Chapter 608: Chapter 549: When It Comes to Artifact Refining, the Faster the Better
"How could Zhang Yu refine it so quickly?"
Looking at the information sent by Su Yuni, Jin Jun’s first reaction was disbelief.
"Achieving this in just over a month? Truly shameless."
At this moment, Jin Jun was extremely suspicious of the sincerity behind Zhang Yu’s achievements.
He had seen such things too many times in the Artifact Refining Department’s laboratories. Some people themselves were just barely competent, but hired skilled assistants to do most of the work, pushing the quality and speed to the limit, and finally putting their own name on it.
"Zhang Yu’s skills are indeed something, at least enough to refine a Level 1 Prototype Machine, but there’s no way he could achieve this with just two people in a month."
"He must have spent a fortune, hiring a massive team to assist him."
Jin Jun concluded in his heart, "This is the only way it could be done in just over a month."
"Is spreading such news intended to disrupt my army?"
But Jin Jun had to admit that Zhang Yu indeed unsettled him.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, the mana within him flowed smoothly, and a stable Dao Heart gradually calmed his thoughts.
Jin Jun realized that the main reason his nerves were so easily rattled was his vast investment this time.
"I’ve invested nearly half of my assets into this project. If it fails, not only will recovering funds be problematic, but my reputation in artifact refining would take a huge hit."
Thinking about how he might be labeled as someone who failed against a transferred civil engineering student in communications after his failure, Jin Jun seemed to see his loans, funds, and investments becoming harder and harder to obtain, making his path on the Immortal Path increasingly arduous.
"I absolutely cannot concede."
No matter who was helping Zhang Yu, Jin Jun had no intention of giving in.
Especially since he knew that once the Level 1 Prototype Machine was refined, the next step would be to repeatedly improve it, gradually raising its level.
"At this point, it all depends on Zhang Yu’s own skill."
"If his artifact refining technique hasn’t reached Level 11, no matter how hard he works or how much he spends, he won’t be able to raise the Prototype Machine’s level to 11."
"If he seeks someone else to refine it at this stage, it will never pass the review."
"And I’ve accumulated technical experience in this area for so long. According to the current tuning parameters, once this Prototype Machine is assembled, it can reach Level 5 in one go."
"The subsequent improvements will definitely be faster than his."
Thinking of this, Jin Jun gradually calmed down.
Of course, even though he calmed down, Jin Jun didn’t plan to sit idly by.
"Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. With so many spirit coins and so much time invested in this project, I absolutely cannot accept failure."
So, that day Jin Jun mortgaged magic remains and organs, further maximized his loans, and then rented more advanced artifact refining equipment with the spirit coins obtained, also hiring a Golden Core-level teacher for one-on-one guidance, providing pointers and filling the gaps during his refining process.
Besides speeding up himself, Jin Jun also planned to give Zhang Yu some trouble and slow down his pace.
He sent out a message.
Jin Jun: Senior brother, I need to bother you with something
...
Inside Ye Xingli’s laboratory.
Amid the surging Earth Evil Gravity, Zhang Yu had already fixed the Prototype Machine in mid-air.
At the same time, strands of mana were released from his hands, mixing with the powdered materials prepared by Zi Yunzhen, injecting them into the artifact refining equipment on the side, and then forming layers of restrictions within the Prototype Machine.
As the number of restrictions piled up, the high-temperature resistance property of the Prototype Machine was gradually enhanced.
Zhang Yu knew that to raise the Prototype Machine’s level further, besides repeatedly stacking restrictions on the mana circuits inside and outside the machine to enhance its various performances, he also needed to optimize runes, refine materials, and increase the Magic Core’s limit...
Besides strengthening the basic attributes, additional functionalities also needed to be equipped.
For example, for the current Level 1 Prototype Machine to be upgraded to Level 2, a new Cultivation Technique module must be installed, allowing the machine to have fire control functions.
Zhang Yu thought, "The Level 1 Prototype Machine already has various functional interfaces. My task is to improve and add modules."
"And to accomplish this, I need my blueprint level to reach a certain point."
He glanced at the Heavenly Sun Divine Prototype Machine Level 1 (6/10) on the Yu Shu.
Zhang Yu mused to himself, "Each time I refine the machine through and through, not only can I enhance its basic attributes, but also advance the progress on the Yu Shu under the blessing of refining genius by 2 points."
"Once I push the blueprint level to 2, I’ll have enough technical strength to equip the Prototype Machine with the fire control function that only Level 2 has."
Thinking of this, Zhang Yu’s actions in refining the Prototype Machine became even more swift, as if mana within him and the materials at his side were being recklessly thrown at the Prototype Machine in front of him.
Zi Yunzhen watched this scene and couldn’t help saying, "Boss, isn’t it too fast?"
In Zi Yunzhen’s view, artifact refining shouldn’t be rushed, especially when you’re learning and refining at the same time. Shouldn’t every step be carefully thought out? Then, by addressing any gaps, you can make progress while refining.
