No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

When True Lord Magneto barked a furious command, True Lord Thunder Polar finally began to feel real fear.

In his impression, his senior sister had always been one to conceal her emotions, rarely losing composure—let alone shouting or striking someone. After all, in the current Kunxu, acting out violently was considered disgraceful.

But Thunder Polar remembered the few times his senior sister had truly lost her temper—and each of those times, people had vanished. Some had left University City, some had departed Wanfa University altogether, and others had disappeared from the entire academic world.

Each outburst had been an act of emotional release. Once her anger burned out, what remained was cold calculation—who to sacrifice, who to abandon, who to erase.

And this time, it seemed that the one to disappear would be his disciple.

Hearing True Lord Magneto’s words, True Lord Thunder Polar replied weakly, “Ghost? Who’s the ghost?”

Magneto pressed coldly, “That video—wasn’t that your disciple? Did you know what he was doing? Did this problem start with you?”

Thunder Polar stammered, “He… he signed a master-disciple contract with me.”

“Signed a contract?” Magneto sneered. “And what of it? Which one of the Ten Greats didn’t tear up a dozen contracts on their way up?”

“If a contract could actually keep people in line, what need would there be for the Heavenly Court?”“If it’s not him, not you—then what? Me? Am I the one with a problem? Am I the ghost?”

Thunder Polar lowered his head in silence, his projection shrinking, making him appear even smaller and more pitiful.

Magneto pointed toward Zhang Yu. “Or is it him? Did my disciple betray you?”

Thunder Polar whispered, “How could it be your disciple, Senior Sister? He’s just a construction worker—a Foundation Establishment cultivator at that. How could it possibly be him?”

Magneto glared coldly. “And what of it? Doing construction means nothing? Foundation Establishment makes him incapable? When I was at Foundation Establishment, I was already fighting Nascent Soul cultivators!”

She drew in a deep breath. The office fell silent once more.

After a long pause, she spoke evenly. “Aside from your disciple, write down five more names from your subordinates. Push the blame onto them.”

“Hand over half the money you’ve taken all these years.”

“Every eye is on this matter right now. We settle it today, once and for all.”

Hearing this, Thunder Polar felt his heart clench again.

Hand over five people—that he could manage. But giving up half his hard-earned savings, accumulated bit by bit over years—that was like cutting out his own soul. His mana circuits felt like they might short out at any moment.

He said hoarsely, “Senior Sister… that’s my longevity money. My retirement fund.”

Magneto smiled faintly. “Do you know how many people, both inside and outside the university, don’t want to see me achieve Divine Transformation?”

“You don’t want to pay? Fine. Then come out and shoulder the blame yourself.”

Thunder Polar hung his head lower, shrinking again until he looked smaller than Zhang Yu.

Magneto’s tone turned glacial. “Enough. You have one hour to fix this. After that, get back to your lab—and stay out of departmental affairs.”

As Thunder Polar’s spiritual projection faded away, Magneto sighed, rubbing Zhang Yu’s head.

“My junior brother… he’s getting more senile by the year.”

“When we were young, he was a prodigy, almost matching me when breaking into Nascent Soul. But after that, he grew lazy.”

“He perked up for a while after joining the university, but repeated failures in competition wore him down. The school gave him fewer resources, he grew dispirited, stopped learning new refinement techniques, stopped going to the lab. He spent his days chasing petty gains… until he became what you saw today.”

“He might feel at ease, but does he realize how much trouble he causes me like this?”

She sighed again. “If I dealt with him, what would the others who’ve fought beside me think?”

“If a small mistake costs him protection, people would say I’ve lost my power, that I’m finished.”

“I put him in the safest post—and he still manages to make a mess of it…”

Zhang Yu said earnestly, “Teacher, I will never grow complacent. I’ll keep working hard and follow closely behind you.”

“Good.” Magneto smiled and pulled him into her arms. “Remember what happened today. Don’t end up like your uncle.”

Even as she held him, her mind replayed the footage of the incident—the angle was too precise, as though someone had been tailing them all along. Yet, no trace of the shooter was ever found.

Whoever recorded it was terrifyingly skilled.

“Whose agent was it?”

Names flashed through her mind—some within the school, some without.

