Chapter 545 Hiring an Assistant

Late October.

Zhang Yu rented Ye Xingli's laboratory again.

The reason why he chose to rent here was, on the one hand, because Ye Xingli would give him a discount, and on the other hand, naturally, Zhang Yu coveted the Dao Seed on Ye Xingli's body.

At this moment, Zhang Yu controlled the true fire to fly out and wrap up the metal materials in front of him.

As a military-grade puppet among magic weapons, the Tianrihuangshen's manufacturing process and structural composition are naturally extremely complex compared to ordinary magic weapons.

Like the puppet's skeleton, nervous system, control center, magic core... each part taken out separately is an extremely precise and mysterious magic weapon.

The process of refining the prototype, to put it simply, is to refine each individual module and then assemble and debug it.

What Zhang Yu is currently working on is the skeleton part of the prototype machine.

As a puppet containing the most rigid and yang power, the skeleton of Tianri Huangshen needs to meet the requirements of high strength, high temperature resistance, powerful magic power conduction performance, and the ability to transform into fire escape, etc.

It can be said that every bone of this prototype machine has higher technical content than the magic weapons owned by many students in the university town.

However, for Zhang Yu, who had already completed the practice in the Taiqing Realm and mastered various refining techniques, the process of refining bones quickly went from unfamiliar to proficient, and from proficient to at ease.

Ye Xingli, who was watching Zhang Yu's movements, couldn't help but ask, "When did you become so good at refining bionic bones?"

Zhang Yu said, "Wasn't there an economic crisis a while ago? I happened to have nothing to do every day, so I studied all the relevant techniques of the Tianrihuang God, reading materials and watching online courses."

“I didn’t expect it to be that difficult to put into practice.”

"Of course, this should also be related to the weapon refining techniques I practiced before. Those techniques have greatly improved my weapon refining ability."

This was the speech Zhang Yu had prepared long ago. Anyway, he would take one step at a time and complete the refinement of the prototype machine in an open and honest manner, which would prove his ability irrefutably.

As for why he learned so quickly, ask him about his talent for refining equipment.

Like Ye Xingli at this moment, looking at Zhang Yu's operation, he immediately felt the other party's talent.

"Are you learning so quickly?"

"This guy Zhang Yu... seems to have a special keenness and intuition when it comes to refining weapons. He learns everything very quickly."

Recalling the first time he saw Zhang Yu refining a weapon, and his subsequent improvement in refining, Ye Xingli couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Although he has the help of the Divine Yin Artifact, Zhang Yu's own talent in refining cannot be underestimated."

"I initially thought Zhang Yu had no talent in this area, but now I think Master's vision is more accurate."

Just as Ye Xingli was sighing in her heart, she heard Zhang Yu say, "Senior Sister, thank you for lending me the lab during this time."

Ye Xingli waved his hand and said, "I'll be spending most of my time attending school training to prepare for next year's Top Ten League. The lab here is perfect for you."

Zhang Yu looked at Ye Xingli. Ever since he won a place in the top ten leagues, the ranking of his department has become No. 3 in the Equipment Refining Department.

In addition, if you look at Ye Xingli's head for a while longer, you can see that the ranking of No. 3 in the Equipment Refining Department flashed slightly, and then jumped to No. 10 in the whole school.

Looking at the rankings, Zhang Yu thought with some envy, "I heard that if you're in the top ten, the school can approve a loan of over a thousand spirit coins. I wonder if my senior sister has applied for it."

He took the opportunity to ask a question he had long wanted to know: "Senior Sister, if I want to participate in the Top Ten League next year, what is the process?"

In Zhang Yu's opinion, this is something he needs to know earlier. Otherwise, after working hard for a long time, he will end up missing the registration time, the competition process, or failing to meet the selection conditions. He will have no place to regret it.

Ye Xingli was slightly stunned when she heard this, and thought to herself, "Although Zhang Yu is very talented, he probably won't have the chance to participate in next year's competition."

After all, in Ye Xingli's opinion, next year's Top Ten League will be more intense than ever before, and the school will inevitably pour all its resources into the senior students who have already achieved results, supporting them in competing for the immortal skills.

"Unless Zhang Yu can surpass us in the next year or so."

But after thinking about it, Ye Xingli knew that this was impossible.

"If Zhang Yu can successfully refine a prototype machine in his senior year, that would be quite remarkable."

"If it were in previous years, maybe I could have taken a stroll around the top ten leagues."

"But next year... he probably won't be able to get a number."

If Ye Xingli followed his own ideas, he should have dispelled Zhang Yu's delusion at this moment and told him not to make such an unrealistic plan.

Don't say such meaningless things in front of her in the future. It's just a waste of everyone's time.

But at this moment, lines of answers from the poor simulator appeared in her eyes.

Ye Xingli smiled slightly and said, "Do you want to participate in the Top Ten League next year? Senior Sister supports you."

