No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Under the astonished gazes of many students and even the present Righteous Gods, Zhang Yu suddenly ceased the circulation of his Mana.

The students around him were still sprinting with all their strength. Aside from the top two ranks, the numbers among the rest were neck and neck.

So… the moment Zhang Yu paused, his representative bar chart plummeted, rocketing toward last place.

As he watched his rank nosedive, the fighting spirit in Zhang Yu’s eyes only burned brighter. In his mind’s eye, the Sacrificial Ox roared at the sky on its broken limbs, a jagged horn glinting with icy light.

“Come on, find life in the face of death!”

Under this self-inflicted pressure, the effects of the Sacrificial Oxheart Technique amplified, thriving on desperation and adversity.

Zhang Yu felt a surge of vitality in his entire body. His Mana roared to life like oil poured on a blazing fire.

His brain shifted into overdrive, sending Mana coursing through his body.

“My Mana control is strong, but I’ve always lacked explosive power.”

“If I want to make a breakthrough in this exam, I need to leverage my control to its fullest potential.”At that thought, a flash of insight struck him—he recalled the Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm, the general-purpose Martial Technique he’d shelled out 200,000 for.

Just like the Back-Dragon Mountain-Flipping Grip, such pure physical techniques were dubbed general-purpose because they could be augmented by any type of Mana, releasing immense force.

“The Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm is my strongest burst-type Martial Technique. If I fuel it with Mana…”

A thunderous bang rang out. Zhang Yu’s Mana slammed violently into the Detection Patch on his palm.

Immediately, pain shot through his meridians.

“My meridians still aren’t strong enough…”

“In that case, I’ll wrap them in Formless Cloud Qi—turn them into a new channel…”

“Then use the Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm to blast all this Mana out!”

Formless Cloud Qi rose from Zhang Yu’s Dantian, transforming into layers of Subdermal Qi in an instant, wrapping his meridians and forming a conduit from his Dantian to his palm.

In the next moment, thunderous Mana detonated within him, violently charging through the channel with brute force.

Under the pressure of desperation, boosted by the Sacrificial Oxheart Technique, guided by Formless Cloud Qi, and discharged through the Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm—every blast sent tremors through his internal Formless Cloud Qi.

In that moment, Zhang Yu felt like a living cannon—Formless Cloud Qi as the barrel, Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm as the gunpowder, and Mana as the shell—firing shot after shot from within.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

And just like that, his rank skyrocketed, rocketing forward with unstoppable momentum.

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28th!

21st!

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Yu surged back into 21st place, and he was still accelerating toward 20th!

The student currently holding the 20th spot was one Li Tongyun.

Watching the bar chart for Number 55 close in on her position, Li Tongyun felt a crushing weight settle over her.

“Damn it… why?”

“Why have I been pushed to this point?”

She remembered once ranking in the top five at Immortal Cloud High, but in just half a year, she had slid into this precarious spot…

A bitter sense of injustice welled in her chest.

Half a year ago, her father lost a brutal corporate battle and was ousted as collateral damage.

With severance nowhere in sight, her family was buried under loans, bills, and cultivation expenses.

At the time, her parents’ savings could barely cover a month.

To preserve her status among peers, friends, and teachers, Li Tongyun didn’t dare reveal the truth. She kept borrowing money, gritting her teeth to maintain her “rich girl” persona.

As the saying goes—when the bank account’s empty, the loan account has your back.

Now, her bank balance was negative 1.5 million.

Even so, without financial backing, her cultivation stagnated while her classmates continued to progress. She plummeted in rank.

On the cutthroat high school Immortal Path, the moment your pace slowed, you got left in the dust.

“I can’t lose…”

Yet if that were all, she could still scrape into a college, land a decent job.

But Li Tongyun knew—it wasn’t that simple.

Back when her family’s income peaked, when she ranked top five at Immortal Cloud High, basking in pride and ambition, ready to ace the Foundation License…

She had signed a bet-on agreement with her father’s company.

“I have to get the Foundation License. If I don’t… I become company property.”

As Number 55 closed in, Li Tongyun felt as if a bottomless abyss—one of endless despair—was crawling toward her feet, hungry to swallow her whole.

“I can’t lose!”

With a furious scream in her heart, Li Tongyun unleashed twelvefold Mana output. Her meridians screamed in agony as she poured everything into her assault.

