No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Tu Lishan looked around at the group and said, “You have fifteen minutes to prepare. Think carefully about what to do next.”

Zhang Yu focused on the blueprint that surfaced in his EyeNet. With his dual-threaded consciousness working in sync, he quickly reconstructed the final product in his mind.

“This is… a bunker?”

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “The structure alone is built to withstand all kinds of attacks.”

“This must also be a hint—the ten waves of attacks after construction likely symbolize warfare.”

He sighed internally, “War again? Seems like most Civil Engineering students believe the University Wars are only going to get worse. Even exams are starting to prepare us for that.”

He examined the bunker’s blueprint closely, evaluating key structural features and his own strengths. “With my construction speed, finishing this in three hours won’t be an issue.”

“The trick is to make the structure strong enough to endure as much assault as possible—and maintain its integrity after each wave.”

“How can I push my strengths to the absolute limit?”

While Zhang Yu was deep in thought, Li Xiao’s eyes flashed as he studied the same blueprint. He had already reached a conclusion.

“The key lies in the materials.”

Li Xiao considered, “High-quality materials will massively boost the bunker’s durability. Even with identical construction speed, better materials mean better results.”

“So materials are everything.”

As this thought took hold, he began silently selecting and ranking materials based on importance.

“If the materials matter most, then the real battle is in the first thirty minutes—during material selection.”

“The competition will be fierce. I’ve got to be faster than everyone else and claim the best stuff first.”

He revised his list, narrowing it down to the top three materials.

Fifteen minutes passed in a flash. The moment Tu Lishan announced the start, Li Xiao bolted forward like a rocket.

His heart ignited like a combustion engine, mana surged through his meridians, and his legs cleaved the air like twin axes. He was at max speed…

And still, he could only watch as two figures shot past him like comets, blasting through the air with supersonic booms, and dove headfirst into the materials zone.

It was Ji Yuanshu in the lead, with Zhang Yu right behind.

Just after they entered the materials zone, Gongshu Jin’s figure blurred into motion. Trailing a long wake of air, he became the third to break into the zone.

Seeing others snatch the lead, Li Xiao tensed—but didn’t panic. He had expected this.

Silently crossing off the top three materials from his list, he moved on to the fourth and fifth priorities.

“The top-tier stuff is bound to be hotly contested. I can’t beat them to it.”

“So I’ll pivot and aim for the next best thing…”

But after some searching, Li Xiao’s expression shifted in disbelief.

“What the hell?”

“Why is there only Grade 5 through Grade 10 Spiritsteel Alloy?”

“Where’s the Grade 10 and up?”

“And why are the other materials… so low-grade too?”

“Don’t tell me this exam expects us to build the entire bunker using this trash?”

While Li Xiao stood frozen in shock, Ying Xin’s qi surged around her. She had already swept up a huge pile of inferior steel.

She didn’t seem surprised by the materials at all.

“They said this would be a practical test. Of course that includes cost-cutting and corner-cutting—like crafting high-quality buildings out of garbage. That’s fair game.”

Surrounded by qi as thick as dragons, she gathered dozens of tons of construction material and charged toward her target zone.

Just then, another wave of sonic booms tore through the air.

Ying Xin looked up to see Ji Yuanshu in the lead again, Zhang Yu hot on his heels. The two were cloaked in torrents of martial qi, hauling clouds of material through the sky.

Watching them, Ying Xin let out a silent sigh at the gap between them.

But she quickly righted her mindset. “They’re not my competition.”

“My goal is fourth place in the class.”

Meanwhile, Tu Lishan watched the students haul building materials back and forth. He sighed emotionally, “Immortal cultivation moves Qi within the body. Civil Engineering moves earth and stone outside the body. Internal and external, hidden and visible—two sides of the same Dao.”

Half an hour passed in a blink. As Tu Lishan called time on material transport, Ying Xin looked at the mountain of material at her site and smiled in satisfaction.

By the blueprint’s standards, she had gathered far more than required.

The reason soon became clear.

As Tu Lishan announced the start of construction, Ying Xin let out a sharp cry. High-temperature martial qi burst from her, distorting the air with blazing heat and wrapping around the steel.

Then she slammed a palm forward—crackling bursts of lightning-imbued qi struck the heated metal, refining and reshaping it.

“No good materials? Then I’ll refine them myself.”

