No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Feeling the explosive surge of Zhang Yu's aura and seeing the massive mountain—large enough to blot out the sky—that he hurled through the air, Yue Guanqiong's heart trembled.

"A breakthrough mid-battle? Twice in a row?"

"Did Wanfa conceal information? Could it be that the Yin Artifact experiments pushed Zhang Yu’s Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might to Level 18 instead of Level 16?"

"Or perhaps the residual effects of the Yin Artifact experiments... Maybe Zhang Yu had already accumulated the resources and insights needed to advance during the experiments, and today’s fierce competition merely accelerated the digestion of those gains, allowing him to break through again..."

Thoughts flashed like lightning through his mind, but Yue Guanqiong forcefully pushed them aside.

He understood that no matter how Zhang Yu had achieved his breakthrough, there was no time to dwell on it.

The immediate priority was stopping the colossal mountain crashing down with earth-shattering force.

With a furious shout, Yue Guanqiong unleashed the full power of his Great Freedom Instant-Prison Sword Aura. Countless blades shot up from the sword formation, soaring skyward like a metallic tidal wave, howling as they clashed with the descending mountain.

"Split the mountain!"

But even as the mountain was being carved apart, Zhang Yu reached out and made a grasping motion toward the ground. Enormous quantities of sand and stone surged into the air and fused with the mountain.

"Move the mountain!"

"Crush them all beneath it!"

Behind him, Su Yanyang, Shi Huaiyu, and the others activated the formation with full force.

Su Yanyang shouted, "Zhang Yu! Let us give you a hand!"

Shi Huaiyu added, "Don’t give them a chance to fight back!"

With a thunderous rumble, a torrent of earth surged upward like a mudslide, sending earthen dragons flying into Zhang Yu’s massive mountain.

At the same time, Yue Guanqiong growled, "Hold the line with me!"

"If he moves the mountain, we’ll split it apart!"

"Swords, to me!"

Thanks to the efforts of the other students from Heavenly Sword Sect University, more and more sand and rock were transformed into swords and sent to Yue Guanqiong, who wielded them to tear through the massive mountain drawing ever closer to the airborne fortress.

With explosive roars, mountain, rock, metal, and sand collided under the wills of both sides, unleashing shockwaves that shook the heavens.

The billowing dust rose so high it engulfed the entire arena.

Watching the clash, Xiangshan from Demon-Beast University sighed, "Wanfa moves earth and mountains, while Heavenly Sword splits mountains and breaks soil."

"This is a raw, fundamental clash of construction capability."

Wangou Xuan from Immortal Soldier University nodded in agreement. "This is construction instinct refined to the extreme—absolute focus and power turned into the purest form of efficiency. The winner will be whoever builds faster."

In the next moment, the mountain continued its descent until it slammed into the airborne fortress.

The deafening crash shook the sky. The fortress began to tilt like a ship sinking beneath the waves, slowly descending toward the earth.

Xiangshan muttered, "Yue Guanqiong is still resisting with everything he has. But just like before, the Great Freedom Instant-Prison Sword Aura held an edge only at a distance."

"Now that they’re up close, Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might clearly has the upper hand..."

As he spoke, the airborne fortress hovering in midair began to crumble, as if invisible hands were tearing it apart. Chunks of debris rained from the sky.

Even as both the fortress and the mountain fell, sword aura howled and smoke billowed, evidence that Heavenly Sword Sect’s resistance hadn’t ceased.

Even after the fortress crashed to the ground, the resistance only intensified.

But with the battle now on the ground, Zhang Yu’s advantage only grew.

Watching the earth churn and buck like boiling water, pulverizing everything in its path, Xiangshan said coolly, "It’s over."

Wangou Xuan gave a slight nod, though he remained silent.

The match may have ended, but their expressions grew more solemn as they recalled Zhang Yu’s mid-battle breakthrough.

To be honest, Xiangshan and Wangou Xuan didn’t find mid-battle breakthroughs unusual. Cultivators trained every day—breaking through during a competition was often just a coincidence.

But back-to-back breakthroughs? That was rare. Still, there were recorded cases of genius cultivators who, amid prolonged battles, broke through three or four times in one fight.

Even in ancient times, some exceptional talents broke from Foundation Establishment to Gold Core, or even from Gold Core to Nascent Soul, during battle. After all, ancient cultivators didn’t need licenses—there was no such thing as "unauthorized breakthroughs."

Yet, if you asked Xiangshan, he sincerely hoped that Zhang Yu was just such a prodigy—that the two-level breakthrough was entirely due to innate talent.

"A peerless genius, no matter how strong, is still just one person."

Xiangshan thought grimly, "But if Zhang Yu’s breakthrough symbolizes a leap in Wanfa University’s Immortal Dao technology..."

"Then in the future, Wanfa might churn out even more students like Zhang Yu."

