No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

By mid-April, Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, Li Xiao, and the other students had made it all the way down to the tenth subterranean level.

This year’s graveyard maintenance project had drawn not only first-years but also many high-performing upperclassmen.

Leading the group was a sixth-year student named Tian Yang, who was responsible for supervising, coordinating, and managing their work.

As Zhang Yu walked through the broad underground tunnel, he felt the spiritual essence in the air growing denser the further they went.

From what he knew, the spirit veins beneath Wanfa University City hadn’t formed naturally. They were artificially diverted and consolidated—eighty-eight of them in total—during the university city’s construction through strategic terrain manipulation.

The tunnel they were walking now led directly to one of those spirit veins.

Before long, a massive metal door loomed into view.

Feeling the subtle flow of mana from behind the door, Zhang Yu sensed powerful array forces surging behind it.

Tian Yang turned and said, “We’re about to enter the graveyard zone. Line up and pass through in order—don’t crowd.”

Zhang Yu’s EyeNet interface lit up, projecting floating words across the door: Huolongyuan Mana Production Co., Ltd.

He nodded silently. So “graveyard” or “underground graveyard” was just the colloquial term—this company name was the official one.

A moment later, the sealed door creaked open, and a wave of cold air swept out.

In that instant, the surrounding atmosphere turned viscous.

As Zhang Yu stepped inside, the air became even more saturated and humid. Spiritual essence now floated like liquid beads, forming a thick, iridescent fog.

He took a deep breath. As his mana circulated, he felt a massive influx of spiritual essence. His power grew slightly, and even his flesh and blood were nourished.

Yu Xinghan, walking nearby, sighed, “No wonder there’s a screening process to apply—just breathing down here is a benefit.”

Zhang Yu nodded. “Good thing the spiritual essence on the second floor wasn’t worth much. Otherwise, we’d all have to wear oxygen tanks to work.”

Aside from the dense spiritual essence, the temperature also dropped noticeably.

Zhang Yu guessed this was to cool the corpse components that ran on mana day and night.

Just then, a message and several menu options appeared in his EyeNet:

Welcome to Huolongyuan!

Tour Guide

Pay Respects

Product Showcase

Merchandise Shop

Contact Us

Careers

Zhang Yu casually selected “Tour Guide,” and a full map of Huolongyuan projected in front of him: Sections included the Frugality Zone, Compassion Zone, Gratitude Zone, Family Zone...

“What’s the Frugality Zone?”

Zhang Yu zoomed in curiously and found that it referred to a space-saving section. Low-value corpse components were stripped of unnecessary parts, then structurally optimized and compressed into corpse canisters, minimizing area footprint while integrating into the mana circulation cluster.

At that moment, Li Xiao exclaimed, “Check out the blind box merch—there’s good stuff in these!”

Zhang Yu glanced at the Merchandise tab, raising an eyebrow. “Scrapped corpse components are broken down and sold as blind boxes?”

Browsing the possible contents—skin, limbs, meridians, dantians—he grimaced. “They’re selling this crap?”

Yu Xinghan chimed in, “Yeah, and think about it—these corpse parts run nonstop, 24/7. The stuff they salvage is older than I am. Who’d want that?”

Li Xiao muttered, “But what if you pull a Gold Core organ? Or even a Nascent Soul one…”

Yu Xinghan scoffed. “Come on, Li. Always looking for a shortcut. You’re buying blind boxes, but the people stuffing them sure aren’t blind. You think real treasures will fall into your lap?”

“On the path of immortality, shortcuts are the most dangerous mindset. Shortcuts are for the rich. We poor folk cultivate one loan at a time, pay it back one step at a time. Stop dreaming of overnight riches.”

“Also, just think—how many corpse components get scrapped every year? You think blind boxes can handle the load? They must have other disposal methods. Who knows where half these parts even come from, or what condition they’re really in…”

Yu Xinghan was mid-rant when a voice suddenly cut in.

“Young man, Wanfa University is a legitimate institution. Huolongyuan is a properly licensed graveyard, not some Netherworld University that traffics in the living. Every organ here, every corpse component, comes from legally deceased individuals with traceable origins and destinations.”

Everyone turned. Tian Yang quickly bowed. “Manager Sun! My classmate here was just joking. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Sun, the manager, gave Yu Xinghan a frosty glance but said no more. He turned back to Tian Yang. “The area slated for renovation is large. Thank you all for your hard work.”

After assigning the tasks, Manager Sun left, and Tian Yang took over, distributing assignments.

Soon, arrows and instructions appeared in each student’s EyeNet interface.

