Zhang Yu was quite cautious about taking out loans when he first arrived in Kunxu. This was partly due to the influence of his original body’s experiences and memories, as well as his own wariness towards loans from his previous life. However, after more than half a year living in Kunxu and witnessing many people take out loans, his mindset had gradually begun to change.

“Taking supplements for body strengthening, borrowing money to make more…” Zhang Yu silently mused to himself, “I’m becoming increasingly assimilated by Kunxu, more and more like a local.” But Zhang Yu didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. People ultimately have to adapt to their environment, and to climb the ranks in Kunxu, one must adapt to its rules.

Body strengthening requires supplements! Cultivation requires loans!

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Yu had successively borrowed money from multiple platforms. Nowadays, Zhang Yu repays his loans on time every month, his bank statements show a surge in activity, and his performance has significantly improved. The scattered loanable amounts now add up to another 1 million. So, just like that, 1 million arrived in Zhang Yu’s account.

“Adding the original 15,000 per month, I’ll be paying 40,000 in interest each month from now on. By the time I’m in my final year of high school, I’ll need to pay back all 1.7 million in principal from the various platforms.”

“And with the 5,000 from the interest-free loan, the total monthly repayment will be 45,000.”

Looking at the cold balance of over 1.3 million in his account, Zhang Yu slowly exhaled. He felt both the heavy burden of responsibility and an invigorating drive, eager to return and dedicate himself to his training.

Bai Zhenzhen, who had previously borrowed less than Zhang Yu, was now going all out. She borrowed another 900,000 in one go. She, too, looked highly motivated, eager to return and integrate this 900,000 into her body, using it to boost her cultivation.

More than ten hours later, after multiple transfers, the two finally returned to Songyang City, beginning another round of intense training on their path to immortality.

Time continued to rapidly flow as the two pushed themselves.

Inside the apartment.

Zhang Yu took off the weighted clothing he usually wore for training and retrieved the newly purchased “cultivation skin.”

This cultivation skin, made with some unknown immortal technique, looked like a thin layer of human skin and felt almost identical to real human skin to the touch. Seeing its lifelike appearance, Zhang Yu wondered, “This can’t actually be made from some master’s skin, can it?”

Given Zhang Yu’s understanding of Kunxu, such a thing wasn’t impossible. Fu Ji, however, scoffed, “With the little money you spent, you think you’d get real skin?” “This is clearly synthetic skin. It won’t achieve 100% compatibility; 99% at most.”

As Zhang Yu put it on, he felt the cultivation skin naturally adhere to his body, as if it had become a new layer of his own skin. At the same time, this new skin imposed a strong sense of restriction on his physical body, forcing him to constantly exert strength against it, as if his muscles and tendons were being trained every moment.

He, however, couldn’t feel any incompatibility; he simply felt it was far more effective than his original weighted clothing.

A moment later, Zhang Yu opened his phone, accessed the cultivation skin’s management software, and selected “deactivate.” The restrictive feeling throughout his body suddenly vanished, making Zhang Yu unable to even sense the cultivation skin’s presence.

“It doesn’t affect breathing, sweating, or energy absorption.”

“Truly worthy of a 100,000-yuan cultivation skin. This way, I can constantly add an extra layer of training to my daily routine.”

“And I can turn it off anytime I don’t need it.”

The Protected Zone.

Inside the incubation room.

An’an, the red panda, was hugging her large tail, watching Bai Zhenzhen cultivate. She thought to herself that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s training time had at least doubled in the past few days.

“I wonder if the time they spend tutoring Wenwu has also doubled?” Although An’an still felt a pang of heartache over the loss of company assets when she saw them utilizing the spiritual energy from the Red Pagoda.

But she tried hard not to show it. After all, for someone who hadn’t even finished elementary school, high school students were already considered prodigies.

And whenever An’an stood before Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, especially after learning about their achievements as competition participants from a key high school, she felt a sense of inferiority, a feeling of inadequacy. She deeply understood that, compared to Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu, she was purely illiterate. Bai Zhenzhen’s perpetually cold demeanor, in particular, made An’an feel that she probably looked down on her.

