No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Zhang Yu was a freshman in the Civil Engineering Department—and a survival expert on construction sites. For the past few months, he had been walking the wild path of gourmet field cuisine. To eat the freshest, tastiest, and most outrageously priced ingredients, he was willing to risk his life.

A few days ago, he took a flying vessel and crossed thousands of miles to arrive at this perilous, post-war ruin.

This thousand-acre stretch was riddled with residual Gold Core mana, half-functioning formation power, and all sorts of invisible, hazardous materials. Every step bristled with unimaginable dangers.

High temperatures, explosions, disease—all constantly threatened his life, probing for cracks in his willpower.

But what Zhang Yu remained most guarded against wasn’t just these external threats. It was the predators searching for the same prey.

Senior Civil Engineering students—stronger, older, more experienced—could effortlessly snatch food out from under his nose.

To avoid competing with them head-on, Zhang Yu had no choice but to trek further and deeper, scouring for rare ingredients growing in near-inaccessible corners.

At this moment, he was cautiously navigating the rubble, activating his Three-Eyed Divine Sight at full power, alert to every rustle and ripple around him.

Clouds of Formless Cloud Qi swirled around his body as he scanned over shattered construction materials, unidentifiable fragments, and exploded machinery.

From time to time, he picked up gleaming scraps of metal or unfamiliar instruments, evaluated them, then tossed them aside without hesitation.

In these perilous ruins, the good stuff was always hidden in places no one else noticed.

Suddenly, Zhang Yu's gaze sharpened. He had spotted something.

Formless Cloud Qi swirled into a spiraling stream, snatching a cylindrical object into his hands.

It appeared to be a module from a puppet assembly line.

Within it was Corrosionbane Membrane Marrow—acid-resistant, heatproof, impact-tolerant—one of the rare factory delicacies Zhang Yu had been seeking.

He traced the inner lining of the cylinder, relying on days of experience to identify it. Soon, a smile crept across his face. He began carefully processing this gift from nature.

With a flick of his index finger, a strand of green-silk flying sword coiled around it burst to life, slicing the cylinder cleanly into dozens of chunks.

Once the strike was done, the green silk coiled obediently back around his finger—but it no longer glowed with spiritual brilliance. It would take a full day and night to recharge its spiritual energy.

Gathering the fragments off the ground, Zhang Yu thought, "Good thing Ah-Zhen gave me this green-silk flying sword. Otherwise, even if I found these materials, hiding or swallowing them would have taken me forever to process."

Then, mouth wide, he gulped down the pieces of Corrosionbane Membrane Marrow.

Though hunger gnawed at him, Zhang Yu didn’t immediately switch to his University Saint Body or activate the Soil-Eating Divine Technique to digest the meal.

He understood that in this field of lurking threats, full digestion mode would leave him terribly vulnerable.

So he stashed the food in his stomach, saving it for post-shift processing.

Moments later, he stumbled across a section of pipeline, and it took three full uses of the green-silk flying sword to split it.

“Type-15 Spiritsteel Alloy. A downgraded version of Type-20, but still needs three cuts.”

“Clearly, I’ve still got a long way to go before I can digest Type-20.”

He swallowed the shards of Type-15 alloy and thought, “Just like with Type-20, I’ll store it for now. Once I reinforce my digestive tract with Corrosionbane Membrane Marrow, I can use this Type-15 to further strengthen my stomach and eventually attempt the Type-20 again…”

And so he continued clearing rubble, collecting ingredients, processing them along the way—until his shift ended.

While others ran off to their massages, Zhang Yu buried his haul in a prepared pit.

Then he dug out a portion of Corrosionbane Membrane Marrow, switched to his University Saint Body, and activated the Soil-Eating Divine Technique to fully digest this rare treat.

“A shame to have greens but no medicine.”

Still, he knew it was impossible to be picky out here. Shaking his head, he poured his mana into the digestion process.

Thread by thread, the Corrosionbane Membrane Marrow fused into his stomach lining, slowly armoring it with enhanced toughness and resilience—like layering plate armor around his gut.

Each shred absorbed increased his digestive power, transforming his insides into a grinding mill, capable of pulverizing any food that dared to enter.

In the days that followed, Zhang Yu threw himself into foraging, refining, and rubble-clearing.

In just over a week, with the Foundation Establishment–level digestion granted by the University Saint Body and level-20 Soil-Eating Divine Technique, he refined over 10 spirit coins’ worth of Corrosionbane Membrane Marrow into his esophagus, stomach, and intestines—turning them into walls of reinforced steel.

With the ruins nearly cleared, he finally began attempting to digest Type-15 Spiritsteel Alloy.

Using seven green-silk flying swords, he diced a dozen metal chunks into hundreds of tiny slivers.

He swallowed them all, unleashed his Gluttonous Mana, and activated Foundation Establishment–peak digestion to slowly break them down.

