No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

On the bus.

Since the Law Tournament for the senior, junior, and sophomore classes were scheduled at different times, the bus rented by Songyang High School currently carried only the contestants from Zhang Yu’s year.

He Dayou glanced in Zhang Yu’s direction. Thinking of all the effort the boy had put in lately, a thoughtful look came into his eyes.

With his Mana having surged to 15.4, Zhang Yu now ranked first in their grade.

Still, He Dayou was unimpressed, suspecting that Zhang Yu had poured all his time solely into boosting raw numbers.

“So he’s gunning for the Law Tournament?”

“But it’s not just about how high your Mana is.”

He Dayou figured that if his family had been willing to invest more heavily, he could’ve easily topped the Mana charts too. But instead, they prioritized a solid foundation and control. That’s why the Mana gap between rich and poor students didn’t truly widen until junior year.

Their families had learned the hard way: first year was for building fundamentals.

Chasing high Mana too early could wreck control, and once that imbalance set in, it was hard to ever correct.He Dayou continued his inner monologue: “In the Law Tournament, raw Mana is only the entry point. What really determines ranking is control…”

At that, he couldn’t help but sigh. “Let’s face it. Unless it’s a martial arts competition—which is actually Songyang’s specialty—we’re just here to make up the numbers, background characters for the monsters from the Three Elite Academies.”

…

Elsewhere on the bus.

Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen, who sat with her eyes closed, resting. “So? Can you finally tell me who we’re meeting?”

She shot him a sideways glare, pulled out her phone, and held it up:

”Too many ears around. Let’s chat on the phone.”

Zhang Yu quickly typed: “So who exactly are we going to meet during this Law Tournament?”

Bai Zhenzhen: “Poor students from other schools.”

Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up. “You mean... there are kids at other schools just like us?”

Bai Zhenzhen: “Yes.”

Zhang Yu asked, “Which school?”

She replied with a female symbol, followed by a tilde.

Zhang Yu blinked. “Wait—Black girls?”

He was momentarily confused. Did Kunxu have… wait, no no no, stop that line of thought.

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes. She had no idea what nonsense he was spouting. On her phone, she clarified: “I mean girls’ schools. Also Soul Cultivation Students.”

That made it click for Zhang Yu.

Right. How many rich kids would go as far as gender reassignment or abandoning their bodies entirely just to get into a high school?

Mangshan High and Saint Girls Academy were natural havens for the broke and desperate.

And the top scorers in those schools? Definitely poor.

After clawing their way through high school with top marks, how could they not dream of breaking out of their status and getting into a top university?

Wait.

Zhang Yu suddenly asked, “Wait, Soul Cultivation Students can enter the tournament?”

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head. “They’re probably not here to compete—more likely helping with officiating or media coverage. Spectators, basically.”

…

The bus slowly rolled into a high school campus.

This was the venue for the Law Tournament: Red Tower High School, one of the Three Elite Academies in Songyang City.

The Songyang students, led by Teacher Yan, followed her into an indoor stadium—already teeming with students.

Bright, varied school uniforms showed they came from all across the city.

And the moment Songyang’s group stepped into the arena, countless eyes turned toward them.

Some were awed: “Songyang’s here too? Another powerhouse.”

Some were cautious: “Their aura is intense… so this is what elite students look like?”

Others scoffed inwardly: “So what if they’re from a top school? They’ll be background characters just like the rest of us.”

After reaching the assigned prep area, Teacher Yan began briefing them on key points.

“There are three events today. Manage your Mana carefully. Don’t stress. Treat it like a practice session…”

Once she dismissed them for bathroom breaks, Qian Shen rushed to check the list of contestants.

He whipped out his phone and started matching names to scores.

“White Dragon High, Song Hailong—682 on the last monthly exam.”

“Purple Cloud High, Le Mulan—678 points.”

“Hoo boy…”

The more he checked, the more his scalp tingled. “Every one of them is a monster…”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu was dragging Bai Zhenzhen toward the restroom when a sudden heaviness filled the air.

The Spiritual Energy… was surging.

It felt like they’d just stepped from shallow water into the deep end.

They both turned their heads sharply toward the source.

A group of students, all in white uniforms, entered the arena.

Each of their uniforms bore a different number—1 through 10.

Zhang Yu squinted. “What is this, the Ten Blades or something?”

