No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Moments later, 30 spirit coins were transferred into Yu Xinghan's account.

He then split off 3 spirit coins to Zhang Yu, who had cooperated with him, and another 1 coin each to Gongshu Jin and Ying Xin.

"Profit."

Seeing the 25 spirit coins remaining in his account, Yu Xinghan thought to himself that the trip hadn’t been in vain—he’d come out ahead, even if he had gotten injured.

Yet Yu Xinghan’s experience also thwarted Daoist Tianzhang’s original plans.

"Yu Xinghan failed."

"So far, only Zhang Yu has completed a successful test—a proper instance of Dual Cultivation."

"What makes the difference between the two?"

"There are too many variables to tell."

Daoist Tianzhang frowned inwardly. “But if we want him to keep cooperating with the tests… the price is just too steep.”

Thirty spirit coins wasn’t a huge amount to Daoist Tianzhang—he could easily fork it over.

But if the number of tests kept increasing, it would become a significant expense.

Even though it wasn’t his own money, Daoist Tianzhang took the project very seriously and wasn’t about to squander funds without caution.

If he tried to forcibly enlist Zhang Yu into the experiment…

“After all, he’s the Civil Engineering elite who passed the Military License Exam in his third year. If I request someone like him directly from the Civil Engineering Department, the asking price probably won’t be low either.”

“I can’t pull this off alone…”

Realizing he couldn't suppress the cost on his own, Daoist Tianzhang thought of True Lord Magneto.

Daoist Tianzhang: Magneto, I hear you have some pull with the Civil Engineering Department.

Daoist Tianzhang: Any way to bring the price down and get Zhang Yu involved in the experiment?

True Lord Magneto: No rush.

True Lord Magneto: The situation’s still unclear. Let’s finish the next few batches of tests first.

True Lord Magneto: Then we can summarize the data and hold a meeting to decide whether we really need to bring in Zhang Yu.

Daoist Tianzhang nodded slightly after reading the message, admitting to himself that he had acted too hastily. True Lord Magneto’s words were far more measured—it really would be better to gather more data and let Zhang Yu cool his heels for now.

…

Elsewhere, Nectar Maiden Forty-Eight watched Zhang Yu’s departing figure and thought to herself, “Someone able to trigger a Non-Interference List designation.”

“I wonder what his story is… could he be somewhat like me?”

…

On the way out of the lab.

Yu Xinghan peppered Zhang Yu with questions about how it felt in the lab. Finally, he looked at him with envy and sighed. “Damn, you really hit the jackpot—your Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might got such a massive boost in one go.”

Zhang Yu replied, “I’d rather not have this kind of luck.”

He sighed. “Cultivation should come from one’s own effort. The power you gain from grinding it out, step by step, is the strongest and most reliable.”

After that, Zhang Yu returned to the construction site to resume his work.

Though this experiment didn’t earn him any monetary reward, it did allow him to openly demonstrate the power of Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might at level 15.

Thunderous rumbles echoed across the construction site. Under an unseen force’s pull, an entire mountainside suddenly collapsed and disintegrated. It surged upward like a black dragon, blotting out the sky as it hovered in midair.

The scene resembled a natural disaster, and workers like Zhao Tianxing, Mo Tianyi, and Hu Yuntao were left stunned.

Seeing Zhang Yu standing atop the dragon-like formation in the sky, moving his hand to summon earthquakes, Zhao Tianxing marveled inwardly, “Zhang Yu… has gotten even stronger.”

Recalling the days they used to share a lunch table back in high school, Zhao Tianxing felt a deep pang of emotion. “Somehow, without realizing it, Zhang Yu has reached a level we can barely even fathom.”

As for Zhang Yu, now wielding the 15th-level Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might, his entire body felt light and free—like moving from a small cage to a larger one.

“At last, I can work with fewer restraints and unleash more of my strength.”

Just then, Director Gao messaged him to ask about the experiment.

Zhang Yu repeated the same explanation he had given to Daoist Tianzhang.

Director Gao then asked him to come in the next day for a test of his cultivation.

It wasn’t that Director Gao didn’t trust him—with Daoist Tianzhang’s testimony and True Lord Magneto having been present, he believed the power increase must have come from the experiment.

His concern was whether that power-up had side effects, so he wanted to test it himself.

In the days that followed, news of Zhang Yu participating in an experiment and then experiencing a massive power surge—breaking through to level 15 in Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might—spread like wildfire across the Civil Engineering Department. He became the object of universal envy.

Zhang Yu, however, didn’t take it to heart. That power was, after all, something he had earned through his own effort.

He continued to study, cultivate, and work overtime, steadily building his strength.