But no matter how hard she tried, how much she bled from all seven orifices, she could only watch helplessly as Zhang Yu overtook her rank and pushed her down to 21st place.

The moment he reached 20th, Zhang Yu let out a long breath. “Finally made it.”

With the pressure easing, he dialed back the Mana output.

After all, this rough method couldn’t be sustained without damaging his body. Now that he was in the top 20, he needed to prioritize his health too.

But then he noticed—21st place was chasing again.

As the pressure rose once more, Zhang Yu had to ramp up his Mana output, once again blasting his pursuer away.

Even with the protection of Formless Cloud Qi, this brutal Mana onslaught started to rattle his body.

“Damn it, how stubborn is this person?”

Zhang Yu rubbed his sore stomach, glancing at the relentless 21st place—Number 36.

Li Tongyun, bleeding from every pore and in agonizing pain, kept her eyes locked on Number 55.

Every time she closed the gap, Number 55 would surge ahead again.

But then, he would slow down—just enough to let her catch up again.

Li Tongyun seethed. “Number 55… is that the filthy rich outsider?”

“Is he messing with me? Toying with me on purpose?”

She could almost see his smirking face, mocking her relentless struggle.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Dai Xingzhi had been observing Number 55 closely.

When he saw Number 55 suddenly halt his Mana, dropping to last, he was puzzled.

When he saw Number 55 roar back to 20th, he thought maybe he was gunning for the top three.

But then he just… stayed at 20th. And every time Number 36 caught up, he sped away—only to wait again.

A flash of clarity crossed Dai Xingzhi’s eyes. “He… is playing, isn’t he?”

As Number 55 held the 20th rank steadily until the end of the round, Dai Xingzhi became certain.

“He’s deliberately sticking to 20th. Not overtaking the next person, but not letting anyone overtake him.”

“To control one’s rank like this in the Foundation Establishment exam?”

“That takes absurd confidence.”

He looked in Zhang Yu’s direction. “Just how rich is this guy?”

And Dai Xingzhi wasn’t the only one thinking that.

Yun Jing, who had taken second place, glanced at Ye Lingxiao for a while, then turned to Zhang Yu.

“Hmph, hiding in the back and pulling tricks. Showing off his control? Or hiding his true strength?”

Ye Lingxiao, first place winner, looked resigned. “I let myself get baited into taking first… again.”

“I really can’t stay calm, huh.”

He looked over at Zhang Yu. “But this guy… he’s actually playing around during the exam.”

At that moment, Zhang Yu seemed even more unfathomable in Ye Lingxiao’s eyes.

Especially since Ye Lingxiao was sure Zhang Yu had been holding back.

An opponent shrouded in mystery always felt more dangerous.

“He might be even more dangerous than Yun Jing.”

Then, Ye Lingxiao waved at Zhang Yu. “Nice play.”

“Huh?” Zhang Yu blinked in confusion. “‘Nice play’? What the hell does that mean?”

“Is this guy provoking me?”

“Laughing at me, stuck in 20th, clawing for dear life?”

That feeling… Zhang Yu decided, from now on, he’d never again compliment Zhao Tianxing’s punches in class.

“So this is what it feels like—condescending and smug. Damn it.”

Beside him, Bai Zhenzhen offered comfort. “Yuzi, being underestimated has its perks. Makes it flashier when we surpass them later.”

“Beating rich brats—that’s our privilege as the poor! Those Immortal Path trust-fund kids never get to feel that!”

Clearly, in Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes, Ye Lingxiao’s tone, gesture, and words were full of mockery and disdain.

But Zhang Yu didn’t feel comforted at all.

“Damn it, there are still two exams left. Is he gonna keep throwing shade?”

“All because I called him out for tossing red envelopes everywhere? That’s petty as hell!”

As the Mana Exam ended, the students braced themselves for the next challenge—the Physical Body Exam.

Deng Bingding spoke up: “One’s Body-Refining cultivation shows in many aspects.”

“But there’s one thing nobody can fake.”

“Your appetite.”

“The stronger you are, the more you eat. The more you eat, the stronger you get. Appetite is a marker of your Body-Refining strength—it reflects metabolism, digestion, and gut recruitment.”

“Today’s second exam is… the Gluttony Brawl!”