He didn’t know this was White Dragon High School’s signature look. Their uniforms displayed students’ monthly exam rankings—updated every round.

Right now, the numbers meant those ten were the top ten of their entire grade.

What Zhang Yu did know was that the pressure came from the one leading them.

A massive man, two and a half meters tall, towering like a Titan, with a shock of hair rising to the ceiling.

As everyone stared, the giant grinned sheepishly and scratched his sky-high hair. “Sorry, everyone. Just got a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Still getting used to it. I’ll try to control it better…”

With a low grunt, the pressure in the air finally receded.

Bai Zhenzhen sighed. “Showing off your wealth the second you walk in? What a scummy rich kid.”

But the thought of inevitably losing to these people in competition made her feel powerless.

After days of extra lessons and practice, Bai Zhenzhen had come to terms with one truth: when it came to Mana control alone, her talent was far inferior to Zhang Yu’s. She was here to play a background role.

Qian Shen stared at the White Dragon students’ numbered uniforms and mentally matched them to the scores he’d just memorized.

His eyes landed on the giant. “That’s Song Hailong, right? White Dragon’s top dog. 682 points. A monster so evolved we might as well be different species.”

He Dayou raised an eyebrow in Song Hailong’s direction. “Show-off. But bringing a Heavenly Spiritual Root to a tournament? Sure, it’ll boost Mana, but good luck controlling it.”

Not long after White Dragon’s dramatic entrance, a gust of wind howled from outside the stadium. A massive flying vessel descended above the venue.

Inside, poor students from common schools gasped. The air reeked of wealth.

A group in purple uniforms disembarked. Among them was Lian Tianji, whom Zhang Yu recognized from the art exhibit.

They’d even exchanged contacts afterward, and Zhang Yu often spotted him among the top three in the daily step-count rankings.

Lian Tianji seemed to notice him too. He waved and pointed Zhang Yu out to a nearby girl.

She turned, nodded coolly in Zhang Yu’s direction, then looked away.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Now that’s a real ice-cold beauty. Not like fake-Ah-Zhen here.”

Qian Shen was also scrutinizing Purple Cloud’s squad. He searched online for photos of Le Mulan, matched her features, and locked on the girl beside Lian Tianji.

“That must be Le Mulan. 678 points. Definitely high caste. Anyone scoring under 650 might as well be mud in her eyes.”

After White Dragon and Purple Cloud made their entrances, Red Tower High School, the host, finally arrived.

But when Zhang Yu spotted their most striking member, he blurted out, “A monster?!”

Bai Zhenzhen jumped aside, pointing at him. “Hey hey hey! Watch your words! That’s a monster-blood Songyang citizen!”

The student wore a school uniform, but his shiny red fur, stubby tail, and round panda face made him look like a living plushie.

Zhang Yu felt a weird softness radiating from him.

He asked, “No, seriously—how did this little red panda get into Red Tower? It can’t just be his innocent smile, right?”

Sure, the smile was adorable, but Zhang Yu figured he had to be good at something to get into an elite school, let alone enter a tournament.

Bai Zhenzhen shrugged. “Monster-blood types usually have insane physical stats, but that guy… I’m pretty sure I could take three of him with one punch.”

“So he must be gifted in Mana?”

They chatted as they entered separate restrooms.

Afterward, Bai Zhenzhen dragged Zhang Yu up to a second-floor viewing platform, guided by her phone messages.

There, two girls were already waiting.

One of them, Zhang Yu recognized: Wu Qingqing, who had also been at the art exhibit.

Zhang Yu glanced at the other girl and guessed, “She must be a big deal at Saint Girls Academy too.”

“Hehe, long time no see.” Wu Qingqing greeted them warmly. The girl beside her, however, seemed oblivious to everything around her—head down in a book, clutching Wu Qingqing’s sleeve like a lifeline.

She looked like the type who’d follow Wu Qingqing into traffic without once looking up.

“These two are Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu—poor geniuses from Songyang High.”

Then she nudged the girl beside her. “This is Ye Xianyun. Our top first-year at Saint Girls Academy.”

Proudly, she added, “Also the only one in our honors class who didn’t get surgery.”

Zhang Yu: What are you even proud of?

Ye Xianyun looked up briefly, gave them a silent nod, then went right back to her book.