Chapter 15: Fierce Competition and Level 3 Body Refinement

Zhang Yu sat down at random, watching the crowd in the square also waiting for work. He couldn’t help but feel mentally exhausted.

"This damn place is just impossible to survive in. Is there nowhere that isn’t this competitive?"

No sooner had he sat and rested than a chill surged up from the depths of his heart.

"Please abide by the Ritual agreement. Strive to fulfill your wish. Do not deliberately slack off or procrastinate. 10."

"Damn it."

Zhang Yu cursed inwardly, but under the pressure of the Ritual's power, he had no choice but to get moving.

Considering his body hadn’t fully recovered yet, and the work ahead might be physically demanding, Zhang Yu didn’t choose to train in the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms. Instead, he opted to use the Basic Breathing Technique to refine Mana.

With each breath, strands of Spiritual Energy gathered and flowed into his Dantian and Qi Sea, gradually being refined into Mana bit by bit.

Time passed slowly as Zhang Yu cultivated, until an hour had gone by.

During that hour, three rounds of recruiters had come by: one looking for temporary security guards, one for laborers at a construction site in urgent need of cultivators, and another from a courier company hiring cultivators for sorting tasks.

Zhang Yu gradually understood: most of the temp jobs hiring Qi Refining Realm cultivators were manual labor.

After all, in terms of intelligence or knowledge, cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm weren’t far off from regular people. But physically, they were leagues ahead. One cultivator could equal a hundred normal workers in labor-intensive jobs like construction, factories, or security—boosting productivity far beyond what mortals could achieve.

So anywhere short on manpower would come hire cultivators.

Though cultivators demanded higher pay, the math still worked out: if one cultivator could do the work of thirty regular people, you’d only have to pay them ten times more to come out ahead.

The people waiting in the square were all die-hard grinders capable of pulling 007 shifts day in and day out. Compared to them, Zhang Yu—who still needed four or five hours of sleep a night—was nothing more than an ordinary high school freshman who could still sleep at night.

Watching crowds surge forward every time a new job was announced, Zhang Yu kept to his breathing practice instead of fighting for the spots.

He knew that as a high school freshman, he couldn’t compete with those who had already graduated.

He was waiting—for the kind of job Old Wang mentioned, the ones specifically looking for current high school students.

Just like him, several other high schoolers were also waiting. Some were reading, others cultivating, others practicing forms. None rushed for the jobs; they simply waited in silence.

Another hour slipped by.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Soft pops echoed in the air.

Feeling his body had rested enough, Zhang Yu began practicing the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms.

Those nearby glanced over, then ignored him. Too many people trained while waiting for work, and as a basic technique, the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms didn’t draw much attention.

Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms Level 2 (18/20)

Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms Level 2 (19/20)

After two rounds, Zhang Yu felt his muscles begin to ache and go soft, but his spirit grew even more energized. One more set, and he’d hit Level 3.

Even Bai Zhenzhen, ranked first in their grade, hadn’t achieved that.

Yet Zhang Yu had done it in just two days.

As he practiced the third round of the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms, a new job—specifically for high schoolers—finally arrived.

A small sedan pulled up in front of the square. The window rolled down, and the driver called out, “Any freshmen or sophomores? Looking for two sparring partners for Martial Arts training.”

A Martial Arts sparring partner was someone cultivators used for real-combat practice—training under specific conditions.

At the driver's words, the previously still students sprang into action, streaking toward the car with afterimages and the sound of wind and thunder.

"I'm in sophomore year!"

"My body strength is at 2.15!"

Compared to freshmen, sophomores had much greater physical strength. By the time Zhang Yu made it over, the space in front of the driver was already packed with muscular students, and he couldn’t squeeze in.

“People are fighting just to get beat up. Don’t we high schoolers have any self-respect left?” Zhang Yu muttered to himself.

The driver scanned the crowd and asked, “Any from elite high schools?”

Half the hands dropped instantly.

Zhang Yu quickly raised his own. “I’m from Songyang High!”

The driver followed up. “Anyone with combat Martial Arts above Level 3?”

Only three students remained.

“One hour, three hundred. Deal?”

A buzz-cut student protested, “Three hundred? That’s too low!”

But the boy next to him blurted, “I’ll take it!”

As that student jumped into the car and it sped away, the buzz-cut kid cursed, “Three hundred an hour? Damn cheapskates.”

