No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

“To earn the Military License, I need an overwhelming advantage.”

“I must ace this exam with absolute dominance—leave no room for anyone else.”

That was the conviction in Ping Han’s heart.

He didn’t know how well the others were doing.

But if, by the end, someone else also managed to protect the Essence Array Node with 100% integrity, he wouldn’t be surprised.

So to secure his lead—

He decided... protecting the Essence Array Node wasn’t enough.

Before the exam ended, he would go all out… and annihilate the Yellow-Turban Enforcers in front of him!

But pulling that off before the exam ended wouldn’t be easy.

He needed more than an all-out burst. He needed decisive, devastating force.With thunderous explosions rumbling nonstop—

The earth split apart, massive chasms tearing open one after another, as though an invisible blade were slicing across the battlefield, carving out a vast rectangular slab of ground.

Even while fighting, Ping Han hadn’t built many fortifications aboveground. Instead, he’d been tunneling relentlessly beneath the surface.

He carved into the earth like slicing a cake—severing an enormous chunk of terrain.

And now, amid clouds of dust shooting skyward, that carved-out earth slowly rose—like a slab of cake lifted by Ping Han’s hand.

In his mind flashed the long, bitter road he’d walked down the Immortal Path.

“Working a job doesn’t make you rich. Doesn’t get you to Gold Core. All it does is burn through your lifespan—turn you into fuel for someone else’s breakthrough.”

“If you want Gold Core, you need a windfall.”

“And if you want a windfall, you speculate crypto.”

“Because for cultivators in our era—for broke cultivators like us—every other chance at wealth, every stroke of Immortal fortune, has been blocked off.”

“I didn’t choose crypto. Crypto chose me.”

“Only through crypto… do I stand even the faintest chance of outplaying the rich. That’s the threadbare Immortal opportunity this era has left for the poor.”

“The poor become ghosts. The rich become Immortals. A few years speculating might bring results—it sure beats struggling for a century and dying as a wandering shade.”

Thinking that, Ping Han threw his head back and laughed, then roared aloud:

“No road on the Immortal Path? Crypto is the path!”

“I seek crypto, even if it kills me. My heart is iron!”

“Today… I’ll gamble one more time!”

“Lift the mountain!”

In that instant, as asset pledges and contract liens processed in a furious cascade, Ping Han squeezed out his final ounce of potential, pushing his Artifacts and Law Husks to peak efficiency.

Then, with a thunderous bellow, one Artifact after another dove underground—some erupting with energy, others unleashing raw force...

Roar!

“Lift the mountain!”

BOOM.

The ground, which had only been slowly rising under the influence of the Small Threefold Harmony, suddenly jolted—then shot upward.

Like a mountain erupting from the earth.

The expanding shadow instantly engulfed the Yellow-Turban Enforcers.

“Lift the mountain!”

Veins bulged across Ping Han’s body. His muscles were taut with divine power, and his mana churned at an impossible pace.

His spirit coin balance plummeted toward zero.

With both arms raised high, Ping Han glared down at the Yellow-Turban Enforcers like a god descending upon mortals.

And then—with a savage roar—he smashed his hands down.

As if to crush every obstacle on the Immortal Path… as if to trample his way, one step at a time, to the summit.

BOOM!

A deafening crash tore through the air as the slab of earth—a sky-darkening mass—came hurtling down, poised to obliterate everything beneath it.

The ground convulsed with explosive shockwaves, each wave visible to the naked eye, as if an earthquake had ripped through the battlefield.

Dust blasted skyward, completely engulfing the field, blotting out all vision.

…

Even aboard the flying vessel, the examiners and guests were visibly shaken by the blow.

“A strike that gambles everything,” said True Lord Qiyun. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen such a thrilling Military License Exam from the Civil Engineering Department.”

“Ping Han earning the Military License… is well deserved.”

Director Gao, not far off, was also visibly moved.

In that one strike, he could feel Ping Han’s will—his fighting spirit—and above all, his choice.

“Ping Han isn’t blind to the risks of speculating crypto.”

“He knows the danger—and still, again and again, he bets everything.”

“No craving for longevity, no dream of gentle cultivation… just a desire to burn it all down, and either become a ghost or an Immortal. Nothing in between.”

“Ping Han, you…”

Director Gao let out a long sigh.

He didn’t believe Ping Han’s chosen path was the right one—but in the face of such unwavering resolve, he had no intention of trying to dissuade him.

Even if he tried, it would be pointless.

“All I can hope is that after earning this Military License… you’ll go even further.”

But just then, True Lord Tianxiang suddenly spoke.

“It’s not over.”

His elephant trunk curled upward. His tusks jutted out as his eyes gleamed with excitement.

“Zhang Yu just made his move.”

“Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.”

“Could this exam still have another showdown?”

He wasn’t the only one who noticed.

One by one, the other examiners and guests aboard the vessel turned to the opposite field.