In Zi Yunzhen’s eyes, Zhang Yu’s way of pushing the speed blindly with his eyes closed was a waste of materials and money, and it wasn’t necessarily going to result in significant progress.
Zi Yunzhen thought to herself, "Refining isn’t just about the number of attempts making you stronger..."
Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Refining relies on the number of attempts; the more attempts I have, the higher my refining skill level becomes, right?"
But as Zi Yunzhen saw Zhang Yu not paying attention to her, she couldn’t help saying again, "Boss, where is the value in going so fast? You can’t just pursue speed. Your current performance is too weak compared to Jin Jun’s team. The review panel will be looking at your thought process, not just the number of refinements."
"I hope that for future work, you can include your thought process in your daily reports to create differentiation and build your core competitive edge."
"Push yourself, boss. If you can grow, I’m willing to take a pay cut to give you more funding to drive the project."
Watching Zi Yunzhen, who was now talking about cutting her salary, Zhang Yu couldn’t help thinking, "Damn... When I was an employee, my boss gave me empty promises. Now that I’m the boss, my employee is giving me empty promises?"
"This crappy place, Kunxu."
Seeing that Zi Yunzhen wanted to say more, Zhang Yu waved his hand to stop her, "Yunzhen, I’m a bit disappointed with your current performance. I brought you onto my project team hoping you could deeply explore the field of the Heavenly Sun Divine and become the most professional assistant in this area."
"I won’t explain why I need to speed up. I hope to give you an opportunity for growth, to force you to think for yourself, explore, and find answers."
"I know that speeding up like this and still asking you to grow puts a lot of pressure on you. But growth always comes with pressure, and the times of greatest pressure are often when you grow the fastest."
"In the future, you’ll be immensely grateful for this period of pressure-filled time. It will be an important stage of transformation in your life."
After comforting her, Zhang Yu continued to speed up, quickly leaving Zi Yunzhen further behind, forcing her to crazily push herself to speed up! Speed up! Speed up again! Gradually, there was no room left for reflection.
She felt like she was desperately chasing Zhang Yu on a track, exhausted, yet still watching as Zhang Yu’s back grew more distant.
Just as Zi Yunzhen was completely unable to keep up, she saw Zhang Yu suddenly stop.
"I need to go to the Spirit Realm, Yunzhen, you keep preparing."
Seeing this, Zi Yunzhen felt like Zhang Yu had stopped on the track, allowing her to seize the opportunity to gradually catch up.
Realizing this, Zi Yunzhen felt ashamed, "I’ve been dragging down the efficiency of the whole project team..."
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu had already entered the Taiqing Realm, starting a refining simulation, and continued his cultivation in the Taiqing Realm.
Unlike the refining techniques that can only be practiced in reality, Zhang Yu was always able to use the simulation function in this Taixu Illusion Realm to repeatedly practice and push the level up for various artifact refinement skills, such as the mastery of magic treasures and magic remains blueprints.
"The refining process in the lab is like leaving a trace of work while refining the prototype machine."
"Taking the opportunity to make slight improvements in the Taiqing Realm can indeed accelerate the rate at which blueprint levels increase."
Zhang Yu estimated in his mind, "If we advance on both fronts, I estimate that in another 1 or 2 months, I’ll be able to elevate the prototype machine to the Level 11 Foundation Establishment standard."
While Zhang Yu was busy working tirelessly in the lab every day, suddenly a message flashed before him.
...
In the Spirit Realm.
Zhang Yu looked at the person before him who seemed to be assembled like a machine and said, "Teacher Gui Yuanzi, is there something you need?"
The person glanced at Zhang Yu and said blandly, "Why haven’t you attended the recent history of refining technology classes?"
Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback and said, "I took a leave of absence..."
Gui Yuanzi said coldly, "I don’t recall approving your leave."
"Alright, I’ll give you a chance now. You need to make up every class you missed, or you won’t pass this course this semester."
With that said, Gui Yuanzi left a beginner-level intelligent artifact spirit to give Zhang Yu online lessons at 1.0 speed and then left without a trace.
Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback and sent a message requesting leave to the other party, only to receive a round of scolding.
Gui Yuanzi: What leave? Who allowed you to take leave at will?
Gui Yuanzi: Don’t think you can skip history lessons just because you need to work on a project.
Gui Yuanzi: Without understanding the history of technology, not knowing the context, how do you expect to research technology?
"This guy..." Zhang Yu watched the artifact spirit giving a lesson and thought, "Is someone deliberately giving me a hard time again?"
At this moment, Zi Yunzhen sent a message: Boss, the materials are ready. When are you coming back?
Zhang Yu replied: Keep preparing the materials, I’ll come back once I solve what I’m working on
Then Zhang Yu thought for a moment and sent messages to Feng Tingting, Ye Xingli, and Zhang Pianpian, trying to figure out what Gui Yuanzi was up to.
After some inquiries, Zhang Yu roughly understood the situation, and his eyes fell on the contact list, finally looking at Feng Yuhai.