No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

”That Primordial Yang Spirit Root is really popular among the Heavenly Spiritual Roots too. I mean, we’re all virgins in this school, right? The Primordial Yang Spirit Root can refine the essence of virgin males into mana—it’s crazy effective for boosting mana.”

Zhao Tianxing puffed his chest proudly. ”Especially our high school’s Primordial Yang Spirit Root—it’s been passed down for nearly twenty years now. Each generation of students has used it, so it’s soaked up the essence of thousands of virgin boys. That’s given it some... unique qualities.”

Zhang Yu frowned. There was just something gross about the way it sounded. And besides…

”Aren’t we all sterilized? How can that virgin spirit root still work?”

”It’s the Primordial Yang Spirit Root,” Zhao Tianxing clarified. ”Sterilization just removes a few organs temporarily. Our bodies still produce Primordial Yang essence from the kidneys. It just doesn’t trigger our emotions or urges anymore.”

”Otherwise, how would people get their parts restored later and grow them back?”

As they walked, Zhang Yu continued asking, ”Out of all the Heavenly Spiritual Roots in the school, which one gives the biggest mana boost?”

Zhao Tianxing paused, thinking back over Zhang Yu’s recent behavior. Clearly, the guy was seriously invested in improving his mana.

”Wait, are you aiming to compete in the Dao Tournament?”

After a moment’s thought, Zhao said, ”There are quite a few Spirit Roots that can boost mana. But the best one in our school is probably the Qi Sea Spirit Root. It’s expensive, though. But hey, since you’re redeeming a reward from the 0% Distraction Rate bonus, it won’t cost you anything...”The Qi Sea Spirit Root, nicknamed “The Wall-Piercer,” had two big advantages: massive range and the ability to pierce through walls, buildings, even the ground itself. It could draw in spiritual energy across wide areas and greatly boost mana refinement efficiency.

After Zhao’s explanation, Zhang Yu had already made up his mind to give it a try.

They arrived at the Spirit Root Rental Office next to the meditation chambers. Zhang Yu didn’t say anything immediately—he picked up a brochure from the desk and started reading through it.

The staff member nearby was a baby-faced female teacher.

Seeing Zhang Yu flipping through the pages, she quickly seized the moment. ”Student, are you a member here? Do you have any Spirit Roots you’re familiar with?”

Without looking up, Zhang Yu replied, ”No, and no.”

The teacher immediately launched into her pitch. ”We’re running a new-member promo! Recharge 10,000 yuan and get 1,000 free. Want to give it a shot?”

Zhang Yu said flatly, ”I’m here on the 0% Distraction Rate reward. Just claiming my rental. Not buying anything else, so no need to pitch me.”

The staffer chuckled awkwardly and backed off. ”Alright, just let me know if you need anything.”

Inwardly, she slapped a tightfisted label on Zhang Yu and gave up trying to upsell him.

Zhang Yu didn’t care what she thought. He scanned the brochure quickly—it said pretty much the same stuff Zhao had told him.

He turned to the staffer. ”I want to rent the Qi Sea Spirit Root.”

”Scan your student card, please.”

Zhang Yu handed over his card from Songyang Advanced Immortal Arts High School. It was his official ID as a high school cultivator, and his passport to all kinds of legitimate Immortal Path services.

Soon, the administrator returned with a jade box.

”The Qi Sea Spirit Root is inside. Head to Meditation Chamber #2. Open the box and ingest the root.”

”You’ve got it for one hour. Time starts when you enter the chamber. One minute over, and you’ll be charged for a full extra hour. Watch the time...”

After walking him through the finer points, she waved Zhang Yu inside.

Zhao Tianxing added, ”Alright, I’ll leave you to it then.”

Zhang Yu nodded. ”Thanks.”

As Zhang Yu walked away, Zhao watched his back thoughtfully. ”Pretty sure we’re closer now… right?”

…

Meditation Chamber #2.

Roughly twenty square meters in size. A single meditation cushion sat in the center, with soundproofing panels lining the walls, each covered in twisted sigils.

These sigils were supposed to accelerate the gathering of spiritual energy and improve breathing efficiency.

But Zhang Yu didn’t bother checking the decor. He only had an hour to refine mana. He sat down, opened the jade box.

Inside was a translucent crystal the size of his palm, glowing faintly with green light.

It floated in the center of the box, surrounded by wisps of green smoke-like energy particles.

This was the Heavenly Spiritual Root he’d rented: the Qi Sea Spirit Root.

Zhang Yu carefully lifted it and brought it to his lips. The moment it touched his tongue, a cold sensation ran down his throat. It felt like a splash of icy water slipping into his body and sinking into his lower abdomen—into his Dantian.

