No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Just as Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen launched their joint strike, blasting Wang Yin backward and driving their Magnetic-Oscillating Swords through layer after layer of the Nether Blood Shadow Shroud, the sword tips drawing ever closer to Wang Yin’s brow...

Countless Oasis Group employees who had been monitoring the battlefield sprang into action, charging forward in a panic.

“Director Wang!”

“Shield Director Wang!”

“Charge! Grab those two traitors!”

They were genuinely panicked, desperate to throw themselves in front of their director and take the blow in his place.

“Director Wang gave me three raises! I’ll die for that salary!”

“These two dogs! After everything the company’s done for them, this is how they repay it?!”

“Wahahaha! If I can get in Director Wang’s good graces, I’d go bankrupt for this fight! Eightfold Platform, max out my Immortal Path potential! I’m renting a Battle-Grade Spirit Root!”

As Oasis Group employees surged like a wave toward the battlefield, a cadre of elite cultivators with distinct auras suddenly appeared to block them—Deng Bingding’s outsourced reinforcements. Meanwhile, the Director of Xianyun Group’s Songyang City branch moved with effortless strides. In just moments, this Foundation Establishment cultivator could cut across kilometers to join the battle.

But his steps halted abruptly when he encountered a silver-haired woman.

“Li Xuelian,” the director said coolly. “I thought you were neutral.”

Li Xuelian smiled, holding her hands up in a peaceful gesture. “I’m only here to earn some extra pay today. Let’s not fight if we don’t have to.”

The director replied coldly, “You expect me to stand by while someone injures Wang Yin right in front of me?”

She pouted. “Xianyun Group reports to Wanfa Sect, not the Netherworld Palace. Why so jumpy?”

Then she added, “If they didn’t give you orders from above, maybe they want you to sit this one out. Take the money, dodge the trouble—what’s not to love?”

“And let’s be honest, is Wang Yin even paying you enough to make a fight with me worthwhile?”

The director fell silent. She had a point.

Wang Yin’s payout wouldn’t cover the damage he might take clashing with Li Xuelian.

Still, blocking her here to maintain balance was enough.

Watching the “mutually restrained” pair, Deng Bingding muttered in her heart, “Two overpaid glorified security guards getting paid to stand still.”

She turned her attention to the battlefield. Waves of Oasis Group employees, outsourced mercenaries, and security personnel were all hurtling toward Wang Yin.

Her reinforcements intercepted them, and the Divine Power Network—strained by the clashing Righteous Gods—began glitching wildly.

Talismans failed, accounts froze, tax irregularities flared... phenomena started impacting various individuals at random.

Though the real battle had barely begun and most hadn't yet acted, to a Righteous God like Deng Bingding, this brief moment was enough to analyze the entire situation.

“Still too little time. Not enough outsourced fighters have arrived—can’t stop the bulk of Oasis Group’s people.”

“If full-scale battle breaks out, Songyang City will pour more reinforcements into supporting Oasis Group. My people won’t hold for long.”

“But at least the key figure’s arrived.”

Suddenly, a blinding streak of fire lit the sky and slammed down in front of the Oasis Group ranks like a meteor.

Every Oasis employee charging toward the battlefield froze at the sight of Xinghuo Zhenren standing amid the firelight.

He swept his gaze across the crowd. He said nothing, but his mere presence alone was enough to halt thousands of cultivators in their tracks.

From employees taking flight to outsourced fighters intercepting them, and now with Xinghuo Zhenren entering the fray—though dramatic, it all took mere seconds.

Yet in those seconds, the battlefield’s tides had shifted.

The long sword piercing the Nether Blood Shadow Shroud shattered against Wang Yin’s brow.

Wang Yin emerged unharmed, roaring as he pulled back his fists and unleashed a brutal punch.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, having exhausted themselves on the attack, were now full of openings.

Boom!

Wang Yin’s fist smashed into their guts.

Bai Zhenzhen’s abdomen caved in with the impact. Blood sprayed from her mouth as she was flung dozens of meters away.

Zhang Yu’s bones cracked and his organs compressed violently. He carved long furrows into the ground before coming to a stop, dazed and broken.

He felt the fractures throughout his skeleton, the hemorrhaging of his internal organs. Without time to heal, another high-intensity fight could shatter his entire frame.

