No Money to Cultivate Immortality?
Chapter 17: Advancing with Vigor

Moments later, Zhang Yu emerged from the Xianyun Group’s office building looking pale and hunched over, every inch the picture of frailty.

But by the time he was a few kilometers away, riding the subway, the color gradually returned to his face.

As he activated the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique, streams of mana surged through his body like rivulets, circulating through every inch of his flesh in moments.

The previously out-of-control and dissipating mana was quickly reabsorbed, rejoining the intricate cycle within his body and flowing smoothly once more, cycling endlessly on its own.

Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique Lv. 1 (0/20)

Watching the technique appear in his Feathered Tome, a faint smile curled Zhang Yu’s lips.

“It really worked.”

“If I hadn’t managed to learn the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique, that out-of-control mana probably would’ve taken a week or two to settle down.”

What gave Zhang Yu the confidence to accept the trial job was the Feathered Tome.

However, he hadn’t revealed his ability to master the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique back at Xianyun Group.

“This technique may just be a basic Breathing Technique for beginners, but once mastered, it operates automatically 24 hours a day, nonstop.”

“Even without actively cultivating, its passive output is 30% as efficient as active breathing. That means… doing absolutely nothing all day still equals over seven hours of practice compared to other people.”

“And that’s just at level one.”

“If this technique actually gets developed and released, it’s bound to become one of the best-selling breathing techniques on the market.”

Zhang Yu knew that aside from the techniques taught in school, every other method from big corporations and sects was copyrighted and required payment to access—an industry built on astronomical profits.

Precisely because this technique was so powerful, Zhang Yu believed it was a highly valued development project at Xianyun Group. That’s why he didn’t want to expose the fact that he’d already mastered it, lest it complicate things.

Especially since the training difficulty was so high—Zhang Yu was convinced that without expensive assistive devices, no first-year student could even complete one full cycle, let alone master it.

This made him even more determined to keep his progress secret.

To master the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique, he had even reallocated the Feathered Tome’s specialization from the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms to this breathing technique.

While this meant he could no longer rapidly level up the Body-Refining Forms, the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique was now progressing at full speed.

“The level 3 Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms are good enough for now.”

“For the time being, I’ll focus entirely on leveling this breathing technique.”

Other than the method itself, the biggest reward from the Xianyun Group trial was the payout.

10,000 yuan, plus a 3,000 yuan bonus—13,000 in total.

His savings shot up to 13,700.

But once he used 10,000 to repay various loan platforms, his balance dropped back down to 3,700.

Still, after repaying that amount, the frequency of debt collection dropped significantly. For now, the pressure had eased.

His idle thoughts were quickly interrupted by the countdown ringing in his mind, forcing him to focus again and resume cultivating the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique.

…

In the blink of an eye, night passed.

At the gate of Songyang High, Zhang Yu walked while checking the changes in his Feathered Tome.

Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique Lv. 1 (0/20) → Lv. 1 (11/20)

His mana had also increased thanks to hard training and diligent practice of the Breathing Technique.

Mana 7.7 → 7.8

“Definitely running passively now. I only did five full cycles before sleeping last night.”

“But when I woke up, it had jumped to eight. On the way to school, I pushed it up to eleven.”

Zhang Yu smiled in satisfaction. Compared to the 13,000 yuan, this technique was yesterday’s real prize.

He was now determined to level it up further.

The Feathered Tome’s specialization? Still set to the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique.

Unfortunately, this morning started with two consecutive PE classes.

As he walked toward the training ground, he felt a pang of regret.

“Sigh. Back to practicing the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms.”

“I’m specialized in the Breathing Technique now—this really isn’t the time.”

When Zhang Yu entered the training ground, he saw rows of mini muscle-titans jabbing needles into themselves.

The air was full of sharp cracking sounds, beast-like howls, and the clash of training equipment. The elite students were already deep into their workouts.

At that moment, a student stared at Wang Hai in disbelief.

“No… no way! My cousin sold me that!”

Wang Hai shook his head and crushed the syringe in his hand with a snap before tossing it in the trash.

“Look at your weight these past two weeks—no change in muscle or organ density. Your body strength only went up by 0.03. You look like a classic case of Natural Body Forging. That’s obviously a fake drug.”

He turned away from the dazed student and raised his voice.

“How many times have I told you? Always buy through official channels. The safest source is your teachers here at school.”

“Trying to save a few bucks only to buy expired or counterfeit meds is just stupid—you’re wasting your own time.”

After that lecture, Wang Hai’s eyes swept toward the corner where Zhang Yu was training.

