What’s the point of cultivating immortality if you don’t have money?

"Are we there yet?"

"Don't be nervous. With your grades, you're sure to pass."

"Don't worry about the surgery costs. Mom found a new part-time job and will definitely scrape together enough. Just focus on the interview."

Looking at the message from his mother on the screen, Zhang Yu silently put away his phone, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and waited quietly.

After a long while, a voice called out from the front.

"Candidate number 989, Zhang Yu."

Zhang Yu stood up and walked into the interview room.

He looked at the three interviewers and gave a polite smile he had practiced many times: "Hello, I am Zhang Yu from Dongyang Junior High School."

The interviewer in the middle looked at him and said blandly, "Why do you want to apply to our school?"

Zhang Yu: "Your school has a long history, a profound heritage, and abundant teaching resources. It has always cultivated many outstanding talents for society…"

The interviewer frowned and interrupted, "Don't say such platitudes."

Zhang Yu said honestly: "I want to get into a famous university, and Songyang High School has the highest university admission rate among the schools I can apply to."

The interviewer smiled slightly, looking at the information in his hand, and said, "Hmm, full marks in all subjects, top of the school? No wonder you were recommended."

"Your grades are not a problem, but to get into Songyang High School, relying solely on school exam scores is far from enough."

He thought for a moment and asked casually, "How long do you sleep every day now?"

Zhang Yu: "Five hours."

The interviewer was surprised: "Five hours?"

"Our students have averaged no more than two hours of sleep per day since elementary school. And the outstanding graduates of each session basically don't sleep at all."

"You actually sleep five hours a day, which means you study three hours less than others every day, and nearly ten thousand hours less in nine years…"

Zhang Yu was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that he, who thought he was already working very hard, was still so far behind others in terms of effort. He knew that students in Songyang City started elementary school at the age of 9 and entered high school at the age of 18, but he didn't expect the gap between people to be so large in the same nine years.

Zhang Yu quickly said, "I will work hard to catch up with them."

The interviewer on the left asked, "How much of the high school curriculum have you learned?"

Zhang Yu calmed down slightly and said confidently, "I have already self-studied the entire first-year curriculum."

The other person frowned slightly: "Only the first year? Don't you know that we assume students have already completed the high school curriculum when we start classes here?"

Zhang Yu was stunned when he heard this. This was another piece of information he didn't know. What he thought was an advantage turned into a disadvantage in an instant.

Just as he was at a loss, the interviewer in the middle asked the next question.

"In order to improve learning efficiency and prevent early romances, our school requires all students to complete sterilization surgery to remove relevant organs before enrollment, so they can concentrate on cultivation from then on."

"Do you know about this?"

Finally hearing something he knew, he quickly replied, "My family is already preparing for it. I will definitely complete the sterilization surgery before school starts and keep my hormone levels at the most suitable level for studying."

The interviewer nodded noncommittally: "Alright, the interview is over for today, you can go out first."

Zhang Yu walked out of the classroom uneasily. He felt that his interview time seemed to be shorter than other students'.

After he left, the interviewer in the middle shook his head: "He hasn't even been sterilized in junior high school. This child's determination to pursue the Dao is not firm enough."

The female interviewer on the side smiled and said, "I think he came without knowing anything. He doesn't have any of the required test reports or extracurricular exam scores. It can only be said that the quality of recommended students from these ordinary junior high schools is getting worse every year. If it weren't for the support policies, they wouldn't be qualified to see us."

The interviewer in the middle nodded: "Alas, I thought the poor would work harder. Maybe I had too high expectations for them."

"Let's put this one on the alternate list for now."

With that said, he threw Zhang Yu's resume into the trash can next to him, where it was squeezed together with hundreds of other alternate resumes.

Although Zhang Yu felt that his interview didn't seem very successful, he didn't have extra time to think about it. He had already started preparing for interview after interview, and came to one high school after another.

"Student Zhang Yu, we understand that your family situation may not be able to afford the tuition fees here. However, we provide preferential loan services for poor students, as long as you are willing to mortgage some unimportant organs…"

"Don't worry, you've come to the right place. We know you're a male, and although our school is a girls' school, we never discriminate against males. As long as you complete the gender reassignment surgery, you will not only be able to enroll, but you will also be considered a seed student with a firm Dao heart, and you will have the opportunity to enter the key class to study the Primordial Yin Qi Refinement Technique…"

"It's a pity, you're still a little short of our admission standards. However, this year, in order to take care of poor students, we have launched a special admissions policy. If you are willing to give up your physical body, you can study in the principal's Myriad Souls Banner as a soul cultivation specialty student…"

"Student, you've come to the right place. Our high school is the most suitable for a genius commoner like you.

