No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Zhang Yu listened for a while to the rules of the scoring match and quickly understood how it worked.

“So basically, they stick Detection Patches all over me and the Yellow-Turban Warrior. Each time a patch gets hit, it’s recorded.”

“For example, hitting the Yellow-Turban Warrior’s back scores 5 points, a hit to the chest gets 3 points, and hitting the arm gets 1 point.”

“But if I get hit, it’s the reverse—getting hit on the back deducts 5 points…”

“The total score is calculated based on one minute of combat.”

“And of course, there’s another way to score—if you knock the Yellow-Turban Warrior out of the ring, you instantly gain 300 points.”

Zhang Yu understood that the purpose of this scoring match was to prevent high-ranking contestants from being placed in the same group during the upcoming group rounds, avoiding early eliminations among top performers.

“This way, strong contenders won’t hold back too much. Otherwise, they might end up grouped with another powerhouse.”

With that in mind, Zhang Yu nodded slightly and looked toward the Yellow-Turban Warrior.

It was a humanoid figure over two meters tall, clad in golden armor, its head covered with a golden mask. The exposed muscles looked like polished marble, engraved with dense runes.“Hmm… something feels off…”

Just then, a staff member stepped forward and sprayed advertisements onto the Yellow-Turban Warrior. Its chest now bore “Oasis Foods—For the Health of All Kunxu Citizens,” while its back read “Super Fierce, Super Mad, Supremely Dominant—Weilan Pharma.”

Only then did Zhang Yu nod in approval, muttering to himself, “I knew something was missing—this hits the mark.”

He still remembered that Oasis Corporation was the major promoter of synthetic foods and backed by Youming Palace, one of the Ten Major Sects.

Weilan Pharmaceuticals, unlike Purple Cloud Pharmaceuticals, focused more on combat-use drugs and was also a sponsor of this martial arts tournament.

At the same time, Bai Zhenzhen, watching the Yellow-Turban Warrior, commented, “Songyang High really is behind White Dragon High. Look at them—they get to use Yellow-Turban Warriors for exams and competitions. We still make students beat each other up.”

Zhang Yu nodded in agreement. “The realism of this Yellow-Turban Warrior is insane. It looks like an actual person.”

It was also Bai Zhenzhen’s first time seeing one in person. She agreed, “That’s rich people for you—always turning valuable stuff into things that look cheap.”

“Like making luxury clothes look like garbage bags… or designing a Yellow-Turban Warrior to look like a human.”

Zhang Yu suddenly had a thought. “Hey, what if we hired someone to play the Yellow-Turban Warrior for our school?”

Just then, Lei Jun, who stood behind them as the Martial Arts Combat instructor and organizer of Songyang High’s practical exam, snapped with a dark expression, “You think hiring someone to play a Yellow-Turban Warrior is cheap?”

“Who’s gonna pay for that? You want to start paying a monthly fee just to take the monthly exam?”

He snorted, then gestured toward the ring. “The first round of the scoring match is starting. Watch and learn. Don’t embarrass me when it’s your turn.”

When the contestants had gathered earlier, White Dragon High, as the event’s host, had distributed number tags to each participant. They would take the stage according to these numbers to fight the Yellow-Turban Warrior.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the host stepped onto the ring beside the Yellow-Turban Warrior.

“Welcome, everyone, to this year’s Songyang City First-Year Martial Arts Championship, proudly sponsored by Oasis Foods and Weilan Pharmaceuticals.”

“Tasty and all-natural, health and wellness the Immortal Way—today’s meals are all provided by Oasis Group.”

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen both spat in unison.

Synthetic food? Not even dogs would touch it.

The host continued, “With a thousand years of heritage, your go-to ally in battle or in brawls—Weilan Pharmaceuticals is your faithful partner. If you need any combat medicine, please visit the pop-up shop beside the arena.”

Finally, after finishing all the sponsor slogans, the first round of the scoring match officially began.

“Let’s welcome the first contestant!”

