Chapter 364: Blocking His Immortal Path Is Blocking My Immortal Path (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 364: To Block His Path to Immortality Is to Block My Own (Seeking Monthly Votes)

That very night.

As Zhang Yu channeled his spiritual energy into Le Mulan, the advertisements he had seen earlier flickered through his mind, leaving him restless and agitated.

In his arms, Le Mulan felt increasingly like a burning coal.

Unable to help himself, Zhang Yu whispered, "Should I go to the restroom?"

"Is that really why you want to go?" Fu Ji retorted. "Remember your goal! You are destined for the top ten sects! How can you let such things jeopardize your performance?"

Le Mulan squirmed against the heat, murmuring, "Zhang Yu, you’re burning me down there."

Just as Zhang Yu’s breathing grew ragged, Bai Zhenzhen’s communication link lit up again, acting like a bucket of ice water that forced him to suppress his impulses.

As he opened the link, Bai Zhenzhen scanned the surroundings and spoke with icy severity: "Are you selling your spiritual energy to Le Mulan?"

Unable to explain the complexities of the Feather Script and the Dao Seed, Zhang Yu could only nod in silent admission.

Bai Zhenzhen frowned. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? Look at your own condition—don't you realize how fragile you are right now?"

"Can you even handle this? Holding Le Mulan while draining your own reserves?"

"You aren't just holding her," she said, her voice filled with heartache. "You're holding a one-way ticket to academic ruin."

"If you lose control and suffer a backlash, all those days of cultivation will be for nothing."

"Don't trade your future for a pittance."

"Have you forgotten our promise to compete in the Top Ten League together?"

Zhang Yu nodded. "Don't worry, Ah Zhen. The situation is still within my control. I can handle it."

"Then," Bai Zhenzhen insisted, "you will record every transaction with Le Mulan and send me the full video."

"It’s not that I don't trust you; it’s a form of supervision. It will serve as a reminder and a lock on your impulses."

Zhang Yu felt a flicker of reluctance, but he knew she meant well. Thinking of the heavy academic load and his own lofty ambitions, he sighed.

"An extra layer of insurance can't hurt."

"Fine, Ah Zhen. I agree."

After the call ended, Le Mulan asked, "Was that Bai Zhenzhen?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, she wasn't surprised; she had grown accustomed to his frequent calls with her.

Le Mulan then posed a question that had been weighing on her mind for a long time.

"Zhang Yu, do you want to have children?"

"Hiss..." Zhang Yu gasped, feeling as if his last shred of composure had been shattered.

He glared at her, exasperated. "What are you talking about?"

"The company wants to buy your reproductive rights..." she explained.

Zhang Yu rejected the notion without a second of hesitation. "Not for sale."

"And remember," he added, "from now on, at times like this... you are forbidden from speaking."

Time slipped away through Zhang Yu’s toil and torment. In the blink of an eye, another month passed, and it was the end of October.

Zhang Yu had mastered four techniques for his Martial Saint Body, and with his salary increases, his savings finally broke the 9-spirit-coin mark. Combined with the 5 coins his sister repaid him that month, he reached a total of 14 spirit coins.

...

Inside the simulated construction site.

Yu Xinghan was massaging Che Yufei, his fingers channeling spiritual energy deep into the man’s body.

Che Yufei’s brow relaxed. "Is there really a discount?"

"Of course, teammates get a discount," Yu Xinghan replied. "If you find it effective, please recommend me to your classmates. Let’s add each other—I’ll give you a rebate for every successful referral."

"By the way, does Senior Sister Shi Huaiyu get massages? I can tell just by looking at her that she suffers from damp-cold; she really needs one."

As he spoke, Yu Xinghan used his Three-Eye Vision to observe the two figures sparring on the field, dissecting their every move.

The combatants were Shi Huaiyu and Zhang Yu.

With every strike, Shi Huaiyu stirred up clouds of sand and stone, crashing toward Zhang Yu like a tidal wave.

"Zhang Yu, among our opponents, we will likely face those who have held the top class rank for three consecutive years. They have mastered three of the Seven Earth-Wood Arts and can execute the Lesser Triad."

Zhang Yu felt the waves of sand and stone surging like a tsunami, threatening to swallow him whole. He countered by using the Mysterious Yellow Mountain-Suppressing Seal to weigh down the debris, then shattered it with an explosive strike of the Heaven-Turning Seal.

At the same time, his mind drifted to Ma Xuan, who also possessed the Lesser Triad.

It was through Ma Xuan that Zhang Yu had first witnessed the power of the technique.

The Lesser Triad, formed by the first three of the Seven Earth-Wood Arts, allowed one to command the earth's energy, manipulating the ground with an invisible force field that encompassed most metals and minerals.

Shi Huaiyu continued, "Your body is tough and your defense is astonishing. Once they realize that, they won't try to defeat you—they will try to trap you."

"That is when the Lesser Triad becomes most effective."

"You must learn how to endure longer under its pressure."

Zhang Yu stomped his feet, surging the Mysterious Yellow energy into the ground, instantly weighting down the rising sand and suppressing it.

"Are you broke, pauper?" he taunted. "You don't even have the strength to hit me."

Suddenly, the sky full of sand and dust dispersed. Shi Huaiyu frowned, clutching her waist.

"Senior Sister?" Zhang Yu asked, surprised.

She shook her head. "It’s nothing to do with you. If I can't handle provocation in training, how will I survive the competition?"

