No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

The Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra was notoriously difficult to learn. Because it required completely transforming one’s breathing pattern—replacing normal breath with embryonic breath—this made it one of the toughest techniques to get started with.

Practitioners had to sustain mana circulation while constantly fighting against their natural breathing reflex, building an entirely new system of embryonic respiration. As a result, it wasn’t uncommon for cultivators to spend ten days to half a month just to get started.

But for Zhang Yu, that wasn’t a problem.

The Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra involved the entire network of pores across the body and the increasingly complex meridians that developed after Foundation Establishment. It took Zhang Yu over thirty minutes to complete a single cycle of mana circulation along the Sutra’s prescribed path.

In that instant, vivid scenes flashed through his mind—images of himself practicing the Sutra with unyielding determination, until he finally mastered it.

At the same time, Zhang Yu’s breathing grew fainter and fainter, until it became virtually imperceptible.

He felt a chill ripple across his skin and hair—that was the ambient spiritual energy in the room flooding into his pores, merging into the mana cycle within his meridians.

Zhang Yu could sense it clearly: once in the embryonic breathing state, his body’s pores were constantly absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy, like it had become a new form of innate respiration.

After adjusting slightly, he started his second round of cultivation with the Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra.

Just as he made the shift into embryonic breathing, Zhang Pianpian, who had been meditating with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them. A glimmer of divine light flashed in her gaze as she looked toward Zhang Yu.

“Embryonic breathing?”

She thought to herself, “Looks like my little brother’s been focusing on embryonic breathing techniques since the school term started.”

“Well, that’s good. Once he’s mastered it, he’ll be absorbing spiritual energy day and night and refining mana constantly. That’ll be a big help to his mana growth.”

Her eyes swept briefly across the room before closing again. Her spiritual sight drifted deeper into the Spiritual Realm.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu continued his relentless cultivation over the following days. In class, he circulated the Sutra passively. Outside class, he cultivated actively. Not a single moment was wasted.

In just three or four days, he had raised the Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra to level 10. The level 10 effect allowed the technique to run passively with full power, equivalent to active use.

Another ten days passed, and Zhang Yu pushed the Sutra to level 20. At that level, mana circulation flowed as naturally and smoothly as breathing—every breath felt guided by divine aid.

Where it had once taken him thirty minutes to complete a cycle, now he could do it in under twenty, greatly enhancing his mana intake efficiency.

His mana steadily climbed to 286.2, and its quality reached 113%.

But just as he was about to choose his next technique to cultivate, Zhang Pianpian caught him alone—taking advantage of the fact that Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan weren’t around.

Back in late June, when she first noticed he had entered the embryonic breathing state, she hadn’t thought much of it.

But over the past half month, she had been monitoring the dorm’s spiritual energy consumption data—and noticed a steady, daily increase.

The more she paid attention, the clearer the pattern became.

Every surge in spiritual energy usage happened when Zhang Yu was present.

“Is it because his intake efficiency has improved?”

Realizing his cultivation speed was accelerating, Zhang Pianpian didn’t feel joy—only suspicion.

“To improve this much in such a short time… did he spend a lot of spirit coins? Or worse… take out another loan?”

Her doubts weren’t baseless. After all, when Zhang Yu first entered high school, he’d racked up 700,000 in debt within three months.

But she wasn’t concerned about him owing money—cultivators always borrowed. What worried her was reckless spending.

“Mana growth is something that should accumulate over the long term.”

“Spending large sums daily on this is only suitable for the truly wealthy. Not for the poor.”

So Zhang Pianpian activated a sigil and began investigating his purchase history, loan activity, and credit report...

To her surprise, Zhang Yu had been shockingly frugal in the month and a half since arriving at Wanfa Sect University. Aside from buying several techniques, he hadn’t made any major purchases.

Ruling out all costly explanations, only one possibility remained.

“He hasn’t upgraded his Law Husk, taken pills, bought external Dao techniques, or paid for any other enhancements…”

Her gaze fell on the Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra in his purchase log. She thought, “It’s the technique itself. He’s made incredible progress with his breathing technique, which is what’s driving the spike in energy use.”

At that moment, only the two siblings were in the room.

Zhang Pianpian looked at Zhang Yu and asked, “Little brother, tell me honestly—what level have you reached with the Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra

?” Zhang Yu blinked, caught off guard that she had identified the exact technique he was using.

Fu Ji quickly warned him, “Zhang Pianpian’s connected to the Righteous Gods. Never tell her the truth about us. Downplay your progress, or you’ll attract attention.”

Zhang Yu thought, “Level 20 in half a month… yeah, that’s pretty absurd.”

