You dare to cultivate without money?!
Chapter 373 - 322 Project Selection

Chapter 373: Chapter 322 Project Selection

In the dining hall, Zhang Yu’s eating sounds echoed throughout the room.

Accompanied by the rumbling of his stomach, a thunderous roar repeatedly emanated from Zhang Yu’s belly.

He picked up a bowl of rice, tilted his head back, and with a single gulp, devoured the whole bowl. In visible form, it traveled from his bulging throat and chest down into his belly.

Then Zhang Yu opened his mouth and exhaled, sending a wave of martial arts Gang Qi sweeping out, like a cloud of mist carrying over half a plate of dragon liver and phoenix gall into his mouth.

Amid the continuous thumping sounds, Zhang Yu bit down with his steel-like teeth, causing chunks of dragon liver and phoenix gall to explode in his mouth. The rich aroma of the meat, mixed with an exotic grease, quivered on his tongue, making Zhang Yu’s eyebrows involuntarily lift.

With each bite of rice and meat, Zhang Yu could feel the food transforming into streams of vital energy, swirling wildly within his body, greedily absorbed by his muscles, organs, and bones...

Gongshu Jin, nearby, mused to himself, "This guy... has such a strong digestive ability?"

"But then asking for three more bowls of Heavenly Essence Rice and three plates of dragon liver and phoenix gall... isn’t that too much? Isn’t he afraid of bursting himself?"

Meanwhile, others in the dining hall glanced at Zhang Yu, who was eating voraciously, with an amused gaze.

Exchanging private messages, they remarked,

"Haha, ordering three more bowls of rice and three more plates of meat? Adding to the previous ones, that’s five bowls of Heavenly Essence Rice and three plates of dragon liver and phoenix gall... Isn’t he overdoing it? I wonder how he’ll handle it."

"Is he going to stash it in his belly temporarily, planning to vomit it out later?"

"Heavenly Essence Rice is high-density food energy compressed. If not digested in time after consumption, it’ll coagulate, and then you’ll have to open your belly to get it out."

At that moment, Ye Xingli glanced at Mo Enting beside her and asked, "Your junior is quite interesting, how much do you think he can eat?"

Mo Enting helplessly thought, he didn’t really know Zhang Yu well, just brought him over as a new member of the faction to meet others.

How could he have anticipated Zhang Yu would be so ’high-profile,’ boasting on the spot and displaying such an appetite?

But as a fellow faction member, Mo Enting didn’t plan to undermine him, casually saying, "My junior brother has a unique constitution, though this appetite is new to me."

The crowd watched as Zhang Yu devoured rice and meat like a whirlwind sweeping through remains.

When Zhang Yu had eaten three bowls of rice and one plate of meat, the surrounding crowd was already slightly surprised.

Upon consuming four bowls of rice and two plates of meat, even Mo Enting, Ye Xingli, and Cang Lan Yu showed expressions of surprise, as students around began recording with magic remains.

When Zhang Yu had consumed five bowls of rice and three plates of meat, he felt as if his body had become a super high-pressure cooker, filled with intensely concentrated food energy flowing back and forth.

His flesh was like a field submerged in a flood, unable to absorb the overwhelming streams of energy.

Zhang Yu sensed that today’s meal had replenished his body more than a month’s accumulation before, not only filling past deficits directly but even leaving an abundance flowing within, to be slowly absorbed in the upcoming days.

He patted his belly contentedly, saying, "Comfortable! Haven’t felt this full in a long time."

Inwardly, he wondered, "This dragon liver and phoenix gall, though delicious, doesn’t seem to have any special properties? Could it be substituted with other meat?"

Fuki said, "The buffet’s dragon liver and phoenix gall are definitely farmed. Probably fast-grown meat dragons and phoenixes, lacking wisdom or cultivation, that’s why eating it is just a replenishment of qi and blood, nothing special."

Meanwhile, Gongshu Jin’s eyes widened as he looked at the empty plates in front of Zhang Yu, his shock heavier than when he last saw Zhang Yu’s performance in the gravity simulation room.

"For me, eating even one bowl of Heavenly Essence Rice and one plate of dragon liver and phoenix gall would be the limit."

"Zhang Yu can eat this much?!"

"Could he be eating large amounts every day? Or has he cultivated a technique to enhance digestion? Or is it his physique?"

"Truly worthy of being my friend."

Gongshu Jin understood that while training digestion was important, innate factors also played a big role. Some people are just naturally more capable of eating.

At that moment, Gongshu Jin realized his understanding of Zhang Yu was still limited.

On the other side, Ye Xingli looked at Zhang Yu with an appreciative gaze, "Your appetite is that of someone wealthy."

"With such an appetite as a freshman, your future rankings won’t be low. You’re bound to become wealthy in the future too."

"Old Mo, your Civil Engineering Department has indeed produced a prodigy."

Mo Enting smiled slightly beside her, saying, "If it weren’t for the opportunity you provided, Xingli, I wouldn’t know Junior Brother Zhang is such a big eater."

Zhang Yu patted his belly and said, "Senior Mo is right, I usually don’t have the chance to eat this much. This time, I have to thank Senior Sister Ye, I only hope you can succeed in refining treasures every month."

Ye Xingli chuckled, "Just some food, add me as a friend, next time I host a banquet, I’ll invite you again."

She sighed, "But refining treasures isn’t easy, it might be one or two years before the next time."

Zhang Yu mused, indeed, the scraps those rich people casually discard can fill someone like me to the brim.