Let me introduce you to the benefits here. We add nootropics to the drinking water to ensure that students are always maintained in a level five concentration state.

Every day, the homeroom teacher will give you more than 900 grams of supplements specifically for bull demons to ensure that your cultivation effect is more than ten times the original.

Even the air circulation system is filled with nerve stimulant fillers, so you no longer need to sleep, and all of this is free.

Of course, if you want to withstand these performance-enhancing supplements, you must complete the transformation in our designated hospital.

Don't worry, you only need to implant some small magical instruments to improve your metabolism. Here is the detailed price list…"

Interview after interview, question after question.

Either the threshold was too high, making him see no hope at all.

Or there were so many traps that he felt like he would be swallowed in one gulp by the contract.

All of this made Zhang Yu feel suffocated.

At this moment, he suddenly realized that he, who had the top grades in an ordinary suburban junior high school, was already vastly different from the students in the city center.

Even until this moment, he only knew the tip of the iceberg regarding how big the specific gap between the two sides was…

His hard work over the past few years seemed to have become a joke.

In the end, he was no different from those unmotivated classmates, and he also couldn't get into high school.

Back home, Zhang Yu sat silently like a stone statue.

The phone on the table vibrated repeatedly.

Mother: How was the interview?

Mother: I have to work overtime today. Remember to heat up the food in the refrigerator yourself.

A moment later, the phone vibrated again.

Mother: Son, don't worry. No matter if you choose sterilization or gender reassignment, Mom will definitely scrape together the money for the surgery.

But Zhang Yu didn't look at the vibrating phone. He just stared blankly at the ceiling, wanting to think about the future, but he felt like his head was empty and nothing could be squeezed out.

Just then, the phone vibrated violently again.

Zhang Yu didn't want to pay attention at first, but after the phone vibrated for more than a minute, he finally couldn't help but pick it up, only to find that the other party had hung up.

Then he received a message from the other party: Your five thousand reserve fund is ready and will be credited in just ten seconds…

"A small loan advertisement?"

"Hmph."

Zhang Yu thought that his interview information was probably sold by some school.

But after putting down his phone for a moment, he picked it up again and reopened the message.

…

That night, after his mother came back from working overtime, she found that Zhang Yu, who had looked ashen-faced, seemed to have recovered and was sitting upright at the table reading a book.

"Mom, don't worry, I won't be defeated so easily."

"If it doesn't work this year, I'll take the exam again next year. I will definitely cultivate immortality."

"I'll go find a tutoring class tomorrow. I'm going to make up for what I'm missing one by one."

Early the next morning, Zhang Yu rushed out, returning home that night with a look of joy.

"Mom, I found an immortal cultivation tutoring class. The teachers there are all from key high schools. I'll definitely be able to get into high school if I learn from them."

"You don't have to worry about the tuition fees. They think I've had good grades since I was a child and they know my family isn't rich, so they've temporarily waived my tuition fees. As long as I can get into Songyang High School next year, I won't have to pay the tuition fees. Just consider it helping them with advertising."

"Don't worry, they're a big company and won't cheat people."

His mother watched Zhang Yu leave for tutoring classes before dawn every day and study until two or three in the morning after returning home late at night.

Watching him constantly bring back textbooks for the second and third years of high school in Chinese, mathematics, physics, etc., watching him plan to complete all the general knowledge courses in high school except for immortal cultivation, she was gratified by her son's progress.

But when she saw the boxes of medicines he brought back, a trace of doubt still welled up in her heart.

Zhang Yu explained with a smile: "Mom, since I was a child, I have studied ten thousand hours less than those top students. If I don't work hard, I will only be left further and further behind."

"These nerve stimulant fillers allow me to sleep only half an hour a day and improve my learning efficiency, so at least I won't be further distanced from the students in the city."

"Don't worry, these medicines don't cost any money."

"The principal of our tutoring class is very optimistic about me. He gave me all these medicines."

Hearing that it was a gift from the principal, the mother was even happier that her son was appreciated.

Soon Zhang Yu brought back more things.

In addition to various high school textbooks and nerve stimulant fillers, there were also capsules to regulate hormone levels, supplements specifically for demon beasts, and bottles of unpackaged medicinal powders.

Zhang Yu also had many explanations, sometimes saying they were cheap goods bought while working, sometimes saying they were gifts from classmates, sometimes saying they were rewards from the tutoring class…

The mother was happy for her son's diligence and even happier for his good popularity and excellent performance in the tutoring class.

She transferred 1,000 yuan to Zhang Yu, telling Zhang Yu to remember to thank his classmates and teachers.

But gradually, she found that Zhang Yu's emotions began to become abnormal. Sometimes he was happy before going out in the morning, but when he came back at night, he would go straight to bed without saying a word.

