Chapter 299: The Spirit Coins I Spent Stayed With Me in Another Form

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Zhang Yu scrolled through the platform's endless array of goods while muttering in his heart, “Fu Ji! Didn't you tell me before that the Immortals of the Ten Major Sects were looking to recruit more people to join the grind?”

“And now, what the hell—shrinking recruitment? Even suspending it altogether?”

Fu Ji sighed. “Of course the Immortals want the people below to scramble upwards. The fiercer the competition, the harder everyone works to squeeze themselves dry, their families dry, offering everything they’ve got. That’s how the Ten Major Sects maximize their profits and stay cozy up on their clouds.”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have even had the chance to sit for the Foundation License exam.”

“But now that recruitment’s tightening across the Ten Major Sects, it probably just means... there are already too many people up there.”

Fu Ji mused aloud, “Since the Ten Major Sects established the current system of entrance exams, universities, and companies, they’ve been taking in top-tier cultivation talent every year. A Gold Core cultivator lives for four hundred years. A Nascent Soul cultivator? Nearly a thousand. And if they break through to Soul Formation or Void Refinement, they live even longer.”

“Thinking about it that way, the population within the sects just keeps growing—growth vastly outpaces attrition.”

“But as for what Zhang Pianpian said about the Ten Major Sects freezing recruitment and creating two separate worlds—above and below—I don’t think that’s completely accurate.”

“This must be temporary.”

“Once a few people at the top die off, the Ten Major Sects will definitely start expanding recruitment again.”

“It’s just... that might take a hundred years. Or even several hundred.”

Fu Ji suddenly sighed in realization. “I get it now. It’s a cycle.”

“Recruitment expands for a while, then contracts again. It’s all tied to population shifts inside the Ten Major Sects.”

“To the Immortals, this is just a minor fluctuation, a tiny ripple. But to those of you stuck below the sects, it’s something that can span generations—dozens of generations.”

“And now that recruitment’s shrinking, it’s impacting companies and universities too. Eventually, it’ll probably shake up all of Kunxu.”

Listening to Fu Ji's deductions, Zhang Yu swore under his breath. “What a lousy time to be born.”

Then he asked, “So I can’t revoke the wish from the ritual?”

“If I die, I’m definitely taking you down with me.”

Fu Ji let out a helpless laugh. “Ordinary wishes, maybe. But this one? Nope. You were the genius who personally planned out the whole wish-completion protocol.”

“Once the ritual was approved and kicked into gear, it ran straight to this point. It’s way past anything I can cancel now.”

“This ties into the essence of the ritual itself—rules laid down by the Evil God Kings.”

Zhang Yu sighed inwardly but didn’t regret it. If he hadn’t improvised back then to stall Fu Ji’s wish, he probably wouldn’t still be alive now.

At this stage, neither the Immortals nor the Evil God Kings were entities he could influence.

“All I can do is focus on doing my best.”

Looking at the dazzling array of goods online, Zhang Yu thought, “My cultivation speed with Techniques is already freakishly fast.”

“What I really need now is to boost my basic stats further.”

With that thought, he began opening product pages, one after another...

…

Half an hour later, the first item Zhang Yu ordered arrived.

As he opened the delivery box, a tray full of softly glowing jade coins floated into view.

The coins were round, pale green, veined with swirling patterns, and contained faint spiritual essence. They were the Low-Grade Spirit Stones Zhang Yu had purchased.

He thought to himself, “Low-, mid-, and high-grade Spirit Stones... They used to be the standard currency in Kunxu. But if you tried paying with one now, people would probably curse you out and flat-out refuse.”

Before the rise of Spirit Coins and online payments, Kunxu’s currency system had already evolved several times. Spirit Stones had long since been phased out as money.

Later, thanks to their spiritual essence, mid- and low-grade Spirit Stones were reclassified as cultivation resources, while high-grade ones also gained collectible value.

But as the Spiritual Realm Network expanded and buildings integrated more arrays, spirit-energy conduits, and other tech, spiritual essence was piped directly into dorms and homes. The use of low- and mid-grade Spirit Stones dwindled further.

“Still, as the price of Spirit Stones dropped, some penny-pinchers would rather deal with the hassle and buy them to absorb spiritual essence for cultivation.”

Zhang Yu reflected, “And because there are always poor folks buying them, their price has stabilized in a certain range.”

With that, he grabbed a Spirit Stone and swallowed it whole.

As the Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra activated, spiritual essence was drawn straight out of the stone, flowing into Zhang Yu’s mana circulation and slowly refined into usable mana.

The reason he bought Low-Grade Spirit Stones was to improve his essence absorption efficiency—to squeeze out more mana each day.

After all, he had to attend classes during the day and work construction at night, leaving almost no time to absorb essence in his dorm.

