Chapter 98: Yu Zi, I've decided not to rent a house anymore!

In the small woods behind the school, immediately after Zhang Yu activated his Crimson Marrow Primal Qi, waves of spiritual energy began to surge through his entire body, washing over his flesh and blood.

This was particularly noticeable as the Crimson Marrow Primal Qi worked on cultivating every part of his flesh, internal organs, and bones. The True Spirit Root also seemed to adapt to this situation, continuously infusing spiritual energy into every area Zhang Yu was training. In conjunction with the Crimson Marrow Primal Qi, this accelerated the robust growth of Zhang Yu's physical body.

In ancient times, cultivating immortality was exclusively for those with spiritual roots. Now, truly using a spiritual root for cultivation, Zhang Yu deeply felt the difference between the two methods and sensed the additional boost to his physical growth from the surging spiritual energy infusing his flesh and blood during body tempering.

And beyond that...

"Huh?" Zhang Yu sensed wisps of spiritual energy flowing into his spine and the areas surrounding it, as if tiny hands were stimulating and nourishing something.

"Is this... my nerves? Is the spiritual energy stimulating and nourishing my nerves?"

"But my Crimson Marrow Primal Qi shouldn't have this nerve-strengthening effect, should it?"

"Is this an inherent effect of the True Spirit Root?"

Zhang Yu was naturally delighted to receive an additional body-tempering effect while cultivating his Crimson Marrow Primal Qi. Even when he wasn't cultivating, the spiritual root continued to infuse his body with spiritual energy.

And perhaps because he had used it for a long enough time, when Zhang Yu returned the spiritual root to Bai Zhenzhen after school, he could feel his physical body, just like when he first used the Muscle-Enhancing Spirit Root, continuing to accelerate its growth for a period.

After Bai Zhenzhen took back the spiritual root, she first felt a distinct discomfort, as if something ill-fitting had been placed in her stomach. At the same time, she felt spiritual energy being infused into all her muscles, internal organs, and bones, nourishing her flesh and blood at a specific frequency, gradually making them stronger.

"Spiritual energy is being infused into parts of my body I don't usually train..."

"This isn't my body-tempering method at all. It's more like the effect of Yu'zi's Crimson Marrow Primal Qi."

"As expected, the True Spirit Root adapted to Zhang Yu's body and changed..."

Bai Zhenzhen then tried activating her own body-tempering technique, the Thunderclap True Physique. For the sake of immortality cultivation, almost all of Bai Zhenzhen's money, apart from loan repayments, medicine, and food, was spent on cultivation techniques. This Thunderclap True Physique was the body-tempering technique she acquired for a full 120,000. It could condense lightning with magical power to temper the body. It was a method that, while enhancing physical strength, primarily focused on increasing the practitioner's neural reactions, movement speed, and explosive power.

Now, when Bai Zhenzhen activated the Thunderclap True Physique again, she felt that the True Spirit Root also drew in spiritual energy, assisting her cultivation of the Thunderclap True Physique.

"How could this be?"

A hint of pleasant surprise flashed in Bai Zhenzhen's eyes. "The True Spirit Root, while adapting to Zhang Yu's body, is also adapting to mine. This means the spiritual energy infusion phenomenon that happens when Zhang Yu cultivates his Crimson Marrow Primal Qi... is being superimposed onto me?"

At this moment, Bai Zhenzhen felt that after her body tempering, in addition to the effects of the Thunderclap True Physique, her entire body — muscles, internal organs, and bones — gained an additional layer of enhancement.

"Then, conversely, if I lend the spiritual root back to Yu'zi, he'll also be able to superimpose some of the effects of my cultivation, right?"

"If we keep switching the spiritual root and cultivating like this every day, won't the superimposed effects from this adaptation grow stronger and stronger, like a rising tide?"

"In this way, wouldn't one person effectively have the cultivation benefits of two?"

"Then my scores and competition rankings would surely improve by leaps and bounds!"

