Chapter 603: Chapter 544: Taking on Human Form
After Zi Yunzhen politely declined Zhang Yu, she saw another message from him.
Zhang Yu: If you’re willing to join the project, you can ask me anything related to Heavenly Sun Divine technology.
Zhang Yu: If your Magic Treasure has any issues, I can also repair and maintain it for free.
Zi Yunzhen wasn’t really interested in the first perk Zhang Yu offered.
Although his Artifact Refining skills were impressive, how long had he been in the Artifact Refining Department? How long had he studied Heavenly Sun Divine technology?
Zi Yunzhen had previously watched Zhang Yu practice all sorts of random Artifact Refining Techniques in the lab.
She doubted that he could master Heavenly Sun Divine technology in just a few months.
However, the offer of free Magic Treasure maintenance and repair piqued her curiosity.
She thought to herself: "I can temporarily join, let Zhang Yu repair a few worn Magic Treasures, and then find an excuse to leave."
With this thought, Zi Yunzhen agreed to Zhang Yu’s offer.
They agreed on a one-week trial period, with Zi Yunzhen joining the project as Zhang Yu’s assistant to assess each other. If it didn’t feel right, she could opt out.
...
That day, as soon as Zi Yunzhen arrived at the lab, she received a file from Zhang Yu on her device.
Zhang Yu said, "You have experience with alloy material processing, right?"
"According to the requirements I sent you, do a preliminary screening and refine the impurities. This is your task for today."
Looking at the workload required in the file, Zi Yunzhen was taken aback: "I have to refine this much in one day?"
Zhang Yu nodded: "This is just the start. I have high expectations for you. Your work efficiency impacts the progress of our entire project team. I hope you can push yourself to grow quickly..."
Watching Zhang Yu’s retreating figure, Zi Yunzhen thought privately: "You want me to prepare this much material... can you actually use it all?"
She glanced at a few completed skeletal pieces on the lab bench and thought: "This is all that’s done? It’s nowhere near what Jin Jun has achieved."
Zi Yunzhen shook her head, inwardly critical but dutifully began preparing the materials, waiting for Zhang Yu to overhaul her Magic Treasures before she found an excuse to leave.
Half an hour later, after Zi Yunzhen prepared the second batch of materials, she realized that most of the first batch had already been used up.
"Hmm?"
"Used up this quickly?"
She paused, eyebrows furrowing: "He didn’t waste it all, did he?"
In her mind, Zhang Yu was still new to refining with Heavenly Sun Divine, so the fast use of materials must mean consecutive failures.
She turned to look at Zhang Yu’s experimental station, however, she saw a rising blaze transform a creamy-white material into shape.
Simultaneously, the surrounding Artifact Refining devices emitted strands of thunderfire, which Zhang Yu manipulated to etch mana circuits into the materials.
Watching Zhang Yu’s adept actions, Zi Yunzhen felt astonished that he was about to complete this section of skeleton with such speed.
"This fast?!"
Zi Yunzhen was shocked by the scene, watching as a new product materialized: "It’s finished already? How is it so fast?"
She recalled from a small group chat that Su Yuni shared something about the prototype process for skeleton crafting.
"Jin Jun’s side doesn’t seem to be this fast either, right?"
Zi Yunzhen quickly sent a message to Su Yuni: How long did it typically take you to fully craft a single bone?
Seeing Su Yuni’s reply, Zi Yunzhen mused: "Two to three hours?"
She looked up at Zhang Yu’s experimental station again, thinking: "It’s several times faster here, isn’t it?"
"Is this normal?"
She began to doubt the quality of the puppet bones Zhang Yu was crafting.
In the following days, Zi Yunzhen became increasingly astonished to find that as her proficiency increased, her material preparation speed accelerated, and Zhang Yu’s refining pace continued to quicken.
Apparently, his initial speed wasn’t his limit; her painstaking material processing had been slowing him down.
"Zi Yunzhen, isn’t it done yet?"
"Quicker with the next batch."
"I’m almost done here."
Zi Yunzhen felt like Zhang Yu was holding a whip behind her, constantly urging her forward. Every time she felt she met his material preparation expectations, his Artifact Refining speed would increase slightly.
And then, she could only gasp for breath, push her mana to its limits, and try hard to boost her speed again.
She felt like entering the lab meant being drained of all energy and thoughts by Zhang Yu, with nothing else on her mind but the materials before her.
After working in a haze for over a week, Zi Yunzhen gazed in disbelief at the humanoid skeleton before her and said: "So it’s... finished?"
Zhang Yu nodded and said: "Yes, slower than I anticipated, but still pretty good."
"Slower?" Zi Yunzhen thought secretly: "This was slow?!"
She couldn’t help but review the chat record with Su Yuni on her device.
Zi Yunzhen asked: How long did it take you to craft the entire skeletal system?