He had considered Essence Array Nodes too—carrying one would let him tap into spiritual essence anywhere in University City.

But those were expensive, and worse, the system would track how much essence he absorbed each month.

So Zhang Yu chose the less conspicuous method: swallowing Spirit Stones.

He gulped down ten in a row, and immediately felt a warm, constant stream of spiritual essence inside him, like a small furnace churning away in his stomach.

With his Qi Sea Spirit Root pulsing in sync, and the Hunyuan Embryonic Breathing Sutra drawing in essence like mad, Zhang Yu felt a rush of euphoria.

Then he pushed the number up—fifteen stones, then twenty-three—until the absorption reached a peak. It felt like he’d grown a tiny spirit vein inside his gut.

“This is my current absorption limit: twenty-three stones at once.”

“If I keep this up daily, I can maintain peak absorption while in class or on the job.”

“Still, even though it’s cheaper than using Essence Array Nodes, the monthly cost adds up.”

Zhang Yu did the math: practicing this way every day would cost him about 0.48 Spirit Coins per month.

But thinking about how hard it was to get into the Ten Major Sects, he knew this was just the beginning.

…

Inside the Dao Techniques Department’s service zone.

Zhang Yu sat cross-legged on a cushion, arcs of lightning crackling around him. They surged into his body, stimulating the Qi Sea Spirit Root in his dantian, enhancing its fusion and sharpening his five senses...

A student from the Dao Techniques Department casting the Lightning Technique asked, “Zhang, how’s it feel?”

Zhang Yu replied in a low voice, “Crank up the intensity a little more.”

The other chuckled. “You got it.”

“By the way, Zhang, have you signed up for a membership card?”

“Techniques like Divine Thunder Pulse work best with three sessions per week, at least thirty minutes each.”

“And we’ve got a 30% discount on membership cards right now...”

“How much for a card?” Zhang Yu asked.

“Just one Spirit Coin,” the student said with a smile. “And even if you don’t use up all your Divine Thunder Pulse sessions, you can try out other Dao Techniques too...”

Zhang Yu's account balance: 9.45 Spirit Coins

…

At the Artifact Refinement Department’s teaching floor.

Yun Jing brought a jade box to Zhang Yu.

After Zhang Yu helped drive off some classmates for her last time, the two had stayed in touch.

This time, Zhang Yu had come to ask for a discount—to save money.

Yun Jing said, “Here it is—the cultivation-type artifact you wanted: the Nine Hells Mountain-Suppressing Belt.”

“Wearing it will let you channel Earth Vein Qi into your body. Earth Vein Qi is a harmless type of spiritual energy that acts as a lubricant between flesh and mana, improving the efficiency of mana reinforcement on your body.”

“Also, the belt can impose up to 50x gravity on your body to help you temper your physique and squeeze out your physical potential.”

“For wealthy cultivators, gear like this—cultivation-type artifacts, or cultivation-type Law Husks—is standard for body refining.”

Zhang Yu understood. At the Foundation Establishment stage, refining the body required mana reinforcement.

Especially as spirit root fusion deepened, the roots would spread throughout his entire body along with his meridians. The flesh and mana would gradually merge, and his body would cease to be mere flesh and blood—it would become a transcendent vessel.

The Nine Hells Mountain-Suppressing Belt improved mana-to-body efficiency, enhancing body refinement results.

Its gravity functions pushed the body further, forcing out potential through intense pressure.

Zhang Yu opened the jade box, looked at the belt, and asked, “How much?”

Yun Jing replied, “It’s a product jointly developed by our department and a company. I can get you a 10% discount—just 1.35 Spirit Coins per month.”

As Zhang Yu strapped it on, a crisp female voice chimed from the belt: “Welcome to the Nine Hells Mountain-Suppressing Belt. Unknown EyeNet user detected. Please confirm pairing.”

A notification popped up in Zhang Yu’s EyeNet view. He tapped “Accept,” and a small belt icon appeared.

Tapping it opened the belt’s interface.

“User not registered. Please complete registration to use this product.”

After registering, another notification popped up.

“You have one unused coupon...”

It was Yun Jing’s 10% discount.

Moments later, at Zhang Yu’s command, streams of Earth Vein Qi surged from the belt into his body.

His muscles and organs, bathed in that energy, felt subtly transformed—mana reinforcement flowed more smoothly, more efficiently.

In his EyeNet display, he saw options for gravity from 1x to 50x, along with Running Mode, Load-Bearing Mode, Climbing Mode, and Custom Mode.

He could adjust gravity to target certain parts of the body, rotating the pressure for maximum effect.

He tried the 5x gravity mode first and instantly felt his entire body grow heavy—his internal organs even seemed to droop.

After cycling through a few more modes and testing their effects, Zhang Yu nodded. “This is the one.”

Zhang Yu's account balance: 8.1 Spirit Coins