Chapter 551: Chapter 493: Plagiarism and Zombies
As the flying boat sailed across the sky, it arrived above Immortal Soldier University.
Zhang Yu looked down at the abyss below, which had a diameter of several kilometers and was bottomless. Rumor had it that this was where many factories deep beneath the university were located.
And the surrounding walls of the abyss were also flickering with countless lights and shadows, with buildings constructed along the rock wall, reaching straight out, almost eager to reach the sky, filling the giant crater with structures built from within the rock wall.
At this moment, lines predicting evil qi pollution appeared in Zhang Yu’s vision.
Looking at the Nine Nether Abyss below, Zhang Yu thought that the evil qi pollution at Immortal Soldier University was the worst among all the universities he had visited.
Upon disembarking from the flying boat, everyone rented magic treasures capable of protecting against evil qi pollution. Otherwise, they could only move within a small fixed area of the university.
And as they left the platform where the flying boat docked, a huge Tiger Brand advertisement appeared before them.
Mo Enting sighed and said, “Immortal Soldier University is the birthplace of Extreme Tiger. It’s said that it was initially founded by several disciples of Divinity Transformation, only admitting wealthy individuals at the start. The company developed vigorously with a culture that prioritized wealth, becoming a well-known enterprise of Immortal Soldier University.”
As Zhang Yu walked, he noticed that everywhere he went, students wearing Tiger Brand eye implants were prevalent, making their group seem like the odd ones out.
Zhang Yu sighed and said, “It seems like every student at Immortal Soldier University uses Tiger Brand.”
Mo Enting said, “They say that out of every ten people at Immortal Soldier University, three work for Extreme Tiger. The school’s purchases of magic remains are predominantly Tiger Brand as well.”
“Price is also a key factor; you can see that on the magic remains platform here, Tiger Brand is sold very cheaply.”
Zhang Yu took a casual look and indeed found it was much cheaper than at Wanfa University, making him tempted to buy a batch to sell back home.
But after calculating the taxes, Zhang Yu decided to give up.
Then he noticed that many high-end models of Tiger Brand were quite familiar.
Zhang Yu said, “These high-end models seem…”
Mo Enting said, “Copied. Extreme Tiger is known for its low-end reputation because its mid-to-high-end models are copied from elsewhere. Lawsuits have been ongoing year after year, and these models have been banned at universities except at Immortal Soldier University.”
Zhang Yu thought, “So Immortal Soldier University is protecting Tiger Brand’s plagiarism.”
Fu Ji said, “How novel, aren’t all companies in Kunxu today, like Vajra Mysterious Constructs and Ten Thousand Dao Craftsman Sect, having copied their way up?”
“Universities and sects are no different; how else can they become strong without copying? The weak need to catch up by copying. The strong can’t cover everything and need to absorb resources from all sides, maintaining their position through both original and copied work.”
“Copyrights can restrict ordinary people, but how can they limit forces with a real background? Of course, face must be given to the Heavenly Court, usually restructured after cracking to avoid leaving evidence.”
Zhang Yu thought, “When I have the ability in the future, and can decipher and reconstruct various cultivation techniques… then I will copy with abandon.”
Thinking of this, Zhang Yu sighed that Yu Shu’s power was still too weak to keep up with his wild ideas.
While speaking, the group arrived at the Civil Engineering Competition arena. Zhang Yu looked at the messages sent by Magnetic Pole True Monarch and Director Gao, knowing his two teachers were watching over from the Spirit Realm.
…
Above the arena, at the Spirit Realm audience seats.
The projections of Magnetic Pole True Monarch and Director Gao descended together.
Magnetic Pole True Monarch sighed, “Immortal Soldier University… it’s been a long time since I’ve been to this broken place.”
Director Gao asked, “You mentioned last time, about the champion prize of this Civil Engineering Competition, the military-grade armor’s design diagram, how valuable is it?”
He was considering whether to let Mo Enting intervene if Zhang Yu couldn’t win the match.
Magnetic Pole True Monarch said, “The military-grade armor rewarded this time is specifically for the Civil Engineering Department but came from the upper forces.”
“Offering such a design diagram costs no resources from above but can further intensify competition.”
“But even knowing this, many will still dive in.”
Magnetic Pole True Monarch sighed and continued, “After all, who wouldn’t want a glimpse into the sects’ technological development direction?”
“If you can see some of the future technology directions from the design diagram, the benefits are immeasurable.”
“However, it’s also possible to end up with nothing after all the effort, finding little in terms of future technology directions.”
“The true situation would only be understood upon obtaining the design diagram, and its value would be incalculable.”
“At the very least, it could fill some gaps in military-grade armor knowledge at the school.”
Director Gao nodded slightly, knowing that universities, though constantly updating various Immortal Path technologies annually, only made minor updates and micro-innovations within the existing framework.
But each truly revolutionary technical innovation usually stemmed from the sects’ technology diffusion, causing significant changes, even modifying the ecology of a layer of Kunxu.
Foreseeing some future technology development directions evidently had many intangible benefits.
Director Gao thought to himself, “The design diagram’s value seems to exceed the military-grade armor itself. Wouldn’t the Artifact Refining Department at Immortal Soldier University also be interested? Coupled with the allure of the Divinity Transformation Remains experiment…”
At that moment, a Spirit Realm projection exuding metallic luster and appearing as a puppet emerged and said, “Magnet, long time no see.”
