tiger models here, which looked increasingly familiar.

Zhang Yu said, "These high-end models seem to be..."

Mo Shangjin replied, "They're copied, of course. Extreme Tiger is known as a low-end brand precisely because their mid-to-high-end models are plagiarized from other companies. Lawsuits are ongoing every year, and the copied models have always been banned from sale at other universities. You can only buy them here, on Immortal Soldier University's territory."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Immortal Soldier University is protecting Extreme Tiger's plagiarism."

Fu Ji said, "What's new about that? Look at all the companies in Kunxu now, like Vajra Mystic Forge, Myriad Path Artisans... which one didn't start by copying others?" She continued, "The same goes for universities and sects. How else do they get stronger without copying? The weak copy to catch up to the strong. The strong can't be good at everything, so to maintain their current status, they must absorb resources from all sides, creating some things while copying others."

"Copyright can restrict ordinary people, but how can it restrict truly influential powers? Of course, they still give face to the Heavenly Court; usually, they break down the original and then reconstruct it, copying just enough to make it hard to pin down."

Zhang Yu mused, "When I have the ability later, to deconstruct various cultivation techniques and then reconstruct them... I'll copy to my heart's content too." Thinking of this, Zhang Yu again lamented that the power of his Feather Scroll was still too weak, unable to keep up with his wild imagination.

As they spoke, the group arrived at the Civil Engineering Competition arena. Zhang Yu looked at the messages from True Monarch Magnetic Pole and Director Gao, knowing that both of his teachers were also watching through the spiritual realm.

Above the arena, in the spiritual realm's spectator stands, projections of True Monarch Magnetic Pole and Director Gao appeared together.

True Monarch Magnetic Pole sighed, "Immortal Soldier University... it's been a long time since I've been to this dilapidated place."

Director Gao asked, "You mentioned last time that the design blueprint for the military-grade armor, the prize for this Civil Engineering Competition, how valuable is it?" He was considering whether to have Mo Shangjin intervene and turn the tide if Zhang Yu couldn't defeat their opponents.

True Monarch Magnetic Pole said, "Although this military-grade armor awarded is specifically for civil engineering, its design originated from higher authorities. For the authorities, giving out such a blueprint costs no resources, yet it can further intensify the competition." He sighed again, then continued, "But even knowing this, many people will still jump into it, won't they? After all, who wouldn't want a glimpse into the technological development direction of the sects? If one can discern a bit of the future technological path from the blueprint, the benefits would be immeasurable. But it's also possible that after expending great effort to obtain it, one might find nothing of value, as the authorities might not have included much information on future technological routes. What the situation truly is, we won't know until the blueprint is obtained. Its value is therefore inestimable. At the very least, it can fill a gap in the school's knowledge of military-grade armor."

Director Gao nodded slightly upon hearing this. He knew that while universities updated various immortal cultivation technologies annually, these were merely minor updates and innovations, patching up existing frameworks. Every truly world-changing technological revolution, however, typically originated from the dissemination of sect technologies, causing immense upheaval and even altering the ecosystem of a certain layer of Kunxu. If one could glimpse the future technological development routes and directions in advance, there were clearly various intangible benefits.

Director Gao mused inwardly, "The value of this blueprint seems to exceed that of the military-grade armor itself. Would Immortal Soldier University's Artifact Forging Department also be interested? Especially with the allure of the Divine Transformation artifact experiments..."

Just then, a spiritual realm projection appeared, exuding a metallic luster and taking the form of a puppet. It spoke, "Magnetic Pole, long time no see."

True Monarch Magnetic Pole's eyes flashed as he calmly said, "Thousand Puppets, are you here to watch the Civil Engineering Competition too?"

Director Gao's heart stirred. A quick search in his ocular artifact brought up the opponent's profile: "True Monarch Thousand Puppets, Head of Immortal Soldier University's Artifact Forging Department. In the past three years, he has been involved in over two thousand copyright disputes, making him one of Immortal Soldier University's kings of plagiarism..."

True Monarch Thousand Puppets smiled faintly and said, "I heard your Myriad Law University recently copied the Divine Artifact of the Nectar Sovereign again, so I came to see your plagiarized results."

True Monarch Magnetic Pole snorted coldly, "All my projects are independently developed. Don't go slandering people."

True Monarch Thousand Puppets shook his head, "Alright, alright, if you say it's independently developed, then it's independently developed. Let's just watch the competition. Let's see how your independently developed results perform, shall we?"

Meanwhile, the two teams outside the arena simultaneously entered the field.

