No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Zhang Yu’s Formless Spirit General suddenly opened its maw and spat out a blinding beam of light, which slashed across the sky and swept through a hundred meters of the Yellow-Turban Enforcers, sending cultivators and warbeasts flying in disarray.

Above its head hovered the Goldfilament Jade Disk, releasing alternating bursts of Solar Flame Rays and Deep Frost Rays that scorched and froze the surrounding Yellow-Turban Enforcers into shrapnel.

Yet one particularly massive Yellow-Turban Enforcer—over ten meters tall and clad in meters-thick armor—charged straight through the bombardment, virtually unfazed by conventional ranged attacks.

Just then, the Formless Spirit General raised its palm and brought it crashing down. A gale howled, and the air trembled with an earth-shattering force aimed straight at the onrushing brute.

The Yellow-Turban Enforcer tried to dodge, but the Ground-Stabilizing Seal in the General’s palm flared to life, unleashing an invisible force that locked the creature in place.

The massive palm struck the Enforcer’s skull with unstoppable momentum. The crushing force shattered its layered armor with pinpoint precision, detonating deep within its body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The once-rampaging Enforcer trembled violently, then toppled over like a felled tower.

Roar!

The Formless Spirit General let out another bellow and fired a searing beam like a lightning bolt that tore across the battlefield, spearing toward distant Yellow-Turban Enforcers.Explosions flared one after another in the distance.

Twisting its body, the Formless Spirit General surged forward like a cannonball, crashing into enemy lines and detonating through the Yellow-Turban formations with every strike.

At this moment, Zhang Yu had poured every drop of his cultivation, all his engineering mastery, and the full power of his artifacts into the Formless Spirit General.

What he now commanded was no longer a puppet, but a primordial beast of war, rampaging through the tide of enemies, leaving nothing behind but severed limbs and shattered ruins.

Similar battles were unfolding ten or even twenty kilometers away, at other examination arenas.

With this final wave of Yellow-Turban Enforcers, the pressure on examinees surged dramatically.

Su Yanyang and another candidate were already cornered, facing imminent elimination.

Only Ping Han, Zhang Yu, and Xiao Yunji still maintained rhythm and control, preserving their array nodes intact.

But the real trial had only just begun.

As the Military License Exam entered its final minute, the battlefield shifted again.

A dozen or more enormous Yellow-Turban Enforcers converged, their bodies contorting and fusing. In mere seconds, they had combined into a grotesque multi-limbed monstrosity.

The Yellow-Turban Monster resembled a mountainous mass of flesh. Arms twisted and reversed along its chest and back; legs splayed out spider-like from its lower body; writhing joints and serpentine torsos twisted around one another in sickening harmony.

Roar!

A chorus of Yellow-Turban Enforcer heads fused together, bellowing in unison. They spewed torrents of Ironclad Divine Thunder—metallic lightning that blasted through the earth in violent sheets, gradually exposing Su Yanyang’s subterranean array bunker.

Behind this monstrosity, even more Yellow-Turban Enforcers were fusing, forming fresh abominations.

…

Aboard the flying vessel—

Director Gao’s eyes narrowed. “The final minute has arrived—and it’s the most critical.”

Not far away, True Lord Qiyun smiled with interest. “Let’s see what surprises these students still have in store.”

True Lord Tianxiang remarked, “These Yellow-Turban Enforcers must’ve been developed before the boom in artifact and Law Husk transformation tech.”

“Their fusion mechanism’s a little crude—probably adapted from early lab-stage methods.”

True Lord Qiyun nodded. “They aren’t standardized units, but once fused, they share weapons and armor, greatly enhancing combat power.”

“The main flaw is likely their short operational lifespan. No wonder this model never went mainstream.”

“But for the last minute of the exam? Perfect timing.”

True Lord Tianxiang added, “Their final burst of power forces examinees to their limits. That’s how true rankings are determined.”

As the evaluators exchanged insights, the battlefield underwent a storm of changes.

…

Su Yanyang’s tomb-like array bunker was now peeled open like a skull, laid bare before the monstrous Yellow-Turban horde.

The creatures surged downward, brute force personified, smashing through layer after layer of Su Yanyang’s defenses. In seconds, they had torn him—and his array node—straight out of the earth.

Both he and his fellow examinee were eliminated.

Elsewhere, Xiao Yunji, having transformed into a high-speed train, streaked across the battlefield. Each sonic boom split the air like thunder, her silver form carving through Yellow-Turban Monsters one after another.