However, when Bai Zhenzhen was leaving this time, An’an quickly waved her short limbs and bounced over to block Bai Zhenzhen’s path. “This is for you,” she said. Bai Zhenzhen looked at the piece of demon beast meat tied with a bow and asked curiously, “For me?”

An’an said, “Thank you for tutoring Xiong Wenwu.” Observing An’an’s slightly nervous gaze, Bai Zhenzhen accepted the demon beast meat and said, “You often have leftover demon beast meat here that doesn’t sell, right?”

“How about you sell it to me cheaply in private? I’m planning to buy more demon beast meat for dietary supplements recently.” An’an exclaimed, “You want me to betray the company’s interests again?” Bai Zhenzhen chuckled and gently rubbed An’an’s ear. “You wouldn’t want Xiong Wenwu’s grades to drop, would you? Just sell it to me cheap.”

“If you feel uneasy keeping the money you earn, you can always use it to subsidize Xiong Wenwu.” An’an sighed inwardly, feeling that she had gradually transformed from the best employee into a corporate mole, unworthy of her 2,000-yuan salary.

Inside the apartment.

As Zhang Yu turned on the newly purchased spotlights one by one, the entire room transformed from its original brightness into a blinding white, eventually becoming so bright that almost nothing could be seen, and even Zhang Yu’s figure was completely swallowed by the light. Zhang Yu felt the Sun Qi Sea’s furious passive operation and the Great Sun mana surging like lava within him. In this environment, he began cultivating the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi.

Late June.

Inside the apartment.

In a cardboard box placed in a corner of the room were all sorts of potions that Le Mulan had brought for Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. Le Mulan casually tossed her tattered clothes into a nearby trash can.

Her skin felt somewhat dry due to the exceptionally heavy sweating today. As she changed clothes, she said, “Your strength has increased significantly lately.”

Zhang Yu smiled. “Thanks to your potions; I feel particularly energetic every time I use them.” Le Mulan’s gaze briefly swept over, seeing Zhang Yu staring at the potions on the floor, and reminded him, “The bone and muscle enhancers are most effective when taken orally.”

Zhang Yu ultimately couldn’t bring himself to do that. He abruptly stood up, seized the time to absorb the potions, and began cultivating the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi. A hint of surprise flashed in Le Mulan’s eyes. As she walked out of the room, she couldn’t help but say, “Next time, if there are any specific potions you want me to use before I come, you can tell me in advance.”

After returning to Ziyun High School, Le Mulan drank several cups of water in a row due to the excessive sweating. After finishing another cup, Le Mulan said to Lian Tianji, who was nearby, “Get me another glass of water.”

“Next time, before I leave school, remember to prepare a bucket of water for me.”

Lian Tianji nodded slightly, thinking to himself, “What kind of combat training could cause such extreme sweating?”

Songyang High School.

Inside the spiritual root rental office.

Administrator Wei Xin looked at Zhang Yu in surprise and asked, “You said, how long do you want to rent it for?” Zhang Yu confidently replied, “If I pay monthly, what’s the discounted price?”

Although Bai Zhenzhen’s true spiritual root could be used in rotation, and even if it had some residual effects, it was ultimately shared between two people. With such a large sum of money now at hand, Zhang Yu’s idea was to rent a muscle-enhancing spiritual root. This way, while Bai Zhenzhen used her spiritual root, he could use the muscle-enhancing one, allowing both of them to use spiritual roots for cultivation 24 hours a day.

Administrator Wei Xin nodded repeatedly, her eyes gleaming. “Of course, there’s a discount. For the muscle-enhancing spiritual root, a monthly package can be discounted to 2 million a month.” For a moment, Zhang Yu fell silent, feeling that he had been a bit rash.

“Never mind. Let’s stick to hourly rentals. That feels more flexible.”

Late June.

Bailong High School.

