No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

After Zhang Yu returned to the apartment, he resumed cultivating the Endless Spring and Autumn Meditation.

As he honed each of the forty-nine movements, the Longevity Mana constantly stimulated the repair and regrowth of every inch of his flesh. His body, once withered from harsh training and relentless drug use, now felt like it was being reborn.

Endless Spring and Autumn Meditation Level 8 (36/80)

Though absorbed in his cultivation, his earlier conversation with Bai Zhenzhen still weighed on him.

“The Inspectorate Department... are they investigating the Evil God incident?”

Her concern only piled on more pressure.

Even though Zhang Pianpian had asked her to look out for him, Zhang Yu didn’t believe she would stay on his side if she discovered the truth about the Evil God within him.

To prepare for a potential investigation, Zhang Yu could only speed up his ritual preparations—he needed stronger counter-surveillance capabilities and better control over information.

Thinking back to what Zhang Pianpian had said, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. “Mastering information, exploiting information asymmetry—those are the real skills you need to climb in Kunxu.”

The next day, with all the materials gathered, Zhang Yu took Fu Ji and Bai Zhenzhen to the abandoned building he knew well. It was time to perform Bai Zhenzhen’s Wish-Granting Ritual, along with the Detection Ritual and the Anti-Detection Ritual for both of them. Inside one of the building’s rooms—

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen followed Fu Ji’s instructions in setting up the ritual site.

Fu Ji spoke at length. “A ritual depends on its offering and its scale. The better the offering, the stronger the effect, the higher the success rate—and the less likely the Righteous Gods are to notice. As for scale, the larger the ritual, the wider and farther its reach.”

“Besides that, you also need an altar, a human-god medium, a spiritual artifact, an Evil God symbol, and the proper incantations. You can’t skip a single one...”

By now, the room was filled with glowing red candles.

Fu Ji had returned to her Evil God Plushie form and was placed atop a brass altar.

Two streaming smartphones were set on either side of her, serving as the medium between human and god.

A rented Qi Sea Spirit Root sat cradled in her hands—an excellent vessel for preserving spiritual energy.

As for Fu Ji herself, being the actual body of an Evil God, she served as the most perfect symbol of one.

In each of the ritual’s four directions, an antique had been placed—each brimming with wish-powered incense energy, ready for Fu Ji to extract.

“Taiji Netherlight, shadows drifting, all living beings, faithful in heart—incense-born power, come forth!”

As Fu Ji pointed into the air, the antiques shattered one by one, unleashing invisible power that surged toward her.

“Veil the senses, beguile the faithful, blur true and false—let all wishful minds gather to me! So shall it be!”

Wisps of dark golden divine power floated above Fu Ji’s head. In the next moment, Bai Zhenzhen stiffened as the power of the Evil God surged into her body...

After a long while, as the ritual concluded, Bai Zhenzhen slowly opened her eyes, curiously inspecting herself.

“How do you feel?” Zhang Yu asked. “Ah-Zhen, are you alright?”

A flicker of lightning danced in Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes. Then she smiled. “Yuzi, is this what it feels like to awaken your potential?”

“So this... this is the power that’s been hiding inside me?”

Thin streaks of lightning flared from her eyes and crackled around her body.

Zhang Yu watched, stunned, as her long hair lifted in the surge of electricity. “What kind of potential did you awaken?”

Bai Zhenzhen opened her mouth, and arcs of lightning crackled from her tongue. “Hard to say yet. I’ll need to run more tests to really understand it.”

As the lightning faded, the strange phenomena within her gradually subsided.

She decided she’d explore her changes more thoroughly once they were back. For now, they still had rituals to complete.

Working together, the two of them quickly set up the Detection and Anti-Detection Rituals.

As the rituals finished, glowing sigils briefly flashed across Zhang Yu’s back. He instantly felt two new forces settle into his body—distinct ritual powers.

He activated the Detection Ritual. In the pitch-black room, a spot suddenly lit up in his vision—a specific pull drew his eyes toward it. It was one of the surveillance cameras they had brought.

This camera had been set up as a test.

“So that’s how it works.” Zhang Yu watched the device glow faintly in his vision. Once he deactivated the ritual, the glow vanished, and the camera returned to darkness.

“As long as the ritual is active, I can see every camera’s location?”