"I'll punch Song Hailong, kick Le Mulan, and dominate Songyang alongside Yu'zi!"

As Bai Zhenzhen thought of this, her heart immediately swelled with excitement.

"However, to make this convenient, we'd have to share an apartment and go to school and work together every day so we could swap the spiritual root whenever needed."

Thinking of this, Bai Zhenzhen made up her mind. "Alright, I'll look for a place tomorrow!"

The next day after school, Bai Zhenzhen began looking for a place with Zhang Yu. They started from Songyang High School in the city center and aimed for the Dark Scholars' Association campus in the distant suburbs, searching along this straight line from the city center outwards.

In a basement on the outskirts of the city, the real estate agent said, "This basement is a hot commodity. It has electricity, internet, and water. Climb out of the sewer and you're at the subway. And you don't have to worry about sunlight interfering with your cultivation. The only thing is the rent is a bit expensive, 20,000 a month..."

Continuing in the direction of the suburbs, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen saw another decent garage. The landlord said, "This is a great location. The rent would normally be 5,000 a month, but since you're both students, if you're serious about renting, I won't charge rent. But you'll need to put down a 1 million deposit."

"Don't have that much money? You can get a loan. Or, you're from Songyang High School, right? If you're willing to mortgage an arm each, that works too."

Continuing their search towards the city's outer areas, they arrived at an apartment building. The landlord, holding a string of keys, said impatiently, "Don't you rent apartments just to store things? It's not for your cultivation. If you want to cultivate, go to a gym or a training ground. And I can't lower the rent. I still have to put my son through university, you know he's a university student, right?"

Outside the construction site housing, filled with containers, the ground was littered with cigarette butts and liquor bottles. Before even getting close, Zhang Yu smelled a strong odor of Dao Heart Buffer. Obviously, all the residents here were heavy users of Dao Heart Buffer. Zhang Yu shook his head. "No, I've already quit Dao Heart Buffer. If I live here, I'm afraid I'll get addicted again."

The two walked along the elevated road. Bai Zhenzhen suddenly said, "Yu'zi, poor people can't spend money recklessly."

"But from over a decade of being broke... I've learned one thing: the more you want to rent a satisfactory place, the harder you get fleeced. If you want to avoid being fleeced, there's only one way..."

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "What way?"

Bai Zhenzhen said with a determined look, "Yu'zi! I've decided not to rent anymore!"

Zhang Yu asked in surprise, "If we don't rent, where will we live?"

Bai Zhenzhen pointed to the small stream under the elevated road ahead and said, "Can't we live under that bridge?"

Zhang Yu: "Huh?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "We don't have to choose this specific bridge. We can stay wherever looks good."

"I've thought it through carefully. Water... we can drink it and bring it from school."

"Electricity... we can charge our devices at either the Dark Scholars' Association or school."

"Food... we'll just buy synthetic food from the cafeteria anyway."

"We don't need sleep anyway. And bathing can be done in the river by a bridge like this."

"Big trucks pass by daily on elevated roads in the suburbs, making a loud and chaotic noise, so we won't have to worry about our cultivation disturbing others."

"We'll cultivate and rest here, go to school during the day, and to the Dark Scholars' Association at night. What do you think?"

The more Bai Zhenzhen talked, the more energetic she became. "Instead of giving our money to landlords and agents, we should buy more food and not give those rich people a chance to fleece us."

"We cultivators should use the sky as our blanket and the earth as our mat. We should live under bridges, hide in woods, occupy unfinished buildings, and invest all our limited money into cultivation! I've wanted to do this for a long time!"

Zhang Yu also considered the feasibility. "But what about our belongings? If we leave them here, they might get stolen, right?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Important and frequently used items, we'll carry in our backpacks."

"Unimportant and rarely used items, either sell them or put them in boxes and leave them in the classroom. Anyway, there are cameras in the classrooms, and people at school wouldn't steal things."

It had to be said, Zhang Yu felt there was some truth to what he heard. Both he and Bai Zhenzhen were already high school students who didn't need to sleep, and they had no valuable possessions. They could perfectly cultivate and rest wherever they went.