But seeing Wang Yin advancing, he still drew on what little mana remained and stood his ground.

Because behind him lay the more gravely injured Bai Zhenzhen.

Wang Yin walked forward, eyes like ice. “One’s barely Foundation Establishment. The other’s still Qi Refinement. And you thought you could hurt me?”

“You’re covered in openings. One punch and your guts are jelly.”

“Do you know how much my skin costs? More than both of you put together. What gives you the right to challenge me?”

Just as he was about to strike again, Wang Yin’s fist slowly loosened.

He glared coldly. “Old man, what do you mean by this?”

Xinghuo Zhenren now stood between Zhang Yu and Wang Yin.

He chuckled, glancing at Zhang Yu, who still held a combat stance, what little Formless Cloud Qi he had left still seeping from him.

“This kid… reminds me of myself in my youth.”

“Same recklessness. Same fire. Same overflowing talent.”

“Such a young man—what a waste it’d be for him to die here.”

Xinghuo Zhenren shook his head. “Heh, I still hate hiding behind kids like this.”

“Well then. If high schoolers are stepping up—”

“—this old man won’t stay curled up like a turtle.”

“I’ll take half the hits with him.”

His flaming hair swayed slightly as he looked at Wang Yin. “Do me a favor…”

Wang Yin scoffed. “You think you’re still that peak Gold Core cultivator? A Wanfa PhD?”

“You’re just an optimized half-Core. What favor do you think you deserve?”

Xinghuo Zhenren chuckled. “No need for flattery. But at least consider company profits.”

“Promise me one thing, and I’ll stop meddling in First Floor affairs for a full year.”

“How about it?”

Wang Yin paused. Xinghuo Zhenren was right—he could ignore the man’s pride, but not the corporate profit.

Oasis Group’s expansion had been hampered by Xinghuo Zhenren’s obstruction. A year without it would mean major gains.

“What’s your condition?”

“Pause the fight for three hours. Continue after that.”

Wang Yin frowned. “Why?”

“I want to treat the kid’s injuries and teach him a few moves. Then you two can finish your fight.”

Wang Yin arched an eyebrow. “You think three hours is enough for him to beat me?”

He calculated quickly—no way that’d be enough.

“An hour and a half. No more.”

Xinghuo Zhenren frowned and turned to Zhang Yu, still radiating fighting spirit.

A voice entered Zhang Yu’s mind.

“Good disciple, I’m using voice transmission. Just nod or shake your head.”

“I ask you—during that last clash, did you master Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force?”

Though the bloodshadow and distance had obscured things, he’d sensed Zhang Yu had mastered the technique—and not just its first level.

Zhang Yu glanced at the Feathered Tome. Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force, Level 5. He nodded.

“Level 2?”

Nod.

“Level 3?”

Nod again.

Xinghuo Zhenren’s face remained blank, but inwardly he was stunned.

Unlike wealthy investors who only dabbled in martial techniques, Xinghuo Zhenren was a battle-hardened scholar. He knew techniques inside out—even military-grade ones he couldn’t train in, he studied obsessively.

And Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force was notoriously hard to learn.

Its forms were simple, but it manipulated Martial Qi through the creation of void nodes within it—an advanced simulation of human biomechanics through qi.

Most Foundation Establishment geniuses needed two or three days just to unlock the first node.

Each new level exponentially increased in difficulty.

But this kid had reached Level 3 on the same day he formed his Foundation?

Could this be the legendary Martial Saint Embryo?

Xinghuo Zhenren sighed inwardly. “If only I hadn’t met Yu Xinghan back then…”

Though his mind raced, his expression remained calm as he turned back to Wang Yin.

“An hour and a half it is.”

Under the watchful eyes of many Righteous Gods, he and Wang Yin signed the contract.

Deng Bingding watched and thought, “I knew it…”

“A Gold Core cultivator—even a half-Core—would never land on the First Floor without a reason.”

“He must’ve been planted here from the start, waiting for this very moment to help Zhang Yu.”

Then Wang Yin spoke again.

“Oh, and for this next fight, tell your Righteous Gods not to block the Divine Power Network. It'll mess with my livestream.”

“I’ll skip the talismans.”

“Doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t need them to beat him.”