But their numbers swelled. Monstrosities clung to her body like tumors, dragging her down, slowing her stride.

Law Husk Synchronization Rate: 80%

Law Husk Synchronization Rate: 79%

Feeling her body stagger under the weight of countless foes, Xiao Yunji let out a desperate roar, pain ripping through her like wildfire.

“I have to pass the Military License Exam!”

“I want to keep studying!”

“I don’t want to work for a company!”

Her body suddenly fractured into five segments, each streaking out like shooting stars. Yellow-Turban Monsters were shredded in every direction.

With this split, her Law Husk Synchronization Rate plummeted again.

Law Husk Synchronization Rate: 50%

“It hurts!”

“It hurts so much!”

“Why are you still alive after all this?!”

The agony flooded her nerves like lava, and all she could do was kill—kill everything in her path.

But in her blind rampage, one Yellow-Turban Enforcer reached her array node and struck.

Array Node Integrity: 98%

Xiao Yunji screamed and lunged, her five train-like bodies converging in a blinding storm that obliterated the enemy.

…

“Pity about Xiao Yunji,” True Lord Qiyun said flatly aboard the vessel. “She’s out of the running for the license.”

True Lord Tianxiang replied, “No surprise. After Ping Han’s series of breakthroughs, no one could realistically match him. Xiao Yunji was never a contender.”

“But Zhang Yu… he’s unexpected.”

True Lord Qiyun nodded slightly. That Zhang Yu had lasted this long was surprising, even to him.

At this point, only two examinees maintained 100% array node integrity: Ping Han and Zhang Yu.

Ping Han fought with every Law Husk and artifact at full power, shaking the entire arena like it was the end of the world, crushing Yellow-Turban Monsters into oblivion.

Zhang Yu’s Formless Spirit General, meanwhile, tore through enemies like a rabid beast. Every collision was a desperate gamble—yet each time, he held the line.

Their battle spirits, raw strength, bodies, and artifacts were all pushed to the extreme. Each had emptied their reserves and tapped every last ounce of potential.

The exam had reached a white-hot fever pitch.

True Lord Tianxiang’s eyes gleamed. “Incredible. I thought Ping Han alone was impressive, but Zhang Yu’s gone toe-to-toe with him.”

True Lord Qiyun’s gaze lingered on their battlefield. “Ping Han still holds the upper hand… but who knows? They might both be hiding trump cards.”

Elsewhere, Fifth-Rank Divine Official Geng Chenyin reviewed the data and profiles of both candidates.

Ping Han—once a prodigy of the Civil Engineering Department—had lost everything in a cryptocurrency crash. Yet he clawed back from rock bottom, mastering Divine Coin infusion, bending heaven and earth to his will, determined to claim the Military License.

Zhang Yu—an unparalleled talent—had fused civil engineering, artifact mastery, and martial prowess into a seamless whole. He fought not just with power, but with efficiency—driving every drop of strength, every last spark of potential into this final battle against the monstrous horde.

From Geng Chenyin’s perspective, the battle was no longer examinees versus monsters—it was Zhang Yu versus Ping Han.

No. It was something even more profound.

For at that very moment, thousands of miles away, a stray thought from Divine Lord Nectar had tilted the balance of this battleground.

Ping Han soared freely through the heavens. Zhang Yu clawed through the mire of the earth.

And Geng Chenyin thought to himself, “Perhaps… Zhang Yu isn’t dueling Ping Han, but enduring the unintended consequence of a stray divine thought cast from across the continent.”

Director Gao watched the escalating battle with unprecedented tension.

“Zhang Yu actually made it this far?”

“That kid… he planned this all along, didn’t he? To fight for the Military License.”

Director Gao had believed he understood Zhang Yu’s talents—but the youth’s growth over the past year had far exceeded his expectations.

“Who will win? Who will claim the Military License?”

For the first time, Director Gao realized he would feel a sense of loss no matter who emerged victorious—because it meant the other had failed.

Nearby, Director Lin’s expression was icy. “Ping Han… Zhang Yu… Why is the War Faction full of such stubborn geniuses?”

Suddenly, True Lord Tianxiang’s eyes sharpened. “Final ten seconds…”

He turned toward Ping Han’s battlefield and smiled.

“So Ping Han was holding back.”

As everyone’s gaze focused on him…

The ground began to quake.

Dust billowed toward the sky.

And the horizon began to rise.