“Three hundred to be a combat dummy? Can’t afford real sparring partners?”

Someone else added, “You took it for 300? Traitor! He’ll be paying more in hospital bills once he’s injured.”

As the car drove off, the students dispersed again, muttering as they went back to training or studying.

Zhang Yu returned to practicing the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms.

At this rate, he felt like he might not find a job at all today.

Ten minutes later, another car came looking for high schoolers—specifically freshmen.

But this time the job was drug testing—trying out a newly developed pill designed for Immortal Path beginners.

Considering his current physical state, Zhang Yu didn’t even approach, opting instead to continue his 20th round of the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms.

Moments later, with a loud crack, Zhang Yu launched the final punch of the set and successfully upgraded the technique to Level 3.

Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms Level 3 (0/30)

In that moment, countless memories of practicing the technique flooded his mind, as if he’d suddenly trained it hundreds of times more.

And within those memories wasn’t just muscle memory—there was Mana automatically coursing through his body.

“Upon reaching Level 3, the Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms now circulate Mana through the body during training, accelerating repair and enhancement of the flesh.”

At Levels 1 and 2, the technique simply damaged the body, squeezing out Mana to assist with strengthening.

But at Level 3, each movement guided Mana in cycles through the body, nourishing the muscles and enhancing the training’s effectiveness.

As he began the next round of training, waves of warmth surged through Zhang Yu’s limbs and bones, steadily growing his physical strength and pushing him from ordinary to extraordinary.

Under that warmth, the ache and fatigue in his muscles eased, letting him keep going more easily.

Suddenly, Zhang Yu felt a pulse throughout his entire body—tightening, then loosening.

Body Strength 0.84 → 0.85

He glanced at the Feathered Tome, noting the change with a flicker of joy.

Even without the pressure of the Ritual, he felt energized to continue training.

Meanwhile, the drug testing recruitment continued.

But not many freshmen were willing to try it. Though they were looking for five volunteers, only two ended up agreeing before the recruiter left.

As night deepened, fewer employers came looking, and Zhang Yu still hadn’t landed a job. All he could do was keep practicing.

Body-Refining Thirty-Six Forms Level 3 (6/30)

By the sixth round, Zhang Yu knew he couldn’t wait any longer.

He re-entered the Human Resources office and saw Old Wang still sitting behind the desk, just like he had hours ago.

Zhang Yu pulled out a pack of cigarettes he’d bought and offered one.

“Brother Wang, you got anything I can do?”

Old Wang glanced at the smoke and replied offhandedly, “Didn’t I say? If there’s work, they’ll call out front.”

“I meant besides those,” Zhang Yu persisted.

“No way every temp job in Songyang City comes here by car, right? There’s gotta be something else?”

After a bit of nagging, Old Wang got annoyed. “You don’t believe me? Look for yourself. It’s not that I’m keeping you out—these other gigs aren’t exactly easy.”

Zhang Yu peered at the screenshot on Old Wang’s phone. It listed all kinds of long-term job openings.

Long-term drug testers.

Volunteers for technique trials.

Assistants for exploration teams in Kunxu’s underground layers.

Partners aiding the police in criminal takedowns.

Zhang Yu skimmed the list. Every option was either too dangerous—or both dangerous and impossible for him.

“No wonder none of these ever get filled. They’re all traps.”

Suddenly, one listing caught his eye. “Brother Wang, this one—volunteer for technique testing. Is it dangerous?”

Old Wang replied lazily, “You’d be testing new techniques developed by big companies. They record what side effects show up when you train. What injuries happen, what parts get disabled, how you eventually die…”

Zhang Yu gulped. Then his eyes landed on a different listing.

“What about this one? Entry-level technique test. Ten thousand a session? Why only freshmen?”

Old Wang thought for a second. “Ah, that one. That’s from Xianyun Group. They developed a new technique. It’s already been tested—no fatal side effects.”

“But the entry process is really difficult. If you mess up, you might suffer internal injuries. That’s why they’re still looking for test subjects.”

“Since it’s designed for Immortal Path beginners, they’re specifically targeting freshmen…”

He frowned at Zhang Yu, who was listening intently.

“You’re not seriously thinking of taking this, are you? Last time a kid tried it, he lost control of his Mana, got hurt, and had to take two weeks off school to recover.”

“That ten thousand isn’t easy money.”

Zhang Yu shrugged helplessly. “I need the cash. No choice but to try.”