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

Chapter 519 Dragging into Soul Cultivation (Thanks to 'Geineer' for the generous donation)
Lei Ji Zhenjun is a being whose body resembles glass, with not a trace of flesh or blood visible on his body.

This is because almost 99% of his flesh and blood had been replaced with magical artifacts.

Countless psionic circuits from the ground and walls connected to Lei Ji Zhenjun, transmitting a large amount of spiritual energy and information.

Layers of array light enveloped his body, obscuring the details of his appearance.

It is said that the true form of this Thunder God sits in his office year after year, almost never going out, but only using his mind to travel through the spirit world and project his image to various places.

In Zhang Yu's eyes, the other party's motionless appearance was more like a statue in a temple than a living person.

Zhang Yu knew that Lei Ji Zhenjun followed the magic weapon refining school, which was also the old-fashioned school that Feng Tingting had mentioned before. They regarded flesh and blood as backward, considered magic bodies as evil and heretical, and insisted that the transformation of humans into magic weapons should be the future direction of immortal advancement.

Zhang Yu declined to comment on this theory, as his expertise in immortality and weapon crafting was insufficient to assess its merits.

Zhang Yu's current concern is: "Will this Thunder God be prejudiced against people of color?"

Zhang Yu recalled the several incidents of discrimination he had encountered after joining the weapon crafting department, either because of his original identity as a civil engineer or because of his original physical body.

"In the weapon crafting system, the magic body faction discriminates against the original physical body, those with more magic bodies discriminate against those with fewer magic bodies, and those with expensive magic bodies despise those with cheap magic bodies, while the magic weapon faction discriminates against both magic bodies and physical bodies."

"Could it be that Lord Lei Ji is delaying my payment for the project because he's discriminating against me?"

Just as a series of thoughts were surging in Zhang Yu's mind, Thunder God spoke.

The glass-like face didn't show any mouth movement, but the vibrations in the air created a sound that rang in Zhang Yu's ears.

"Zhang Yu, right? What do you want?"

Zhang Yu smiled politely and said, "It's about the project payment..."

Lei Ji Zhenjun said coldly, "Didn't I tell you not to keep urging me?"

Zhang Yu explained, "My lord, our company is small and facing cash flow problems. I'm currently covering the employees' salaries myself..."

Lei Ji Zhenjun said calmly, "Which construction company doesn't have to pay out of their own pocket? Is it that you can't? If you can do it, then do it; if you can't, then leave."

Zhang Yu was stunned for a moment, and was thinking about how to point out his identity as a disciple of the Magnetic Extreme True Monarch, so as not to let the other party get away with it, when he heard the Thunder Extreme True Monarch continue: "I know you are the newly accepted disciple of the Magnetic Extreme True Monarch."

"But everyone who comes here must follow the same rules."

Zhang Yu said, "Uncle-Master..."

Lei Ji Zhenjun: "Who told you to call me 'Shishu'? I don't care about personal relationships here. The problem with Wanfa University is precisely this kind of thing."

After saying that, a cold snort rang in Zhang Yu's ears like a thunderclap, making Zhang Yu's head spin.

Lei Ji Zhenjun continued, "If I follow all the procedures, you will naturally receive the full amount of the project payment you are owed."

"Alright, if you have nothing else to do, then leave. Don't stay here and interfere with my work."

Zhang Yu walked out of the office with a gloomy expression, thinking to himself, "Is what Lei Ji Zhenjun said true or false? Does Kunxu have such an impartial leader?"

"Should we ask our master for help?"

Zhang Yu shook his head. Before he could figure out the whole story, he decided not to take any action.

After all, he didn't know the extent of the relationship between Magnetism True Monarch and Thunder True Monarch, nor did he know whether Magnetism True Monarch had any interests involved.

When Zhang Yu wanted to find out information, the first person he thought of was Zhang Pianpian, followed by Feng Tingting, a student in the weapon crafting department, and finally his senior sister Ye Xingli.

Shortly after Zhang Yu asked the question, a response appeared on the eye.

The first person to reply to him was Feng Tingting.

Feng Tingting: You didn't go there wearing your original body, did you?
Zhang Yu: Yes, you know I only have this one body, what else can I wear if not this?
Feng Tingting: Lei Ji Zhenjun is a well-known old stubborn man in the department, one of the most insistent on the theory of magic treasures.
Feng Tingting: Taking his class is so important that even a dog walking by will get a magic collar stuffed into its head.

Feng Tingting: With all your flesh and blood, how could he possibly find you pleasing to the eye?
Looking at Feng Tingting's reply, Zhang Yu thought to himself that this Thunder Extreme True Monarch really was a human body discrimination person.

After Zhang Yu thanked Feng Tingting for the news, she said, "Zhang Yu, when are we going to rent a lab together and refine weapons together?"

Feng Tingting: Sigh, ever since I started studying civil engineering, fewer and fewer people in the weapon crafting department are willing to talk to me...

Looking at Feng Tingting's answer, Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. Feng Tingting and he were probably the ones most easily viewed with prejudice in the weapon crafting department.

Just then, Ye Xingli also sent a message.

Ye Xingli: Did you pay me?
Zhang Yu: Pay me?
Ye Xingli: I really don't know if the Civil Engineering department spoiled you too much before, or if you're just really immature. Ye Xingli: The so-called Weapon Forging Department is just a few floors and a few laboratories; we still need to earn money separately.
Ye Xingli: With so many projects and so many engineering works, who comes first and who comes last, who has more and who has less, and how are they divided?

