Chapter 558: How Would the World Know I Have an Artifact Refinement Military License If I Don’t Say It?

The alumni in the Songyang Hometown Group were all friendly, but their average spending power was still on the low side.

Seeing the lukewarm response in the group chat, Zhang Yu sent another message: “Our company might expand soon and will be recruiting a lot of soul cultivators. If anyone’s interested, contact me.”

In an instant, the group exploded. Several people immediately sent their resumes to Zhang Yu.

After all, there were quite a few soul cultivator graduates in the Songyang Hometown Group. Following the recent economic crisis, the number of soul cultivators had risen sharply again.

Now that Zhang Yu had job openings, waves of applicants began competing for the positions.

After leaving the hometown group, Zhang Yu decided he needed to do some marketing among wealthier circles to promote his artifact refinement services.

So, after posting a screenshot of his Military License from the Artifact Refinement Department on his social media, he messaged Manager Wang.

Zhang Yu: “Manager Wang, did you see my post?”

Zhang Yu: “I just got my Artifact Refinement Military License. If you need refinement services, contact me.”

Wang Yin: “I’m currently on the third floor of Kunxu. Message forwarding takes time, so I may not be able to reply promptly.”

Zhang Yu blinked in surprise. “Third floor of Kunxu? Has Manager Wang gone on to grad school already?”

Not long after, in the third layer of Kunxu—at the Netherworld University graduate campus—Wang Yin’s expression tightened when he saw a message forwarded from the second layer of the Spiritual Realm.

He opened the company’s cross-layer communication channel, temporarily linking to the second layer of Kunxu, and then tapped on Zhang Yu’s post. The moment he saw that Artifact Refinement Military License, his whole body jolted.

Then he noticed Zhang Yu was selling a secondhand ocular husk.

“My Time-Wrecking Demon Pupil? Damn it… this brat used it all this time and is only selling it now?”

Wang Yin’s face turned complicated.

“Good, Zhang Yu. Seeing how far you’ve come, how much progress you’ve made—it’s inspiring.”

In that moment, his Dao Heart surged fiercely. Feeling newly motivated, he clenched his fists. “Within the next year, I’m going to earn my Gold Core License!”

“After this year’s Top Ten League, the tensions between the universities will only escalate. I’m afraid all the schools except the top ten will plunge into full-scale war. When that happens, it’ll be my time to shine.”

He sent another message to Zhang Yu:

Wang Yin: “You’re in Wanfa, I’m in Netherworld.”

Wang Yin: “One day, you and I will fight again.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu had already messaged Wen Wuya.

Wen Wuya: “Can you refine Yin Artifacts?”

Wen Wuya was thinking about how Zhang Yu had participated in True Lord Magneto’s experiment. Perhaps he had learned something about the mysteries of Nascent Soul Law Husks.

Zhang Yu fell into deep thought.

“The demand for Yin Artifacts is this high? And I’ve got the reputation from the Nascent Soul Law Husk experiment…”

“Maybe I should learn it in the future?”

Besides Wang Yin and Wen Wuya, Zhang Yu also contacted several prodigies from other universities he’d met during the Civil Engineering competition.

Chan Rong from Vajra University: “Thank you for your concern. I still think my own body, tempered through a thousand trials, works best.”

Chan Rong: “President Zhang, if you need materials for refining, I can sell to you at a 20% discount.”

In Chan Rong’s eyes, Zhang Yu was now a wealthy figure.

Wan Gouxuan from Immortal Soldier University: “I only use the Extreme Tiger model.”

Wan Gouxuan: “Would President Zhang be willing to represent Extreme Tiger in Wanfa?”

Yue Guanqiong from Heavenly Sword University: “You’re already at the top of the Artifact Refinement Department. You must be rich, right? Could you repair the flying sword you broke last time?”

Zhang Yu immediately blocked Yue Guanqiong.

Just then, Zhang Pianpian sent him a message, wanting to chat again about his Military License achievement.

Zhang Yu took the chance to ask something he’d been wondering about since seeing her in the Top 50 group chat.

Zhang Yu: “Senior Sister, will you participate in the next Top Ten League?”

Zhang Pianpian: “No.”

Zhang Pianpian: “I’ll probably go straight into graduate studies.”

Zhang Yu was stunned. “Skipping a level?”

Zhang Pianpian: “Mm. I’ll be going to the third layer for a while. Once I complete the foundational coursework, I’ll be able to move back and forth between the second and third layers through a project exchange.”

She thought to herself, “The next Top Ten League will be too dangerous. With my identity involved, the consequences could be disastrous.”

To her, the risks far outweighed the potential rewards.

Especially with the tangled politics behind the event—major universities, Nascent Soul Divine Lords, sects, evil gods, and demonic cults—everything was spiraling into chaos.

“Too messy. Too unpredictable. Too uncontrollable.”

She wanted to warn Zhang Yu but decided against it. Although he was talented, reaching the level needed to compete in just half a year would be nearly impossible.

At that time, Zhang Yu also received a message request from Bai Zhenzhen.

