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

Chapter 341 The Journey of Spirit and Body Unity
"The journey of spiritual and physical unity, the first stop has been completed."

"This simulated environment is generated based on a big data model for the breakthrough of the unity of spirit and body, combined with massive historical data and user data, and has extremely high realism. Those with a Dao Heart level below level 13 and those with the following diseases should consult their doctor before starting..."

"Please confirm that you have read and agree to the User Agreement."

"All data generated in this scenario belongs to Smartisan and should not be used for any commercial purposes."

"Shall we begin your journey of spiritual and physical union?"

……

Zhang Yu opened his eyes, a moment of confusion flashing through his mind.

"I'm……"

Gradually, he remembered that his name was Zhang Yu and he was an employee of a mortise and tenon factory in Tianya City.

The factory provides meals and accommodation. Work starts at 8 am and ends at 5 pm every day, with a 1-hour lunch break in between.

The canteen provides three meals a day. In the morning, there are eggs and milk. At noon and in the evening, there are two to three meat dishes. In the afternoon, there are also tea snacks.

Zhang Yu is used to going to bed at nine o'clock every night, listening to light music from the jukebox in his dormitory to fall asleep, and then sleeping until seven o'clock in the morning to greet the new day with full energy.

The factory operates for five days, followed by two days of rest.

During these two days, Zhang Yu sometimes went hiking or swimming in the nearby mountains, which brought him inner peace.

In addition, he has recently developed a new trendy hobby: surfing the internet in the factory's library.

However, many workers in the factory were interested in this new thing, and Zhang Yu could not always get the chance.

Life went on peacefully, and Zhang Yu's greatest wish was to continue living like this until the year he retired, and then spend the rest of his life in peace with his pension, just like his father.

And this day also marks the annual physical examination day.

Zhang Yu lay on the operating table, silently circulating the Mind-Body Mantra of the Remnant Ox Shelter in his mind, and then felt the scalpel cutting through his abdomen as the factory's doctors removed the 'impurities'.

It was something that resembled a tangled tree root, covered with strange tentacles.

Zhang Yu had overheard the doctors talking; they seemed to refer to this thing as a spiritual root.

In short, this is not a good thing. Every year after their physical examinations, Zhang Yu and his fellow workers have to undergo surgery to cut off their spiritual roots.

However, whether it's because this thing is too stubborn or because the surgery wasn't completely removed, this spiritual root grows back every year.

Zhang Yu was fortunate that the factory reimbursed their medical expenses and provided them with free physical examinations, treatments, and surgeries every year.

Just then, he overheard the doctors talking nearby.

"Have you heard? The Netherworld Palace's artificial synthesis technology for spiritual roots has been put on the market."

"I heard about it. It looks like our factory won't be open for many more years. Sigh... How can aquaculture compare to their industrialized production?"

"Does this require shaving?"

"Let's shave it. It's been hot lately, and the factory manager wants to save on air conditioning costs."

As Zhang Yu watched his fur fall off, he struggled involuntarily.

"Why is he awake?"

"Increase the dosage."

In his dazed state, Zhang Yu only felt waves of pain coming from the wounds on his body.

He naturally used the Mind-Body Mantra of the Broken Ox Shelter to resist the pain.

But in the following years, his illness seemed to get worse and worse. The factory doctors removed more and more parts of him, causing him to be in so much pain every night that he couldn't sleep.

In order to get a good night's sleep, he could only keep circulating the Mind-Body-Body-Soul Technique of the Broken Ox Shelter and his mental cultivation method.

Finally, one day, when Zhang Yu was even asleep, he was still silently circulating his inner energy, and he was finally able to temporarily forget the pain and get a good night's sleep.

……

"What the hell..."

Zhang Yu removed the spiritual barrier, recalling his recent experience, his eyes filled with a strange look.

"It turns out that as a demon descendant, he was constantly harvested in the spirit root breeding farm. Because he was afraid of pain, he practiced the Mind-Body-Body Mantra of the Broken Ox Shed day and night, and finally he was so pained that he became one with his body and soul."

Zhang Yu temporarily suppressed the various emotions in his heart and tried hard to recall the feeling of gradually turning the Mind-Body-Body-Slaying Technique into instinct during those days and nights of pain.

"I think I'm starting to feel something."

"But it seems like there's been no progress?"

Looking at Zhang Yu's appearance, Fu Ji said, "The feeling about mental cultivation techniques is often very ambiguous and vague."

"Don't overthink it. The more you think, the more confused you'll become. Just keep practicing step by step. As they say, you'll succeed naturally when you put in the effort."

Zhang Yu had heard similar words from his teacher in the Dao Xin class, and he naturally understood the reasoning behind them. However, recalling his experiences in the spirit world, he couldn't help but have some thoughts.

"That factory... seems to be the old Kunxu, right? Kunxu where even the internet wasn't widespread, and spiritual roots still needed to be cultivated."

"The company must have collected data on the demon offspring that were being raised in the factory and broke through to the state of unity of spirit and body, and then used this data as one of the references to generate a simulation environment."

“But the problem is…” Zhang Yu frowned slightly: “The Broken Ox Body and Mind Technique that I broke through in the simulated environment is not the complete version of the Broken Ox Body and Mind Technique in my mind.”

"Am I not going to make it?"

"Forget it, anyway, Hammerheart Residence said we can apply for a refund if it doesn't work out, so let's keep trying."

After composing himself, Zhang Yu went to the 667th floor to begin his day's work.

On the construction site, the Unparalleled Warrior flashed back and forth, performing tasks such as twisting, cutting, and erecting steel bars.

Of course, Zhang Yu did not activate the Qi Meridian Flow at this moment, but instead chose the University Sacred Body to continue practicing the ninth breathing technique.

