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

It was three in the morning.

Inside the office of Songyang High School.

While looking at the list on the computer screen, Su Haifeng spoke into the phone, "Yes... Daoxin's score hasn't changed."

"The growth of his mana was very rapid some time ago. It seems that he spent most of his time and money on breathing exercises, which is why he rushed into the top 10."

"Although his physical strength hasn't been tested for three weeks due to his isolation, it had already fallen to 19th place before. Now that he's focusing on mana, it's a blessing if he can even maintain 19th place."

"There's no obvious progress in martial arts or Taoism either. These two subjects might drop below 30th place in this monthly exam."

Looking at Zhang Yu's recent academic record, Su Haifeng shook his head, "In short, I'm not optimistic that his scores will improve significantly in this monthly exam."

"The school will probably still give him a Grade D contract."

"I understand, I will try my best to persuade him to sign the contract."

"Although I don't know how he gained Li Xuelian's appreciation, he has taken the exam, so he should recognize his situation."

After hanging up the phone, Su Haifeng casually closed Zhang Yu's academic record and looked at the next document.

For him, Zhang Yu was just a small matter among many. There were more things and more important students in Songyang High School that needed his attention.

...

It was four in the morning.

Inside the unfinished building.

Today was the day of Songyang High School's monthly exam.

Although Zhang Yu's strength had improved significantly again after nine days of torment, he was still seizing the time to practice the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening, trying to improve his strength a little more before the exam officially started.

And his stats on the Feather Book Prologue at this moment had become:

Zhang Yu

Daoxin Level 1

Mana 11.7

Physical Strength Level 1.05

His mana had increased from 10.5 to 11.7, relying on his passive breathing exercises mixed with occasional active breathing exercises.

His physical strength had increased from level 0.85 to level 1.05 under his crazy training.

Of course, the greatest progress in these nine days was the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening, which had now become Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening Level 9 (89/90).

And as Zhang Yu punched out his last fist, the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening finally rushed to Level 10, reaching the limit that could be achieved in the Qi Refining realm.

At the moment he upgraded the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening to Level 10, countless memories seemed to flow through his mind. It was his figure practicing the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening again and again, again and again; it was his deeper and more profound understanding of his physical body.

After countless meticulous polishing, the body finally ushered in some kind of qualitative change and began to adjust in a more reasonable way.

A roar seemed to sound in his mind!

As the heart pumped waves of blood and energy to his limbs, Zhang Yu's whole body seemed to usher in a transformation.

His flesh contracted and expanded, and his bones and joints made crisp cracking sounds. The outline of his entire body became slightly larger.

The muscle distribution became more suitable for exertion, the bone structure became more solid and stable, and the whole body seemed to be adjusted to be more balanced and coordinated.

This was originally the optimization of the physical structure, which was completed little by little in the process of upgrading the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening to Level 10, but at this moment it was completed in an instant.

Physical Strength Level 1.05 → Level 1.25

With the adjustment and optimization of the body structure, Zhang Yu's physical strength increased by 0.2 levels in one breath, a 20% increase.

In particular, Zhang Yu could feel that the improvement brought about by this body structure optimization was not just an increase in physical strength, but had a more long-term effect. The more balanced and coordinated body structure at this moment would allow him to walk the road of body refining better and faster in the future.

Zhang Yu smiled slightly, and became excited: "Upgrading the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening to level 10 can actually actively optimize my body structure once."

"Will there be such a big improvement if skills are upgraded to level 10?"

This was information that the teacher hadn't taught in class.

But Zhang Yu also knew that skill level 10... even basic martial arts like the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening were too far away for high school students, so it was normal for the teacher not to mention relevant information.

"Then I'll upgrade the Zhoutian Qi Gathering Method to level 10 next and see what effect it has."

Zhoutian Qi Gathering Method Level 8 (3/160)

Zhang Yu estimated that it would take him up to a week to upgrade this breathing method to level 10.

But even though he thought so, he was not in a hurry to immediately switch the Feather Book's specialty to the Zhoutian Qi Gathering Method, just because he had other plans for today.

"Please abide by the ritual agreement, work hard to fulfill your wish, and don't deliberately be lazy or procrastinate, 10."

Just as Zhang Yu was feeling excited and slightly emotional about his improvement, the damn countdown sounded again.

Zhang Yu cursed a few times, but when he thought that this thing had no will or intelligence, cursing it only left a feeling of emptiness like punching cotton.

So he still sat down cross-legged, breathing and resting at the same time, and recuperating his tired body after a night of hard work to recover his strength.

Preparing... to welcome the monthly exam.

...

Songyang High School.

Students in a hurry had a trace of anxiety on their faces.

Today's campus seemed to be dyed with a murderous atmosphere.

Zhang Yu looked up and saw that the banner that originally said "Live until you die, learn until you die" had been replaced with anti-suicide propaganda slogans that said "One person messes around, the whole family pays."

Even the outer perimeter of the rooftop was surrounded by a layer of barbed wire, increasing the difficulty for students to mess around.

Bai Zhenzhen praised: "It seems that those inhuman school leaders will finally care about the students. They know that the monthly exam is easy to cause emotional breakdown, and they have specially taken some protective measures."

But after just arriving at the cafeteria for breakfast, seeing the notice that some food prices had increased, Bai Zhenzhen couldn't help but get furious.

"Another price increase? How many times has this happened since the start of school?"

"How can a bunch of insects who can't even run a cafeteria properly run a school?"

Zhang Yu persuaded: "Alas, it's normal for them to be inhuman, calm down and don't let it affect today's monthly exam."

