No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Zhang Yu’s gaze drifted away from the stars the moment Li Xiao called out to him. He turned instead to look at the construction site before them.

A single sweep of the eye revealed that the entire 666th floor was under construction—roads being paved, buildings going up, and an unending symphony of crashes and rumbling echoed from every direction.

Surprised, Zhang Yu asked, “They’re building on the whole 666th floor?”

But Yu Xinghan already had the scoop. He explained, “Wanfa University City didn’t start with 666 floors.”

“As the population ballooned and the city underwent wave after wave of expansion projects, new levels have been added each year.”

“For instance, what used to be the mortal zone under the 50th floor has now been pushed to below the 100th.”

“Departments like Finance and Civil Engineering, and even student dorms, keep getting relocated upward.”

Zhang Yu nodded thoughtfully. So the whole of Wanfa University City had a constant demand for construction? No wonder the Civil Engineering major was a secure path to employment.

Just then, Tu Lishan arrived with three students in tow.

He greeted them with his usual smiling squint and immediately began assigning tasks for the site.

Zhang Yu’s group would join the construction crew, while Ying Xin’s team would intern on quality inspection.

Li Xiao’s eyes widened as he spotted Ying Xin among them. “Ying Xin’s on site too? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Tu Lishan continued, “The six of you are now a fieldwork team. Ying Xin will be the provisional team leader…”

After a few more words, he led them through registration, onboarding, and a flurry of formalities.

Along the way, Tu Lishan’s ocular interface flickered—he had received a message from Li Xiao.

Li Xiao: Teacher, weren’t you saying the slots were limited? Why are so many people here?

Tu Lishan: Xiao, Zhang Yu has better grades than you. Makes sense for him to be here, right?

Tu Lishan: And don’t even bring up Ying Xin. Her family’s been in Civil Engineering for six generations. Grew up on construction sites. A gifted child. Plus, one of her elders is a Gold Core cultivator.

Tu Lishan: She’s talented herself, too. Reached Foundation Establishment in high school and has been training in various Civil Engineering Techniques ever since. You’ve seen her grades—she’s ranked third in class.

Every one of these students either outperformed Li Xiao academically or had relatives entrenched in the Civil Engineering world, giving them advantages Li Xiao couldn’t match.

The more he read, the heavier Li Xiao’s heart grew.

Then suddenly, a thought struck him…

Li Xiao: What about Yu Xinghan? He’s from the first floor, right? His grades aren’t as good as mine either…

Tu Lishan: He knows people. Also dropped quite a bit of coin.

Tu Lishan: Compared to him, you really didn’t pay much.

Tu Lishan: I gave you this chance because I see potential in you. Just keep that in mind and don’t let others know the numbers—it’d put me in a tough spot.

Tu Lishan: Work hard. In the Civil Engineering department, anyone willing to put in the sweat can earn more spirit coins than they can count.

Reading Tu Lishan’s messages, Li Xiao resolved, “I’ve got to seize this opportunity. Work hard, earn big, repay my loans, and boost my grades.”

Once the onboarding process was complete, a projection appeared above each of the six students’ heads, adding a new layer of radiant glow.

Red light glowed above Ying Xin’s group—marking them as quality inspectors.

Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, and Li Xiao glowed blue, signifying their status as technical laborers.

Tu Lishan pointed at the colored glows and instructed, “On a site like this, light color equals identity.”

“Gold or silver means management—be respectful, keep your size in check, and hide your Foundation Establishment Field. Don’t make yourself look bigger than the boss.”

“You already know red and blue. Yellow is for basic Qi Refinement laborers. If you injure or kill one, you’ll be paying for it—literally. So stay alert while working.”

Just then, a yellow-glowing laborer passed by. Tu Lishan pointed at the numbers above the man’s head. “See that? The new site safety protocol shows each laborer’s compensation value. Accidents have dropped significantly since we started using this.”

Zhang Yu silently cursed. So the real danger wasn’t that we’d get hurt—it’s that we might hurt someone else? Typical.

At that moment, a voice called out, “Manager Tu, you’re here!”

Zhang Yu turned to see a Yellow-Turban Enforcer puppet speaking.

Tu Lishan nodded at the puppet but didn’t reply. The Enforcer was already hurrying off, hauling a mountain of steel beams.

Yu Xinghan asked curiously, “That Yellow-Turban Enforcer has intelligence? Does it have an artifact spirit?”