Su Yuni: Probably over a month.
Su Yuni: The speed is so fast mainly because Senior Jin Jun hired several senior students to assist
Su Yuni: But in pursuit of speed, a lot of materials were wasted
Su Yuni: Why did you suddenly think of asking about this?
Zi Yunzhen replied: I’m doing a project with Zhang Yu
Zi Yunzhen continued: Just curious about the differences and casually asking
Su Yuni: Certainly Zhang Yu’s work can’t compare to Senior Jin Jun’s, but don’t lose heart. If a spot opens up here, I’ll recommend you to Senior Jin Jun
On the other side, Zi Yunzhen turned her gaze to the human-like skeleton before her, where dense mana circuits were flickering with golden mana radiance.
And with each flash of radiance, the skeleton seemed to shift between reality and illusion, with a faint flicker of firelight.
Zhang Yu said: "Next, accompany me to complete the tests."
"If there are no quality issues, we’ll proceed with refining the nervous system."
Watching these bones continuously pass the strength test, high-temperature test, mana conduction test, and then transform into firelight under Zhang Yu’s control... Zi Yunzhen felt increasingly amazed.
She watched in disbelief; if she hadn’t personally seen Zhang Yu refining each bone over this period, she might suspect he hired someone else to do it.
Unknowingly, Zi Yunzhen’s original plan to leave after a week quietly slipped from her mind.
"Zhang Yu... might really surpass Jin Jun and get the military certification through Heavenly Sun Divine first."
"Even if he doesn’t beat Jin Jun, following Zhang Yu through Heavenly Sun Divine shouldn’t be a problem."
"If he does beat Jin Jun..."
Thinking about the possibility of Zhang Yu and herself, two seniors, defeating Jin Jun and obtaining the military certification, and the impact of such a result, the added experience, fame, and resume credentials, Zi Yunzhen couldn’t help but feel slightly excited.
At this moment, Zi Yunzhen had already decided to diligently learn under Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu looked at Zi Yunzhen’s serious face beside him, seemingly having anticipated this all along.
He had long predicted that Zi Yunzhen was initially participating in the project half-heartedly.
Yet Zhang Yu was confident he could persuade her.
After all, being a student of the Artifact Refining Department himself, he understood her thoughts and plans too well.
Compared to making money, she wanted more to rapidly accumulate experience, hone her artifact refining skills, and gather valuable project experience...
And she could achieve all that under his guidance.
Zhang Yu thought to himself: "Next, there might be no need to raise Zi Yunzhen’s salary, she’ll stay here regardless."
So in the coming days, Zhang Yu pushed forward the refining of the prototype machine with Zi Yunzhen, and her working hours gradually stretched from 14 hours to 16 hours, then to 20 hours, eventually reaching a non-stop 24-hour cycle.
Watching the project’s rapid advancement, Zi Yunzhen refrained from bringing up overtime pay or salary raises with Zhang Yu.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
By mid-November, as Zi Yunzhen looked at the prototype machine now forming a human shape, she still felt a hint of shock.
"Over a month, and it’s almost the first assembly?"
Zi Yunzhen glanced at her chat records with Su Yuni, thinking: "Jin Jun’s side seems to be near the first assembly too."
Despite both projects nearing completion, Zi Yunzhen knew completion wasn’t the same as completion, Zhang Yu’s pace of catching up was terrifying.
"But why has Zhang Yu been stepping out frequently these past two days?"
Zi Yunzhen couldn’t help but wonder: "It’s a critical moment, how can you be distracted?!"
"Focus on surpassing Jin Jun once and for all, securing that military certification is key."
With this thought, Zi Yunzhen felt the need to mention it to Zhang Yu and encourage him to concentrate.
...
Meanwhile.
Outside the research office.
Zhang Yu sat on the waiting chair, gradually showing a trace of impatience on his face.
After a long time, Feng Yuhai finally called him in and slowly said: "Young man, why are you so impatient?"
Zhang Yu frowned, saying: "Mr. Feng, I’m busy with my project lately..."
Feng Yuhai waved to stop him, saying: "Is your project really more important than the school’s project?"
"Do you know how much the principal values the Divinity Transformation Remains?"
"Next, you need to fully cooperate with the project team’s inspection; stop whatever you’re working on for now."
Zhang Yu stared at Feng Yuhai, suddenly asking: "Mr. Feng, are you singling me out?"
Feng Yuhai smiled slightly: "Why would a teacher target a student like you?"
He waved dismissively, saying: "Go on, don’t forget to cooperate with the tasks sent to you; if you delay the school’s affairs, even your teacher can’t protect you if the principal blames you..."
Watching Zhang Yu’s departing figure, Feng Yuhai could certainly sense his dissatisfaction, resentment, and anger.
But in his view, what did a student’s discontent matter? Over time, the student would naturally digest these feelings.