No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Watching the Dao Seed on Zhang Pianpian flicker and vanish, Zhang Yu mused inwardly, "Could it be that you only start to glimpse someone’s Dao Seed as you gradually understand them, and see more of their abilities?"

Recalling his time with Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan, Zhang Yu thought, "That makes sense. Yu Xinghan and I know each other inside and out, and I’ve had many deep conversations with Le Mulan."

"So if I want to understand my sister’s Dao Seed, I’ll have to spend more time getting to know her."

But since the two of them were now sharing a dorm, they’d have plenty of time together. Slowly unraveling her Dao Seed wouldn’t be that hard—just like how he caught a glimpse of that Taiqing Talisman Series earlier today.

After his sister left, Zhang Yu opened the ManaTreasure platform that Mana Techniques teacher Li Mingbo had introduced.

"Single-time mana sales require at least 1000 units."

"For less than 1000 units, you’ll need to sign a weekly or monthly supply contract and provide mana consistently each day."

Zhang Yu checked the current market rate for his 113%-quality mana, selling 100 units per day.

Looking at all those tiny zeros behind the decimal point made his head spin. He couldn’t help but curse, "This mana’s way too damn cheap."

Fu Ji chuckled, "Hehe, of course! There’s so much spiritual energy here, and dorms cost way less than a first-floor spirit vein. That means a ton of people can sell their low-quality mana."

"With so many sellers, how could the price stay high?"

"The more students at Wanfa Sect University cultivate, the more mana they generate. That means the rich get to enjoy cheap mana, while the students have to keep grinding, improving their mana quality just to fetch a decent price."

Fu Ji sighed. "These students are basically mana engines—constantly absorbing spiritual energy and pumping out mana. And they’re paying to do it, too."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Low-quality mana, and not in large quantities either... There’s no money to be made from that."

"If I can’t sell mana in bulk, then it’d be better to focus on physical cultivation and start prepping to earn from construction work."

He understood well—he only had ten years at the university. Every step of his plan mattered. His performance and ranking depended on it. He couldn’t afford to be careless.

Thanks to Zhang Pianpian’s reminder, he rethought his entire cultivation strategy.

"Now that I’ve got the University Saint Body, I can learn any technique faster than average. Whether I focus on the Dao Heart, mana, physique, or something else, I’m good."

With that, Zhang Yu decided to shelve his original goal of completing the Qi-Vein Eternal Flow set.

"Qi-Vein Eternal Flow will have to wait."

"First, I’ll train the body and rake in cash on the construction site. With enough money, I can boost my cultivation efficiency later."

"And I’ll keep my true strength hidden. No need to be too eye-catching..."

His past cultivation hadn’t been a waste either. Primordial Breathing Sutra let him refine mana constantly by absorbing ambient energy—a core Breathing Technique for body cultivation too.

He opened the Grand Archive in his ocular Law Husk and browsed through a collection of expert-grade body cultivation techniques.

"The only Foundation Establishment realm body-refining technique I currently know is Endless Spring and Autumn Meditation."

"At level 10, it’s part of the Martial Saint Embryo."

"At level 20, it’s a component of the Martial Saint Body."

Zhang Yu guessed that the Martial Saint Body was likely the Foundation Establishment version of the Martial Saint Embryo.

"Based on what I know about the Embryo, it boosts durability, regeneration, and enhances martial arts power."

"But right now, I’m still in the development phase. Maxing attack or defense doesn’t help much."

To Zhang Yu, early Foundation Establishment combat prowess was meaningless. Making money came first.

He scrolled through the introductions of each expert-grade technique in the Grand Archive and saw many Chain Diagrams for technique sets.

"Volcanic Boneforge, Young Kunpeng Embryo, Blood-Burning Rebirth..."

Zhang Yu frowned. Although he could see the names of these sets, without mastering them, he had no idea what their actual effects were.

"All I can do is guess from the names."

After a wild spree of browsing and nitpicking, Zhang Yu finally selected a set: Earth-Wood Saint Body.

Others looked promising too, but in Zhang Yu’s words—

"What good’s combat? We college students are competing to see who can earn the most."

He sorted all the body cultivation techniques under Earth-Wood Saint Body by price and picked the cheapest expert-grade Foundation Establishment one: Soil-Eating Divine Technique.

This technique involved condensing Gluttonous Mana, which then broke down the consumed materials to temper the body and increase physical strength.

As it leveled up, the materials ranged from plain soil to cement, concrete, rebar, even alloys. The tougher the material, the greater the strengthening effect.

Of course, this wasn’t actual eating. Even if consuming rebar and cement strengthened the body, it wouldn’t sustain life. You still had to eat real food to survive.

Right beneath the description, though, was a bright red warning:

"This is a legitimate body-refining technique. We do not condone any theft of construction materials. Practitioners must procure their training materials through legal means."

Zhang Yu blinked, then scrolled further. A stream of news headlines followed:

“Caught eating cables,” “Suspected of devouring rebar,” “Inhaling concrete,” “Feeding on demon-kin…”

"So this is to warn people not to steal from construction sites to train, huh?"