For the next few hours, it was a celebration for the host and guests, exchanging bites of food, with Zhang Yu becoming someone many students openly approached. Besides Mo Enting, Ye Xingli, and Cang Lan Yu, he added many friends and was invited to several groups.

...

In a 100 square-meter suite on the 450th floor.

Ji Yuanshu’s eyes flickered as a notification for luck monitoring appeared in his vision.

Just moments ago, luck had shifted, and Zhang Yu’s chance of success had slightly increased.

Ji Yuanshu investigated the source of this slight luck change and saw a student’s uploaded video of a meal.

The video had no plot, no storyline, just Zhang Yu continuously eating rice and meat, with very low viewership.

Ji Yuanshu understood that if it weren’t for the notification from fate monitoring, he might not have seen it.

"Astonishing appetite?"

"But ultimately, it’s just a little more of an opportunity."

...

On the way back, Zhang Yu felt the energy permeating his body all over, and thought he could probably keep taking medicine and working overtime for three months straight without needing rest.

"Then it’s time to cultivate at the construction site."

As Zhang Yu looked over the current options for projects, he hesitated for a moment.

"Hehuan University’s amusement park is indeed nice, but the project start date is quite far off."

"Hehuan Amusement Park is good too, but it’s too far, which might cause me to miss the advancement of Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan."

"Hehuan University Amusement Park is also a good choice, but I’m afraid the local consumption is too high..."

Fu Ji couldn’t help but say, "You brat... all you think about is going to amusement parks, huh? Have you thought about why it’s classified as a high-risk project? Is that somewhere you can go?"

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Alas, too bad I don’t have the Sacred Body of Hehuan."

After hesitating for a while about project selection, Zhang Yu decided to ask his sister.

A moment later, Zhang Pianpian replied: Go cultivate in the tenth underground layer.

Zhang Pianpian said: The graveyard is located at a Spirit Vein node, containing a massive amount of Spiritual Mechanism. The concentration of Spiritual Mechanism is so thick that it’s almost tangible, very suitable for you to absorb and enhance mana quality, nourish the flesh, and consolidate the foundation.

When Zhang Yu saw the graveyard project, he felt quite strange.

"Every inch of land in Wanfa University City is precious; is there space to build a graveyard?"

Facing Zhang Yu’s question, Zhang Pianpian explained: The graveyard is for the poor, because only the poor lose the ownership of their flesh after death.

Zhang Pianpian: These bodies are sent to the graveyard to be used as objects for absorbing Spiritual Mechanism.

Zhang Pianpian: At all times in University City, a massive amount of low-quality mana is being consumed, and a large portion of this mana is produced by the collective use of objects in the graveyard.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu had a moment of understanding in his mind; no wonder when he first logged onto the mana treasure platform the cost of low-quality mana was dirt cheap.

It turned out that at all times, in the underground parts of University City, numerous objects are absorbing Spiritual Mechanism and producing mana under control.

Zhang Yu asked again: When the poor die, their bodies are sent to the graveyard to become objects; then when the rich die, are their bodies not sent to the graveyard?

Zhang Pianpian: The rich die twice.

Zhang Pianpian: The first death is the death of the flesh, but as long as you have money, the soul can be transferred to the Spirit Realm, and the body remains your own property, not losing ownership, hence not sent to the graveyard.

Zhang Pianpian: The second death is the depletion of property.

Zhang Pianpian: The longer the soul ages, the higher the maintenance costs in the Spirit Realm. When the money runs out, it truly dies.

Zhang Yu: Then, won’t the graveyard still have...

But the next moment, Zhang Yu realized that when the rich one’s body is sent to the graveyard, they have already turned poor.

"So, there are only poor people’s bodies in the graveyard..."

Zhang Yu shook his head with emotion and finally checked the details of the graveyard project, realizing that this project was indeed suitable for him.

Especially since he still needs to cultivate seven absorption techniques to complete the Qi Vein Flow set.

"And this way, I can stay in University City to continue nurturing the Dao Seeds on Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan."

"Yes, there are two weeks left until this project officially begins, so the timing is quite right."

He also checked the requirements for the graveyard project and found that students in the top ten of the Foundation Establishment class have registration qualifications.

Zhang Yu thought of simply asking Yu Xinghan to come along.

...

Feeling the profound foundation within his body, with intense vital energy and spirit, Zhang Yu began taking the life-shortening medicine to cultivate again over the next two weeks.

However, this time the medicine costs came from his own spirit coins.

As he swallowed the Split Element Blood Burst Pill, Life-Eroding Heaven-Stealing Powder, Hundred Tribulations Heart-devouring Gu, and Life-shortening Celestial Secret Powder... the familiar feeling surged to his heart once again.

"This is real power! This is what you call cultivation!"

Coupled with other daily expenses and various services... his spirit coins dwindled, soon dropping below 7.

On that day, following the completion of Floor 666, Zhang Yu arrived at the new construction site on Floor 667 in University City.

Only to see him sitting cross-legged, lines of white Gang Qi floating on his body surface, expanding and contracting with his breathing.

While cultivating the absorption technique, he was also releasing Formless Cloud Gang, spanning several meters, generating spiraling energy to install the steel mesh before him.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: "The efficiency might be slow, but working this way with Gang Qi allows me to focus more on cultivating the absorption technique."

"The future cultivation, after all, will predominantly focus on absorption techniques."

Days passed, and as Zhang Yu pushed the ’Gang Qi External Circulation Absorption Technique’ to Level 20, the time arrived for the commencement of the graveyard project.