"Usually, the school team's instructors will proactively look for candidates. If they don't, you can approach them to sign up before June next year."

"As for the selection criteria, in previous years, you've mastered at least two military-level powers. If you've obtained the military certificate of the Sun-Glory God, you can try with them."

"However, the competition next year will be particularly fierce, and the selection requirements may be higher. Don't be discouraged if you don't get selected..."

Zhang Yu listened and nodded slightly, taking in all the information Ye Xingli said in his heart, and felt a greater sense of urgency.

“If we want to compete in the Big Ten Tournament next year, we really can’t waste a minute.”

After discussing the competition, Ye Xingli watched Zhang Yu's movements and reminded him, "Refining bones is a cumbersome task. Not only are there many steps, but the entire prototype requires a large number of bones as well. It's extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive."

"But actually, the first few preparatory steps in the refining process, including material screening and impurity refining, are quite simple. You might consider hiring an assistant to help."

Zhang Yu had naturally thought about the questions raised by Ye Xingli.

As an extremely complex and sophisticated magic weapon, the prototype of Tianri Huangshen is not mysterious in every step. There are still many repetitive and low-tech steps.

Zhang Yu just needs to complete the refining process himself a few times to prove that he has mastered the technology and direction. Then he can hand over the simple and repetitive preparatory work to his assistant and complete the key parts himself, which can greatly speed up his efficiency.

“The initial overall refining is the most time-consuming.”

"If I were to refine it by myself, it would probably take me three months to complete the refining of a Level 1 prototype. Then, through repeated refining and improvement, I could upgrade the prototype's level."

"But if we hire someone to help, we should be able to increase the efficiency to within two months or even one month."

Thinking of Jin Jun, who started working several months earlier than him, Zhang Yu realized that if he wanted to catch up with and surpass him, hiring an assistant would obviously be a safer option.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu asked Ye Xingli beside him: "Senior Sister, do you have any recommendations?"

Ye Xingli said, "How is Zi Yunzhen? After the project here was completed, she probably hasn't entered another laboratory yet."

Zhang Yu thought of the busy figure in this laboratory some time ago and nodded slightly: "How much is her price?"

He thought to himself, "I just don't know if Ziyun is really capable of doing the job here. I'll have to interview her and test her abilities..."

Just as Zhang Yu was thinking about this, he heard Ye Xingli say, "I offered her 2 spirit coins a month, and she could work 14 hours a day. She also received 12 hours of free overtime per week, which she could allocate to any time of the week."

"It's only 2 spirit coins?" Zhang Yu was shocked when he heard this. "What kind of peerless beast is this? Is this still a student in the weapon refining department?"

Ye Xingli said: "Zi Yun is really talented in being an assistant."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "This is more than just talent. For this price, they even give me free overtime. It sounds like I'm incredibly talented. How many students in the Equipment Refining Department would be willing to work for such a low salary?"

Zhang Yu immediately said, "She's the one!"

Although Zhang Yu seems to have a lot of funds now, no one in Kunxu dares to say that they have enough money, and of course the cost-effectiveness must be considered when hiring an assistant.

Zi Yun's value for money was truly exceptional, which made Zhang Yu feel that even if her weapon-refining skills were poor, she was still worth using.

Ye Xingli said: "Although she is cheap, she also has requirements for the project. She requires that she can learn something from the project."

…

Zi Yunzhen looked at the message sent in the small group, a hint of envy in her eyes.

That was Su Yunni, who ranked first in the class, sharing her project experience during this period.

Since joining Jin Jun's laboratory, he has been sending these things frequently.

Su Yunni: Senior Jin Jun has accumulated a lot of skills in refining equipment. Just a few words can help us gain a lot.

Su Yunni: The project has ample funding, and we have opportunities to get started every day.

Su Yunni: Now the manufacturing of the mana core is almost complete. It won’t be long before I am familiar with all the parts of the Tianrihuangshen prototype.

Zi Yunzhen also hopes to be able to participate in this kind of military-grade magic weapon project like Su Yunni.

In particular, Jin Jun is very generous in terms of salary, and the spirit coins he gives out make many senior assistants very satisfied.

But unfortunately, all the resumes that Zi Yunzhen sent to Jin Jun fell into the sea and there was no response at all.

At this moment, the message from Zhang Yu appeared in her eyes.

Zhang Yu: Ms. Ziyunzhen, are you interested in participating in my project?

Zi Yunzhen remembered what she said, and Zhang Yu also claimed that he would complete the refining of the prototype machine in this school year.

Zi Yunzhen certainly didn't believe it at all.

Although she received few spirit coins, it was to increase her learning opportunities. Whether she sent her resume to Ye Xingli or Jin Jun, she hoped to learn something from this kind of academic master.

"Zhang Yu hasn't even learned a single military-grade weapon-refining technique, and hasn't won any awards, yet he's about to start refining the Sun-Glory God... This project is likely to fail."

(End of this chapter)