"Not just in the Civil Engineering Department—every department might see students growing stronger."

"And if that happens, this isn't just about winning competitions anymore."

"Even just on civil engineering projects, with more high-efficiency builders, Wanfa would crush construction costs and dominate project bids."

Xiangshan knew that in construction-related projects, Wanfa and Demon-Beast University had long been fierce rivals.

If Wanfa gained the upper hand and landed more contracts, Demon-Beast University would face fewer jobs, less work, less income...

"If this happens before I graduate..."

The thought alone made Xiangshan desperately hope that Zhang Yu was just a freakishly gifted genius, someone who had advanced on pure martial talent alone.

…

"Breaking through by talent alone? As if."

On the other side of the Spiritual Realm spectator stands, Wang Yin’s eyes shimmered with mystery as he looked at the arena.

"He was already forcefully boosted from Level 10 to Level 16 Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might by the Yin Artifact. Is it really possible he pushed it to Level 18 on his own in just a few days?"

"Either Wanfa concealed the data and reached Level 18 in the lab, though I can’t see the point of hiding that..."

"More likely, the Yin Artifact helped him finish the required accumulation long ago. The competition simply triggered the final step, causing consecutive breakthroughs."

"Maybe if the battle dragged on, a little more stimulation could push him even further."

Thinking that far, Wang Yin’s excitement grew.

"Whatever the exact process, the result is the same: Wanfa has clearly made major advances in both Yin Artifacts and Dual Cultivation techniques."

"The game’s about to change."

"The university war is about to escalate dramatically."

"And unprecedented opportunities are just around the corner."

He couldn’t suppress his exhilaration.

…

"The Great Freedom Instant-Prison Sword Aura is just too weak—especially at close range. Lacks refined swordplay and can't handle multi-front battlefields. Honestly, it's best suited for grunt work in civil engineering."

Wen Wuya glanced once at the crumbling airborne fortress and casually evaluated the technique before moving on from the match entirely.

For her, Zhang Yu’s breakthrough was the only part worth thinking about.

"Wanfa really did break through in Dual Cultivation techniques. But where did that breakthrough come from?"

"They have no heritage in Dual Cultivation—it’s unlikely they developed it on their own."

Recalling the recent Yin Artifact riots at Pleasure and Harmony University, Wen Wuya found the answer obvious.

"Either Wanfa stole a batch of Yin Artifacts or took in some afterward. Most likely, they reverse-engineered Divine Lord Nectar’s Yin Artifacts, resulting in Zhang Yu’s temporary success."

"But going from the lab to actual application, then scaling for mass production? That’s a long and treacherous road."

"Especially considering only a few months have passed since the Yin Artifact riot."

"In such a short time, it’s highly likely that all Wanfa has done is figure out... how to use Divine Lord Nectar’s Yin Artifacts."

"They're nowhere near replicating the technology, let alone mass-producing it."

A faint, complex smile curved her lips. "But next, Divine Lord Nectar won’t sit idly by. A Nascent Soul-level conflict between Wanfa and Pleasure and Harmony may be inevitable."

"And our own university’s two True Lords... what will they do?"

She sank into deep contemplation.

…

In the stands.

As the ground roiled and the students from Heavenly Sword Sect began surrendering one by one, Bai Zhenzhen clenched her fists and cheered in her heart, "Yuzi won!"

In her eye network, a message from the Seven Sentiments Lord flickered:

“You’re not seriously cheering for Wanfa University, are you?”

Bai Zhenzhen replied quickly, "Of course not! I’m still a Heavenly Sword student."

The Seven Sentiments Lord chuckled softly, then said, "From the looks of it, Zhang Yu has fully plunged into the path of Dual Cultivation."

"All his military-grade techniques have been advanced through Dual Cultivation. He’s bound to become ever more dependent on it."

"Especially with Wanfa’s experiments. He’s on a path of no return."

She sighed, then added, "That means he’s no longer walking the same path as you, who follow the Extreme Sentiment Swordsmanship."

"Others may not understand the clash between the two."

"But you, as one who practices the Extreme Sentiment Dao, should know..."

Bai Zhenzhen gave a slight nod. "Yes. Unlike me, who has strayed onto the demonic path of Extreme Sentiment, Yuzi has now taken the righteous path of Dual Cultivation."

After three years of cultivation, Bai Zhenzhen had come to one conclusion: though Extreme Sentiment was not as twisted as the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult or the Jobless Devil Sect, it was still unquestionably a path of corruption.

The Seven Sentiments Lord said, "I’ve told you countless times—Extreme Sentiment is the righteous path! Dual Cultivation is the heretical one!"

Bai Zhenzhen nodded indifferently and thought to herself, "Mm-hmm. Sure. The whole world is wrong, and you’re the only one who’s right."

As the dust settled and the match came to an end, Bai Zhenzhen’s figure vanished from the stands, already darting toward the battlefield.

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