Wan Gouhuan smiled at Zhang Yu and said, "Student Zhang Yu, your university's strength is astonishing, and the Sky Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power is truly earth-shattering in its destructive force. Let's just stop at a reasonable point later; let's not incur unnecessary losses for the sake of a single competition."

Zhang Yu gave the other person a surprised look, then casually nodded and agreed. Wan Gouhuan looked at Zhang Yu before him, his face calm, but his heart grew increasingly excited. "Patience! Patience! Patience!" He repeatedly cautioned himself inwardly, "I can't let Zhang Yu detect anything unusual; I can't let him become wary. I can't let him realize... he has already become our prey. I must control my malice, not give him a chance to surrender, not let him... escape!"

At this moment, Zhang Yu was like a delicate flower in Wan Gouhuan's eyes. He intended to approach cautiously, step by step, and then, before Zhang Yu could react, tear him to shreds in one swift move. "In the worst-case scenario, I must at least tear his body apart, scattering all his material components everywhere for the school to collect..." The more excited he grew internally, the calmer Wan Gouhuan appeared outwardly, showing no hint of anything unusual.

As both sides entered, the competition officially began. Wan Gouhuan and his teammates first opened a series of iron coffins. Amidst roars, distorted human figures were released from the iron coffins. These were bodies that had worked for years in underground factories, becoming thoroughly infected by high concentrations of malevolent energy, with their artifacts severely damaged and their souls lost. Because their bodies were severely infected by malevolent energy, the original owners had been forced to abandon their physical forms. Lacking maintenance and care, their bodies became increasingly infected by malevolent energy, leaving only their rudimentary artifact spirits to control them, maintaining only the most basic functions. However, these rudimentary artifact spirits, abandoned by their original owners, had entered a state of spiritual network outage due to severed connection. Thus, these disconnected artifact spirits controlled their dilapidated bodies, wandering through high-concentration malevolent energy pollution zones, becoming zombies that neither companies nor schools bothered to deal with. Only the rudimentary artifact spirits repeatedly requested connection to the spiritual realm; this instinctive act became their final obsession, transforming into an infinite yearning for the spiritual realm.

At this moment, as Wan Gouhuan pointed a finger, the spiritual realm traffic supplied to these zombies burst like a spark in their dark world, guiding them to charge towards Myriad Law University's position. Amidst roars, zombies with malevolent energy surging into the sky shot forth like wild beasts.

Zhang Yu, observing this scene, frowned slightly. He knew that while these zombies weren't powerful in combat, the malevolent energy surrounding them was difficult to handle. Any contact would result in reduced lifespan, medical expenses, contaminated sites, and other troubles. So Zhang Yu ascended into the air, actively moving to meet them.

But in the next moment, streaks of divine light descended from the sky, exuding terrifying pressure. Zhang Yu's hair stood on end instantly; he felt that even a slight touch from the golden light would kill him. Simultaneously, a message from the referee appeared in everyone's ocular artifacts.

Referee: Emergency situation. Match suspended. Everyone, do not move.

Zhang Yu was startled. This was the first time he had heard the referee speak in all the matches he had played. "Did something major happen?"

As Zhang Yu wondered in surprise, the golden light converged and dissipated, and all the zombies' artifacts had been pixelated. Zhang Yu paused, then realized in the next moment: "Damn it... Extreme Tiger Corporation is worried about damaging its brand image, so they're pixelating the Extreme Tiger artifacts on the zombies!"

Referee: Match resumed.

The next moment, the entire arena stirred again. Zhang Yu launched a powerful Sky Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power from a distance, which formed a solid wall, firmly blocking the incoming zombies. Then, Zhang Yu made another remote grab, intending to lift the zombies from their spots and throw them towards Immortal Soldier University's construction site. But the moment these zombies were restrained, their artifacts twisted violently. Through their connection to the spiritual realm network, a self-destruct command was issued. Their long-standing craving for the spiritual realm was finally satisfied. The zombies' violent explosions sounded like cries of rest ringing across the arena.

As the zombies collectively burst apart, large swathes of malevolent energy spread indiscriminately across the arena. Zhang Yu's eyes narrowed as he thought, "These guys from Immortal Soldier University intend to spread malevolent energy across the entire arena? It seems they are very confident in their malevolent energy protection technology."

On the other side, Wan Gouhuan observed the scene, musing, "Myriad Law University, your living environment is too good. You can breathe without purifying the air and attend school without protecting against malevolent energy. How can your accumulated experience in this area compare to ours? Spreading malevolent energy across the entire arena is a hostile environment for you. For us... it's just everyday life." As he thought, Wan Gouhuan kept reminding himself, "Be patient, be patient. Suppress him little by little. Don't give him a chance to escape."