No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

When Zhang Yu saw the message from Director Gao, he was momentarily stunned. His first reaction was that his relationship with True Lord Magneto had been exposed.

But after reading the message several more times, mulling it over, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Director Gao doesn’t sound angry—or passive-aggressive.”

“Did he really introduce True Lord Magneto to me?”

After a moment’s thought, Zhang Yu decided to send a message to True Lord Magneto.

Zhang Yu: True Lord, Teacher Gao told me to come find you?

True Lord Magneto: Old Gao’s trying to give you a leg up. Asked me to coach you a bit.

True Lord Magneto: Bet he doesn’t know his oh-so-beloved registered disciple secretly became my disciple long before he ever called me ‘Master,’ huh?

Zhang Yu: True Lord, what are you planning?

True Lord Magneto: What else? I’m going to coach you.

True Lord Magneto: Relax. As long as you behave, I promise no one will get hurt.True Lord Magneto: Head to this address.

True Lord Magneto: Old Gao arranged this training room for us.

…

Moments later, Zhang Yu had arrived at the training room.

The four characters for “True Lord Magneto” appeared projected in mid-air, along with a textbox.

“There’s only a fifteen-minute break between rounds. Time’s short, so I’ll be talking at ten times speed.”

The next moment, True Lord Magneto’s speech accelerated dramatically, turning into a rapid chant that rippled through the air like a spell.

Zhang Yu calmed his mind, activating the Time-Wrecking Demon Eyes to accelerate his thoughts. At the same time, his Limitless Heart: Inner Incarnate Body spun up fourfold thinking, cross-checking each layer against the others. That allowed him to keep pace with True Lord Magneto’s lightning-fast speech.

“The key to dealing with Su Yanyang’s team in the next match is breaking their advantage in smart architecture.”

“That sounds high-tech, but it’s just a gimmick. The underlying tech is the same old blend: civil engineering, arrays, and soul cultivation.”

“You’ve already got civil engineering handled on your end, so I won’t waste time there.”

“As for arrays… anything an array can do, a magical artifact can do too.”

“The difference is that artifacts are faster and more portable, while arrays take up space but cost less.”

“You could say arrays are just poor man’s artifacts—trading convenience for access to the same immortal power.”

“In reality, even the rich have to compromise. Most setups end up using both arrays and artifacts together, like people using both Law Husks and artifacts.”

“So the weakness of arrays is their size and inconvenience…”

As he spoke, True Lord Magneto sent Zhang Yu a file.

When Zhang Yu opened it, he saw the schematics for the Dimensional Isolation Array, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Bewitching Array, and the Thousand-Mountain Fortress Array.

True Lord Magneto said, “Su Yanyang laid down three main arrays: the Dimensional Isolation Array severs contact with the Spiritual Realm, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Bewitching Array scrambles vision and communications, and the Thousand-Mountain Fortress Array strengthens structures and pulls in Spirit Veins.”

“Plus, these three arrays have been modified by a civil engineering professor into an interlinked system—essentially functioning as one.”

“These schematics are ones I’m authorized to share, so today I’m giving them to you for free.”

Zhang Yu had studied engineering-grade array schematics before, but only the basics—like the ones used to reinforce structures or stabilize foundations at construction sites.

Though he’d already fought one round against Su Yanyang’s formation, his knowledge of these three arrays was still superficial.

Now, as he opened the schematics, he found hundreds of densely packed pages, covering everything from civil engineering to Spirit Veins, geology, and beyond.

Just as Zhang Yu began to feel overwhelmed, True Lord Magneto said, “You need to memorize all three schematics before the match.”

“I’ve marked the critical points for you. Those are the keys to breaking the arrays. Make sure you study them repeatedly.”

Zhang Yu was inwardly shocked. “I haven’t even finished reading the table of contents, and he’s already marked the key points? Just how fast is his brain working?”

Meanwhile, True Lord Magneto continued, “Once you’ve mastered the schematics, then you can think about how to break the formations.”

Zhang Yu perked up. “There’s a way to break Su Yanyang’s formation?”

True Lord Magneto scoffed. “Just busting through it doesn’t count as breaking it. That’s demolition at best. Real mastery is hijacking or stealing the opponent’s array—that’s true breaking.”

“And to do that, you’ll need two reliable Soul Cultivators to help you.”

“Soul Cultivators are poor man’s Artifact Spirits. If your opponent’s using Artifact Spirits and you’re not, you’re down a whole equipment slot before the fight even starts.”

Zhang Yu asked curiously, “Wait, you know about equipment slots?”

True Lord Magneto replied coolly, “Of course. I was part of the first generation of game developers. But the rich stopped playing games, and the player base turned poor. Games stopped making money, so I bailed early.”

He said it casually, then launched into another round of instructions on breaking formations, telling Zhang Yu to figure it all out after mastering the schematics.

