No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

As Zhang Yu’s mastery of refining Azure Sand leveled up to Grade 2, countless scenes flashed through his mind—intricate sequences of refining Azure Sand, the precise flows of mana and martial qi, how to handle materials, timing the heat, the micro-details of spraying fiber-composite membranes, and stabilizing mana circuits…

One memory after another surfaced, giving Zhang Yu a deeper understanding and insight into Azure Sand refinement.

So when he attempted the process again using just one-tenth the usual materials, his success rate rose significantly.

Even the quality of the Azure Sand visibly improved.

Watching from the side, Ye Xingli raised her brows slightly in surprise at the refined product in Zhang Yu’s hands. “The color’s brighter, and it looks much purer than before… Is this Grade 2 Azure Sand?”

“Just lucky? Or is he actually progressing this fast?”

She kept observing but soon noticed Zhang Yu once again starting to compress the refinement time recklessly, causing the output to drop back to Grade 1.

By the end of their six-hour practice session, Zhang Yu had managed to reduce his refinement time to fifteen minutes through repeated attempts.

“Material usage reduced to one-tenth—that’s 0.003 spirit coins.”

“Equipment and lab rental comes out to 0.7 spirit coins for six hours, and after splitting it with Ye Xingli, it’s 0.35.”“If I keep refining every fifteen minutes, I can do it twenty-four times in six hours.”

Zhang Yu did the math in his head: “That brings the per-unit cost to around 0.01758 spirit coins.”

“And that’s not even the limit.”

He thought about his Formless Golems and Frost Golems.

Just like how they worked construction back at the site, Zhang Yu figured they could be put to use here too.

“If the material and time compression can be standardized, next time… I’ll activate Multi-Threaded Thinking and try refining four batches of Azure Sand simultaneously.”

“If that works, I can push the cost even lower and massively boost my cultivation efficiency.”

“And if I sell some of the refined Azure Sand to recoup costs, I can push the expenditure down even further.”

With that, he turned to Ye Xingli and asked, “Senior, if I want to sell some of my practice batches later, where’s the best place to offload them?”

Ye Xingli recalled True Lord Magneto’s instructions and replied, “If you trust me, you can leave them with me.”

“I’ve got a few connections in the Artifact Refinement Department and can help you move them.”

“But don’t expect a high price—basic refinement products don’t sell for much. You’ll barely break even.”

Zhang Yu nodded quickly. “I know, that’s fine. Just getting some costs back is enough.”

After they left the lab, they said their goodbyes.

Watching Zhang Yu walk off, Ye Xingli messaged True Lord Magneto: “Master, Zhang Yu and I have left the lab.”

True Lord Magneto: “How did Zhang Yu do?”

Ye Xingli: “His talent’s okay, I guess. Refined Grade 2 Azure Sand once during the six hours.”

Ye Xingli: “But his attitude’s kind of a problem—he keeps tweaking the proportions and timing even though he just started.”

She briefly summarized what she’d seen.

True Lord Magneto replied: “I understand.”

True Lord Magneto: “If he wants to sell his product, help consign it for now.”

True Lord Magneto: “And you can split the lab rental with him going forward.”

Ye Xingli couldn’t hold back her curiosity anymore.

She asked, “Master, isn’t Zhang Yu from the Civil Engineering Department? His refinement talent isn’t all that impressive. Why go this far for him?”

True Lord Magneto: “Director Gao from Civil Engineering wants to transfer him to our department.”

True Lord Magneto: “I don’t exactly recommend it, but we’ve been friends for centuries. If he insists, I’ll help out even if it’s inconvenient.”

Reading the message, Ye Xingli couldn’t help but reflect on their relationship.

“So it’s not Zhang Yu himself, but Director Gao that Master values,” she thought.

“That makes way more sense. A Civil Engineering student? That’s like being in the Security Department. Basically a glorified tech-school kid in Wanfa University. Why would someone like Master care?”

“Master probably wouldn’t even speak to someone like that without a red envelope first.”

“But Master and Director Gao… Is this that ancient cultivator friendship?”

“Even if Master keeps up with the times—learning cutting-edge Immortal Dao technology and staying on top of Kunxu trends—he’s still an old-timer deep down. His values are bound to carry some of that outdated cultural baggage.”

As she pondered this, another message came in from True Lord Magneto.

True Lord Magneto: “This is confidential for now. Even if asked directly, neither I nor Director Gao will admit it.”

True Lord Magneto: “Keep your mouth shut.”

Ye Xingli: “Don’t worry, Master. Even if someone throws a thousand spirit coins at me, I won’t say a word.”

