No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

In the Spiritual Realm.

Zhang Pianpian, who had been working on decoding the Nascent Soul Yin Artifact, suddenly raised an eyebrow.

Just now, her account had received a transfer of exactly 100 spirit coins—from none other than her dear younger brother, Zhang Yu.

“That kid…”

Zhang Pianpian was slightly startled. She was just considering whether to send the money back when a message from Zhang Yu popped up: Got my project payment. Use this freely.

Looking at the message, Zhang Pianpian shook her head helplessly. Yet, a faint smile unconsciously appeared on her lips. “Was it really that obvious that I was strapped for cash?”

Her mind wandered back to Zhang Yu’s first year of high school, when he was buried in online loan debt and nearly bankrupt.

Who would’ve thought that, in the blink of an eye, he’d not only become a junior at Wanfa University, but could even send her a hundred spirit coins as support.

Sure, there were many people in this world who could fork over 100 spirit coins. But ones who’d transfer it without a contract, without conditions, and directly to her account? Only her younger brother.

“So this is what family means?”“No… most so-called ‘family’ in Kunxu wouldn’t go this far.”

“My little brother is truly a man of deep feeling and sincerity.”

Zhang Pianpian sighed inwardly. “He’s just too kind.”

“If he had been born five hundred years earlier, maybe he’d have become a righteous hero of the orthodox path, a pillar of the Daoist world… and then died an untimely death.”

She shook her head. “In today’s Kunxu… perhaps there’s no place left for people like him.”

Despite these musings, her face still carried that soft, lingering smile.

“But if I can, I do hope this bond of sibling affection lasts a little longer.”

…

Elsewhere, Zhang Yu examined the repayment contract Zhang Pianpian had sent and thought to himself, “A repayment plan of five spirit coins a month, huh?”

He wasn’t surprised. In his sister’s eyes, being willing to borrow and return money with interest—that was what real family meant. This repayment contract symbolized the trust and bond between them.

He deeply understood her intention.

And judging by her cultivation, Zhang Yu figured her income probably wasn’t low. She just seemed to have some bottomless money sink swallowing all her earnings, leaving her unable to upgrade her Supreme Purity Realm.

“Don’t tell me Sis is gambling…”

He shook his head, pushing the ridiculous thought aside, and began to look forward to the upgraded Supreme Purity Sigil.

That evening, once he saw the Supreme Purity Sigil on his Dao Seed Codex had upgraded to level 2, Zhang Yu immediately put on his Spiritual Realm Mask and activated the sigil’s power.

In the blink of an eye, his consciousness raced through the Spiritual Realm, brilliant colors flashing past like lightning.

When he came to, he found himself before a Daoist temple nestled among mist-wreathed peaks.

This time, though, the temple seemed slightly larger than before. Its main gate and signboard appeared more substantial, more real.

As Zhang Yu stepped inside, he noticed that, in addition to the original main hall, a new side hall had been added.

Standing before the side hall was Zhang Pianpian. Upon hearing him arrive, she turned and asked, “You sensed the change in the Supreme Purity Realm too?”

She didn’t know how Zhang Yu could enter the realm, but since he could, it wasn’t surprising he’d sense the upgrade.

Zhang Yu nodded. “What’s this new side hall for?”

“Perfect timing. Come take a look with me.” Zhang Pianpian pushed open the side hall doors and led him in.

As soon as he entered, Zhang Yu noticed the hall’s interior was several times larger than it appeared from the outside.

But what surprised him most was how utterly empty the hall was. There was nothing—no decoration, no furnishings, just blank space.

Then, Zhang Pianpian extended her hand, and lines of script began to appear in her palm. At the same time, something started forming.

It looked like a fragment of a statue, but the moment that small fragment appeared, the entire side hall trembled faintly, and nothing more could be generated.

That piece was exactly the same as the one Zhang Pianpian had been working to decipher recently—a projection of the Nascent Soul Yin Artifact within the Spiritual Realm.

“So this is the current limit?” she thought.

Noticing Zhang Yu’s curious gaze, Zhang Pianpian explained, “This side hall functions like a Supreme Illusory Realm. It can simulate and recreate things from the world…”

Zhang Yu’s mind raced. “Like the Spiritual Realm’s simulation services? Can it simulate artifact refinement experiments?”

Zhang Pianpian nodded. “No problem.”

“But simulation isn’t without limits.”

“Even though the Supreme Purity Realm was created by a senior cultivator and has a truly vast computational pool, there are still usage limits based on the user’s cultivation.”

“With our current level-20 Dao Heart and Foundation Establishment realm, the upper limit isn’t high…”

Zhang Yu gradually understood the system.

In his own words, this place had a “computation capacity cap.”

