Chapter 522: Face-to-Face Competition

After advancing "The Art of Celestial Artifacts" to level 20, Jin Jun immediately began preparations for refining the prototype of the Heavenly Sun Blazing God.

To successfully obtain military certification for the Heavenly Sun Blazing God, Jin Jun had already announced his intentions, informing artifact refining students across all grades and demonstrating his resolve to complete the Heavenly Sun Blazing God in the next academic year.

At this moment, he walked to the experimental bench and began conducting simulated experiments to hone his artifact refining skills.

To achieve the best simulation effect, he not only adjusted his spiritual realm avatar to match his real-world appearance but also replicated his actual laboratory within his spiritual cave dwelling, scale for scale.

"Once the Heavenly Sun Blazing God is successfully completed, I will have a place in the top ten leagues!"

After completing a set of simulated experiments, rows of resumes appeared before Jin Jun, and he began reviewing them one by one.

To ensure the smooth refining of the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype, Jin Jun had begun recruiting assistants three months prior.

However, as the project progressed, personnel changes frequently occurred, and he continued to accept resumes.

After reviewing them for a while, Jin Jun was largely unsatisfied, so he began using his connections to find suitable candidates.

He was looking for someone skilled in true fire processing and adept at repairing the metal casings of magical artifacts.

Soon, he was told that Zhang Yu, a third-year student, had excellent skills in this area, having mastered the Level 20 Divine Fire Control art and specializing in repairing artifact casings.

Furthermore, since Zhang Yu was about to begin preparations for refining the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype himself, he seemed even more suitable for Jin Jun's project.

"Zhang Yu?" Jin Jun was somewhat surprised. "The student who transferred from the Civil Engineering department?"

Jin Jun then specifically reviewed the data for artifacts Zhang Yu had repaired, and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

"Excellent, technically competent and affordable. He's the one!"

In contrast, while many senior students met the technical requirements, they were already involved in various other projects, making the cost of recruiting them prohibitively high for Jin Jun.

He opened the resumes he had received and filtered out all the third-year students.

"Zi Yunzhen, Su Yunni..."

"Did Zhang Yu not submit a resume to me?"

Jin Jun thought to himself, "Does he think I wouldn't accept him?"

Knowing that Ye Xingli often introduced work to Zhang Yu, Jin Jun directly contacted her.

Jin Jun: Xingli, do you know Zhang Yu? Could you pass a message for me?

Ye Xingli: What message?

Jin Jun: I'd like to invite him to join my project—the Heavenly Sun Blazing God refining project.

Inside the laboratory!

Seeing this message, Ye Xingli's eyes flickered.

She forwarded Jin Jun's message to Zhang Yu, then asked: "Who would have thought Jin Jun would want to recruit you for help?"

Ye Xingli: "It's a great opportunity to learn while working."

Zhang Yu, who was currently practicing artifact refining techniques in the lab, replied: "No thanks, I prefer to follow my own pace."

Ye Xingli: "You could get some practice with Jin Jun and learn from his experience. It might save you a lot of detours later."

Zhang Yu: "Seriously, no need. Please decline on my behalf, Senior Sister."

Looking at Zhang Yu's message, Ye Xingli was somewhat surprised. "He rejected such a good opportunity?"

"Could Zhang Yu have decided to give up on refining the Heavenly Sun Blazing God and instead plans to participate in the design competition?"

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Ye Xingli immediately stopped trying to persuade him and simply forwarded Zhang Yu's reply to Jin Jun.

Seeing Ye Xingli's reply, Jin Jun frowned.

"Rejected?"

Jin Jun had already inquired and knew that Zhang Yu had publicly stated his intention to refine the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype.

"This project should be an incredibly good opportunity for him!"

"After joining, he would not only get free practice but also go through the entire process of the Heavenly Sun Blazing God. It would be entirely beneficial for him. Why would he refuse?"

After a brief thought, Jin Jun believed he had the answer: "Is he playing hard to get, trying to negotiate terms?"

So Jin Jun began to weigh the pros and cons in his mind.

"During the refining process of the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype, there's a significant amount of work involving metal casing refining!"

"If Zhang Yu were to help, it would not only increase efficiency but also allow for repair work, reducing losses from failed refinements and lowering the overall project cost!"

Realizing this, Jin Jun immediately contacted Ye Xingli again, intending this time to speak with Zhang Yu directly.

Upon arriving at Ye Xingli's laboratory, Jin Jun first greeted her, then turned his gaze to Zhang Yu.

He walked up smiling: "Junior Brother Zhang Yu, I came here specifically to invite you!"

"If you're willing to join my project, I can offer you twice the salary of other assistants!"

On the other side, Zi Yunzhen and other assistants who were cleaning materials were surprised by Jin Jun's arrival.

Zi Yunzhen had also previously applied for Jin Jun's project, as refining the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype involved military-grade power, and participating would significantly boost her resume.

Seeing Jin Jun personally invite Zhang Yu and offer double the pay, Zi Yunzhen felt a mix of envy and jealousy.

However, after a moment of silence, Zhang Yu reluctantly replied to Jin Jun's invitation: "I'm sorry, but I don't want to participate in this project."

