No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Songyang High School.

In the blink of an eye, four days had passed since Zhang Yu rented the Qi Sea Spirit Root.

Today was the day the first-year students at Songyang High were being selected to register for the citywide Law Tournament.

In Mana class—

As the dismissal bell rang, Zhang Yu finally paused his breathing practice, opening his eyes to glance at the large screen.

After several days of bitter cultivation, his mana had surged yet again—from 9.5 to 10.5. The rapid improvement drew sidelong glances from several classmates.

Meanwhile, his Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique had risen from level 6 to level 8 (3/160). This, however, was a score known only to Zhang Yu himself. If others—whether classmates or teachers—found out, they wouldn’t just be surprised. They’d be shaken.

After all, although Zhang Yu’s mana growth was fast, it wasn’t unprecedented. With enough money, many rich students could achieve even faster results.

But pushing a breathing technique to level 8 in such a short span? As far as Zhang Yu knew, no one at his level had managed that before.

He turned his gaze toward the screen displaying the mana rankings for the entire grade.First place: Bai Zhenzhen, 12.1

Second place: Qian Shen, 11.9

Zhang Yu scrolled down quickly and found his name at eighth place.

Eighth place: Zhang Yu, 10.5

“Eighth, huh?” Zhang Yu gave a slight nod. That was high enough to secure a spot in the Law Tournament.

But a chill crept up in his heart as the countdown clock ticked on. He had no choice but to close his eyes once more and resume breathing practice.

On the podium, Ms. Yan tucked her hair behind her ear and, satisfied with the rankings, said, “This past week, everyone’s distraction rate has dropped another 8%. Mana cultivation efficiency is 12% higher than last month. I’m genuinely pleased.”

She glanced at Zhang Yu, who was already back to breathing practice, and smiled even more.

“I also want to give special recognition to one student—Zhang Yu.”

“Not only did he maintain a 0% distraction rate for two straight weeks, but this past week he made a breakthrough in mana, jumping from 16th to 8th place. Truly remarkable. Give him a round of applause.”

Scattered claps rang out. Ms. Yan went on to announce the top ten students who would be participating in the Law Tournament.

“The tournament begins next month. I’ll send you the specific schedule and rules once I get them.”

“Alright, class dismissed.”

“Oh, and anyone who wants to buy Gathering Pills—come see me in the office. We’ve got a special deal going…”

Below the podium, Bai Zhenzhen looked noticeably thinner. Her cheeks were starting to hollow out.

Seeing the sunny glow on Ms. Yan’s face, she muttered to herself, “This whole brutal grind… it’s all because of…”

Her gaze instinctively flicked toward Zhang Yu’s seat—only to find him breathing again.

“Bastard! Zhang Yu, you absolute bastard! Stop it already! Quit grinding so hard, damn it!”

Despite her furious inner rant, Bai Zhenzhen couldn’t bear to watch her sworn brother pull ahead alone. With a pained expression, she shut her eyes and resumed breathing as well.

Not far from her, Qian Shen had been watching both Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu closely. Seeing them use even break time and teacher talk time to cultivate, his heart sank.

As a student in the school’s Model Class, Qian Shen had always prided himself on never fearing competition.

But after grinding alongside Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen for eight straight days, something had shifted.

“They barely even go to the bathroom, and they don’t scratch itches. I just can’t push myself that far!”

“Does this mean I’m the one who hasn’t evolved enough?!”

Staring at the two maniacs still breathing furiously, Qian Shen finally gave in and closed his eyes with bitter resolve.

Grind it is! May the grind consume us all!

…

In Physical Cultivation class—

Students jabbed themselves with needles, refined their bodies, and let out beast-like howls. Even the floor was soaked with the pungent stench of sweat.

Bai Zhenzhen wiped her soaked forehead and glanced instinctively at the little black training room in the corner.

Ever since PE teacher Wang Hai had led the charge to isolate Zhang Yu, he’d been cultivating alone in that small room during Phys Ed.

But today, Zhang Yu wasn’t breathing like before. He was practicing the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms instead.

With a sharp crack, his muscles swelled and erupted with fierce strength as he lifted a massive training apparatus—up, down, up, down…

Meanwhile, his Feathered Tome showed that he’d switched his specialization from Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique (level 8) to Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms (level 3).

Zhang Yu had his reasons.

First, due to poor Spirit Root compatibility, he couldn’t absorb much spiritual energy. Further upgrades to his breathing technique were now yielding diminishing returns.

