No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

After Le Mulan awakened her Dao Seed—the Frost Abyss Technique—Zhang Yu couldn't wait to replicate it into the Dao Seed Codex.

Thus, aside from the level-1 Three-Eyed Divine Sight (Spirit Root), his Codex now also listed the level-1 Frost Abyss Technique (Mana).

But as soon as Zhang Yu activated the Frost Abyss Technique, his whole body locked up. His consciousness turned sluggish and dull, barely able to sense the outside world.

It was as if the technique had frozen not only his body but also his thoughts, plunging him into an unprecedented state of stasis.

All he could vaguely sense was that, under an intense coldness, something indescribable was transforming within him.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he suddenly felt a wave of warmth press against his back—something soft and yielding, slowly driving away the cold and bringing threads of warmth.

Zhang Yu, still mentally frozen, couldn't think. He instinctively yearned for that warmth, and as soon as his body regained some mobility, he clutched it reflexively.

Bit by bit, clarity returned. He noticed something dancing before his eyes.

“Huh?”

“Someone's contacting me?”

Befuddled, he tapped on the contact icon, then remembered: “Right, it's time for my call with Ah-Zhen?”

Still sluggish, he accepted the call out of habit.

The next moment, Bai Zhenzhen’s spiritual projection appeared in his EyeNet feed.

Seeing Ah-Zhen covered in sweat and surrounded by steaming heat, with white mist rolling off her skin, Zhang Yu asked, “Just finished working out?”

Ah-Zhen nodded and wiped the sweat off her brow, puzzled. “I was just practicing swordsmanship. Why did it take you so long to pick up?”

Zhang Yu paused, thinking, “I was just…”

As his mind cleared further, his memory snapped back to today’s events, ending at Le Mulan’s Dao Seed.

“Right… After I activated Le Mulan’s Dao Seed, I passed out for a while?”

At that moment, looking at the steaming-hot Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu felt his own body heating up, as if her warmth was somehow seeping through the spiritual network.

“Why is it so hot? Don’t tell me Ah-Zhen’s heat is affecting me through the Spiritual Realm Network?”

Suddenly, it hit him.

With a flash of Three-Eyed Divine Sight, he saw Le Mulan tightly clinging to his back like an octopus, holding him snugly.

He quickly messaged her via Law Husk:

Zhang Yu: What are you doing?

Just as he tried to stand, a pair of strong legs clamped tightly around his waist, radiating waves of heat.

At the same time, Le Mulan’s messages popped up in rapid succession.

Le Mulan: Don’t move. You were frozen stiff by my mana—I’m channeling energy to warm you up.

Le Mulan: Your entire mana flow was frozen just now. It was too dangerous.

To warm him, she had pumped her blood and qi to raise her temperature, turning herself into a blazing furnace. Her legs and torso were slick with sweat, sticking skin-to-skin with Zhang Yu.

Le Mulan: You’re mostly thawed now. Let me warm your dantian next.

Le Mulan: Don’t move. You’ll hurt yourself.

The next instant, her hands reached around and gently pressed against his lower abdomen.

Zhang Yu: “Hiss—!”

Bai Zhenzhen asked, puzzled, “Yuzi, what’s wrong?”

Zhang Yu panicked inwardly. “No way I’m telling the truth. If Ah-Zhen finds out, she’ll mock me for days—and look down on me.”

He frowned. “I'm cultivating.”

He also quickly adjusted the call to only show his upper body.

Just then, Le Mulan’s fingers explored downward. Her surprised voice echoed behind him: “Huh? This part’s not frozen?”

Zhang Yu inhaled sharply and gripped her hands to stop her from going further.

Zhang Yu: I’m fine. If you keep touching me, I’ll start charging fees.

Le Mulan: I should’ve paid you long ago. Name your price?

Off to the side, Fu Ji muttered, “Tch. With this level of self-control, he wants to get into Pleasure and Harmony University? What a greenhorn.”

Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen eyed him with visible scorn. “You little punk.”

“You weren’t… doing that again, were you?”

“No wonder it took you forever to answer.”

“You’re seriously doing that while on a call with me?”

She sighed. “Sigh. Sure enough, the moment you got to college and I wasn’t around, you started letting yourself go.”

“If I’d known, I would’ve chopped off your little problem before I left.”

Zhang Yu blushed. “What nonsense! I’m not Yu Xinghan!”

Bai Zhenzhen: “Then show me your hands. Both of them.”

