No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

In the surveillance footage, clusters of glowing wheat were being wrapped in Martial Qi by a man, ground down until they became heaps of fine white flour.

Then another man activated his Martial Qi to compress the flour into dense blocks, stacking them like bricks.

“They’re refining flour here?” Zhang Yu thought to himself. “I don’t know what variety it is, but it seems just like Heaven-Essence Rice—this flour isn’t ordinary either.”

Fu Ji also viewed the scene through the power of the ritual, musing, “So they ship it out in this form? Hmm… definitely saves space and makes transport easier.”

In Zhang Yu’s mind, five bold words kept flashing:

Black Agricultural Underworld.

The Black Agricultural Underworld—Zhang Pianpian had warned him about this forbidden realm on his first day at Wanfa University City.

And after nearly a year of life in University City, Zhang Yu fully understood: farming here was a severe offense against both school regulations and the law. Getting caught meant utter ruin—being drained of every last drop of flesh, blood, and soul.

“They’re not just refining flour…”

“Could they be growing crops right here too?”

“Unbelievable.”

But the more Zhang Yu thought about it, the more likely it seemed. After all, Huolongyuan was built atop a Spirit Vein. The area teemed with spiritual essence—prime farmland.

He also recalled the current cemetery renovation project. A thought struck him: “Could the graveyard damage be connected to the Black Agricultural Underworld?”

Fu Ji agreed, “Quite possible. People in that scene have their heads strapped to their waists—murder and silencing witnesses are just part of the job.”

“If they were caught in the middle of a raid, of course they’d resist fiercely. It’d be no surprise if they’d rather die than be captured. Wrecking the graveyard in the crossfire is only to be expected.”

Staring at the brick-like flour blocks on screen, Zhang Yu’s expression shifted repeatedly. His brows furrowed and smoothed, eyes full of hesitation and longing.

Fu Ji seemed to sense his inner struggle and asked, “What? You want to snatch the goods?”

Zhang Yu replied matter-of-factly, “In University City, who wouldn’t be tempted by this much flour? But… it’s just so risky.”

Looking at the flour on the monitor, Zhang Yu thought of the days when he had food every day. His mouth practically began to water.

“If I report this… is there a reward?”

“But how would I explain how I found it?”

“I used ritual power… kind of hard to account for that.”

For the next two days, Zhang Yu kept checking the surveillance feed, weighing his options over and over.

Fu Ji commented, “Still not enough intel. We don’t know how many people there are, how strong they are, or what to do with the flour if we grab it. And we don’t know the consequences of reporting it either.”

“How about… talk to your sister?”

“She’s on the University City Patrol Team, right? She must know more about the Black Agricultural Underworld than we do.”

“Just tell her you found flour at the construction site. See what she says.”

Zhang Yu mulled it over and agreed—it did seem like something worth discussing with Zhang Pianpian.

That night, while Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan were out, Zhang Yu placed the white powder he’d found in front of Zhang Pianpian.

“Jie,” he said, “does this look like flour to you?”

Zhang Pianpian gave it a curious glance, dipped her finger in it, tasted it lightly, and then said in surprise, “It really is flour. 99% purity—Earth-Essence Wheat.”

Zhang Yu blinked. “What does 99% purity mean?”

Zhang Pianpian explained, “Flour from the source typically has 99% purity, not much impurity.”

“But once it hits the black market, the dealers mix in all kinds of fillers to boost profit.”

“The decent ones add medicinal powder or cement.”

“The unscrupulous ones… anything goes.”

“Once it’s in a street buyer’s hands, anything above 50% purity counts as premium quality.”

Hearing how knowledgeable she was, Zhang Yu thought to himself, Yep, definitely asked the right person.

Zhang Pianpian then asked, “Where did you find this?”

When Zhang Yu mentioned the Huolongyuan construction site, she immediately said, “Take me there.”

Thanks to Zhang Pianpian’s decisive style, the two were at the graveyard construction site within moments.

“Di,” she said, “if we catch Black Agricultural Underworld folks here, you’ll really be helping me out.”

“Once I bring down these maniacs farming in University City, I’ll owe you big.”

She tapped her fingertip, and a virtual Talisman Book projected itself into view via the Spiritual Realm.

With her fingers moving rapidly over the virtual pages, a wave of unseen power rippled outward from her.

Heavenly Eye Sigil—Activate!