"It’s just my kidney acting up again. I just had a hallucination of a family of three appearing before me."

"It's fine. I’ll just scroll through some ads and earn a few coupons to calm down. You two continue training."

Zhang Yu thought to himself: *My senior sister has been the top of her class for years—how can she be this poor?*

...

"Shi Huaiyu: failed at stock trading, went bankrupt last year. Now, not only are her spiritual artifacts second-hand, but her right kidney is a ghost-kidney with residual consciousness."

"Che Yufei: hanging by a thread, a pauper racing against his own life, likely to die of old age on a construction site one day."

"Shi Yunxiang: Hmph... a beast-kin."

"Tian Yang: a mediocre talent with unremarkable grades."

"Xiao Qingxuan: the only one in this team worth paying attention to."

Ji Yuanxu reviewed the files of Zhang Yu’s team members. *Aside from Xiao Qingxuan, what is this collection of trash?*

*Zhang Yu, is this really the team you’ve chosen?*

Ji Yuanxu shook his head, his worries vanishing.

*I only need to focus on myself and ensure my team secures a top ranking.*

In Ji Yuanxu’s eyes, no matter what happened, his ranking would certainly be higher than Zhang Yu’s.

...

Outside Zhang Yu’s dormitory.

Li Xiao looked at Xuan Ge before him and nodded with familiarity: "Here again?"

Though they could hardly be called friends, their frequent encounters at Zhang Yu’s door had rendered them nodding acquaintances.

Li Xiao thought to himself: "This kid... he’s trying to worm his way into Zhang Yu’s circle, isn't he?"

Xuan Ge mused: "This guy... he’s also looking to cultivate more with Zhang Yu and the others, right? I’ve seen him here since last year; he really is relentless."

A moment later, as the door swung open, Le Mulan stepped out, and Zhang Yu’s voice drifted from within: "Xuan Ge, come on in."

Xuan Ge flashed a triumphant smile, glancing at Li Xiao as he thought: "I’ve taken a step ahead of you; you can just keep waiting out here."

Watching Li Xiao left behind as the door clicked shut, Xuan Ge felt as if he were looking at his own reflection from a year ago.

Li Xiao felt a jolt: "Why does it seem like this kid is closer to Zhang Yu than I am?"

He recalled how he couldn't manage to sit beside Zhang Yu in class lately, and how his application for the competition team had been rejected by the other party; he felt the distance between himself and Zhang Yu growing ever wider.

Inside the room, Zhang Yu sent the video he had just filmed with Le Mulan to Bai Zhenzhen.

...

Tianjian University.

Bai Zhenzhen scanned the video Zhang Yu sent with lightning speed, a look of bewilderment crossing her face.

"Why does it seem like Zhang Yu is in pain, yet simultaneously overjoyed?"

Just then, the voice of the Seven Emotions God-Monarch drifted into Bai Zhenzhen’s ears: "That is desire. If you wish to understand it, you could undergo a restorative surgery to experience the sensation."

Bai Zhenzhen refused instantly: "Who would want to know such a feeling? It is of no benefit to cultivation, a mere waste of time."

Seven Emotions God-Monarch: "Desire is encompassed within the Extreme Emotion Sword Path; how could it be without benefit?"

"Every shred of emotion can be transmuted into fuel for the Extreme Emotion Sword Path."

"For instance, when you heard their conversation about bearing children, did you feel any emotional shift within?"

Bai Zhenzhen furrowed her brows slightly and said: "At first, I was indeed surprised."

"But judging by the later content, they were merely discussing the sale of breeding rights."

"When it concerns the business of selling seed, the details must be made clear. It is perfectly logical for Zhang Yu and Le Mulan to discuss these things; what is the problem?"

Seven Emotions God-Monarch: "But given Zhang Yu’s interest in biological females, do you not think that one day he will build a family, perhaps even sire children?"

"He will have a true family."

"You will no longer be the person closest to his heart."

"Your bond will gradually wither away..."

Bai Zhenzhen, upon hearing this, laughed: "How could that be? Zhang Yu is currently at the critical juncture of his sprint toward the Immortal Path; how could he possibly do such a thing?"

"Building a family and propagating offspring is something one only turns to when the Immortal Path hits a bottleneck and progress seems hopeless."

"Besides, we have agreed to participate in the Top Ten Leagues together; he would never allow himself to be distracted by such a waste of his immortal potential."

Seven Emotions God-Monarch asked: "And what if he chooses to do so anyway?"

Bai Zhenzhen replied without hesitation: "He is my best brother, and I am his second mother. To hinder his Immortal Path is to hinder my own."

"I would naturally stop him from making such an erroneous choice."

"When the time comes, I shall perform a sterilization surgery on him myself."

"Come to think of it, I have long wanted to sever that root of trouble from his body with a single stroke."

"Though he may be unwilling now, he is merely controlled by the hormones within his body. I believe that once he returns to normal, he will surely understand my intentions."

The Seven Emotions God-Monarch fell silent for a moment before sighing: "You young people of this generation... your thoughts are truly different from those of the past, though I suppose that is not a bad thing."

Bai Zhenzhen stood up: "Enough, I must return to my cultivation."

"The Flying Sword Tournament will be starting soon."

Time flew by, and as Bai Zhenzhen immersed herself in her training, the better part of November vanished in the blink of an eye, and she set off on her journey to Wanfa University.