Once it entered his Dantian, the Qi Sea Spirit Root began to take root and grow, sending out crystalline tendrils that burrowed into the surrounding mana.

Zhang Yu knew, based on the manual and the staffer’s instructions, that the Spirit Root had now been successfully planted in his Dantian.

From here, all he had to do was breathe as usual, and the root would do its work.

He took a deep breath and activated the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique.

Boom!

It was like an explosion in his mind.

Spiritual energy surged from all directions, pouring into the Spirit Root inside him.

”Double?”

”Triple?”

”This is insane... it’s still rising!”

As more and more spiritual energy rushed in, Zhang Yu focused harder, running the 6th-level Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique at full power.

His mana cycle roared to life, refining the incoming energy into mana thread by thread.

His Dantian, which had felt bloated from the overload, began to stabilize.

But it was like the Spirit Root could sense how fast he was refining. It pulsed—and started drawing in energy even faster.

Not just the room’s energy now—energy from the hallway… the windows… the sky… even underground.

The Qi Sea Spirit Root expanded its range with Zhang Yu’s growing efficiency, stopping only when it reached a 50-meter radius.

Spiritual energy poured in like a tidal river, feeding into his mana channels, getting refined thread by thread.

Zhang Yu felt his mana skyrocketing.

”So this is what 6th-level Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering is supposed to feel like?”

Until now, he’d never truly tapped into the technique’s potential.

But now, with the Qi Sea Spirit Root, he was pushing its efficiency to the max.

Not wasting a single second, Zhang Yu fully devoted himself to cultivation.

…

Meanwhile, in the Spirit Root Rental Office, the baby-faced staffer blinked at her screen. ”Huh? Why’s the energy density dropping?”

The meditation chambers weren’t just soundproof. Each had energy-gathering sigils that let them regulate spiritual energy concentration.

She checked the monitors—Chamber #2 was pulling in so much energy that the surrounding rooms were running low.

”Chamber #2… that’s that freshman kid, right?”

”Freshman causing this kind of energy surge?”

She was surprised. In her experience, only sophomores could bring out this much power from the Qi Sea Spirit Root.

”Zhang Yu, huh?”

She noted his name and class, quickly deleting the “tightfisted” mental tag she’d assigned him.

”If he’s pulling this off as a freshman, he must’ve spent serious money on cultivation.”

She quietly boosted the room’s energy intake to balance the levels and thought to herself, ”I should get his contact info. If I can make him a platinum member, my sales quota’s set for months.”

She decided not to tell anyone else. This client was hers to develop.

…

An hour passed in a flash.

Zhang Yu, still basking in the torrent of spiritual energy, felt his mana grow from 9.4 to 9.5—an hour had given him half a day’s worth of gains.

Just then, a voice came from the room’s communicator.

”Zhang Yu, your time’s almost up. Would you like to extend your session?”

For some reason, her voice sounded sweeter than before.

Feeling the power flowing through him, Zhang Yu hesitated. ”How much to extend?”

”Qi Sea Spirit Root costs 5,000 per hour,” she said quickly. ”But we have a promo! Recharge 100,000 yuan and get 10,000 free, plus a 12% discount on rentals.”

Zhang Yu sighed. Reluctantly, he stopped his breathing technique. ”I’ve got other stuff today. Not extending.”

…

When he returned the root, the administrator was extra polite. Zhang Yu took the opportunity to ask a question.

Looking wistfully at the Spirit Root being sealed in the jade box, he asked, ”How much would it cost to buy one?”

She smiled. ”The Qi Sea Spirit Root costs sixty million.”

Zhang Yu sucked in a breath but kept a straight face. ”That much?”

She chuckled. ”Yep. Honestly, we don’t recommend buying. Renting’s much more economical. Using a Heavenly Spiritual Root this early in Qi Refinement is too extravagant. Most cultivators only consider buying one in university.”

Zhang Yu nodded. He knew that to break through the final barrier between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, one had to plant a personal Spirit Root.

Whether that root was Heavenly, Earthly, or Human depended on how deep your pockets were.

As for Divine or Immortal Spirit Roots? Those could only be transplanted through special departments or elite sects.

”A good Heavenly Spirit Root really is… TMD expensive.”

He cast one last longing glance at the sealed Spirit Root, silently vowing that one day, he’d buy one of his own.

Before he left, the administrator asked to add him on contacts. That’s when he learned her name—Wei Xin.

She quietly renamed his profile in her notes: Zhang Yu (Platinum Member Prospect).