After a pause, he replied slowly, “Level 10.”

“Level 10?” Zhang Pianpian’s heart skipped a beat, but her face remained unreadable. She said calmly, “Impossible. Level 10 wouldn’t be enough to reach Foundation Establishment level.”

“I’ve reviewed the dorm’s energy logs and your expenses. Don’t try to lie to me. Tell me the truth.”

Zhang Yu hesitated, then adjusted his number. “Level 15.”

Zhang Pianpian’s mind reeled. “Level 15? In just half a month?”

“The Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra is a top-tier breathing technique. Most people take a year or more to reach level 15. My brother did it in fifteen days?”

“To do that with spirit coins would take… what, 50 coins? 100?”

She sighed inwardly. “His talent is far beyond what I expected.”

She recalled the last time she used the Heavenly Eye Sigil on Zhang Yu—and saw nothing but a string of question marks.

“Well then. If he weren’t like this, how could he possibly keep up with me in the future?”

Looking at him seriously, Zhang Pianpian said, “Zhang Yu, I’ve told you before: in Kunxu, information is power.”

“Having more data—having an informational edge—can be more important than strength. It can let the weak defeat the strong, the poor outmaneuver the rich.”

“We know this. And so do the Righteous Gods, the Gold Core cultivators, the Nascent Soul cultivators… and all the higher immortals.”

“Every floor you ascend in Kunxu, the surveillance grows tighter. It’s like a spiderweb of data wrapped around every person, tracking every detail.”

“Your recent spike in energy use in the dorm? Anyone with access can trace that.”

“If you don’t learn to hide, as your grades and strength improve, more people will take interest. And eventually, someone will uncover your outrageous talent.”

Zhang Yu was shaken. His cultivation progress really was impossible to explain.

If some higher being decided to take an interest in him… then his fate would be entirely out of his hands.

He had already been trying not to stand out too much—but he hadn’t expected his dorm’s energy usage and his frugal purchase history to be enough to give him away.

Zhang Pianpian continued, “So aside from using information, you must also create information gaps. And the simplest, most effective way for people like us—the poor—to do that, is to hide our data.”

“You cultivate mana to sell it, right? But if you generate too much in a short time, with no clear source, that alone will raise red flags.”

She sighed. “You need to slow down your progress.”

“For example, stop leveling the Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra for the next two weeks. Shift focus to body refinement or your Dao Heart.”

Zhang Yu thought bitterly, “I’m already level 20, though.”

Fu Ji reassured him, “Don’t worry, Zhang Yu. My Anti-Detection Ritual’s still in place. If you just need to hide your strength, it’s easy.”

Detection rituals could scan surveillance cameras.

Anti-Detection Rituals could suppress bodily data during a scan.

Both were rituals Zhang Yu had completed back on the first floor.

Still, he thought, “Even if I can hide my mana growth, selling too much mana is still risky.”

“If I want to earn more spirit coins… I’ll have to rely on the construction sites.”

“Which means my cultivation schedule needs a serious overhaul.”

Zhang Pianpian added, “And don’t rise in the rankings too fast, either. Stay under the radar.”

“Most university exams are self-scheduled. You decide when to take them. Try to delay yours as long as possible. That way, even if your score improves, fewer people will notice.”

“Oh, and don’t do your body-training exercises in front of the dorm. Find somewhere off-camera.”

Zhang Yu asked, “Where’s there no surveillance?”

Zhang Pianpian said coolly, “Below floor 100 in University City. The lower you go, the less monitoring there is. Go train there.”

Zhang Yu asked, “What about dorm energy usage?”

She raised a finger, and a Talisman Book appeared at her fingertip.

Glowing runes flashed as a log of spiritual energy usage for the dorm popped up. With a quick swipe, she edited the data to show a different figure.

“Energy usage is easier to mask. I’ll use a Spirit-Theft Sigil to cover your tracks. But your grades and power… those, you’ll have to rein in yourself.”

Zhang Yu asked curiously, “What’s a Spirit-Theft Sigil?”

“A charm that lets you sneak extra spiritual energy without getting caught. Just something I whipped up. Don’t worry about it.” Zhang Pianpian smiled faintly. “The dorms on floor 125 are pretty basic. I already cracked the monitoring sigils for energy data.”

Fu Ji stared, stunned. “What the hell… Is she siphoning energy like it’s electricity? Is this Zhang Pianpian still even human?”

Zhang Yu looked at his sister—and suddenly, he saw a flicker of Dao Seed information flash across her chest.

“Talisman of the Supreme Purity?” he thought. “So that’s her Dao Seed?”