Suppose the side hall had a total of 100 units of computing power, and simulating an apple cost 10 units—he could only simulate 10 apples at once.

Zhang Pianpian added, “The more complex and powerful something is, the more computing power it consumes.”

“With your current Dao Heart, simulating artifact refinement below the Gold Core level should be no problem.”

“However, you can only simulate things you’ve actually seen before.”

“The more familiar you are with the object, the more accurate the simulation will be…”

With her guidance, Zhang Yu quickly learned how to use the side hall.

Though limited in many ways, there was no doubt—this place would be a tremendous help.

“After all, I can use the Supreme Purity Realm for free. If I can run my artifact experiments here, how much money would that save?”

He felt a surge of excitement. Since restarting his artifact studies, he’d spent a significant amount each month on Spiritual Realm simulations.

“Plus, the efficiency in the Supreme Purity Realm is higher.”

“With the Limitless Heart: Inner Incarnate Body, I can experiment with fourfold consciousness, and the base simulation speed is already twenty times faster—so that’s about 80 times faster in total, right?”

“Way faster than the regular Spiritual Realm’s tenfold acceleration.”

Zhang Yu knew the truly wealthy could pay for more acceleration time in the Spiritual Realm—but the Supreme Purity Realm didn’t require payment at all.

He also tried practicing cultivation techniques in the simulation—but…

“No good?”

Zhang Yu frowned. “Simulating materials and artifacts to improve my crafting skill works fine…”

“But actual cultivation affects my physical body. This place seems unable to replicate my real physical state. Not enough computing power?”

He couldn’t pinpoint the reason, but he wasn’t discouraged. The ability to run free, high-efficiency crafting simulations alone was a massive boon.

“This level-2 Supreme Purity Sigil is incredible. I wonder when I’ll be able to upgrade to level 3…”

According to his research, a level-3 upgrade would require a whopping 1,000 spirit coins—far beyond what a Foundation Establishment cultivator could afford.

While Zhang Yu was testing things out, Zhang Pianpian stood nearby, channels of script flowing around her, focused on analyzing that fragment of the Nascent Soul Yin Artifact.

She mused, “Even if I can only simulate one fragment, it’s not useless. At least for my part of the decoding, I can now attempt things I wouldn’t have dared before.”

…

In the classroom.

Ying Xin glanced at the empty seat beside her.

“Senior Brother hasn’t shown up for class in ages…”

She looked toward the back row, where Ji Yuanshu now sat quietly in his Fierce Tiger Model Law Husk, showing up to every class without fail—far from the high-spirited youth he used to be.

She felt a pang of emotion. Now it was Zhang Yu and Gongshu Jin who rarely attended classes, constantly busy with construction work, training, and studies—relying on accelerated online courses in the Spiritual Realm to keep up.

Especially Zhang Yu. As the company’s chief accountant, Ying Xin knew just how swamped he was.

He didn’t just handle on-site construction; he also managed company finances. He replied to her messages almost instantly and always pointed out issues in her work with sharp precision.

She thought, “Who would’ve guessed Senior Brother was not only good at civil engineering, but also a whiz at accounting and taxation?”

“He must’ve been planning this all along. He never intended to remain just another worker on the site.”

That realization gave Ying Xin a boost—she’d also found a way to break free from the grind of manual labor.

Just then, a message came in from Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu: Where’s yesterday’s report?

Zhang Yu: Ying Xin, I think your work performance has been lacking the past two days.

Ying Xin hurried to reply: Finals are coming up. I’ve been busy.

Zhang Yu: Don’t make excuses.

Zhang Yu: I want you to grow with the company.

Zhang Yu: You need to take initiative. Don’t just wait for me to assign tasks before doing them.

Ying Xin: I’ll get that report done right away.

…

Out on a remote construction site.

Fu Ji read Ying Xin’s message and muttered to herself, “Tch. These employees… we’re paying them too much.”

“Damn it. Slacking off on overtime work and still have the nerve to go to class?”

“Zhang Yu’s still too soft. If it were me, I’d slash their base pay and make bonuses performance-based. That’d light a fire under them.”

Nearby, Zhang Yu was sitting cross-legged, wearing his Spiritual Realm Mask, consciousness immersed in the Supreme Purity Realm.

He’d been making full use of every spare moment to launch the company’s second major project.

Whether on-site or in University City, he always kept the mask on hand.

Even on the construction site, the moment he had free time, he’d slip into the Supreme Purity Realm to run artifact simulations.

After all, he’d spent so much time running around for the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might that his artifact crafting had stagnated.

Now, with the competition heating up, his opponents were getting stronger.

He needed to upgrade every single artifact he relied on—only then could they keep up with his growing combat pace.