Zhang Yu froze—his hands were still pinning Le Mulan’s.

Just as he was about to circulate his Martial Qi, Bai Zhenzhen’s look of disgust deepened. She sneered, “Seriously? I know you too well. If watching me helps you do your thing, fine. We’re bros, right? Who else would help you if not me?”

“I swear to—!” Zhang Yu snapped. “I wasn’t doing anything!”

“Uh-huh.” Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes and changed the subject.

Moments later, the call ended. Zhang Yu turned to Le Mulan. “You…”

“Sigh, my spotless reputation—ruined by you.”

“How am I supposed to face Ah-Zhen now?”

Le Mulan hesitated. “Were you… in a call just now?”

“Yes,” Zhang Yu grumbled. “Listen. From now on, without my permission, don’t touch me. Got it?”

“I was just scared you’d suffer frostbite,” she explained. “You really looked bad earlier.”

That reminded Zhang Yu: “Right, the Frost Abyss Technique.”

He quickly examined himself. His mana now carried a biting chill, flowing like ice crystals through his meridians.

His entire meridian network felt like it had turned to frost, dropping his body temperature significantly.

After a few tests, he discovered that his mana could now carry a hidden “frost poison”—a latent coldness that could seep into others through mana or Martial Qi.

It started subtly, but once accumulated, it could erupt and freeze an opponent’s qi and mana solid.

“Frost poison, huh? It’s boosted my Martial Qi again.”

Thinking back on how both he and Le Mulan had frozen stiff, he realized it must’ve been the first emergence of this poison catching them off guard.

Now that his body had adjusted, that shouldn’t happen again.

Zhang Yu thought, “Even if Le Mulan hadn’t helped, I’d probably have been fine. But… she doesn’t know I can copy Dao Seeds. Guess I can’t blame her.”

He recalled his battle with Cong Na. “If I’d had this Frost Abyss Technique then, things would’ve gone way easier.”

He ran further tests on himself.

Watching the frozen Martial Qi in his palm, he examined its density and toughness. “Seems like freezing Qi isn’t just for offense—it changes its structure too.”

While deep in thought, Le Mulan spoke in surprise: “You… also have my Frost Mana?”

Zhang Yu didn’t bother hiding it. Unlike Three-Eyed Divine Sight, this was too obvious.

He nodded. “Probably caught it from you when you broke through.”

As he continued testing, he discovered the chilled mana could kill pathogens, freeze wounds, and offer a mild healing effect.

“Not bad.”

“But I’ll need to study it more to figure out all the applications.”

Then, his expression stiffened. He felt something strange in the flow of his icy mana.

“No way…”

Ever since he started using life-shortening drugs, rebuilding his foundation, and pushing his body’s regenerative capacity, Zhang Yu had developed a keen sense of his own lifespan.

Now, under the influence of the Frost Abyss Technique, he sensed a subtle slowdown in the rate at which his life force drained away.

“This technique… it slows the passage of time on my lifespan?”

“Can it extend my life?”

He wasn’t sure. The details would need more investigation.

Still, he shared his hunch with Le Mulan.

She looked shocked. “My mana can do that?”

“I’ll need to run tests at the Pharmacology Department.”

Zhang Yu nodded. “Until then, keep this between us. Don’t attract trouble.”

His eyes drifted to the Dao Seed glowing at her chest.

According to his senses, upgrading the Frost Abyss Technique required boosting mana quality to 200%.

“That’s not something I can do anytime soon.”

“Wonder what the next upgrade brings?”

In the days that followed, Zhang Yu spent every spare moment testing the Frost Abyss Technique.

One day, at the tomb worksite, a humanoid Martial Qi figure rose behind him.

Unlike the unstable figures he used to conjure, this one radiated a bone-deep chill and had a more solid presence.

Through his senses, Zhang Yu noted it had skeletal joints made of frozen Martial Qi.

“Using frozen Martial Qi for bones…”

Watching the figure handle various tasks, he thought, “This structure improves power transfer—but it also increases mana cost and slows the figure’s movements.”

Suddenly, the figure swiped at something in front of him.

A puff of white powder drifted down.

“Powder? Wait… flour?”

“Where’d flour come from?”

He scanned the area, then turned toward a hidden tunnel.

Activating a ritual inside him, he summoned a camera feed.

The image froze him in place. Thunder cracked in his mind.

“The Black Agricultural Underworld?”