No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

The moment the Groundfiend Bottle was refined, Zhang Yu’s face turned a shade paler, and a wave of searing pain surged through his chest.

He shook his head with a resigned sigh. “Still got injured processing the Earthfiend Qi, huh?”

He knew the cause. Part of it was his cultivation level and lack of experience handling Earthfiend Qi. The other part was the crude lab equipment he was forced to use.

Even though Zhang Yu had been cautious, a few wisps of Earthfiend Qi still slipped into his body.

Still, he had expected this.

“Good thing I was careful. At this level of contamination, a few days of rest should be enough.”

“The money I saved from not renting a high-end lab can go toward spending more time in the Spiritual Realm’s simulation lab. I’ll use the next few days to drill my artifact refinement skills.”

So for the next two days, aside from attending class, Zhang Yu didn’t step foot outside. He remained holed up in his dorm, immersed in artifact refinement simulations in the Spiritual Realm.

…

On this particular day, Night Xingli appeared at the door of his dorm and knocked.Zhang Yu opened the door and blinked in surprise. “Senior Night? Did you need something?”

Night Xingli gave him an odd look. She stepped inside and quickly shut the door behind her.

Magneto True Lord had previously instructed her to guide Zhang Yu in artifact refinement, even going so far as to document his lab performance with photos… She had been suspicious then.

But today’s errand made her even more confused.

She reached into her robes and pulled out a glowing orb. The sphere shimmered with multicolored light, and swirling nebulae drifted inside, sometimes sharp, sometimes hazy, emanating an air of mystery.

Zhang Yu asked in confusion, “Senior, this is…?”

A voice emerged from the orb. “It’s me.”

The entire dorm suddenly began to shake.

But Zhang Yu quickly realized it wasn’t the physical dorm that was trembling—it was the Spiritual Realm his EyeNet could perceive.

With a booming roar, the phantom of a pagoda shattered space itself and materialized within the room—the Nine-Heavens Solar Yang Pagoda, Magneto True Lord’s Level 40 artifact.

The arrival of the Nine-Heavens Solar Yang Pagoda instantly seized control of all information flow between the dorm and the Spiritual Realm, suppressing every artifact and signal, including Zhang Yu’s EyeNet.

A flash of light, and a projection emerged from the orb in Night Xingli’s hand.

Standing before Zhang Yu was a graceful woman clad in ornate palace robes, radiating nobility. Her head was held high, her gaze proud. Zhang Yu hesitated. “You’re… Magneto True Lord?”

“Yes and no,” the projection said calmly. “This is an incarnation I forged using the Xuanpin Celestial Pearl. It isn’t my true self, but it carries my will.”

This was Zhang Yu’s first time coming face-to-face with Magneto True Lord. He spoke nervously. “Is there something you need?”

Magneto True Lord said, “You recently purchased materials tainted with Earthfiend Qi, then rested for two days. Were you infected?”

Zhang Yu’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected the True Lord to be paying such close attention. He gave a small nod. “Yes.”

“You probably think your physique is strong enough to muscle through it,” the True Lord said coolly.

“But Earthfiend Qi clings like a parasitic rot. Mishandling it can cause long-term damage to your body and lower its overall quality.”

She turned to Night Xingli and said with a faint smile, “Xingli, go stand guard outside. Don’t let anyone interrupt me.”

“…Understood.” Night Xingli gave Zhang Yu and the True Lord a complicated look before quietly stepping out.

Once she was gone, Magneto True Lord stepped in close and began inspecting Zhang Yu up and down.

“True Lord,” Zhang Yu said nervously, “I don’t think the Earthfiend Qi affected me that badly.”

She seized his wrist without asking. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Zhang Yu felt an overwhelming surge of mana flood his body. In seconds, it scoured his limbs, his bones, all thirty-six meridians.

Thankfully, he’d long since tucked away all his Dao Seeds and Chain Diagrams. He was fairly confident the True Lord wouldn’t detect anything unusual.

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced his chest, and black mist surged from his seven orifices, dissipating into the air.

Magneto True Lord raised an eyebrow. “I’ve expelled the lingering Earthfiend Qi. Still, your body is impressively resilient. Even without my help, you would’ve recovered soon.”

She traced her fingers along his arm, shoulder, and chest like she was evaluating craftsmanship. Finally, she nodded in approval. “Well-tempered flesh. Even most upperclassmen would envy your physique.”

Zhang Yu nodded awkwardly. He couldn’t shake the feeling of being inspected like livestock.

