No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Ever since Zhang Yu unleashed the level-20 Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force, his duel with Ma Xuan and the others had drawn the attention of numerous instructors.

Having dominated the first half, many teachers were now curious: what strategy would Ma Xuan use for the second half? And how would Zhang Yu respond?

Just as the second half was about to begin, a new figure appeared in the Spiritual Realm space—another spectator here for the Civil Engineering Department’s tournament.

It wasn’t a person, but a vertical text frame with just four bold characters inside: True Lord Magneto.

Director Gao’s eyes flickered as he saw this and sent a private message: You finally showed up.

He was already used to True Lord Magneto’s avatar on the Spiritual Realm Network.

“This guy’s loaded, but the moment he deems something ‘unnecessary,’ he won’t spend a single coin.”

“Spiritual Realm avatar, Nascent Soul projection effects, premium projection filters... he always picks the cheapest options.”

“Even his Law Husk is patched up junk he upgrades himself. Been using it for decades.”

Director Gao often wondered if this guy was secretly a gambling addict. What else could explain the extreme thrift?“No clue where all his hoarded funds are going. It’s not like he’s building an Immortal artifact.”

Still, for all his stinginess and gruff personality, True Lord Magneto was one of the few people Director Gao considered a friend—and today, a friend showing up to lend some presence.

Gao’s eyes swept across the Peace Faction instructors on-site.

Sure, the Finance Department is rich. But can you get their Director to come stand with you like I did?

Fully siding with the Finance Department means we’ll just become their blood bank. They might even blow up the whole Civil Engineering Department.

True Lord Magneto’s arrival made many teachers shift their expressions.

Wei Huai from the Peace Faction’s Geology class thought to himself, Gao really is tight with True Lord Magneto.

Immortal Jiao Lei, also of the Peace Faction and Zhang Yu’s homeroom instructor in the Foundation Establishment Class, mused, True Lord Magneto himself showed up? The Artifact Refinement Department really values us. Their sincerity is high.

Other instructors felt the War Faction now had both the Artifact Refinement Department and the Heavenly Sword University’s Nascent Soul cultivator in their corner. Wouldn’t they be rolling in project opportunities?

The War Faction instructors straightened their backs with newfound pride.

True Lord Magneto’s arrival prompted a warm greeting from Director Gao, Director Lin, and the senior True Lord Lingyue.

True Lord Lingyue beamed. “Welcome, True Lord Magneto. Your presence brings great honor to our humble Civil Engineering Department.”

True Lord Magneto replied, “Old Gao told me the department’s top talents are gathering and the tournament is narrowing down to the final ten. Thought I’d come take a look.”

“There are a few soul-void manufacturing zones getting commissioned next year. Thought I’d assess your department’s current construction capabilities.”

The moment he mentioned those major projects in hand, the Civil Engineering instructors around lit up like wolves eyeing fresh meat.

After some polite chit-chat, they resumed watching the match.

True Lord Magneto sent a private message: Satisfied?

Director Gao: Very much so [thumbs up emoji]

True Lord Magneto: Pay up.

Director Gao: [Transfer initiated]

Director Gao: That’s the deposit. I’ll send the rest after the match.

True Lord Magneto: Where’s the trust?

Gao didn’t reply. After centuries of friendship, he knew: if he paid the full amount now, the guy would watch for five minutes and disappear.

Every second of True Lord Magneto’s time, thoughts, and attention was absurdly valuable.

He also knew, while the Artifact Refinement Department had staff involved in construction studies, True Lord Magneto himself had zero real interest in the field.

As the second half kicked off, teams clashed once more.

Director Gao nudged True Lord Magneto, introducing Mo Shangjin—the War Faction’s strongest student and the only one to have mastered the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might. He was the poster boy of their faction.

Director Lin chimed in, pointing out Xuan Liangtian of the Peace Faction, another student who had grasped the Mountain-Moving Might.

True Lord Lingyue stood to the side with a cheerful smile, looking pleased with the department’s wealth of talent.

But True Lord Magneto, after listening a while, suddenly asked, “Who’s that student?”

Gao glanced at the one surrounded by Ma Xuan’s group. “Zhang Yu.”

Despite being buried in a storm of sand and mud, every contestant had shared their EyeNet feeds with the referees and instructors—so the battle was fully visible.

True Lord Magneto raised his brows. “That’s the Zhang Yu you mentioned before? First time I’ve seen him.”

Gao didn’t answer. Zhang Yu looked like he was about to be eliminated.

He sent a private message: Let’s not talk about Zhang Yu right now.