Sometimes he was happily eating, but after answering a phone call, he would frown and couldn't eat a bite.

She knew that the pressure of cultivating immortality must be too great, causing Zhang Yu to become mentally tense.

She could only buy more of what he liked to eat and save more tuition fees for him, hoping to alleviate some of his stress.

Gradually, she also found that Zhang Yu was particularly concerned about his phone. Not only did he almost always have his phone with him, but he also didn't allow anyone to touch his phone casually. He always went into the bathroom and closed the door before answering calls.

Once, she saw that his phone was out of power and took it to charge, but Zhang Yu scolded her angrily.

Understanding that he was under a lot of pressure, she never dared to touch Zhang Yu's phone again, for fear of affecting her son's cultivation of immortality.

Suddenly one day, Zhang Yu asked her for tutoring fees, saying that the tutoring class had invited seniors who had been admitted to top universities to give them lectures, and this was the money for the seniors.

Then there was the referral fee for the high school admissions teacher.

The spiritual root detection fee for the hospital.

And he wanted to buy civilian-grade children's flying swords with the students in the tutoring class.

From two or three thousand to seven or eight thousand… The last time she directly transferred 20,000 yuan, Zhang Yu said it was the cost of renting a heavenly spiritual root.

But the good news finally came: Zhang Yu was successfully admitted to Songyang High School.

The mother was overjoyed. She was proud of her son's efforts and talent, and she agreed to all the tuition fees, miscellaneous fees, and medicine fees that Zhang Yu mentioned next.

But after school started, Zhang Yu asked for more and more money, and the family gradually became unable to make ends meet.

Finally, one afternoon, listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, the mother's heart trembled.

"Hello? Is this Zhang Yu's mother?"

"Do you know that your son's loan is 30 days overdue…"

The newest novels are first published on Liu Jiu Shu Ba!

That night, Zhang Yu confessed everything to his mother.

Over the past few months, the various expenses in the learning process did not come from the free, appreciation, and gifts he had mentioned… The money all came from his loans from various platforms.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

"But I really want to cultivate immortality."

"Even if I owe debts that I can't pay off for the rest of my life, I still want to cultivate immortality…"

After listening to all this, the mother silently sold all the valuable things in the house, and then borrowed some money to pay off Zhang Yu's debts.

She thought that her son would be able to cultivate immortality in peace next.

But she soon discovered that her son had new overdue loans.

Repaying loans… taking out loans… repaying loans… taking out loans…

The mother finally couldn't help but persuade Zhang Yu to spend less money.

"Mom, this medicine can't be stopped. If I stop taking the medicine, my Dao heart will regress, and I will have wasted all my previous efforts…"

"The heavenly spiritual root must be rented. Without the heavenly spiritual root, my mana can't keep up…"

"This VIP card for the tutoring class needs to be recharged, otherwise I won't understand the techniques that the school teachers teach in class…"

Advanced immortal cultivation technology allows ordinary people without spiritual roots to embark on the path of immortality, but the price is to regularly undergo the most expensive learning and maintenance to continue walking.

In the blink of an eye, three months had passed since the start of school. Watching the debts increase, and now even the family's rent and utilities were unaffordable… All of this seemed like a never-ending nightmare. The mother could finally no longer bear it.

So when Zhang Yu came home from school again one day, he never saw his mother's figure again.

After reading the message left by his mother, he sat blankly for a long time, eventually silently picking up his phone and walking outside.

...

On the rooftop of the rented apartment.

A sharp pain surged from the depths of the man's mind, gradually awakening his chaotic consciousness from the darkness.

He opened his eyes and looked ahead, seeing a bustling street not far away, with sewage flowing freely.

On both sides of the street, colorful advertising signs flashed with neon lights, and above them, dark buildings were crowded together, as if to block out the entire sky.

The building beneath his feet was a dilapidated apartment, its mottled red brick walls still projecting a financial advertisement video, in which immortals who could fly and escape were jointly recommending a 30-day interest-free 'Cultivation Loan' for new users.

"Wasn't I playing 'Black Marrow'?"

"Where is this?"

As he wondered what was happening, he turned his head and discovered the rooftop was covered in candles.

Rows of candles flickering with scarlet light surrounded him and a tattered doll.

It was a cloth doll with faded yellow fabric, crooked stitching, and looked as if it would tear apart at any moment.

The bizarre scene seemed to stimulate his brain, causing fragments of memories to tumble back and forth in his mind.

"This isn't China anymore... Did I get transported to another world?"

He found it difficult to accept the transmigrated situation.

However, the genuine memories of immortal cultivation techniques in his head constantly assaulted his consciousness, allowing him to gradually merge with the original owner while constantly reminding him that he was now in another world.

