No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

A few months ago, someone like Zhang Yu—a student from the Civil Engineering Department—would have left no impression on True Lord Lianshu whatsoever.

Even the fact that Zhang Yu had passed the Military License Exam in his junior year might have merely made his name sound vaguely familiar.

After all, for students, earning a Military License was no easy feat—it was extremely rare. In a class of dozens, sometimes not a single one would pass in ten years.

But for True Lord Lianshu, while it was difficult to obtain, there were still plenty of students across the year and the entire university who had earned one.

In fact, nearly half the students in his contacts list were Military License holders.

What truly brought Zhang Yu to True Lord Lianshu’s attention was the Divine Nascent Law Husk experiment.

Anything involving Nascent Soul cultivators, no matter how small, was of major significance.

And this particular experiment involved the core technology of Divine Lord Nectar.

Moreover, within the project teams of True Lord Magneto and True Lord Tianzhang, Zhang Yu was the only experimental subject to have succeeded.

Despite the university and the project team having increased funding and recruited more students for testing in recent months, there had been no other successful cases.This wasn’t just the case for True Lord Magneto’s Divine Nascent Law Husk. From what True Lord Lianshu knew, the Finance Department’s hidden Divine Nascent Law Husk had also failed to find a suitable candidate.

So after Jiutianliu failed to lease Zhang Yu, the Finance Department began to consider bringing Zhang Yu into their fold directly.

Originally, this was just a backup plan. But once Zhang Yu claimed the inter-university championship in the civil engineering competition, True Lord Lianshu decided it was time to put the plan into action.

Even without considering the Divine Nascent Law Husk project, Zhang Yu’s demonstrated abilities made him a worthy investment.

So, at this moment, True Lord Lianshu descended with a divine projection, intending to personally recruit Zhang Yu.

In his eyes, the head of the Finance Department making a personal move was a guaranteed success.

As for the Civil Engineering Department’s pride? Or Director Gao’s pride? True Lord Lianshu didn’t think they had any pride to begin with.

…

Meanwhile, the moment True Lord Lianshu made his passionate recruitment pitch, the scene erupted.

Especially among the students present—although none spoke aloud, the chatter in the Spiritual Realm skyrocketed.

Someone in the class group chat posted a photo of the scene.

“The Finance Department’s True Lord Lianshu is here to poach Zhang Yu!”

“And right when Director Gao was trying to recommend him for graduate school.”

Ying Xin: Senior Brother Zhang is about to be promoted to the Finance Department.

Li Xiao: Does this mean we’ll be able to apply for loans through Senior Brother in the future?

…

Back at the construction site, Ji Yuanshu paused for a moment, staring at the messages in the group chat without reacting.

In the inter-university competition group chat:

Shi Huaiyu: This is an all-out talent war!

Xiao Yunji: It’s not just Director Gao trying to keep Zhang Yu—the Artifact Refinement Department and the Finance Department are both after him.

Su Yanyang: If it were me, I’d pick the Finance Department. They’ve got the money—and they even cover breach-of-contract penalties.

…

In the department competition group chat:

Gongshu Jin: You guys missed the banquet—what a show!

Gongshu Jin: Just as Director Gao announced Zhang Yu’s grad school recommendation, True Lord Lianshu from the Finance Department descended.

Gongshu Jin: And he’s trying to snatch Zhang Yu away on the spot!

Yu Xinghan: Zhang Yu, are you becoming a financial overlord?

Shi Yunxiang: Ascension achieved.

…

In the Artifact Refinement Department’s group, Feng Tingting posted:

“At the Civil Engineering celebration banquet, a bigwig from the Finance Department descended from the heavens and snatched a disciple on the spot! Total slap in the face for Civil Engineering!”

In that instant, news of the Finance Department’s poaching efforts spread wildly across the Spiritual Realm. Even the scene of Director Gao, Zhang Yu, and True Lord Lianshu in the same frame was constantly being photographed and shared.

With countless people watching, Director Gao let out a cold snort and stepped in front of Zhang Yu, looking at True Lord Lianshu.

“Zhang Yu is a student of the Civil Engineering Department. He is my disciple. We appreciate your interest, but the matter of transferring to the Finance Department is out of the question.”

True Lord Lianshu chuckled indifferently.

“Whether he transfers or who he chooses as a teacher should be the student’s own decision. Why not ask Zhang Yu himself?”

“You’ve just taken over this mess of jars and bottles in Civil Engineering, Director Gao. It’d be best not to act so overbearing. You don’t want to damage the relationship between our departments or delay your own projects.”

Director Gao’s gaze sharpened. He immediately understood that Lianshu was using the Finance Department’s arsenal—loans, debts, investments—as veiled threats.

After all, many Civil Engineering projects required large amounts of funding to keep running. Much of that spiritual currency came from the Finance Department.

If the Finance Department decided to choke the Civil Engineering Department, many construction sites wouldn’t even be able to pay wages, bringing everything to a halt.

