No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

On the street.

Bai Zhenzhen bumped her shoulder into Zhang Yu from time to time, grinning obsequiously. “Yuzi, you’ve had your fun with it.”

“Lemme try it out.”

“This thing’s worth a hundred thousand! A hundred thousand!” Zhang Yu clutched the Feathered Tome tightly. “What if your brute strength breaks it? You couldn’t afford to pay me back.”

“And wipe your drool, would you? It’s about to drip on my tome.”

Bai Zhenzhen stared at him with puppy-dog eyes, huffing on her hands and wiping them all over the tome’s surface as she said flatteringly, “Let’s trade. You let me play with the Feathered Tome, and I’ll lend you whatever I’ve got that you like.”

Seeing Zhang Yu still engrossed in the tome, Bai Zhenzhen huffed and seized his hand. Then, with a sugar-sweet smile, she shook his arm and cooed, “Zhang Yu gege~ let me play with it, pretty please?”

Zhang Yu instantly slapped a hand over his eyes, feeling like he’d just glimpsed an Elder Deity. “Cut it out! You’re gonna make me hurl.”

“Aha! Found your weakness!” Bai Zhenzhen snatched the Feathered Tome the moment his grip loosened.

Zhang Yu rolled his eyes. “Fine. You can borrow it, but give it back when we get to the bus stop.”Bai Zhenzhen sighed and shook her head. “People with attachments always have weaknesses.”

“Look at that plank-faced guy today—flawless.”

“Yuzi, I really think you should consider getting yourself fixed. Chop off that weakness for good…”

Zhang Yu snorted. “Still want to borrow my Feathered Tome, do you?”

Once they reached the station, Zhang Yu parted ways with Bai Zhenzhen, who was reluctant to let go, and headed home.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city—

A figure answered a call from Su Haifeng.

Su Haifeng: “…That’s the situation. He’s now under Zhang Pianpian’s protection as a Divine Assistant. The usual school methods won’t work on him for now.”

“Also, he’s got a Feathered Tome. As a part-time member of the Patrol Team, he gets at least one free sigil per day…”

Zhou Tianyi nodded slightly. “Understood. We need to act before he gets familiar with the tome and the sigils. Today he already used his free sigil… meaning today’s my best shot, isn’t it?”

Su Haifeng: “If you’re going to move, do it fast. Like, right now fast.”

Zhou Tianyi nodded again. “Got it. I’ll head for Zhang Yu as soon as I finish this task.”

Su Haifeng: “What could be more urgent than this?”

Zhou Tianyi shook his head. “Some things can’t wait even a second.”

“Don’t worry—it won’t take long, and it won’t delay me handling Zhang Yu.”

Ending the call, Zhou Tianyi’s figure blurred with motion. A blast of wind burst beneath his feet as he shot down the street.

He adjusted the delivery pack on his back. With a loud boom, the concrete cracked beneath him as he accelerated again.

Sure, dealing with Zhang Yu was important. But one of his clients had paid extra for an On-Time Charm, so he had to complete his delivery first.

Ever since the Evil God awakened his potential, the faster Zhou Tianyi moved, the quicker his mana flowed, the stronger his body grew—and even his leg techniques improved as a result.

To train while earning money, he chose to keep a low profile and deliver takeout as his cover.

He remembered his first day vividly—broth spilled everywhere in the delivery bag, customers cursed him out, and the platform docked hundreds in fines.

Back at the station, the manager handed him a glass of water and told him to carry it in one hand during deliveries. “If you can keep that from spilling, your food will be fine.”

From that day on, his orders increased, and his delivery rank rose steadily.

At some point, Zhou Tianyi realized everything on the road seemed to slow down around him. Only later, after asking the station manager, did he learn it wasn’t the world slowing down—it was him speeding up.

If not for hiding his power, he could easily place first in the monthly exams every time.

After delivering his final order and checking the payment, Zhou Tianyi exhaled.

“Well then… time to find Zhang Yu.”

Before long, Zhou Tianyi arrived outside the apartment building where Zhang Yu lived.

He thought to himself, “According to Zhang Yu, he can’t train inside the apartment. He always heads to the abandoned construction site nearby.”

“So I’ll just wait for him to head over, then strike.”

…

Back inside the apartment—

Zhang Yu washed his face and began fiddling with the Feathered Tome, eager to explore its functions.

Although he had cast a Restraint Sigil today, the whole situation had been far too rushed. He hadn’t had a moment to study the tome on his own.

He placed his palm on it. As his mana flowed out, his fingerprint, palm print, and mana were all successfully recognized.

A golden light shimmered across the sigil, revealing a yellow background resembling a sheet of talisman paper. As Zhang Yu traced his finger across it, he could draw sigils directly onto the surface.

Then, lifting his hand slightly, he saw the tome float into the air, hovering right in front of his palm.

As he moved his hand, the tome followed, staying just ahead.

“This follow-mode’s pretty handy. No need to hold it—just focus on drawing.”

He tapped the bottom of the screen and dragged upward, causing the talisman-paper background to change and display a series of data.

Name of Faithful: Zhang Yu

Realm: Qi Refinement

Total Faith Level: 1

Scrolling further, he saw the names and icons of the Eight Divine Ministries, each marked with a Faith Level.

Since Zhang Yu had never increased his faith with any of them, each showed the default Level 1 granted upon receiving a Feathered Tome.

He tapped on the one at the top: the Ministry of the Masses.

The display shifted to a vision of the Spiritual Realm’s divine temple.

Red walls and golden tiles rose in layers. Dragons soared, phoenixes spiraled, and at the heart of the hall stood a god gleaming in multicolored light. Hands forming a sacred mudra, the deity radiated a wave of benevolence, eyes gently closed as if unwilling to witness the world’s suffering.

This was the First True God of the Ministry of the Masses: the All-Born Deity of All Beings.

Three options appeared on the Feathered Tome’s screen.

Worship the God

Make an Offering

Ask the God

Below the third option, a hazy gray mist obscured further functions—presumably locked due to Zhang Yu’s low Faith Level.

Looking at the options, Zhang Yu thought, “What does ‘Worship the God’ do?”

Curious, he tapped it.

At once, text appeared on the tome’s screen: “The All-Born Deity of All Beings has felt your reverence.”