Chapter 547: Who’s Getting in the Way Behind the Scenes

Shortly after Zhang Yu left, a message from True Lord Xianyin appeared in Feng Yuhan’s EyeNet.

True Lord Xianyin: Has the funding been approved?

Feng Yuhan: Don’t worry, it’ll arrive soon.

Feng Yuhan: But you need to hurry.

True Lord Xianyin: Rest assured, Ciji has already opened the lead. If we follow the path, we’ll have results quickly.

After a brief exchange with True Lord Xianyin from the Artifact Refinement Department, Feng Yuhan finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

This time, by taking advantage of some delicate circumstances currently in Wanfa University City, he had successfully helped five Nascent Soul True Lords from the Artifact Refinement Department each set up project groups and join the experiments on the Nascent Soul Law Husk.

On the surface it looked like help for True Lord Magneto, but in practice it would also carve off a fair share of Magneto’s research outcomes, prestige, credentials, and funding in the Nascent Soul Law Husk project.

Especially now that True Lord Magneto’s research into the Nascent Soul Law Husk had already made some breakthroughs, accusations of “cherry-picking” would be hard to avoid.

Feng Yuhan, of course, didn’t mind. With other Nascent Soul True Lords checking Magneto, he could steer the project more easily.

At the same time, multiple channels made it easier and more thorough to obtain intelligence and materials from the whole experiment.

“Hmph—Magneto… someone who only buries himself in the lab, can’t even keep his own department together. If he can’t manage his people properly, why should the university entrust him with such an important project like the Nascent Soul Law Husk?” Feng Yuhan thought.

“Once the others produce results too, he’ll understand that he’s not the only one who knows artifact refinement.”

Feng Yuhan had dealt with many cultivators arrogant from mastering a single strand of Xiandao technology; to preserve the university’s research order, he had taught more than a few of them a lesson.

In his view, technicians don’t understand the university’s difficulties and lack a big-picture perspective—eyes fixed only on their own labs. They should follow orders to keep order in the university city.

As for Zhang Yu? A student who had to help five Nascent Soul True Lords with experiments would have his workload multiply several times—such a small thing wasn’t something Feng Yuhan bothered to remember.

Every year countless small players were ruined by higher-ups’ political maneuvering.

Now it was just giving a student a bit more work. How could Feng Yuhan care? He turned his head and forgot about it.

…

After leaving Feng Yuhan’s office, Zhang Yu began thinking over countermeasures.

The most common choice in Kunxu… endure it?

Zhang Yu shook his head in his mind. “If I spend so much time cooperating with these Nascent Soul True Lords, how much time will I have left for my own project?”

Besides, despite outsiders’ doubts, Zhang Yu knew the progress of his Heaven-Sun Radiant Divine Prototype was at a critical point in competing with Jin Jun. How could he afford to waste time?

If he lost the competition, he’d have to wait another academic year… For someone eager to take part in the Top Ten League, that was unacceptable.

“And next May is the new design competition. I have to submit my entry before then.”

“Working it out, I’d better finish the Heaven-Sun Radiant prototype by April or earlier, so I’ll have over a month to prepare my competition piece…”

“And I still need to lobby for other military-grade support, otherwise how can I dominate the Top Ten League?”

The more Zhang Yu thought, the more urgent the coming year felt, and the less willing he was to waste time on other Nascent Soul True Lords’ experiments.

At that moment, a message from Ziyun Zhen flashed in Zhang Yu’s EyeNet.

Ziyun Zhen: Boss, when are you coming to the lab?

Zhang Yu: Get the prep work ready first. I’ll be back once I finish what I’m doing.

After considering it, Zhang Yu decided to go find his master, True Lord Magneto. Magneto should be relatively well-informed about the current situation.

No matter what Zhang Yu did next, gathering intelligence and collecting information had to be the first step.

…

In the lab.

True Lord Magneto held a rhombus-shaped crystal in her hand. As she circulated mana, she gradually drew out faint, thin strands of pain sensation from the crystal.

This was Magneto’s latest result. After mana exchange and qi-blood exchange, she had completed a first memory exchange—seizing strands of pain memory from the vast memory library within the Nascent Soul Law Husk.

After a long time she slowly opened her eyes, looked at Zhang Yu beside her and said, “I know what’s going on.”

“Heh, there sure are a lot of people who don’t want me to advance to Nascent Soul. I only just got a little result and everyone’s already popping up, eager to take a bite.”

Zhang Yu probed, “Master, does Divine Lord Wanhuan know about this?”