Second, since he’d already qualified for the Law Tournament, his next goal was the monthly exam in nine days.

“My mana’s grown enough lately. And with level 8 Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering, even if I don’t actively breathe, the passive absorption is still 65% as effective.”

“So my mana score in the monthly exam should be solid. Any more effort there would have low returns.”

Zhang Yu calculated: “That leaves Dao Heart, Physical Fitness, Martial Technique, and Dao Techniques.”

“My Dao Heart… I haven’t fully mastered the Celestial Martial Heart-Forging Technique, but I’ve comprehended most of its principles. Should be good enough for the exam.”

“As for Martial Technique, the 20-point theory section aside, the remaining 80 points depend on actual combat. That takes time, sparring partners—slow gains.”

“Dao Techniques are even worse. No hope of short-term improvement.”

After weighing everything, Zhang Yu decided the next 9 days would be best spent boosting his Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms and raw physical strength.

And as he practiced, he discovered an unexpected bonus from his breathing technique.

When he tensed and flexed his muscles, the mana coursing through his body didn’t stop. Instead, it flowed continuously, converting traces of spiritual energy into fresh mana.

As the flow passed through strained tendons and torn muscle fibers, the mana began to soothe and nourish the damaged tissue—accelerating recovery, boosting training gains.

Normally, level 3 Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms could already trigger a mana-assisted repair effect.

But thanks to the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique, the internal mana circuits became more intricate and refined, enveloping his entire body nonstop—dramatically enhancing recovery and body refinement.

He figured he could normally only practice the routine 20–30 times a day. But with this passive support? Easily 50–60 times.

So Zhang Yu resolved to grind the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms from here on out.

As that thought passed through his mind, he sighed inwardly.

“I’m actually getting used to the grind.”

“Sigh… Kunxu really turns people into monsters.”

But after 15 consecutive rounds of training, Zhang Yu realized something.

He was wrong.

Collapsed in a pool of his own sweat, a faint human outline soaked into the floorboards, he looked utterly spent.

Even Wang Hai, the hard-nosed PE teacher, would’ve said: “You’ve worked hard. Take a break.”

But Zhang Yu wasn’t supervised by a human—only by a Ritual. And the Ritual didn’t care.

“Please adhere to ritual requirements. Diligently fulfill your wish. Do not procrastinate. 10.”

Zhang Yu groaned, “Moron! I’m at my damn limit!”

This was torture!

Compared to this, breathing practice was paradise.

His lungs wheezed like bellows, and every inch of his body screamed in pain.

“I was too naive… thinking I’d adapted to this damn world.”

The countdown ticked in his ear. Still sprawled like a dead fish, Zhang Yu didn’t move until the final seconds—then sprang up, bracing through agony and exhaustion, and started another set of Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms.

Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms Level 3 (22/30)

Finishing another round, Zhang Yu once more collapsed into the puddle of his own sweat, shivering under the looming threat of the Ritual’s countdown.

“Is this world even survivable?”

“Damn it… Before this Ritual drives me to suicide, I swear I’ll break it!”

That noon, to everyone’s surprise, Zhang Yu went to the cafeteria and spent over a hundred yuan on a massive bucket of food.

If mana growth depended on absorbing spiritual energy…

Then refining the body demanded food—more food, better food.

“I’m eating ten pounds!”

Seeing the monstrous meal, Bai Zhenzhen instantly knew how intense Zhang Yu’s Phys Ed session must’ve been.

“Looks like he’s done grinding mana… now he’s grinding physical strength?”

When had this guy gotten so relentless?

Was it some side effect of not getting neutered?

Watching Zhang Yu chomp down a whole chicken leg and crush the bones to powder between his teeth, Bai Zhenzhen subconsciously sped up her own eating.

Zhou Tianyi sighed. “Slow down, you two. There’s no grade for eating speed.”

Nearby, Su Haifeng was also eating lunch in the cafeteria. Watching some students dawdle with their food, he frowned.

“Lunch break’s still too long.”

“We really should install more surveillance cameras in the cafeteria. Anyone who takes over ten minutes to eat should be publicly shamed—and fined.”

With that thought, he began drafting a proposal to send to the principal, suggesting this “valuable” cafeteria reform.

For the next nine days, whenever Zhang Yu wasn’t in class, he either trained the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms to his limit or got forced by the Ritual to do breathing practice.

And so, after day after grueling day, the monthly exams finally arrived.