So, a few days later, Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu both moved out of their rented rooms. Every day after school, the two of them would take synthetic food, fill a few bottles with water, and find a random place to cultivate until they tutored people at the campus at night, then went to school for classes during the day.

Days passed like this...

In the small woods of the Dark Scholars' Association campus.

Zhang Yu was cultivating his Crimson Marrow Primal Qi, and he saw spiritual energy surging in. With each exertion of his muscles, it continuously strengthened his muscles, internal organs, and bones, while also gradually nourishing his nervous system. At the same time, the potent medicinal power of the Primal Pill also continuously nourished Zhang Yu's physical body, making the circulation of his Crimson Marrow Primal Qi even smoother. Under the blessings of the True Spirit Root and the Primal Pill, Zhang Yu felt his physical strength increase by leaps and bounds during this period.

Just then, he heard his phone alarm ring. Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Is it time for class?" To maximize the use of the True Spirit Root, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had, during this period, tried their best to have the Dark Scholars' Association stagger their class schedules so that when one was in class, the other could use the spiritual root to cultivate.

At this moment, in a classroom at the Dark Scholars' Association, Bai Zhenzhen eagerly walked out as soon as class ended. The female attendant in the corridor saw her and greeted her, saying, "Teacher Le, going to find Teacher Ma again? You two commute together every day, have you considered buying a car?"

Le Mulan was Bai Zhenzhen's pseudonym in the underground tutoring world.

Bai Zhenzhen waved her hand. "Why buy a car? Riding him is both fast and cheap; I refuse to be fleeced by the company!"

Bai Zhenzhen found her way to the small woods and rushed over as soon as she saw Zhang Yu, delightedly thinking, "My precious spiritual root, here I come!" She ran behind Zhang Yu and gently pressed against his back, feeling a warmth in her stomach. The True Spirit Root had already transferred into her body, and Bai Zhenzhen immediately felt a wave of comfort spread through her.

Zhang Yu rubbed his somewhat empty stomach and waved to Bai Zhenzhen, who was already starting to cultivate. "I'm going to class now. Make the most of your time practicing."

Under the bridge.

As soon as Bai Zhenzhen got off Zhang Yu (the "vehicle"), she eagerly jumped into the nearby river to bathe. Zhang Yu, after taking off his clothes, began packing them up nearby. These were for Refiner Tianji tomorrow. Although his current tutoring income wasn't low, he had even more expenses, so the income from selling clothes through Refiner Tianji was still something he needed to seize.

The next day. Le Mulan opened her safe, looking at the clothes inside. She lightly sniffed and frowned slightly. "These clothes recently seem to always have someone else's scent on them."

In the cafeteria.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen each held a large bucket and enthusiastically ate the mush inside. With their physical strength advancing by leaps and bounds, their recent food expenses had also risen significantly.

Zhao Tianxing, who was nearby, looked at the two with some envy. "Zhang Yu and A-Zhen go to and from school together every day now. They say they even cultivate together after school and swap the rented spiritual root between them. Their relationship is so good. If only I had such a lovely girlfriend with such a good relationship." Although he had undergone sterilization, students like Zhao Tianxing still appreciated beauty.

Qian Shen also looked at the two with envy. "I really envy Bai Zhenzhen. To be able to cultivate daily with Zhang Yu, who ranked first in the martial arts competition and fourth in the magic competition. If only I had such an excellent study partner." As for He Dayou, the latest class topper? Qian Shen had absolutely no regard for his dead muscles, which were bought with money.

"Even Zhang Yu, I'm afraid, might only catch up by the second year of high school?"

Time flew by, and a month had passed since the martial arts competition. It was now the appointed time for Songyang High School's competition team and Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen to decide the competition slots.

Just after school that day, Wang Hai and several other physical education teachers, and Lan Ling and several students from the student union's sports department, would all witness the gap between He Dayou's group of five and Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen at the stadium.