One day, in the Artifact Refinement Lab—

Blinding lightning erupted, only to be immediately clamped down by surrounding equipment.

Moments later, a metallic thumb-sized square seal appeared before Zhang Yu.

This was a newly refined artifact he’d created, named Thunderquell Seal. It could absorb and release lightning, forming defensive strikes.

It was especially useful against long-range attacks like flying swords, allowing it to instantly discharge lightning, skewing a sword’s trajectory and neutralizing its momentum.

With multiple Thunderquell Seals, one could even form a small-scale formation, laying down layers of thunder-net defenses.

Zhang Yu had forged this Thunderquell Seal specifically to compensate for his lack of flying sword defense—in preparation for facing Heavenly Sword Sect University.

“My base stats have already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm’s upper limit.”

“But in terms of real strength, I’m still far from that level.”

He thought to himself, “A student with just one military-grade Technique is still only in the third tier of combat strength among undergrads.”

“To reach the top level, I’ll need military-grade artifacts, military-grade Law Husks, and more military-grade Techniques.”

But Zhang Yu knew that with his mastery of Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might, the Civil Engineering Department no longer offered room for further progress.

“To get military-grade artifacts, Law Husks, and more advanced Techniques, I’ll have to transfer to the Artifact Refinement Department.”

Right now, all the refinement work he was doing—besides boosting his power—was laying the foundation for his future studies in that department.

“In just over half a year, it’ll be time to transfer departments.”

“Hopefully, everything goes smoothly.”

Just then, a message came from True Lord Magneto.

True Lord Magneto: Head to the lab.

True Lord Magneto: Daoist Tianzhang wants to see you.

True Lord Magneto: Do your best to cooperate.

…

After the tests with Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan concluded, the project team ran multiple further test batches, none of which succeeded.

With so much time spent and no major breakthroughs, dissatisfaction began brewing. Some even called for a leadership change on the project.

At this moment, news broke that Zhang Yu from the Civil Engineering Department had pushed Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might to level 15, and it was interpreted as a success of the Yin Artifact project.

In the lab, Daoist Tianzhang said to Zhang Yu, “Your power gains during the experiment are proof that our university’s Yin Artifact technology has reached a leading level among schools.”

“After hearing of our success, several of the deans have placed great hope in this project.”

“In particular, Divine Lord Nectar personally issued a directive urging us to push forward and quickly bring the technology to application.”

Zhang Yu’s heart stirred. He was no longer a freshman—he had a decent grasp of the school’s hierarchy.

He knew that Divine Lord Nectar was one of Wanfa University’s three Nascent Soul cultivators, in charge of Immortal Dao tech research. Everything from project approval to execution and commercialization ultimately went through him.

That Artifact Refinement Department expert, Yan Qianji, was even Divine Lord Nectar’s disciple.

“Even Divine Lord Nectar is paying attention to this project?”

Zhang Yu thought nervously. His success with Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might… had absolutely nothing to do with the university’s Dual Cultivation tech! What if they found out?

Daoist Tianzhang, meanwhile, was also fretting. “This is troublesome. Nectar Maiden’s Dual Cultivation Technique isn’t something that can be cracked so easily. The Artifact Spirit is already resisting. Forcing a brute-force hack would risk data loss.”

“We need more tests.”

With that, he prepared to arrange another session with Zhang Yu.

But just after negotiating payment and before the test could begin, the Yin Artifact simply floated in circles around Zhang Yu—doing nothing.

“…Hm?”

Daoist Tianzhang frowned and tried channeling more mana, but the Yin Artifact remained unresponsive.

“What’s going on?” He was baffled. “It’s not activating?”

Zhang Yu noticed something was off too. Watching the Yin Artifact spinning circles around him, he thought, Is this thing broken? Looks like Wanfa University’s tech still has some bugs.

Daoist Tianzhang tested it again and again, but the Yin Artifact never even activated its scanning function.

“This has never happened before—either it performs a proper Dual Cultivation session and boosts cultivation, or it doesn’t activate at all. What is this strange in-between state?”

Suddenly, after one final attempt, the Yin Artifact seemed to reach its limit—and with a swoosh, it darted into Zhang Yu’s palm.

Nectar Maiden Forty-Eight groaned inwardly, “Ugh, don’t they know this guy is on the Non-Interference List?”

“Whatever. Let him try it himself. He’ll get the message once it’s blocked.”

Zhang Yu held the diamond-shaped crystal in his hand, confused, and looked at Daoist Tianzhang. “What’s going on?”

Daoist Tianzhang rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and muttered inwardly, “Could it be… this Yin Artifact wants Zhang Yu to operate it manually?”

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