He recalled the body strength data from Zhang Yu’s latest test: “0.85? He went up by 0.02 in three days?”

“Even back when he was juicing daily, he never improved this fast.”

With his years of experience, Wang Hai was certain Zhang Yu wasn’t doing Natural Body Forging like he claimed. He must’ve injected something—probably something powerful and damaging.

That Zhang Yu could’ve advanced the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms to level three and undergone extreme self-training? That thought never crossed Wang Hai’s mind.

But regardless, Zhang Yu now seemed like a challenge to his classroom authority.

Especially with one looming question: where was Zhang Yu getting his drugs?

What if other students started buying from that source after seeing his results?

That would cut into Wang Hai’s sales.

Just thinking about the blood-soaked competition in the body-forging drug market made Wang Hai’s nerves tense.

“Senior-year teachers? Outside tutors?”

“Someone trying to poach my turf?”

To Wang Hai, Zhang Yu was just a pawn. What he really wanted to find out was who was behind him.

But he had to deal with the class influence first.

So, a few minutes later, Wang Hai gave some instructions to a student named Zhao Tianxing.

Zhao Tianxing walked over to Zhang Yu and said, “Zhang Yu, Mr. Wang wanted me to ask—are you sure you’re not buying any more meds?”

Zhang Yu nodded.

Zhao Tianxing scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

“So, uh… the teacher said, to avoid disrupting other students’ training, he wants you to use the small room off to the side. Is that okay?”

He’d immediately understood Wang Hai’s intent to isolate Zhang Yu.

His gaze carried a touch of sympathy, but he followed orders without hesitation.

As Wang Hai’s model student, Zhao Tianxing had always followed his instructions to the letter. He’d bought every recommended drug, worked hard, and eventually broke past 1.00 in body strength, making him one of the top ten in class.

So he always obeyed Wang Hai.

Still, worried about Zhang Yu’s feelings, he spoke politely and even added, “Maybe you should buy some meds? Mr. Wang’s stuff is really good. Natural Body Forging just doesn’t cut it…”

To Zhao Tianxing’s surprise, Zhang Yu didn’t hesitate at all—he simply agreed and walked off.

Watching him leave, Zhao Tianxing scratched his head and muttered, “Zhang Yu’s really being stubborn. Just apologize and get back to class—why throw away your future like this?”

Meanwhile, inside the small room, Zhang Yu chuckled and sat down, starting his breathing technique.

Spiritual energy flowed into his Dantian and Qi Sea, where it was gradually refined into mana.

Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique Lv. 1 (11/20) → Lv. 1 (16/20)

Five more cycles done. Two PE classes passed.

Yet during Chinese and Math classes too, Zhang Yu continued to operate the technique with laser focus.

Endlessly cycling spiritual energy and refining mana was boring, to say the least.

His waist and shoulders ached. His skin itched. His mind grew numb.

In the past, he would’ve given up after an hour or two, gotten up to stretch, scratched an itch, or just taken a break.

But now, driven by ritual pressure and the motivating numbers in the Feathered Tome, Zhang Yu forced himself to continue—and finally pushed the technique to its twentieth cycle.

Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique Lv. 2 (0/40)

A flood of insights from countless practice cycles bloomed in Zhang Yu’s mind. He could feel his internal mana flow growing more complex, more refined—and more powerful.

Even after stopping, the technique continued to run on its own, only now slightly faster.

“At level one, passive breathing ran at 30% efficiency.”

“Now at level two, it’s 35%.”

“Active operation is also more efficient than before—it’s far better than my old basic breathing technique.”

Zhang Yu nodded in quiet satisfaction. This was the kind of progress that would add up day after day, year after year.

After lunch, he pressed on, determined to keep leveling.

In fact, from then on, he poured every spare second into the Zhou Tian Qi-Gathering Technique.

High school cultivation studies were already grueling. For Zhang Yu, under constant ritual pressure with no time to slack, only the growing numbers in the Feathered Tome and the long-term benefits of the technique kept him going.

If you can’t resist… then enjoy it.

So during PE? Breathing Technique.

During Chinese class? Breathing Technique.

During lunch break? Still the Breathing Technique.

Even while waiting for gigs on the plaza in the evening? Still the Breathing Technique. Unfortunately, he hadn’t found work for the past three days.

And when he went to sleep? The technique kept running on its own.

In just three days, he leveled it up to Lv. 4 (5/80).

His mana rose steadily from 7.8 to 8.3.

Now, the technique’s passive output had reached 45% of active speed.