No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Hearing what Fu Ji said, Zhang Yu nodded and spoke to her in his mind: “This spot is good. Doesn’t feel like there are any surveillance cameras.”

“What do you think, Fu Ji?”

Fu Ji sensed the surroundings and replied, “Let’s go with this place.”

She once again reverted into a tattered Evil God Plushie, representing her identity as an Evil God, and was placed atop an altar cobbled together from concrete.

Then Zhang Yu placed one of his Time-Wrecking Demon Pupils in Fu Ji’s arms, using it as the medium for human–god connection.

As Fu Ji tapped the air several times, mysterious chants spilled from her mouth. In the next moment, an invisible surge of Evil God power passed through the Time-Wrecking Demon Pupil and connected to the Spiritual Realm Network.

Fu Ji said, “Sigh, limited conditions, insufficient offerings, and a small-scale ritual. The effect I can give you today is average at best.”

“For instance, the surveillance ritual can only control one camera within a ten-meter range.”

“As for the anti-monitoring ritual, it can only temporarily block all surveillance cameras within fifteen meters.”

As the ritual concluded, Zhang Yu felt two new types of ritual power settling inside him and asked, “Did you complete your own network connection too?”

Fu Ji chuckled. “The roaming ritual is done. I can now use your eye-pupils to access the Spiritual Realm Network.”

To the eyes of this Evil God, the world was no longer dull. She could now see various projections of the Spiritual Realm and even browse the net.

Zhang Yu quickly tested the power of the surveillance ritual.

First, he used a detection ritual to locate a camera, and when the surveillance ritual was activated, the camera feed surfaced in his vision.

With a simple thought, the camera began to pan and rotate, capturing the surrounding environment in full.

As he experienced its effects, Zhang Yu thought, “This surveillance ritual… might come in handy at construction sites.”

“Might help me scavenge ingredients no one wants.”

“But having both my own view and the camera’s view simultaneously feels weird… my movements are slower, not as sharp.”

“Looks like I’ll need some practice.”

After finishing the ritual, Zhang Yu moved to another spot and resumed practicing the War Demon Life-Draining Technique.

Over the next few days, between classes and cultivation, Zhang Yu regularly used the surveillance ritual to practice managing dual perspectives—his own and that of the camera.

…

One day, shortly after Zhang Yu returned to the dorm, he was munching on PillShare’s shared meal while monitoring the dorm street via the surveillance feed.

Suddenly, Le Mulan appeared on the screen.

Beside her was a young man.

Xuan Ge walked beside Le Mulan, glancing around the 125th floor and silently assessed, “As expected, her financial condition must be quite poor after moving up from the first floor. She’s still stuck living here.”

“She even mentioned having roommates?”

“In that case, if I show some sincerity, maybe I can negotiate an even lower price for dual cultivation.”

“Or… I could let her move into my dorm to offset the cost.”

His mind whirring with price calculations, Xuan Ge said, “Le, this floor’s environment is pretty rough. The amount of spiritual essence here can’t compare to the upper dorms. Have you considered switching rooms?”

Le Mulan replied flatly, “Conditions here may be modest, but my roommates are wonderful people. Being around them… really helps my studies.”

Xuan Ge suppressed a laugh. What kind of academic help could students living on the 125th floor offer? Probably just broke bottom-tier nobodies.

Then Le Mulan added, “I’m almost there, Xuan. If you have other things to do, you can go. You didn’t have to walk me here.”

Xuan Ge smiled, “It’s on the way. And I told you—I want to be friends. Can’t we just chat a little on the way?”

“Now that we’re at your dorm, aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Just then, the door opened and out walked Yu Xinghan, who had just finished his cement-powdered meal.

He looked at Le Mulan and said, “The meal’s here. Zhang Yu and I started without you since you hadn’t arrived. Don’t forget your portion inside.”

Because the four of them often returned at different times, they usually coordinated online and ordered group meals ahead of time.

After speaking, Yu Xinghan glanced at Xuan Ge and asked, “Your classmate?”

At the first sight of Yu Xinghan, Xuan Ge was momentarily stunned.

When he noticed the “Foundation Class” rank hovering above the guy’s head, Xuan Ge felt a subtle wave of pressure roll toward him.

“Le Mulan’s roommates… are Foundation-level students?”

While Xuan Ge reeled in shock, Zhang Yu stepped out, getting ready for body-refinement training.

The moment Xuan Ge spotted Zhang Yu’s rank—eighth in the Foundation Class—the pressure thickened, forcing him to take an involuntary step back.

Xuan Ge thought, “No wonder he ranks eighth. Just seeing that rank exudes such terrifying pressure!”

His easy-going smile vanished, replaced by caution. He said timidly, “I’m Le Mulan’s classmate. My name’s Xuan Ge. Greetings, seniors.”

Then another elegant figure brushed past him and entered the dorm—it was Zhang Pianpian, back from class and ready to eat.