Zhang Yu: Then I'll just transfer the money directly to Lord Lei Ji.

Ye Xingli: Lei Ji Zhenjun is righteous and adheres to the rules; he will never directly accept your money.
Ye Xingli: [Bian Hao] This is Lei Ji Zhenjun's student, go find him.

Looking at the business card sent by Ye Xingli, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "In the end, it all comes down to money."

Zhang Yu added Bian Hao, explained his purpose, and after some discussion, he saw that the other party sent him a donation link.

"A public welfare laboratory?" Zhang Yu looked at the connected content and felt a surge of anger: "10 spirit coins?"

"Damn it... My pre-tax project payment was only a little over 20 spirit coins. After distributing it to my employees and paying taxes, I would only make a maximum of a dozen spirit coins. And they're asking me for 10 spirit coins all at once?"

Zhang Yu took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and replied to Bian Hao, asking if he could give less.

Bian Hao: Junior, it's not up to me to decide how much or how little money this is.
Bian Hao: Everyone donated a lot; those who donated little weren't even in the queue.
Bian Hao: If you donate too little, I'm afraid your donation will be in vain.

Bian Hao: In the end, if you don't do it, plenty of others will; if you don't donate, plenty of others will.
Zhang Yu couldn't help but roll his eyes: "It's all rolled up?"

Looking at the donation link for 10 spirit coins, Zhang Yu mentally calculated the costs again.

His current stable monthly income consists mainly of a 40-spirit-coin subsidy from the laboratory, followed by a 30-spirit-coin reimbursement from Magnetism True Monarch and Director Gao's company, then a repayment of over ten spirit coins from his sister, and finally a 10-spirit-coin monthly subscription from Wen Wuyai...

Zhang Yu originally thought that the civil engineering projects in the weapon crafting department could become a stable source of income for him every month.

But now it seems not only unstable, but after deducting the donations, the money earned is far less than expected.

Looking at the numbers appearing on his forehead, Zhang Yu cursed inwardly, "Damn it, in the end I can earn 40 spirit coins a month from fraud, get 30 spirit coins reimbursed through connections, get more than 10 spirit coins back from family loans, and earn 10 spirit coins from tips from rich people."

"And after painstakingly accumulating civil engineering expertise for over three years, gathering a wealth of technology and resources, and hiring a large number of employees, they end up earning the least?"

Zhang Yu had also considered that if things were like this, it would be better not to pursue the civil engineering projects within the weapon crafting department at all.

But thinking about it, I knew it wouldn't work.

On the one hand, there are so many mouths to feed in the company; on the other hand, although his income is high, he also has many expenses. Every extra bit of money he earns from the civil engineering projects that involve refining weapons is very important to him.

Zhang Yu sighed inwardly, "To gather weapon-refining prodigies, one must rely on the number of repetitions to increase the level of weapon-refining techniques."

"Sigh, to master 10 weapon-refining techniques to level 20 within a few months is equivalent to mastering 10 Taoist arts to level 20..."

"Don't even mention that normal weapon-refining students don't spend money like I do, I'm afraid there aren't many people in the Daoist arts department who can spend money like I do."

Zhang Yu knew that most weapon-refining students couldn't possibly cultivate so many weapon-refining techniques like him. They usually chose their own specialization and then hired others when needed.

Just like when Zi Yunzhen hired him to use the Dragon Vein Forging Technique to strengthen the Five Elements Flag.

"If it were just about burning money to find weapon-refining prodigies, that would be one thing. I can afford it with the money I earn now, and I can even save some spirit coins every month. But I still need to prepare for military-grade magic weapons."

Now that Zhang Yu knew he had gathered all the weapon-refining prodigies, he would begin preparing to refine the prototype of the Heavenly Sun God.

The creation of the prototype of this military-grade magic weapon will cost a lot, from the initial technical preparations to the purchase of materials, and the rental of various equipment and laboratories.

Zhang Yu and Fu Ji had previously calculated that it would cost at least 300 spirit coins.

If we take into account some losses and mistakes, it's not impossible for it to eventually rise to 500 spirit coins.

How many of these projects can perfectly meet the requirement of staying within budget?

The more Zhang Yu thought about where he would need money next, the more he wanted to make money.

"Everyone says that 1000 spirit coins are enough to break through to the Golden Core stage, but if I want to win the Top Ten Leagues and enter a sect, how can an ordinary Golden Core stage be enough?"

Just as Zhang Yu was pondering this, his older sister Zhang Pianpian replied to his message.

Zhang Pianpian: This Thunder God has been delaying payments for a lot of projects, bankrupting many companies and causing the deaths of hundreds of soul cultivators.
Zhang Yu: Is there no way to solve that?
Zhang Pianpian replied with a sigh: "If this were ancient times, hundreds of years ago, I would definitely advise you to give up."

Zhang Pianpian: But in this era, as long as he is in Kunxu, as long as he is still in the university system, whether he is a Golden Core cultivator or a Nascent Soul cultivator, he must follow the rules.

Zhang Pianpian: Within the rules, he can silence you completely.
Zhang Pianpian: But if the rules are overstepped, even if he is a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he will still be struck down by lightning.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu replied thoughtfully: You mean... he overstepped the rules?
Zhang Pianpian: I haven't found out the specifics yet, but based on the information available, this person definitely has a major problem.
Zhang Yu: Why?
Zhang Pianpian: Haven't you ever thought about how other companies, who have spent so much money, or even more than you, made their money back?

(End of this chapter)