No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Fu Ji couldn’t see the projection on Zhang Yu’s retina, but she could hear what he was saying to Bai Zhenzhen and saw him holding Le Mulan in his arms.

“Talking to Bai Zhenzhen while holding Le Mulan in his arms…”

“This kid… might actually have the makings of a Pleasure and Harmony Sect disciple.”

“Maybe I should’ve told him to apply to Pleasure and Harmony University back then?”

“If he’d trained in the Yin-Yang Harmonization Techniques, drained Bai Zhenzhen dry… well, that could’ve been a fast track to ascension too.”

Fu Ji shook her head inwardly. “Sigh, what’s the point in thinking about that now? Bai Zhenzhen’s about to get scooped up by someone else. Zhang Yu should just focus on working the construction site.”

Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen turned her head, as if listening to someone else off-screen, then said, “Yuzi, let’s end the call for today. I have to get to class.”

Zhang Yu nodded. “Alright. Oh… if you have time, let’s keep in touch every day.”

Bai Zhenzhen’s heart stirred. She understood that Zhang Yu was still worried about her being on her own and wanted to check in daily to make sure she was okay.

“You’re so dutiful. I usually get a short break around 2 a.m., I’ll call you then.”

With that, Bai Zhenzhen gave a radiant smile and waved at Zhang Yu. “I’m off.”

With a swish, Bai Zhenzhen’s projection vanished, and Le Mulan appeared in front of Zhang Yu.

Seeing Le Mulan’s confused expression, Zhang Yu quickly tapped his fingers through the air, sweeping over the buttons of the projected interface to adjust the settings of his Law Husk Eyes.

“Seriously, why did they make this projection so realistic?”

“Better boost the projection’s transparency by fifty percent. Otherwise I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not.”

While Zhang Yu was adjusting the settings, Le Mulan asked curiously, “Zhang Yu, were you talking to someone just now?”

“Yeah.” Zhang Yu gave a somewhat awkward smile and explained, “I was just talking to Ah-Zhen.”

Le Mulan: “So… that projection of Bai Zhenzhen ended up on me, and you mistook me for her… wait, no, you were hugging her, and I got caught in the crossfire?”

Zhang Yu felt increasingly awkward. But everything she said was technically true, so all he could do was nod. “Yeah.”

Getting a straight answer from Zhang Yu stirred a new and unfamiliar emotion within Le Mulan.

The feeling was so alien that she didn’t even understand what was happening at first. She could only think, “Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen… really are close.”

“High school friends, even after one of them became a disciple of a Seven Sentiments Lord, their bond never changed.”

“First thing they did upon reaching the second floor was add each other as friends. Now they’re hugging through the Spiritual Realm?”

Just thinking of Bai Zhenzhen brought a touch of bittersweetness to Le Mulan’s heart.

When they first met, Le Mulan had been the heiress of a powerful clan in Songyang City, a noble daughter. Bai Zhenzhen was a broke nobody drowning in soul-devouring debt.

But three years had passed. Now in university, Bai Zhenzhen was a disciple of a True Lord, a Divine Spirit Root holder, a Sword Saint heiress, and a high school Foundation Establishment cultivator.

As for Le Mulan… she was just a Qi Refinement college student from some backwater town.

In background, wealth, cultivation, grades… every metric now placed her in Bai Zhenzhen’s shadow.

The reversal between rich and poor had shown Le Mulan that wealth wasn’t something set in stone—it could flip overnight.

Seeing Le Mulan lost in thought, Zhang Yu asked, “Did you need something?”

Le Mulan came back to herself and said, “We’re about to disembark. I just wanted to ask for your Spiritual Realm ID so I can add you as a friend.”

“Once we’re at Wanfa University, we’ll be in different departments. You’re in the Foundation Establishment class—without adding each other, it’ll be hard to stay in touch.”

So they exchanged friend requests and got in line to disembark.

Along the way, new messages appeared on Zhang Yu’s retinal display.

Zhao Tianxing from Fengdu Technical College has sent you a friend request.

Request approved.

Zhao Tianxing: Zhang Yu, I’ve checked in already. Just moved into the Ghost King Banner dorms in Fengdu.

Zhao Tianxing: I joined a group chat—it’s for everyone from Songyang City. You should join too.

You’ve been invited to the group chat: “Happy Songyang Folks”

Zhang Yu entered and saw not only Zhao Tianxing, Qian Shen, and Xiong Wenwu—all people he’d added—but also a bunch of familiar and unfamiliar Songyang graduates.

Chu Qiuhe from Vajra University: New members, change your nickname to [University Name + Real Name]. Anyone who doesn’t gets kicked in 24 hours.

“Chu Qiuhe? He got into Vajra University?”

Zhang Yu remembered the guy from the martial arts tournament—one of the opponents he’d flattened. If memory served, he’d stayed on a stretcher until the competition ended.

Then again, with his consistent top-10 finishes in city tournaments, getting into one of the top ten universities made sense.