“Relax a little,” the True Lord said. “Are you this tense around Director Gao, too?”

“…It’s not quite the same,” Zhang Yu said helplessly.

“Not the same?” she mused. “If anything, Director Gao only accepted you as a registered disciple after I took you as my apprentice.”

She patted his head reassuringly. “Don’t worry. The Nine-Heavens Solar Yang Pagoda is suppressing the local Spiritual Realm. No one will know I was here today.”

“True Lord… I really think it’s better if we communicate through the Spiritual Realm Network,” Zhang Yu said. “Director Gao is a good teacher. This feels… inappropriate.”

Compared to Director Gao, Magneto True Lord’s methods were far more overbearing. Zhang Yu really didn’t want to get surprise-inspected like this all the time.

She just laughed. “Let’s not talk about Gao.”

“In three months, your sophomore year ends.”

“Today, I’ll test how much you’ve learned in the Artifact Refinement Department.”

…

Meanwhile, outside the door, Night Xingli’s mind raced.

“Why did Master come see Zhang Yu personally?”

“And so mysteriously, even asking me to cover for her?”

“Was it really just about the Earthfiend Qi infection?”

“She could’ve sent someone else to handle that—unless…”

“Master didn’t want anyone to know Zhang Yu got infected… or that he’s refining artifacts?”

“Is Director Gao really the one grooming him as a refiner? Or…”

More and more suspicions flooded her mind, and a conflicted look surfaced on her face.

She even recalled incidents of teachers fighting over disciples and causing massive property damage.

“No way…”

“Master and Director Gao go way back, hundreds of years. They wouldn’t act like that… would they?”

She nodded firmly to herself. “Master’s just helping out Director Gao. That’s all.”

Half an hour passed. Still no sign of Magneto True Lord.

Night Xingli debated messaging her but didn’t want to interrupt.

“How long is this going to take?”

Just then, a voice called out: “Xingli?”

She looked up sharply. Mo Shangjin was walking over, eyeing her curiously. “What brings you here?”

Night Xingli knew he lived on this floor too. She quickly replied, “I came to see Zhang Yu.”

“Oh? Me too. I need to brief him about the next project. Let’s head in together.”

But as he stepped forward, Night Xingli remained blocking his path.

“Hm?” he asked, confused. “Xingli, what are you—?”

She gave an awkward laugh. “I just talked to him. He’s busy right now. Let’s not disturb him.”

At the same time, she shot off a message.

Night Xingli: Master, Mo Shangjin is outside.

Magneto True Lord: Don’t let him bother me.

Night Xingli sighed inwardly and forced a smile, dragging Mo Shangjin into idle small talk.

At first, Mo Shangjin was delighted—he’d long wanted to get closer to Night Xingli, a top student in artifact refinement. Her connections could save him tons on Law Husk maintenance alone.

But after over ten minutes of increasingly aimless chatter, he started to feel something was off.

“…Is she just making stuff up to kill time? What is she hiding?”

Another five minutes passed before the dorm door finally opened.

Zhang Yu stepped out. “Senior Mo, Senior Night, what brings you two here?”

As Mo Shangjin approached, the Xuanpin Celestial Pearl slipped into Night Xingli’s robes unnoticed, a flicker of light too faint for the naked eye.

Night Xingli quickly took her leave, messaging discreetly:

Night Xingli: Master, Zhang Yu is Director Gao’s disciple, after all…

Magneto True Lord: Since when did you get so nosy?

Night Xingli immediately erased the words she was about to type.

Magneto True Lord: Pretend today never happened.

Night Xingli: [Shut-Up Face]

She sighed to herself. “What’s so special about this Zhang Yu anyway?”

Back inside the dorm.

Once Mo Shangjin left, Fu Ji couldn’t help but comment, “Zhang Yu, what’ll you do when Director Gao finds out?”

Zhang Yu recalled the pleased expression Magneto True Lord wore when she left and said calmly, “She’s basically approved of my grasp on the artifact refinement curriculum.”

“All that’s left is to pass the department exam at the end of the semester.”

Magneto True Lord had already promised him a personalized arrangement for the test. He wasn’t too worried.

“She said she’d secretly grant me status in the Artifact Refinement Department without making it public, so I can stay in Civil Engineering for a few more years.”

“Sigh… I’ll keep the secret as long as I can.”

“Director Gao treats me well. I don’t want to clash with him.”

Fu Ji muttered inwardly, “You sure it’s for Director Gao’s sake? More like you’re still eyeing the Civil Engineering Seven Absolutes and the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might.”