Jin Jun smiled and continued, "Zhang Yu, don't be so quick to refuse!"

"I'm determined to succeed in refining this Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype, and I need excellent assistants to help me!"

"Besides, it seems you also intend to pursue the path of the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype in the future."

"You have some technical skills, but you lack experience and reputation!"

"Participating in this project, learning while working, will help you accumulate experience in refining the Heavenly Sun Blazing God!"

"I know you might have been concerned about obstacles in your artifact refining journey due to your civil engineering background!"

"But an experience participating in a military-grade project will definitely make everyone look at you differently!"

"If you join, besides the part you're responsible for, I can also share the entire project's data with you, allowing you to use it for your own studies!"

"This should be very helpful for your future refining of the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype!"

Zi Yunzhen and the other two assistants watched with immense envy. They were all assistants, yet Zhang Yu's treatment was so much better than theirs!

Glancing at the malevolent energy materials she was cleaning, Zi Yunzhen felt that compared to Zhang Yu, she was the one who seemed like the transfer student from civil engineering!

For Jin Jun, doubling an assistant's salary wasn't a significant expense.

Sharing data was even more beneficial and cost-free, requiring no additional expense from him, yet it was undeniably a huge draw for the student before him.

Jin Jun looked at Zhang Yu confidently, certain that the transfer student from the Civil Engineering department would accept.

However, feeling Jin Jun's gaze, Zhang Yu shook his head and said, "Senior, I have too many things on my plate right now. I truly don't have time to participate!"

Jin Jun was slightly stunned by this response, then gave Zhang Yu a deep look. Believing Zhang Yu was still trying to bargain, he felt compelled to remind him: "Zhang Yu, these are the best terms I can offer. It's a win-win for both of us!"

At the same time, Jin Jun thought to himself, "I wanted to secure him quickly. Did my excessive sincerity make Zhang Yu think he could still ask for more?"

Ye Xingli, standing nearby, spoke up to prevent any conflict between the two: "Zhang Yu, are you no longer planning to pursue the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype path?"

"Jin Jun, if Zhang Yu plans to participate in the design competition first, then he indeed wouldn't have time for your project!"

Jin Jun was slightly taken aback by her words and thought, "So that's it. It makes sense. Participating in a design competition first, then mastering military-grade techniques before refining a military-grade artifact prototype – that's the normal path for artifact refining cultivation!"

However, hearing Ye Xingli's words, Zhang Yu realized he should clarify his intentions.

After all, once he completed his "Artifact Refining Prodigy" training, he would begin preparing to study the Heavenly Sun Blazing God.

And according to Zhang Yu's own estimates, he was very likely to complete the refining of the prototype in the next academic year, which would put him in direct competition with Jin Jun.

If he allowed Jin Jun, Ye Xingli, and others to misunderstand him today, then once he completed the prototype refining later, his actions today would appear as deliberate deception of Jin Jun, falsely claiming to have given up on the Heavenly Sun Blazing God.

Being criticized in the future or being ostracized by Jin Jun would be minor issues.

However, if it affected the prototype's testing and evaluation, that would be a significant loss.

After all, only by creating a military-grade artifact prototype and passing the artifact refining skill tests and evaluations could one be granted military certification.

To pass the evaluation, it was essential to leave traces throughout the project, including records, evidence, and various marks of his own refining process for the prototype.

If Zhang Yu acknowledged "giving up on the Heavenly Sun Blazing God" today, would he then have to secretly refine artifacts behind everyone's backs? Wouldn't that just make it harder to pass the evaluation in the future?

Alternatively, if he didn't explain the situation today and let others believe he had given up, only to openly refine the prototype later, what would be the point of acknowledging it today?

For Zhang Yu, the best choice was to openly declare his intentions today, leave traces everywhere in the future, and complete the refining of the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype step by step, leaving no room for anyone to question him.

So Zhang Yu stated firmly, "Senior Jin Jun, I'm not joining your project because I'm not giving up. Instead, I've decided to begin refining the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype myself very soon, and at that point, I will inevitably be in direct competition with you!"

Following Zhang Yu's words, the entire laboratory fell silent instantly.

Zi Yunzhen looked at the serious-faced Zhang Yu and felt he was simply crazy. On what grounds would he compete directly with Jin Jun?

A look of astonishment flashed across Ye Xingli's face; she had never expected Zhang Yu to say such a thing!

Her mind raced: "Zhang Yu might be from civil engineering, but he's not an idiot. Why would he say something like that? Could it be...?"

Jin Jun, standing before Zhang Yu, simply chuckled dismissively: "Junior Brother Zhang, if you want to decline my offer, just say no directly. There's no need to bring up such outlandish claims!"

Zhang Yu didn't smile; he spoke earnestly again: "I'm not joking. I should be able to refine the Heavenly Sun Blazing God prototype by my senior year!"

"Since you, Senior Jin Jun, are also undertaking this, I didn't want to keep it from you. You'll know eventually anyway!"

Sensing the seriousness in Zhang Yu's tone, Jin Jun gradually realized that the other party genuinely wasn't joking.

Jin Jun's smile widened. He found the scene before him incredibly amusing and interesting, making him burst out laughing.