“On a real battlefield construction site, you can’t expect perfect supplies. It’s all about using what’s on hand.”

The sight stunned many of the students. Then, realization dawned, followed by visible frustration.

Li Xiao also sighed inwardly. “So she’s refining building materials on-site? This is sixth-generation Civil Engineering fieldwork experience in action.”

“But even if others realize this, most won’t have the time or cultivation to do it.”

As he admired Ying Xin’s seasoned technique and powerful cultivation, the ground beneath them suddenly trembled violently.

“What’s going on?”

Elsewhere, Yu Xinghan turned toward the disturbance and spotted Gongshu Jin, who had swapped out both of his Law Husk arms.

Now, they looked like a pair of massive siege hammers, pounding the ground with deafening booms.

Behind him, a whole row of spare Law Husks stood ready, waiting to be swapped in.

“Rich bastard,” Yu Xinghan muttered with seething envy. He wanted nothing more than to rip those Law Husks off and wear them himself.

Watching the pounding motion, he thought, “Is he laying a foundation?”

But something felt off. With his Three-Eyed Divine Sight, Yu Xinghan noticed a subtle shift in the ambient spiritual energy.

“This is… a Spirit Vein shift?” he gasped. “There are Spirit Veins in the exam site?”

“Of course there are.” Gongshu Jin sneered. “The exam simulates a real battlefield construction site. Naturally, the ground includes simulated Spirit Veins through mana channels.”

“Ordinary workers focus on materials. Skilled workers look at structure. But true Civil Engineering elites? They look at Arrays.”

“The structure, the materials… those aren’t the real key.”

“The key lies in the Array.”

“A powerful enough Array can make even a mud wall withstand a thousand-strong charge or lightning bombardment.”

“And to enhance an Array, channeling a Spirit Vein is everything.”

The Law Husk arms he wore were the Quake Arms. When infused with mana, they unleashed a Level 20 Earthshatter Strike.

Not only that, the internal shock structures and accumulated user optimizations made his Earthshatter Strike even more potent than that of students who trained to Level 20 through sheer effort.

“How can someone’s self-forged technique compare to my spirit-coin-purchased Law Husk and techniques?”

“Spirit Vein! Come to me!”

His martial qi roared like wildfire as he funneled it into the Quake Arms. Through a complex cascade of shock mechanisms, the energy erupted into visible ripples, distorting air and dust as it slammed into the ground.

With a thunderous boom, one student stumbled and collapsed.

At the same time, the simulated Spirit Vein underground shifted violently, bending toward Gongshu Jin’s construction site—dramatically increasing his Array’s potential.

But then, another thunderous quake rang out, pulling the Spirit Vein in a different direction.

Gongshu Jin snapped his head around—and saw Ji Yuanshu also unleashing Earthshatter Strikes.

But Ji Yuanshu was doing it bare-handed. No Law Husks involved.

“Level 20 Earthshatter Strike?” Gongshu Jin blinked. “He trained that far on his own? And it’s stronger than mine? Is it because his base stats are higher?”

He wasn’t convinced that was the only reason.

Every one of Ji Yuanshu’s strikes flowed with perfect force, form, and martial qi—as if the Spirit Vein had always meant to be there. As if heaven itself had placed it there.

If Gongshu Jin opposed that, he was going against fate.

Another clash shook the field. Gongshu Jin gritted his teeth, unwilling to accept it—but deep down, he knew he’d lost this contest of Spirit Vein control.

Ji Yuanshu, meanwhile, remained unbothered.

After thoroughly overpowering Gongshu Jin, he formed a hand seal. The luck surging through his mind shifted, and that godlike synchronicity with the Earthshatter Strike faded away.

But the next moment, that same luck infused his Concrete Martial Qi, making every strike feel like a divine artisan’s craft—flawless and precise.

Though his Concrete Martial Qi was only Level 10, it now burst forth with Level 20 power.

Such was the terror of Dao Techniques based on Fortune. As long as Ji Yuanshu was willing to burn his luck, any technique could be blessed to its maximum potential.

Of course, this came at a cost. If his luck ran dry, not only would his techniques weaken—they could even backfire, becoming sloppy and error-prone.

But at this moment, Ji Yuanshu sat confidently atop the class rankings. His luck soared, and his confidence blazed.

There was no way he’d lose this round.

And no chance he’d run out of luck.