But after a while, listening to the new regulations in the mouth of the cafeteria aunt, Zhang Yu angrily said: "Why is it that the 5 yuan set meal can only be ordered once a day per person? I could order ten servings yesterday! Why can't students just eat their fill!"

"Okay, okay, Yu Zi." Bai Zhenzhen patted Zhang Yu on the shoulder and comforted him: "Don't be impulsive, a teacher is looking over here, I'll help you buy an extra serving of the poor man's set meal."

Carrying the food and finding a place to sit down, Zhang Yu looked at his savings balance.

Although he had once again received a 500 yuan reward for a 0% distraction rate, Zhang Yu's savings had decreased to 6,000 yuan due to the large amount of food consumption required for body refining every day during this period, as well as the continuous use and purchase of nerve fillers, and miscellaneous expenses such as transportation.

And the time was about to usher in a new month, which meant that new loans had to be repaid, and new rent, water and electricity bills had to be paid...

There was also food expenses. After starting high-intensity body refining, Zhang Yu felt that his appetite was getting bigger and bigger. It was normal to eat ten pounds a day, and the food expenses would be several hundred yuan a day, which would be tens of thousands a month.

Zhang Yu increasingly felt that cultivating immortality was indeed getting more and more expensive.

The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ said ⊥ is ⊥ at ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥⊥ book ⊥⊥ bar ⊥⊥ first ⊥ hair!

"I hope I can get good grades in the monthly exam and get a good contract."

"Otherwise, I have to go to work again."

At this time, Zhou Tianyi sat down beside the two of them with his food, and only heard him shake his head helplessly: "Do you know why the cafeteria has increased prices?"

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen suddenly raised their heads together, staring at Zhou Tianyi, waiting for him to continue.

"In order to promote the synthetic food of Oasis Company, the municipal government has increased the tariffs on ingredients imported from other cities. In the future, the prices of foods other than synthetic food may continue to rise in the entire Songyang City."

"I heard that the principal is also considering replacing the cafeteria's pre-made dishes with synthetic food in the future."

The original Zhang Yu had actually eaten a lot of synthetic food before cultivating immortality, after all, the price of synthetic food was much cheaper.

Deep-fried insects, vegetable protein, plus recycled water and oil, the taste can only be said that even pigs don't eat it.

"Can't even eat pre-made dishes anymore?"

So Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen sighed again and cursed Oasis Company and the municipal government for being inhuman.

After eating breakfast, because it was the monthly exam today, the three of them did not return to the classroom as usual, but went to their respective examination rooms.

The morning was the general knowledge education exam and the theory exam of the martial arts class, both of which were written tests, the former with a total score of 50 and the latter with a total score of 20.

In the afternoon, there was a Taoism exam with a total score of 100 and a martial arts practical exam with a score of 80.

The 80 points of this practical exam plus the 20 points of the martial arts theory in the morning were exactly 100 points for the martial arts class.

The morning was all written tests, and the original Zhang Yu had long been familiar with this aspect.

After finishing the exam, Zhang Yu did not rush to check the answers like other students, but hurriedly ate lunch and then seized the time to start exercising in the small garden.

Freehand Combat Level 1 (0/10)

Zhang Yu switched the Feather Book's specialty to Freehand Combat, which was why he hadn't switched to the Zhoutian Qi Gathering Method before.

After pushing the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening to level 10 yesterday, no matter how he breathed the Zhoutian Qi Gathering Method, it was impossible to get a big improvement.

But if he seized the rest time during the day to improve the level 1 Freehand Combat, Zhang Yu estimated that he could at least upgrade this martial art to level 2.

This would definitely have a considerable improvement for the martial arts practical exam in the afternoon.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu practiced even more seriously.

Between his moves, driven by the level 1.25 physical strength, his whole body's muscles and bones rang together, and each punch and palm carried bursts of wind and thunder.

At the same time, a trace of mana was circulated to different parts of the body as each move was punched out, enhancing the power of this move.

Freehand Combat is a basic practical martial art. Although there are only 15 moves in total, they include fists, palms, legs, and throws, which can not only deal with various practical situations, but each move also has a corresponding mana circulation route.

Zhang Yu was repeatedly practicing these 15 moves at this moment.

As a practical martial art, the practice intensity of Freehand Combat is far lower than that of the Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening.

In addition, Zhang Yu's current level 1.25 physical level, level 8 Zhoutian Qi Gathering Method mana circulation, and the body optimization brought by level 10 Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening made his speed of exercising Freehand Combat moves even more rapid. After just over fifty minutes, he upgraded Freehand Combat to level 2.

Freehand Combat Level 1 (0/10) → Freehand Combat Level 2 (0/20)

In an instant, Zhang Yu only felt the 15 Freehand Combat moves flashing back and forth in his mind, and in the blink of an eye, he had already become thoroughly familiar with them.

But Zhang Yu did not stop. Although he felt a little tired, he decided to continue practicing this martial art.

"There are still two and a half hours before the afternoon exam starts."

"Let's see if I can push Freehand Combat to level 3 before the exam."

So Zhang Yu repeatedly practiced the 15 moves of Freehand Combat, sweating profusely.

The body became more and more tired, the hands and feet gradually began to become sore, and the movements also began to be slightly deformed.

But as long as Zhang Yu thought of the debt on his body and the increasingly heavy expenses, he always gritted his teeth and persevered.

More than two hours later, a big drop of sweat fell to the ground with a snap.

At this moment, Zhang Yu was steaming all over, and his muscles were heating up sharply due to more than three hours of high-intensity exercise.

But a smile appeared on Zhang Yu's face, and he finally successfully pushed this martial art to the third level.