But Director Lin’s eyes gleamed. “Zhang Yu is Director Gao’s prized protégé, one he’s personally cultivated with great care.”

Wei Huai joined in. “Indeed, I heard Director Gao poured quite a bit of effort into Zhang Yu. But it looks like he’s in trouble...”

Just as Gao frowned at the Peace Faction’s attempts to spin the narrative, Zhang Yu, blood-soaked and still battling four at once, managed to down one opponent.

True Lord Magneto nodded. “Interesting student. You found a good one, Old Gao.”

Gao’s frown turned to a slight smirk. “I gave him a few pointers. The rest is his own talent.”

An instructor added, “Mastering level-20 Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force and level-20 War Demon Life-Draining Technique in sophomore year? His martial talent is obvious. And to fight this hard, take this much damage, and keep going—his physique and fighting spirit are top-notch.”

Tu Lishan chimed in, “Wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t scouted him as a freshman and sent him to the worksite. That’s what unlocked his potential.”

Lang Yougong nodded. “I’m his body-refinement instructor. Ever since he started worksite training, his growth has been insane. Just proves: our department’s real future is in construction.”

Director Lin watched it all unfold. When Ma Xuan’s team surrendered one by one, and even Ji Yuanshu gave up, his expression chilled.

Ji Yuanshu: Teacher, I lost.

Ji Yuanshu: Ma Xuan’s group sabotaged me. I suspect they took bribes from the War Faction and threw the match to suppress me.

Lin didn’t reply. Instead, he looked at the post-match stats and sent Ji a screenshot.

First, combat duration: Zhang Yu ranked first. Ji Yuanshu was near the bottom, only above Shi Yunxiang.

Second, estimated damage: Zhang Yu again led the field, contributing 78% of his team’s destruction. Ji Yuanshu? Just 1.5%.

Lin chuckled to himself.

You’re calling others a liability?

He mused, Decked out in brand-name Law Husks and you still rank bottom in every metric? What a leech.

Meanwhile, the rest of the instructors reviewed the data.

What stood out was Zhang Yu—taking 89% of his team’s total damage, leading in physical injuries and estimated losses. His name was now firmly etched into the minds of every teacher present.

Tu Lishan sighed, “Zhang Yu was the MVP of this round. To hold out that long—his physique, defensive techniques, leverage skills, tactical instincts—it all came together.”

“After beating Ma Xuan’s team, they’ve made it to the top ten, right?”

“Second-year student in the top ten. That’s rare.”

He proposed, “Didn’t we approve a special cultivation loan reward for outstanding contestants? I say Zhang Yu deserves one.”

Wei Huai responded coolly, “Zhang Yu’s tactics have no real-world application. You can only play that way in tournaments. In real combat, there are no ‘non-lethal’ clauses.”

“If Ma Xuan’s team hadn’t held back for fear of killing him, Zhang Yu would’ve been out long ago.”

“If he enjoys fighting so much, maybe he should transfer to the Security Department. Their simulators let you go all out. Kill as many as you want, no compensation needed.”

Tu Lishan snorted. “Rules are rules. A proper engineer needs to know how to work within constraints. Zhang Yu won by using the rules—that’s skill.”

“If Ma Xuan was so smart, why didn’t he use the rules too? Why didn’t Bu Ziran go all in? Because they didn’t have what it takes.”

“Some folks are used to fighting with money and forgot how to fight with guts…”

True Lord Lingyue nodded thoughtfully. “The Civil Engineering tournaments discourage pure combat. Killing incurs compensation. Zhang Yu has admirable spirit, but it’s not the style we want to promote.”

Tu Lishan narrowed his eyes. Oh, so now that we’re winning, you want to interfere?

But seeing Director Gao stay silent, he decided not to push further either.

With True Lord Lingyue’s final judgment, discussion about Zhang Yu quieted down. The teachers moved on to critique other matches.

Meanwhile, Director Gao messaged Zhang Yu privately.

How bad are your injuries? Got money for treatment?

Zhang Yu read the message, warmth blooming in his chest. Is he... gonna send money?

Right then, another message popped up—this time from True Lord Magneto.

Guess who I’m with right now.

Image: True Lord Magneto and Director Gao watching the match together

Zhang Yu blinked. Then a new message came from Director Gao: [10 spirit coins]

Use this to patch yourself up.

You’ve made top ten. No need to go so hard next round.

True Lord Magneto: You don’t want Gao to find out you’ve secretly taken me as your master, do you?

How’s the Artifact Refinement course going? Finish the first three years by the end of sophomore year. Do that, and I’ll reward you.

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