…

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu was on his way to the 667th-level construction site.

He glanced at the Feathered Tome—his Azure Sand was now Grade 2 (10/20). Then he flipped to another refinement technique.

Azure Cloud Sand-Pouch 0 (0/1, Azure Sand 2/5)

This Azure Cloud Sand-Pouch was a blueprint he’d picked up in the Artifact Refinement course—a specialized artifact for storing Azure Sand.

Once infused with mana, it could shoot and retrieve Azure Sand on a large scale.

Like cultivation techniques, many artifact refinement techniques came with prerequisites.

Refining Azure Sand required specific mana and martial qi capabilities.

And crafting the Azure Cloud Sand-Pouch demanded proven skill in Azure Sand refinement.

“No matter if it’s artifacts or Law Husks, aside from cultivation level, Dao Heart, and mana, there are always technique prerequisites.”

“To eventually reach the point where I can forge my own body into a Law Husk, I’ll need to master a huge set of prerequisite techniques.”

“I still have a long way to go.”

“But with so many refinement techniques, I probably don’t need to max out every one. Just get them to usable levels.”

As for bigger dreams, like owning his own lab or building a production line… Zhang Yu could only daydream.

He arrived at the construction site like clockwork. Around him, Formless Golems emerged.

He scattered a handful of Azure Sand onto them.

Martial qi surged within the Formless Golems, their surfaces glowing with faint Azure Sand light, giving them a denser, more solid feel.

“Azure Sand enhances martial qi conductivity and reduces energy drain. Should make the job more efficient.”

Zhang Yu controlled the golems to work while he sat shrouded in a fog of Formless Cloud Qi, practicing the seventh technique of the Martial Saint Body.

After a few hours, as dawn broke, he tallied his pay.

“Roughly a 5% boost in work efficiency.”

“Not bad. If I can level up the Azure Sand further, that percentage will only rise.”

“So even if not much of it sells through Ye Xingli, I can still use it to raise my site income.”

That thought gave Zhang Yu even more motivation.

From then on, Zhang Yu rented an artifact lab once or twice a week to train refinement techniques.

The rest of his time was split: classes by day, construction by night, all while training the Martial Saint Body.

He also squeezed in refinement lectures at the Supreme Purity Realm, absorbed 200%-quality mana to improve his own, and visited the Heartforge Pavilion to temper his Dao Heart…

…

Inside the lab.

Ye Xingli glanced at the three Formless Golems nearby, secretly impressed. “What incredible mental bandwidth.”

“But splitting your attention to refine multiple batches at once… Is that really good for honing your technique? You don’t improve refinement just by grinding repetitions.”

To her, unless you’re chasing mass production, it’s better to focus on a single batch—feel the materials, the process, the timing, the heat, the mana, the martial qi—refining and learning each time.

Then her eyes suddenly locked onto a successful batch near one of the Formless Golems.

“Grade 3 Azure Sand?”

“Interesting.”

“Despite the reckless approach, Zhang Yu might have more talent for refinement than I gave him credit for.”

Still, she didn’t think much of it. After all, the first time she ever refined Azure Sand, she produced Grade 5.

She turned away and resumed interviewing new Artifact Spirits.

“You graduated from Pleasure and Harmony University? Can I ask what your primary gender was?”

“You’re just a colonel-level soul cultivator? Sorry, I’m only hiring graduates from the Ten Major Sects.”

“Heavenly Demon University? Welcome aboard. Feel free to treat my right hand as your new home.”

…

Later that day, just leaving the lab, Zhang Yu received a message from Gongshu Jin.

He lit up. “The buffet’s starting?”

Nearby, Ye Xingli asked, “You’re going to the party too, right? It’s the Civil Engineering Department’s victory celebration.”

Zhang Yu nodded. He already knew the gathering had been arranged by Mo Shangjin to celebrate their second-place finish in the interschool tournament.

“Then let’s go together,” Ye Xingli said casually. “I’m attending too.”

They headed to Wanfa University’s 650th floor. Just as they stepped out of the Anti-Gravity Corridor, they saw Gongshu Jin already waiting.

Seeing Zhang Yu and Ye Xingli walking side-by-side, Gongshu Jin was visibly stunned.

Compared to when he first met her last year, Ye Xingli was now an entirely different figure.

Back then she ranked 15th in the Artifact Refinement Department. Now, she was 8th.

To rank that high in one of Wanfa University’s three elite departments, Ye Xingli had become, in Gongshu Jin’s eyes, one of the top-tier students.

Watching them chat and laugh, he thought, “When did Zhang Yu get so close with Ye Xingli?”