Zhang Yu followed his directional arrow and gradually separated from the others.

Looking around at the densely packed iron canisters on either side, he figured these must be the corpse components.

Before long, he reached an area filled with twisted, crushed canisters scattered across the floor.

The surrounding infrastructure was a mess—damaged ground, shattered array bases, ruptured mana conduits, broken nutrient pipelines, severed spiritual realm networks, and destroyed surveillance cameras.

“So this is the area I’m supposed to repair?” Zhang Yu thought.

“No network connection either?”

His EyeNet flickered, pulling up all the pre-downloaded project files and repair schematics.

“But really… what caused this much destruction?”

“Officially they say it was a zombie outbreak caused by high spiritual essence concentration. But whether it’s the universities or the companies here in Kunxu, I never take their explanations at face value.”

Shaking his head, he set those thoughts aside and got ready to work.

And naturally, before working, it was time to take his meds.

After all, for Zhang Yu, free meals and supplements were the real reason he showed up on-site. The job was just incidental.

Thanks to Director Gao’s special arrangement, Zhang Yu could still claim up to ten free doses of lifespan-reducing medications daily while on the job.

Blood Tribulation Powder: violently expands blood vessels and meridians, stimulates the dantian and heart to beat harder, dramatically increasing qi and mana circulation...

Spirit Root Stimulator: excites the core of the spirit root, increases sensitivity and thickness, temporarily boosting efficiency and endurance...

One by one, Zhang Yu injected the conventional life-burning meds into his body.

Since this assignment required intense breathing techniques, most of the drugs he chose enhanced mana circulation.

Sitting cross-legged, he began practicing the sixth routine of the Mana Pulse Flowing Stream breathing series—the Superior Foundation Establishment Mana Technique.

Zhang Yu had chosen this particular technique not just because it belonged to the same set, but also because it slightly enhanced the quality of one’s mana while absorbing spiritual essence.

As he activated the breathing technique, his mana—already violently surging under the influence of the drugs—raged through his meridians like a dragon, letting out a roaring howl.

His Qi Sea Spirit Root, now at full 100% fusion, swelled and throbbed under the chemical stimulus, voraciously sucking in surrounding spiritual essence.

The previously floating clouds of iridescent essence now spiraled toward him like a tornado.

“It’s too dense… this spiritual essence is way too concentrated…”

As he felt the jade-like essence gather madly in his meridians, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but marvel—this project had been the right call.

After a while, the breathing technique broke through to Level 3.

Zhang Yu then summoned streaks of qi and swept the area using Formless Cloud Qi, clearing debris and preparing to work.

Though this was a slower method, Zhang Yu didn’t mind. He preferred to cultivate and work simultaneously—even if it meant earning less.

So over the next few days, he immersed himself in work and breathing practice, spending nearly all his time on-site, enjoying the constant upgrades to his mana and techniques.

During this time, he also ran into Che Yufei and Shi Yunxiang.

According to them, compared to outdoor assignments, this graveyard gig was basically a wellness retreat—safer, and great for the body thanks to the thick spiritual essence.

One day, Zhang Yu and Shi Yunxiang were walking together toward their respective work zones.

At a fork in the corridor, Shi Yunxiang said, “Zhang Yu, could you walk with me a little further? It’s just a short way.”

“Huh?” Zhang Yu eyed the lion-headed classmate suspiciously. “You scared of graveyards?”

“What’s there to be scared of? Do you get scared in a Law Husk shop?” Shi Yunxiang shook his head. “I’m scared of people.”

“You didn’t notice? A lot of coworkers… have their eye on me.”

Zhang Yu blinked. “Huh?”

Shi Yunxiang sighed. “Every year, some demon-kin go missing. Some are eaten. Some are gang-eaten. Graveyards are remote and quiet—perfect for that kind of crime. So I try not to go anywhere alone.”

“I can tell—you don’t look at me like that.”

Zhang Yu shrugged. Sure, he was always hungry and craving meat—but he had zero interest in eating sentient beings.

He asked, “If you’re demon-kin, why didn’t you go to Demon-Beast University?”

He remembered that most of the elite students from Hongta High had gone there.

Shi Yunxiang shook his head. “Demon-Beast University assigns your major by bloodline. I’d have been stuck in the breeding department. I wasn’t into that. So I worked hard and got into Wanfa instead.”

As they chatted, Zhang Yu walked him to his post before heading back alone.

But on his way back, as he passed through a badly damaged zone—no network, no surveillance—Zhang Yu’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

With his Three-Eyed Divine Sight, he saw a figure dart out from the shadows like a black lightning bolt, lunging straight at him.