No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

As news of the terrorist attack by the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult at the pharmaceutical factory spread, anti-cult propaganda began cropping up all over Wanfa University City.

In the Foundation Establishment Class group chat—

Immortal Jiao Lei: @everyone, to further promote anti-cult education among university students, with a focus on mental health and strengthening students’ ability to identify and resist cults, please tune in promptly to the “Dangers of Rest-and-Relaxation” awareness lecture from 18:30 to 19:00 tonight.

Zhang Yu glanced at the message in the group chat and thought to himself, “That’s… a bigger reaction than I expected.”

Even though he’d personally witnessed the aftermath of the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult’s attack, he’d considered it a minor disturbance—hardly enough to scratch Kunxu’s surface, let alone shake the Ten Major Sects.

He couldn’t imagine that a few suicide attacks by Soul Cultivators would rattle Kunxu in any meaningful way.

Especially since the later feedback from the factory workers suggested the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult hadn’t gained much public sympathy.

Yet now, staring at Immortal Jiao Lei’s notification, Zhang Yu mused, “Could this cult pose a bigger threat to universities and corporations than I thought?”

“Damn…” he muttered to himself, “This messed-up place, Kunxu—you sell pills, you dual cultivate, you kill people… never seen y’all react this hard.”

That evening after class, while continuing construction work at the pharmaceutical plant, Zhang Yu kept an earbud in to listen to the “Dangers of Rest-and-Relaxation” lecture.He heard one of the Righteous Gods saying, “…In recent years, the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult has infiltrated through the Spiritual Realm, distorting values, even causing people to miss job opportunities, end up unemployed, go bankrupt—ruining lives…”

“I know you’re all top students from Wanfa University, but don’t assume this kind of cult only dupes junior college kids. We’ve personally arrested numerous brainwashed students from the Ten Great Academies—some of them were once model students, never missing a day of class…”

“The Rest-and-Relaxation Cult possesses terrifying mental control techniques. Once exposed, even master’s or doctoral students can be brainwashed in minutes.”

“So if you discover any members of the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult, report them to the Righteous Gods immediately…”

Boom! A thunderous crash. The Formless Golem slammed its palm down, sweeping away a mound of construction debris.

At the moment, the Formless Golem’s interior was coursing with layered azure light—the Azure Sand roiling within it. Empowered by the sand, the golem now radiated a sturdier presence. Its explosive power and endurance had clearly leveled up.

While the golem worked, Zhang Yu was cultivating martial techniques while listening to the broadcast.

He found it curious. “Are the Righteous Gods the ones targeting the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult?”

“Could it be… there’s an Evil God lurking behind it?”

When he shared his suspicions with Fu Ji, she paused for a moment before replying, “The Rest-and-Relaxation Cult… I’ve heard of it, long ago, in the conceptual ramblings of some Evil Gods.”

“Whether they ever turned that concept into reality, I’m not sure.”

“But if Evil Gods are truly involved, and even the Righteous Gods are taking this seriously—and still haven’t managed to wipe them out—then odds are, there’s more than one high-ranking Evil God backing this cult.”

Not long after the lecture ended, Zhang Yu received a message from Feng Tingting.

Feng Tingting: Junior, have you heard?

Feng Tingting: Turns out the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult is being bankrolled by Netherworld University.

Feng Tingting: Netherworld University is using the cult to infiltrate other universities, corrupting students’ minds—turning them into slackers who only rest two days a month. It’s a plot to weaken the competition across academia and industry.

Feng Tingting: I heard a junior college once adopted a monthly two-day rest policy after being influenced by the cult—and went bankrupt soon after.

Reading Feng Tingting’s gossip, Zhang Yu only found himself with more questions.

He muttered, “The cult has ties to Netherworld University too?”

Fu Ji replied, “Who knows? Might be Wanfa University making it up to smear their rival—or maybe Netherworld really is funding a cult to undermine the competition.”

Soon after, Zhang Yu noticed that many places in the Spiritual Realm Network were buzzing about Netherworld University’s connection to the cult.

Netherworld University quickly released a statement denying any affiliation and condemning external forces for spreading rumors and engaging in online harassment…

Then, someone else on the network claimed the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult was actually backed by Wanfa University.

What followed was chaos—flame wars erupting across the Spiritual Realm Network, influencers, experts, tycoons all chiming in with their hot takes.

“What a mess,” Zhang Yu muttered. “Are Wanfa and Netherworld just taking this chance to smear each other?”

