Chapter 529: Soul Rings and Tiangong Kaiwu (Thanks to ‘Shuigu Zhuyá’ for sponsoring the alliance leader)

Within the Taiqing Realm.

As everything accelerated, Zhang Yu, in his four manifestations, continuously refined one magic treasure after another within the illusion.

Merit Relic Level 20.

Seeing the magic treasure finally reach Level 20, Zhang Yu breathed a slight sigh of relief and began learning and practicing the next one.

Regardless of how chaotic the outside world became due to the conflicts between the Divine Transformation Lords, Zhang Yu spent his days secluded in his dorm room, immersed in the Taiqing Realm, silently honing his artifact refining skills.

The matters of the Divine Transformation Lords were too far removed from him, even if it meant the world truly collapsing! Reforming the elemental forces of wind, water, earth, and fire was also beyond his control. All Zhang Yu could do at that moment was silently accumulate his strength, increasing his chances no matter what situation he might face in the future.

Back in his dorm room, Zhang Yu, having exited the Taiqing Realm, removed his spiritual interface mask. He twisted his body, which hadn't moved for over a dozen hours, and stretched to get his blood flowing.

At the same time, Yu Xinghan tossed a bottle of pills over. "The medicine's here, this is your share," Yu Xinghan complained. "Pill prices have gone up again. These unscrupulous merchants really profit from misery. I heard even shit has gotten more expensive. Damn... too bad I didn't join the dark world of excrement trafficking!"

Zhang Yu swallowed the entire bottle of pills, feeling the medicinal power surge through his body. "Ugh, only 70% full," he thought to himself. Unsure of the future's direction, Zhang Yu was now deliberately saving spirit coins daily to prepare for any unexpected situations.

A moment later, Le Mulan arrived, returning to the dorm with a large bag of medicine. "The department is starting to control medication," she said. "This is the last time I'll be able to get this much discounted medicine from them!"

After taking the medicine, Zhang Yu didn't rush back into the Taiqing Realm to continue his artifact refining practice. While digesting the medicinal effects, he checked the messages appearing in his Eye-Skull device, gathering information about the current situation. Although he spent his days immersed in the Taiqing Realm, he still took time daily to understand the broader circumstances, lest he remain completely ignorant of the outside world.

"Are the Divine Transformation Lords still in conflict?" Besides Myriad Laws University, Heavenly Sword University, Joyous Union University, and White Bone University, Divine Transformation Lords from Netherworld University and Vajra University had also successively entered the fray.

"What a mess," Zhang Yu shook his head helplessly. He then noticed a flurry of messages in the hometown chat group. Looking at the row of dimmed avatars in the group, Zhang Yu sighed. Normally, as long as an Eye-Skull device was active, users should be online 24/7. In the past, many members of the group, though no longer speaking, mostly had bright avatars. But at that moment, many soul cultivators, unable to find work due to the unemployment wave and facing financial difficulties, had temporarily frozen themselves, maintaining their basic thought processes at minimum cost. Their avatars had all turned a gray, offline color.

Song Hailong, Immortal Soldier University: Selling a used, high-end Extreme Tiger Dharma-Skull, 90% new. DM if interested.

Xiong Wenwu, Heavenly Blessing University: Anyone need a mount? I have work experience, my body underwent mount modification surgery, and I'm equipped with a spine-interface saddle Dharma-Skull!

Hu Yuntao: You lost your job?

Xiong Wenwu, Heavenly Demon University: My boss's assets shrunk, so he laid off half his mounts!

Lan Ling, Mountains and Rivers University: Sigh, when will this crisis end?

Nan Ling: Photos!

Lan Ling: I just lost my job, and when I came back, I found my school dorm had been torn down. If this continues, I'll just commit suicide—I won't even let the righteous gods take my soul, and I won't pay back a single cent of debt!

Lian Tianji, Joyous Union University: Don't talk nonsense! Do you want to get the group shut down?

Zhang Yu saw a photo of Lan Ling living amidst ruins. Suddenly, he frowned, noticing Lian Tianji's avatar looked strange. Clicking on it, he saw that the Lian Tianji in the avatar photo had gotten much fatter!

Zhang Yu: Are you alright?

Lian Tianji: Why wouldn't I be?

Lian Tianji: Oh, you mean the pregnancy!

Lian Tianji: I passed the selection and was chosen for the school's pregnancy experiment. Now I get free medicine every day and a good amount of financial subsidy. This crisis hasn't affected me much at all!

Feeling the joy in Lian Tianji's tone, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "My compatriots on this layer are becoming more and more like the locals on the second layer!"

Meanwhile, Lan Ling, who had just been complaining in the group, received a message from Zhou Chechen of Skysea University!

Zhou Chechen asked: "What do you think about the 'Double Cultivation' practice?"

Lan Ling, looking at the message from her former high school student council president, angrily rebuked him: "Are you out of your mind?! You dare get involved with Double Cultivation!"

Zhou Chechen: "Just a little bit, it's fine!"

Lan Ling: "Old Zhou, just bear with it a bit longer! The Ten Major Leagues will be over soon, and then the Divine Transformation Lords will stop!"

Lan Ling: "If you get involved with Double Cultivation, your life is over!"

After scanning through the group messages, Zhang Yu checked a message from Director Gao: "Xiao Qingxuan has no place to stay recently. Could you arrange for him to bunk with you in your dorm for a while?"

Zhang Yu naturally had no objection to this. His current 30-square-meter luxury dorm was originally arranged by Director Gao, and the director hadn't rescinded it even after he transferred to the Artifact Refining Department. So, of course, Zhang Yu wouldn't oppose a temporary arrangement for someone to stay.