Yu Xinghan and Zhang Yu moved with streaks of afterimages, now locked in fierce combat. Sensing the formidable power behind his opponent’s moves, Yu Xinghan asked, “Have you learned the Dragon-Elephant Mountain Crushing Palm?”

Zhang Yu’s palm strike brought forth the roar of a dragon and the trumpet of an elephant. He retorted, “Because of you, I had to spend 200,000 just to buy this cultivation method. Shouldn’t you contribute something?” Yu Xinghan returned a palm strike, laughing heartily, “Blame your own exceptional martial arts talent; it’s simply too expensive to maintain.”

Yu Xinghan, who had checked Zhang Yu’s information, had actually long suspected that when he used purely physical martial arts like the Dragon-Elephant Mountain Crushing Palm, Zhang Yu would likely learn them. But this was precisely his goal.

Because when the other person used the same martial art as him, it was easier for him to use his third eye to absorb and replicate Zhang Yu’s physical strength and techniques. However, he didn’t want to explicitly tell Zhang Yu to do this, as Zhang Yu would surely demand more money.

“Good thing… good thing he learned this cultivation method on his own during our training, and then had no choice but to buy it.”

“Heh heh, saved some money again.”

However, thinking of Zhang Yu’s financial struggles yet spending 200,000, a hint of awkwardness flashed in Yu Xinghan’s mind. “Sorry, Zhang Yu, but on the path to immortality, it’s either you spend more or I spend more.”

“To go further on the path of cultivation, one must not yield an inch.”

“I must pass next year’s Foundation Establishment exam! For this goal, I will use any means necessary to save money and acquire it!” As for Zhang Yu taking the Foundation Establishment exam, Yu Xinghan didn’t give it any thought.

After all, in Yu Xinghan’s view, due to financial limitations, the gap between Zhang Yu and himself would only widen next year, making Zhang Yu no competition for him in the exam.

On the other side, Zhang Yu was performing the Level 1 Dragon-Elephant Mountain Crushing Palm while glancing at the ‘Dragon-Elephant Mountain Crushing Palm Level 3 (5/30)’ on his Yu Book, feeling the new benefits this martial art brought to his techniques. Because his regular cultivation time was fully occupied by the Crimson Marrow Primordial Qi, he could only practice other martial arts during combat training.

So Zhang Yu simply bought the usage rights for the Dragon-Elephant Mountain Crushing Palm, practicing this martial art during his combat training sessions with Yu Xinghan. He thought to himself, “Sorry, Yu Xinghan… for me, whether I use the Level 1 Dragon-Elephant Mountain Crushing Palm or my highest-level one, the training effect is pretty much the same.”

“But I can’t expose my terrifying talent.”

“I can only practice with you using the Level 1 Dragon-Elephant Mountain Crushing Palm, sacrificing your training quality a bit.”

“After all, to get my Foundation Establishment qualification certificate this year, I have to use every means available and seize every opportunity to grow stronger.”

Time continued to rapidly flow as Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen spent money wildly and cultivated intensely. In the blink of an eye, it was early July.

Only a month and a half remained until the first round of the Foundation Establishment exam in mid-August.

On this particular day, inside Songyang High School.

Lan Ling led a group of second-year high school students towards the first-year campus. He thought to himself, “Zhang Pianpian has been gone for half a month, and it seems she didn’t transfer Zhang Yu’s and Bai Zhenzhen’s contracts to anyone else.”

“Did she just leave them on the first floor like that?”

“I’ll probe a bit, see if Zhang Pianpian made any arrangements for these two poor kids.”

Lan Ling planned to teach the two a small lesson during combat class, just like he had a few months ago. The thought of their past insolence, daring to challenge him, a wealthy senior, despite being poor juniors, made Lan Ling uncomfortable.

Of course, his actions this time weren’t solely driven by his own thoughts. Lan Ling recalled Zhou Chechen and Le Jingchen from Ziyun, who had contacted him this morning.

Lan Ling mused, “After all, having two poor kids who can’t even get into the top ten universities constantly occupying places in the competitions… it’s causing a lot of people to have opinions.”