He paid 0.3 Spirit Coins and unlocked the digital rights to the technique.

After skimming the text, remembering Zhang Pianpian’s warning, he didn’t start training outside his dorm but headed for the lower levels of Wanfa University City—below the 100th floor.

…

Zhang Yu crossed the Magnetic-Transit Tunnel. The first thing he noticed upon reaching the 99th floor… was the silence.

Empty streets. Dull gray concrete.

No ads, no projections, no signage.

Whether he used his eyes or his ocular Law Husk, the entire 99th floor felt eerily deserted—like no one lived there at all.

He glanced at the buildings lining the streets. Most of the windows were dark.

"Is this because barely anyone lives on this floor?"

It felt strange, but Zhang Yu wasn’t in the mood to investigate. He activated his detection ritual and confirmed that there were significantly fewer surveillance cameras here.

By the time he reached the 95th floor, he found a quiet, camera-free corner.

From 99 to 95, not a single person crossed his path. Not a sound.

"Are mortals all concentrated lower down? Maybe these floors are just sparsely populated?"

Shaking off the unease, he focused on his training.

He took out a chunk of cement he’d prepared earlier, condensed Gluttonous Mana, and began cultivating the Soil-Eating Divine Technique.

At that moment, his gut erupted with astonishing power. With the aid of Gluttonous Mana, the cement was pulverized in an instant.

Zhang Yu was stunned. "The University Saint Body… gives me peak Foundation Establishment-level digestive capacity."

"At this rate, my stomach might be stronger than my fists."

He realized the digestion boost from the University Saint Body actually paired perfectly with Soil-Eating Divine Technique.

In the next moment, he threw himself into training again.

Soil-Eating Divine Technique – Level 1

Fu Ji looked around and thought, "Not a soul in sight, with camera dead zones too… This would be a great place to set up a ritual."

"I haven’t performed a new one since becoming a Level 2 Evil God. Maybe this place will do…"

She decided to observe a little longer and make sure the area was safe before suggesting anything to Zhang Yu.

From then on, outside of classes, Zhang Yu came here daily to train Soil-Eating Divine Technique.

Sacrificial Oxheart Technique and Primordial Breathing Sutra continued to operate 24/7, constantly improving his Dao Heart and mana, boosted by the University Saint Body.

As for classroom performance and diagnostics, he used the Anti-Detection Ritual to hide his true progress just enough to avoid raising eyebrows.

…

Outside the Law Husk Leasing Center—

Li Xiao, Gongshu Jin, Ying Xin, and others walked out, chatting and laughing.

"Alright, I’m heading out."

"Cool, see you tomorrow."

"No problem—like I don’t have a few Spirit Coins to spare?"

Bantering with classmates, Li Xiao strolled toward the dorms, smiling. A new class ranking popped up in his Law Husk.

He was still in 10th place with 295 points. His grin widened.

Glancing further down, his expression changed slightly: "Zhang Yu’s gone from 19th to 18th? 272 points. So he’s finally improving?"

But Li Xiao just shrugged. Half of the three-month foundational courses had already passed. Zhang Yu wouldn’t catch up to him.

A few days later, at midnight, Li Xiao checked the class rankings again. He was still 10th at 296 points. Zhang Yu had risen to 16th with 275.

Li Xiao frowned. "He’s gaining points fast." He thought, "Looks like he stopped wasting time on basic techniques."

If Zhang Yu had jumped ahead all at once, Li Xiao might’ve quit competing.

But watching Zhang Yu climb step by step lit a fire in him. Li Xiao was determined to suppress him—hard. More effort, more Spirit Coins.

Just then, a message from Ying Xin popped up: Want to hit the Soul Cloud Sea together today?

Li Xiao replied instantly, "Absolutely. Let’s grind for ten hours today."

After that, he trained harder than ever. His account balance shrank, loan bills stacked up, but his cultivation steadily advanced.

Every midnight, his first move was to check the rankings.

14th: Zhang Yu – 279 points

12th: Zhang Yu – 284 points

11th: Zhang Yu – 296 points

10th: Li Xiao – 301 points

"Just one month till the official term starts. I can’t afford to lose now…"

Watching Zhang Yu creep closer each day, Li Xiao grew more and more restless.

"Once I’m on the construction site… only then can I pay off my debt!"

"The Immortal Path is all about getting the edge. Fall behind once, and you’ll keep falling."

"If I don’t make it onto a work site first, my debt load alone will cripple my cultivation speed."

"Zhang Yu… You want to compete in cultivation potential?"

"Bring it on!"

"Teacher Tu will take me to the site first—he has to!"

Determined, Li Xiao’s expression darkened as he opened the loan platform’s collateral options.

Days later, he checked the rankings at midnight once again.

His eyes locked on the screen—

9th: Li Xiao – 308 points

8th: Zhang Yu – 309 points