No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Spiritual Realm Space.

Inside a pitch-black room.

Suddenly, a line of text flickered into view: “Old Zhao, you went to Wanfa University this time?”

In the darkness, to save on spirit coins, Zhao Tianxing—whose Spiritual Realm projection merely displayed his name—smiled faintly.

He responded with a line of his own: “Yeah, I made it into the top ten finals of the Civil Engineering Department’s internal competition. Our team placed seventh.”

Instantly, the darkness lit up with pop-up text:

“Oh!”

“Whoa!”

“No way!”

“(⊙o⊙)!”Zhao Tianxing typed: “You guys haven’t been to Wanfa University. You don’t know how wide the mana circuits are there, how high-end their Law Husks are, or how complicated the projects are…”

The classmates: “Oh!” “Whoa!” “No way!” “(⊙o⊙)!”

Sensing their awe and envy, Zhao Tianxing couldn’t help but swell with pride.

Then another message popped up: “Old Zhao, did you get a good review?”

A vocational student chimed in: “If you got one of those, you’ll get constant gigs, right? Your pay’s gonna skyrocket!”

Zhao Tianxing checked his data, then silently thought, “Should I ask Zhang Yu for a good review?”

“If I pressure him, will he stop offering me gigs in the future?”

“Maybe I should wait a few more days?”

Just then, Zhao Tianxing saw that he’d received a good review. His heart leapt with joy.

Moments later, a suction force tugged at him—he knew he’d been assigned a new task.

…

Mo Tianyi: “Thanks.”

Mo Tianyi: “Hit me up if you need anything again. I’ll give you a discount.”

Zhang Yu: “Will do.”

After leaving good reviews for both Zhao Tianxing and Mo Tianyi, Zhang Yu checked his bank account.

With the 5 spirit coins his sister had repaid this month, plus Wen Wuya’s monthly 10-coin subscription fee and the 10-coin medical fee from Director Gao, he’d managed to break 40 coins in savings.

But in the last match, he’d burned through a fortune: using a photographic memory Dao Technique service, splitting costs for old ocular husks with teammates, hiring a Soul Cultivator, buying Earthfiend Qi pollutants… and then there were the payouts to Zhao Tianxing, Mo Tianyi, and his team’s group chat.

In the blink of an eye, his bank balance had dropped to just over 17 coins.

“This competition is a money pit,” Zhang Yu thought. “Hope they give me a decent payout once the rankings are finalized.”

Just then, Xiao Qingxuan walked over and said, “Since we won, how do you plan to use your challenge right in the next round?”

Zhang Yu asked, “Go up against a stronger team? We’ll lose no matter who we pick. Can I sell the challenge right instead?”

Xiao Qingxuan gave a faint smile. “That depends on how you sell it.”

“Currently, the teams with challenge rights are ranked first, second, third, fifth, and us.”

“The order of challenges goes from seventh—us—then fifth, third, second. The first-ranked team doesn’t get to use theirs.”

“From what I hear, the third-ranked team is neutral. They’ve chosen to give up their challenge.”

“Second is Mo Shangjin. He’ll definitely challenge Xuan Liangtian, the first.”

“Fifth is with the peace faction. They’ll likely challenge Mo Shangjin to wear him down for Xuan Liangtian.”

“Director Gao hopes we’ll challenge the fifth team, just to drain them a bit. If things get risky, we forfeit.”

Zhang Yu’s eyes gleamed. “How much compensation?”

Xiao Qingxuan replied coolly, “Five spirit coins per official team member.”

Zhang Yu smiled sheepishly. “Could we bump that up a bit?”

After checking with Director Gao, Xiao Qingxuan sighed. “Five point five max. That’s all Director Gao can squeeze out here.”

In the next match, Zhang Yu led his team to challenge the fifth-ranked squad.

Moments into the match, they were staring up at Xiao Yunji—a ten-meter-tall, three-headed, six-armed beast of a man wielding six artifacts, bellowing ad slogans as he charged like a juggernaut.

Zhang Yu cursed, “This is a civil engineering competition?”

Xiao Qingxuan explained, “Xiao Yunji’s from a construction company dynasty. He’s in the civil engineering department but probably won’t ever set foot on a real worksite.”

After holding out for over ten minutes against Xiao Yunji’s relentless onslaught, Zhang Yu’s team had enough. One by one, they withdrew, not wanting to risk injuries that would rack up more medical debt.

Next, Xiao Yunji’s team challenged Mo Shangjin. But after being suppressed by Mo Shangjin solo for just five or six minutes, they threw in the towel.

Zhang Yu watched it all and thought grimly, “That Xiao Yunji’s a sly one—came at us full force but threw the match against Mo Shangjin.”

Finally, the showdown between Mo Shangjin and Xuan Liangtian began.

Both sides wielded the military-grade Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might. When they clashed, the battlefield turned chaotic—up and down reversed, gravity flipped.

Everyone inside had to resist the Earthfiend gravitational pull of both fighters while flying through the air to build and brawl simultaneously.