This place was Kunxu, a super-structure erected on the earth in a pyramid shape, with thirty-six floors above ground and eighteen floors below.

Starting from the first floor, the largest in area and resembling a continent, each floor was a new world.

As for what the world outside Kunxu was like, Zhang Yu's mind held no answers.

He only knew that within Kunxu, it was a world where the various immortal sects were supreme.

The major sects were high above, virtually monopolizing grain, energy, transportation, education, scientific research, medical care, finance, the internet, and various other industries; the government army was more like a gatekeeper in front of the sect's law enforcement team.

However, ordinary people were not fortunate enough to enjoy most of the benefits brought by immortal cultivation technology; instead, they were busy making a living every day.

And he was living on the first floor of Kunxu, a high school student named Zhang Yu who had been admitted to Songyang High School, and recently had been obsessed with some strange ritual...

"The current me has become Zhang Yu of another world."

Just then, a stinging pain came from the palm of his hand, awakening Zhang Yu from the shock of memories.

He looked down and saw a transparent symbol appearing in his palm, gradually turning black at an extremely slow pace.

"What is this thing?"

As the night wind blew, the surrounding scarlet candlelight flickered.

And the tattered doll on the ground stared straight at him with empty eyes made of black buttons.

He wanted to recall what was happening, but the more he tried, the more his head ached and the more dizzy he felt.

The atmosphere in the air became increasingly eerie and strange, Zhang Yu covered his dizzy head, feeling the world spinning around him.

When he came back to his senses, he found himself vaguely leaving the rooftop, step by step returning to the front of his house.

After glancing at the overdue rent bill, he stepped through the door, and all that met Zhang Yu's eyes was a bed and a table.

"Is this my home?"

Feeling his sticky skin soaked in sweat, and the incredibly stuffy environment around him, Zhang Yu wanted to find the air conditioner remote, but remembered that there was no air conditioner in this house at all.

He also wanted to take a shower, but found that the water had already been cut off.

Zhang Yu sat down on the bed helplessly.

"What a dump."

"What if there are immortals? This life is worse than a world without immortals."

Zhang Yu's gaze swept across the wall, and he found that the wall behind the table was covered with certificates of merit from childhood to adulthood.

First grade, second grade, third grade... all the way to the third year of junior high school, the original Zhang Yu was almost always the first in his grade every year.

Looking at these certificates, various memories of receiving awards flooded Zhang Yu's mind: "The original Zhang Yu was a diligent and hardworking student who had excellent grades since childhood."

"Songyang High School, which I am currently attending, is also a key high school in the city."

"I'm a top student."

Recalling the knowledge in his mind, Zhang Yu's eyes gradually brightened: "Getting into a famous university will allow me to establish my foundation, joining a major sect will allow me to form my core, and I can also climb up in Kunxu, leave this slum, enjoy more benefits of immortal cultivation technology, and then live for hundreds of years without any problems."

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu suddenly felt that coming to this world seemed like a good thing.

Just as he was thinking this, his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Zhang Yu, your loan on our platform is overdue for 3 days..."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yu scrolled through the text message inbox on his phone, and found dense text messages urging payment, all of which were overdue payments from the original owner's loans on various platforms.

At the same time, relevant memories flooded into his mind.

"This guy started borrowing money for tutoring before entering high school. After entering Songyang High School, in order to keep up with everyone's grades, he had a flash of inspiration and started using loans to support loans in order to improve his grades, borrowing money everywhere to take medicine and tutoring, forcibly stimulating his potential, and eventually not only borrowed more and more money, but also gradually squeezed out his potential."

"This bastard is a pseudo-immortal genius disguised by platform loans."

"Even his mother couldn't stand him, and finally left."

After calculating the total amount of overdue loans, cold sweat immediately broke out on Zhang Yu's forehead.

Only because he found that with the interest snowballing, Zhang Yu already owed a total of more than 700,000 yuan to various platforms.

And looking at his account again, there was only a little more than fifty yuan left.

"He actually owes 700,000... Damn it!"

Zhang Yu slammed his fist on the bed, and roared: "In this world... even for the proud sons of heaven who graduate from high school, this is a huge debt."

"No wonder this guy is obsessed with some weird rituals... This is a loan dog with no hope in life."

"He enjoyed himself enough, and now I have to pay off his debts?"

At the same time, the lights in the room suddenly went out.

After Zhang Yu repeatedly pressed the switch several times, and observed the situation of other neighbors, he confirmed one thing... his electricity was cut off.

"This damn place..."

"If I wake up tomorrow morning and go back, that would be great..."

With all sorts of messy thoughts churning in his mind, Zhang Yu eventually fell asleep on the bed in a daze.

And on the palm of his hand, one-tenth of the original transparent symbol had been filled with black.