Bai Zhenzhen moved the camera behind a wall.

They both activated the ritual again—and clearly saw the camera through the wall.

After several rounds of testing, Zhang Yu confirmed: the Detection Ritual could sense any camera within thirty meters. Ordinary obstacles couldn’t block it.

“But just a few minutes in, and it’s already used up half the ritual’s power.”

“Good thing it recharges over time by leeching divine power from the network.”

“Doing the math, that gives me about ten minutes of detection per day.”

Ten minutes didn’t sound like much, but for scouting purposes, Zhang Yu figured it was more than enough.

Next, they picked up the prepared Detection Patches to test the Anti-Detection Ritual.

Even though Zhang Yu’s Mana was supposed to be above 90 units, the reading now showed only 85. When he pushed the ritual further, the number dropped as low as 50.

“The Anti-Detection Ritual lasts for about an hour each day.”

“It can mask both Mana and physical strength readings.”

Zhang Yu nodded in satisfaction. “Perfect. This way I don’t have to draw so much attention during next month’s exams.”

Seeing their delighted expressions, Fu Ji said smugly, “Told you so, didn’t I? These rituals are a huge asset.”

“Such is the power of Evil God rituals. If you ever want to make serious money—whether in dark tutoring, scams, smuggling, or corporate warfare—the more ritual power you have, the better.”

Zhang Yu understood she was angling for him to help her keep climbing the hierarchy and boosting her power, which would in turn let her channel more rituals.

Like with those antiques—they’d used four in the ritual, but Zhang Yu suspected she’d exaggerated the requirements to quietly boost her Evil God energy reserves.

Still, it was a win-win. He didn’t feel like arguing about it.

“So,” he asked, “how many rituals can you maintain right now?”

Fu Ji replied, “Ten in total.”

“Minus your two Wish-Granting Rituals, the Detection and Anti-Detection ones—that leaves room for four more.”

“No rush though. The next ones aren’t cheap. You can wait and pick based on your needs.”

Zhang Yu asked again, “What can we do to let you handle more rituals?”

Fu Ji giggled. “Two options. One, I devour a colleague’s rank—every step I climb as an Evil God means more rituals I can support.”

“Two, I steal the authority of a Righteous God—but don’t worry about that just yet.”

“The point is, the higher my rank, the more ritual power you’ll have. One day, you’ll break free of the three loans, dodge all five insurances, and live a life of cultivation and financial freedom.”

“Otherwise, no matter how strong you get, you’re still just a workhorse for the Ten Great Academies.”

After packing everything up, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen returned to their apartment near Purple Cloud High.

As they entered the building, Zhang Yu activated the Detection Ritual and immediately saw all the surveillance cameras inside.

Once inside their unit, he cast the ritual again.

They had already checked for cameras before, but using the ritual gave him extra peace of mind. Seeing nothing inside, he finally relaxed.

Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen kept testing her new powers and gradually figured out the changes.

Her Mana had gained a lightning attribute—it had become Specialized Mana.

Under its influence, her Thunderstep and Thunderquake True Body techniques became much more effective.

Every time she circulated Mana, it stimulated her muscles and nervous system, boosting her reaction time, speed, agility, and explosive power.

On top of that, she sensed that any lightning-based technique would now yield faster results.

And then…

Zhang Yu stared at her as she jammed her finger into an outlet, lightning dancing over her body.

She laughed. “Yuzi! I can recharge my Mana with electricity—and it even helps me refine my body! I can literally get stronger by charging up!”

“Once my Zhen Spirit Root adapts to this new path, I’ll be way more efficient...”

Zhang Yu nodded—then suddenly glanced toward the apartment’s electric meter.

Seeing it spin like crazy, he shouted, “Stop! Stop right now!”

“If you keep training like that, Le Mulan might kick us out of the apartment!”

Reluctantly, Bai Zhenzhen pulled her finger out. “Fine, fine.”

“I’ll go siphon electricity from school tomorrow.”

“Heh, while I’m at it, I can use the Detection Ritual to dodge the cameras...”

With the rituals complete, Zhang Yu turned his focus back to cultivation.

Another night passed. As Longevity Mana coursed through him, his body grew purer, and his Endless Spring and Autumn Meditation reached a new breakthrough.