On the pedestrian path of the highway, two figures, one after another, stirred up gusts of wind as they sped towards the Spiritual Energy Reserve. It was Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

At this moment, besides Zhang Yu, who was rushing along using his ‘Sports Car Legs’ technique, flashes of electrical light occasionally flickered around Bai Zhenzhen, who was also using her newly learned ‘Lightning Legs’ to follow closely behind him.

Unlike Zhang Yu, who focused on enhancing his physical strength, Bai Zhenzhen was preparing for the martial arts competition. Therefore, during this period, in addition to improving her Dao Heart, magical power, and physical strength, she dedicated more energy to practicing martial arts techniques. This ‘Lightning Steps’ technique was a combat-oriented skill, allowing Bai Zhenzhen to perform short-distance, high-speed movements in battle. It was more flexible, adaptable, and explosive than the ‘Sports Car Legs’, making it better suited for combat. At this moment, she was using it for both travel and practice.

Under the sunlight, Bai Zhenzhen could also feel a gentle warmth constantly flowing within her body. This was her True Spirit Root absorbing the spiritual energy from the light. However, her True Spirit Root had gradually adapted to light-dark regulation and could now understand Bai Zhenzhen’s intentions, ensuring it wouldn’t make her appear dim or unwell.

On the other side, bathed in sunlight, Zhang Yu felt as if molten lava flowed through his entire body, as he ravenously absorbed the spiritual energy descending from the solar radiance. At the same time, he was mentally calculating his finances.

His purpose for visiting the Spiritual Energy Reserve was to use Xiong Wenwu’s connections to see if he could affordably rent a spot on a spiritual ley line for cultivation. After all, although his physical strength had rapidly increased these past few days, relying solely on techniques to improve his Dao Heart and magical power was still too slow for Zhang Yu. Moreover, it was said that spiritual ley lines not only offered abundant spiritual energy, significantly boosting the efficiency of magical power refinement, but prolonged exposure could also enhance one’s physique, cure illnesses, prolong life, and provide countless other benefits.

“‘Renting an entire spiritual ley line is definitely out of the question,’ he thought. ‘With the money I have, I just need to see if I can rent a spot for Zhenzhen and me to cultivate within the ley line.'” Although he had earned income from the Dark Tutoring World, Le Mulan, Yu Xinghan, and Song Hailong during this time, and also received the first endorsement fee of 200,000, Zhang Yu’s expenses were also considerable. For example, a Hunyuan Pill, consumed every three days, cost 24,000. Each set of Nine Dragon Needle treatment cost 10,500. Additionally, due to his recent focus on body cultivation and the continuous increase in physical strength, his food expenses had reached 1,500 yuan per day. After early May, he also paid 15,000 yuan in loan interest… Zhang Yu checked his account balance again: 570,000 yuan remained. He secretly wondered, “Renting a spot within a spiritual ley line shouldn’t be a big problem, right?”

The two continued to speed along, and gradually, more and more factories appeared around them. Wisps of white smoke continuously poured from huge chimneys, and some factories displayed the “Hongta Animal Husbandry” signboard. As Zhang Yu’s gaze swept over these rows of factories, he was suddenly slightly startled: “What’s that?”

He saw that the land, which was presumably once a factory, was now nothing but ruins—broken walls and debris everywhere, as if it had undergone a major battle. There was even a palm print several hundred meters wide on a nearby hillside behind it, with fragments of various towers, walls, and machinery still scattered on the slope. Shimmering light barriers enveloped the ruins, displaying various warning signs, much like the police tape at a murder scene. Zhang Yu asked, “Was there a war here?” Bai Zhenzhen glanced at it and said, “You don’t know about this? It was quite a hot topic online half a year ago. A factory was caught for tax evasion.” “The tax evaders resisted on the spot, unleashing flying swords and magical artifacts, killing most of the tax inspectors who came to investigate.”

Zhang Yu’s heart skipped a beat. Tax evaders in Kunxu were that formidable? Bai Zhenzhen continued, “Then the tax inspectors summoned the divine power of the Grand Auditor of Tribute. With a single palm strike, the entire factory was obliterated, and the souls of most of the criminals were extracted.” “Most?” Zhang Yu was surprised. “What about those whose souls weren’t extracted? Did they die or escape?” Bai Zhenzhen replied, “They committed suicide the moment they saw the Grand Auditor of Tribute descend.”

Zhang Yu swallowed hard, once again feeling fortunate he hadn’t committed tax evasion in Kunxu.

The two continued to speed along, and soon, a huge arc appeared on the distant horizon. It was their destination.

It was said that a very long time ago, this Spiritual Energy Reserve was once the territory of demonic beasts, with several powerful Greater Demons roaming within it. What were called Greater Demons were powerful monsters, now referred to as ‘Yao Yi’ (demon descendants/offspring). Unlike demonic beasts, which were considered animals, Yao Yi often possessed true intelligence and could integrate into human society, living and working. However, the Greater Demons here were later defeated by the company’s security forces. The reserve changed hands multiple times before finally being purchased by Hongta Animal Husbandry, which has operated it ever since. It was rumored that the reserve still preserved its original natural landscapes and all the demonic beasts that had lived there—which, of course, had also become assets of Hongta Animal Husbandry.

As Zhang Yu looked closely now, he could see what appeared to be an incredibly massive glass dome, encompassing continuous mountain ranges and hills. As the two drew closer, they could also see dense runes appearing periodically on the glass dome, indicating the power of a formation isolating the inner and outer worlds. In addition, Zhang Yu could also see many red warning messages on it. All were similar to: ‘Hongta Animal Husbandry Private Property, please purchase tickets and enter through the main gate.’ Bai Zhenzhen looked and cursed, “How stingy! They don’t even want to let out a little bit of air from inside the reserve?” She had originally thought about trying to absorb some spiritual energy and air seeping from inside the reserve by staying near its boundary, but it seemed they had long prepared for that.