Midway through, Zhang Yu asked, “You want me to insert my Soul Cultivator into their formation? But I don’t have that kind of sigil expertise.”

True Lord Magneto replied, “Who said anything about remote operation? If you can get inside the formation, just make direct physical contact. Once you study the schematics, look for the best spots to transmit.”

After finishing the formation breakdown strategy, True Lord Magneto continued, “Finally, I’m going to teach you a technique I created myself: the Magnetic Meridian-Severing Hand. It’s for dealing with Su Yanyang’s Law Husk.”

“A Law Husk is part of the body, but it’s still a magical artifact. It requires mana to function.”

“And the human body delivers mana to the Law Husk through the meridians.”

“If you can strike the acupoints and sever the flow, you can temporarily reduce its efficiency—or, if your skill is high enough, disable it altogether.”

“This Magnetic Meridian-Severing Hand started as a technique I used to maintain and calibrate Law Husks. It can be used in combat, but there are two conditions.”

“One, it’s a technique to sever meridians, not to break defenses. You’ll have to get through the opponent’s Protective Qi Barrier first and inject magnetic mana into their body.”

“Two, you need to accurately identify the acupoints and meridians used by different types of Law Husks. Every model is wired differently.”

“I’m sending you the meridian maps for the Law Husk Su Yanyang is using. In future fights, you’ll have to gather this intel yourself.”

Zhang Yu received another file with detailed diagrams of the Law Husk meridian paths. Soon after, True Lord Magneto granted him the usage rights for the Magnetic Meridian-Severing Hand.

“Alright. Time to train this technique.”

“First, condense a current of magnetic mana. It’s like the magnetic field in a Magnetic Channel—good at piercing flesh and blocking mana flow once it coils around the meridians. But it can’t penetrate a Protective Qi Barrier…”

After demonstrating it once, True Lord Magneto guided Zhang Yu through a practice round.

“There are thirty-six techniques in total, each corresponding to one of the body’s main meridian paths. You have to apply magnetic mana in different ways to each—tailored treatment. You need to master this before the next match starts…”

Zhang Yu continued training and said, “True Lord, I think I’ve almost got it.”

At that moment, the full set of thirty-six techniques played out in Zhang Yu’s mind as if he’d practiced them for years.

In truth, as True Lord Magneto kept piling on complex tasks and expecting him to master them all in minutes, Zhang Yu felt more and more pressure.

But he also thought: if True Lord Magneto expects this of me, he must believe I can pull it off.

After running through the Magnetic Meridian-Severing Hand once, Zhang Yu felt it wasn’t overly complicated. So he didn’t bother pretending—he just said he’d basically mastered it.

True Lord Magneto, however, looked skeptical. “You’ve almost mastered it?”

He’d just watched Zhang Yu’s first run and it was full of mistakes. There was no way he believed he’d already mastered it.

But as Zhang Yu kept practicing, his moves became more fluid, more precise.

“I ran through it a bunch of times in my head,” Zhang Yu said. “I really think I’ve got it.”

Watching Zhang Yu’s technique grow cleaner and sharper, True Lord Magneto was stunned. “He really mastered it?”

“I was just hoping he’d learn the few moves needed for this match. But he actually mastered all thirty-six?”

“No wonder Old Gao values this kid so much. He’s got insane martial arts talent. If he switched to the Security Department and trained for a few years, he’d be a flagbearer-level student for sure.”

“Even if he never forges artifacts, the way he gets used by them is exceptional. If nothing else, he’s good material.”

After some thought, True Lord Magneto said, “Since you’ve mastered the meridian-severing technique, use the rest of your time to study the schematics and prep the Soul Cultivators and other anti-array measures. Don’t forget anything.”

Zhang Yu bowed deeply. “Thank you, teacher, for your guidance.”

True Lord Magneto said, “Don’t waste time on ceremony. Off you go.”

…

In the Spiritual Realm, True Lord Magneto glanced sideways at Director Gao.

Director Gao gave a faint smile and sent a private message: How was it?

True Lord Magneto: What do you mean, “how was it?”

Director Gao: How did Zhang Yu do? Can he win?

True Lord Magneto: Not bad. I gave him the tools. Whether he wins depends on how he uses them.

Sensing the flat tone in his words, Director Gao frowned inwardly. “So Zhang Yu’s performance was just average?”

He asked again: Just “not bad?”

True Lord Magneto: What, you expecting fireworks? I’ve seen geniuses before.

Sensing the flash of disappointment in Director Gao’s words, True Lord Magneto thought to himself, “Old Gao, don’t blame me later.”

“He came to me on his own. I didn’t poach him.”

“If your Civil Engineering Department can’t keep him, maybe it just doesn’t have the pull.”

“I’ll take good care of him in the future.”

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