Even so, Ying Xin, who was inspecting the work not far away, was still surprised when she saw this scene: "In just over two months, Zhang Yu's work efficiency has improved so much?"

"The fact that he can maintain his human form with his Qi while carrying out construction shows that his Qi conduction rate, total amount of magic power, and recovery ability have all greatly improved compared to the past."

"Could he really be able to get first place in the class?" Thinking of this, Yingxin subconsciously shook her head: "Impossible, Ji Yuanshu is too rich, there is no way anyone in our class can surpass him."

……

Inside a 100-square-meter suite on the 450th floor.

A notification from the Qi Luck Monitoring system popped up in Ji Yuanshu's eye.

The tide of fortune turned again, and Zhang Yu's winning percentage increased slightly during this period.

Ji Yuanshu examined the source of the change in fortune and immediately saw Zhang Yu's recent work performance.

"Significant progress."

"From the perspective of a traditional civil engineering student, you have done a good job."

"But unfortunately, the civil engineering department only thinks about making progress on construction sites, and they will never be able to break out of that mindset."

"The difference between us... is in dimensions."

……

The next day after school, Zhang Yu began another journey of spiritual and physical union.

When he opened his eyes, he remembered his identity.

He is Zhang Yu from Jingshui County. He and four other people in the county monopolize the business of seeds, water, agricultural machinery and money exchange respectively. They are collectively known as the Four Young Masters of Jingshui.

Zhang Yu possesses the largest medicinal herb field in the entire county, and commands hundreds of demon slaves.

His greatest pleasure each day was watching his many demon slaves toil diligently in the vast medicinal fields.

The second pleasure was hunting in the mountains.

One day, he was overtaken by another rich young man during a hunt and was then ridiculed.

In a bad mood, Zhang Yu returned to the county and bought a magical artifact produced by a large company in the city from a traveling merchant.

It is said that as long as you carry it with you all year round, you can prolong your life, improve your hearing and eyesight, and become agile. It is the most popular health care product in the city.

Whether by coincidence or luck, he came out on top in the next hunt, defeating all his opponents.

From then on, he became a firm believer in this health-preserving treasure and bought a large quantity of it, filling his room with them.

Years later, Zhang Yu felt his health deteriorating. During a medical check-up, doctors discovered that his internal organs had been completely permeated by the earth's evil energy.

Over the next few months, his body rapidly emaciated, and in order to cut off the continued corrosive effects of the evil energy, his organs, eyes, and limbs were removed one by one.

To resist the pain in his body and mind, he practiced the "Broken Ox Sheds Body and Mind Technique," circulating the mental energy day and night, hoping to forget the suffering in his body.

Whenever he felt he couldn't hold on any longer, his family's calls always gave him the strength to keep going.

"Zhang Yu! Open your eyes and look! This is your father's remittance information. Everyone is transferring money to you for treatment. You must hold on!"

"Son, can you feel it? The whole family's savings are flowing into you! Don't underestimate the power of our family ties!"

"Hang in there, little brother! You've spent so much on treatment, are you willing to just die like this and watch all that money go to waste?"

Watching his savings fluctuate, Zhang Yu felt as if his family's large hands were pushing against his back, trying to pull him back from the brink of death.

Besides his family, there were also pairs of doctors' hands pulling him, as if trying to drag him back to the world of the living.

But it was just too painful.

Zhang Yu felt as if his flesh and bones had turned into rotten mud, and gradually only one thought remained: it would be better to die.
How is the patient?

"Hopeless."

"Let's keep going. They're giving us too much money. The whole hospital depends on them for revenue. Let's hold on for as long as we can."

"This case of earth evil energy corrosion is also very rare. I didn't know that being corroded by earth evil energy could cause such great harm to the body?"

"Record his data as completely as possible until his death, then we can sell it to the company..."

Amidst boundless suffering, Zhang Yu gradually lost the ability to hear or see the outside world.

In the darkness, he could only circulate the Mind-Body ...

……

"What the hell..."

Zhang Yu removed the spiritual barrier once again, only to feel a lingering phantom pain throughout his body.

"It hurts...it hurts so much."

"Is it because I practice the 'Remnant Ox Sheds Body and Mind Technique' that they've arranged these simulated environments for me?"

"Won't all of these journeys of spiritual and physical union end like this?"

"Isn't there a normal way for this 'Broken Ox Body and Mind Technique' to break through to the unity of spirit and body?"

Although his mind was filled with distracting thoughts, Zhang Yu forced himself to suppress them one by one, and then tried to recall the feeling of breaking through to the unity of spirit and body in the spirit world.

He felt that the white bull in his mind seemed to be becoming more and more agile, but there was still no sign of the unity of spirit and body.

Just then, Zhang Yu received a message from Tulishan.

Tulishan: Jiyuan Shu joined the team, and then Ma Xuan replaced you as a substitute?
Zhang Yu: Yes
Zhang Yu knew that it was Tu Lishan who recommended him to join Ma Xuan's team. Now that the other party had received a message from the competition team, he was obviously here to inquire about the situation.

However, Tulishan wasn't there to stand up for Zhang Yu or anything; he was simply there to confirm the news.

Looking at Zhang Yu's reply, he thought to himself, "Ma Xuan is from the old director's faction. The old director has never supported or opposed either of us before, but this move... is Ma Xuan simply doing this for the competition results, or does the old director have something else in mind?"

In the dormitory on the other side, a moment later, a figure quickly passed through the dormitory door and came to Zhang Yu's side.

"Zhang Yu, let's hurry up."

Le Mulan rushed in and plopped down in front of Zhang Yu.

(End of this chapter)