No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

The middle-aged man grew visibly respectful as he watched Zhang Yu demonstrate Limitless Cloud Hands at level 10. “A level 10 Limitless Cloud Hands—quality like that is hard to come by. Impressive, truly impressive.”

In his mind, someone capable of cultivating a combat technique like Limitless Cloud Hands to level 10 had to be at the peak of Qi Refining—someone who had already graduated high school and still had the time, money, and dedication to hone real martial skills.

After all, no one would waste effort solely on pushing Limitless Cloud Hands to level 10 without also cultivating Dao Heart, mana, or physical strength.

So if someone had time to elevate this one technique to level 10, the rest of their stats were likely maxed out for a Qi Refining student as well.

The man mused to himself, Probably a high school martial arts teacher moonlighting for some extra cash.

Still, it wasn’t his business to pry—curiosity was a liability in this line of work.

He said, “I’ll need to register your information. Just a few questions.”

Zhang Yu nodded.

“Are you looking for part-time or full-time work?”

“Part-time,” Zhang Yu replied.“What’s your teaching experience like?”

The Ragdoll chimed in, “Tell him you’ve got ten years of experience. Trust me on this.”

Zhang Yu thought for a moment. Since he was keeping his identity hidden anyway, he went with it. “Ten years of teaching at a top high school.”

The man nodded slightly—that matched his assumptions. As he recorded this, he asked, “Any particular specialties?”

With the Ragdoll coaching him, Zhang Yu picked up the rhythm of the answers. “I specialize in technique instruction. Besides Limitless Cloud Hands, I’ve mastered several other level 10 techniques.”

“How do you usually maintain student engagement and focus in your classroom?”

“The simplest way,” Zhang Yu answered, “is to make underperformers kneel through class while the top students mock them. Different levels of performance get different treatment.”

The man nodded approvingly. “Would you be willing to work with lower-IQ clients?”

Zhang Yu blinked. “Lower IQ?”

The man smiled helplessly. “We cater to the lower-tier market. The students buying our lessons aren’t exactly top scorers—average combined scores across six subjects are under 450. Not the brightest bunch. You’ll need to be patient and keep your explanations simple. Not like teaching at a top high school.”

Wow, Zhang Yu thought. So regular high school students are ‘mentally challenged’ in your eyes, huh? He held back an eye-roll and said, “I’m very good at teaching academic underdogs.”

“One more thing: our customers tend to be poor. So instructors are expected to promote financial services. Are you okay with that?”

Zhang Yu frowned. “Financial services?”

The man smiled again. “Just selling tutoring loans, installment plans, that kind of thing…”

Seeing Zhang Yu’s hesitation, he added, “It’s not mandatory. As long as your teaching quality is high, no one will force you to sell finance.”

He continued, “If your tutoring sessions get interrupted by security forces or rival gangs, are you willing to fight? And if needed… kill?”

Zhang Yu fell silent. So this is the black market tutoring scene—teaching one minute, fighting or killing the next, huh?

At least, he mused, they did ask if he was willing. That was something—barely.

The man added, “Your hesitation is understandable. Fighting and killing come with expenses. But don’t worry—here at the Dark Tutoring Gang, any fines or damages incurred during a session will be fully reimbursed.”

Whatever appreciation Zhang Yu had vanished. So that’s what you meant. You’re just haggling over costs. For you, gang fights are routine, huh?

Naturally, Zhang Yu declined. Despite having several level 10 techniques, his mana and physical stats were still high school level. No way he’d survive gang warfare.

The man nodded in understanding and moved on with more questions. Eventually, he smiled and said, “That should be everything.”

“But to decide what classes we can assign you—and how to price them—we need to see a trial session first.”

“Trial session” meant Zhang Yu would teach a sample class while the Dark Tutoring Gang assessed his skills and set pricing accordingly.

The man added, “Your Limitless Cloud Hands are impressive, but purely combat techniques don’t sell as well as health, study, or work-related techniques.”

He was worried this “high school teacher” might not understand what the lower-tier market really wanted.