Magnetic Pole True Monarch’s gaze flashed, and he said calmly, “Qian Kui, are you here to watch the civil engineering competition?”
Director Gao was moved, information about the other party appeared in his vision: “Qian Kui True Monarch of Immortal Soldier University’s Artifact Refining Department, director of the Artifact Refining Department, involved in over two thousand copyright disputes in the past three years, one of Immortal Soldier University’s plagiarism kings…”
Qian Kui True Monarch smiled slightly, “I heard your Wanfa University recently copied the Qiongjiang Divine Monarch’s magic remains, so I came to see your plagiarism results.”
Magnetic Pole True Monarch snorted coldly, “All my projects are developed independently, don’t make baseless accusations.”
Qian Kui True Monarch shook his head: “Alright, alright, you call it independent research, independent research. Let’s just focus on the competition.”
“Let’s see how your independently developed product performs.”
…
Meanwhile, teams outside the venue had simultaneously entered.
Wan Gou Xuan smiled at Zhang Yu and said, “Zhang Yu, your school’s strength is astonishing, and the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain Shifting Divine Power is earth-shatteringly destructive.”
“Let’s keep it to a friendly level later on, to avoid unnecessary losses for just a competition.”
Zhang Yu glanced at him unexpectedly, nodded casually, and agreed.
Wan Gou Xuan looked at Zhang Yu, his face calm, but his heart was becoming increasingly excited.
“Patience! Patience! Patience!”
He constantly warned himself: “Can’t let Zhang Yu sense anything unusual, can’t let him become alert.”
“Can’t let him realize…he has already become our prey.”
“Must control my malice, not letting him find a chance to surrender, mustn’t let him…escape!”
At this moment, in Wan Gou Xuan’s eyes, Zhang Yu seemed like a delicate flower. He wanted to approach him step by step carefully, and before Zhang Yu realized it, tear him apart.
“In the worst case, at least shred his body, scattering his materials all over the ground to make it easy for the school to collect…”
The more excited he was, the more calm he appeared, showing no trace of abnormalities.
As both sides entered, the competition officially began. Wan Gou Xuan and his teammates first opened the iron coffins.
With a series of roars, distorted human shapes were released from the iron coffins.
These are bodies that have worked for years in underground factories, but their entire form was severely contaminated by high concentration Evil Qi, their Magic Remains badly damaged, and their souls lost.
Because their bodies were severely infected by Evil Qi, the original owner had to abandon their flesh.
The neglected and unmaintained bodies became increasingly infected by Evil Qi, leaving only the primary Artifact Spirit controlling the body, sustaining the most basic operations.
But the primary Artifact Spirit had slipped into a delinquent state due to the owner’s abandonment.
Thus, these disconnected spirits operated their broken forms, wandering in high concentration Evil Qi polluted zones, becoming zombies ignored by both the company and school.
Only the primary Artifact Spirit repeatedly requested connection to the Spirit Realm, this almost instinctive behavior became their last obsession, transforming into an infinite longing for the Spirit Realm.
At this moment, with a flick of Wan Gou Xuan’s finger, the Spirit Realm flow supplied to these zombies was like a spark, exploding in their dark world, guiding them towards Wanfa University’s position.
Roaring, zombies with soaring Evil Qi shot out like beasts.
Zhang Yu frowned slightly, knowing that although these zombies were not strong, the Evil Qi on them was hard to handle. Any contact led to life-shortening, medical bills, polluting construction sites, and other troubles.
Zhang Yu then soared into the air, taking the initiative to confront them.
But in the next moment, beams of divine light fell from the sky, exuding terrifying oppression.
Zhang Yu’s hair stood on end, feeling that even a slight touch of the golden light would kill him.
At the same time, everyone’s eyes projected a message from the referee.
Referee: Emergency situation, match paused, stay still.
Zhang Yu was shocked; this was the first time he had seen the referee speak in all his competitions.
“Has something major happened?”
While Zhang Yu was bewildered, the golden light gathered and vanished, and the zombies’ Magic Remains had been mosaicked.
Zhang Yu was momentarily stunned, then realized: “Damn… the Jihu Company is worried about damaging their brand image, so they mosaicked the Extreme Tiger Magic Remains on the zombies?”
Referee: Match continues
The entire arena moved once again, Zhang Yu slapped his palm across the air, and the powerful Heavenly Kunlun Mountain Shifting Divine Power stood like a wall, blocking the attacking zombies.
Then Zhang Yu grabbed through the air, intending to lift the zombies and throw them towards Immortal Soldier University’s construction site.
But at the moment these zombies were restrained, their Magic Remains began to convulse violently, receiving the order to self-destruct via Spirit Realm Network connection.
Their long-standing desire for the Spirit Realm finally satisfied, the zombies’ explosive sounds echoed as cries of rest in peace throughout the arena.
As the zombies collectively dispersed, a large area of Evil Qi spread indiscriminately across the field.
Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened, thinking, “These guys from Immortal Soldier University intend to spread Evil Qi throughout the entire arena? They seem very confident in their ability to protect against it.”
On the other side, Wan Gou Xuan watched this scene and thought secretly: “Wanfa University, your living environment is too good, you can breathe without purifying the air, and attend school without protecting against Evil Qi. How can your accumulation in this area compare to ours?”
“Spreading Evil Qi across the arena, for you it’s a harsh environment.”
“For us…it’s just routine.”
As he contemplated, Wan Gou Xuan constantly reminded himself: “Stay patient, suppress him little by little, don’t give him a chance to escape.”