A shimmer lit up Zhang Pianpian’s ocular husk. The next moment… the footage from Zhang Yu’s own eyes appeared in hers.

With the Heavenly Eye Sigil, Zhang Pianpian could hijack someone else’s ocular husk and view the world through their eyes.

While activating it, she briefly explained the technique: “The Heavenly Eye Sigil forcibly intrudes into someone else’s ocular husk. It's considered rude, so never use it unless you want trouble.”

Zhang Yu thought, “Rude? This has to be illegal, right? Also, how would I even know how to use this?”

Zhang Pianpian continued, “But today I’m using customized sigils. They trigger divine power, but they won’t be logged by the Spiritual Realm Network—so the gods won’t take notice.”

“So from here on, don’t record anything or spread it around.”

As she spoke, more footage appeared in her eyes—this time from the perspective of those processing flour in the underground tunnel.

Seeing the flour bricks in front of these extremists, Zhang Pianpian’s expression first brightened, then darkened.

Zhang Yu had been watching her face the whole time. “Jie, what did you find?”

Zhang Pianpian said solemnly, “There are definitely Black Agricultural Underworld operatives processing flour here—and a lot of it. I probably can’t handle this alone…”

Zhang Yu was startled. “You can’t handle it? Shouldn’t we call more patrol officers?”

Zhang Pianpian clarified, “I mean, I can’t eat all this product by myself.”

Zhang Yu: “…Huh?”

Wait—weren’t you here to catch them?!

Zhang Pianpian explained, “If it were small-scale, I’d just arrest them.”

“But with this volume, part of it gets turned in, and part of it we keep.”

She looked at Zhang Yu and said, “Di, here’s another life lesson.”

“In Kunxu, you can’t be reckless—but you can’t be too cautious either.”

“If you gamble too hard, you’ll constantly live on the edge and crash eventually.”

“But if you never take risks and hope to climb the ladder by just working hard… that’s pure fantasy.”

As she spoke, her fingers moved rapidly again—activating a Surveillance Sigil and taking control of the visible surveillance cameras through the enemies’ own ocular husks.

Then she used the cameras to launch more Heavenly Eye Sigils, gaining access to the perspectives of other individuals caught on film.

In this back-and-forth between sigils and feeds, Zhang Pianpian quickly gained total control over the hideout.

Her eyes flickered through dozens of visual feeds as she studied the situation, saying, “No problem.”

“I’ve got their camera feeds and ocular husks locked down. Over the next two days, I’ll observe their personnel and schedules to plan our move.”

“But with just the two of us, suppressing them and moving the goods will be tough.”

Zhang Yu thought, “Wait—so I’m roped into this now?”

He couldn’t help asking, “Jie, didn’t you tell me not to mess with the Black Agricultural Underworld?”

Zhang Pianpian replied calmly, “I told you not to farm.”

“But catching farmers and stealing from them? That’s fine.”

Zhang Yu twitched at the corners of his mouth. But truthfully, he had been tempted to grab the goods anyway—he just hadn’t had the confidence.

Now that Zhang Pianpian was in charge, he suddenly felt a lot more secure.

Zhang Pianpian asked, “What do you think of Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan? Can we trust them?”

Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up. “You want to bring them in?”

Zhang Pianpian said, “I’ve reviewed their chat and browsing histories. Some parts were… confusing. But overall, they seem trustworthy. What’s your take?”

Zhang Yu’s heart sank. Wait—you didn’t check mine too, did you?

He didn’t dare ask and simply said, “They’re friends who’d lend me money. Should be reliable.”

Zhang Pianpian said, “Then sound them out when you get back.”

“I’ll monitor their communications.”

“If they don’t leak anything, we prep tomorrow and strike the day after.”

…

Wanfa University City.

Below the 100th floor, in a hidden alley with no surveillance and difficult to find.

“Jie, how’s that?”

“Mhm, a little harder.”

“Got it.” Yu Xinghan wiped sweat from his brow and kept massaging diligently.

Just then, a message popped up in his ocular feed.

Zhang Yu: Lao Han, I need to talk. When are you coming back?

Yu Xinghan: Busy. Not coming back today.

Zhang Yu: It’s important. Could make money.

As Yu Xinghan hesitated, a woman’s voice rang out: “Don’t stop—I was just getting relaxed.”

He quickly resumed massaging and replied:

Yu Xinghan: Is it more than 0.06 Spirit Coins?

Zhang Yu: More than that.

Yu Xinghan: I’m in.