They met in the Spiritual Realm, where Bai Zhenzhen hugged him excitedly, congratulating him on obtaining his second Military License.

After they parted, she turned proudly to Seven Sentiments Lord and said, “See? Zhang Yu’s amazing, right? He’s improving faster than ever.”

Seven Sentiments Lord replied evenly, “He is progressing fast. But even if he trained under Divine Lord Nectar every day for the next six months, he still wouldn’t catch up to you.”

“Let alone achieve results in the Top Ten League.”

“He might not even qualify to participate.”

After ending the call with Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu realized he still hadn’t reported the news to his teachers.

Although True Lord Magneto and Director Gao probably already knew, he still sent them messages.

True Lord Magneto: “Not bad. Keep it up.”

True Lord Magneto: [1 Spirit Coin]

Seeing that single Spirit Coin, Zhang Yu couldn’t help smiling. For his usually composed master to give him even a small reward meant he was genuinely pleased.

Director Gao: “Good.”

Director Gao: “Come visit the worksite when you have time.”

Director Gao: “We’ve got a lot of projects now, and I’ve set aside several good ones for you.”

Zhang Yu: “Thank you, Teacher. I’ll come by once I finish my current tasks.”

After finishing all his messages, Zhang Yu contacted Ziyun Zhen.

Zhang Yu: “Xiao Zi, still having fun at the worksite? Time to get back to work.”

Then, Zhang Yu threw himself wholeheartedly into refining the Heaven-Sun Radiance Deity Prototype.

He wanted to raise its level to 20 as quickly as possible, unlocking its full military-grade capabilities and cashing in on his new license.

While he was refining the Heaven-Sun Radiance Deity, Ye Xingli delivered the newly crafted Nine Hells Demon Eyes three days later.

After removing the Time-Wrecking Demon Pupil and installing the Nine Hells Demon Eyes, Ye Xingli asked, “How is it?”

Zhang Yu blinked, and the world instantly became sharper. His pupils contracted and expanded, revealing the intricate, rune-like textures beneath Ye Xingli’s skin.

“No… not just textures. Those are microscopic mana circuits.”

“The vision on this Nine Hells Demon Eyes is far stronger than the Time-Wrecking Demon Pupil.”

“Technology really advances fast.”

He then activated one of its key features—the Soul Perception Module.

At once, his vision flickered, and he saw multiple shadowy silhouettes hovering around Ye Xingli—misty shapes filled with cold air and twisted faces.

“So these are soul cultivators, visible through soul perception using the Nine Hells Demon Eyes?”

“They must be assisting Senior Sister in controlling her Law Husk.”

He remembered that Mo Shangjin’s Seven Absolutes Law Husk had used several soul cultivators for multi-threaded operation, allowing a practitioner to manage multiple Law Husk functions simultaneously.

Seeing several distorted soul shades coiling around Ye Xingli, Zhang Yu realized that his gaze could lock onto any one of them and, through the Nine Hells Demon Eyes’ Forgetting River Water system, attempt to freeze their consciousness.

“Still, Senior Sister’s Law Husk likely has strong Spiritual Realm protection. My eyes might not break through.”

He understood that while the Nine Hells Demon Eyes could attack other soul cultivators, its main use was defense—protecting his own artifacts and Law Husks by freezing invasive soul entities.

As his sight lingered, labels began appearing over the soul cultivators, identifying their affiliated companies.

Zhang Yu nodded. If he activated the eyes’ Exorcism function, he could file complaints or reports against those companies through the official channels, forcing them to recall their contracted soul cultivators back into the Spiritual Realm.

Of course, the complaints had to be legitimate.

“The more information I gather, the stronger the report. With solid evidence, exorcisms are far more effective.”

Ye Xingli asked, “Well? Want to take a walk and test its synchronization outdoors?”

Zhang Yu nodded. “Sure.”

He turned and called, “Xiao Zi, keep washing the materials. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, he and Ye Xingli walked onto the streets of the university city.

Through Zhang Yu’s enhanced eyes, the streets looked completely different.

Every teacher and student he saw was surrounded by faintly flickering soul cultivators.

Occasionally, he saw some souls darting through the air like lightning, carrying data toward distant points.

Others flashed within magnetic channels, assisting communication systems.

Some were behind advertisements, managing intelligent targeting.

Others patrolled storefronts, handing out digital flyers through ocular implants.

“This university city really is…”

Every time he thought he understood the place, his perspective shifted, revealing yet another hidden layer of truth.

“I honestly don’t know how much of this city’s real nature I’ve actually seen.”

Ye Xingli said beside him, “Well? Seeing that many soul cultivators on-screen—no lag, right?”

“Other universities can’t compare. Wanfa’s density is extreme. I optimized for high concurrent rendering—better performance than many top brands.”

Zhang Yu nodded with satisfaction. “No problem.”

He then turned off the Soul Perception module, since it constantly drained mana—the more soul cultivators he perceived, the higher the cost.

Back in the lab, Zhang Yu returned to refining the Heaven-Sun Radiance Deity.

A week later, by mid-February, he had finally upgraded it to level 20, fully unlocking its military-grade capabilities.