Chapter 361: Sky-Flipping Seal, Artifact Refinement Class

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Xiao Qingxuan raised an eyebrow as the Formless Golem before him suddenly launched a Dragon-shaped burst of Martial Qi with a single move.

“My Nine-Dragon Heavenforce Palm?”

His first instinct was that Zhang Yu had learned his technique.

But in the next moment, as the wave of Martial Qi collided with his own, the crashing force and the echoing dragon roar in his ears stunned him.

“That’s my palm force!”

“He just reflected my own strike back at me?”

With a thunderous boom, the impact zone exploded into a whirlwind of air. A portion of the Martial Qi shielding Xiao Qingxuan faded, but was quickly replenished, surging once more.

He glanced down at the single footprint left from his slight step back and nodded.

“So you absorbed the force of my palm and reflected it back.”

“This technique that redirects force… if I’m not mistaken, it must be the Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force?”

“To have mastered this and cultivated it to such a level… the freshman year exams really did fail to reflect your abilities. After all, the Civil Engineering Department doesn’t test for this in the first year.”

By now, all contempt in Xiao Qingxuan’s eyes had vanished as he looked at Zhang Yu. He nodded in approval.

“I acknowledge your strength. With this ability to redirect force and that resilient body of yours, you’re more than qualified for the defensive position.”

Watching Zhang Yu’s performance, Che Yufei and Shi Yunxiang exchanged glances, both visibly surprised.

Shi Yunxiang messaged privately: That kid Zhang Yu’s improved a lot since we last met.

Che Yufei: He’s developing faster than the wrinkles on my face—and none of the aging symptoms either.

At that, Che Yufei couldn’t help but envy Zhang Yu’s terrifying constitution, which let him treat Tiger-and-Wolf Tonics like daily meals.

Shi Huaiyu, standing nearby, chimed in, “Senior Xiao, didn’t I tell you Junior Zhang is impressive?”

“Let’s sort out everyone’s roles next.”

Che Yufei and Shi Yunxiang, both with rich fieldwork experience, were assigned to the construction positions on the competition team.

Zhang Yu and Tian Yang would handle defense, protecting the construction projects, while Shi Huaiyu and Xiao Qingxuan—being the strongest—would take the frontline combat roles.

Though all the roles involved fighting, Zhang Yu and Tian Yang focused on shielding the structures, whereas Shi Huaiyu and Xiao Qingxuan were meant to confront the opposing team head-on.

After settling the assignments, Shi Huaiyu added, “I’ve shared the full competition rules, resources, and recordings of past matches in the group chat.”

“Make sure to study them and prepare for your roles. We’ll start our first training session next week.”

“Ask me anything if you’re unclear.”

With everything arranged, the six parted ways. As students of Wanfa University, each of them had an overloaded schedule—no rest, no breaks.

On the way back, Zhang Yu received a notification from his bank account—the first-year scholarship of 3 spirit coins had just been deposited.

Unlike the student loan Director Gao helped him apply for, this scholarship didn’t need repayment.

Seeing his balance rise to over 9.4 spirit coins, Zhang Yu finally exhaled in relief. The pressure from the original 50-spirit-coin debt eased slightly.

“But I still have a ton of expenses ahead.”

“I need to keep earning, keep studying, keep cultivating…”

“After all, I’m aiming to join the Ten Major Sects—and I promised Ah-Zhen we’d compete in the Ten-Sect Tournament.”

That thought lit a fire in Zhang Yu’s eyes.

With the competition team confirmed, his schedule became even more grueling.

Civil engineering classes, artifact refinement training, his own cultivation, daily part-time work, competition prep—so many things weighing down on him.

And so, time rushed by in a whirlwind of pressure, intensity, and nonstop motion.

…

At the training hall.

A teacher addressed the Civil Engineering students before him.

“Large-scale construction comes in many forms. Every associated Technique demands immense time, effort, and patience to cultivate and internalize.”

“The school doesn’t expect everyone to master every specialization, but to graduate, you must be proficient in at least two major construction Techniques.”

“This course focuses on fill compaction for highways, tunnels, dams, stadiums, and other large-scale infrastructure. The Technique we use is the Sky-Flipping Seal…”

As the lecture continued, Zhang Yu mentally recorded every detail of the Sky-Flipping Seal’s mana flow and sequence, which began appearing in his Feathered Tome.

Sky-Flipping Seal – Level 0 (0/1)

Noting that the Sky-Flipping Seal belonged to the Martial Saint Embryo set, Zhang Yu gave a subtle smile.

“Good thing I got to pick my own specialization.”

“I remember from the Great Library that the Sky-Flipping Seal is part of the Martial Saint Embryo set. Testing it today confirms that.”

“Judging by its techniques, this was originally designed as a combat Technique—but with time and modernization…”

Up ahead, the instructor continued, “Remember, when compacting soft roadbeds with the Sky-Flipping Seal, start with 1 to 2 passes without vibration. Only then do you switch to vibrational compaction…”

“When activating the Sky-Flipping Seal, you also need to account for soil types—sandy, semi-cohesive, or cohesive layers all require different treatment…”

Leaving the training hall, Zhang Yu received a notification to pay his Spiritual Realm data usage fee.

He rolled his eyes and transferred the payment.