A student from White Dragon High walked onto the platform. As the countdown hit 3, 2, 1, he immediately engaged the Yellow-Turban Warrior.

Zhang Yu could tell—the White Dragon student’s strength, speed, and physical prowess were a close match for the 1.98-grade Yellow-Turban Warrior.

Each punch and kick followed a fierce, no-nonsense style. He blocked the Warrior’s attacks head-on while striking at the Detection Patches to earn points.

From a distance, it looked like two grizzly bears wrestling atop the platform. Every impact echoed like clashing steel, thrilling the spectators.

When the one-minute bout ended, the White Dragon student had scored 128 points.

The next several contestants were all from either White Dragon High, Purple Cloud High, or Red Tower High.

Watching them, Qian Shen grew more and more alarmed. “These elite top students from the Three Great Academies… any one of them would be number one in Songyang High’s first-year class. The gap is that big? Are Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen really going to fight people like this?”

He Dayou, on the other hand, was unsurprised. “Unless you’re part of our school’s athletics team and get special training, there’s no way to beat these freaks in physical strength.”

“Let alone in other aspects like Mana, Martial Arts, Spirit Roots… When it all comes together in real combat? It’s even more hopeless.”

As the son of a board member, He Dayou knew the gap between Songyang High and the Three Great Academies all too well.

Every year, the top university admissions across the Ten Great Academies were first claimed by White Dragon High’s best. The so-called “top students” of Songyang High only got a shot at the leftovers, competing with White Dragon’s second-stringers.

At that moment, a towering figure stepped onto the ring—over two and a half meters tall, like a Titan.

Standing before him, even the Yellow-Turban Warrior looked delicate by comparison.

As this student appeared, the previously well-behaved White Dragon High spectators suddenly leapt to their feet, cheering and applauding.

But Zhang Yu focused on the student’s hairstyle. “Isn’t that Song Hailong? Why does his hair look different?”

Song Hailong was White Dragon High’s number-one-ranked student. The number “1” was emblazoned on both his chest and back.

Zhang Yu remembered that during the last Law Tournament, Song Hailong had wild, spiky hair.

Today, he sported a short buzz cut like a hedgehog.

Song Hailong gave a slight smile and pressed a hand down toward the crowd. Instantly, the White Dragon students all sat back down and fell silent.

Watching this, Zhang Yu suddenly remembered the rumors of White Dragon High’s legendary “low-score slavery” system. It was clear Song Hailong’s word was law.

Bai Zhenzhen stared at Song Hailong’s new hairstyle and said, “He definitely switched to a different External Spirit Root.”

“Last time’s Spirit Root boosted Mana—good for magical cultivation.”

“This time, since it’s a martial combat tournament, he must’ve swapped to a combat-oriented Spirit Root.”

Then she turned to Zhang Yu and nudged him. “Yuzi, Yuzi! Hurry up and take out your 100,000-spirit-stone Talisman Book and use a Heavenly Eye Sigil to scout Song Hailong’s stats!”

Over the past two weeks, Zhang Yu had focused on martial arts training. The rest of the time, he familiarized himself with the Talisman Book.

But he didn’t dare use any of the paid features—only the one free daily use to practice sigils.

The two he practiced most were the school-taught Restraint Sigil and the Heavenly Eye Sigil.

At that moment, Zhang Yu carefully pulled out his Talisman Book. His fingers slid quickly across the screen, and as he activated the Heavenly Eye Sigil, the entire world instantly changed.

For those without Divine Credentials, this was what the world looked like—after a top-up.

For a limited time, little info panels popped up above people’s heads. Zhang Yu, who had practiced this several times already, was used to the altered vision. He focused intently on the figure atop the ring—Song Hailong.

Elephant-Sinew Physique (Expand for Details)

Elephant-Sinew Physique | Demon-Slayer | Heavenly Spirit-Forged Body | Unyielding Fighting Spirit | White Dragon Slaver | Son of a Legacy Clan

At the same moment, Song Hailong let out a wild laugh in the ring. He grabbed the Yellow-Turban Warrior’s giant hand, and to the stunned gazes of everyone present, flung it across the stage with a thunderous crash.