This tactic had long been used by the Finance Department to control various matters in Civil Engineering. A little pressure would often cause professors and experts to fall in line.

But in Director Gao’s view, repeated compromises only made the Finance Department more aggressive.

And these threats weren’t infallible either. If Civil Engineering projects failed, the Finance Department’s loans would become risky investments as well. Their fates were intertwined.

The problem was, Civil Engineering had too many spineless faculty. Even mild threats from Finance yielded instant results, and this had become a bad habit between the departments.

Even now, before Director Gao had responded, a flood of messages arrived from professors and experts urging him to stay calm and negotiate.

Director Lin: Calm down, Lao Gao. You want half our companies to go bankrupt?

Lang Yougong: Director Gao, the jobs of so many students and teachers depend on this. Don’t clash with the Finance Department.

Old Director (Soul Cultivator): Don’t fight Finance. How are we supposed to make money if you burn bridges? So many mouths to feed in Civil Engineering.

Immortal Jiao Lei: Director, if the student really wants to transfer, you won’t be able to stop him forever. It’s not worth creating a rift with Finance over this.

Staring at these messages in his EyeNet, Director Gao felt like invisible chains were binding his body. A trace of helplessness appeared on his face.

Just then, Zhang Yu stepped out from behind Director Gao.

He looked directly at True Lord Lianshu and said word by word, “True Lord Lianshu, I’ve already made myself very clear—I have no interest in the Finance Department and will absolutely not transfer.”

True Lord Lianshu narrowed his eyes slightly, then smiled.

“Zhang Yu, you’re still young. You’ve been buried in construction work and may not understand the gap between Civil Engineering and Finance.”

“With your talent, staying in Civil Engineering is a waste. Think it over carefully…”

Before he could finish, Zhang Yu cut him off in front of everyone.

“I’m not going to the Finance Department.”

Hearing his words interrupted, and such a firm refusal, the smile vanished from True Lord Lianshu’s face. It turned expressionless in an instant.

Director Gao looked at Zhang Yu in surprise—shocked by his resolute rejection and his courage to stand up to the Finance Department.

And again, messages surged across Director Gao’s EyeNet.

Director Lin: Lao Gao! Aren’t you going to stop your disciple? How can he talk to True Lord Lianshu like that? That’s so rude!

Old Director (Soul Cultivator): Tell your student to apologize now! Where’s your sense of responsibility? Don’t drag us all down!

Director Gao chuckled coldly.

“Lianshu, I think my student has made himself quite clear. Aren’t you leaving yet?”

True Lord Lianshu replied flatly, “Zhang Yu, it seems the contract you signed is truly harsh—no wonder you’re reacting like this.”

“And it also proves you don’t know the first thing about Finance.”

“Come with me to visit the Finance Department. After that, you can make an informed decision.”

Director Gao shouted, “Lianshu! My student already refused you. Are you going to keep pestering him forever?”

True Lord Lianshu smiled faintly.

“Qingmu, I’m merely inviting your student to have a look. Why are you in such a rush? Are you afraid he won’t come back? If you have so little faith in Civil Engineering, why are you clinging to him?”

At that moment, Director Lin stepped forward, standing beside Director Gao with a helpless expression.

“Lao Gao, True Lord Lianshu is just inviting Zhang Yu to visit the Finance Department. Why are you so worked up?”

Another professor chimed in.

“Director Gao, it’s good for Zhang Yu to get familiar with the Finance Department. We in Civil Engineering can’t avoid dealing with them anyway. Building that relationship early can only help his future.”

Looking at these teachers from his own department trying to persuade him, Director Gao felt both furious and bitter.

True Lord Lianshu stood calmly, watching the scene like a farce.

Just then, a ripple shook the Spiritual Realm. The Nine Heavens Solar Yang Pagoda appeared, instantly sealing off all message transmissions.

True Lord Magneto’s cold voice rang through the hall:

“Enough. Stop spreading this drama. Do you want other universities to laugh at our Wanfa?”

True Lord Lianshu looked over and smiled.

“Well, Magneto, you finally couldn’t hold back. Planning to take action?”

True Lord Magneto sneered.

“Lianshu, today is Civil Engineering’s commendation ceremony. And here you are singing and dancing in your flashy spiritual coins—what are you showing off for?”

True Lord Lianshu’s projection shimmered, coins of spiritual light flashing all over his body. In the Spiritual Realm, waves of coin-light clashed with the Nine Heavens Solar Yang Pagoda, evenly matched.

“Magneto, what business is it of yours if the Finance Department is interacting with Civil Engineering? Maybe you should worry about whether you can pay your next loan installment.”

True Lord Magneto snapped back.

“Are we the ones who caused the budget deficits? The Artifact Refinement and Civil Engineering Departments work overtime every day. But our school’s debt grows every year, and there’s less money on the books every year. Our salaries are shrinking while others line their pockets—and then you blame us and hold loans over our heads?”

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