The next day, Xiao Qingxuan, covered in dust from travel, arrived at the dorm. Seeing the debt figures on his body, Zhang Yu was startled and asked, "15,000?! How did your debt increase so much?"

Xiao Qingxuan casually replied, "It's an economic crisis, a minor calamity sweeping through layers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6—five layers in total. Many companies in the civil engineering department are having problems, so they arranged for me to shoulder their debts!"

Xiao Qingxuan sat cross-legged, took a few deep breaths, and felt his spiritual power recover, a sense of relief washing over him. Hearing his words, Zhang Yu was immensely curious. He wondered how one "shouldered" debts, and what benefits Xiao Qingxuan gained from doing so. What kind of advantages would make Xiao Qingxuan willing to be such a debt-bearer? At least from Zhang Yu's perspective, he saw no astonishing benefits for Xiao Qingxuan; in fact, he was now in an economic crisis, without even a place to live!

Over the next few days, Zhang Yu also noticed that Xiao Qingxuan was constantly looking for a job!

Xiao Qingxuan: "I've already graduated, after all. If I can't find a job after graduation, it'll be a huge blemish on my resume!"

Xiao Qingxuan frowned: "Then I probably won't ever find a formal job in the future!"

Zhang Yu glanced at the debt figures on Xiao Qingxuan's body, thinking that given his situation, finding a job would probably be difficult anyway, and even harder now with the unemployment wave.

Zhang Yu casually offered, "Why don't you take a nominal position at my company for now? Though I can only pay you 0.0001 spirit coins, just for the sake of it."

Xiao Qingxuan replied delightedly, "Yes, that works! As long as my resume isn't blank!"

After a moment's thought, Xiao Qingxuan looked at Zhang Yu earnestly and said, "There's not much I can do for you, but if your company ever needs someone to shoulder debts in the future, you can find me. I'm just a useless life, a little more debt won't matter!"

Shortly after Xiao Qingxuan moved in, Zhang Yu received a message from Tuli Shan!

Tuli Shan: "Zhang Yu, could you help Shi Huaiyu out for a while?"

Tuli Shan said she had suffered heavy losses from crypto trading and, compounded by rising rent, had been homeless for almost a week.

Tuli Shan had also taken care of him in many ways, and Shi Huaiyu was his former competition teammate. Zhang Yu naturally wouldn't refuse. Following Tuli Shan's directions, he went underground to the entrance of Huilong Garden. From a distance, he saw refugee-like crowds gathered outside the cemetery, squeezed together, diligently practicing qi circulation, hoping to absorb some of the spiritual energy emanating from within the graves.

"Zhang Yu!"

Shi Huaiyu looked up at Zhang Yu: "You don't have a place to live either?"

She forcefully pushed aside the people next to her: "Come, come! I still have a spot here!"

Looking at Shi Huaiyu's disheveled appearance, Zhang Yu felt as if he was seeing a stray cat that had been wandering for a long time. He said, "Teacher Tuli Shan asked me to pick you up. If you don't mind, you can squeeze into my dorm."

Shi Huaiyu immediately jumped up, happily following behind Zhang Yu. He heard her say, "Zhang Yu, don't worry, once the coins I bought recover, I'll break even, and then I'll pay you back for the rent."

Zhang Yu casually replied, "It's alright, no need for rent. Times are tough right now, we should help each other out when we can. It's about getting through this together."

Shi Huaiyu looked at Zhang Yu with some shock, surprised that there was actually someone in the world who wouldn't charge rent!

Fuji said discontentedly, "Xiao Qingxuan is so poor he can't even pay for shit, that's one thing. But Shi Huaiyu wants to pay rent, why aren't you taking it?"

Zhang Yu looked at Shi Huaiyu's Dharma-Skull arms, which were severely worn and peeling. He said to Fuji in his mind, "Forget it, the rent isn't much anyway!"

Fuji: "That's because you haven't raised the price! If you're collecting rent now, you should definitely charge the current market rate. Even if you don't collect, at least get an IOU!"

Zhang Yu ignored Fuji, who was so exasperated she felt like she was trying to hammer iron into steel.

After following Zhang Yu back to the dorm, Shi Huaiyu immediately sat cross-legged and practiced qi circulation. As she felt her spiritual power gradually recover, a trace of relief finally appeared on her face!

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu had already put on his spiritual interface mask and resumed his cultivation. Within the illusion, Zhang Yu's four figures flickered back and forth, refining a magic treasure called the "Other-Transformation Soul Ring." These artifacts originated from Heavenly Demon University and were commonly used in the human body rental market. Once an Other-Transformation Soul Ring was implanted into a person, it allowed remote control of their physical body through the spiritual realm, accurately perceiving all sensations transmitted from the body—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and so on.

It was said that many soul cultivators used this treasure to utilize temporary physical bodies, and many cultivation technique laboratories also used this method to conduct cultivation experiments on test subjects. The Other-Transformation Soul Ring itself was not particularly useful to Zhang Yu, but the spiritual realm communication technology it contained, especially the techniques related to remote spiritual power control and five-sense communication, were essential for the Blazing Sun God. With the value of these technologies, the Blazing Sun God could be controlled from extremely long distances via the spiritual realm network! It could even be controlled as if it were an external avatar. And as Zhang Yu diligently cultivated, he suddenly felt a stir within the Dao Seed Codex in his Feather Book!

Zhang Yu's gaze sharpened, and he immediately checked the Dao Seed Codex. He then discovered that he had just replicated Magnetic Pole True Lord's Dao Seed, the "Heavenly Craft: The Exploitation of Things!"

A surge of joy filled Zhang Yu's heart: "It's done! Has Master finally raised the magic treasure we refined together to Level 31?"