He explained, “Not saying Limitless Cloud Hands is bad. There are definitely students who’d pay for it. But most of our customers are more interested in the basics…”

Zhang Yu suddenly recalled the technique rankings he’d seen online.

“So, Health-Preserving Technique, Excavator Palm, Crane Claw, Sports Car Leg… these have a bigger market?”

The man smiled. “Exactly. These are our most requested classes. While they’re cheap per student, you can teach dozens—or even hundreds—at once. In the end, it’s more profitable than elite small-group sessions.”

“Other popular options include basic high school techniques like Scattered Hand, Basic Sword Technique, and Basic Breathing Technique.”

Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up. So Excavator Palm and Sports Car Leg are top sellers? Maybe I can use the Feathered Tome’s specialization to master those quickly and start teaching…

The man said, “Let’s set a trial date. I need to coordinate the teachers who’ll be observing. Are you free in five days?”

Zhang Yu calculated briefly and nodded. “Five days works.”

“Besides Limitless Cloud Hands, what else do you plan to teach during your trial? We’ll assign evaluators with relevant expertise.”

Zhang Yu thought, Health-Preserving Technique is an expert-grade skill—expensive, complex, and slow to learn. But Excavator Palm, Crane Claw, Sports Car Leg, and Elevator Leap are advanced-grade—cheap and simple, like Back-Dragon Mountain-Flipping Strike. Quick to master.

Just to be safe, he decided to underreport a little.

“I can also teach Excavator Palm and Sports Car Leg,” he said.

That covered both elite and mass-market classes. The man nodded, satisfied. “Then we look forward to your trial.”

“Oh, and could you leave a contact number?”

Zhang Yu declined.

“In that case,” the man said, “please download a game called Kunshen World. Add me as a friend—we can message through there.”

…

On the way out of the complex, the Ragdoll couldn’t hold back.

“You actually learned those? Excavator Palm and Sports Car Leg?”

She couldn’t believe a top high school student had bothered with those bottom-tier donkey techniques.

She’d thought Zhang Yu would stick to selling elite small-group sessions with his level 10 Limitless Cloud Hands.

But here he was, planning to teach Excavator Palm and Sports Car Leg—mass-market fodder.

Zhang Yu opened a shopping app and casually purchased both techniques. “Never trained them. But five days is enough to learn.”

Since he’d be with the Ragdoll constantly, there was no hiding it anyway.

The Ragdoll frowned. “Five days? Even if you learn them, how do you compete with teachers who’ve been doing this for years?”

“Just stick to Limitless Cloud Hands,” she said. “Quit messing around.”

Zhang Yu ignored her. With the purchases made, his account balance dropped another 3,500 yuan, leaving just over 12,000.

Back at the abandoned complex, Zhang Yu began training the new techniques.

First up was Excavator Palm.

This was a strength-based palm technique modeled after an excavator, designed to generate a bit of “bucket force” to dig and level ground.

Purely a work-focused technique, it had no combat or body-refining elements. Just three moves: forward scoop, reverse scoop, and sweeping scoop.

Zhang Yu nodded. You can finish the whole set in a few seconds. Should be easy to learn.

He skimmed the manual, then switched his Feathered Tome’s specialization to this technique.

Immediately, his hands began slapping the air in rapid succession. Invisible waves of force rippled outward, trying to form a coherent pattern—only to collapse mid-air.

When the full set of moves failed to yield any results, Zhang Yu froze in place.

The Ragdoll sighed. “Told you it was a waste of time. You think you can master this in days and compete with veteran tutors? Get real—”

But before she could finish, Zhang Yu moved again.

This time, his palms stirred the air with a whooshing force, like a massive bucket scooping and scraping through the wind.

The Ragdoll stared, dumbfounded. “Wait… you already learned it?”

“Just like that?”

“And it looks like you’ve been training it for years!”

“Is this his real hidden potential? He can master techniques that fast?”

What came next shocked her even more.

In just over an hour, she watched in disbelief as Zhang Yu’s Excavator Palm progressed from amateur flailing to a fluid, devastating mastery—each strike as if he were ready to level the whole ruined complex with nothing but his hands.