Fu Ji chuckled. “Who knows? But one thing’s clear—this Rest-and-Relaxation Cult has stirred up quite a storm. Even the Ten Major Sects are using it as a political weapon.”

“If I had the time, I’d like to check out their recruitment tactics. See what their doctrine actually says.”

Despite all the noise, Zhang Yu realized he still knew next to nothing about the cult beyond the infamous “two-day rest” rule. Their full doctrine, their demands—everything else remained a mystery.

Clearly, the Righteous Gods were cracking down hard, scrubbing the network clean of any trace of the cult’s propaganda—ensuring the average person couldn’t even access it.

…

By late January, time had flown by.

The pharmaceutical factory was still expanding.

Zhang Yu kept picking up one construction gig after another, practically visiting the site daily.

That day, the Azure Cloud Sand-Pouch hovered in the air, periodically spitting out clouds of Azure Sand to recharge the tirelessly working Formless Golems.

Zhao Tianxing, operating the pouch, glanced toward the center of the site where clouds churned and obscured the view—vague silhouettes flickered within, punctuated by rumbling booms.

He knew Zhang Yu was in there, cultivating some martial technique. But every time Zhang Yu trained on-site, he used Martial Qi to shield his form, making it impossible to discern what technique he was practicing.

Moments later, the swirling mist settled, and the thunderous echoes ceased.

Zhao Tianxing blinked in surprise. “Zhang Yu stopped cultivating?”

Within the cloud of Formless Martial Qi, Zhang Yu was absorbing the benefits of pushing his eighth martial technique to level 20—activating the second-tier effect of his Martial Saint Body.

Superior Martial Saint Body (8/8): Mastery of martial arts. You gain intimate control over any Foundation Establishment Realm martial technique, executing each with seamless precision.

“Mastery of martial arts, huh?”

He began experimenting with the second-tier effect, quickly grasping its intricacies.

He slammed a palm forward—the Desolate Earth Mountain-Moving Force surged forth. Martial Qi and raw strength fused into a tempest, every ounce of power under razor-sharp control. It felt as natural as 1+1=2. With a casual strike, he pulverized the ground into fine powder.

“This mastery… it lets me control every technique at its peak output. No more wasted potential due to sloppy execution.”

Zhang Yu understood that even if two people had the same technique and physical stats, the real-world performance varied with condition and control.

But now, with the Martial Saint Body’s effect active, every move he made was clean, crisp—delivering full impact with every strike.

And more…

He stomped the ground—the Xuanhuang Mountain-Suppressing Seal activated. Waves of Xuanhuang Qi roared outward, kicking up dust that spun into localized tornadoes.

Nearby, the Formless Golem trembled—and underwent a subtle shift. Its hazy outline sharpened into a precise mimic of Zhang Yu’s form, a human-shaped construct entirely composed of Martial Qi.

“This degree of control not only boosts my destructive power—it also lets me manipulate finesse. I can scale force down to the smallest units…”

Overall, the Superior Martial Saint Body had massively increased his construction efficiency—but Zhang Yu sensed there were deeper applications still waiting to be explored.

Just then, a large group barged into the factory.

Qu Lecheng, drenched in sweat, looked at them nervously. “We’ve been running nonstop production—haven’t stopped a single day.”

The man at the front said coldly, “To combat the Rest-and-Relaxation Cult, we’re doing random checks across the university city for unauthorized shutdowns or suspicious vacations.”

“And we’re under orders to extend all factory work hours in response.”

Qu Lecheng pleaded, “But we’re already running 24/7. How can we possibly extend it?”

The official replied flatly, “That’s your problem. We’re just passing along the directive. Figure it out.”

…

In a quiet corner of the factory.

Zhang Yu, worn out from another long shift, was being treated by Xiao Qingxuan.

Though he could regenerate on his own thanks to his body’s high activity, he wasn’t about to refuse help if it sped things up—and Xiao Qingxuan had been treating him often during this assignment. Zhang Yu had grown increasingly confident in his ancient medical arts.

Noticing Xiao Qingxuan’s gloomy expression, Zhang Yu asked, “Old Xiao, something bothering you today?”

Xiao Qingxuan sighed, hesitating before speaking. Inwardly, he thought, “Zhang Yu’s trusted by Director Gao. He’s sure to rise as a pillar of the Civil Engineering Department, bound for a master’s or PhD, probably staying on as faculty or getting hired by one of the big firms.”

With that in mind, Xiao Qingxuan said, “You’ve probably heard I was once possessed by an ancient Gold Core cultivator, right?”