The entire fight lasted less than a second.

Song Hailong: Score—300.

The White Dragon High crowd erupted into raucous applause and cheers.

As Song Hailong calmly stepped down from the ring, many contestants felt as though they weren’t looking at a person, but at a ferocious, rampaging beast.

Qian Shen sucked in a sharp breath. “Song Hailong… 683 points on the last monthly exam. Seeing him fight in person is just as terrifying as that score.”

Meanwhile, Zhao Tianxing had just entered the venue and was scanning the crowd for Qian Shen—only to spot the tail end of that spectacle in the ring.

“That’s insane! Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen have to fight monsters like that?”

He couldn’t help but feel a rising anxiety. “They’ll be okay, right? They won’t get seriously hurt, will they?”

Back in the contestant area, Zhang Yu was still staring at the long string of stat labels hovering over Song Hailong. “What even are these…”

Bai Zhenzhen leaned in, listening as he read them out loud, and explained: “I know the Heavenly Spirit-Forged Body—it’s a type of External Spirit Root for combat. It generates spiritual-energy meridians that wrap around the user’s entire body, boosting strength, speed, endurance, and durability.”

Zhang Yu glanced at her, surprised. “This girl, Ah-Zhen… Last time she spotted an External Spirit Root too. Nailed it at a glance.”

“She can’t afford Spirit Roots, so how does she know so many?”

While Bai Zhenzhen wasn’t sure about the other stat labels, the voice of Lei Jun, standing behind them, suddenly chimed in.

“Implanted with Elephant-Demon muscle tissue. Long-term beast combat experience. Minimal negative emotions. White Dragon’s top student, the heir of the Song family.”

Zhang Yu was shocked. Old Lei, you know how to use Heavenly Eye Sigils?

Seeing their surprised faces, Lei Jun said casually, “If Dao Techniques could be used for free like you do, they’d actually be quite useful.”

Old Lei! You’ve betrayed the Martial Arts path!

Thanks to Lei Jun’s breakdown, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen gained even more insight into this evaluation round.

More powerhouses soon began to reveal their strength in the ring.

First came Lian Tianji from Purple Cloud High, whose fists and kicks poured down like a torrential storm. He completely suppressed the Yellow-Turban Warrior at the standard 1.98 strength level, racking up an impressive 261 points.

Not long after, a student from Red Tower High—built like a grizzly bear—stepped onto the stage. In a flash, he tackled the Yellow-Turban Warrior to the ground, then hurled it out of bounds. Score: 300 points.

Soon after came Le Mulan from Purple Cloud High. With just one hand, she pinned the Yellow-Turban Warrior to the ground.

Then she stomped repeatedly on the Detection Patch on its back, racking up points until she hit 305—just enough to edge past Song Hailong’s 300. Only then did she stop, glance coolly at Song Hailong, and step off the stage.

From the moment Le Mulan appeared, the Purple Cloud High crowd remained utterly silent.

Zhao Tianxing found it strange.

Qian Shen, ever the encyclopedia, explained smoothly, “Purple Cloud High updates its rankings daily based on student performance. The top-ranked student each day can impose one rule for the entire grade—as long as it doesn’t interfere with class.”

“To my knowledge, since the start of the school year, Le Mulan has always been number one.”

“And her daily rule has never changed.”

“That is, every first-year student must stay silent in her presence. Any ‘low-class’ student scoring under 650 is not allowed to speak to her without permission.”

Low-class students under 650 points? Zhao Tianxing felt a flash of personal offense—until he remembered that Qian Shen himself didn’t have 650 either. That calmed him down.

Zhao asked, “How do you know all this?”

Qian Shen smiled faintly. “Let’s just say I do a bit of research on the Three Great Academies.”

Meanwhile, back in the contestant area, Song Hailong laughed uproariously after being clearly provoked.

“Le Mulan! I’ll be waiting for you in the finals!”