“Divine Lord Jin Que Mingxiao? Or Immortal Soldier University? Vajra University? Maybe Netherworld University?”

Too many parties stood in her way toward Divine Transformation. She couldn’t be sure which one was responsible, only that she felt increasingly wary, increasingly aware of how perilous her path to ascension had become.

In the following days, True Lord Thunder Polar resigned from his administrative post. His disciple Bian Hao and five other subordinates vanished entirely.

The Artifact Refinement Department remained calm, and students knew nothing of what had transpired. If Zhang Yu hadn’t been watching closely, he might have thought nothing had happened at all.

That day, as he left the lab, a message from True Lord Thunder Polar arrived.

Thunder Polar: Nephew, how have you been lately?

Zhang Yu: True Lord, we’d best not address each other by sect ties on campus. I’m afraid it might reflect poorly on Teacher.

Thunder Polar’s mana circuits trembled violently when he saw the reply.

“Petty upstart…”

But he swallowed his anger. His situation was already dire.

The money he’d paid back crippled his longevity plan; his lifespan had shrunk drastically. Without his position or disciples, his future income was uncertain. His expected lifespan ticked down day by day.

Yet from what he’d seen in the lab, Zhang Yu now held his senior sister’s favor.

“My senior sister lives in that lab—she knows every corner of it better than her own cave dwelling. Naturally, she feels close to the ones who work beside her.”

“If this Zhang Yu would just speak a few kind words for me at her side, perhaps she’d remember the good in her old junior.”

With that thought, Thunder Polar forced down his resentment and continued the conversation.

Thunder Polar: You’re quite right, Zhang Yu.

But Zhang Yu quickly saw through his intent.

“So he wants me to put in a good word for him—and without paying?”

“The old fool really has lost his wits.”

He muted the chat without blocking it and went back to work.

Soon after, he received another message—from Realman Juxing.

Juxing Realman: Hello, Zhang Yu. I’ll be taking over True Lord Thunder Polar’s duties for now.

Juxing Realman: From now on, any project matters, you’ll coordinate with me.

After a brief greeting, Juxing Realman added Zhang Yu to a new work group.

In the group, Juxing wrote: “Everyone, I’m not like True Lord Thunder Polar. I only care about results—I hate messy nonsense.”

“As long as you do your jobs properly, there’ll be no corruption on my watch.”

“And don’t even think about bribing me. I despise that. Try it, and you’ll regret it.”

Someone replied instantly: “Juxing Realman has arrived! Justice has returned!”

Reading the chat, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but wonder if the man was truly as upright as he claimed.

That’s when one of Juxing’s disciples added him privately.

Only then did Zhang Yu learn that if he bought an item worth one spirit coin from a specific online shop, his construction funds would be released immediately.

“One spirit coin? Just one?!”

Zhang Yu snorted. “Guess he really is a clean official.”

Fu Ji said, “They all start that way. True Lord Thunder Polar just got demoted—of course the new guy has to be cautious.”

“But if he takes nothing, how’s his boss supposed to take anything? And if his boss doesn’t take, how will True Lord Magneto collect hers?”

“Give it a few years, and he’ll start taking more and more.”

Zhang Yu shrugged. “That’s a problem for the future. By then, who knows what the situation will be.”

He had no time to worry about distant corruption. What mattered was the upcoming Top Ten League.

With the first payment of project funds, Zhang Yu’s balance broke thirty spirit coins. After taxes and expenses, his net income still showed clear upward growth.

As the days passed and the project ran smoothly, Zhang Yu’s employees brought in steady passive income. He himself continued to burn through resources refining artifacts, gradually qualifying for higher-level commissions.

With his civil engineering firm and artifact workshop both thriving, Zhang Yu was now saving twenty to thirty spirit coins a month—preparing to fund the prototype of a military-grade artifact.

…

Mid-May.

In the dormitory, Zhang Yu was channeling mana into Yu Xinghan, strengthening her cultivation and refining her mana quality.

As the final barrier broke, Yu Xinghan’s mana surged past the one-thousand mark—the peak of Foundation Establishment.

Feeling the immense power in her body, a tremor rippled through her consciousness. The third eye in her mind quivered, evolving once more.

Zhang Yu sensed it too—her Dao Seed’s Three-Eyed Divine Sight had advanced from level two to level three.

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