The two continued on, arriving at the ticket office at the main entrance of the Spiritual Energy Reserve. Seeing the ticket price was only 5 yuan, both Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu were astonished. What was the difference between this and free entry? Was Hongta Animal Husbandry doing charity work? Bai Zhenzhen immediately retracted her earlier “stingy” comment. How could Hongta Animal Husbandry be stingy? It was incredibly generous! The two opened their phones, hoping to find any discounts, and were surprised to see the reserve’s rating was only 1.3.

But after the ticket seller affixed an air meter, spiritual energy monitor, and weight monitor to each of them, the two understood why the ticket seemed almost free and why the rating was so low. The ticket seller explained, “Air inside the reserve costs 1,999 yuan per cubic meter, water costs 2,888 yuan per liter, and spiritual energy costs 3,999 yuan per unit.” “The price list for all flora and fauna, even soil, rocks, and other materials within the reserve, is in the user manual. I’ll send it to you; please accept it…”

Zhang Yu looked at the dense list of charges in the user manual, speechless. In this Spiritual Energy Reserve, everything—whether it was air, water, food, or anything else—cost a fortune. An ordinary person might even go bankrupt just by picking up a few rocks. Bai Zhenzhen nervously said, “Yu-zi, try to breathe less when we go in. It’s too expensive.”

After buying their tickets, the two first entered a sealed cabin. As the rear hatch closed, they were completely cut off from the outside world. Then, as the front hatch opened, Zhang Yu felt an incredibly fresh wave of air wash over him. With just one deep breath, Zhang Yu felt completely revitalized, his entire body and muscles seemed to relax. “This is… air?” “Then what was I breathing before?” He felt that the air he normally breathed was like car exhaust compared to this. “So I’ve been living in such terrible air quality all this time? And I just got used to it?”

Zhang Yu stepped out of the sealed cabin, fully immersing himself in the reserve’s environment. Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yu felt as if his entire body had been cleansed. His vital energy and magical power became even more vibrant. Even at this peripheral location, Zhang Yu could feel that the concentration of spiritual energy in the air was already comparable to that in the spiritual-gathering quiet rooms at Songyang High School. As the two quickly moved along the sightseeing path, the spiritual energy in the air grew even denser. Bai Zhenzhen’s spiritual energy meter even rose past 500, scaring her into quickly suppressing her True Spirit Root, telling it not to absorb spiritual energy for now. Zhang Yu also felt that the spiritual energy absorbed by his Great Sun Qi Sea from the light was even more concentrated. Cultivating here for a single day would likely be equivalent to several days of cultivation outside. Bai Zhenzhen patted her chest, fearful. “This terrible place makes it too easy to go bankrupt. Let’s meet Xiong Wenwu and leave quickly.” Zhang Yu nodded. Being in this Spiritual Energy Reserve felt even more dangerous to him than being at a gang shootout. He then thought, “Just breathing and cultivating in the outer areas is this expensive. To reach an actual spiritual ley line… how much more would that cost?” At this moment, he doubted whether he would be able to rent a spot within a spiritual ley line this time.

Especially when he opened the map, he saw that the reserve contained three spiritual ley lines, spanning 7 large districts and over twenty mountains. However, these areas were inaccessible to tourists. They were either private lands rented out for long terms, or various ranches, factories, and plantations… In short, all areas accessible to tourists were located at the periphery of the spiritual ley lines. Yet, Zhang Yu couldn’t afford the cost of long-term breathing and cultivation even in these peripheral areas.

“Sigh,” he mused, “Ordinary tourists can only enter the reserve and leech off the spiritual energy from the ley line’s periphery; there’s no way to actually get inside.” At this point, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen no longer harbored hopes of renting a spot within a spiritual ley line. They would be satisfied if they could just find a cheaper way to benefit from the air at the ley line’s periphery. “Let’s go see Xiong Wenwu first and hear what he has to say.”

Xiong Wenwu had arranged to meet them at the Breeding Base, a secluded location on the outskirts of the reserve. The two proceeded along the map. As they passed each mountain peak, they could feel streams of spiritual energy soaring skyward from the peaks, which were blocked by multiple light barriers and formations. The spiritual energy was so dense it seemed as if it were about to rain spiritual energy. In fact, Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu genuinely saw light rain occasionally falling on the mountains, with spiritual energy evaporating from the rainwater, leaving them secretly astonished. These mountains were the true locations of the spiritual ley lines. Unlike the tourist area Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were currently in, which was merely the periphery of the spiritual ley lines, allowing them to absorb only a small amount of leaked air and spiritual energy. Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen found it hard to imagine what those people on the mountains were doing, to require such massive amounts of spiritual energy for cultivation, and how much it must cost them every second.

Below the mountain peaks, outside the light barriers that separated tourists, on the tourist side, Zhang Yu occasionally saw various people, carrying oxygen tanks and water bottles, clinging to the base of the mountains like pilot fish attached to a whale, absorbing the spiritual energy overflowing from the ley lines, thereby achieving cultivation efficiency far surpassing that outside. No… Zhang Yu rejected the thought that had just popped into his head. “‘These aren’t poor people at all,’ he mused. ‘Being able to cultivate at the foot of these mountains, judging by the costs here… they’re all wealthy people compared to us.'” “There are so many rich people in Kunxu, damn it.” Bai Zhenzhen, standing beside him, remarked, “We should have brought oxygen tanks too. Breathing here is simply not cost-effective.” Zhang Yu nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Ten minutes later, the two finally arrived at the so-called Breeding Base.