True Lord Magneto’s gaze hardened slightly. She said indifferently, “How could Feng Yuhan alone sway True Lords like Xianyin? Even if you gave them ten guts, they wouldn’t dare to compete with me head-on.”

“It’s just someone pulling strings behind the scenes—wanting the project to have results, but not wanting me to get too much credit or to smoothly pass the Nascent Soul review.”

“This is what I call the Nascent-Soul calamity.”

“The further you go on the Immortal path, the harder promotion becomes. The variables multiply and external factors get complicated. It’s no longer just accumulating your own cultivation.”

Listening to her lament, something clicked in Zhang Yu’s mind and he said with surprise, “Master, does Divine Lord Wanhuan not want you to ascend to Nascent Soul either?”

In Zhang Yu’s view, Divine Lord Wanhuan, as vice-principal, oversaw Wanfa University’s research into Xiandao technology. He didn’t micromanage departments, but he was Magneto’s backing and a big support for the Artifact Refinement teachers.

Magneto replied calmly, “If Qiongjing Divine Lord came down on us, Divine Lord Wanhuan would naturally step in to protect me and the others.”

“But if I try to ascend to Nascent Soul, I inevitably become his rival.”

“Especially… from making money under him to standing on equal footing and splitting profits with him—what would you choose?”

“If I become Nascent Soul and Wanfa University’s resources grow, and I claim my share of those gains, would Divine Lord Wanhuan profit or lose? That directly determines whether he supports my Nascent Soul advancement.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yu looked at his master and thought, “Master, you’d better fight for it and ascend soon.”

True Lord Magneto continued, “In at most one or two months, I’ll deal with the trouble Xianyin and the others are causing.”

She reached out and ruffled Zhang Yu’s head. “Good disciple, during this period you temporarily cooperate with their work so they can’t accuse us of not supporting the project. I’ll make up the wasted time for you later.”

Zhang Yu believed that when Magneto said she’d compensate him, she would.

But the problem was missing a military license exam meant missing an entire year; the next Top Ten League would be lost as well.

Could Magneto’s Nascent Soul promotion compensate him with a chance at competing for sect techniques? Zhang Yu knew saying this out loud would only add friction—no one would believe he had a real shot at the Top Ten League—so he kept quiet.

“Feng Yuhan has Divine Lord Wanhuan’s support behind him. Everything he’s doing is moving to block Master’s Nascent Soul advancement.”

“To confront Feng Yuhan openly in the university city seems unrealistic…”

Facing someone with the backing of a Nascent Soul Divine Lord within the university was near impossible. Even his master would be restrained; Zhang Yu, just a Foundation Establishment student, had no room to maneuver.

But realizing this didn’t make Zhang Yu give up.

“My advantage is that I have channels my master doesn’t, and I can strike Feng Yuhan from an angle she can’t.”

“Although Feng Yuhan is strong—especially on his home turf in the university city—if I change the battlefield, he might be weak. On that ground he’d be even weaker.”

Zhang Yu thought, “For example… if he truly joined a demonic sect, or became a follower of an Evil God, then dealing with Feng Yuhan would be easier for me than for my master.”

“Could he be that kind of person?”

Fu Ji snorted. “Someone who runs a research office and does management—his achievements in Xiandao tech probably aren’t as much as most Nascent Soul True Lords in the university.”

“How much combat strength would such a man have when the Spiritual Realm collapses?”

“If the Evil God sent its main force to deal with him and he held them off alone—what are the chances of that?”

Fu Ji spoke plainly. “But simply killing him isn’t useful. This is a scheme set up by a Nascent Soul Divine Lord. Remove Feng Yuhan and someone else will take his place.”

“You need to make him help you.”

Zhang Yu thought a while and frowned, “How do I make him help me?”

Fu Ji laughed. “Dealing with Evil God people is my specialty. Listen to me.”

“First, hit the mountain to startle the tiger—make them afraid.”

“But you must hide your intent…”

…

In the dormitory.

Zhang Yu looked at Zhang Pianpian and said, “Senior, can you help me check on this Feng Yuhan?”

As he spoke he glanced at Zhang Pianpian’s sigil-major ranking—fifth in the Sigil Department—and couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. Since returning from the Top Ten League her department rank had jumped from tenth to fifth; her school-wide rank reached twenty-six.

Zhang Pianpian asked, curious, “What’s wrong with Feng Yuhan?”

Zhang Yu briefly explained the project changes and the increased workload. Zhang Pianpian shook her head at what she heard. “Feng Yuhan may be targeting you and your master, but he’s also following procedure. There could be higher-ups behind him.”

“Checking him… might not help much.”