When Xuan Ge noticed the glowing inscription over her head—49th in the Foundation Realm, Sigil Division—he nearly stopped breathing.

“A ranked genius in her department?”

Three Foundation-level cultivators in one dorm. Xuan Ge’s thoughts flipped end over end. One question remained: “How did Le Mulan land in a dorm with three Foundation cultivators?”

“Did I misjudge her? Maybe she has more connections and background than I thought…”

In that instant, Xuan Ge completely abandoned his earlier plan of using money to entice Le Mulan into dual cultivation.

“If she really has that kind of background… then it shouldn’t be me paying her for dual cultivation.”

“It should be her paying me to boost her grades—that’s how it should be.”

“Whew, that was close…”

Xuan Ge inwardly sighed in relief, then reconsidered: “But she didn’t seem interested?”

“Maybe she doesn’t know the benefits of dual cultivation?”

“If she was always focused on studying in high school, that’s plausible.”

“I’ll just have to educate her about how essential dual cultivation is during college.”

“But…”

His gaze swept across the cramped dorm: two men, two women. A sudden realization struck Xuan Ge like lightning: “Could this be… a Pleasure and Harmony study group? Have they already teamed up for group cultivation? Is that why Le Mulan’s not interested in me?”

“Of course. Why would she choose me over Foundation cultivators?”

Imagining Le Mulan in this tiny dorm, under the attentive care of three Foundation-level cultivators… picturing their long, sleepless nights of mutual cultivation… Xuan Ge couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming surge of envy.

“You actually landed a high-end setup like this…”

He’d always thought he should’ve attended Pleasure and Harmony University, but his elders wouldn’t allow it.

Now, looking at Zhang Yu, he really wanted to shout, “Can I join?”

But Zhang Yu noticed him spacing out and asked curiously, “Huh? You’re still here?”

Xuan Ge took a deep breath but didn’t dare voice his thoughts. All he could do was mutter, “Seniors, I’ll take my leave.”

“Le, see you tomorrow.”

But in that moment, Xuan Ge made up his mind: he had to find out whether this dorm was actually researching dual cultivation.

If it was, he’d pay any price to join.

If it wasn’t, then he’d take it upon himself to give Le Mulan a thorough crash course on the benefits of dual cultivation.

Zhang Yu looked at Le Mulan again, feeling like her recent glances had been a little strange. “You got something on your mind?”

Le Mulan quickly lowered her head. “No… nothing at all.”

She thought to herself, “Did Zhang Yu notice something? No way—I haven’t even had the chance to make a move yet.”

“Is this because he’s more alert after what happened last time?”

Her brows creased slightly. “He’s out from dawn till late these days… only around for meals and when calling Bai Zhenzhen.”

“And every mealtime, Yu Xinghan’s always present too…”

Seeing Le Mulan spacing out, Zhang Yu curled his lip but kept his suspicions to himself and headed back down below the 100th floor for more body-refining.

…

In the days that followed, Zhang Yu continued his relentless cultivation. By the eve of the exam, he had finally raised the War Demon Life-Draining Technique to level 20.

His base attributes had also significantly improved: Dao Heart reached level 11 (87.3%), mana rose to 314.2, and physical strength climbed to 11.29.

At this point, Zhang Yu’s understanding of the War Demon Life-Draining Technique reached a whole new level. It was as if he had undergone years of painstaking practice.

He could now freely control the burst-level potential of the technique in a way that felt utterly intuitive.

With a low growl, Zhang Yu’s muscles bulged, veins pulsed under his skin, steam gushed out, and his crimson skin looked ready to bleed.

As the technique surged through him, his mana reversed course inside his body, and he felt his physical strength spike by a full 1.5 levels.

Right then, his raw physical power could completely overpower his previous self.

But he also sensed his muscles tearing, internal organs strained to their limits. One wrong move, and he’d snap tendons or break bones.

Then, all at once, his overinflated frame deflated like a balloon. His muscles relaxed, and the red tint faded from his skin.

His strength boost decreased from 1.0 to 0.8, then to 0.5.

Zhang Yu thought, “So this is the level-20 effect of the War Demon Life-Draining Technique—letting me precisely control how much of my latent power I unleash. I can dial it down to 0.1, or crank it up past 1.5 for a double-burst effect.”

As for how strong that double-burst really was, Zhang Yu hadn’t tested it—and didn’t plan to just yet.

“At my current level, I can safely raise my physical strength by 0.8 using just the Sacrificial Oxheart Technique.”

“If I add in the Martial Saint Embryo’s self-healing, I can handle a 1.2-level spike no problem.”

“And with healing pills or a supportive Dao Technique, I could even reach 1.5 without worrying about burning my lifespan.”

In the next moment, Zhang Yu dismissed the War Demon Life-Draining Technique, and all external anomalies vanished.

The following day marked the end of three months of foundation classes—and the start of the Foundation Class’s first exam.