Zhang Yu updated his group nickname to “Zhang Yu from Wanfa University.”

Moments later, the group chat exploded with activity.

Le Jingchen from Wanfa University: [Fireworks] Welcome, junior! [Applause]

Mo Tianyi from Fengdu University: Welcome, Zhang Yu the Great!

Chu Qiuhe from Vajra University: Welcome, Zhang Yu the Great!

Xiong Wenwu from Demon-Beast University: Welcome, Zhang Yu the Great!

Hu Yuntao from Demon-Beast University: Welcome, Zhang Yu the Great!

Lian Tianji from Pleasure and Harmony University: Welcome, Zhang Yu the Great!

Seeing Lian Tianji’s name, Zhang Yu’s expression turned subtly amused. “This guy really chose his school well.”

Lan Ling from Shanhe University: Old Zhou, come greet the big shot! @Zhou Chechen from Tianhai University

Zhang Yu mused, “So these two are here too?”

“And Zhou Chechen… looks like the Zhou family’s collapse on the first floor didn’t affect the university kids? Or maybe it did, but since he didn’t collude with the Evil Gods, they let him off?”

At the same time, Zhou Chechen’s avatar quietly turned gray.

After exchanging a few pleasantries in the group, they asked Zhang Yu to invite Yu Xinghan as well. As soon as he did, the group erupted again—this time mostly with grads from White Dragon High School.

While casually skimming the chat, Zhang Yu joined Le Mulan, Yu Xinghan, and Li Xuelian in slowly descending from the airship.

The vessel had docked inside the university city’s skyport. After clearing customs, they stepped through the port gates and officially entered Wanfa University’s campus city.

This was the 600th floor of the university city, with a layer height of around ten meters. The streets were narrow, crammed with buildings pressed tightly against one another.

There were no vehicle lanes. Most of the traffic was just people moving at high speeds.

Yet Zhang Yu saw two entirely different worlds.

With his left, biological eye, he saw a city wrapped in rebar and concrete—monochrome, dead, lifeless.

With his right Law Husk Eye, the world was a riot of color—holographic signage, ads, slogans from the Spiritual Realm Network everywhere.

Shops on either side of the street were practically shouting for attention, their wares—elixirs, textbooks, Law Husks—nearly bursting out of the stores and into the pedestrians’ faces.

Every passerby had titles floating above their heads, effects rippling across their bodies, clothes, backs—sparkling with dazzling special effects.

Floating signage hung in the air, pointing to various sectors and floor levels.

Even Zhang Yu’s retinal display constantly pinged him with notifications: “Foundation Establishment cultivator approaching…” He quickly set his filter to ignore Foundation Establishment and highlight only Gold Core and above.

Next to him, Yu Xinghan clutched his head. “Damn… it’s lagging like crazy! The whole world’s stuttering!”

“Let’s hurry up. It’s way too laggy here.”

Li Xuelian rolled her eyes and slapped the back of Yu Xinghan’s head. “You dumbass… how much did you pocket? Ended up with this garbage second-hand unit? Get an upgrade when you can.”

As they walked, Li Xuelian led them to the entrance of a marked zone: the Magnetic Channel.

These channels resembled massive tubes connecting different floors of the university city.

Zhang Yu watched people step onto the path—one moment walking on the ground, the next striding up the walls or toward higher levels.

Li Xuelian explained, “The Magnetic Channels are powered by enhanced electromagnetic fields. Convert your mana to Thunder Mana and you’ll be able to walk freely along the walls.”

“Oh, and you guys have monthly transport passes, right? You can’t use the channel without one.”

Mana conversion was something Zhang Yu had studied back in freshman year.

With Li Xuelian’s reminder, he and Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan channeled their mana slightly. As they stepped into the Magnetic Channel, a force yanked their bodies, magnetizing them to the walls.

Or more precisely, the walls became the ground.

At first, Zhang Yu was aware he was walking on walls—but with shops, vending machines, and ads lining the sides, it soon felt no different from walking on a regular street.

Li Xuelian said casually, “This university city is made up of 666 floors, with over 6,600 square kilometers of total area—but it’s all packed into a 10-kilometer vertical space and just over 3 kilometers in length and width.”

“With clever vertical design, the straight-line distance between any two points is super short. Cultivators can travel quickly using these Magnetic Channels.”

“There’s also a central Anti-Gravity Channel that’s faster, but that one costs extra, so unless it’s urgent, people don’t use it.”

“This time I’ll lead the way. After this, you’ll need to rely on your navigation apps.”

With multiple Magnetic Channel transfers, Zhang Yu sometimes found himself walking with his head above his feet, other times upside down, or sideways…

Without a sky or ground as reference, the shifting orientation gradually blurred his sense of direction. He couldn’t tell which way was up or down.

Looking at the countless cultivators flowing through these twisted corridors, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but think—

This place felt like an enormous, living beehive.

After a dizzying journey, he finally reached his destination.