When progress stalled, he called upon the War Demon Life-Draining Technique, temporarily boosting his physical strength by a full level.

His organs exploded with violent power, like a volcano erupting, grinding the metal under Gluttonous Mana’s force.

Then came the Limitless Cloud Hands at level 20—its high-frequency vibrations accelerating the breakdown further.

Bit by bit, Type-15 alloy dissolved in his stomach, fusing with the Corrosionbane to further strengthen it. Only then did Zhang Yu allow himself a moment of satisfaction.

“If I’m already pushing myself to the brink to digest Type-15…”

“What kind of power will I unlock when I refine Type-20 into my bones?”

Days later, the ruins were fully cleared, and the construction of the Law Husk Factory’s main building began.

Students and faculty from the Artifact Refinement Department and Architecture Department also arrived.

But for them, this wasn’t training—it was a side hustle. They mostly handled design, supervision, and quality control, so only a few showed up.

Without the ruins' constant danger, Zhang Yu focused on activating his University Saint Body during work while advancing the Earth-Wood Saint Body’s Techniques.

Previously, he had to maintain the Saint Body constantly for safety, slowing down his Mountain-Moving Sutra. Now, his cultivation surged forward again.

Under the Mountain-Moving Sutra, his body expanded, pounding rebar into place with one palm strike after another.

His eye sockets flickered with digital measurements as he corrected a senior: “This one’s off by 1.3 millimeters—it can’t exceed 1 millimeter.”

That day, he pushed the Mountain-Moving Sutra to level 10.

At this stage, the Technique no longer expanded his whole body, but allowed precise muscle expansion in specific areas.

“Level 10… muscle expansion can now be localized?”

He tested the new powers briefly, then checked his messages.

“Has the Architecture Department sent the blueprint yet? Can someone follow up? We’ve been waiting for nearly an hour.”

After a long shift, it was finally time to clock out.

Zhang Yu was usually too frugal to use the Spiritual Realm Network—or the pricey Sky-Piercing Flying Swords’ data network.

But this time, he activated his Vajra Forge Relic and absorbed its high-quality mana.

Then he connected to the site’s Spiritual Realm Network, checked in with Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Pianpian, got the lecture recordings from Yu Xinghan, and greeted Le Mulan…

“Ah-Zhen, those seniors of mine went off for massages again. I obviously didn’t go. There are just six techs there, working overtime without even bathing. I find it gross.”

Life on the worksite felt like being forged steel—constantly pounded under high heat and pressure. Zhang Yu could feel himself advancing on the Immortal Path every second.

Two weeks later, his cultivation had improved dramatically, his knowledge of the site deepened, and his construction skills grew sharper.

Looking at a slightly off-size rebar, Zhang Yu said to Che Yufei, “Off by 2 millimeters? Good enough. We’re not building a divine artifact here.”

Che Yufei frowned, about to object—until Zhang Yu slipped him a piece of Type-20 alloy. He raised an eyebrow and discreetly slipped it into his sleeve. “Fine this time. But don’t do it again.”

After Che Yufei left, Shi Yunxiang came over. “The teacher’s group said the blueprints were sent?”

Zhang Yu replied, “What blueprints? That floor’s already installed. Designers never understand the site as well as we do.”

“Shift’s over. I’m heading out.”

Back in his room, Shi Yunxiang found everyone else already there. “No one went for massages?”

Che Yufei sighed. “Those techs haven’t bathed in ages. We’re all grossed out. Only Zhang Yu went.”

…

With a soft boom—

Zhang Yu opened his buried pit and retrieved a chunk of Type-20 Spiritsteel Alloy.

Since Che Yufei and the others had stopped going to massages, Zhang Yu used it as an excuse to sneak out and eat each day.

“Tomorrow the techs will finally bathe. Che Yufei and the rest should start going back.”

He looked at the piece of Type-20 alloy in his hand.

Now that his digestive tract was reinforced with Type-15 alloy, it was finally time to digest this high-grade material.

Used to protect puppet cores, this rare material rivaled the bodies of Foundation Establishment–peak body refiners in strength.

Explosion-proof, impact-resistant, and able to evenly absorb martial force—it was no ordinary meal.

Previously, even burning seven green-silk flying swords a day only allowed him to cut off a palm-sized chunk.

Now, Zhang Yu’s mouth, belly, and chest suddenly swelled.

With the Mountain-Moving Sutra at level 20, he could now temporarily expand his esophagus and digestive organs.

And with this leap to level 20, his Earth-Wood Saint Body also advanced to its second tier:

Senior-Level Earth-Wood Saint Body (8/8): Greatly reduces the lifespan cost of mana circulation, eating, and pill consumption during the Foundation Establishment stage. The Earth-Wood Saint Body lets you work till you're old—and live long enough to keep working.

“What a glorious Saint Body. With this, I can finally use those lifespan-burning Techniques and pills without restraint.”

“Good thing I’ve only burned about one year of lifespan so far. Still got plenty left to torch.”