Tu Lishan chuckled. “You know how expensive high-grade artifact spirits are, don’t you? That Enforcer contains a human soul.”

He elaborated, “The guy’s name is Huang Yun, just graduated this year.”

“He rented the Enforcer and inserted his soul to work on site.”

Yu Xinghan asked, “What about his body?”

Tu Lishan answered, “Rented to the Pharmacology Department for drug testing.”

Zhang Yu was visibly startled. “So the body’s used for test subjects, and the soul’s doing construction?”

Sensing the disbelief in Zhang Yu’s voice, Tu Lishan sighed, “Yep. Two jobs right after graduation. Pretty impressive.”

“Your cultivation might be higher than Huang Yun’s, but you could learn something from his hustle.”

“The site has Law Husk rentals to boost your efficiency.”

“And if you’re short on funds, we offer discounted work-study loans.”

Tu Lishan glanced meaningfully at Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan—both immediately looked away.

Zhang Yu muttered inwardly, “Damn it, I haven’t even made money yet and you’re already selling me loans…”

Yu Xinghan remembered his senior sister’s advice: “A student’s first work-study loan is critical. Never rush it.”

Behind them, Li Xiao took the hint. “Is Teacher Tu giving me a sign? I should check out those Law Husks when I get a chance…”

Tu Lishan added, “Also, the entire site is under surveillance. Don’t pocket materials off the ground. Getting caught means brutal fines.”

Zhang Yu nodded to himself. With all the surveillance, scavenging was clearly off the table.

After briefing them on the general rules, Tu Lishan pointed to his eyes. “Now that you’re registered, your EyeNet should display your assignments.”

“All construction tasks are posted directly to the EyeNet. Just follow the prompts.”

“Wages are settled through the system, too.”

“Alright, get to work. Here in Civil Engineering, hard work means money—just waiting for you to pick it up.”

Once Tu Lishan left, Zhang Yu checked his ocular view and saw a new task flash into view.

Today’s Task: Pour Concrete

Earnings: 0 spirit coins

Proceed to the worksite immediately. Countdown: 23 seconds

A series of glowing virtual lines guided him toward the destination.

Without hesitation, Zhang Yu darted forward, following the projected path all the way to a concrete mixing tower.

At the receiving station, he activated his Martial Qi. The massive weight of over ten tons of concrete landed softly in his hands.

New text appeared in his ocular view:

Proceed to pouring site. Countdown: 15 seconds

Wrapped in Martial Qi, the concrete moved like a giant black-grey dragon as Zhang Yu raced across the site, arriving at the designated area in a blink.

He applied the techniques he had learned in class—shaking the concrete with his Martial Qi to extract air bubbles and inject it smoothly into the framework.

Simultaneously, schematics of construction arrays appeared in his ocular view.

Zhang Yu recalled his engineering array design course and thought, “I need to align the injection with the array’s spirit channels—those are for the node slots.”

“Only when the structure becomes part of the Wanfa City Grand Array can it support load enhancement, structural reinforcement, geomagnetic tuning, anti-gravity, air circulation, temperature control…”

As the concrete flowed like a cascading waterfall, guided by Zhang Yu’s Martial Qi, the system began logging his earnings:

Today’s Task: Pour Concrete

Earnings: 0.000001 spirit coins

Earnings: 0.000002 spirit coins

Earnings: 0.000003 spirit coins

Watching the numbers rise with every drop, even by infinitesimal amounts, Zhang Yu felt a surge of joy.

He had finally earned money.

It was the first time he had earned wages in college through his own effort. For the first time, he didn’t feel like a rootless drifter—he felt grounded.

As he continued the tremor technique, a thought struck him: “This process… might be perfect for cultivating a new technique.”

His ocular view flickered, and the Grand Library interface emerged. He navigated swiftly to a long-bookmarked technique:

Foundation Establishment–Expert Grade Technique: Limitless Cloud Hands

A technique that tempered the body through controlled tremors of flesh and Martial Qi. In combat, it delivered high-frequency shockwaves capable of massive damage.

These days, it had found wide adoption in the construction industry.

Perfect for vibrating concrete—just what Zhang Yu was doing now.

“I need to cultivate my third Earth-Wood Saint Body anyway. Might as well use Limitless Cloud Hands.”

Originally priced at 0.8 spirit coins, Zhang Yu bought it at a 40% discount for 0.48.

After skimming the digital manual, he activated his Martial Qi and began adjusting his body and energy into sync.

Moments later…

Limitless Cloud Hands – Level 1