Zhang Yu thought in disbelief, “This is an aerial multidimensional array?! They’ve turned a ground fortress into a space station!”

Moments later, the simulated spirit vein underground was torn from the earth by sheer force, writhing like a dragon as the two contestants yanked and shredded it. It exploded into fragments, only to be fought over, rebuilt, and destroyed again.

In the end, Mo Shangjin’s team won by an 8% margin.

…

Spiritual Realm Space.

As Mo Shangjin clinched first place, the department’s internal competition ended with a slight advantage to the war faction.

War faction instructors were all smiles.

Director Gao exchanged words with Director Lin and True Lord Lingyue about distributing the rewards.

Tu Lishan said, “Director, didn’t we agree to reward some outstanding contestants with cultivation loans? I think Zhang Yu deserves one.”

True Lord Lingyue remembered clearly—Tu Lishan had brought this up after Zhang Yu’s team defeated Ma Xuan, but he’d found a reason to dismiss it back then.

Now that Tu Lishan brought it up again, he smiled. There was no excuse to refuse this time. He turned to Director Lin.

Director Lin said coolly, “Teacher Tu, we’ve always operated on data, rankings, and performance. Any student who qualifies will receive what they’re due. No need to single anyone out.”

Director Gao chuckled. “Tu’s just looking out for promising talent, but you’re right—we follow procedure.”

“Now let’s talk about first place. Mo Shangjin may be my disciple, but I won’t avoid the subject. He’s going to represent our department in the inter-university league.”

“With the rapid shifts in the current situation, all the schools are developing military-grade forces. Even though Mo Shangjin has mastered Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might, that alone might not be enough.”

“I think it’s time we activated the military-grade Law Husk.”

Director Lin’s gaze sharpened. He thought to himself, “That’s quite the demand…”

Meanwhile, off to the side, Lang Yougong felt the tension in the Spiritual Realm thickening and sighed. “Looks like this competition has only made the faction divide more blatant.”

…

Not long after, Zhang Yu—still in class—received word of his rewards.

First, 8 spirit coins for being part of the seventh-ranked official team.

Then, 12 coins as a low-interest loan for outstanding performance.

His balance shot back up to 42.5 coins.

Next came the stats boost—1800 base points plus 194 performance bonus, totaling 1994, rocketing his overall score to nearly 5000.

With that score, Zhang Yu now had a departmental ranking:

95th in Foundation Establishment, Civil Engineering Department.

His classmates quickly noticed the change above his head in the virtual classroom. Many were shocked, envious, or incredulous.

Only students in the top 100 of the department had their ranks publicly displayed. 95th might not seem like much, but it was only three months into sophomore year.

Zhang Yu’s rank shone like a spotlight. Even the power instructor, Li Mingbo, took a second look.

“This kid’s only in the first stage?” Li Mingbo thought, astonished. “And he already took seventh in the Civil Engineering competition? Impressive. Far beyond my expectations.”

Zhang Yu knew that being in the top 100 now meant another reward loan at the end of the academic year.

“Still, 95 is low. By the end of sophomore year, once I finish all the course exams, I should be able to climb higher.”

Just then, he got a message from his sister.

Zhang Pianpian: “Congrats, made the top 100.”

Zhang Yu couldn’t help glancing at her rank again: 44th in Foundation Establishment, Sigil Department.

He was growing more and more aware of just how impressive her standing was.

But every time he brought it up, Zhang Pianpian would brush it off, saying that the Sigil Department’s learning curve was steep—those who learned fast stood out far more. She always told him not to compare.

Apart from the ranking, the last reward was the inheritance of the Seven Absolutes.

At the same time, the competition group chat was buzzing over the two Seven Absolutes inheritance slots.

Shi Huaiyu: “One goes to Zhang Yu. The other we auction.”

Zhang Yu: “How much should I pay?”

Shi Huaiyu: “You contributed the most. You just get it.”

Che Yufei: “If you hadn’t bankrolled the team, I couldn’t even afford treatment. No need to pay.”

Yu Xinghan: “Still, maybe chip in a bit, just to be fair.”

Shi Huaiyu: “I’m muting you, benchwarmer.”

Yu Xinghan: “I paid too!”

Yu Xinghan: [Transfer Record]

Gongshu Jin: “Substitute players can join the auction, right?”

Shi Huaiyu: “Of course.”

Che Yufei: “Please, be my guest.”

When Gongshu Jin—who’d dropped a full 20 spirit coins in the final round—entered the chat, everyone showed respect.

Moments later, the auction concluded. Gongshu Jin secured the second Seven Absolutes slot for 26 coins.

Soon after, Zhang Yu received the transfer, bringing his balance up to 46.8 coins.

Seeing his balance surge, Zhang Yu experienced a wave of classic Kunxu instinct: burn it all fast, and turn it into real immortal power.

Just then, a message came from Director Gao.

Director Gao: “Same place tomorrow. I’ll teach you the Second Absolute.”

Director Gao: “We’ll also discuss your future plans for the military license exam.”

Reading that, Zhang Yu’s heart skipped. He was looking forward to tomorrow more than ever.