Their gazes locked on the direction where Zhang Yu stood.

…

Zhang Yu felt the faint tremors through the earth and immediately knew—

That disturbance had to be from another section of the battlefield.

Though he hadn’t seen it firsthand, the shockwaves alone let him imagine how ferocious, how terrifying, how earth-shaking that strike must’ve been.

“Someone had the same thought as me?”

“Simply maintaining 100% protection on the Essence Array Node isn’t a guaranteed win.”

“If multiple candidates all hit 100%, then the Military License will be awarded based on other performance metrics.”

“And kill count against the Yellow-Turban Enforcers… will clearly be a key factor.”

As that lightning-fast reasoning flashed through Zhang Yu’s mind, he stood atop the head of his Formless Spirit General, quietly preparing his most powerful strike yet.

Within the Dantian of the Formless Spirit General, the Beacon Platform and Soul-Condensing Tower launched a coordinated attack—blasting bolts of thunderfire and cold light toward Zhang Yu’s Formless Cloud Qi, filling the twenty Qi Nodes one by one.

With the blessing of the Martial Saint Body, his level-20 Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force was not only fully unleashed—but in the process of redirecting force, it rebounded with even greater power.

Each bolt that hit his Cloud Qi only fueled it further.

At the same time, his level-20 Appraisal Technique had already activated multiple times in the background as he absorbed remains of fallen Yellow-Turban Enforcers.

By now, Zhang Yu knew their structure intimately.

Every weak point was mapped out in his mind.

This would amplify the destructive power of his next strike even more.

At that moment, Zhang Yu pressed his palms together.

The Small Threefold Harmony activated explosively, sending a ripple through the Formless Spirit General’s back.

“Haah!”

With a thunderous shout, Zhang Yu simultaneously pushed Xuanhuang Mountain-Suppressing Seal to full force, maxed out the Desolate Earth Mountain-Moving Force to level 20, and drove Earthfiend Transfiguration to level 10.

The Small Threefold Harmony instantly climbed to level 16—

The Formless Spirit General’s body expanded violently in response.

The onlookers aboard the vessel stirred again.

“Did he just break through? In the middle of combat? Using the Civil Engineering Seven Absolutes?”

That breakthrough meant yet another boost to the power of his next attack.

Simultaneously, techniques like the War Demon Life-Draining Technique and Endless Spring and Autumn Meditation began to activate one by one, granting still more layers of reinforcement.

Then, the air erupted.

With the Small Threefold Harmony enhanced by the Martial Saint Body, giant palms of varying sizes burst from the back of the Formless Spirit General.

Under the control of Zhang Yu’s four-way split consciousness, wave after wave of these massive hands surged forth—unstoppable, boundless.

Each palm was powered by the Dragon Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm.

Each one carried the might of the Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force, infused with redirected power from the Beacon Platform and Soul-Condensing Tower, and unleashed with surgical precision under Zhang Yu’s masterful control.

Inside the Formless Spirit General’s Dantian, those two towers still blazed, still channeling energy into his Cloud Qi.

With the aid of the Time-Wrecking Demon Pupil, the whole world seemed to slow down.

Every movement—of the palms, of the Yellow-Turban Enforcers—was crystal clear to Zhang Yu.

A tidal wave of destructive force surged forward, aimed precisely at the weakest points of every enemy.

Zhang Yu silently named the move in his heart:

“Nine Heavens Cloudstride—Thousand-Hand Martial Saint!”

Every ounce of power had been sharpened to its limit.

Every strike was calculated to land with surgical precision.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ground quaked.

Dust flew in clouds.

Each palm, wrapped in white mist-like Martial Qi, crashed down like a burning meteor, smashing across the battlefield.

Wherever they landed, the Yellow-Turban Enforcers were torn apart—limbs flying, fists and palm-prints cratering the earth.

Not until Zhang Yu had nearly drained his mana reserves did the barrage cease.

And just when the observers thought it was over—

Zhang Yu stood atop the Formless Spirit General, took a deep breath—

And roared silently in his heart.

Four white oxen in his mind lifted their heads and bellowed.

Pushing his battered body to its limits, Zhang Yu forcibly stabilized it with Spirit-Infusing Body Tempering Technique.

His nearly empty Dantian began squeezing out the last traces of energy—drawing from blood, strength, stamina, everything—through Mana Pulse Flowing Stream.

Zhang Yu coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Then grinned.

And shouted in his heart: “Screw it… BODY! ONE MORE ROUND!”

With Mana Pulse Flowing Stream swapped back to Martial Saint Body, in the very next instant—

“Nine Heavens Cloudstride—Thousand-Hand Martial Saint!”

From the moment the first barrage launched, he had already prepped the second.

Now, hand after hand emerged once more—this time streaked with his blood—descending like meteors upon the battlefield.

Just before the exam’s final moment…

Zhang Yu wiped the battlefield clean once more.