With artifact rental fees, spirit stone purchases, and loan interest draining his funds, his spirit coin balance kept falling.

Spirit Coin Balance: 8.5

…

Inside the Supreme Purity Realm.

Sigils streamed around Zhang Pianpian like waterfalls, dazzling Zhang Yu.

He no longer even tried to understand his sister’s sigil work—she spent more and more time in the Supreme Purity Realm, buried in studies.

Every time he entered, she was working on sigils. Every time he left, she was still there.

“So obsessed. Are sigils really that fun?”

Shaking his head, Zhang Yu returned to his studies.

Activating a sigil his sister had given him, he attempted to extract study materials from his EyeNet.

But then—his body froze.

“Where’s my study data?!”

Without looking up, Zhang Pianpian said, “You’re not dual cultivating. Downloading that many influencer videos from the Pleasure and Harmony Sect was a waste of space, especially in the Supreme Purity Realm. I deleted them all.”

Zhang Yu exploded. “Sis! You looked at my study files?!”

He punched the ground. “I was using them to study enemy tactics—what if I face their students during the Ten-Sect Tournament? I need prep!”

Zhang Pianpian pursed her lips. “I suggest getting a vasectomy. Better cost-performance.”

Zhang Yu stiffly changed the topic. “The Immortal Path is a personal choice. We should respect every cultivator’s decisions! Could you please not do that again? Also, can you stop checking my browsing history?”

She explained, “I’m worried someone might be monitoring or hacking your data, so I do regular checks.”

“You’re defenseless in the Spiritual Realm. It’s like walking around naked.”

Zhang Yu sighed. “At least pretend you didn’t see it, okay?”

Zhang Pianpian nodded. “Understood.”

She tapped her fingers, and a flash of light restored his deleted files.

“Your study data is back. Go ahead and… oh wait, I didn’t see anything.”

As she ducked her head and resumed her sigil work, Zhang Yu took a deep breath.

“Damn Kunxu. No privacy at all.”

Shaking his head to clear it, he activated multiple thought threads and resumed learning: artifact schematics, design principles, blueprint logic, and sigil engraving fundamentals.

These weren’t Techniques, so his Feathered Tome couldn’t accelerate the process—he had to study the hard way.

Still, with 20x time acceleration and multitasking, the flood of knowledge began to carve deep grooves in his mind. Artifact refinement, once a mystery, started making sense.

But the textbooks and video courses—despite the 20% discount—still cost him nearly 1 spirit coin across four courses.

Spirit Coin Balance: 7.5

…

Inside the training room.

With a loud bang, Zhang Yu stomped his foot into the ground, injecting a stream of black-gold Xuanhuang energy into the shattered stone below.

Then, with a sharp breath, the stones exploded upward like feathers, drifting down like snowflakes.

Director Gao nodded approvingly.

“Not bad. Advancing your Xuanhuang Mountain-Suppressing Seal to level 3 in such a short time—you’re starting to remind me of my younger self.”

“Keep at it. Don’t slack off. You’re still a long way from the Civil Engineering elite.”

Zhang Yu glanced at his Feathered Tome—his Xuanhuang Mountain-Suppressing Seal had already hit level 10.

He bowed. “Understood, Master.”

At level 10, the Xuanhuang energy could now exist outside the body.

Zhang Yu had tested this in private—he could launch attacks with it remotely, or channel it through the Formless Golem or Frost Golem.

After Zhang Yu left, Director Gao, usually expressionless, broke into a rare grin. It felt like the rush of buying a miracle stock years ago. He itched to brag.

But Zhang Yu’s rise was still premature. Too much exposure would invite trouble.

After a moment’s thought…

“Sigh, Magnetic… don’t blame me. We’ve been friends for years, and you’ve bragged enough about your Law Husks, artifacts, flying swords, mounts, manors, and savings…”

So Director Gao snapped a photo of the shattered stone flying through the air and sent it to True Lord Magneto.

Director Gao: [Image]

Director Gao: Zhang Yu’s Xuanhuang Mountain-Suppressing Seal is already at level 3.

True Lord Magneto: !

True Lord Magneto: Seriously? That fast? 😲

Seeing the reply, Director Gao took a deep breath, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile.

“Who says Civil Engineering has no prodigies?”

…

On the 667th-floor construction site.

With a thunderous upward strike, Zhang Yu launched a burst of Martial Qi skyward.

Then, with his palm crashing down, the air itself warped under the force.

The pressure turned the atmosphere heavy as lead and mercury, slamming into the ground like a colossal square seal.

Boom!

The uneven surface compacted instantly—flat, dense, solid.

Zhang Yu nodded, pleased.

“My Sky-Flipping Seal is already level 10, but I can only use it at level 3 strength for my part-time jobs… such a waste.”

At level 10, its area of effect had grown significantly. A full-strength application could compact dozens of square meters in one go.

“Still, even at level 3, I can swap back to Mana Pulse Flowing Stream during breaks for rapid recovery. I can use the Sky-Flipping Seal all night long…”

And so the night passed, and Zhang Yu received his first paycheck from large-scale construction work.

For the next few days, he worked every night—cultivating the Sky-Flipping Seal while on the job.

Spirit Coin Balance: 7.9